Ravelry

Morning,

I signed up for Ravelry yesterday. So far it's been awesome! It's a huge site chock full of knitters and crochet(ers?)/hookers (that sounds wrong!) and loads of patterns that members can submit and rate. It also has yarn sellers on there, and if will keep track of your hooks and needles (a little similar to the Knit Cards app I have on my phone).

I spent about an hour on it last night, and now have about 20 patterns saved that I would like to attempt/save for future reference. There's some scarves on there (obviously, I am a beginner!) but also other random stuff, like a Tofu pin cushion which made me giggle a lot when I saw it, mug warmers, knitting elephants... you name it, it's probably on there!

They also have a huge forum, and members who contribute to Q&A sessions which are rather handy for the uneducated like myself!

YAY! *I left to answer the doorbell* The postman just dropped off some of the knitting needles I bought off Ebay on Monday. They're HUGE! (Very, very long.) I've just a little measure and all 5 are 14 inches long. Which explains my shock as the 4mm plastic ones I'm using now are only 8 inches. Vintage needles in old sizes 2, 4, 6, 7, 8.

Anyway, back to the post! I'm enjoying it so far, and I love the way that you can add projects to your queue of things to knit/crochet as you come along them while searching, or simply save them for later. Needless to say, the tofu pincushion went straight to the queue!

xx

I can Knit! (Badly)

Evening,

In a related reprise of I can Crochet! (Badly). This week I bought a Let's Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet special issue. I brought it on the train home with me (intending to do it, and putting it off) and showed it to Mam while discussing the fact that I'd also brought home 2 dresses for alterations with me.

I bought a navy and white dress last week that I love the style and pattern of, but I'm not sure about it. The wide straps have button holes and attach to the dress via buttons so that the length is adjustable. I've only a small chest so it needs taking in again. However the dress also seems like it's straining at the front (it has an elasticated back), where there are 4 buttons down the chest. I don't want the top one popping open, but the fabric wrinkles and appears to be strained when all buttons are done up. So I'm not sure whether to keep it and alter it (and hope for the best, because the buttons would have to be stitched which would affect the way the dress sits) or to return it. It was £19.99.

I also have another dress I bought for my birthday. The adjustable strap plastic piece has snapped on one end, so it doesn't hold it's position any more. It's the same piece you get on bra straps, so I'm hoping it will be relatively easy to track down a replacement.

So this evening Mam and I sat down to go through the dresses and alter them. Out came her stash, and away it went when we realised that we couldn't actually make any headway on either. Then I remembered the magazine, and Mam started showing me how to knit. She has never been able to crochet (she says) so the extent of my crochet skills (casting on and the foundation chain) is more than she can do.

However Mam used to be able to knit, and she has lots of cardigans etc that she knitted for me when I was a baby. My Gran used to knit a lot, as did her Grandmother. Sadly my Gran's health isn't very good any more, and she's unable to knit or craft.

After saying she was rusty and unable to remember clearly, Mam picked up the wool and needles and started knitting away like a pro! So she showed me how to cast on, then how to knit and after a few rows how to purl. I've ended up with what looks like a misshapen flag due to my mysterious skill in adding extra stitches! It was 12 to begin with, and at one point was 16...

I really enjoyed it, and more importantly Mam did too. We even stayed up until 11.30pm doing it, which is REALLY late for Mam. She's normally in bed by 9pm and then watches tv until she nods off. I'm glad she enjoyed it, although she did say she probably wouldn't take it up again properly.

Hope you've all had a lovely Sunday like me :)

xx

I Can Crochet! (Badly)

Howdy,

On Monday I took a wrong turn and came out of an exit I'd never been out of before. Next to it is a big Poundshop, so I went in and picked up a crochet kit.





I was expecting it to be badly made and it kinda is - the hooks and needles are plastic, the instructions barely legible and full of typos - BUT there's 5 balls of wool, it has plastic hooks and you gotta start somewhere right? Besides, no point spending lots of money to find out you hate something!



I couldn't resist :)



It's taken me 3 nights but I've finally made some progress. The instructions were quite confusing, the pictures aren't great and I even had a google to see where I was going wrong but couldn't quite put everything together in my head.

Eventually I watched a video and saw the step in action and realised where I was going wrong. Basically, I wasn't trusting myself to repeat a step because it looked hopeless - but after doing it a few times it turned into the chain shown in the instructions, yay! I was so excited I stopped immediately, took a picture and thought I'd share it :)



So now I have to continue following the instructions. It appears to promise that I'll end up with a flower if I follow all of the steps in the correct order.

[The fact that the steps start on D and progress to E, F, H and J hopefully won't be an issue.]

xx