Testing, testing, can I get pictures to work now?

So, I know, I completely didn’t post last week. I tried to, but the internet here refused to let me upload pictures, so I left it, and completely forgot to try again later. Oops! So I scrapped that post, and then wrote this one. Let’s see if pictures work now!

So, remember the last time we met, I kinda gave up on the idea of knitting both the mittens for my dad (he loves the idea, which is great 🙂 )? Well, it turns out that that was a good idea, as even the larger size was too small! So I now have to knit another pair of mittens, this time with some more stitches and rows of ribbing. Which is great and everything, as it’ll mean he has a pair of handknit mittens which he’ll actually wear! But I’ve massively had enough of that patten and yarn right now! So what I’m thinking is to give myself a bit of a break, work on what I want to, and then maybe in the beginning of July start the pair properly. And hopefully by them figure out what to do for everyone for Christmas!

I also haven’t done anything else for the OUAT SAL, which is really annoying, as soon I’ll be three designs down, having done just a small part of May’s chart! However, this isn’t because I’ve lost interest, but rather I started another SAL, and have been enjoying that. Here is my progress so far on Stained Glass:

I’m stitching it up on 20-count aida, since I have decided that I don’t particularly like even-weave. When it’s done, I’m thinking of spending the following year colouring it in brightly, using blending filament to add some sparkle 🙂

I have managed to finish my other housemates card, as well. This was giving me kittens, for some bizarre reason, as she isn’t leaving till the end of July! But I am now glad that it’s done, even though it was lovely to stitch.

My aunts birthday is the last one I’m making anything for, and so I decided to carry on the elephant scheme! This is Suzie, the elephant-kangaroo hybrid, and Nelly(well, one of them had to be Nelly!) her finger puppet daughter! I think that they are utterly cute and adorable, even though Suzie’s legs were really awkward to stitch- my advice? Just go for it!

I have also been doing some knitting- I finished another pair of socks! Yay! I now have 8 pairs with (you guessed it!) another one on the needles! I did these two at a time, as I wanted them to completely match! Pretty successful plan, even if I do say so myself!

Naturally, I’ve already started another pair, which are probably going to be exclusively knitted on trains- I’m going to be travelling around a bit in the next few weeks, and I’ve been to Manchester yesterday for a conference. Very interesting.

I’ve also started (ad nearly finished) a shawl- Glitz at the Ritz. I’m doing it in a nice purple colour, with silver beads. It’s gotten so big that there isn’t any point me showing you a picture- all it look like is a puddle of knitting! I can’t wait to finish this and see what it looks like properly!

Well, that’s all from me that I can think of (yay for pictures working again!)

Wohoo! I won me some goodies :)

So, as part of her Spring Blog Hop, *Wisher*, over at Pretty little things in a box held a giveaway. And I’m massively chuffed to have won one of the prizes! So, I now have some lovely post to look forward to. 🙂 Isn’t looking forward to post (other than bills, obviously!) such wonderful fun? 🙂  The timing couldn’t’ve been better either- it’s been a very hectic couple of weeks at Uni, and I was getting very worn down, but now I’m raring to go again.

When the post arrives, I’ll be sure to share all of the lovely goodies with you all. 🙂

So, I managed to finish April’s block, and even got some of the border done, before going back to pokemon for a bit!

I’m using a couple of variegated threads for the border, rather than the specified DMC. I think they’re really cool 🙂

And, of course, I have to have a pair of socks going on! This pair is destined to be as matchy-matchy as a pair of socks can be, short of actually using a plain colour! So, naturally, they have to be done two-at-a-time. It’s been a while since I’ve done a pair like this, it really does feel like they’re going quicker!

But, now it is May, and I just realised I have about 4 weeks to finish my dad’s birthday presents… I need to finish a pair of mittens, and design and stitch a birthday card. This is going to be fun! At least after next week, my workload at Uni will reduce lots!

April already????

You know, it’s fairly bad when the first time you realise it’s April is when you get the next part of a SAL in your inbox. Especially when you haven’t finished January’s part! Oops! Better get stitching, I guess. Such a hardship, but I suppose someone has to do it.

So, I started to carry on January’s block, and miscounted. Damn that blasted frog! Although, this is really the first time I’ve needed to frog anything that I can think of so *shrugs* I suppose everyone gets it from time to time…

I’ve already frogged the little house, and just need to do the dwarf on the left and the washing line pole, when I feel like it. And then remember that there still are some elements out of line and to not count from them! I may still go back and frog them as well, but I want to do the whole square to see if they seem out of line (yeah, I know, I’m lazy!)

After ding that little bit, I decided I wanted to cross stitch rather than frog, so I got out Pokemon again, and put in a few stitches around the bottom left creature, as I wanted to move onto the fish which is below that! So quite a bit done on this this week too, which is good

However, for most of this week, until I was reminded that I am working on cross stitches(!), I was knitting. I finished my zombie socks, which I mentioned in the previous post

and they are very comfy to wear, which is always nice 🙂 One of my friends commented that they don’t match, to which I replied that I don’t have any matching pairs of socks! I like it 🙂

I also started another pair, and very quickly rolled out the first one

This yarn was actually a bit of an accident- I meant to order the red version of it, but accidentally ordered the green! I really don’t mind though, because the patterning is really cool 🙂

So what crafting things have you all been up to?

Cross stitching, cross stitching and more cross stitching!

So, I haven’t done any more cards- although it is on my radar, so it should happen at some time… hopefully this century!

But I was buzzed by the feeling of finishing something so quickly, so I decided to race for a page finish on the pokemon cross stitch- and I made it last night!

I had just been moving (slowly!) across the top half-page really, which I will probably go back to doing when I carry on with it. It’s going away for a while now, so I can concentrate (and maybe catch up?) on the Once Upon a Time sampler. I’ve started March. Although, now I remember that I was going to make some more cards, it may get side-tracked for that. But hey, as long as I’m doing something crafty, I’m happy!

My second stripy sock is coming along slowly. But that’s ok- I take it with me to Uni, ad really, I should be concentrating on the maths then! But I’m probably about half way through the increases for the heel, so it is coming along 🙂

So, what are you all up to?

Some more illicit stashing…

So, I may have ‘accidentally’ bought some more stash…

Having bought (and since started) the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery year-long Once Upon a Time sampler, obviously I needed to get the threads for it. And some of them needed changing (I want to do a different coloured border, and use variegated threads for some of it), and I wanted to get some more sock yarn (even though there is no way I’m going to run out any time soon…), and then I remembered that I want to make some coasters for my parents, so I thought I might as well get them then as well. So you see, it’s all totally sensible really… but yeah, I just need to get some sock yarn for my dad’s birthday present, and then I really am all set. Well, at least until I finish the next cross stitch project! Given that I’m working on 3, with the Cat Alphabet (and Spirit) in hibernation, I’ve got quite enough to be getting on with, I think.

Especially when you add in a sudden birthday on Tuesday which I need to make a card for (it’s too much effort going all the way into town!)This is what I’ll be doing this weekend, in between marking! It’s already coming along really well, I think. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to photograph decently, so you’ll have to wait for that. Hopefully when it’s finished I’ll be able to get the camera to focus on it properly!

But it hasn’t all been cross stitching (although it does feel like that sometimes!) Somehow I’ve managed to fit in enough knitting time to finish the first happy stripy sock, as I’m calling this pair, and start the next!

All my housemates are amazed that I’m doing something as large as the pokemon cross stitch I’m doing. They all think it’ll take me in the region of 30 years to finish…given how fast I’m stitching on it, that’s entirely possible! Hopefully I’ll be able to pick it up again, I really like how it’s stitching up, but birthday cards first! Maybe I’ll do a couple more so I have some ready… forward planning is always the way to go!

So, how’re all your crafty things coming along? Any last minute emergency things, or is everything plain sailing?

Naughty Stash enhancement…

So, I may have been slightly naughty and bought lots of lovely yarn recently…

So I now have three more balls of yarn waiting to be knitted up into socks…

I have yarn and beads to make into a lovely shawl…

I’ve also ordered the 2014 Once Upon a Time Sampler chart from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, so now of course I need to place an order for the threads which I don’t have…

But I have also been knitting! I finished a pair of socks in 4 days! Which of course has now reinspired my desire to knit lots and lots of socks 🙂

I’ve also done some stitching of stitching. I didn’t do all of this lately! But here is where it stands now, and I’m hoping to get lots of this done 🙂 It’s a very easy stitch- lots of blocks of colour!

Why is there not enough time in a day to do everything? Especially with all the useful things everyone has to do, like work!

Exams are over, and I have the summer to do what I want

Well guys, after a (very) long hiatus, I’m back and raring to go. I haven’t exactly been idle on the crafting front either, even if most of my time was taken up with my (successful! yay!) application to York. So this September/October I will be moving all my things from Plymouth to York to start studying for a PhD in pure mathematics. Go me!

Anyway, I doubt you’re all here for that. I finished a pair of socks, on apparently the 18th January. They were lots of fun, mostly since I was trying to get to grips with 2-at-a-time magic loop. Which is great fun, and could well get sued again at some-point. Right now I’m practicing double knitting, so stay tuned for some extreme 2-pairs-at-a-time knitting later this summer(which will hopefully stop me getting bored to plain boring socks. Here’s a photo of them, in all their worn glory:

They don’t quite match, but I really prefer them this way. Not to say I don’t like my perfectly matching patterned socks, but the not-quite-matching-ness takes away from the fact they are so, well, boring. I don’t like boring yarns, and evidently I don’t like boring patterns. But colourful yarns in exotic patterns really don’t work. *sighs*. Anyone got any patterns which do work with stripy yarns?

I’ve also been cross stitching a lot, firstly there’s Spirit, which has now gone over half a page!!!

Here she is at half a page, I think I’ve mostly done another column after this

What I think it’s amazing about this pattern is that the S for Spirit takes up more space than the rest of the word! One more column puts me half-way, and the S is pretty much done there, with just the beginning of the p, and there’s more blank space on the right of Spirit than there is on the left! Pretty awesome, huh?

I also found a giant cross stitch pattern of all the first gen Pokemon. Now I know I’m not the first to stitch this, but I’ve only seen of one other person, and I think they’ve only done the one (there are patterns for 5(?) gens), and I’d like to get them all done eventually! Here’s my start:

So far it’s very yellow! That should stop soon, but after that red/yellow one underneath the first yellow one, I’m going sideways and doing a (yep, you guessed it!) yellow flaming bird! Ahh well, after that it gets a bit more interesting.

Well, now this has finally been written, I can get back to my crafting! Got to squeeze as much in as possible before October, when I start ay York! Squeeee!