Blankets

I mentioned a few posts ago that I got a big donation of yarn. I've pretty much used it up! Two more charity blankets off the needles. 

The first one was the bottom one. It has bands of white/cream separating the colours, and I tried to alternate green and brown. Sometimes I don't settle into an idea until I've knit a bit, so it doesn't always look intentional.  It's 558gr. 

The second one was the darker one on top, because I had a lot of dark greens left. It weighs in at about 485gr.  It ended up a bit smaller. I was going to do a border, but I hate doing that.

What's been keeping me busy was an AQ course (Additional Qualification) for music, Primary and Junior. That ended, and I've gotten to finally play with my new camera. I spent a lot of the time working on the course outside, where I got to know a cardinal couple. 

This is after she chased off a starling. It was fun watching her when she collected twigs for her nest. 

I didn't get good pictures of the baby. The first time they came around, it was mostly beige and very fluffy. The next time it was showing more red. Years ago I kept seeing a cardinal that was half beige, half red. So I think it takes time for the boys to get their full colour.

I really really like this photo. Click on it, and zoom in. He has an alder seed in his beak. 

They brought their baby around, and then they started a new family. Apparently they don't use the same nest each time. There was a couple days that when I went out front (I knew the nest had been in a skyrocket evergreen at the front corner of the house), the mom cardinal was chirping like crazy from the pine tree next to the walkway. I decided to investigate, and found a baby bird perched on the edge of a nest! I ran in for the camera, and came back out to see it flutter down to a lower branch.

Oh, was Momma ever ticked! She spent a long time chirping, hopping from branch to branch, encouraging it to return. The baby went the wrong way around the tree, towards the front, rather than the short trip to it's left. I had to leave. Just then Daddy came back and there was a discussion. I can just imagine Momma telling him the headaches his offspring had given her that afternoon while he was out having fun LOL. 

When I came back, I saw Daddy chirping madly. I looked up and saw a large bird, about the size of a mourning dove (which we used to have in that tree). It wasn't a dove though, because it was sitting upright on the branch and it had a hawk bill! Daddy chased it off and I think every cardinal on the street was chirping loudly! We couldn't find baby, and I haven't seen or heard it since. I don't know if he was a snack for the hawk, which was likely a sharp-shinned hawk.  

We've also had two litters of bunnies since June. Most have scattered, one got eaten and this guy is in trouble if he doesn't stop munching my plants. The pictures of the newborn bunnies are really adorable. It was great to see the progression. This was the first time there was a nest in the grass instead of under the deck.

I've been growing a hops vine in the back yard for the past few summers. This is the first summer it produced hops. I think it's cool that they mimic the lights Rob put up on the fence.

Now, I'm spending most of my time driving kids around. Megan got a job, and is back skating, and has physio, as well as Lucy working, so I'm busy, busy, busy! 

 Yarn In:  1400gr

Yarn Out: 1 043gr + 3730gr = 4773gr

Balance:  3333 gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0

Gnice to Meet You!

 I was scrolling Instagram in May and saw something about a mystery knit-along to knit.... a gnome. I don't think I've ever knit a mystery knit along. And I've never knitted a gnome. It was post-winter accessories season, I was bored of charity blankets. So, of course, I had to knit a gnome! Why not?

It'd been a long time since I've used Ravelry, and even longer since I've actually bought a pattern. And how long since I've done cables? I got my wool (didn't knit a swatch), found a cable needle, and got ready. 

This was the first pattern to put on my new iPad Mini. That taxed my brain a bit. How come under Downloads, ProReader says there's 18 files, but when I open it, there's only 4? Anyway, I got going, not always right on schedule, and I struggled with the written instructions and reinforced my love of graphs, but I did finish and post a picture before the deadline to be entered in the draws. I don't think I won anything, except ownership of Gnathan. 

At first, everyone was like, "Why are you making a gnome?!"

Once done, requests started coming in. I knew though that I had to make a Tricolour Gnome. 

This is Alfie, meeting Jase. Poor Jase. He came to use with one blue eye and one brown eye and over time, lost his hand. But we love him. Alfie is named after the ArtSci nightclub at Queen's University when we were there. The new name is The Underground, but that doesn't work for a gnome.

Lucy wasn't all that impressed with Alfie, and I got the impression she didn't want to adopt him for her new house in Kingston. She showed him to her elder sibling, and they thought he was awesome and wanted one too. So, Clark was born. Clark is named after the Engineering Pub at Queen's. 

I couldn't remember which needles I used for the various parts, so they're not exactly the same size. Clark's tassel shows the hardships of engineering student life, I think something happened at the Greasepole. He's a little bit scrawnier, and his beard is covering up his pocket protector :)

Gnathan used a total of 214gr of the Condon's Yarns, but I don't know how much Tricolour yarns were used. Some was from Topsy Farm, some was some other random wool from my stash. I'm pretty much out of Tricolour now, and Rob thinks I'm going to make him for work too. I'm just going to estimate the same for the Tricolour.

On Instagram, I post pictures of drawings I do in Procreate. The first thing I actually drew was a little gnome. Later, I started adding Nomie to newer pictures I'd draw (cut and paste style). Megan thinks I should knit a real life Nomie and take him on real adventures. Maybe. 

Yarn In:  1400gr

Yarn Out: 642gr + 2988gr = 3630gr

Balance:  2230gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Another Charity Blanket

I wonder how many blog posts are titled "Another Charity Blanket"? 

I'm not sure exactly when I got this yarn compared to when I started the blanket. I don't like to add new yarn once I've gotten deep into a project. But then I started another one and did pull from this big yarn donation I got from Freecycle. I weighed it all, but I'm not sure where I wrote down the totals. I'm going to say 1400gr. 

So, this blanket weighed in at 505gr. 

And this is the only picture I took. It's just a simple garter stitch corner to corner rectangle. I didn't even do an edging. I just slip the first stich purlwise, then yarn over. 

Yarn In:  1400gr

Yarn Out: 505gr + 2483gr = 2988gr

Balance:  1588gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

 

Hello June!

 Work is keeping me so busy!! Even though my position is "only" 2 afternoons a week, there's a lot of prep for a new teacher, and I'm supply teaching almost full time as well. Add in spring work in the garden, physio, life in general, a new camera... we may be in a lockdown but I am sure keeping busy!

Because we're not going places, my "travel project" projects have come to a standstill pretty much. I did finish up this little yellow hat to add to the collection of newborn hats. 

I got a new scale but it's hard to see the numbers sometimes. It's 25grams. The last of the yarn I bought last summer before we went to the cottage. 

 

I do have a couple more projects to share, but I'll give those their own posts.

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 25gr + 2458gr = 2483gr

Balance:  2483gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Hello May

 What was going on in April that I only made one post?! Work, physical therapy, yoga, drawing in Procreate... if you want to see what I'm learning on Procreate, check me out on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/tracykmvetzal/

I do still knit and crochet! I finished another pink blanket for the seniors! This one was knit, corner to corner, in garter stitch. 

Such an easy, mindless pattern. Just make sure when you start the decreases on the first side, you mark which edge you're doing it on. 

I picked up two bags of donated yarn on the weekend. I need to weigh it, so I'll calculate that this weekend.

I have another blanket in browns/green/beiges on the needles, but I'm going to start a Gnome Knit-along today!! So excited. It's a mystery gnome. I haven't done a KAL in so long!

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 530gr + 1928gr = 2458gr

Balance:  2458gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Pink and Pretty

 I dug out all my odd balls of worsted weight again, trying to get inspiration for my next charity blanket. I had a lot of pinks, it seemed, so that became the next plan.

Corner to corner crochet. Changing yarns as I felt like it. 

Nice to work on something that can also keep me warm LOL

This took me about two weeks, using worsted weight and 5.5mm hook (or maybe 6mm), 35"x48"

Not much else to say. It didn't wash up as soft and limp as the last blanket, which was an unlabelled Red Heart yarn from Cambridge Fibres. Some of the yarns in this blanket are very old. A couple were from White Rose Nurseries, which closed the last of their stores in 2002 (doesn't sound that long ago, until I realize it was 19 years LOL). 

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 1279gr + 649gr = 1928gr

Balance:  1928gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Outside My Box

 I wanted some new mittens for my winter/spring coats. One is plum-ish, the other is bright pink. I found some superwash wool in my stash and at first, I was going to play it safe. Stripes, maybe black. As I looked at the balls of yarn though, I started to think---why not get a little crazy? I have the pair of fingerless gloves that I wear all the time, and people often comment on how cheery they are. Why not do something like that? I thought Fair Isle would be good because the floats on the inside add to the warmth. 

I dug out my stitch pattern books and got looking. At first, I liked some large scale designs but I worried about having enough yarn, and wanted to incorporate several colours. And I didn't know how many rows I'll end up with, and didn't want to have them look like they ended abruptly.  I settled on this simple 4st, 3 row repeat. 

I started the cuff, and I wasn't sure what my direction was going to be. I thought let's go random stripes. It's usually hidden inside my coat anyway. I do kind of wish I had gone more basic though. 

Then I started the pattern after the ribbing. I really got into the stitch pattern and kept forgetting to start the thumb gusset!! So the mittens end up being rather long inside my coat--have to put them on before my coat LOL. 

For the increasing section of the thumb gusset, I kept the stitch pattern to every other stitch, rather than try to incorporate the hand pattern. 

 

It got up to my knuckles and I really was afraid of running out of the pink. It was kind of an awkward length. So I made the end cuff long. They're almost mittens. I thought I might make them as convertible mittens, but there's not enough yarn to keep with the pattern. 

These will keep me toasty through much of the winter. I can tuck my fingers inside for those "didn't know I'd need mittens" times. 

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out:  83gr + 1196gr = 1279gr

Balance:  1279gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Simple but Effective

 I finished the latest blanket for Crocheted Blankets for Seniors (they accept knitted ones too!). This was so easy. Four rows main colour, in stockinette. One row in contrast, in the pattern stitch, then one row in contrast in knit stitch (even though you are on the back side; this creates a nice textured ridge to the front).  Every 4th stitch on the contrast row 1 is done like this:

Locate the stitch on the contrast band below--follow the column down to the contrast row

Insert the right tip into that stitch of the contrast row. You're going into the top stitch (there are two rows in the contrast "band").

Knit the stitch, pulling the strand through. The four main coloured rows are still on the left needle.

Drop the stitch off the left needle, and give a little tug to unravel the four rows. They will be caught behind the contrast stitch! 

On the next contrast row, you'll center that tuck stitch you did. So, the first time, it's MMMCMMMC and the second time it's MCMMMCMM.  Of course, you don't have to do 3 main colour stitches, you could do any odd number. Just centre the tuck stitch.

Depending on how much you steam it, and shape it, it will create nice little bubbles. My black yarn was rather delicate--a thin chenille--so I didn't make those stitches too tight. You could though, and it would emphasize the bubble effect.

The back side is nice and tidy and looks good too, even though it's not technically reversible. 

This blanket ended up a smidge narrow (by about 2-3") and only 440gr. I had a pound of this yarn (454gr), so I have some left. I will probably take all the bright yarns I've used recently and create another blanket. 

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out:  440gr + 756gr = 1196gr

Balance:  1196gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Quick and Easy Project

 Way back last summer, a weekly email from Cricut included a link to a tutorial on making a subway tile backsplash. I sent it to my Mom. She's been trying to re-do her backsplash, but wanted something non-permanent, cheap, and easy. This seemed to fit the bill and she was excited to give it a go.  I found some non-permanent vinyl at Happy Crafters in a soft orange. Yes, she wanted orange.  My brother was painting the laundry room so he painted the backsplash to represent the mortar.

I took measurements while we were there dropping off the dog before our cottage trip. I took some time during the vacation to figure out what size a tile should be. The general idea for a subway tile is that it is twice as long as it is high. However, I wanted to minimize cutting and fitting on the wall, and get the most effective use of the 12"x12" sheets. I finally created a size, I'm not sure what it is now but I was able to fit 8 on a sheet with hardly any waste. In the tutorial, she mentions 4 or 5. I bought 30 sheets because I calculated 28.75 sq ft. I was worried if that would be enough. I knew I'd have to trim some, and would those trimmings be usable in other spots? What if I mess some up? I cut them out and didn't get to weeding them right away (which isn't really necessary).

After it had sat for awhile, the vinyl sort of shrunk from the cut lines. When it was fresh, it was hard to see the cut lines, but in the picture above, you can clearly see each tile.

Easy weeding, but it added up to a lot of waste. I do hate that about vinyl crafting.

All done! We were planning a surprise visit during Thanksgiving weekend and I thought maybe I could get it done.

It took a bit to figure out the best way to do it, keep them straight, create the grout spacing. I started over on this end because it's a short wall, with something in front usually LOL

I noticed right away, that the non-permanent vinyl is not opaque. It's a bit translucent and feels thinner. This meant that the defects in the wall she was hoping to cover, showed up. You can see this in the tile above the outlet.

And...this section was all I got done. And then life, surgery, recovery, more COVID restrictions...finally I decided I just needed to go for a day. Which turned into two nights. I had other things (food, vitamins, electrical panel) to deliver that she needed, so I wasn't totally breaking the rules!  

I had started with 1/4" grout line above the wood strip. However, as I went over, I couldn't keep that, and keep the tiles straight. It was frustrating. I didn't want to trim tiles for the bottom row, so I had to fudge and play.

I couldn't get right into the corner behind the TV. The angle that I needed to twist/stand/lay down at was too uncomfortable for my left ankle. 

We were left with a lot of tiles left. Maybe 10 sheets? Not sure. 

So this quick and easy project, took six months to (almost) finish. LOL. She's happy and still determined that she wants an orange backsplash.