Day Five: Something a Bit Different

It’s the annual challenge to blog in a way different to how you normally blog. You may choose to create a podcast, or vlog, create a wordless post, a beautiful infographic or write in verse. You can post on any topic you like, but be sure to post in a style different from your usual blog presentation. There’s not too much guidance for this one simply because the more varied the posts are on this day, the wider the sources of information for other bloggers will be.

I had the idea for this a while back and was really pleased because I'm normally trying to think what to do for this topic right up to the last minute. I'm really pleased that it actually fits in nicely with Day 7 when we'll be looking at the spaces which we knit in. Using the time lapse option on my iPad camera I pressed record to capture what happens when I sit down to knit. I took a few videos over the course of a few days and here are a couple of them.

Timelapse5 from Hannah Smith on Vimeo.

Timelapse4 from Hannah Smith on Vimeo.
In future I'd like to capture me knitting a small project like this, it would be so so fun to watch it grow before my eyes. I'll definitely have to wait until the girlies are out though, if you've just watched my videos I'm sure you can understand why!

Day Four: Bags of Fun

Time to delve into that most treasured collection of tools notions and oddments as you are asked to spill the contents of your knitting or crochet bag, caddy of other method of organisation and put your crafting unmentionables on display.

As someone who struggles to keep WIPs to a minimum I, of course, have a collection of project bags in use at any one time.  I like to think of them as a little family, made up of different shapes and sized and all useful for different things.  Not only do their contents vary wildly from bag to bag, but also from project to project as I empty out everything I needed for the previous project and begin anew when I cast on again.  Most will contain a tape measure, all the needles I'll need and as much of the yarn for the project as will fit.

1. KnowKnits Goknit Pouch, my primary sock bag.  Has useful poppered loops for keeping the yarn in check and attaching to belt loops.  Starting to get a bit worn now.
2. Handmade sock bag, unlined so the needles poke through, probably needs replacing. 
3. Handmade sock bag, this one is lined and is actually quite nice.
4. Bag for smaller projects that are larger than socks.  Good for hats, gloves, cowls and shawls.  This one alone contains permanent bits and bobs because it is quite fiddly to open and close so there's little danger of the kids getting in there and getting hold of my scissors and stitch markers.  Sooo many pointy things and choking hazards in this bag!
5. Large project bag.  Another handmade bag, it even has wadding in it to make it stand up nicely and to minimise needle pokeage.  I can fit a sweater and all of the yarn in here and I'm quite happy to fling it behind the sofa when the kids are getting grabby because everything stays nice and snug in there.  This one is also quite tricky to open due to the wholly unsuitable ribbon I chose for a drawstring (it's a string that really doesn't draw) so it's quite secure.

While I don't actually keep much in my project bags, I keep this little box of tricks close to hand....well on a high shelf nearby really.  I got this for a few quid off Amazon and really it has pretty much everything in it that I like to have to hand.  The only things I added were one of the little key thingys for my interchangeable needles and a yarn ring for colourwork.  It doesn't have a tape measure because I threw that away.  Much as I was tempted to keep a tape measure that had inches that were actually an inch and a half and we all have days where that would cheer us up I'm sure, it seemed irresponsible to keep it around in case it got used by mistake!

So despite having a multitude of bags on the go at once, I'm actually realising I'm more organised than I thought.  Go me!

Day Three: Experimental Photography and Image Handling for Bloggers

I often struggle with this topic, photography is not my strong point and the places I have to take photos are a bit rubbish.  So with that in mind I thought I would take some of my old project photos and have a little fun.

Meet Thomas Waghorn, postal pioneer and resident statue near the train station in my home town of Chatham.  Poor old Thomas is one of those unfortunate statues who is wearing a traffic cone on his head more often than he isn't.

Maybe he'd like a nice woolly hat instead, this one is sort of cone shaped so it shouldn't feel like too much of a departure.

Or how about a balaclava shaped like a chili?

Ooh, now this one is definitely you, Mr Waghorn!

Hmm, maybe not, but that was far too much fun and with my new photo messing skills I will totally be sending my knits around the world before too long.  Watch this space!

Day Two: It's All About You

This year you are challenged with one of those tasks that some bloggers can find quite daunting: but there's never a better time then when we are all in it together, so lets shift the focus and turn the attention from the things we make to the things that make us.

While I'm sure that there will be a few people who won't relish this topic, I have absolutely no problem with waffling on about myself without having to pretend that I've done something creative to warrant it! To be honest I decided it would probably be harder to know where to stop rather than where to start so I've just picked 5 little factoids about moi and I'll leave it at that...and because it's all about me I'm illustrating the whole thing with a series of selfies. Sorry (sort of)!

1. I'm a 'working stay at home mum'.During the day time I am really lucky that I get to stay home and hang out with my girlies. I love that I get to be with them all day and rarely miss a thing. They are really great company and they teach me so much every day. At 3:30pm Stu comes home, has a shower and takes over and I head out the door to do my evening shift as a library assistant at the nearby university. I love my job, my colleagues and the library itself is pretty cool. Working evenings can suck a bit, there's nothing like getting to work just as everyone else is knocking off, but at least they are always all pleased to see me! It's totally worth it to not be paying for childcare and the fact that we both take responsibility for childcare in this way means that we really appreciate what the other does.

2. I loves me a bit of geeky entertainmentWhen I'm not knitting I'm thinking about knitting, but when I am knitting there is nothing I like better than sticking a good bit of sci fi to keep my eyes busy while my fingers work. Somehow it makes me feel better about sitting down and watching hours and hours of telly (I think the phrase binge watch was invented with me in mind) if I have something to show for it. Now if only someone can find a way for me to knit and play video games at the same, then my life will be complete!

3. I have a BA in Archaelology and Classical Studies.If I could send my consciousness back in time I would love to have done something more creative or even sciencey, but old stuff is cool and my studies were interesting if not terribly useful in my life so far. I love Greek & Roman mythology, some of the stories are so ridiculous or gruesome that they are hard to forget, super useful at exam time. I think that I would have enjoyed university whatever I studied, it was a really fun time of my life, if only I could remember more of it!

4. My life is incomplete without hot buttered toast.Obviously my husband and kids etc are way more important, but it turns out that buttered toast is way up on the list of things that I cannot happily live without. In an attempt to stop my gallstones from trying to kill me I ended up on a fat free diet from October of last year until I finally got my gallbaldder removed in February. It was soooo hard and there was a lot of food that I missed, but not being able to butter my toast took me to a very dark place. I was actually looking forward to my surgery because I knew that they would bring me tea and toast with proper butter on afterwards. When I had my first scheduled operation cancelled after I'd actually arrived at the hospital I was absolutely devastated because I'd woken up thinking that by the end of the day I would have got my toast! Two weeks later I finally got my post op tea and toast and all has been well ever since.

5. Talking about myself without mentioning my knitting is weird....So I won't! In ordinary circles the fact that I knit and spin and sew is generally met with surprise and is something that kinda makes me interesting. Despite a resurgence of these types of hobbies it is definitely an unexpected thing that makes me a bit different from others and sort of defines me in some ways. It's cool, but is definitely a reason why I love reading craft blogs and hanging out on Ravelry. It's great to mix with other people who obsess about the same things that I do and feel the same way as I do about creating things. I look forward to opening my blog reader every morning and seeing a load of new posts and when blog week rolls round every year I add more blogs with great relish....so keep at it guys, I can't wait to see what you all make next!

Day One: If You Were Yarn

If you were a type or brand of yarn, which would you be? Are you a classic pure wool? Is there extra tension but a bit of bounce in you because of your high twist? Would you be more like a high-maintenance, strictly hand-wash fluffy angora or a ‘bring it on’ acrylic, bravely heading into the world of possible baby-sick laundering disasters knowing that you will always come out bright and unharmed?

Since learning to spin I have become much more aware of different types of fibres and their properties and how that changes the way in which I spin them. I have fibres that I LOVE and fibres that I will never be working with again but I've never really given much thought to whether any of them represent me in any way.

And, in fact, I still haven't given it much though because I immediately thought of one particular skein of yarn in my stash and the decision was made. It's a handspun, spun by my own fair hand, not the best example of my work but somehow just very much 'me'.

This yarn is a total mongrel, a quick sift through my Etsy receipts tells me that the batts I it was spun from contained 8 different types of fibres, some of them with multiple colours.

I think that the sheer amount of stuff in this yarn was a big reason why I immediately chose it. Like most people I am not one thing, I am a mish mash of complementary and clashing qualities that all come together to make me. The manner of spinning was also a big influence too. Essentially I just sat down at mt wheel with my batts and let them become whatever they became, no plan in mind. What I ended up with was think and thin, dull then bright, twisty then soft and strong then delicate. This means that the weight is difficult to classify and the WPI is just an average, it refuses to be pigeonholed. A bit like a lot of people I'm sure, but definitely like me. I like to look a bit different every day,wearing different styles of clothes and wearing my hair differently. I'm scruffy one day, neat the next, some days I like rainbows and bright colours other days I'm all about black and ripped jeans and studded belts. There's always eyeliner though, just like my yarn with it's 2nd ply of shiny black thread.

Like me, my yarn isn't sure what it wants to be when it grows up. The perfect pattern hasn't shown up yet but it's not stressing. I like to take each day as it comes and see where I end up, there's no master plan, I'm just going about being me and trying my best in all that I do. Maybe I'll never knit this yarn, maybe it never wants to become anything more than what it is....and I'll be completely down with that.

FO: Simplicity 1413

As promised yesterday I have an FO for you. Simplicity 1413, a simple shirt for boys and men made in delightful disco colours for Miss Cassie.

Making things for Cassie is a total joy these days, she gets so excited when I finish things for her and she wears them with such pride. She's also a total pro and recognising handmade things, she can spot a pair of handknitted socks from 29 paces, it's very impressive!

On the whole the construction of this shirt gave me very little trouble. The fabric had been hanging around in the stash for a long time so I forgot I hadn't prewashed it so the pieces all shrunk a little when I got a hot iron on them. I just made sure after the first incident of "aargh, these pieces don't match!!" that I pressed all the bits until they all shrunk and the shirt is still a little large so no harm done. Aside from that and my machine throwing a bit of a fit about sewing buttonholes through a couple of layers of fabric and interfacing it all went pretty smoothly.

I think this will be a really lovely garment for the summer and I'm sure I'll be making her another before long. The pattern is for boys so I'll be sure and pick some nice girly fabric, especially as she's going through a bit of a princess phase. I'll also put the buttons on the girl side too next time as I'm finding fastening them quite awkward.

In other news, I'm still feeling pretty rough although Felicity did do me the favour of sleeping through the night last night so I have had a good sleep. Going back to work tonight after the long weekend is going to be haaaaard though. Boo.

 

Happy Birthday to meeeee!

I actually have an FO I should really be blogging about for today, but I can't really be bothered because today is my birthday. Yay! I've actually had a miserable few days, we've all had really horrible colds so I've not really been in the mood to celebrate. I made a special effort to be more chipper today though so that we didn't just all sit around and mope for the day.

I got up sooooper early, thanks to Lissy who then promptly went back to sleep and left me wide awake so I had a couple of hours of blissful peace and quiet before everyone else got up. I made a cuppa and caught up on Mad Men and Game of Thrones whilst doing a little bit of relaxing colouring in.

This afternoon, with the girls safely out of the way with their aunts and uncle, Stu and I got some lunch, did a bit of shopping and then went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron. Datetastic!

Gift wise I feel like the luckiest lady alive right now. Stu arranged for my whole family to club together and I got an overlocker and a dress form. Due to some admin nonsense we were actually sent two dress forms and no overlockers so I'm still waiting for my new machine, but me and the new lady in my life have been getting acquainted.

I've totally eaten way too much today and I still feel really poorly, but it's been a good day and I couldn't ask for more :)