Knyttwytch's Crafts and Stuff

Woo hoo! finished my sweater :D

All sewn up and ready to wear - it has taken me three months longer than I hoped for but it is finally done and I am rather pleased with the result!

Maybe not the best shot but it gives some idea of what it is like on (and it is very comfortable as well!), I have the Heather Sweater sewn up and just the collar to do so that could be the next one (oh and I have the cotton/linen mix which I want to make into a simple shrug - come to think of it that might be best next as that could be useful during the Summer whereas the Heather sweater is more Autumn/Winter weight).

My next challenge though is to complete the Medieval Dog needlepoint, I am beginning to see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel with that so I really want to crack on and get it done - closely followed by the Winnie the Pooh cross stitch (which is best worked on in the Summer months when the lighting is better and my hand works reasonably well!)

So 2.5 months to get the shrug done, the needlepoint done (and the Hare started!) and lots done on the cross stitch - wish me luck!

March already!

Hmm and I still haven't finished the comfy sweater! But after a couple of weeks of serious stress I knuckled back down to it yesterday and today and I am cracking on again.

This shows how long it will be as that is the completed side then

This is it as I started off again and finally

Close of play today - I reckon tomorrow I should be able to get up to the cast on for the sleeves/start of the pattern and if I work on it then I SHOULD have it ready to sew up early next week! 

After that is sewn up I want to concentrate on the needlepoint at home (until the better weather when my hand will be able to use the smaller needle for the cross stitch ... I hope!), although I will take the heather sweater to the pub and get the shawl collar done on that - and then I want to work on more of the knitted sampler squares.

So crafting plans are sorted out more or less, I need to try and get more stuff sorted in the house and some coats etc sorted out and out of the house! I need Dr Wytch's help with that though.

No I am NOT planning on drinking the 2nd from a pint glass! I am on a bit of a Malbec kick at the moment, fruity, rich and drinkable - works for me!

Finally Toby and Hamish because they are cute and I can!

Wine and Comfy Sweater

Okay over the past few weeks we have sampled some more red wines and for a while that was it! No knitting, no nothing (although I did manage to get some reading done last week which means I am ahead of the curve for my Goodreads 2017 challenge of reading 217 books), today though I managed to get some more done on the second side of the Comfy Sweater and I am now about one third up that.

I am hoping I can keep my stress at bay for long enough to get up to the sleeve cast on by the end of this week AND if I am really lucky (and can nab young Yarnscape!) I can get it sewn up and worn by the end of the month (wish me luck on that one - not only am I stressed but my hand isn't playing ball that well and I can only do a small amount at a time *sigh*).

So the wines

Very nice and smooth - I would happily have this one again.

This was okay as a fairly generic wine goes, not bad but not really great either - just ... pleasant.

This was a fun one but not my favourite out of the selection - that honour goes to

This one is a keeper! and I would very happily have more of it!

So plans for the rest of the week - meditate and knit!

Quick Crafty Update

2017 I have decided is the year of finishes! I can only start a project if I have finished another one off, I have two knitting projects on the go - the heather sweater and the comfy sweater - this is how the latter looks at the moment

and that is only side one - so a fair way to go on that! The other two things are the Medieval Dog needlepoint and the Winnie the Pooh Cross stitch, the former I have about half a dozen colours to finish on it - one of which I completed yesterday this was before I started

I needed to finish the orange which you can see in the medallions at the bottom (two filled in a few to go) and this was at the end of the day

All that orange is now done so I need to get the rest of the colours done and then the rather large expanse of white!

Today I plan to knit, tomorrow I will work on the cross stitch (if my hand plays ball, it is a smaller needle and a lot harder for me to cope with, if I can't then I may work on the needlepoint again)

1. Read 217 books (4/217)
2. Do 13 new recipes
3. Go to Clinique for a make up lesson
4. Medieval Dog colour 1 - done
5. Medieval Dog colour 2
6. Medieval Dog colour3
7. Medieval Dog colour 4
8. Medieval Dog colour 5
9. Medieval Dog colour 6
10. Start Medieval Hare
11. Knit long, comfy sweater
12. Finish Jan and Feb on Winnie the Pooh
13. Finish Mar and Apr on Winnie the Pooh
14. Finish May and Jun on Winnie the Pooh
15. Finish Jul and Aug on Winnie the Pooh
16. Finish Sep and Oct on Winnie the Pooh
17. Finish Nov and Dec on Winnie the Pooh

Clearing and Knitting

Okay been looking around then things have been falling apart again

So first off I had a go at the sofa

Now it may not look fantastic but things are at least straightened up, my desk is a very gradual process but I am nibbling away at that.

Most of my time has been taken up with knitting

This was when I finally got the rib sorted!

Before lunch on Sunday and then

End of the day (I then managed to have a yarn over when I was working on it on Monday! but that can be sorted, I may just cast on the front and start working on that for a while until I feel up to sorting that out!)

This the the Sweet Orange Wine, about another week, 10 days and this can be racked off into another demijohn for a couple of months before bottling and speaking of wine

this is what Dr Wytch and I shared on Saturday night.

Just a quick update

Firstly no wine since last Saturday and I haven't missed it! I think it had become more of a habit rather than an enjoyment, but I do plan on having some tomorrow which I will enjoy I am sure! Speaking of wine we had an organic fruit box as well as an organic veg box for a while (we canceled the fruit bit and kept the veg box!) we started getting a glut of fruit and so we set off some Sweet Orange Wine a couple of weeks ago! Next time I have the camera out I will take a photo of it as it is at the moment (currently still in the demijohn)

My knitting is on hold as I mucked up the Heather sweater and seem to keep mucking up the comfy Caribbean sweater (picture of what it should end up like below!)

Finally a shot of Dr Wytch and the Cairn Terriers 

and a snoozing Toby

Just a quick round up of recent wines and where the sweater is at!

First off the sweater - this was how it looked when I picked up all the stitches for the collar/front

and this is after a few HOURS knitting on the rib

the length of the collar is about 60" and is 232 stitches, so it takes me a while *sigh*, however the end is sight so this is the yarn I plan to use for my next sweater

I plan on doing a sleeved, throw on tunic style sweater, front and back are the same so nice and straightforward I hope!

Now for the wines - I haven't posted for a while so there are a fair few!

I had slipped into the habit of having a glass pretty much every night - that has now stopped so hopefully there will be fewer wine pictures from now on in and more crafting and the dogs!

Dogs, weather and an update

1st off the dogs, once a quarter they go to a local groomer to get handstripped (ooer Missus!), they look very smart when done but at this time of the year I am sure they are glaring at us!

Both dogs pre groomer (and staring at a hand with treats in!) then Toby on his own before

and after

Very sleek! and then Hamish before

and after

Almost Strawberry Blond heh, heh. heh!

Then the obligatory wine shots! One from the Co-operative near to hubby's work

and one from an Independent Wine and Spirits shop

Hopefully on the next update I will have a knitting picture - I am getting on well with it thanks to Yarnscape - but I haven't taken any photos - next week or even before would be good!

A common theme namely wine and yarn!

More to the point I've not blogged for a while *cough*, so have some wine photos of new wines tried and also an update on the sweater!

First off the wines, all reds as that is my preference (hmm even if I do seem to be getting a few more migraines recently - might need to think on about that!)

Rather a nice one and unusual being from Verona

Not bad as a generic, can buy it almost anywhere wine goes

Hmm Tesco Finest it might be but I prefer the selection we get from Waitrose

which this one is and it went down very nicely thank you! (and I ended up with rather a late night as I was enjoying it and savouring it! oops)

Finally a few shots showing how the sweater is coming on - firstly this is how much I need to do to finish the main body

All things being equal I should be able to finish this off this week and then I will need help (probably from Yarnscape) to get the next stage started off.

Maybe not the best shot but this shows the whole sweater as it stands at the moment, I know there are errors but I am really pleased with how it is turning out as it is my first large project, roll on finishing it!

Knitting MoJo Back!

Yesterday for the first time since early July I picked my knitting up, and decided to do rows per the date - now bearing in mind I started on the 11th this means I have some catch up to do! So yesterday I did days 11, 10 and 9 and when I finished the knitting was at this point

I needed to get that square at the front to 20 inches - I got a bit carried away today though and ended up with it measuring 21 inches (oops!) so some unknitting was needed followed by catching up again and so by the end of the session (days 12, 8 and 7) I had reached this point.

I am now working down that thin strip near the top of the photo which is only 27 stitches across so it should be fairly quick to work! This will then finish the left front and I start again from the back of the neck on the right and do the same again.

If I crack on with this I could have it finished by the end of the year BUT this means putting the Medieval Dog and the Winnie the Pooh on the back burner again - hmm need to ponder this some more!