A Pair

 

Right, I've finished the half-finger gloves. They'll be collected on Friday. Pattern is Tipsy by AndreSueKnits, yarn is my handspun wool. 

Back To Knitting

 

 I'm not entirely organised after moving house, but there's nothing urgent now, so I've taken time off to work on an order. The lady wants gloves with 'half fingers'. I've used this pattern before, Tipsy by AndreSueKnits.  Last time I did the ribbed version; this time I've done the stocking stitch version. I think the ribbed version fits better, but I shall continue and finish the mate of this one. Doing the fingers is much more fiddly than doing fingerless gloves, but there you go, it's probably good practice. 

MIA

 Sorry to be missing in action. We're in the process of moving house, so crafting is on hold. I did go to the market on Saturday. I finished knitting a pair of fingerless gloves while I sat at my stall, and sold them before I was done! 

Stash Buster Cardigan Is Done

 I combined two yarns from a friend's stash to make this cardigan for myself. I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage method, found in Knitting Without Tears, which is more a method than a pattern. I think it would have been difficult to find a pattern to use the two yarns. The percentage system also helps create a well fitting garment:

Winter is definitely here now, so the cardigan will be put to good use. 

Deciding The Way Forward

 

I've finished round 16 of the Spring Doily. I've run out of thread and time (I'm about to move house) so the sensible thing would be to take a leaf from muskaan's book and Stop Tatting. But I really like those last two rounds, and the way they enhance the scallop outline. A friend suggested I use a completely different thread to do the outer rounds. I'm a bit worried that would draw the eye away from the overall design, but it's a possibility. I also have a different brand of size 40 white thread. It doesn't match - there's white and there's white. But I'm going to try tatting round 17 with it and see how it looks. If it doesn't look good, I can try working with completely different thread colour. Or colours. I thought of using green with a different colour for the 'flowers'.  Decisions, decisions....

Sewing

 

I've been sewing jewelry bags again. I had to make extra this month, 30 tiny ones and the usual 15 small ones. Anne, the silversmith, is doing well. 

The tatted doily in the picture is the Spring Doily from 2020. I have made some progress on this year's doily, I'm now just over half way on round 16. 

Little Hats

 

I've finished two little beanies to go with the gloves shown in the previous post, to make two sets:

I underestimated how much wool would be needed. I had to dye some more wool for the second hat. The wool is rather thicker than the wool I spun for the gloves and first hat. I had it lying around after I spun it for an order that didn't work out, so this was a good way to use it up. The patterns are from The Ashford Book of Spinning, by Anne Field. The fingerless gloves are actually a mitten pattern, which was easily adapted. 

Little Gloves

 

I've finished knitting two pairs of fingerless gloves for an order.  It's hard to tell in this photo just how small they are, so here's another picture with a pen for reference of scale:

I need to prepare for tomorrow's craft meeting in a retirement home, so the beanies and other projects will have to be put on hold. I'd love to be able to sit and tat (the last round of the Spring doily came out today) but I don't think I'll have time to tat. 

Progress On Different Fronts

 

I've made a start on round 16 of the Spring Doily.  There's still a long way to go. 

I've spun and dyed two hanks of wool, so I'm ready to knit children's gloves and beanies. 

And I've put together the different parts of my cardigan so that I can knit the yoke. 

Round 15 Done

 

I've just finished tatting round 15 of  Renulek's Spring Doily. Round 17 came out this morning, so I'm still two rounds behind. 

I had to do a fudge on this round. I realised that I missed one ring and chain on the previous round, so I joined two rings into one picot

This is how it should look:

 I didn't block this round because I think the wayward onion rings will be  brought to heel by the next round. 

I won't be able to tat exclusively because I have an order for children's gloves and beanies. I'm a little dubious about the wisdom of using handspun wool for children's accessories, but if that's what the customer wants, so be it. 

Back To Tatting

 The market went pretty well. I sold some handspun yarn, gloves, keyrings, a  puppet, and the bracelets were collected. I didn't spend more than I earned, which is always good! 

I didn't get any orders, so I've got a chance to go back to my Spring doily. I'm almost half way through round 15. 

Three

 I've made three beaded keyrings. I'm working on puppets at the moment, but I'd like to make a couple more keyrings if I can before Saturday.  The bottom ring has gold beads in it, but the shine doesn't show in the picture. 

I Can't Keep Up

 I'm not abandoning my Spring Doily 2025, but I'm not going to try to finish each round before the next one is released. I like the discipline of doing that, but of course there's no obligation to do so. The pattern will still be on the Renulek blog when I have more time to work on it. There are tatters ahead of me and tatters behind me in working the pattern, with no tatting police chasing any of us! 

I'm busy getting ready for Saturday's morning market. My priority is to finish three beaded bangles for an order. I'm nearly done

Since I have the beads out, I may make some key rings for the market. They are popular and quick to make. 

Beads

 

I haven't worked with beads for a while, so I had to hunt out all my beaded crochet rope supplies.  I found everything except the small funnel that I use to put beads back into their jars. I'm about half way done with the bracelet, the first of three for an order. 

I was so focused on getting through my crafting list that I clean forgot to take my washing off the line yesterday, even when the rain started. The clothes have had an extra rinse! 

Tick, Tick, Tick

 I'm getting through my to-do list. Round 14 of the Spring Doily is done:

The bags are ready for delivery:

And the Augusta fingerless gloves are ready for the market table:

On to the next task. 

Priorities

 

I've done five repeats of round 14 of the Spring doily. My plan is to tat one repeat a day for the next three days, to be ready when the next round is released. But.... I have a number of projects on the go. I need to sew jewelry bags this week. I've made a start:

I also need to prepare for the next market, which will be on the 3rd May. I have an order for three beaded crochet bracelets to be delivered there and I need to augment the knitwear and puppet baskets. Fingerless gloves are the most popular item, so I've started there:

The pattern is Augusta, by  Lena Marie Gjerald.

The cardigan I'm knitting for myself will have to fall off the to-do list for now. 

Sleeve

 

 I'm using the magic loop technique to knit the sleeves of my cardigan. With two balls of yarn and a very twisty circular needle, I'm apt to get into tangles. On the other hand, the stripes pattern helps me keep track of where I am and where the increases need to be. 

I finished tatting round 13 of the Spring Doily yesterday:

Putting The Time In

 

 I've been following the evolution of Diane's beautiful, colourful version of the Spring doily, so I knew that round 13 is a time consuming one. I was quick off the starting blocks, tatting one repeat on Thursday, the day the pattern came out. I didn't have time to tat on Friday, but I did three repeats on Saturday and two on Sunday. So, I'm well placed to finish before the next round is released. Provided I don't make any mistakes, of course. 

Stash Busting

 

I've given away some of someone else's stash  to a lady who knits toys for a children's hospital. There was  yarn remaining that was less bitty, but not enough to knit a garment with. So I'm combining two of them to knit a cardigan for myself. I spent some time contemplating how to combine them and decided on narrow stripes. At one stage I thought I'd do the sleeves all in the blue boucle, but I'm inclining towards stripes throughout. I'm knitting back and forth on a circular needle and planning to use Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage method to work out stitches for the sleeves and yoke. It's easy knitting, so good for taking along. 

I have finished tatting round 12 of the Spring Doily. 

Working On The Twelfth Round

 

I've done three out of the eight repeats for round 12 of the Spring Doily. I should be done before Thursday when the next round comes out.

I did finish knitting the socks before the market. They didn't sell though. Sales were down on last month, but the market was worthwhile in other ways. Someone asked if I'd glued the roses to the food cover. No, no; I was rather indignant about that!

Quick quick

 I didn't tat on Tuesday, International Tatting Day, because I needed to whiz up some yarn for Saturday's market. I spun  two skeins on Monday and two on Tuesday. Yesterday I dyed them

My plan is to have two for sale as yarn, and knit a pair of socks with the other two. Once they were washed and dried, I wound one skein into a ball and started knitting

I'm not certain I'll be able to finish the pair before the market, but I should at least have one sock to act as a sample! 

Round 11 And Roses

 

I tatted round 11 of the Spring Doily over the weekend. I like that even an easy row requires a certain amount of concentration, as there is a different pattern on alternate 'petals'. 

I also finished sewing the roses, leaves and butterflies onto the food net

 

I sewed the roses using small running stitches from the back. I took a picture of a white rose, the stitches are so discrete I can't see them, so I took a picture of the pink one, where they show up a bit better:

Getting There

 

My to-do list does still have some items on it,  but I've finished round 10 before the next round is released and I've sewn the jewellery bags. I'll deliver them on Friday. 

Working On Round 10

 

I'm half way round the tenth round of Renulek's Spring Doily. It's a straight forward round, so I should be able to finish before Thursday, when the next round is released, in spite of having other things to do. I must sew jewellery bags this week and make another batch of melon and ginger jam. 

Coming Up Roses

 

I've been using Victats Roses are Red pattern to tat roses to put on a food net for April's market. I love the pattern. I've used it before for a food net. I'm going to add a leaf to each rose, using muskaan's leaf doodle #2 pattern.  I will (of course!) be adding Jane Eborall's very small butterflies to the net too. 

Nearly Done

 

 I've finished knitting the baby blanket.  Originally, the mum-to-be said she wanted a touch of green in the blanket. I thought I could perhaps do a green edging, so I did a sample with a scrap of green wool. I sent a photo off, but the decision was that it should be left as it is. That's fine. So now,  I just need to sew the ends in and wash and block the blanket. I'm waiting for a warmer, sunnier day before I do that. 

Round 9

 

I've finished tatting round 9 of the Renulek Spring doily.  I did my usual thing of making a mistake just before the end of the round. I get so excited about finishing that I don't pay enough attention to the joining spot. Luckily the thread is robust and it's possible to open rings and join in the correct place. 

Still Knitting

 

I'm making progress on the baby blanket.  I think I need two more pattern repeats to make it square but I'll check carefully after one repeat. 

Round 8

 

I had to pay attention on round 8 of the Renulek Spring Doily. I made the same stupid mistake twice. Mistakes corrected, it's done now. Here's a closer view:

Blanket Progress

 

 I've been knitting in the evenings, as well as some daytime knitting, and the blanket is coming along faster than I expected. Of course, there's still a way to go. The pattern is Thine, by Lyndieloop on Ravelry. I'm using a circular needle, which holds the many stitches better than a straight needle - 165 stitches, to be precise. 

Round 7 And Market

 

Shuttle and ball were fine for round 7. I worked on it for most of the day yesterday and got it done.  It could almost be complete like this, but I'm not done yet. 

On Saturday morning I was at a local market, sharing a stand with Di who makes soap:

The morning went well. I sold the food cover and the socks that I made last week! I also sold a couple of puppets and 5 jars of honey and jam. I had interesting conversations and bought some produce from other stands - cream, raspberry jam, pecan nuts....

Food Net

 

I have a food net ready for market. I did the edging as part of a project at the retirement home. It's just done in simple running stitch, with a bead added on every second stitch. My sewing machine really doesn't like this fine netting, so I may use this method again in future. 

Washed And Ready To Roll

 

The sun came out, so I was able to wash the wool spun for the baby blanket. I've had to put that project on hold for a bit though, to get ready for a market on Saturday, the first since December. I knitted a pair of socks:

 Now I'm tatting flowers for a food net. I've left my preparations for the market a bit late, so I'm tatting in the evenings, which I don't usually do. I have to sew jewelry bags this week too.