BFF SAL 24 - Pink!!!

Yep lots and lots of pink.

There was some green and a teeny bit of invisible cream/beige too. But the pink was predominant.  Putting off the evil moment of brown confetti in the middle. Partly because I am missing a thread but mostly because I feel like it's going to be hard work!

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - it's easy to be Green

Haha at least when you are stitching things.

Recycling bin weirdness continues space across the UK, with a variety of different colours and sizes of bins not yet ready to support new policies thrown up from April. Here in Northumberland, changes not expected before October 2026.

Lots of green thread fun this week.

check out my BFF's update here

Yarn Adventures - part 5

It was time to up my game. The granny cardi and hexi cardi whetted my appetite, but I wanted to follow a pattern, with counts that mattered.

(I say this as counting was where my earliest attempt at crochet in my 20s fell down. Let's just say I called it the incredible shrinking waistcoat and I never did finish it!!)

Once again YouTube was the source of inspiration, having watched a video using granny stitch to produce a sweater from the top down.

Check out MJ's Off The Hook Designs.

So I purchased a pattern.  And another variegated yarn, this time Double Knitting weight.

This is before the sleeves were added.

Checking out the idea of short sleeves.

And finally, having settled on elbow length sleeves this time round. (Ignore the green row counter underneath please)

I'd still like to make something with long sleeves, and to branch out beyond my comfortable granny stitch, but I have another YouTube pattern in mind for that one, for which I still need to purchase the wool.

I've really enjoyed making this one, it only took a week to make, and whilst awaiting the arrival of the bulk of the yarn, I started another with some of my stash. I'll post when completed. I think it will be a short sleeved variant.

Yarn Adventures - part 4 - accommodation for an obsession!

Well. It grew... And soon it was overflowing the single plastic box allotted to it.

A YouTube video from EliseRoseCrochet focusing on tips and tricks for storing yarn gave me inspiration.

So this is my much more organised yarn stash. Heavy weight chunky at the bottom right up to skinny 4 ply at the top.  And all zippable to keep out any dust or spiders!  The original plastic box now holds only in-progress projects and granny squares awaiting a home.

Yarn Adventures - part 2

Yes, I know I'm posting this after part 3. But as it has yet to be blocked and stretched to best shape, and I have had further finished work since then, well it's waiting no more.

After the blanket, I have to admit there was a bit of a granny square obsession going on. So I decided I wanted a wearable something.

This time in Aran/worsted weight yarn.

Initial plans were just to use the big squares, alternating with the black.  Having assembled the back, however, I started to want a bit of variety.  And I discovered that 2 small squares fit perfectly in the vertical space of one big one.

A bit of a black border, and then a bit more variegated colour down the outside.

And then for sleeves. Initially I was thinking of plain black long sleeves given how busy the rest is.  But then I decided on elbow length sleeves, and again finished off with the variegated yarn.

For the borders of the whole cardigan, I chose the same variegated yarn with just a couple of simple rows of double crochet. The colours of it delight me, and I foresee many more things using it in future.

As a first crochet wearable beyond hats or fingerless gloves, I am happy with it. I've learned lots, including a join-as-you-go method for assembling the squares together, and various steaming techniques.

And watching many many YouTube videos for tutorials has given me ideas for my next few projects. 

Some of my wool stash has been busted. And other new things have joined.  I'll tell more about those in other posts.

BFF SAL 24 pink pink pink

Pink pink fizz.. nah not quite the Alka-Seltzer advert.  But for some reason that arrived in my head like that.

Lots of pink added, and a little more green.  It always surprises me how different mine and my BFF's look right up to the later stages 

It's a steady plod and I'm enjoying it as a bigger more involved piece than the cover kits 

Check out my BFF's update here

Yarn Adventures - part 3

Yes... I know I have not posted part 2 yet, but it's important that Finished Object number 2 is recognised and remembered as Started Object number 3 haha.

So, as part 2 will eventually tell, my fondness for the granny square grew. It also became a good companion piece to take on my work travels.

And as the hobby grew, so did the fondness for the accompanying YouTube tutorials. And so one variant of the Granny caught my eye, the Hexagon.  Worked using the same stitch, this uses 6 internal angles (corners to the rest of us) to produce a hexagon instead of a square, the  result when folded makes sleeve and body for one side, then another identical piece is added to the other side.

This was a great stash busting piece, with a combination of leftover and reclaimed wools, helping to thin out my chunky stash.

In contemplation for the next project now as Project Start number 2 also nears completion, I have a few more things in mind that I would like to try, and of course I am itching to be in the Starting Zone again... Such is often my way with crafts.

Yarn Adventures - part 1

Well..now for something completely different!

A couple of Christmases ago, my BFF gifted me a bag of very random, quite expensive yarns/wools, including 2 skeins of a designer yak wool, and wools from 4ply, through to double knit as well as the thicker chunky yak wool..  She'd won them in a competition along with some very complex pattern books, and wanted them to see a new home.

I'm not well up on expensive yarns, usually shopping at the budget end of things (once upon a time due to financial constraints but these days, more due to my own tendency to start a project without finishing it), so they languished for a while until a recent visit from my mother in law. 

Upon looking them up, they were all discontinued lines so not something where I could purchase additional skeins to coordinate.

Now my MIL is both a knitter and crocheter. When I showed her the strange little balls and skeins, she suggested a blanket or something made with granny squares.

So I started up with the yak wool, which was delightful to work with.  Got to the size of a large cushion before running out of wool, so I decided to search my own wool stash for a coordinated colour.  This variegated one, leftover from a knitted gilet, was just the ticket, especially as it has loads of teal which looks great with my chair.  I used up all my leftover yarn in that stash to finish a nice little lap blanket.  Here it is draped over my lovely reclining chair.

This was to be just the start of my next crochet adventure.  Keep following for more experiments and stash busting journeys.

BFF SAL 24 - many shades

Dotted around tonight with 5 different colours. A bit of pink, a couple of extra greens as well as the one I ended on last week, and a little bit of brown, so that the main subject in many shades of brown does not end up being a sole bug-bear at the end.

Check out my BFF's progress after she posts here

BFF SAL 24 - beating the flower

Yes! This week I have successfully tamed the flower

And a bit of green too.

We were very quiet and tired this week, family health issues for my BFF and "I've been on leave for nearly 2 weeks and my brain has shut down" for me (so not really a good excuse but hey menopause will do that to a body!)

Liking the way we're still very much the same but different, the things my BFF has outlined, I have innards.

Check out my BFF's update when she posts here

BFF SAL 24 - the Hokey Cokey!!

In, out, shake it all about.

You put some stitches in. You take them out as they're in the wrong place.. which you pride yourself on realising.

And then you realise there were 2 mistakes.

So after "fixing time" this is how progress looked. The pink parts all depended on each other for position. So out they all came, as I have not the same patience for workarounds as my BFF.

And som re-stitch time

There was some progress at least but a very frustrating week.

Check out my BFF's progress here

BFF SAL 24 - New Beginnings

Haha this looks so unlike what it's going to be!!

Check out my BFF's progress here

BFF SAL 23 - two FFOs!

The beauty of a 2 parter.. you get 2 finished objects at the end.

Haha the thread book first... Well thereby hangs a tale.  My BFF and I were having a more important discussion around serious subjects, and oops.. got to the end having sewed my piece to the cover upside down!!  Can I live with it? Nope. Do I want to unpick it? Oh heck nope.  So chopped around it and used the fabric intended for its innards as the outer cover.

My photos are in the wrong order for my head here.. but next to show is the scissor keep... Nope I have more than one already, this is not getting ribbon unless I decide to use it that way. For now it is a decorative piece only.

But what of the inside now??  Well - I have a serious surplus of green felt.  Here's the little one demonstrating the green felt.

Oh.. and the stuffing.. haha some thread ORTs.

And finally the pair together.

Have to admit I have enjoyed these. I would make both patterns again but perhaps try to get the size right next time!!

I'm also easily stressed out by assembly of stitched items. I think I much prefer things to be off to a friendly frame.

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF RAL - very random

Having enjoyed the chance to still keep our BFF get-together whilst away with work, I decided it was definitely something we could keep up.

I had planned to stitch an extra of the smaller snowdrops pattern.  But then a chance conversation with my lovely mother in law resulted in a resurgence of my crochet obsession.  I'm working on a large granny square blanket. But of course being a single piece, this is too big for travel.

But little granny squares, I can do those. Maybe even on the train?

Yes I could, and the first couple passed a happy while on my journey.

So next some on our session 

This square looks very random, as it's sharing wools that are self-patterning so is giving off a rather patchwork vibe. I like it anyway somehow!

This one is better, only one wool involved this time.

And finally on the train ride home next evening.

Only one this time as I was too tired to be bothered.

I used just a basic granny square for these so they were easy to create whilst nattering, especially after a long work and travel day.

But I do plan to branch out again with some more creative patterns, and hopefully use up some of my extensive wool stash along the way.

Check out my BFF's progress here

BFF SAL 23 part 2 complete

A quick fun stitch this week, and ready for completing in a couple of weeks time, as a work trip once more has my attention next week.

Its looking good here against the purple backdrop of my kit bag, a present from my BFF.

Check out my BFF's progress here

BFF SAL 23 part 1 complete

This has been a fun little stitch,  only a couple of weeks in the making.  I didn't quite get done in the session,  so some off camera work was required to finish the backstitch. 

Like my BFF. I'm happy with the variegated thread border, those are the rarely used parts of the thread stash so always nice to get a chance to use it.

Check out my BFFs update here and play spot the difference. 

Back next week for the second part, although my brain still says it's really BFF SAL 24 (or 25 due to another earlier 'split' project like this)

BFF SAL 23 - a seasonal stitch

The first of a pair of stitches, providing that we enjoy this one as a SAL.   It's going well,  even though white on white is hard to see on photos.  I even sneaked a bit of edging in, a departure from the pattern and the chance to use some thread from stash. 

Continuing the cover kit trend for now, but we have some non-cover kit ideas for later that we're both looking forward to....even though neither of us could initially remember what we'd chosen at all last night!!

Check out my BFFs update once she's posted here

BFF SAL 22 - Catching Up in Advance

A change of venue for me, as I've been away in London with work.  But as I wasn't travelling with colleagues,  well I was still going to have time to stitch,  so why not together as normal?

But as I needed to figure out my Stitching position,  lighting and camera setup etc.. I decided to preempt the catchup that I'd need to do later as my BFF stitches faster than me!

With the results that I finished first, by a single stitch!

And here for spot-the-difference side by side too.

Check out my BFFs story on progress here

BFF SAL 22 - a short fill in

A query to my Internet provider turned into a mammoth call which halved our stitch time this week.  But I did enjoy filling in parts of the cow.

I have permission for off camera catchup time do we can start backstitch together next week. 

Check out my BFFs update here 

A mini revival

Oh it's been SO long since I'd stitched outside of our joint sessions!  I feared lost Mojo!!

So here's a little mini stitch,  customised with our current car colour.

The kit was a gift from my BFF many years ago when our car was a different colour.

But it was great fun to complete in a day.

BFF SAL 22 - a mostly friendly cow

Haha I forgot about the invisible coo!!  He got feet, he got grass to sit on.. but then its like he was lost in the fog

So time to give him some friendly belly.

Even if it looks yellow instead of light brown. 

I'm enjoying this stitch so far, it reminds me of last years holidays in the beautiful Scottish Highlands, where we met the real thing.

Check out my BFFs update here

BFF SAL 22 - recollection of my holidays

Oo this one is appealing to a nostalgic part of my brain as we met one of these up close on holiday.

It's another cover kit, but will keep you guessing a while yet. Can you see what it might be?

I had a teeny bit of unpick required at the end when I realised I started the left side 4 rows lower than needed.  And no workarounds for this one.  

Check out my BFFs update here

BFF SAL 21 - Celebration of Wreaths

Yippee,  finally back to the SAL. After an early start to do some catching up, I made an executive decision around backstitch as far as the background was concerned. 

And I'm very happy with the finish. 

Still needs stitching into the supplied Christmas ornament,  bit hey I've got a few months before next Christmas, right?

Check out my BFFs update after she shares it here