Sunday, October 30, 2016

Taking up my old hobbies.

I'm deeply sorry for my long absence! I had to take care of a huge pile of paperwork to progress with my career (get my full license, start specialty training). Now I have a few free weeks ahead, waiting for more paperwork to come. But hey, I'm pursuing a dream!:)

Staying at home I had time to refresh some of my older, a bit dusty hobbies!
As a kid I spent hours drawing. I even attended some afternoon classes. Last week I bought a nice (and discounted) set of oil pastels. I also dug up a 15 year old set I got in my elementary school! That, some dry pastels, black craft paper and few hours of being crafty resulted in this:


Getting my fingers dirty with a mix of autumnal shades makes me happy and relaxed.
Some pieces even make me feel rather proud:



Others - a little less proud (cheesiness and all):



...and there are those that don't. They just don't:

An aggressive squirrel.

And this is SUPPOSED TO BE Tiny Tina

I also re-started my stick insect farm. Well, there are only three of them and they comfortably fit in a jar, so it's hardly a "farm"... Nevertheles I feel so excited about watching them grow! Especially because I have no idea what species are they :)


The third "forgotten" hobby of mine is playing Morrowind. I thought I wouldn't enjoy the rather out-dated gameplay, after playing Skyrim and Witcher 3... but I do! And it is as much fun as it was in 2006 when I first played it :)

Between all that I still have some time for knitting/crocheting. Currently I'm working on two projects. My hubby's scarf -  ZickZack Scarf by Christy Kamm.


He dared to call it "too colorful"! Can you believe it?!

The second project I would like to keep secret. I'm 99% sure the future owner never reads my blog, but there's no rush for him to find out about it. Yet.

We're having a beautiful weather today, so we'll be spending our Sunday afternoon in a forest outside of town. It will surely be inspiring.

Have a nice afternoon!





Sunday, October 9, 2016

Shift Shawl!

Let's sum it up, shall we?
  • 1 pattern by Larissa Brown
  • 5 skeins of Drops Alpaca
  • 1 set of 4mm circular needles
  • 25 days
  • 18 hours of blocking
  • gazillion alpaca fibers on my clothes
...and here it is. My Shift Shawl.


I made some minor changes to the original. I ran out of light beige yarn after 8 garter ridges (instead of 9, so I made additional two garter rows in off white, and then bound off using Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.
Wet blocking took almost 18 hours, but it was worth it!


I wish I had a set of blocking wires, that could help me with this weird wavy edge you can see on pic above. Luckily it vanishes when the shawl is worn! :)


This happens to be my first knitted shawl. The first one that's not a forever-WIP that is. And it is HUGE! I even convinced my reluctant husband to help me with pictures:


I'm still figuring out ways to wear it. In fact, I had to rush a bit this weekend, because tomorrow I'm going to buy a winter coat. And I don't have to tell you what will be first criterion!


Here's more detailed color info:

Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca (100% alpaca, sport weight)

A - natural white 0100
B - dark beige 0618
C - brown 0403
D - dark red 3650
E - light beige 0302

I used up most of color D, all but 2g of color E, but I should be able to knit a matching hat from what I have left.

However weird that sounds, I'm so happy about the gloomy, windy, damp days we have now. Weather like this was made for alpaca!


Have a nice (not necessarily warm) afternoon!
Gosia.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

3000 stitches to go.

Two months ago I learned how important it is to read labels carefully. I was looking for a suitable yarn to make a Shift Shawl by Larissa Brown. My pick was Drops Alpaca, so I started my search for perfect color combination.  I felt so lucky, finding it in lower than usual price... and in fact I felt lucky for another few minutes, until I realized I just purchased 5 skeins of Drops ALASKA instead of ALPACA. More haste, less speed I guess. I did put it into good use though!

My second approach was successful and I managed to purchase the correct amount of yarn I intended to buy. Yay!
I started working on September 13th, and after two and a half weeks (and one train trip to Katowice) I got so far:


And I absolutely ADORE this yarn! It is so soft, fuzzy, and smells so good! Of course, I had to be greedy, trying to squeeze in one extra garter ridge in each color section. Now I'm afraid I will lose the game of yarn chicken with the light beige skein. This won't make a big difference, though. I can make the edge with off-white yarn.

My sister pointed out that colors I picked are a bit old-fashioned and grandmother-like. Well, I think the word she was looking for was "retro".


At this moment I have at least 5 more beige ridges to make, 4-5 off white stockinette stripes and edging. This is well over 3000 stitches to be made. No time to lose!

I secretly hope this winter will be colder than the last one, so I will be able to use my shawl often, without risking overheating.

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.



PS.: I might have ordered 10 skeins of yarn for a baby blankie yesterday... whoops.