Star Ripple III & Slouch & Bobble Hat finished

Posted on May 17, 2017 by The Little Room of Rachell

I finished the hat on Monday and the blanket on Tuesday (yesterday) and today am in the odd position of not having anything woolly on the go. I did spend ages looking through pattern links I’ve saved, in the notes section on my iphone, and on Ravelry and looked through my favourite makers photos on Instagram, but can’t find anything that grabs me. I think the time has come to stop putting knitting my first pair of socks off. It’s just the thought of all the new stuff to read and try that makes me procrastinate. But I bought all the kit last year and Trish sent me a copy of Christine Perry’s (aka Winwick Mum) sock book. It’s time isn’t it?

They’re rather grim photos I know. I had planned lovely outside shots but it’s rained all night. I’m so glad as it hasn’t rained for a long time. Farmers say their seeds are just lying in dust in the fields. A hosepipe ban in many counties lies ahead, and apparently we need two months of solid rain to put enough water back into the water table. I did enjoy this in the sunshine on Sunday though…

I’m soon to finish If You Go Away by Adele Parks, and plan to listen to the last hour of my neglected comedy audio book Toast on Toast by Steven Toast too. This week it’s all endings isn’t it?

Actually there’s more… After several frustrating emails to inlinkz, where we were both typing the same language, but it seemed only one of us actually read what the other had written, it was finally stated (admitted?) that inlinkz is not compatible with WordPress. I was offered a refund. So, we’re back to no proper link up on a Wednesday. However please feel free to add a link to your Yarn Along / Yarning Along post here in the comments and I’ll add it to my post. We can still share what we’re making and reading every week.

1: Simply Summer Street

2: Vikki Bird Designs

3: Made by Patch

4: The Eclectic Stitch

It felt like Spring, for a day

Posted on February 8, 2017 by The Little Room of Rachell

But now it’s back to grey and drizzly. Oh well, you have to make the most of the blue sky days and sprint outside when you can.

I have given myself permission to start something new, as long as I darn blanket ends as often as I can. I dreamt I was knitting on Sunday night, so I decided that must be what I really want to do next. I used my nostepinne for the first time and find the centre pull wool ball fab. I’ve always unwound from the outside and the balls jump out of the yarn bowl. No movement at all with a centre pull. It just sits quietly making no trouble at all.

I’m knitting a gorgeously soft scarf with sparkley Louisa Harding Orielle (in ruby) which is 97% baby alpaca. You increase a stitch at one end and decrease a stitch at the other. There’s a lot of plain knitting involved which might get dull, but hasn’t yet. I started with 72 stitches and realised I should check that I still have 72 . There were 66!?!? How did that happen? This is fairly typical of me and knitting. I think it’s all very straightforward, and just in case I get muddled I use a row counter app, but it always goes astray somehow. The perfectionist in me is tempted to rip it all back, but the voice of reason says “It’s only a scarf, get over it. Just add 2 increases until it’s 72 again.” Alright then!

I’m about to start listening to The Silent Tide by Rachel Hore. I liked A Gathering Storm and enjoyed Gerri Halligan’s narration before, so am looking forward to it.

PS: I finished We are all Completely Beside Ourselves (see here) and quite enjoyed it in the end. I did read another novel after the spoiler and before continuing though.

I’m joining in again with Ginny’s Yarn Along.

Baby Annabell’s clothes

Posted on April 13, 2016 by The Little Room of Rachell

Yesterday I made a little tunic top and am halfway through a poncho. The poncho is so cute! The owner of the Baby Annabell will be 3 next week, and so I shall pop these into the post in the next few days. I just need to sew on a couple of buttons and darn the ends.

Doll’s clothes are fun, I’m finding. I’m not one for toy making, but clothes are satisfyingly fast and so cute. I did think Baby Annabell (36cm) clothes patterns would be leaping out at me, but it took quite a lot of searching on Pinterest and Ravelry. I didn’t want to design any myself and preferred to find freebies this time. I’ll take another photo when they’re both finished. Links to the patterns are here on my Ravelry project page.

Joining with Ginny’s Yarn Along: I finished listening to the last of the enjoyable The Kasmir Shawl last night, as I made the tunic. I’ve been alternating it with Moranthology, which had me laughing far too loudly on a plane last Friday (the bit about how Keith Richards cooks sausages. I’d had a double gin…)

The Woman in White is nearing the end. My Kindle reading speed reckons it’s another 1hr 20m but I’m determined to finish faster. I feel like I’ve been reading it for years. It is surprisingly funny and this is my favourite line of the book, so far, it’s at the end of a letter which has been delivered to our hero:

‘You can have no possible cause to complain of these precautions, seeing that they do not affect the information I here communicate, in consideration of the special indulgence which you have deserved at my hands. My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.’

Good lady!