On my hook (and my needles)

Welcome, again, to my little blog :-) I'm so happy that you have come to visit.

As promised, today I will be giving you a little peek at my WIPs. I recently introduced my sister to Ravelry and she asked, "What is a WIP?!" So just for her, today we will look at my Works In Progress :-)

There are not that many of them! I know, you're laughing. But really, I have been quite good recently and finished a few projects off, so at the moment, today (because it could all change tomorrow!) I have 6 projects on-the-go. 2 knitting, 1 crochet, 1 cross stitch, 1 patchwork and 1 sewing. Phew!

OK, project number 1. Ripple scarf.
(This is kind of cheating because it's pretty much finished) This will be a present for a friend who has very recently moved back to her home in New Zealand. It's like a little hug from me to her from all these miles away. I chose the pattern because it reminded me of the crochet ripples I love so much! It was lovely and easy to knit, and the yarn I picked worked up into perfect stripes, with NO planning! Sometimes I just get lucky! It did, however, bunch itself up into a little folded scarf, which looked odd. And skinny. Hmm..

I realised that my scarf would need blocking. Which frightened me. I had never blocked before! Fortunately there are some super lovely ladies at my Thursday night knitting group who gave me great advice. One of them even lent me her pins, wires and mats :-) I was sooo grateful! And here is my first attempt at blocking,

I'll let you know what happens when I take out the pins!!!!!


Project number 2. Small Granny stripe.
I know some of you have seen this one on Ravelry already so I won't go on about it too much. Let me just say I. LOVE. IT. Although it is not made from a favourite yarn the colours are so fresh and pretty and it is quick and simple to hook up. So I'm feeling the love for this one!!

Will keep you updated on progress :-)


Project number 3. Cross stitch.
Oh how aptly named this project is. It makes me cross. It has been a WIP for over 10 months now and it is really not a big project. But every time I pick it up I get cross with it, so it goes away again. There are 2 things that make me cross about this project. The first problem is that it is worked on linen instead of evenweave so the stitches are not all the same size. It is uneven, messy, wonky, everything that cross stitch should not be. I know this will not matter to the finished product (or Miss M as this is for her!) but it bothers me. The other problem is the colour. Very pale grey and white sheep stitched onto cream linen. There are very few times when the light is good enough to be able to see my stitches, grrrr!!

Hopefully I will soon feel a sudden burst of enthusiasm for this project and get it off my WIP list!!!

Project number 4. Peggy squares blanket.
This is my on-going, uses up all my left-over bits of yarn project. I just knit garter stitch squares - I LOVE having something this simple to switch off to between other projects. Sometimes I knit them all in 1 colour. Sometimes I play. There are only about 10 of them so far so I'm not expecting this one to be finished any time soon, it needs time, and left overs!

Project number 5. Bunting.
This won't be on the list for long :-) I started it on Sunday, has to be finished by Friday when Miss M comes home from her holidays (with her grandparents). This pretty pink bunting will be hung in her room as a surprise when she returns. I love bunting. And I love pink. What a fab combo! Will show you a photo just as soon as it is finished :)

Project number 6. Liberty patchwork.
Do you remember those lovely ladies at Thursday night knitting that I told you about? Remember the one who so kindly lent me her blocking equipment? Well it's her fault that I have all these teeny little Liberty fabric patches. I was quite happy thinking that Liberty fabric was something far beyond the reaches of my purse. But then C came to knitting one Thursday and showed us all the pieces of Liberty fabrics that she had just bought on line. Oh, how I loved them! And somehow, I still don't really know how it actually happened, but somehow, that very evening I managed to order a pack of 2" Liberty squares from eBay!

Well, they arrived, and they were gorgeous. I spread them all out and marvelled at all the different prints, and then put them away again. Until this week!! I got the urge, you know how it is when you just have to start something - NOW. So I started cutting out teeny 3cm squares from paper, and the carefully tacking each piece of fabric around the papers. I forgot how calming patchwork is. And so lovely to get to have a good look at all the different prints as I tack :)

I have to confess I don't know where this project is going yet, I've had a couple of ideas about what to make with the patchwork; bag, purse, cushion, place mats - but no decisions yet. I'm just enjoying them!

So that is my WIP list! Not too long, and a good variety of crafts - stops me getting fed up with anything (except that grrr cross stitch!) It was lovely to share them with you, I hope you have enjoyed having a little peek at them. I will show you photos of the finished projects as they leave the WIP pile!

See you again soon! xxx