A Year of Projects Update - Week 35

I am in a land of stockinette at the moment!

WIP's
My Zinone by Andi Satterlund is down to the body.  So it is just stockinette all the way.  I am knitting this in Blacker yarns Lyonesse in the aquamarine colourway.  The actual colour has much more green to it.

My Christmas socks are coming along the leg, and so is just stockinette.

The next three socks for my garland KAL are up to the heels so are a little more interesting.  But then it will be back to stockinette.

Thomas's Christmas jumper is onto the body, so is just stockinette!
I am dying to cast on something new, but I really want to finish some things first.  And I will be receiving Interpretations 5 at the end of the week so. I. Must. Wait!

Hopefully I will have at least 1 finish by next week and then I can tell you all about my shiny new cast on's.
Have a great week.

A Year of Projects Update - week 34

Oh I have had such a good week!  Very productive in lots of ways.  I have made lots of progress on my projects but have no pictures of those, I have lots of pictures of yarn though, so I hope no one minds!

Monday saw me and a friend taking down our decking in the back garden.  It did not take as long as we thought it might, and there was a patio underneath that just needs a good clean and tidy.

Then during the week I made good progress on Thomas's Christmas jumper and my Christmas socks.  I also got going on Zinone and am now nearly ready to start the front.
Then on Friday me and the boys went to Unravel which is a yarn festival about 50 minutes drive from us.  It was the first time I had been and have been planning what I wanted for a while. 
So here are my purchases.

 First up is a sweater quantity of Stranded Dyeworks 4ply in the Metalsome colourway.  This is going to become a cardigan to partner my dresses.

 I picked up two skeins from Fine Fish yarn to become a pair of socks for me and Daniel.

 These two from Riverknits are to become a shawl.

 These three from John Arbon Textiles are to be a jumper for Daniel.

And these from Treskelion yarns are to be an All My Love by Joji Locatelli.
And that is that (and should be enough to keep me going for a while).
Anyway, I think that is quite enough hope everyone has a great week and I promise I will have photos of actual knitting next week!

The Garden Project - January update

January tasks

• Clean the greenhouse - remove all dead plants, re pot any living plants, tidy and clean as necessary
• 'book' Julie and her chainsaw for the February half term to take down the decking and book a skip for the same time
• Clear the garden of leaves
• Cut back all brambles
• Prune the raspberries right down in fruit cage
• Research a stand for the strawberries

February tasks

• Take down decking
• sort out patio
• Make strawberry stand
• Sow cabbages, lettuce and basil
• Soak sweet peas
• Buy potatoes

These are all of the tasks I had planned for January and what I intend to do this month.  As you can see, the big progress has been with the decking.  Julie and I spent Monday removing it as you can see below.

So the decking is now gone. I am going to spend a little time at the end of the week tidying the new patio.  I am going to keep what was underneath, although Darren may have to level out a bit of it.  There is a patch that I think I can build a barbecue onto.  Otherwise, it just really needs a clean and tidy and will be good to go.  I have been looking at the wood we have and think I can fashion a frame and place some strawberry planters on top.  Again this, together with the other tasks on the January list will hopefully be done at the end of the week.  So there we are - I will take pictures and update again at the end of the month.

A Year of Projects Update - week 33

We have made it to half term!  Of course it has not been a very long half term, but it has been a busy one.
I have a few plans for this week.  Tomorrow me and a friend are going to take down our decking.  We have tools and are ready to go!  I will update in a garden project update later in the week.  On Friday the boys and I are off to Farnham and Unravel.  This is the nearest yarn festival to us, we are not going to any talks or classes (not sure the boys would appreciate either), but I intend to enjoy the marketplace.  Anyway I will report on my purchases next Sunday.

FO's
I finished my testknit yesterday, but can't show you just yet. 
I also received two lots of fabric from a seller mentioned by Katie at Inside Number 23 - another Katie actually at Sewsewsew.  And I made a couple more dresses!
I love these, they are a little lighter weight than the other two so should take me easily through the summer.  I am going to get some fingering weight yarn from Unravel and make a little cardigan that goes with all of the dresses.  The pattern is Coco by Tilly and the buttons and all the fabric is knit jersey.

WIP's
I put a bit of work into Thomas's Christmas jumper this week.  I think I'm about half way through the body, but I do have time!

I've also done a little more on my Christmas socks and I'm ready to cast on Helen Stewart's winter rose socks.
I have also cast on Zinone by Andi Satterlund.  I knit one of these a couple of years ago and love it as a summer top, so I have got some Blacker yarns Lyonese which has a 50% linen content and have started another in that.

Hopefully, I will get through a lot of this this week and will report next week.  I hope everyone has a great week with lots of lovely crafting.

A Year of Projects Update - week 32

I feel this could be a very brief update!
This week I have been almost exclusively knitting on my Penguono.  I did a little work on the test knit and am up to the heels, but that is all I have knit on other than 'the beast' that is/was Penguono!

The reason I have knitted on this so much is not because there has been any deadline (I am trying to be very good with those - ie not having them), but because I have loved this project.  I think I can say without doubt that this has been my most favorite knit to date, and I have knitted quite a number of things.  I loved every second of this and now it is finished. 

I feel a little lost now and am subsequently planning my next Westknit - probably Askews Me.

And that as they say is that!  Next week I will be getting ready for the half term break and I am going to visit Unravel on the Friday (16th) so I am really looking forward to that.  I intend to do my homework and only buy what I need!  That is the plan anyway.
Hope everyone has a good week.