Happy Valentine Day

_____________________________________________________________________

The only thing I've got to show this week is a broken plate.

Here is my stitched plate.

And here it is broken...... (cut apart)

Then I put glue (stitches) on all the broken edges.

And then stuck (stitched) it back together again.

Close up of repair job, lol.

That was all in the name of experimenting and having fun.

See you next time. 

Cyra

Duodenary Ravellenics Events - & YOP

The yarn events at Ravelry have finished. Here are my latest event finishes, and counting them off on my YOP list too.

Bag Backstroke event - A Freeform Project-Holder Bag
I have overcome my 'fear' of knitting with this project, as it contains 4 different knitted parts. I had to teach myself how to cast-on again though, because I'd forgotten how to do that, lol.
More photos of this are on my Ravelry project page here.

Sock-put event - Bootie Slippers

Afghan Marathon event - Afghan Blanket/Comforter

Hat Dash event - Pink and Purple headband

Household Heptathlon event - Basket to hold my Threads

Household Heptathlon event - A Star Coaster for my glass of wine (or gin)

Household Heptathlon event - A woven and crocheted bookmark for my favourite book of poems

And with the 5 previously posted events:
Sweater Triathlon event - White baby cardi
Sweater Triathlon event - pink pullover
Toy Toss event - Hug-a-monster
Frogging Trampoline event - Frogging thing
Garment Polo event - Toddler skirt

12 finishes altogether over two weeks.
That makes me a Duodenary, lol.

Ravellenics ran from the 5th to the 21st August.

I would officially like to thank my DH for going away for the two weeks.
While the cat's away the crocheter will play, lol.

And, over the last two days since the Ravellenics finished, I have been sorting out and unpacking my craft room. I have re-made the flat-pack shelving, and along with the new set of shelving on top of the flat-packed ones, I now have ample shelving for books and equipment, and I have arranged it so that my new sewing table slots into a space under (and between) the shelves.
I'll get photos for next week to show what I mean. I'm so excited to have a dedicated room for my 'stuff'.

CQJP2015 January completed - & some Crochet textures

  Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2015  .  

I had a great week of stitching and this block for January is now finished.

    Red January   

Entirely hand stitched, with a couple of pieces of crochet for embellishment.

To recap my theme:

Embroidery threads will be the predominant form of embellishing.

Crochet lace or embellishing will be made specifically for each block.

I will be experimenting a lot with patterns and the build up of combination seam treatments.

   Texture in Crochet   

Just thought I would share a crochet project with you.

I love texture, and I love crochet..... so put the two together and I am in a happy place.

Crochet White Wrap Progress & That "Eureka" Moment

The White Wrap/Shawl is progressing along nicely now.

I have a lot of scrumbles joined together and it is really starting to take shape.

Lots of lovely texture...... I love texture.

Some lacy delicate dainty parts.

Waves ruffles bobbles and fluffles.

Loose threads still to weave in, and more scrumbles to join up.

It's fun.

And now.................on to the other title of this blog.............

 THAT   EUREKA   MOMENT 

Yes, I have had a 'moment' of that description this week.

I have learnt to knit.

I am able to knit.

I CAN KNIT

All my life I have admired knitters but never been able to master it myself. My mother tried teaching me, my school teacher tried teaching me, various friends over the years have tried teaching me. I even had a 98 years young lady try to teach me.

I couldn't understand how to cast on, and even when someone else did the casting on for me, I still couldn't get the knitting bit right.

I could never get the hang of it and gave up trying in the end. 

I was Doomed to call myself a NON-KNITTER for ever.

Until last week that is.

I have been so inspired by the creative knitters on Tuesday Stitchers:

Debra

Deborah

Judy

and

Barbara

I spent two whole days watching youtube video's on how to knit.

I've lost count of how many video's I watched, but it was definitely A LOT.

And NOW, just look what I can do...... I CAN KNIT......

A tentative start after the cast-on.

Still a bit unsure at this early stage.

 The ribbing starts to appear.

I lost half a row of stitches about half way through this ribbing, and although I managed to recover the loops without dropping a stitch, I think I put the loops back onto the needle the wrong way around, hence the midway 'bumps' along that row.

Oh yes, I think I've got the hang of the ribbing now, so I tried a different stitch.

Hah! So that is how stocking stitch is made, lol. It's all becoming clear now.

More rows dropped, damn it's annoying when I do that.

More care needed, but at least I managed to pick up the loops the right way around this time.

WooHooo look at me go.

I CAN KNIT 

excuse me while I shout louder

I CAN KNIT

That was my eureka moment.

Can you tell I'm excited about being able to knit. 

I'm sure my mother is looking down on me at this moment with a big smile on her face.

Perseverance, see, that's all it needed.

____________________________________________

Lessons learnt this week

• You can teach an old dog new tricks
• If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again
• It doesn't matter if I knit slow and clumsy, as Iong as I DO it somehow
• Slippery needles are, well....... slippery (duh!)
• If it doesn't work one way, try it another
• Check each row for mistakes before moving on
• Big Boobs and a deep cleavage make a great needle grabber in emergencies
• Knitting takes about 30% LESS wool than crochet does
• Relax and enjoy the ride