Oh look, we're in another lockdown. If I'm being honest I would have say that, in my world of job-searching unemployment and living at my parents, it hasn't really made a huge difference to my days. I also recently got a flight refund from one of the three airlines I've been having long phone conversations with over the last few months, so that has definitely helped take away the financial pressure for now. Of course, all this extra time has allowed for more crafting and this is what I've gotten up to so far. (You can see what I originally had planned on my blog about Crafting to Come).
1860's Sontag
This is now complete, and I really like it. It's like wearing a body warmer, but closer to your body, and probably allows for the same amount of freedom. However, I actually prefer the silhouette of this. I will need to make this again at some point, with some alterations for a better fit and wool yarn for extra warmth as I've never found acrylic particularly warm. But this will do for now.
Culottes
These are completed and I love them (you can see my hap hazard method here). They really aren't the most flattering items I've ever made or in fact worn, but I love the brightness and the feel of them. The cotton fabric is still a little stiff as well so that doesn't really help, but once it's been worn and washed a little more it should flow a little better and sit more like a skirt. I am thinking about possibly making a top from the same material, but we'll see if I get round to it - probably not this year.
1930's Cardigan
I started this project in October, but then had to put it to one side to do some other, mostly Christmas, projects as I was worried about not getting them all finished on time. These are now complete and I can now get back to working on this lovely cardigan. The wool is a beautiful colour, but I do slightly regret picking the multi-coloured style as getting the two front panels to match has turned out to be a bit of a headache. However, it finally looks like the second panel is now matching and coming along nicely. There is another problem that I've noticed though. I've been looking at the first panel again, and tried an initial fitting, and it looks like it might be slightly too short at the shoulders. So, it looks like I'll need to frog to the garter section of the shoulder to then increase the length. The main problem here is that this yarn is actually quite difficult to undo as the fibres tend to stick together once knitted. Thankfully I did keep the rest of the yarn from that ball so I can just connect it up and keep the same patter going. I guess we'll have to see how it turns out.
Christmas Cards
These are now completed and most have been sent away to their respective recipients. They were a lot of work and I definitely wouldn't have done them like this had I not had all this extra free time on my hands. But it was nice to do and I like that they sort of look like Christmas decorations. I now need to work out what I'm going to do next year as I usually have to start the whole process right at the beginning of the year. Oh joy.
Face Masks
These were one of the additional three crafts I've added relatively recently. We only had two fabric masks each that we had brought off Etsy a while ago, and one each that my Mum had made for us, so I decided we definitely needed more than that. I found a pattern on line and decided to make up a few up (including one each for my parents). I got permission from my Mum to raid her fabric stash and ended up making ten in total. The pattern only called for two layers of fabric, including a opening to put in a filter, but I wanted to put in three with at least two being cotton. These did take quite a while to make, about 2.5 days in total, and were quite fiddly. Even though they are made from the same pattern, some do sit a little off and had to be re-fitted. There is one that's still sitting in my to-do pile that I basically need to redo for it to work properly. However, most function just as you would need them to. I think if I was to do the pattern again I wouldn't sew the first two layers together right from the start, but connect central lines separately and then join them at the end. It didn't help that my sewing machine didn't want to work at all this time and I think it needs to really good clean out and oil. I'll add that to my list of things to do in the near future, and definitely before I take on another sewing project.
Nightmare Before Christmas Cross-Stitch
Aran Jumper
Project number three and another Christmas present. The pattern for this one was Hayfield Bonus Aran 9465 and the yarn is Cascade 220 in the colour Shire (couldn't resist the Hobbit connection there). It's a cable knit jumper and definitely one of the hardest things I've ever made before, but I started to get the hang of it near the end and I think it actually turned out pretty good. The soon to be owner saw me making the jumper but didn't get to see the final piece, so I'm looking forward to them opening it on Christmas day. I'm not sure I'll ever make a cable knit jumper ever again, but it was good to give it a try at least once.
The Shawl
I haven't actually started this yet but I've finally decided on the pattern and what wool I'm going to use. The pattern is Biophilia by Mary-Ann Mace and I really like the connection to the sea. I'm using yarn recommended by lovecrafts.com, which is where I brought the pattern form, and ended up getting the yarn Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply in Peacock (and yes I know it looks exactly like the wool I got for the cardigan. That wasn't the plan I just apparently have a thing for that colour palette 😂). Looks like it's going to be quite a complicated pattern, but it'll be good to test myself with it.
Lord of the Rings Cross Stitch
Buying the patterns are about as far as I've gotten on these as I'm taking a little break from cross stitching for now. But I know I'll enjoy them once I get started.
Looking at it I actually managed to get quite a lot done during this month and a half. I've also realised that I quite enjoyed having a sewing, a cross stitch, and a knitting project going together so I could mix and match depending on what I'm feeling like that day. It's something I would like to carry on doing in the future. However, right now I'm taking a little break from multi-crafting, especially as there will come a time when I actually need to have a few project on the go at once, and am just going to concentrate on getting my cardigan finished. Especially as I think it's going to turn out to be quite complicated enough in it's own right. Then I'll get back to it, probably just before Christmas.
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