Crafting Goals 2022 Update #4

First of all, Merry Christmas.  I hope you're having a good day.

This has been quite a year for crafting for me.  It was a very ambitious list that I'd given myself and I even added to it along the way.  Though I haven't actually managed to complete it, I'm still amazed at how much I did actually manage to do.

The Wrap Dress

This was from the pattern Butterick B6554.  I really love how this dress looks and feels on, and I absolutely love the pattern on the fabric even though it wasn't initially what I was looking for.  It's nice to also have a dress that fits me properly and doesn't flash parts of me at unexpected moments.  The only issue is that,despite making the top part already and doing a practise run that went well I still managed to get the bust darts wrong and had to do them again, which means the inside isn't as seamless as I wanted.  If I'd had more fabric I'd probably would have redone that part, but I'm still happy with the outcome and I plan on wearing this quite a lot.

Guernsey / Gansay Jumper

This is a Christmas present for my husband, at his request.  It's a really interesting pattern (from Frangipani), but the size of the needles required are quite small and that meant that, despite doing a lot of knitting, there hasn't been as much progress as there normally would.  That has meant that, despite my best efforts, this isn't completely complete for Christmas and he has had to open it with needles still in the garment.  However, it shouldn't take me much longer to get it completed, hopefully by the end of the year.  Despite that length of time the process has been quite interesting due to the Gansay jumper specific elements such as the false seams, and the gussets under the armpits and around the neck to give that extra space and movement for a jumper that it meant to be quite fitted otherwise.  I would recommend trying this jumper, especially if you're interested in the history of garments.  Just make sure you have plenty of time to make it.

Christmas Cards

(I completely forgot to take photos of the finished cards before I sent them all away.)  Speaking of Christmas, my decision to make the Christmas cards using paper crafts this year definitely saved by quite a lot of time but was still quite enjoyable.  Mostly it gave me the opportunity to use my brain in a different way to create a design.  It's been a while since I've done something like this and I think I might also start making birthday cards in this way in the future.  I do need to make sure this doesn't turn into another money sink though, so possibly a bit of planning first.  Still I think they turned out pretty well.

The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings Cross-stitch - Rivendale

My plan to get everything done before December so that I could concentrate on just doing this cross-stitch went completely out the window when I realised that the Guernsey jumper would take as long as it has.  This has meant that I haven't actually touched this cross-stitch at all this quarter and it has remained the same as before.  I'm not sure I'll get to it at all this year so this will probably carry on to the next where I plan on it being one of the first things that I finish along with some smaller completion projects.

And that's it for crafting in 2022.  Getting all of these crafting projects done did mean that there were some other goals I had for this year that I didn't complete as a result.  The highlight this year for me was making my wedding outfit and even though I had planned on shortening the skirt afterwards to that I could wear it other times I just haven't had the heart to do that yet.  Though I am partly glad on that now as I've now changed my mind on the length I'd like it to be.  Still, every time I open up my wardrobe and see the skirt I get to think 'I did that'.  I have started to think about what I'd like to do next year for crafting, but I haven't completely decided yet.  All I know is that it'll be a lot less than this year and will mostly involve using up products I have rather than buying more.

Crafting Goals 2022 Update #3

It's been a pretty busy quarter and I did feel like I hadn't gotten much crafting done, but now that I'm writing this post I've actually realised that I have managed to make a few things made.  I guess it helps that I can usually craft whilst doing something else and it now seems to be my go-to time out activity, though this has been at the expense of reading which is something I do really want to get back into soon.  This is what I've managed to make this time round.

Vivien Fair Isle-Style Jumper

This was yet another item I've made from the Knit Vintage, though it's likely to be the last one now.  I had the same problem I had before in the fact that the information provided isn't quite accurate and I ended up having to order another ball of green wool whilst having an extra pink one remaining.  But otherwise this was a pretty easy pattern to follow and I found that I enjoyed doing colour work.  I actually got this item finished pretty quickly once I got going and did make a couple of changes in the fact that I knitted it in the round instead of having two separate body pieces and I added a little extra design to the shoulders as I found the neckline a little bit too close on my throat for me to be comfortable.  The wool (100% Alpaca by Drops Design) is very soft, but does shed a little bit, and I would recommend it.  Even though this is sort of a summer jumper the wool is definitely warm enough that I will be able to wear this during the winter as well, over a long sleeved top.

The Wrap Top

This item took quite a bit of fiddling with to get it to actually fit my body properly.  It also turned out to be one of those tops that you have to make almost completely before you can work out if it's going to actually fit properly, at least I found it was.  On trying on the first attempt I could see that the bust dart was in completely the wrong place and had to be moved down 4cm, it didn't fit properly just under the arms and these needed to be pulled in by about 2cm on each side, and the bottom of the top had just a little bit too much fabric so I had to add darts in this area.  However, I really like the completed look and now I have all the information I need to help me when making the wrap dress so, whilst it might have made me pull my hair out a little bit, it was time well spent.

Once I had finished this top I realised that I had just enough of this fabric to make a skirt.  Nothing bigger than a pencil skirt, but a skirt nonetheless.  When we were looking around a charity shop I did find a pattern for the type of skirt I was thinking of making (I couldn't find a pattern number but it's a Prima pattern for a fitted peplum top and pencil skirt) and managed to make this in about a day, including putting in my first ever invisible zip - though I would ask you not to look to closely at this.  I did have to make some changes to the waistline as I always do and I basically can't put on any weight at all now, but I really like the outcome of this as well.

Lord of the Rings/ The Hobbit Cross-stitch - Rivendale

As usual this has taken a bit of a back seat whilst I've been working on my other craft projects.  However, I have still managed to get quite a bit of the cliff area done.  My plan is to get all my other crafts finished by the end of November and spend December just working on this, which will hopefully mean it'll be finished by the end of the year.  I like cross stitch, it's very satisfying watching the picture come together so it'll be a nice way to end the year.

Cushion Case and Mittens

There were a couple of things that were needed and I decided that what I would do is knit them hopefully using up some of the wool I had left over from other projects.  Firstly, a cushion of ours that had been a gift was falling apart in a way that I wasn't able to fix and so I decided to use the yarn I had left over from making my wedding shawls to make another cover for it.  The pattern was Classic Textures Pillow by Caron which I found on lovecrafts.com.  It should wear quite well and I can always make another one if it doesn't.  I really like having something connected to our wedding sitting about the home as well.

The second was a pair of mittens for my Grandfather who is finding that he now gets cold hands when he's in the house.  These are the Wizard Warmers pattern by Maire Martin I've used before, also which I also got from lovecrafts.com.  Unfortunately none of the wool I had already was suitable but I ended up finding a Women's Institute yarn that was 100% wool in the colour petrol.  It was a good price and doesn't feel itchy or scratchy so I might look at more colours in this in the future.

The Guernsey Jumper

I've decided to not make the Maggie and Coddy jumpers this year as I would need to buy much more wool and I don't want to spend any more money on crafts this year.  However, I do already have the wool to make the Guernsey jumper for my husband and have started putting this together.  It's a very different style to other jumpers I've made, including gussets at the armpits and neck, and I'm enjoying learning these new techniques.  I think it looks quite good so far.  I'm planning on getting this finished by the end of November.

Christmas Cards

I've decided to make my cards this year using paper craft as I've seen quite a few great designs over the years, but I've never done this before so it'll be a bit of a learning curve.  I've already brought the products for this and have decided on a design.  Now all I need to do is make them.

Wrap Dress

This is the last sewing project for this year.  I already have the fabric and thread for this as my parents brought them for me for my birthday.  The fabric is washed already and I now have the information on what changes I need to make to the pattern, so all I need to do is start.  I really love this fabric so I can't wait to wear the dress once it's made.

Even though I did think that I had picked a little too many things to make this year, it does look like I will manage to make most of them.  I already have in mind the things that I want to make next year.  It won't be anywhere near as much as this year and mainly consists of using up the wool and fabric I have accumulated over the last few years.  But before that I hope to have made a dress, a jumper, a whole lot of Christmas cards, and sewn the Rivendale cross-stitch.