Check-In Post - January 7th 2025

[badly_knitted]

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


This Week's Question: If you're making any, what are your crafting resolutions for 2025?


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Comments

[badly_knitted]

I got out my Aran patterns and had another look, seeing if I could keep the basic jacket pattern I like and substitute the actual stitch patterns of another, but I couldn't make that work. Need to dig out some other patterns for a look, but that means moving a ton of stuff to get at the cupboard. Maybe I should look on ebay for a pattern.

[althea_valara]

Aww, sorry you couldn't make it work!

There's a book whose title escapes me, but it pretty much describes how much cables pull in and gives matching stockinette gauge for each cable... hmm, let me search... here, it might be "Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook: A Breakthrough Guide to Knitting with Cables and Designing Your Own" - I've never used/read it but have heard good things about it. Might be an option instead of finding a pattern on eBay?

I usually start my pattern searching on Ravelry which is kind of a "card catalog" for knitting and crochet patterns, and then follow the links to to the source (it will state if it's in a book/pamphlet or is online somewhere). But I know not everyone likes Ravelry--some people bounced off it when they redesigned the site a few years back.

Good luck with your search!

[badly_knitted]

I'm not so much worried about the cables pulling in, it's an Aran cabled pattern to start with, I just hate one of the cables it uses, so I want to replace it with something that's more to my liking. I was having trouble finding one that matched the number of stitches though, which was why I was seriously considering just using the basic pattern with the cables from a different pattern.

I liked the shape of the jacket, raglan sleeves, pockets, round neck, with collar, but I might have to just find a different jacket, unless I redesign all the cables from scratch. I've done that before, using the same basic pattern for an Aran bodywarmer, but using different cables to make four versions, but that was quite a while ago.

I might look into that book anyway, sounds like it could be a good resource.

One of these days, I'll find the password and username for my Ravelry account... I lost it years ago.

[wiseheart]

Ugh, that's annoying! I'm having similar problems with the rag dolls; I hope you'll find something suitable, soon.

[badly_knitted]

I hope so too, otherwise I won't get it made while the weather is still cold.

[yarnandglue]

I love Aran knitting! There's also lots of scans of vintage Aran knitting patterns on the Internet Archive (archive.org) if you're just looking to browse :)

[badly_knitted]

So do I. I haven't worked with Aran yarn in years and all my old Aran sweaters are falling apart, so I want to make something new - especially since there are so many more colours now. I just really hate one of the cables on the pattern I picked out, so back to the drawing board. Worse comes to worst, I'll just re-jig the whole thing and choose cables I like. Won't be the first time.

I'll check out your suggestion. Thanks!

[darkcedars]

Ugh annoying. That it didn't work and that your patterns are buried.

[badly_knitted]

Truly. I have patterns everywhere, lol! Tucked away all over the place. A lot were torn out of old magazines and put in binders.

[spiralicious]

Sorry that didn't work. I hope you find something that fits your needs.

[badly_knitted]

Me too. It's frustrating.

[althea_valara]

Been untangling yarn on and off since 10am this morning. It's now 2:35pm and I'm still at it, but getting close to finishing.

After I finish untangling, I'm going to give the yarn a whirl on my ball winder to make smaller, more manageable cakes. This is my yarn for the Central Park Hoodie with the intarsia cables, so the plan is to skewer the cakes with a knitting needle stuck in a shoe box so they can turn easily. I'm told this works. I'm still a little skeptical because I am a klutz, but willing to give it a try.

Made progress on the cardi last night, gonna do some more today, too. I also scheduled myself to do a leaf for mom's poinsettia, so I'd better start that soon as it will take an hour. I mean, still plenty of time in the day but I'd rather do that sooner than later, so I'm free to play games this evening.

[wiseheart]

I hope your idea will work out; it's a promising one.

[badly_knitted]

Sounds like a very productive day! Good luck with your method for avoiding your yarn tangling. Also good luck with the poinsettia leaf.

[darkcedars]

I actually burst out laughing at "since 10am". Sorry.

Good luck with the poinsettia leaf.

[jeweledeyes]

there's such a thing as a ball winder??

[althea_valara]

There sure is!

They clamp to the edge of a table, and then you insert the yarn tail into a slit on it, crank a handle, and the thing spins in a wobble so that it creates a flat cake of yarn. Mine is not the best brand; I've had issues with it not creating neat cakes. But I will give it another try for this project.

Ball winders are often used in conjunction with a swift, which is a contraption that holds open a hank of yarn for you. There's two main kinds of swifts, umbrella (which can collapse like an umbrella) and Amish (they have two long pieces of wood that cross over each other to make four "arms" with pegs in them to hold the yarn). I have an Amish swift and I love it, it was well worth the price even though I don't really need it much.

Finally, there's a Nostepinne, which is a tool used to help hand wind balls of yarn so they don't get so tight/stretched out. You can buy fancy ones, but really, any rigid cylinder will do. I've heard of people using empty prescription medicine bottles.

[spiralicious]

Good luck. I hope it works.

[wiseheart]

Today I worked on the rag doll's T-shirt, which I'm making from an actual T-shirt of mine: a very nice, lilac fabric, but also very soft and hard to work with. But I won't be discouraged. That T-shirt will be finished tomorrow, even if it kills me (which is a distinct possibility).

Without an actual pattern, the design faults of my self-created one are surfacing, one after another. The main problem is that both dolls have too big heads, even though I *have* downsized the head pattern for the second one. The poor things will end up with a serious case of hydrocephalus, since - idiot that I am - I've made the heads first, so I can't downsize them now. Plus, I've just realized that the boy doll's head has a startling similarity to that of a monkey, so I might have to come up with a story about "the little monkey that wanted to become a boy" or something similar. If I can.

[badly_knitted]

Ooh, that sounds complicated! I'm so bad at sewing. Good luck, I hope it works out.

You could write a whole children's book.

[wiseheart]

More likely than making a working pattern for dolls or their clothes. *g*

[badly_knitted]

Oh, I don't know, I think you'll figure it out.

[darkcedars]

So it needs to be a button up shirt instead?

Good luck.

[spiralicious]

Good luck!

[darkcedars]

I have not worked on crafts. We had a blizzard and that dumped 14 inches of snow. Yesterday we spent a lot of time just digging out.

[spiralicious]

Stay warm and safe

[badly_knitted]

Yikes! I've only seen that kind of snow once in my life. I hope you're staying safe and warm.

[nagi_schwarz]

I finally finished sewing in all the ends of the tatted edging I did on a hanky for my mother-in-law's upcoming birthday. (A little girl saw me working and asked me what a handkerchief was and I withered inside.)

My goals this year are to mostly make gifts for other people and otherwise do stash-busting projects!

[spiralicious]

Well done!

[badly_knitted]

Oh, that sounds so pretty!

I would have too. I mean, I don't USE hankies these days, not with all my allergies, they'd be ruined, but I have a box of pretty ones I was given on birthdays when I was little. Lace edged, some with my initials embroidered on them...

Those are excellent goals!

[jasleh]

takin a short break from the blanket for more practical crafting: making i-cords for thumb drives so I can tell them apart and won't lose them as easily lol

sometimes it's very useful to be able to make your own rope

[spiralicious]

Excellent work

[badly_knitted]

Wise decision. Those things are so easy to lose.

Rope is always useful ;)

[spiralicious]

Yesterday was card making day with Lynne. There were some minor arguments about adhesive and her being convinced that her son or I stole her bone folder (no one had it, she'd never gotten it out to start with), but otherwise the card went well. Lynne was even pleased at how pretty she thought it was.

Lynne's sister also bought and sent Lynne more tape runners and matching refills, which we've been needing.

Outside of card making things were, not bad, but exhausting. Lynne was quite the handful.

I also managed to design and prep 2 more cards (one for next week and one for the week after). I missed having a cushion and it takes a lot of the stress off. Right now we seem to be doing things with birds. Next I'll have to figure out Valentine's.

At home, I started the next lace swatch. It drove me nuts. I'm not sure if it's the tiny thread or the fact that the needles are blunt, but getting the needles in the thread was a nightmare. I had to frog the whole thing after 8 rows.

I tried the pattern with bigger yarn and needles just to see if I was doing the pattern right and those 4 rows look okay.

I was going to try again tonight while we watched Murdoch Mysteries, but hands aren't up to it.

[badly_knitted]

Yay for more tape runners and refills, that should help.

Glad things went reasonably well with the card making and the prep for the next couple, even though it was tiring.

Could be you're knitting too tight on the smaller needles, or that the thread you were using didn't have enough give in it. At least it's coming out better with the thicker yarn.

[spiralicious]

The tape runners and refills have been a huge help.

Thanks.

Honestly, it was probably both. My knitting tends to start out tight on the lace patterns and the thread I've been using for the lace swatches doesn't have much give.

[yarnandglue]

I finished a crocheted throw pillow cover!

https://yarnandglue.dreamwidth.org/1832.html

[badly_knitted]

Well done, they both look great!

[yarnandglue]

Thank you!