Fibreshare Friends - Jillian aka Mothy and the Squid

On Friday I showed you what my lovely swap partner, Sara of Sara's Texture Crafts, sent me. I am still drooling over the yarn and deciding on what I will do with it. I have also tried out the hand balm which smells lush (a word I never thought I would use and yet describes this balm well).

On Thursday I sent out my parcel to my swap partner Jillian of Mothy and the Squid. Well she got her parcel on Saturday which means I can now post what I sent. She seems to have loved her package and I am so happy about that. I did my best to pick out things which I thought she would like. I originally worried that I would be at a disadvantage because I wasn't a hand dyer or spinner like the majority of the participants (excluding weavers here). In the end I think it was the opposite as I got to send some of my favourite yarns based on what she liked. Which was pretty similar to my own taste. Lots of colour and sock yarn.

So here are the yarns I picked. I am going from left to right starting with my good friend. I would never send a package without sending some of Lisa's yarn. For the Love of Yarn introduced me to indie dyers and the wonders of hand dyed sock yarn. I had sent Lisa a message as to what she had in the way of rainbows and she responded with this rainbow sock blank. I can't wait to see it all knitted up. Jillian mentioned that her children and a fondness for orange and pink and so I sent the orange peel fungus (how fab is that name) by Orange Jellyfish Dream. I have two of her yarns in my own stash and so I had to share. Especially when I saw the gorgeous bright colour. You will probably recognise the third and fourth yarns. The third is Beach Huts by Owl About Yarn. You will recognise it because it featured on my February stash post. I really didn't intend to buy for myself but I saw this yarn and thought it would be perfect for Jillian because of the bright summery colours. It's just I also thought it would be perfect for my own stash. Lastly the last yarn came from my own stash. It's a Knitpicks yarn and it's beautifully soft. The colours are a little more muted than the yarns but still has that rainbow feel.

I then picked out some extras. You know how much I love my Doodlestop project book. I've barely begun using it and yet I have mentioned it countless times. The plan was to pick up one for Jillian. Then I saw that they did one specifically for hand dyers. As Jillian dyes her own yarn I got very excited about it and picked this up instead. I also got her some stitch markers. Again from Owl About Yarn. They are yarny/sewing related which I thought was fitting. The hand cream I picked up from Lush. Lush is my go to shop when I want a bit of pampering. I love it for it's scents, good products and business ethics. I knew they did a series of hand creams and the girl in the shop recommended this one because it absorbs very quickly. Which means smaller pauses between knitting.

Lastly I picked out a project bag. I saw Pink Hazel on instagram and spied this little bag with a sheep print. She is based in Netherlands but is attending Edinburgh Yarn Fest in a couple of weeks. She actually offered to send it when she was over to save me on postage which was very sweet. The bag is superbly made. Very sturdy. I might even treat myself to one.

As I said, Jillian seemed to love her parcel. If I am honest though I had so much fun putting it together. Plus it was nice to meet other sock knitters.

February Socks - Basic Sock

February's socks were started and finished with a few days hence the second sock post in the space of a few weeks. I struggled to decide what to do for this month. I wanted to get out one of my treasured hand-dyed yarns and knit the jaywalker again. At the same time I wanted to save that pattern for some sock yarn I have earmarked for my sister. In the end laziness won over. I decided on the only yarn that I had that wouldn't involves sitting winding it.

That meant using the second yarn I picked up when I was in York. I had picked this up because I thought at the time that it was mainly reds. But actually it's mainly pinks. I picked the basic pattern as I wanted to see what the striping effect would be like. I did think that there would be some fair isle in there going by one of the bands of colour but that turned out not to be the case. I'm also not entirely convinced that the yarn really needed that bright coral. However, overall, I'm pleased with the way it knitted up.

I also decided on a short row heel. My reason for doing that was that I wanted the striping of the sock to be continuous. When you do the heel turn and gusset it changes the way the yarn pools due to the fact that you are knitting on a larger area until of course you are back to your original stitch count. I didn't want that. I quite like the way the heel turned out. I like the fact that it has that pool of burgundy at it's centre. Unfortunately it's a little gappy and that's entirely down to my choice of needle size. This sock yarn would have been better suited to the 2.5mm rather than the 2.75mm since there was no pattern to the sock.

You can see from this photo just how luminous the coral is. I'll not lose those socks. I've also begun using my doodlestop project book. Loving it so far. I've started taping in the ballbands from the yarn and attaching some of the yarn just for my own reference.

Here is what this years 'operation sock drawer' looks like so far. It's safe to say that January's socks are my favourite so far.

Planning on Paper.

 Last week I talked to you about using your technology to get organised. Not everyone likes technology. Some people are even like me who will always love putting pen to paper. There is nothing like it really. It's like an actual book over an electronic. No contest really. Plus, as most of my friends and family will tell you, I have an extreme love of stationary. I'm like a magpie. so this post is dedicated to that. While it may not be the most exciting of posts maybe it will give an insight on how I plan out things or give you some tips.

Some of this will actually tie in or repeat from my post giving advice to newbie bloggers. So I apologise if this feels a little repetitive. However, even that post kind of fits in with this months theme. So to start off with we have the basic notebook. In the past I would have used a notebook to chart my crafts. In fact I still do. I remember watching my mum make little tally marks to track her knitting and I do the same. Sadly, I don't always think to do that. Not a problem if I don't jump between projects or leave projects aside for months on end. I've learned that one the hard way. This particular notebook I actually use to plan out blog posts. I jot down ideas and occasionally write out entire posts.  It's thanks to planning out this months theme that I have got all my WIPs listed and I know what I need to work on so in a way it is keeping me organised with my crafts. It's also a good way of tracking challenges such as my sock drawer challenge as I plan out the posts. Never mind thee fact that I just love a new notebook. This one even has a little folder at the back so that I can hang on to ball bands which is something I always mean to do. Means I can keep track of my favourite yarns or even remember how best to wash the yarn (if in doubt hand wash).

This is probably one of my favourites and one I am too afraid to start using for fear I ruin it. Which kind of defeats the purpose. I saw this notebook advertised on facebook. It proved so popular that it went out of print and I had to pre-order mine. It's called a WIP-O-Pedia and is published by Doodlestop.  I've ordered from doodlestop before and quite like their products. This one they designed specifically for those of us who like to knit and crochet. It's a project book that allows people to track their projects. This would be something I could use rather than my little tally marks on spare notebooks. I love the fact that it has a page dedicated to details of the pattern, yarn, who it's for and a little section for notes just in case you have made changes. I personally think you could even use it to design your own patterns (although you would be limited in space). It has useful guides and conversion charts at the front (no more googling US/UK crochet translations). I love it and I haven't even used it yet. The online store still sells them so theoretically you could get another one once this is filled. The paper inside is of good quality AND the cover image is of crochet.

This is another one that I have listed before in my advice to newbies. It's a planner specifically for bloggers.  This organiser or life planner is designed by Lollipop Designs for Blogtacular. Blogtacular is a website and event to give advice and support to bloggers. I use this to plan out when I am going to post to my blog and what I am going to post. The bulk of the planner is made up similar to a diary/organiser with different layouts throughout. The back has spaces for notes and there is even a little pocket. You would be correct in wondering why I don't use this instead of a notebook for my blog notes. The truth is there is limited space and it would have been filled by now had I done so. So I use a notebook instead. I do like the planner pages though and it is specifically made to look basic so that you can decorate it to your hearts content (something I haven't utilised quite as well as I might). This has definitely made me a better blogger (in my humble opinion). As a crafter, well, it's not really done much there except possibly keeping me focused.

Lastly, an actual organiser/Filofax. This was really more relevant when I ran the knitting group. I would use it to keep track of events that we had planned. Now though I use it mainly for work. I would be lost without it if I didn't have it for work but I use all my other tools for crafts. Some people might prefer this though. On the plus side it would allow you to do all of the above things I mentioned already but in the one space. Something I did in fact used to do. You can get all sorts of inserts for Filofaxes these days so there is no reason why you can't. I would use it to track what type of socks I knitted for people each year so that they would get a different pattern or colour the following year. I also had inspiration board style pages where I would tape inspiration I found in magazines or took note of craft books that I had my eye on (I now use Evernote for that). Despite technology and all these new fancy planners there really is nothing to beat a filofax. I always go back to it.

Would love to hear how you plan out your crafts and what stationary items you love to use.

Crafting Goodies

This week I thought I would show you some of the crafting goodies I have treated myself to over the last few months. These are all items which are both pretty and handy. First off, how cute are these pin cushions. I have pin cushions. Some of which were stitched for me by some good friends. I couldn't resist these when I saw them and it's from an etsy/folksy seller Stitch Galore. I liked them so much I bought one for my sister too who loved it. You can find Stitch Galore's shop here and you can find her blog here. You'll also find the links in my blog list and shopping list.

Around the same time I was on pinterest (nothing new there) and spotted these little darning needle holders from Knit Affair.  The have lots of colourful knitting needles and cute accessories. Christmas is not long away and if you have a knitter in the family then take a look. Or if you want to treat yourself (as I did) then take a look.

I of course couldn't have a page of crafting goodies without mentioning my good friend. A lot of these came with the Blanket Club. We always get some goodies each month but if you fancy them yourself then you can purchase them individually from Lisa from For the Love of Yarn.  I love these blocking pins and they have come in handy when making those squares for my blanket. They are also pretty. The little stitch marker is also made by Lisa. I have a few of them and they always come in handy. You can never have too many of them.

I have also collected a few hooks thanks to various yarn clubs organised by Lisa. These hooks are part of her glitterati range. I love working with her hooks. They are so comfortable to use. She also makes hooks to custom order with different designs. She can also custom make them to help those with arthritis who have trouble with their hands. She is busy with Yarndale just now and has made a fair few to take with her. So if you want to see just how good these are (and how scrummy her yarn is) and you are going to yarndale make sure you pop by and say hello.

These are more useful than pretty. I have been sock knitting for 7 years now and I have been meaning to buy blocking tools for them. I finally did that thanks to Doodlestop. What put me off was that you had to buy blocking tools for each sock size. When you have a family with tiny feet to middling feet that isn't financially possible. These though can be adapted to size. I haven't used them yet and they look a little large but looking forward to giving them a go.

While there I also spotted some blocking pins and stitch markers. I have plenty of both but when I saw the granny square design I couldn't resist them. I am a sucker for anything with a granny square.

Anyone have any crafting purchases they want to share?