Stash Buster All Shawl

I have reduced my stash by a few balls and made this version of Doris Chan's All Shawl. It is a quick and easy way of using up those oddments in stash and is a free pattern for those of you on Ravelry. This shawl has taken 6 x 25 grams of some unlabelled mohair type yarn, oddments of greys and 50 grams of pale blue double knit.I have made quite a few making them striped which is even better for using up bits and pieces. I sort out colours that tone and use the larger balls for the lacy edging. This shawl has turned out slightly smaller than most that I have made but I just wanted to make the body in one colour so crocheted until the grey flecked mohair ran out.The shawl is not for anyone in particular but I am sure that either I or one of my friends will think of someone who will be glad of it. I wear my shawls a lot, especially the smaller shoulder shawls like this one, for that extra bit of warmth in the evenings.

Buster is very fed up with me today. Although it is cold the sun is shining and he has seen a procession of local dogs on their way to the woodland for a walk and just cannot understand why we are not joining them. Never mind it will soon be Tuesday and my son and daughter in law will come and pick him up and take him home again. He still has a couple of scars but everything has more or less healed over,it just needs his fur to grow over them, so he will be able to go for a walk when he gets home. Even if I was fit enough to walk him they didn't bring me his collar and lead. I am not bothered too much about his lead as he is a very obedient dog but I do like his collar on as it has his details on it in case he runs off or gets lost. There is not really much likelihood of that as he is a bit of a clinger but I still like him to wear a collar when he is out.

Tonight I will have another stash dive and see what I can find to give me some inspiration for my next project. Maybe it will be another shawl or maybe something for a baby. I haven't yet made up my mind. My stash is going down little by little although it will take me a while to work my way through it all.

World Wide Knit In Public Day

Photos today are of the All Shawl by Doris Chan that I made for the Knitting Noras raffle. Alice won the shawl and had a choice of the ones that I had made and chose this one. I had intended to take a photo of her wearing it but I think I got waylaid by one of Deb's chocolate muffins. I intend to do a lot of things these days that I never quite get around to doing. I am sure I have said this before but I love making this shawl it is so easy to do. I really must make one for myself. I have a bag of shades of purple and lilac oddments that I plan on using one day.

Today is World Wide Knit in Public day and I will hopefully be off to try and find the Whitworth Art Gallery to join a few friends in a Knit Out this afternoon. I am ashamed to say that even though I have lived in the Greater Manchester area all of my married and post married life I have never been into the Art Gallery. My intentions when I retired where to find the time to visit all the museums and art galleries that I never found time to visit when I was working but then my spinal problems got in the way. Sigh. I hopefully will have many more years to fulfil my ambitions in the future once this darn knee co-operates.

I went up to Bury Market yesterday and of course came back with some yarn for my stash. Nothing very exciting hence no pictures. I don't think that you want to see a photo of several balls of black do you? Yes I know I am going to Woolfest soon but I really am not a wool orientated kind of girl, due to allergies, irritations and itches, so I knew that I will not be buying much from Woolfest unless they have a stall that sells non wool. I have nothing against wool and can admire it and can actually knit and crochet with it, unless the dye irritates my fingers, but I don't see any point in buying something that I know I will not be able to wear. I do buy wool when it is for a present for my family.

I get a bit annoyed with some of the forums on Ravelry who berate anyone who doesn't use wool saying don't use nasty acrylic and say extremely derogatory things about peoples work when it is not in wool etc. Why can't they just admire the quality of the workmanship and not be so snobby as to presume garments are awful if they are not made in super duper wool. I thought that the site was to encourage camaraderie amongst knitters and crocheters. People have reasons why they don't use wool whether medical or economical so nasty comments are not very friendly. I don't tell people off for using wool. If they like it and can wear and afford it then buy it and use it. I don't mind. When I last checked it is a free country and people have freedom of choice. I read somewhere that one person said surely it is better to save up and make one decent garment a year rather than dozens of things that are tat! Obviously NOT a true crafter. I make things for the joy of doing them and would have to be a millionaire to afford to keep up with my fingers if I only used expensive yarns. As for limiting myself to making one garment a year - well that doesn't bear thinking about. Yes I know all the arguments about acrylic not being biodegradable but as I keep and wear most of my garments for years none of them have yet finished up in landfill. When I have finished with them I unravel and make into other things. Waste not want not is my motto.

The sun has gone in. It was so lovely when I first got up. I do hope that it doesn't rain as I don't fancy catching a metro and then 2 buses to the art gallery in the rain. Stay sunny please!

Another Stash Buster All Shawl

Another stash buster All Shawl by Doris Chan destined for the Knitting Noras raffles. I really enjoy making these shawls as they are so quick to make. I think a lot of it is to do with the colour changes. Have you ever noticed that you can knit or crochet a lot faster with the variegated wools as you can't wait to see the next colour change well the same is true of these stash buster shawls. I try not to plan the colours out too carefully. It's more a question of the larger amounts go further down the shawl where it takes a lot more wool for each row than planned colour co-ordination. Some work out well as I think this one does and some not so well. As usual my web cam has bleached out the colour in the shawl. The blcking photos are closer to the correct colours.

I am working on another stash buster but as my choice of stash is dwindling then the next one is less co-ordinated and has brighter colours in it. All will be revealed when I have finished it and photographed it. Perhaps the colours will grow on me.

Today I should work some more on the wrap for the mermaid tail but I am being distracted by the thought of trying to make some hair clips instead. Maybe I will do a bit of both.

The sun is shining today after the dreadful weather over the weekend. Four of my fellow Knitting Noras went to the Ravelry show but it was unfortunately a bit of a wash out. They just hadn't really catered for the British weather and a lot of the wool stalls were outside. Such a shame when events gets spoiled by our weather but as our weather is no surprise I think they should plan on holding everything indoors. People are not inclined to browse and buy with rain running down the back of their necks.

Peace and quiet has returned to my neighbourhood today. Last night the music from the Oasis concert in Heaton Park could be plainly heard inside my lounge with all the windows and doors closed. I feel sorry for anyone who isn't an Oasis fan and who lives close to the park as if I could hear it over the top of the TV where I am then it must have been unbearable for them.

All Shawl from oddments is finished

This is one of the fastest shawls that I have ever crocheted. It is the All Shawl by Doris Chan (free pattern on Ravelry) and as you can see I made it from Lisa's oddments left over from her Granny takes a Trip jacket plus a bit of grey from my stash left over from my niece's crochet jacket. Not perhaps the liveliest of colours but I am sure it will keep her warm anyway. I like the shawl as it is shaped into segments as you can see from one photo and that helps to keep the shawl sitting on the shoulders. The web cam photos have changed the colours and made them darker but I think they show how it fits. The colours on the other photos are the true colours.

I did alter it slightly as I found that I kept forgetting to make EDC- Extended double crochet- (or extended trebles to me with my UK terms) so I finished up just crocheting it in UK trebles which made the shawl slightly shorter. Next time I make it I will use UK double trebles and that will give the length of the EDC.

I love crocheting things that interest me (hence the go slow on the black 4ply cardigan although I did about 20 rows on that last night) and can work up quite quickly when I am motivated. The only draw back of course with stash busting is that you have so many tails to sew in.

I got up this morning to sunshine and so I put on my shorts and vest top. Bad move as it is now 10.30am and the sun is nowhere to be seen. Ah well. Maybe it will peep out again from behind the clouds later and I can do some crochet in the garden. Until then I will hang out the washing and have some brunch.