At the end of last month, I made a life-changing decision. I handed in my notice to the job I have been in for nearly 10 years. Whilst I have loved my time there and my job, my recent health issues and the deterioration of my husband's health means that I have had to look long term at my ability to be a functioning and reliable staff member and sadly I know that I can not now be the person they need me to be. The loss of an income means that I will now have to be extra careful with my pennies. Luckily I have an extensive stash collected over the years from which I can personally shop but you know how it is, there is always a shiny new yarn you want to try out of a local yarn festival to visit.
Now that I am not earning I have been looking at new ways to fund my yarn habit, yes I have an addiction, and I think I have found my answer. Whilst perusing Ravelry I stumbled across a post which detailed a type of yarn savings account which you keep yourself. You pay yourself a small amount for finished items and used up yarn from your stash. I have decided on the following amounts.
- Small items, hat, baby item etc. - £1
- Pairs, socks or mitts - £2
- Large items, sweater or blanket - £5
- Each ball or skein used up - £1
I am hoping that by doing this I can save up my pennies for EYF and the smaller St Abbs yarn festivals and my kitty bank is ready to collect my earnings.
Given that I will have a bit more time on my hands I hope to listen to a few more books this year. I have a few under my belt already and this week started listening to a non-fiction epic. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is 126 hours long so I am listening to a chapter a day. So far this insight into this period of history is fascinating and informative. Alongside this, I will listen to various other books and am currently enjoying The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths.
This week I have mostly been working on my EYF sweater. I have made it through the waist decreases and am heading rapidly to the bust increases. As I am knitting from stash and using a different yarn from the pattern and I have different quantities of colours available to me I am using the pattern more as a guide to shaping and fit than doing the colourwork in the original.
My ZickZack scarf has moved on a little too with the first mini skein nearing its end. This is such an easy pattern with such stunning results. I have been blown away with some of the finished projects on Ravelry and hope my effort works as I imagine it.
I have a couple of finishes to show you too.
Continuing our journey around Scotland's Burghs we have come to the last big city burgh of Glasgow. The biggest city but not the capital lends its name to a wee pair of ankle socks I finished early in the week.
These were knitted from leftovers from other socks I had knitted and are currently keeping my tootsies warm.
My other finish this week takes us north to the first of the Aberdeenshire burghs. Inverurie, a Royal Burgh, is the name I have given to this stranded hat.
This free pattern, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-easy-ombre-slouch-hat is a good introduction to stranded knitting if you have never tried it before. Using only two colours of DK and 4mm needles, it knits up quickly and gives a very pleasing result. I used an unknown yarn cake from my stash and knitted a fixed doubled brim for the lower portion then added Stylecraft Special DK in Boysenberry for the top.
Finally this week I have a new gadget to share with you. I am always on the lookout for any tools which make my crafting easier and lately, I have seen a lot of adverts for neck lamps with LED bulbs. I did a bit of research and finally chose one from Amazon.
The lamp came very quickly and it is a fabulous addition to my tool kit. As it is the season of long nights it is especially useful, allowing me to knit longer without adding eye strain. I can also see it being very useful if you are knitting with very dark colours all year round. I have tried to capture a photo of it in use to give you the idea of how you can train the light on your hands. It weighs very little and after a very short while I forgot I had it around my neck.
I am still getting used to it for knitting but can also see many other uses for around the home and out and about. I have a feeling some of these may turn up in Birthday presents this year.
That's it for now, until next week happy crafting
Mary
Rows - 334
Given that I will have a bit more time on my hands I hope to listen to a few more books this year. I have a few under my belt already and this week started listening to a non-fiction epic. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is 126 hours long so I am listening to a chapter a day. So far this insight into this period of history is fascinating and informative. Alongside this, I will listen to various other books and am currently enjoying The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths.
This week I have mostly been working on my EYF sweater. I have made it through the waist decreases and am heading rapidly to the bust increases. As I am knitting from stash and using a different yarn from the pattern and I have different quantities of colours available to me I am using the pattern more as a guide to shaping and fit than doing the colourwork in the original.
My ZickZack scarf has moved on a little too with the first mini skein nearing its end. This is such an easy pattern with such stunning results. I have been blown away with some of the finished projects on Ravelry and hope my effort works as I imagine it.
I have a couple of finishes to show you too.
Continuing our journey around Scotland's Burghs we have come to the last big city burgh of Glasgow. The biggest city but not the capital lends its name to a wee pair of ankle socks I finished early in the week.
These were knitted from leftovers from other socks I had knitted and are currently keeping my tootsies warm.
My other finish this week takes us north to the first of the Aberdeenshire burghs. Inverurie, a Royal Burgh, is the name I have given to this stranded hat.
This free pattern, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-easy-ombre-slouch-hat is a good introduction to stranded knitting if you have never tried it before. Using only two colours of DK and 4mm needles, it knits up quickly and gives a very pleasing result. I used an unknown yarn cake from my stash and knitted a fixed doubled brim for the lower portion then added Stylecraft Special DK in Boysenberry for the top.
Finally this week I have a new gadget to share with you. I am always on the lookout for any tools which make my crafting easier and lately, I have seen a lot of adverts for neck lamps with LED bulbs. I did a bit of research and finally chose one from Amazon.
The lamp came very quickly and it is a fabulous addition to my tool kit. As it is the season of long nights it is especially useful, allowing me to knit longer without adding eye strain. I can also see it being very useful if you are knitting with very dark colours all year round. I have tried to capture a photo of it in use to give you the idea of how you can train the light on your hands. It weighs very little and after a very short while I forgot I had it around my neck.
I am still getting used to it for knitting but can also see many other uses for around the home and out and about. I have a feeling some of these may turn up in Birthday presents this year.
That's it for now, until next week happy crafting
Mary
Rows - 334
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