On an Ashford rigid heddle loom, 10epi
From a mixture of 8-ply and 4-ply 100% wool (because i'm a mad lad)
Once again in the Redditch Colour Palette 🎨
After the cowl I had quite a lot of yarn left over (who knew the cowl was so lightweight!) and a friend really liked the colours, so I made a scarf for them in the same design.
This is probably the favourite scarf that I have made! a combination of some fine 10epi weaving and finally making something that is a good healthy length so you can wrap it around your neck as above. After a good hot hand wash it was super soft too. I almost didn't want to put it in the mail haha 😅
I twisted the fringes by hand and it almost did me in. Not even that many but such a pain and the last thing you wanna do when you get to the end.
And a lot easier to create the grid pattern than on the cowl, haha.
Yarn: Rico Essentials Soft Merino Aran in Dark Green
If there's one thing you take away from this post, let it be a cheer for Wild & Woolly and a wholehearted recommendation to visit them, buy from them, and attend their classes! \o/
The memory is slightly hazy but I think I signed up for November Sweater Club not long after my first intro to knitting class sometime this spring/summer... it seemed like I'd be well enough into my knitting journey to tackle it altho 5 weeks seemed like a stretch even then. The timing ended up being terrible as work travel, my mum's visit, and xmas dinner with friends prevented me from attending 3.5 out of 5 sessions. 🤦🏻 Fortunately Anna and Helen have let me squeeze onto a Sunday session once and I benefitted hugely from their guidance even in the little time that I managed to join, this definitely would not have happened without them. I also always felt welcome to pop into the shop for ad-hoc advice when stuck, or ask on Whatsapp. Once again, much love for Wild & Woolly!!
The process
I started the jumper at the beginning of November and finished it on 31 January (not counting weaving in the ends and blocking).
I hit a couple of snags - it took me a RIDICULOUS number of attempts to get beyond the first 20 or so rows. I kept screwing up the pattern (knitting when I was meant to be purling etc) and not knowing how to fix mistakes in prior rows + lacking the patience to go back stitch by stitch I'd just... frog the whole thing. You may call it a waste of time, I will pretend it was valuable knitting practice that enabled me to go faster later. 💀
Eventually I stopped worrying so much about one-off goofs and kept pushing through any uncertainty until I hit the point where I SKIPPED TWO STEPS IN THE PATTERN and couldn't figure out why none of my stitch counts aligned when I was splitting out the sleeves. 🙃 An absolute oof moment which stopped me from making any progress for 1.5 weeks. I did make two hippos in the meantime tho.
Even after unpicking stuff and following the pattern 'properly', the top part of my sleeves never reached the stitch count for my size - I honestly can't explain that to this day. Luckily I could try on the jumper by that point, and everything fit - maybe a bit snuggly in places (safe to say my body type is a bit different from the pattern model's 😬) - this turned out to be a blessing in disguise tho as the yarn REALLY grew after washing.
The final product
After washing, the jumper fits just as it should according to the pattern and the pic and is super duper cozy. I've not worn it outside of my house yet as I'm worried it will be ruined, but in the spring I will probably give it an outing. ✌️😗
Overall, I can recommend the pattern! It definitely looks significantly more impressive than it actually is while employing as far as I can see only techniques that will go into any other 'standard beginner' jumper as well (knitting, purling, short rows, basic increases and decreases). I received many compliments on it even before it was finished, including on the WIP post!
It is fairly well written (if you can keep track of the steps 🙄) apart from a few bits like two different charts for raglan and them being written in a way that temporarily confused even much more senior knitters.
Finally, while I enjoy habing access to a number of patterns in a form I don't need to print for myself in a book, it had some logistical issues (flicking back and forth between three places that had different charts, carrying a heavy book if I wanted to consult the pattern on the go, feeling bad about writing in a book >___<).
I am super happy that I did this, and it really heped demistify wearables to me. I think sweaters are often built up as something hardcore, but apart from the cost of the yarn there's not that much to them - sure you can make a complex one with a tonne of stitches and changes but the same can be said about any knitting or crocher project. 🤷
What's next?
I jumped right into making a second one (for a friend) right after finishing this, and due to a draft publishing mishap it's already blocking, so.... 💅
My first 2025 project and the last one - finished in the nick of time! From a tiny wonky crocheted dog, to my first jumper. Quite a significant jump in the number of stitches if nothing else…
On an Ashford rigid heddle loom, 10epi
From Filcolana Pernilla (8 ply) and Sandnes Garn Tynn Peer Gynt (4 ply) yarn
In colours from the Redditch Colour Pallette.
Made from the Weft Blown instructions.
Inspired by the hero cowl by @beif-weaves.
I finally finished my own hero cowl! When I saw the one from beif-weaves I thought this would be a really cool new project, as I found the idea of using the warp threads on the weft really intriguing. I also really wanted to make something in the Redditch colour pallette, which I've been a little bit obsessed with since seeing the Birmingham colour pallette. I think it's a cool and positive way to show some local pride!
It turns out to be quite hard to photograph an inherently circular and 3-dimensional object so that you can see all of it. So instead here are some flat images that show some of the colours:
There was some deliberation about what order to put the colours in. I ended up with the light colours in the middle so that the dark colours didn't clash too hard with each other. This has the knock on effect of those colours being most visible when it's actually worn, which gives it quite a light appearence... which I probably wouldn't have chosen, but overall I'm happy.
I also properly felt the pain of not using the correctly sized reed on this one (I normally don't think about it too much and just vibe it out based on thread size) but when I came to reuse the warp threads I found that I had to beat a lot lighter than usual to keep space between them…
Needless to say I didn't get that bit right, and beat too hard. So my square of warp and weft was too tight and folding the fabric up. In the end I had to spend 4 evenings going back with a Fork of Shame to physically move the threads along so that there was more space between them (probably should have just unwoven it but whatever). I never want to do that again
I was also a bit nervous that the weft threads had too much impact on the final colour, but this has sorted itself out with a hot wash. (It's also the first time I've spun dry the fabric – wow, what a timesaver!)
I also made the mistake again of not using the same ply of yarn, leading to weird tension issues and things near the end.
I didn't have the fringe twister this time so I had to do them by hand – what a pain in the butt, and they're not even remotely the same size.
But overall I really enjoyed this one, I'm happy with the colours, and feel like I learnt a bunch again.
Do you have any WIPs or anything you want to get started with?
UUGHGHGHGH i've taken so long to answer this because (shame mode enable)... I have no fibercraft WIPs right now!! I'm not working on anything!! it sucks!!
But I do have some things I want to start, in rough order of how soon they might happen:
embroidering some small dogs onto my partner's jumper (in theory one for "every dog we've looked after" but uh lets say we'll start with just the first one)
something deltarune related on my very fine black fabric (used for this) – probably not a cross-stitch but maybe actually some real embroidery. i want to learn how to make realistic looking fur.
a hero cowl in this pallette
crochet gabumon! (jumping in at the deep end with a new hobby? me? nooo)
There are also a few non-fiber WIPs that I'm actually doing:
A dice-rolling game where you race an opponent, upgrading to smaller and less dice as you go – it's tense, hectic and strategic all in one. I'm gonna actually make a bunch of physical copies, so lmk if you'd like me to send you a copy when it's done!
A bunny-themed board game where you score points by avoiding bunnies that eat your garden flowers.
Software that you can use for quickly prototyping board games, including testing them with others online and generating assets to make physical prototypes – actually non-trivially far along with this!
And I really want to produce another chilli hot sauce this year, after some early success but then abject failure last year. Just waitin for them chillies to grow.
Despite the overwhelming beigness something about this Conservationists pattern grabbed me enough to finally subscribe.
The value is relatively good for TOFT (for once it came with *loads* of spare yarn) but it’s a shame it’s in such boring neutrals. 😴
What I did not realise, and what I’m beginning to really resent about TOFT, is how much sewing it will involve. It definitely doesn’t seem impossible to make the front leggies in one piece with smart inc/dec or even short rows, and the shell did not have to be all separate bits either… Overall I can’t help but feel like they’re making things easy for themselves when I could be guided to become a more competent crafter.
Anyway, several people saw me making him, including my Spanish teacher who went crazy for him (and therefore I’ve let her adopt him), and another person who requested a green version - SO much more fun to make.
I did not give the green guy eyelids or snappy mouth and that + colour makes him look younger? 🤨
Traditional cat for scale + a preview of my third turtle-related project this month which was a cosy for a real tort. I will make a separate post when it’s tried on later in the summer, while it’s not a human wearable I’m still wary it may not fit. 💀
Obvs this was also the month where we got a lot of Gerson awesomeness, very fortuitously Bogusia’s next pattern seems to be a turtle so with minor adjustments there will be a turtle-related project #4 by the end of the year! 🐢
She's made out of 8/8 cotton. She needed a fuckton of sewing - a horrific prospect when using cotton that thick and having THREE layers of of like her eyes do. She used partial rows, for some reason, but I ignored all instructions and she is still fine. She's stuffed to the brim. If used as a projectile, she could kill a man. If she had a tune of choice, it'd be Brick House.
Pattern
To be clear I am not blaming the pattern designer for 99 of the problems (excluding maybe the partial rows), you should definitely use the pattern if you want your own Miss Jiggly. The person it was made for loves her and already asked for Bulbasaur. The issues started, predictably, when I decided to use this fucking DK cotton for it. From now on I will only use it for knitting. T_T
This pattern will show you how to create the Pokémon Jigglypuff in amigurumi form. Jigglypuff measures six inches tall, however, the final
I might update this if my owner ever sends me pics from the new home. m(-__-)m
It's limited edition but if you're familiar with their body construction you can probably very easily recreate it. The only 'special ingredient' is La Bien Aimee Confetti Cake yarn - it's also the main reason for the kit being on the expensive side I guess. The yarn came in hank and I was dreading it based on my previous experience but it turned out that DK weight yarn was significantly easier to untangle than sock weight. 😌
You can also still get the Sheep magazine with patterns (including previously featured Seth and Tobias) if you do want/need a pattern.
I've not got super much to say about this one to be honest... I forgot to put in the safety eyes so it's a bit of blue sparkly Rico yarn which I think suits her. I made bulk of the body in a queue waiting for a sample sale and I thought it was quite solid but upon inspection later the holes between stitches were once again HUMONGOUS. Thank sheep god for the fleece on top, and a note to self to pay more attention and keep my tension *tight* (but then relax it for granny squares, I started one and it's a wrinkly mess 🫠).
The project helped me overcome my hate on hanks and the yarn seemed like a qualitt product, it's a serious contender if I ever need to make a Quality gift. 👌
Anywho, here's a pic of all three existing sheep I made (Seth and Tobias post). No denying that Seth is still the most bombastic.
Why do they make me think of Will and Hannibal with Abigail? 🥺
Easter Bunny (needle felted + some crocheted flowers)
The great things about needle felting is that the work is never done - this little guy could have been much less fuzzy if I stabbed him for a few more hours but the owners should be quite capable of continuing to shape him if they choose to do so. : )
Unfortunately despite trying A LOT the flowers were not turning out very well so I crocheted them yesterday. 🫣
I'm particularly happy with the face, I think it's very sweet. `
The kit itself is not particularly easter themed (link: https://www.berginandbath.co.uk/product-page/needle-felting-kit-easter-bunny) but adding a bag with eggs helped. The bag and the flower are also removable if they want to add new accessories...
The pic to the right is from Stitch Fest where I bought the kit. I could not get to IKEA to get the dome they put theirs in but a pasta container from John Lewis did just as well.
✨👔 Lucky Necktie
Woven on an Ashford rigid heddle loom, 12.5p/in, 3.15x57in
Warp: Rowan 4-ply 100% wool (from 1995!), with gold polyester thread
Weft: Rowan tweed 4-ply 100% wool
i wove this over 2 days for a Chinese tea ceremony, where the lucky colours are red and gold. turns out I don't have ANY red clothes so guess I had to make something 🤷🏻
i've never woven with anything below 8-ply before but have wanted to try thinner yarns for a while, and I was not disappointed at all. adding the gold thread was really fun and it looks great when sparkling in sunlight!
so its just a long strip with the end folded into a point and sticthed, and with the fabric from the ~50cm mark folded in on itself and stitched to make it half width. we left the other end with little tassles which is kinda fun. thank you to the kind person who did the sewing, in the car, on the way to the ceremony…
it's a total pain to put on because wool does not slide around like a normal tie. guh
The most complex thing I've attempted yet, given the number of accessories. I'm pretty happy with her overall, but issues are obvious:
NO CLUE what is happening with the face. I think I may have lost count when joining up the legs and never recovered (but the body is fine??) or maybe just lost the round end? I've restarted the face several times and it was just not having it so I just powered through it instead of abandoning the project but the wonkiness is obvious.
Colour changes themselves ended up looking pretty sus most of the time, and seemingly every 'improvement' ended up looking worse and worse. 🤷🏻
I'd like to try this pattern again (so she can hang out with the Rogue version) and I think I'd either try to reverse it (starting from the top) or do the head separately and then join the two parts.
On the plus side, I made this with a very small hook (1.8mm) so there's virtually no perceptible gaps. 🎉
This is also the first time I've been conscious about the 'right' and 'wrong' side.. yes it took me a while. But also, no one I showed my previous stuff to cared or knew the difference - you can't really count on amateurs to provide constructive feedback esp if they like you. From now on showing WIPs to my enemies *only*.
Not directly related to the pattern but I finally learned how to do a magic circle - goodbye 2 chain butthole looking centres. 🫠
According to the pattern the bin should be closed but I left mine open and the bin bag can be put into it.
The bin bag was surprisingly tricky, and the banana surprisingly straightforward.
The project uses a real mix of different yarns - fortunately everything is sort of in proportion but variation in textures does stand out a bit. I'm undecided if this makes it more interesting or looking a bit sloppy haha.
How cute are the little claws? And the gloves??? Oh my goodness!! >.<
This is my first thing that can stand by herself sort of confidently, thanks to the mahoosive tail. : )
It took me about 2 weeks to finish everything (mostly because of the face pattern but I think working with teensy hook was also a factor). I made simpler 4 things in the week since, but I really want to make the crow wizard and penguin pirate too \m/
