#craft hag

[saltwaterandstars]

It’s the last day of the month so I’m checking in about my creative project bingo card. I’m happy to tell you I finished three projects this month. Also, I'm still really enjoying relearning how to knit.

1. Sophie scarf, lovely wool. This was a bit harder than the first Sophie scarf I knitted because the yarn was much finer and a very similar colour to the needles I used. Also, the needles were quite small (3mm). It took longer to finish, too, but I'm pleased with it and have worn it a few times already.

2. Big knitted wrap. This was an absolute joy to knit, especially after the Sophie scarf on 3mm needles. The needles for this were bigger (5mm) and the yarn was a bit heavier (DK) and it just felt very easy to knit. Also, I'm in love with the colours. I bought this shawl pin to celebrate finishing it.

3. Birdhouse kit. This was really fun, especially because I did some of the sewing in a café with a friend who was working on a similar kit. I love how it's turned out.

Here's the bingo card now I've completed several projects:

[saltwaterandstars]

I'm knitting a tension swatch for my mittens and I love this pattern - it's so pretty! Also, knitting appears to be the only part of my life where I have the right amount of tension.

[saltwaterandstars]

It's the first of the month so I get to choose a creative project to work on in August. I bought this top on holiday last year and for the most part I really like how it looks on, except the neckline is so low that it shows a LOT of breast, to the point where I feel uncomfortable. I tried to find a bit of material or lace in the same colour to just add a couple of inches of modesty, but couldn't find anything. What I did find is some yarn that's pretty much a perfect colour match, so I'm going to attempt - for the first time! - some lace knitting.

I don't feel any need to try to match the lacy pattern of the top. I just want to create a little square or rectangle of fabric that looks a bit lacy, and then I'll sew it to the inside of the top so it fills in the first couple of inches of the low neckline. Given that I won't wear the top as it is, there's nothing to lose!

[saltwaterandstars]

It's the last day of the month so I'm checking in about the creative project I said I'd work on in July. I decided to have a go at some sashiko style visible mending on a pair of jeans - something I've never done before. I really enjoyed it, especially once I'd done the preparatory work like attaching patches on the inside of the torn areas - the actual embroidery was so lovely to do.

This is the biggest area - a rip at one of the knees. I've patched it on the inside, sewn the edges of the tear to the patch with lots of tiny, invisible stitches, and then reinforced the area with decorative stitching. My phone's having difficulty picking up the different colours against the denim blue background, but it does look really nice in reality - there's a gradient from dark to light from bottom left to top right.

There are several smaller mends on other parts of the jeans. I've magnified them so you can see the detail more easily :

And this is how they look overall at the moment. There's still a couple of other areas I might work on, and I think I'll do something with the frayed bits of the cuffs, but for now I'm pleased with them. They're really comfy, wide-legged jeans and once the weather cools down I'm really looking forward to wearing them again.

I'll definitely do more sashiko in the future. In case you're interested in having a go, I learned quite a lot from this nice youtube channel:

The Green Wrapper

I mainly share simple hand-stitching and mending projects — reusing old fabrics, giving new life to forgotten materials, and finding calm in

[saltwaterandstars]

It’s the last day of the month so I’m checking in about my creative project bingo card. I’m happy to tell you that I finished two projects this month: Learn to knit again and Sophie scarf test run. I haven't knitted since my mid-twenties and I'm now sixty, so it's been a while!

In terms of learning how to knit again, I've learned how to cast on and off, increase and decrease, and knit garter and stockinette. Here's a couple of test swatches I did:

I chose to make a Sophie scarf because it's small and easy - an ideal first item to make. I really enjoyed making it, and although I initially thought of this as a trial run using cheap yarn, in fact I love how it turned out and I've worn it a lot already!

Here's the bingo card now I've completed a couple of projects:

[saltwaterandstars]

I haven't chosen a new creative project to work on this month because I know the last two weeks of the month will be taken up with preparations for going on holiday and then being on holiday :-)

Instead, I just plan to finish knitting the hat I started last month. Today I transferred it from the circular needles I was using to dpns so I can do the decreases. I've never done any of this before and it's tricky, but behold: it's now on dpns! Now I've just got to work out how to knit on dpns. I have never been more grateful for the beautiful people who upload tutorials onto youtube.

[saltwaterandstars]

I finished my hat and I love it so much! It fits perfectly and I really like how it looks. And it'll still be chilly in Norway when we go on holiday in a couple of weeks' time, so I'll need a hat :-)

[saltwaterandstars]

It’s the first of the month so I get to pick a creative project to work on in April - and I’ve actually picked two, though neither of them are on my creative project bingo card.

1. I want to keep learning how to knit and my plan is to learn one new skill with each project. So this month I'm going to try to knit a hat on circular and double pointed needles! I've picked a pattern that only uses stitches I already know how to do, to make it as easy as possible. All I've done so far is cast on:

2. A couple of the projects on my bingo card will require me to use my sewing machine which I was given about fifteen years ago by a friend who was emigrating. I learned the basics of how to use it back then, made one skirt (which I still wear!), and then because of the very long hours I was working, just didn't have the time or energy to do any creative stuff so I put it away and haven't used it since. Inspired by @bookhobbit's recent sewing machine posts, this morning I dug out my machine! My aim this month is just to relearn how to use it - not to work on any particular project, but just to be able to thread it, do various stitches etc. Given how long it is since it was used, it's possible it won't work particularly well and I'll need to get it serviced. We'll see.