Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Do'd Some Stuff!

First things first - I actually finished one of my Downton Abbey Lady Sibyl shrugs! It's the beige one!

Here she is, draped over the back of a chair!

A closeup of the left sleeve, hanging down from the chair.

These pictures are of the shrug pre-blocking, so I'll have to take more when I block it (which will be done by washing it on cool and then air-drying it while it's pinned to some kind of blocking board. I'll probably put my beach towel over the ironing board, pin it to the towel, then lay another towel on top, gently ironing it into submission. We'll see if I get that done this week lol...

And because I'm ridiculous, I saw that Hooked By Robin on YouTube had a filet crochet square video up a year ago, and I just had to try it out with my other giant spool of beige crochet thread.

These are made with 5 rounds on a 2.0mm hook

What will I do with these squares? I have no idea, but I'm thinking of maybe trying to put together a fun little cardigan! If I can find thin pink & blue threads somewhere in my room (a hard task to be sure) I'll try making a multicolored cardigan! If I find the colors but not in large enough quantities, I might just make some buttons or use them to sew with. We shall see!

Anyhow, today was busy, but now I'm gonna make some dinner and crank out a couple more squares before I determine format & size for this thing!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

At Last! Progress!
Just not on the Mushroom Bag...

A month or two ago, I started work on another iteration of the Downton Abbey Lady Sibyl Shrug, this time in a beige cotton thread, and I am excited to announce that....

The body is complete!

Now, before you ask, no this doesn't mean I'm anywhere close to being done with the orange/coral version. I... honestly am not sure where that project bag is. I do, however, now know that, without a doubt, it needs to be a bit wider for a linebacker-shouldered bird like me.

After trying this shrug on, even with the added width (I made my rectangle 17" long instead of the recommended 15"), it was a bit of a struggle to get on and off. Perhaps a 22"x17" (56cm x 43cm) would be better suited to me? Or perhaps it is merely the fact that I was trying it on with an unfinished border and a thick t-shirt, rather than a slipperier dress? I'm not changing into a tank or a dress to test that theory, and the border is... unique.

Why do a ch3, sc around into each chain space when the chain spaces are 4-5 chains each? Why was the foundation essentially 4 chains between sc? I don't understand so many choices with this piece, and I'm sure any errata I looked up could explain things, but...

I'm not in the mood to go looking things up, and honestly, I'm feeling too sludge-brained tonight to go hunting down explanations.

I may have had a fairly hectic day.

It may have involved my cat going on an ill-timed nautical adventure.

I may have pictures to share of this tomorrow.

Anyway, here's the first & second rounds of the border, which I've only got about... 30% finished around the body and have not even begun on the sleeves. How is this even going to work on the sleeves. I'll find out. Regardless, I have some work to finish, still, but this is real, visible progress!

I kind of like the 7dc shells, but...
Not sure how I feel about the rest.
We'll see.

Now, obviously, if I hate the edging, I can just frog it and start over. If you have any suggestions, feel free to @ me on Twitter or leave a comment on here.

Unrelated, but there's still time to send me a coffee over on Ko-Fi and convince me to do art in a category of your choice (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Dedbert, Geometric, Word)!

I will be taking the rest of tonight to stare at a cursor blinking on a manuscript.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday - Rockin the Progress

 

I Actually Got Some Work Done!!!

It's been a while since I worked on the Downton Abbey Lady Sibyl shrug, but I've been working on it today and yesterday, so here's a scrunched up progress shot for you!

It's not too much, but it's progress!

As you can see, it's still a bright shade of salmon, it's still lacy, and it's still not done, but never fear. With the power of video game music and moderate exercise, I am going to finish this!

This morning, I rediscovered my love of the Secret of Mana soundtrack - not the HD "Remaster" that blanded-up the music, either, the OG Soundtrack with it's completely insane boss battle theme.

Specifically "The Oracle", the theme for the Lich King.

This song absolutely slaps as the kids say.

And I may have been playing it for everything I do. Want to crochet for a full 15 minute block? Play the song. Want to get a good workout in? Play the song and move to it (stand like you're hip-firing a pair of chainguns and move to the music, it'll give you a good workout, I promise). Want to wake ALL THE WAY UP?! Play the song at top volume. You will not fall back asleep.

In a lot of ways, "The Oracle" is like MSG. It's like music on crack. It makes everything better. You have baby? Have baby listen to "The Oracle" it become better baby.

But seriously, that's been my day.

That and obsessively checking in on Baby Joey...

So how has your day been going? Get any work done on your own fiber projects? Get any writing or reading done? Seen any adorable animals, funny comedians, or cool games lately? Listen to any good music?

If not, then...

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Fiber Monday 324: Ever Onward

In Which I Continue Making

Sometimes, it's hard not to get lost in the repetitive motion of a simple multi-row-repeat project like the DA Lady Sibyl or this soft rectangular something (will I have enough yarn for a shrug? Maybe?) based on a towel pattern from Lady Jay. So that is exactly what I've been doing this morning - progressing through soft garments and thinking about the next part of my book. Yesterday, I wrote just over 1k words, and I hope to get just as much done tonight, though we'll see. This might be a characterization day rather than a scene-to-scene day...

But today's not for writing (that's tomorrow lol), today is to show you my work with a hook and some yarn:

This is some sock yarn I found somewhere. Maybe it's Heart and Sole? I don't know.

I'm slowly increasing along one edge with every repeat because if it does become a shrug, it needs some body to it or it will only really fit my forearms, and I hate having open sleeves to the elbow. That sucks. I have another ball of the yarn, too, so it's a distinct possibility that Size 2 yarn + 4mm hook = a wearable garment. Even if said wearable garment is in bizarrely Eastery colors...

And the Lady Sibyl still grows slowly

I've added another half inch, but we'll see how much longer this takes...

I love the Red Hotdogs color on the lace weight yarn I'm using for the Lady Sibyl, but I do kind of wish I had a nice cloud gray or a sage green or a warm umber to make other versions out of. Maybe a silver color would be nice? Regardless, I'm very into rectangles-you-fold-and-sew-to-make-clothes right now.

I'll keep you all up to date on my progress with my silly little projects, and hopefully someday soon you'll see an item or two up for sale somewhere on here. I'm workin on it ;)

How are all of your guys' projects going? Are you sewing masks? Are you stitching clothes? Knitting socks? What's up out there?

I'd love to see or hear about the handcrafted projects you're working on, so feel free to tell me about them in the comments or something.

Go Enjoy Something, guys
FC

Fiber Monday 322: Progress Continues

In Which I Am Still Making Progress, But I Cannot Spell

No joke, I could not get my fingers to type out "progress" in the title. I wrote "porogess", "porgress", and "progorss", but it took about six tries to get it right. And yes, I slept last night. I slept really well. I think my nightlight may be dying though... I should look into getting a new one.

But enough about my pointless nyctophobia!

I'm slowly making progress!

I added another half inch of length to the ol' Lady Sibyl this week. Just... maybe 4" to go? Regardless, it's coming along.

But my startitis is pretty bad this year, so of course I have a side project. I've decided to make a sasquatch.

A very loud one

I'm using this pattern, but I'm making mine look more like the yeti. The seafoam green (yeah, that's green, color balance is hard) will be the face, hands, and feet. The rest will be a rich magenta. So far, so good!

How about you guys - how are your projects coming along? Have you completed a ton in the time it's taking me to make one rectangle folded in half and seamed at the sleeves? Lol...

Go Enjoy Something, guys
FC

Fiber Monday 317

In Which I Have Had A WEEK

So. It's been a while since I've said hello. This post is going up way later than I meant it to, and boy do I have a lot to talk about lol.

1) I got an early birthday present from my awesome partner:

This is my Starry Tato mug!

Since the Quarantine started we've been a little worried about how May will work - hopefully we'll be allowed to get together after the 30th, but with how bad this illness is and how quickly it spreads, it's better to be safe than sorry. Since my Birthday is in the 2nd week of next month, my partner decided to send my gift early :)

The mug is, of course, based on Starry Night by Van Gogh, but the bunny is @worriedpotato, an Instagram-famous bunny we both follow and love. Fitting, since my childhood stuffed bunny, Benji, is currently guarding my partner's noodles :)

I love the mug, and after letting it rest for a few days, I washed it up this morning and had my coffee in it.

Here is the problem.

You may be able to see from that photo that said mug of coffee is precariously perched on the side of my desk. I went to pick it up and on the turn to get it to my mouth, I just... let go for some reason. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the weird fruit fly that got into my room...

Regardless, coffee everywhere. Thankfully I use a pillowtop mattress pad to boost my bed's comfort level (the mattress suuuuuuuuucks), so that and the fitted sheet caught 90% of the coffee.

That left the other 10% to soak into my butt and my pillow.

Ugh. Not a happy morning lol.

But I grumbled and gave out and tore the sheets off of my bed and threw them in the wash. For the second time in 2 days. Because yesterday was Sheet Washing Day.

*sigh*

Anyway, I decided I'd get some work done on my crochet projects this week:

This is actually a very dark red crochet thread, not pink!

That's another delightful little headscarf I'm working on there, and it's maybe 95% done!

I swear, the photo flipped itself :(

This dragonfly headscarf is probably 50% done :) I like the pattern, but it can be a real bear!

And finally, this is my Lady Sibyl shrug... I promise there's been a little progress.

Sadly, Lady Sibyl has been largely neglected. I will be working on her more, today, but aside from that, I think I'll mostly just be watching a guy struggle to beat Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on Chaos-Mode lol.

Here's what else I've been up to:

• I made a cooking video yesterday, so if you missed it then, here it is now lol.
• The banana bread was baked on Friday or Saturday, I believe
• Unfortunately, yesterday was kinda crappy, despite being Easter
• I didn't realize that my dad needed a shower in the morning so I took one - instant heat with the old man
• Repeatedly in everyone's way no matter what
• Every time I went downstairs I got more anxious
• Nearly had a panic attack at dinner
• Dinner was very delicious, though, and hanging out with my partner in our chat made the whole day worth it
• I didn't qualify for the stimulus cash. Ah well. I'll just apply for more grants.
• I did succeed in selling a computer last week, so that was cool too
• I received a pack of 5 bricks of black garlic oil tonkotsu ramen!
• I ordered a 12 pack of mustard mayo yakisoba that shipped today
• I played more Pick Crafter, Coloring Pixels, and Merge Magic
• I read a little
• I worked on my novel a bit more :)

All in all, this has been a productive week, and I hope next week is even more productive with hopefully far less strife in my family.

If I go completely silent online, guys, don't get too alarmed, but please understand that my area is currently being hit with a pretty massive storm - heavy rain and winds up to 65mph (105kph)! Scary stuff, especially considering the tall trees lined up neatly with my windows...

Stay safe out there, guys.

Stay inside if you can, and cover your face if you can't.

We'll get through together, apart.

Love you all.

Go Enjoy Something,

FC

Fiber Monday 315: More Work

In Which I Continue To Work

I'm a bad crochet-er. I keep telling you I'll do a ton of work on the shawl and then...

I just end up adding a single new row...

Whoops. Sorry.

On the other hand, I've been working on some head scarves so I can keep my hair out of my face while I'm outside. If I need to, I can also add pins or buttons onto them to preserve my ears if masks become a necessity for coming outside. I hope it doesn't come to that, but... man, it would probably be better for everyone if we just made them mandatory :|

It's hard to tell, but this one has a Dragonfly pattern!

But enough about the Human Malware.

How are you guys doing on your creative endeavors? I've been working on my book some more, crocheting a bunch (obviously) and thinking about learning digital art.

I also had to run downstairs just a minute ago to go check on a songbird that hit our kitchen window. Since I didn't find it anywhere (and I really looked, guys, I even checked in the tree nearby), I'm going to tell myself it was surprised and then flew off. It looked like it hit feet first, rather than head first, so that's good.

The birds around here seem to like to perch on our window screens, so that's probably what the poor thing was trying.

Poor lil dude. Hope he's okay.

Regardless, I'll be doing more work today on my projects, get as much done as possible, try to write a bunch more, maybe do some gaming.

Keep on keeping on, folks!

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Fiber Monday 314: DA Lady Again

In Which I continue the work

Still working on that Shrug, guys. It's taking a loooooooooong time.

But I like the lighting on this image, at least...

I still hope to finish it in the next two months, which is possible, if I just focus on actually doing it instead of getting distracted every five minutes.

I hope you guys are keeping up with your creative endeavors, where possible. I hope you're staying inside when you can. I hope you're well.

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Fiber Monday 312: Progress and Patience

In Which I have made progress!

It's no secret that I'm an impatient person. I like things to happen on my time, regardless of who's doing them. I don't like waiting for anyone or anything.

It's also no secret that this is super hypocritical because I'm super extra lazy and late for everything.

So I try not to let my impatience take over. But boy, is it hard not to be impatient when you do two repeats of your pattern and it only increases things by about half an inch...

On the plus side, I'm a little less than a third of the way finished!

As impatient as I am, it's hard not to get discouraged, so I try to mitigate the tedium of a slow-growing project like this one by starting new, faster projects like this one:

And this is what two hours of work looks like.
Distracted work, no less!

So this new shawl, worked in a weird yarn that I know absolutely nothing about and couldn't identify if I tried, but which I adore, is a very, very quickly-worked one. I'm using a 3.75mm hook and it's... beautiful. Look at that colorway! It's actually a lot more brilliant in real life - that pink is closer to fuchsia than pastel, and the purple is almost electric! Lovely stuff.

It works so quickly because it's mostly chains, which, you know what? That's awesome. I hope someday to use this style of repeat on a rectangular piece of fabric. Maybe I could turn this repeat pattern into a cardigan, even? Who knows - crochet's versatile like that.

Right, I've got to get back to work, guys - these projects won't hook themselves, after all!

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Fiber Monday 310: The Lady Grows Some More

In Which I've Done A Lot Of Work On A Lot Of Projects

I promise I worked on the shrug, but I've also been working on other projects, so it's not as impressive as it usually is :|

The Progress
also my feet lol

I've been working for a while on making some vintage lace to turn into a lovely choker, which I've finally finished (for the most part - I still have to weave in the ends and clip the extra string)!

The choker

I also get to practice my Blocking with this project, which is a first for me. I've never blocked before, so I hope I've done it more-or-less correctly and that it comes out well. I don't need it to be perfect - I just want it to work.

A closeup of the blocking. You can't really see it, but it's quite damp right now.

The other thing I'm working on (as winter wraps up, of course) is a snuggly brown sweater. It's a top-down affair in a thick worsted acrylic with a pattern from the Yarnspirations website. The pattern calls for zig-zags, but I think I'll just work down to where the pattern starts being solid (probably right at the armpits, tbh) and then make some sort of repeating pattern - maybe Fairisle, maybe something nerdy, idk. But for now, we're barely at the shoulders!

It's a much darker brown in real life. My phone eats color :(

So that's what I'm up to this week in projects! How about you guys? What are you up to?

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Fiber Monday 308: Speed Up Would Ya Lady?

In Which It's Slow Going

I promise, I worked on the shrug, it just doesn't really look like it. Between the thinness of the lace yarn and the fact that I probably only did one or two pattern repeats, it's not too much bigger than it was. I apologize for this. I blame my poor time management skills. Also the fact that I've been super distracted by writing lately.

Still, it's lookin good!!!

If a little hazy. And furry.

Since today is a high-allergy day, and since I live with a cat and have worked on this around dogs, it's full of pet fur, which is annoying and makes my nose burn. At least it looks like a beautiful day, and it's in the mid thirties for temperature (above freezing!). It's sunny and bright, but the sky is pale and the horizon is that off-blue color you get when the atmosphere is odd.

It's lovely.

I'll be heading out there soon, but I just wanted to reassure you all that I am, in fact, still working on this project.

Go Enjoy Something, guys!
FC

Fiber Monday 307: The Abbey Lady Groweth

In Which I Have Made A Little Progress!

So you'd think I'd be a lot further on this shrug by now, but I've been distracted/busy lately. I have no excuses, really. It's not that I haven't been crocheting, I've just been crocheting things that aren't the shrug lol!

I made my dad a crocheted rubber duck for his birthday because he works in IT, and when they have a problem, there's a process called "Rubber Ducking" where you talk through the problem and process out loud to an inanimate object (such as a duckie), which usually helps you figure out what's wrong.

I also started work on a sweater using some brown Caron Simply Soft, which I'm going to try striping with a dark green I was given for Christmas!

I'm also working on a piece of crocheted lace for a choker I'm making for someone. It's been a long couple months lol.

So of course I've fallen behind on the Lady Sybil shrug.

Still at about 3" long, though! That's not bad - that's about 20% completion!

It's going to take a few more weeks to finish the body of this project, and then it's sewing time! And after that I get to add a lacy border! Super excited about that, tbh!

As for the rest of the projects, we'll see how all of that goes :)

Today, the weather is hellishly miserable. I mentioned that we had a massive ice storm recently, right? Well, now it's 39℉ (4℃) and drizzly and gross out there. There was about an inch of uneven, slippery ice on the sidewalks last night (which was a pretty but snowy night), so that's probably a death trap right now. I'm still gonna go walking today, though, because I'm a badass and the weather has no hold on me (that's a lie, but one I'm going to keep telling myself lol).

I think that'll do it for me today, guys!

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Fiber Monday 305: Slow Growth

In Which Everything Grows Slowly

I knew when I started the Downton Abbey Lady Sibyl Shrug that it would be slow going. I was using the wrong-sized yarn, the wrong-sized hook, and I was starting it at the same time as my novel project (which is going fairly well!). Still...

I'd hoped to have more than a single inch of the garment finished by this week.

Life intervened, however, and now I'm at about 0.75" finished, unblocked. At least I know now that it will take at least 16 pattern repeats to make the garment? Because it's supposed to be 15" wide (38cm). I have very wide arms, however, so it's probably going to be more like 16" (40.6cm) wide.

So it's probably going to be anywhere from 17 to 30 pattern repeats.

Why such a broad range? Because I absolutely stink at eyeballing progress.

Also, because I'll be fitting the garment as I near the end.

But What does all of this mean for future Fiber Mondays? It just means you'll be seeing a whole lot of this color yarn, really.

I've got more rows to complete, words to type, and food to consume and discuss, today, though, so I'll let you all go.

Go Enjoy Something!
FC