Still here!!

Yes, I'm still here - I just haven't posted in a long while....  again...

I have been very busy on the crafting front though - in fact my hooks and needles feel like they've been on fire for weeks on end now!! And I've been very naughty and bought loads of wool already this year ready to make up samples.
I've been working on a couple of designs recently - a cowl and a scarf. The double loop cowl is crocheted in aran merino and has been made and frogged twice now! I just can't get the effect that's in my head, so I'm going to give up on that idea I think and maybe revisit it in the summer. We all want to wear a nice thick cowl in summer right??!

The other design is a crochet scarf but it's not ready for testing, never mind revealing to the world yet! This is mainly due to deciding to do 2 versions of the same repeating pattern, firstly on the horizontal and then on the diagonal as well. It gave quite a different look but working on the diagonal threw up all sorts of issues that I hadn't quite anticipated, so there was quite a lot of frogging going on as well! I think I need to consult a crocheting friend before I proceed any further but I've put too much time and effort into it to abandon it, so watch this space...

At the same time, I was also knitting another Tail of Two Dragons Scarf, this time using King Cole Riot DK. This yarn moves gently from one shade to another giving a self striping effect - it's also slightly brushed (it's about 20% wool I think) so feels lovely and soft and squishy. However...  I wasn't very far into it before I came across a knot. And before you know it there's another one. And then another one!! I was not happy believe you me.

It's bad enough with any ball of yarn but when it's self striping you never know how many colours got skipped when it was rejoined - depending what you're making it can really show up, as you'll see in one of the following photos.
I was so annoyed I emailed the Customer Service Team at King Cole about it and attached a photo of said knots. As you can see from the copy of my email below, I didn't ask for anything, just wanted to make them aware of it - for all I know it happens a lot but no one ever tells them.

"Dear Sirs,
I have just purchased 2 balls of Riot DK online to make a specific pattern but I am very disappointed to find that there was not one, not two but THREE joins in the yarn within a 150 cm stretch!! I'm used to coming across a knot on occasion but 3 knots in such a short space is surely unacceptable??
As this yarn moves gently from one shade to another throughout the ball, this will leave some big jumps between colours if I continue to use this section of the ball - I am inclined to scrap it and start again! Luckily I had only just started the project and the knots were near the start of the ball, so there is only an hour of work lost but that is still a frustrating hour of re-working.I'm not impressed at all and am surprised that a ball which I would consider to be "seconds" was sent out for sale at all by the factory.
Normally I would not complain but felt this was so poor I should bring it to your attention.

Regards
Tina "

This is their reply -

" Hi Tina,

Thank you for getting in touch and we truly apologise for the quality of Riot DK you have received.
Unfortunately, despite rarely occurring, knots are created at our spinners because yarn needs to be tied when it comes to the end of its spindle.
Please be assured that we try our best to keep the occurrence of knots in balls to the absolute minimum, but unfortunately it is not something we can avoid without surplus yarn and waste.
However, we are very sorry that your balls had 3 joins in such close proximity, which is far from usual.
We would advise you to return to the shop where you originally purchased the yarn and they should either refund or exchange the Riot DK for you for free, even if you have begun working with it. We can then reimburse them for the cost and investigate the issue further.
Thank you again for taking the time to send your email, we’re grateful for bringing it to our attention, and do let us know if you require any further assistance.

Kind Regards,
Philippa "

I'm so glad to hear they are trying to avoid waste. Their waste. What about MY waste?? At my expense?? Had there been a big jump between colours - and with the second ball I used there was! - I would have to wind off potentially quite a lot of wool to keep the sequence correct. Wool which might not then be used.
(And as I had told them I purchased it online, I didn't want to wait days while I sent it back, waited for a response, waited for replacement yarn...)

When I posted pics and comments on IG, some people said they hadn't had any issues with the yarn and really liked it. Several people were not impressed any more than I was that King Cole thought it was perfectly OK that the wastage would sit in my purse and not theirs. Needless to say, in future I might have to think twice about buying their yarn again.
(Edit: by the time I got round to posting this, someone said they were using the same colour and hers was full of knots too...)

Everyone on IG liked the stripes on my scarf though and it did turn out well in the end. I had enough left over to make a matching hat - although due to the occurrence of yet another knot and a BIG change in the colour sequence, it doesn't actually match when you compare the stripe sequence...

I used another hat pattern by Irina of My Knitland (find her on Ravelry) as she works the most amazing cables but I really must make one in a plain colour to actually show off the cables, rather than hide them with stripes!

I've also been busy on the baby blanket front. I decided in January to make some bright rainbow blankets and bought a few colours of Women's Institute DK. It's really thick though and is almost like aran - but so far I have come across one single knot 😂😂😂.
I started with my Tooty Stripey Blanket (see the tab at the top of the screen) and it worked up really well -

And now I'm making another Daisy Chain Blanket by Kerrie of Harlow Monroe Handmade. I wasn't sure about it at first with these colours but the more rows I work, the more I like it. There are a few more rows to do yet but I really must start thinking about what sort of border to give it - it's so vibrant I think it just needs white with a tiny pop of colour really. But before I can do the border, I'll need to tackle those ends...

I've also been desperate to have a go at the Marguerite Blanket CAL by Mobius Girl! (I'll try and add a link later, sorry. ..)

I made one motif just to try out the pattern and it was so simple, yet clever, I knew I had to make it!! But I couldn't quite decide on a colour palette. Initially, I wanted to use exactly the same colours as the original, then I thought maybe bring in silver grey and burgundy instead of the dark grey. Then I thought palest aqua and pink with bright pops of raspberry and turquoise, maybe with vanilla and stone. Or maybe with white! And tomorrow I'll think of another combo probably! And then another! It would be really nice to include some self striping yarn too - as long as it isn't King Cole!!
This is the sample I made in grey and gold to try the pattern but the grey is rather thick, so it worked up too large to use... here it is having some Fluffy testing!

I very nearly made a visit to the wool shop, intending to drag out all their Stylecraft and have a play around and see what I could put together. But then I gave myself a firm talking to about wastage and decided to get out all my Stylecraft leftovers instead (from my Tooty Harmony Blanket) and make a start with those. I know there won't actually be enough to make the whole blanket but at least there will be enough to have a play around with layouts and get a general idea of what I as actually need to buy, rather than a random pick and mix!
Here are some of the motifs I've made so far.

Like I say, these are just a starting point really before I buy more yarn to make a full blanket. Although I must confess,  I did buy a ball of magenta yesterday as it looked so good I knew I wanted more of it!

But one thing's for sure - I'll be making it with my new crochet hook from Pedro's Plaques - isn't he just gorgeous?!!! I'very called him Pedro (what else?!) and we'll be going on lots of yarny adventures together!! The first of which (apart from the Marguerite Blanket) will be to make him a friend we saw in a magazine. He made me buy the book to get the pattern and then picked out a ball of wool from my stash to make him (there's just ONE 50g ball though,  so I hope it's enough!)! One thing at a time Pedro!!

'Til next time,     T   xXx

PS it's taken me at least 10 days to get this written, so apologies if you've seen all of this on IG already!