Mini Archie’s July Furtle Around The Blogosphere

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something

Hello! It has been a verrrrrry busy month full of projects and it’s only when I gathered together the photos for this post that I realised just how much I’d done and also why I’m so very, very tired! (I have done very little else, as Mini Archie would tell you if I let him…)

Before I get to that (and yes, I have had to come back and add this in as I completely forgot to mention it, how did you know?), a mid-year progress report link up for Fettle Those Finishes is open until 17th August. I’ve written my progress report and also written a new list (thereby rewriting/ignoring the guidelines of my own linkup). The link up and progress report is here and my new list is here. We are a small but merry band and always welcome newcomers, no matter how short the list. (Mine isn’t short. It’s the opposite of short, in fact.) 

I finished a pair of socks for a friend that was well on the way last month but didn’t get shown as I wanted to surprise her with the arrival of them. She knew they were coming at some point (hopefully before winter set in) as she bought the skein  but I’d finished those rainbow stripe socks before I’d put her skein in the cupboard so onto the swift it went. 

Yarn is Coastal Colours in a baby alpaca/silk/cashmere mix - it’s like knitting with a cloud.
(Which is a good thing, just in case you were wondering.)

I then moved onto another pair and Mr Random Number Generator chose this for me:

I’ll admit that my heart sank a little at his choice, this wasn’t my favourite combination when I was assembling scrappy sock ‘kits’ from the leftovers box but then I started knitting them and soon fell in love. (I used the clasped weft join for these as there was no way I’d be darning in all the ends.)

After all, who couldn’t love a pair of spog socks?

What are spogs? These sweets from liquorice allsorts. And yes, I did buy some for this photo. (And also because I’d been craving them the entire time I was knitting the socks.)

In between knitting (which is usually an evening activity unless I find a film I want to watch on an afternoon I’m awake), I’ve been making Lou Box tops. Several of them (I really was desperate for summer tops (I had none) so every time I finished one, I could go a day longer before putting the washer on!  

After making the toile and wearing it for a bit, I dropped the front neck half an inch (and then another quarter after the elephant top) and dropped the sleeve seam half an inch (on each piece so an inch in total) to make a deeper sleeve. These tweaks solved all the issues in the toile bar the bobbling, which has already begun in earnest. 

In the order they were made, may I present the top parade *drum roll*

Fabric is a cotton jersey and was from Pound Fabrics - it was a delight to sew

I added another three inches to the pattern (which made eight extra inches in total) but didn’t need two of them so instead of cutting
it off, I created an extra deep hem with two rows of twin stitching and I love it!

A viscose jersey which is now out of stock. Bit of a pain to cut out, lovely to sew and lovely to wear. I’ve since replaced the neck band as I wasn’t
happy with the way I’d applied it and it’s now grey. (If you’re going to make a change that takes all afternoon, may as well make it one you notice!)

Cotton jersey from Minerva - a pain to cut out*, a joy to sew and wear. (*The printed pattern wasn’t straight at the edges which made
life difficult. As a result, this has a 1” hem as I had to shift pieces over to get the print right and so couldn’t quite fit both on without lopping
a bit off the bottom of each one)

Viscose jersey from Minerva

Another viscose jersey from Minerva.

*bows* *acknowledges applause*

That now takes me halfway down the pile of jersey in the Cupboard Of Possibilities so hopefully there’ll be another top parade next month.

Mini Archie and Billy have been patrolling the garden for slugs and snails (although one did get through and munched its way through two pots of sunflowers…) as well as keeping me working hard on sewing tops and knitting socks. 

I doesn’t know why you is sitting out here, you has work to be getting on wif. Get back to it *stern face* *points inside*

Linking up to the July Furtle 

If you're linking up, please add a link (one per person, please) to your blog post, which could contain: a mosaic of all you've made in the month, something you've made/started/worked on, a goal which you'd like to achieve in the next month (and then in next month's post you can reflect on that goal and set yourself another one - I find this particularly handy if I'm in the midst of a big project and finding the making of hundreds of blocks to be interminable), anything crafty you'd like to share. This isn't just for sewing or quilting, but is for all crafts so if you knit, make lace, make clothes, do anything which could come under the heading of 'craft', then please link up. Please visit the link immediately before and after you and leave an encouraging comment, and more if you can manage it - we all know that comments create joy, so let's spread some around. Also, please treat all the linked posts and their authors with respect - I want this to be an inclusive space for all crafters and crafts and all are welcome. If you're not sure if you're welcome or you belong, you do - this is by no means a closed space and if you want to join, then you are most welcome. If you need help linking up, please leave a comment and I will do my best to help. Please add the Furtling button to your blog post: copy the code below and paste it into your blog post - it should then magically appear when you publish your blog post (I'll do my best to help if you have any problems) and it will help people find the Furtling page with all the details of the link up.

<p style="text-align:center"><a href="https://archiethewonderdog.blogspot.com/p/furtling.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXDD7-BYr5nXJtGn7HIFUcDUZfLGBTpazWKP8TCUWdkA6zd2285lbJX4aoMug6QyKDdxtxA-njWnhvf0GugU-An4z5lTFcqmYnae0Gb68FR0ZmydWYETGSa2oF1NeQDMVNwZBnUHTpsD7/s200/textgram_1548790799.png" alt="Archie The Wonder Dog" /></a></p>

To link up, go to the link at the bottom of this page and click on 'link up' (it's a blue button) and then add your link (website URL), a title (this could be your blog name but could also be something interesting to draw people to it (keep it clean!) if you prefer), and your email. This last one doesn't appear on the link (I will have access to it - I won't use it unless there's a problem and I need to contact you) so don't worry that you're about to share your email address with the world (or the handful of people who find this link), you're not! The link will remain open until 17th August; if you're seeing this post after this date, I'm afraid you can't link up to the July Furtle, but you can link next month if you like.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter