Archie The Wonder Dog

A quick post to let you know that the link party for your Fettling lists is now open. You can link up below or on the  main post , it doesn’t matter which as it’s the same link party on both posts.  Hooray, it’s time to link up your lists! You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

    Hello, and welcome to the fifth full year of  Fettle Those Finishes!   It lasts for the whole year so I’ll leave the link open until 28th February to give you chance to think about and assemble your list - it’s not something to rush into and can take quite a while unless you’re like me and there’s a tendency to be able to copy and paste from the previous list to populate the new one and only need minor tweaks *sighs*   Adding stuff to your list (or taking things off if you’ve changed your mind about a project) through the year is perfectly acceptable. Encouraged, in fact, as there’s no point in sticking with something you no longer love/need just out of habit. Just make sure anything added is added before you finish it, it’s up to you how you define that. There’ll be a progress link up on 1st July (which can also be an opportunity to write a new list, should you wish) and I’ll (try to) remind you in the June  Furtle . The rules Be kind. Be encouraging. ...

It’s that time again so let’s see what I’ve managed to do with this year’s Fettling List. Here’s my progress report  from July when my Fettling Points total was five. First up is not a finish but it is good progress with the Toglet theatre and it now “just” needs a back, fixings and putting on the wall: Read about it here I finished off the pair of socks for a friend that I didn’t quite get finished last year:  Fettling Points = 1 2025 was the year of “socks for me” and I knitted twelve pairs: Almost managed to remember to take the photos in a consistent format this year too! Next year I might manage that and  having them all facing the same way.  At the start of the year, I had 74 socks in waiting in the sock lucky dip and I’m pleased to say that I now have a mere 49. Yes, it’s still an awful lot but it’s down by almost a third and the number now starts with a four rather than a seven! Twelve have been taken out and made into socks , twelve scrappy sets have either ...

  Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello and welcome to the final furtle of the year! Just a quick one as I have my end of year fettling report to write and then my 2026 Fettling List to sort plus a post to accompany it. Fortunately (or otherwise), I’ve not managed much at all this month but I did finish the socks I started in September which is satisfying: Yarn is from Made By Penguins and was unnamed but has been named after their  newest team member, Bert.  As you can see, it’s knitted up beautifully and as it’s an extra fine merino and cashmere (plus nylon for the durability) mix, it’s even softer than their yarn usually is.  And I can confirm that the Advent trees are a lot better this year after their go in the washer and Mini Archie is much happier with them (as am I!): Look at them all standing up properly this year *beams*  Linking up to the December Furtle  If you're linking up, please add a link (one per perso...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! Not much to report this month as I haven’t touched the socks since I took their photo for last month’s post (oops) but I have re-felted the Advent trees and put the buttons back on so I do technically have a fettled finish, hooray! (The link for end of year reports will be open at the end of December, I wonder how many points we’ll tot up between us?) I put them on a 60° wash with a few bath sheets in, very briefly put each one over a polystyrene cone to (try to) get the shape and then put them in the airing cupboard to dry.  Mini Archie is starting to feel festive as well as impatient for the blue socks to be finished: Mine star jumper is ready to be weared, I has choosed mine Advent calendar for this year’s guessing game *can’t wait face* and there’s still time for BC to finish those blue socks she started in September even if she doesn’t manage any other finishes *determined face*  Linking up to th...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something This month has not exactly been a great month for progress. Here’s how the socks looked last month: And here’s how they look at the end of this month: Spot the difference?! Someone really isn’t very pleased at all but I distracted him by suggesting he had a furtle in (one of) the destash bags: Be a chum and give a chap a paw out?  Linking up to the October 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 o...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something This month has been decidedly less productive (which is no surprise) but there is still a finish are still some finishes and one of them isn’t socks! That’s right, I’m officially declaring The Cupboard Of Possibilities fettled! This is before: And this is after: And to replace the scrappy map scrawled on a piece of paper and a key/list of contents which wasn’t easy to use, I have a pocket size Filofax bought for half nothing in their sale: with a map for each shelf: and a page for each letter which will make things much easier to find than flipping backwards and forwards in a shorthand/reporter’s notebook (and inevitably flipping the wrong way when trying to find more than one thing):  This is where it lives, nice and neatly tucked away but easily to hand: There have, of course, been socks (mainly in the first half of the month): Yarn is Eeyore’s Rainbow by Must Stash Yarn And then these, which are made from the...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Another very productive month with very little sleep thanks to medication but it’s done wonders for my Fettling Points total, it has to be said! (Not so great for my hands and wrists so I think I’m due a wee knitting break or at least a slowing down!) Last month Mini Archie helped with the knitting but the issue with that became apparent when I finished the second sock: Ah. Bother. Oopsie!  Yes, those toes really are different shapes! The one on the left is how it should look, the one on the  right is the traditional square toe that I do for other people but not for me (because it doesn’t suit  the shape of my toes)  Let us never speak of this again Now they match! Like it never happened, hooray! Yarn is ‘Bubblegum’ from  Mothy And The Squid According to Mini Archie, this has been a good lesson in doing your own knitting (and paying attention at all times, even in the wee small hours)! Mr Rand...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! This month has been unexpectedly productive so let’s crack on, shall we? But first, just a quick   a reminder that you have until 10th August to  link up your progress report  for Fettle Those Finishes! 2025 I decided it was time to start tackling The Cupboard Of Possibilities and, to ease myself in, I started with the easiest shelf which was the one at the bottom. Part of the reason it’s easy is that some of it is taken up by the overlocker but the main reason is that most of it is taken up with yarn! While brushing my teeth one evening, I decided that I could let go of all the commercial* sock yarn leftovers and just keep the indie-dyed** ones (plus plain commercial leftovers which are great for contrast cuffs, heels and toes when you need to eke out the special leftovers) and I started a few days later by going through all the scrappy sock kits and removing all the commercial leftovers. I then...