Archie The Wonder Dog

It’s time to consider how Fettle Those Finishes! 2024 went and see what progress we made on our list. I’ll go first, shall I? This year was the first year I had a table at the top of  my list  right from the start and I’m definitely continuing with that (while also wishing I knew more (anything!) about writing code). I have made progress compared with the progress report from July , which is always satisfying, so let’s get down to the nitty gritty, shall we? I’ve knitted nine pairs of socks : I say this every year but next year I really need to remember to take all the finished sock photos  in the same format, not a mix of square and rectangle! Fettling Score = 9 I’ve also knitted a hat: Read about it here Fettling Score = 10 Revived a clock: Read about it here Fettling Score = 11 And replaced the labels on my scrap and FQ boxes: Read about them here Fettling Score = 12 This means I’ve scored (just) less than a third of last year’s total but twelve Fettling Points is stil...

    Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! It’ll be a quick post this month as I’ve run out of energy! I have, however, done some knitting and finished the socks I started last month: Yarn is a mulberry silk/yak mix from  Coastal Colours I’ve not worked with this mix of fibres before but it was lovely to knit with and knitted up beautifully, I imagine the socks will be warm but light to wear.  Mini Archie is gearing up for Advent: There’s still time to knit I a nother Christmas jumper *hopeful face*  No? *disappointed face* Maybes for next year? *hopeful face*  Linking up to the November 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...

  Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something I’ve finished two things this month, which was a considerable shock, albeit a very pleasant one. First finished was this little clock: Read about it here And then I glued more fabric onto a background, this time rectangular: Read about it here I’ve also finished knitting the sock I started in June but haven’t yet darned in the ends, hopefully I’ll have that done and the second sock cast on by the next Furtle. I love the way a contrast cuff, heel and toe look on socks but it quadruples the number of ends to deal with (from two (very manageable) to eight (feels like a mountain to climb at times!)) so I’ll need to make a large pot of tea and then force myself to tackle them. (My rule is that I can’t start the second sock until the first is finished and that includes the ends, unfortunately!) Yarn is from Yarn Unique Mini Archie is keen to get the next sock cast on: Chip chop, let’s get these ends sorted *chivvying...

Back in 2011 when I changed my scrap storage from the ‘stuffed in freezer bags according to colour’ method to something a little better , I used sections from Dulux colour cards as the labels. Then, as the fabric collection expanded and I needed a second box for many colours, I went back but the cards had changed and the shades weren’t available so I ended up with Valspar cards instead which weren’t as good (thinner and smaller). This is what they looked like, you can see how poor the fit is of the newer cards: Where there are two boxes of each colour, the black boxes  contain FQs and the white boxes scraps Over the years, I’ve vowed to change them as the smaller cards kept falling out and being wonky, etc. but it never rose to the top of the list: I think you can see why I found them annoying! The plan had been to sew tiny scraps on the labels which came with the boxes (and which have been kept safe all these years) but that’s had to be adapted for something I can do mainly while ...

One morning last week, I went into the workroom to open the blind and realised that the little clock which has been sitting on my Fettling List for far too long awaiting a makeover for its sun-faded face had stopped several hours before. I decided that I wouldn’t put a new battery in until it was off the Fettling List, put it in The Cupboard Of Possibilities and left the room. A few minutes later, I wandered back in and started looking at anything which could become its new face: I didn’t know whether I wanted paper or fabric which is partly what has held me up but that decision was made for me as I didn’t have any suitable paper. I did toy with the idea of using this really cute panda sticker but decided against it because it looked odd when the hands were over his face and given that that’s quite a few hours in the day, it felt like he’d spend more time looking odd than looking like the panda version of Hercule Poirot with his enormous (and magnificent) moustaches. Admittedly very c...

It’s the halfway point (ish) of this year’s Fettle Those Finishes!  which means it’s time for our progress reports. (I think mine is going to be quite short.) So far this year, I’ve knitted six pairs of socks : And one hat: So not exactly covering myself in glory but it does work out at more than one finish a month, which is nice.  Verdict: slow progress, steady at times, consistency remains an issue. Fettling Points earned so far: 7 There have been some minor tweaks to my  Fettling List , so minor that I don’t need a part II list this year. How have you got on? Write your progress report and link it below, the party will remain open until 10th August because I forgot to mention it in the Furtling post on Sunday, knew I’d missed something! You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! Well I finished the socks I started in February:  Yarn is  West Yorkshire Spinners ‘Wood Pigeon’ (864) And then I knitted a hat! It was in a Christmas Eve box from  Lucy Locket Land  which a friend passed to me so I knitted the hat and sent it back to her as a surprise. I knitted it as per the pattern (for a medium head) but when I tried it on to check, it was like a pea on a drum and wasn’t convinced it would fit a teen let alone an adult so I pulled back the crown decreases and did another three pattern repeats. Fortunately, it fits my friend even though she has a smaller head than me. I have 45g of yarn left so there’s probably another hat like this but without the fold up brim in my future, which is nice because it was a lovely yarn and pattern to knit. Pattern is Taconite by Virginia Sattler-Reimer Design  and the yarn was Locket’s (hand dyed) merino dk yarn  ‘Berries, Bo...

Another finish has been fettled! These are the first (of three) pairs for Mam and are West Yorkshire Spinners ‘Pink Flamingo’ (845) . They’re apparently made up of three pink stripes and one white but, well, best get the magnifying glass and bright lights out to find the third pink!  Unsurprisingly enough, Mini Archie has his eye on the leftovers *sighs*  I finks I’d look spiffing wif pink feets *modest face*

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello, and welcome to the first Furtle of 2024! I’ve started the year off well and have finished two pairs of socks, both of which were started last year. The first were this pair: Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners ‘Wood Pigeon’ (864) And then I circled back to this pair, which were started before the yarn for the pair above arrived, and finished them too: Yarn is by Olann   I’m making progress with the next sock. Believe it or not, there are two different pinks in that wide stripe but I think someone either forgot to add enough dye to the medium pink or added too much to the light pink as they’re nigh on the same. If you look very closely, you can just about see a hint of there being two stripes between the dark pink and the next white stripe rather than one broad medium pink stripe: Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners ‘Pink Flamingo’ (845)   A couple of weeks ago, I was thrilled to discover that we in the U.K. c...