Uh… where did 2020 go??

So, um… it’s been a while 😬 I see that I made exactly one blog post last year, which is at least one less than I promised… I said I’d do an update when I got my stuff in order after the move, but that just didn’t happen. Not the blog post either 😉

Last year turned out to be less than great health-wise, and I could only be bothered to work on simple things like blankets and some potholders. I had great plans for UFOs to work on during the Tokyo Olympics, but then the whole year was basically canceled, so that obviously fell through… Still, with all that free time during the lockdown I thought I’d get lots of stuff done, but nope.

Anyway, Tokyo 2020 is actually happening now, and the Ravellennic Games 2021 are on 😀 And, since we now have a bigger apartment and I can actually access all my things, I’ve dug up a whole pile of old projects and I’m ready to go 🙂 Two are already done:

The turtle pattern is by Mia Bengtsson and the bunny is by Ana Paula Rimoli. Both are really old, from 2009 or something. I’d made most of the turtle, missing the head and one leg, and assembled parts of it. A fairly quick project to finish 😀 The bunny only needed arms, sewing them onto the body and then attaching the head, so that was even quicker 😊

The bunny pattern originally appeared a book I bought years ago, which I sadly no longer have (I hope it’s in storage), but it is now available online as an ebook. The turtle pattern is from this book, which as far as I can tell, is not available digitally:

I have plenty more projects to finish, but I need to get some more yarn soon, so in the meantime I’m working on this thing:

Happypotamus pattern by Heidi Bears

I started this in 2015, so it’s not super old, but it turned out to be more work than I expected, so it’s been hibernating for a bit. I’ve been making and sewing together a few motifs every day since the games began, and hopefully I’ll finish in time 😅

On the move :)

We’ve moved! Just moved into a bigger apartment just a few days ago! It’s very exciting 🙂 My crafting has been on hold for a while now because it’s been packed away, and it will take some time to unpack and get it all organized, but I’m very much looking forward to get crocheting again in the new apartment. I’ve got a new rocking chair and everything 😀

And I just remembered that I haven’t shown you the Christmas gifts I made last year… I was going to post about them after they’d all been received, but then we started moving, quite suddenly, and it just got lost in the shuffle

First, a Christmas tree rug:

I crocheted snowflake hexes of pure wool and felted it gently to shrink it a little bit. Still a bit wobbly around the edges in the picture because I didn’t have time to iron it before I had to wrap it up, haha. I hadn’t expected it would take three days to dry! 😛

Second, I made three of these angels:

I had a plan to post the pattern for these, because they are actually pretty simple. I’ll try to remember to put the pattern up when I’m more settled in the new apartment 🙂

And lastly, I sewed a sleeve for my boyfriend’s laptop, using bits of old jeans and other fabric scraps:

With a zipper and lining and everything! I’m quite pleased with it 🙂

Hopefully I’ll have something new to post about in not too long 😀

Nature’s Walk CAL blanket

I came across this CAL group on Facebook earlier, and the patterns were posted here as free downloads, with one new square coming out each week and the last two weeks being the joining and border. I had so much fun doing these patterns, I really want to make another one 🙂 Some bonus patterns were available for those who bought yarn packs from the store that hosted the CAL, but they will be available on Ravelry early next year for everyone else, and I’m pretty sure I’ll buy the bundle and make a second blanket with the yarn I have left from this one 😀

I did make some changes to a couple of the squares, and I made a simpler border. Mostly because I was running out of time, but also because it needed a *lot* more yarn and I just didn’t want to buy any more.

I actually don’t have the final size of the blanket, because I finished it in a hurry and left it at my in-laws’ place… But the squares were blocked to 17×17 cm, and the border added maybe two inches on each side, so… maybe 112×146 cm? Something like that 🙂 Not a great big blanket, but nice and cozy 😀

Back to the blanket

Surprise! So I actually just picked this up again, after not working on it for all of last year… For I while I thought I’d just abandon it half-done (June was attached, but lots of ends to weave in), but I put so much work into it, it would be stupid to just quit. I have all the temperature data saved and color coded 🙂

I’ve also wanted to make another one for this year, as the temperatures have been a lot more varied and it would be a more interesting blanket. I started to write the data down and almost went and bought yarn for it, but then I saw sense and decided to finish the one from 2017 first 😀

I ranted a bit on Twitter the other day, about the changes I’d have to make in the temperature scale, since the world is getting hotter every year… We’re in the middle of a record heat wave and I was grumpy as usual (I really don’t like heat). The temp scale from 2017 went from -10 to 25 degrees C. I did buy a ball of a color to use if the temperature should go above 25C, but it wasn’t very likely to happen. (Not very likely to drop below -10 either, so I never bought a color for that.)

So anyway, I always measured the temperatures in the area I was in, and I was at my mother’s house during the summer months, until mid August, and I was right that it never got hotter than 25 degrees. But after my Twitter rant I looked at the temperatures where I normally live, and there were actually two days of 26 and 28 degrees in July, so I decided to add them. It’s my blanket, I do what I want 😛 On Twitter I raged about not needing that extra color a single time for the whole of 2017, while for this year I’d have to add TWO more colors, as we just went above 30 degrees a couple days ago. It’s crazy! And the heat is murder and I’m plotting revenge on anything and anyone… So yeah, now we’re only talking one extra color compared to two years ago, but still. I’m gonna lose the bottom color as well, I think, as it’s very unlikely it’ll drop below -5 in November/December…

And this was a very long post without any actual news, heh. I’m about halfway through with July, and I’ll post another update when that’s done 🙂

A lovebug :)

I finished another Dumpling! 🙂 Isn’t this just adorable? I started it back in the beginning of February, super optimistic, I know, and obviously I couldn’t finish it in time for Valentine’s Day. But I completed it last night, and what better time than Pride Month! Still celebrating the love 😀

The felt details are not super necessary, but they do add lots of cuteness. I modeled this after the velvet mite, which I find adorable! But I suppose it would work with six legs as well. It’s a lovebug, after all 🙂

The pattern is up on both Etsy and Ravelry 🙂