In the spirit of slowing down and not overwhelming myself with the pressure of things to do, I’ve kept my make list pretty short recently. I’ve learnt that I put so much focus on having things done that I never took the time to enjoy the doing, so I’m giving myself a chance to do just that and it’s been pretty amazing.
I don’t usually knit items to sell, given the difficulty of costing vs time spent, but I was recently asked to knit a couple of baby blanket and I actually jumped at the opportunity. I’ve been toying with the idea of releasing the pattern for the Dream Blanket in a baby size for a long time now, and this was the ideal opportunity to test it out, perfect the pattern and take some photos. So over the past few months I’ve been busying myself with working up two lovely, cosy little baby blankets and I’ve loved every minute of it. I finished off the second one late last night, and I’ll be working to write up the pattern and get it live on my website over the coming days, so watch this space if you want to get your hands on it!
After the longer-than-expected process of releasing my last knitting pattern, the Gianna Sweater, which was delayed when I kind of fell out of love with knitting and lost my Knits Please motivation earlier in the year, I’m really excited to have been working on a new design lately. I flicked back through the sketches I made for #The100DayProject last year, and inspiration was sparked when I spotted a long-line cotton vest I’d dreamt up. I’ve done a lot of crops, and sometimes I just want something a bit longer to throw on with a pair of jeans when the sun is out, so this was the perfect thing for me to work on in time for the summer. I always wanted to create a curved hem, so I’m working flat from the bottom up, and I’ve kicked off with some short row shaping. I’m really excited to see how it turns out when it’s blocked, but for now I’m busy working on the body.
Aside from knits, I recently dusted off my sewing machine again and undertook one of the most complex projects I’ve ever made – a crisp, white shirt! I’ve been wanting to make this for a while, putting it off for a whole number of reasons, but I finally bought the fabric and made the commitment to work through it one step at a time. I finished this one a little while ago, but it’s been waiting to be washed while we built up enough laundry to fill a lights load! Now that the chalk markings have been thoroughly cleaned away, I am so excited to wear it. I’m really proud of this one, so you might see me talking about it a bit more, yet.
When I’ve not been making, I’ve been keeping up with my physiotherapy, trying to get moving more, and burrowing my nose in a whole load of books!
What have you been working on lately?