My Weekly Chat and Welcome to New Followers

It's Sunday about 6 pm here - I'm having a blog break before I cook dinner.  This is the time of week I welcome new followers to my blog - two this week, both on Bloglovin. 

This has been a week where plenty of discussions have gone on - thank you all so much for your input on my post "how to write a blog".   I seem to have hit an emotional chord with trouser/pants making as well.  We are all far to critical of our efforts, when really we should congratulate ourselves for developing skills in sewing - skills that far too few people possess.  So next time you make something that doesn't turn out quite right, congratulate yourself for trying and learning in the process.  Even top notch designers have to make and remake a pattern before it is perfected enough to a production run.  Experienced sewers also run into trouble when a new fabric is made up - all fabrics handle differently. So, you might feel as though you are the only one struggling with these issues, when, in reality, they are experienced by everyone.  So congratulate yourself every time you make something, no matter how it turns out.

Thank you all for you kind comments about my recent episode of sinusitis - I've been very heady and lacking mojo over the last few weeks, but I am pleased to report that things are starting to shift, and I had a little more oomph today - so this week should see me getting better again.

As my DH was doing the medical cover this weekend, I had the time and space to lay out my wool stash to take stock of what I actually have - always useful so that you know what you can make.   I love having a stash full of possibilites to rummage through.

Blue knitting stash

I have lots of blue and black knitting stash and an assortment of odds and ends of fuzzy yarns - why I bought them I do not know.  They may go into a rug, or may be knitted with other yarn to create a tweed look.

Fuzzy knitting stash

I have three largish bins of yarn to store now - all mothballed.  I don't think I will need any more knitting stash for some years to come.

Sorted and Catalogued Stash, mothballs added.

 I spent part of the afternoon going through my pattern stash and decided to make this jumper (minus the hearts)  (this rush of inspired energy shows I am on the mend):

Jaeger handknits book : JB30

This book is quite a few years old now, but the designs are quite timeless.  Jaeger was a well known name in Britain for wools and patterns, but this arm of the business closed some years ago.  A pity, because the wool was superb to knit with.

The knits in this book are all for 4 ply wools.  I quite like knitting with 4 ply - it feels nice to knit with.  I'm going to use a recently purchased yarn:

Variegated yarn

This yarn is about 4 ply - it doesn't say, like so many of today's yarns.  As I always do a tension square I will be able to make adjustments if need be (by changing needle sizes to get the right gauge).

For those of you who live in Australia, this is a Spotlight special - I got it for $2-00 a ball - and each ball is 100 gm.  It's composition is 75% wool and 25% polyester, so it should knit up quite nicely.

*****

This week I will be starting work on the rest of my June plans for the 2013 Style the Stash Sew A Long.  I have already made a fleece jacket and plan to make two A-Line skirts from corduroy in my stash.  Feel free to visit the blog, and if you like you can join - we are running until December 31st.  

The link: www.stylethestashsewalong.blogspot.com

Do have a good week and I hope only good things come to you:)

Sarah Liz