episode 120 | keep calm and carry on

EPISODE 120 SHOW NOTES

Merry Christmas lovely people.

May the Peace, Love, Joy and Hope of the season be with you at this special time of the year and always and I extend my very best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful Christmas and a truly Happy New Year.

*Barbie Festival Outfits by Linmary Knits*

FINISHED

I’ve finished lots of items for Betsy’s Barbie wardrobe using the fabulous set of Barbie festival patterns from Linmary Knits.

I used a selection of 4ply and sock yarn leftovers to make the various items - my favourite is the fringed top and I’m planning on making another with rainbow fringing - and I swapped out the colours so they could match Betsy’s preferred unicorn colourway.

I hope I get some time this week to finish off the outfits, sort Barbie’s hair out and find her some shoes in the mess of Betsy’s bedroom.

I used a 3mm and a 3.5mm hook and am keeping everything for this Christmas project in my beautiful fortune telling bag that was gifted to me by Clarisabeth from the @crochetcakes podcast.

WIPS

I have finished one of Betsy’s advent socks. She chose the 24 ‘unicorn themed’ balls of yarn to go in the bag (mainly in pinks, purples and blues) and I did a shadow wrap heel for the first time using the excellent, two-part Chilly Dog tutorial on YouTube, you can find part one of that tutorial here.

I’m working ten rows of each colour over 60 stitches on 2.25mm needles for Betsy’s advent socks.

My next two pairs of socks are both 24 Days Socks my new sock pattern for advent this year.

The first pair of 24 Days socks I’m making are a two colour version using a lovely blue called Petrol from Opal Uni 4ply and a club yarn from Woolly Mama Yarns in the colour Candy Floss. This pair are fabulous because no yarn ends and I do think the pastel colour against the dark petrol blue looks a lot like the Aurora Borealis - I love them. They are living in my Jibbyroo Sews Christmas ice skater bag.

My second pair are being made with my advent swap from Amy @noblecharactercrafts. I’m keeping these socks in my Coco & Flora ‘I think it’s Christmas anyway’ bag and I’m using Aloe Sockwool in White (100) for the main colour. Amy is currently making a matching pair oof 24 Days socks using the same colours except she is making hers with a black main colour and they look fabulous!

You can buy the 24 Days Socks pattern on Ravelry or Etsy, depending on your personal preference.

My fourth pair of Christmas socks are my traditional West Yorkshire Spinners Christmas socks, I love this new Vintage Tinsel colourway from WYS and I’m just working a plain sock over 64 stitches on 2.25mm needles and taking my fabulous new bag from Made by Rachel with me everywhere I go in December.

MAKEALONGS ETC

I’ve had a bit of a Make Nine review this past week, reviewing what I did and didn’t make from the last and how I want to proceed. Hopefully I’ll get an episode out about my Make Nines soon. I take part in Amy’s (again from Noble Character Crafts) yearly makealong for the Make Nine and you can take part too by using her hashtag #makenine2021mal.

The stash busting makealong that I mentioned is being run by @hadabashery and the hashtag is #makersdozen2022 and it challenges you to make 12 projects from your stash next year.

And the New Year knitalong is being organised by Kaci from @youngfolk.knits and her bestie Becky from @a.handknit.letter and they are making the Humlebi Shawl from Fiber Tales starting on 1 January 2022. You can watch their podcast here to find out more about the knitalong which has the best hashtag ever #beesarefriendskal.

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Finally a reminder about the 20k giveaway, a huge thank you to everyone who has already left a comment to enter. You simply need to leave a comment filled with love and light and I will pick a winner using the random comment picker on New Year’s Day 2022. The giveaway will officially close at midnight on 31st December 2021.

All the prizes for the giveaway are provided and paid for by me or gifted by my yarny friends, in particular a free pattern from @catherinecrochets, a free pattern from @rowrowandkades plus the amazing Betsy’s Socks yarn set from Shannon at Blue Fern Yarns.

This giveaway has no affiliation with any products/organisations or YouTube/Google. It is open to international viewers but please note that all international (in particular EU) parcels now seem to attract rather large amounts of customs fees so please only enter the competition if you’re happy to pay these fees.

Enjoy the podcast folks and remember that love conquers all. All the very best to you.