So, what have I done with all the yarn I've ordered?

I used to love going to craft stores to look at yarn, but in recent years, I have become much more partial to ordering online when the mood strikes me to make something. For one reason or another, I have become pretty loyal to the Drops brand (probably because their website has so many patterns that inspire me and it's easiest to just use the recommended yarn; plus their prices are fair and they have several sales each year) and there is a local online store that I order them from called Must ja Roosa, which is designated as a Drops Superstore, meaning that they have pretty much all different yarn types and colours in stock. Also, their delivery is super quick.

So for this post, I thought it would be fun to go back and take a look at the orders I have placed with them since creating my account on their website, and to see what I made with that yarn. This post cold be a longer one, so buckle up.

1. The 31st of May 2017, and then another order on the next day, the 1st of June: I ordered Drops Merino Extra Fine and Drops Paris to make these for a dear friend of mine who had a baby that summer: 

I found the pattern for the crochet bird in a book by Mari-Liis Lille called Cuddly Amigurumi Toys, and the pattern for the baby blanket came from the Drops website. I was very pleased with myself when I completed that project. 

2. Next, on the 1st of November 2017, I ordered some Drops Karisma in natural white and chocolate brown, as well as a crochet hook and let's just say that is still a work in progress. 

3. After a long break, I placed another order on the 5th of December 2018 for some Lima because my mom asked for some mittens to go with her hat, which is black and has pink and red flowers on it. Um, let's just say there was an attempt:

I'm not too happy with how these turned out, I can't fault the yarn, although I probably should have used something finer. The pattern came from a craft group on Facebook. 

4. On the 20th of March 2019, I ordered some Drops Paris and Nepal, as well as a crochet hook, because I got happy news about another baby and made these: 

The Lovey is from a pattern by Featherby and Friends, the jacket is a Drops pattern. Drops even featured my photo on their FB feed after I posted it in the Drops Workshop FB group!

5. On the 21st of May 2019, I ordered a bunch of Drops Cotton Light, which I originally wanted to crochet into a top, but ended up using to make the Clara sweater which you can see in the previous post. 

6. On the 9th of November 2019, I took advantage of the Alpaca Party Sale and ordered some Drops Air to make a hat and Drops Lima to make a pair of felted mittens: 

I really like how the mittens turned out, even though the weather didn't get cold enough to warrant wearing them. The pattern is from the Drops site and it's called Icy Paws. I also like the idea of the hat, and it was a very quick knit, but Drops Air is - true to its name - very light and airy and I always worry that the wind is going to blow it off! I might use a sturdier yarn to make it again. The pattern is called Wild Berry Crush and it's also from the Drops site. 

7. On the 30th of November 2019, I ordered some Drops Nord to make these mittens which by then I had been eyeing for a while: 

The pattern is simply called Kukkalapaset (Flower mittens) and it was made as a KAL for a Finnish craft store by Niina Laitinen whom I've mentioned before. I ended up giving these to my mom. Drops Nord feels delightful to the touch.

8. On the 10th of January 2020, I ordered a whole bunch of Drops Nepal to make the Winter Escape jacket, which I have written about on this blog. 

9. On the 25th of January 2020, I ordered Drops Fabel in natural white and Drops Delight in a pink and purple ombre to make the Pride and Prejudice socks that I finished some weeks ago. 

And yes of course I am waiting for another order :D

But more on that in future posts. 

State of the Project: Clara sweater IV, the finale!

Well, there you have it! I love how it came together, though I guess I would have also fit in a size S (this one is size M), and I especially love that I managed to use up the nine skeins of Drops Cotton Light that I had in my stash on a project that I could actually follow through with. 

And speaking of following through: I'm going to head back to my regularly scheduled Haapsalu scarf now. 

State of the Project: Clara sweater III

It seems I managed to finish the second sleeve a bit faster, because I counted out the rows where I had to do increases beforehand and marked them on the pattern before I began knitting it so I didn't have to stress about keeping track while I was knitting. Clever, no?

So yeah, I am currently a few rows into the yoke after having started the first row of the yoke twice, because my decreases didn't turn out to be as evenly placed as I had thought. The yoke is mostly either rows of only knits or only purls, with three rows of ktog + yo in between that create the columns that you can (maybe?) see. 

Hopefully it won't bee too long until I can report that I have finished the sweater and wear it!

State of the Project: Clara sweater II

I am happy to report that the sweater is coming along nicely. I finished the body and one of the sleeves. Now I just need to finish the other one and the yoke and I'll be done! Somehow making the sleeve seemed to take longer than making the body, because I always had to keep an eye on the pattern and remember to increase every 4 centimetres. The piece is getting to look more and more like something that I would actually wear :-)

State of the Project: Clara sweater I

Told you the lace pattern was very easy :P 

Anyway, since casting on the sweater on Saturday evening, I have made decent progress, having watched many, many episodes of Star Trek: Voyager whilst knitting this thing. I have used up most of the yarn from the unfinished Ocean Breeze jacket, as well as an additional skein and as you may be able to tell from the image, I have made it past the initial decreases to making increases around the chest area and am slowly but surely making my way up to the yoke. 

So who knows, maybe I will manage to finish the sweater and the scarf by summer!

Third time's the charm?

Yesterday, as I was once more thinking about how deserted my unfinished Ocean Breeze jacket was looking on the shelf next to my handcraft books where it had been laying for the better part of the last four months, I decided that it was time to admit that I wouldn't be finishing it and that the yarn would be put to better use in another project. Not that I don't like the pattern, mind you, but I don't really see myself wearing a short-sleeved buttoned lace jacket. Plus, always having to remember to make button holes in the garter stitch band is annoying and buttoned tops tend to sit weirdly on me. Just like with the Aphrodite top, which I was originally going to make, the idea was nice but the execution wasn't worth it for me. 

So just for funsies, I searched the Drops website to see what else I could make with Cotton Light yarn and found this lovely sweater pattern called Clara. It's summery, has a very simple lace pattern, and no nupps or buttonholes! And I already have the necessary yarn and needles anyway.

Now I just need to figure out how to finish a lace scarf and a lace sweater before summer. 

Patterns that caught my eye: a pattern creator appreciation post.

I follow several knitting and handcraft related groups and pages on Facebook, and every so often I will come across a pattern that excites me and makes me think I want to knit it. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to order the yarn / buy the pattern straight away (though that has also hapened, tbh), but I will make a mental note or bookmark it and then come back to it when the time is right. 

Here are a few patterns that have caught my eye recently: 

• This baby jacket by Ebe Valk, which is inspired by one of the most beloved Haapsalu lace patterns, the Silvia pattern, and was featured on the cover of our biggest craft magazine. 
• Heartbeats baby socks by Niina Laitinen who also designed the Pride and Prejudice and Easter socks that I have written about in this blog.  
• Fleuriste cardigan by Sari Nordlund. 
• Rose Blush vest from Drops Design.
• Gryffindor Pride socks by Ann Kingstone. 

So many talented designers out there, so little time!

Oh, and even though I am not really much of a crocheter, I bought this crochet pattern for a bearded dragon from Planet June. I actually wanted a real bearded dragon, but my current lifestyle would make keeping one quite challenging, so I figured a crochet one would be a reasonable substitute.