June Smalls: Maybe Stuff That Doesn't Quite Fit but Still Fits

Hiya! It's official. We're halfway through 2018. Maybe you don't want to think about that so let's think about Smalls instead!  We haven't had a linkup post in a while; I assume life just overruled blogging like so often happens.  I'll have to do a bit of shoehorning for this one; there's something new for this blog. ;b

click for info!

First up, the sparkly red floss has been delivered and incorporated into last month's Smalls "finish" so it goes from Finished-Until-Floss-Acquisition to Finished-Finished which is always exciting in the stitching world.

finished for reals

Kind of a simple little felt "frame" for it.  Not quite a flatfold, not quite an ornament.  There seems to be an overwhelming abundance of felt in my stash so I decided I should make use of some of it.  I really like the dark blue felt; it sparkles!  It's also very stiff so I can just prop the whole thing up.  I need to get one of those little picture stands.  Plus a few random pearly buttons for the corners.  Stars would've been nice but maybe too much for a simple design...?  I dunno, STASH BUSTING.

Americana collection grows~

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

Next up, a "small" washcloth. I wanted to make another of those star stitch cloths, but this time for our use. Plus I used up the last bit of the moondance yarn which resulted in a smaller and not square washcloth.  I got a little carried away making the i-cord loop so it looks absurdly large on this little cloth hah. It's a little wonky in the picture since I didn't bother blocking it.  But!  I used up the rest of the yarn!  And used up a portion of a small ball of white leftover cotton.  STASH BUSTING.

it will still function!

Technical Details

• "Simple Star Stitch Cloth" freebie pattern by A J S King on ravelry.
• Needles: #9s.
• Yarn: Lily Sugar'n'Cream Ombres; Colorway: moondance.
• My ravelry project page here.
• Started: June ??, 2018; finished June 25, 2018, unknown hours.
  

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★
Lastly, apparently I have small or possibly alien feet.  I have accomplished something magical for me -- my first pair of socks, YAY.  This was an adventure in seeing how many times I could restart these things before binding off.

fun colors

The first sock I think I ripped back three times.  The first time my gauge was so far off it wasn't even funny.  The stitch gauge was almost double and row gauge was more than double (!!!) what was called for (yes, yes, tight knitter, we've been through this before).  Once I figured that out and switched to appropriate needles, the sock as written was a bit too big so I had to rip it out and readjust.  The third time the sock actually started looking like a sock and fitting like a sock until a certain kitty decided it looked more like a toy and pulled it off of the needles out and undid half the darn thing.  It was easier to murder the cat start over.

Add caption

Since I did one at a time, I tried doing the second one on double points in an attempt to address the ladders between the circulars.  I think maybe five needles would've been better than four but you do your best with what you got.  I didn't like working with the DPNs so after turning the heel (of toe ups, hah) I though meh, and ripped it out to restart on the circulars.  I was curious to know how they would turn out with #6 needles but didn't want to chance them being drastically different sizes.  They are still a little different as I was playing around with the stitch counts on the heels.

Technical Details

• "Basic Knee High Toe Up Socks" freebie pattern by Leslie (Single Stitch) on ravelry.
• Needles: #5 circulars/DPNs.
• Yarn: Premier Yarns Wool-Free Sock, Colorway: oasis.
• My ravelry project page here.
• Started: February 16, 2018; finished June 14, 2018, unknown hours.

I really liked making socks even though these took, like, 8 billion years to finish.  There will definitely be more in my future but I really hope that I can address the ladder issues.   They bug me. But, ALSO STASH BUSTING.

This totally clears me for buying more stash right? \:D/

2017 Recap: Do All the Crafts

Hello, howdy, and hi! I always like to do a recap post so here is 2017's little collection.  I've copied the list from my finishes page and created a small collage for each craft, including a few images of stuff I hadn't yet shown on the blog due to various present restrictions.

2017

1. February - Casserole Potholder - thermal crochet, freebie pattern found here, modified by me
2. February - Small Potholder - thermal crochet, freebie pattern found here
3. May - Mock Honeycomb Dishcloth #1 - knit, freebie pattern found here (ravelry)
4. June - Little Cowboy Afghan - crochet, freebie pattern found here (ravelry)
5. June - Mock Honeycomb Dishcloth #2 - knit, freebie pattern found here (ravelry)
6. June - August Gladiolus - 14-count ecru huck towel, freebie pattern found here
7. July - Rubber Ducky Washcloth - knit, freebie pattern found here (ravelry)
8. September - Sunflower Coaster - crochet, pattern cobbled together by me
9. September - Zinogre - 20-count light tan jobelan, pattern by me
10. October - All Hallow's Eve - 14-count black Aida, pattern by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery
11. November - Star Stitch Dishcloths (4) - knit, freebie pattern found here (ravelry)
12. December - Fan Bookmarks (6) - crochet, freebie pattern found here (ravelry)
13. December - Snowman Mitten - 14-count brass ornament, kit by Bucilla
14. December - Clothespin Angel #4 - crochet, pattern from Leisure Arts leaflet 2518
15. December - Creeper Hat - knit, freebie pattern found here (ravelry), modified by me 

Knitting

knittin's

I felt like this turned into a year of dishcloths!  Apart from the hat, that's all I knit this year haha.  The final count was seven (two of each color of the variegated yarn).  The purple and green ones are done in a "mock honeycomb" stitch which makes a delightfully dainty-looking cloth.

The hat was a Christmas present for my husband!  It was my first time doing Fair Isle knitting which I'm pleased to say wasn't difficult at all once I figured out how I was most comfortable holding the second color.  I did make a rather silly mistake though.  The pattern calls for size 6 needles and I accidentally used size 9!  My needles don't have the little underlines to denote those two sizes apart haha. I didn't realize this until I went to put the needles back in their case after the hat was finished.  The gauge was close (mine was 5.5 stitches per inch to the called-for 5) using them, though.  The pattern idea came from here, along with a modification here.  I changed the look of the face to fit the in-game creeper.  Also, it had to have a pompom.  :)

Crochet

hookin's

Crochet was a bit more varied!  The potholders were finished early in the year as a sort of therapy for the move.  Next up was the star baby afghan and sunflower coaster.  Lastly was the thread clothespin angel.  What a fiddly little pattern!  I had to pay close attention to the pattern reading as commas were VERY important haha.  I changed the called-for colors, giving her a bright red dress and a metallic sheen halo (FYI metallic crochet thread behaves much better than metallic floss).  She was fun and I hope to make more in the future.  I certainly have enough thread to crochet an army in a rainbow of colors!

Cross-Stitch

stitchin's

Like last year, this was again a bit sad for cross-stitch finishes.  I am happy to have made my first flatfold for a Halloween stitch, as well as stitched my first Frosted Pumpkin piece!  And the brass ornament was a fun idea.  I did manage another one of my Flower-of-the-Month huck towel finishes, and another Monster Hunter side for the cube.  I even managed to work some on Final Fantasy III (last shown on here for last year's recap!).

It went from here

to here.

Not much of a change but there is a little difference, most notably the right side of the picture with his cape and sword.  I found a new (to me) floor stand that allows me to sit back more comfortably to work on these larger pieces so I have been grazing on it.  The goal is to have it finished in February as the local framing shop runs a special on free museum glass.  I would like it and FFVIII framed at the same time and possibly explode from the excitement.  Even if I just manage FFVIII framed, I will probably still explode from the excitement!

Goals

That's it for 2017's crafty endeavors.  It wasn't as much as last year but still more than previous years so I'll count it as a win, especially with how rough the start was!

As far as "goals" for next year, one item of interest is the 2018 Ravellenic Games.  I enjoyed working on projects during the 2016 Ravellenics where I finished a hat and a pair of house slippers so I'd like to challenge myself again for the new one.  I'm still trying to decide what I'd like to "compete" in.  Cross Country Living is a strong contender since I've already a project in mind.  Toy Bobsled also sounds fun and perhaps a way to get me to actually try my hand at amigurumi!  Or perhaps Sock Hockey.  I've attempted my first pair of socks which has ended in total disaster (wrong yarn, waaaay wrong yarn) but I don't want to be defeated.

I was out of all SALs this past year.  I know I'll be rejoining Gifted Gorgeousness (this is 2017's link).  Other than that, I'm not sure what I'll be doing.  I don't enjoy facebook or flosstube as a medium so that knocks out a few.  I've never stopped collecting my ORTs though I no longer take pictures of them for TUSAL.  I'm considering WIPocalypse (2017 again) as it would fit in with my posting style but because I have very few projects ongoing at a time WIPs are actually scarce!  Plus I don't think I'd link up because of the facebook thing.

It seems I like to stick to broad-spectrum SALs where I can work on whatever rather than ones that have a specific theme.  Maybe I should see if there are any KALs or CALs out there that could help broaden my horizons.  I would love to hear your suggestions!

Thank you all for helping my 2017 get brighter.  Here's to 2018!

An Eclectic Ensemble

I did!

Howdy, y'all! Thanks for all the interest in the blog hop post. I'm glad you guys like Frosted Pumpkin cuties too! I figured I'm well overdue for a crafty recap that doesn't have to do with holiday stuff so let's take care of that, shall we~? :D

before

after

First up, I finished the next side to the Monster Hunter cube, Zinogre the lightning doggy!  I rather like how this guy turned out.  (Have I said this about all of them? ;b)  I was worried about the lightest color blending in too much with the fabric but it turned out to have just enough texture to make it subtly pop.

Technical Details

• "Zinogre" glyph from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, pattern charted by me.
• 2 over 1 on 20-count light tan jobelan fabric.
• Finished size: 3.50 x 3.50" (9 x 9 cm).
• Started: July 6, 2017, Finished: September ??, unknown hours.  

I'm pretty sure this is a hunt

Four sides down!  Next up is Nargacuga, the hyper catbat.  I haven't started him yet; I'm not even done tweaking the chart for him!  He will be a rather dark stitch as I'm trying to keep to the main species and not the subs (this will present a problem for the last stitch).

I promise this is a flower

I have also started the next Flower of the Month -- September's Aster.   I'm still not enthusiastic over this one but it's not too terrible to stitch.  I snack on it on occasion but that has tapered off with all the holiday crafting.  I do not like that jarring orange center.  I am leaving it until the rest of the flower is stitched to see if it becomes less InYourFace but I am not hopeful!  Luckily it's only a few stitches that will need replaced if need be!

sunflower coaster

I'm kind of proud of this one.  I couldn't find a crochet or knitted sunflower pattern to suit my needs, so this was my first attempt in cobbling something from nothing!  I had to learn how to crochet the crocodile stitch (which, if you're interested, consumes a LOT of yarn), plus learn how to do it in the round.  For a first attempt, it turned out fairly well.  It's made of cotton yarn so it should work well as a coaster, though I'm not sure the recipient is using it as such!  I do wish I had written down ANYTHING about what I did for this pattern haha.  I'm not sure I could recreate it, though I think I'll give it a try at some point not-Christmas time.

front - front, back - back

I feel like I've been doing an awful lot of knitting lately too.  These are "star stitch" washcloths made as part of a Christmas present!  YAY I AM ALMOST TIMELY.  Also it is a good thing I started these rather early as the star stitch is torture for us poor tight knitters and these take me quite a while to make.  It does lovely things to variegated/ombre yarn, though, and that is why I chose this particular stitch pattern.

close up of the action

I have two more I'm going to make in "winter" colors.  I might make some for myself, but they can wait until after Christmas!  I did both a crochet cast on and bind off which have quickly become my favorite ways to start and end a knit project!  My tension is a bit better with them so they are looser, creating the slightly scalloped border on both edges.  Very much would recommend!

There was a minor annoyance with this yarn.  I bought the first skein at Michael's and it was 2oz.  This was enough to finish one cloth, plus about 7/8ths of the next one.  I bought the second skein at JoAnn's and it was 3oz!  Ugh.  3oz would've been enough to finish both, in the same dyelot (you can't tell the join on the second cloth though), with only a bit left over.  Now I have almost a full skein left to do ???? with.  I was a little grumpy over this.


Technical Details

• "Star Stitch" cloths, knit, pattern found here (free!) on ravelry.
• My ravelry project page found here.
• Cotton yarn: Lily's Sugar n' Creme in coral seas ombre.
• Size 9 (5.5mm) needles, plus a crochet hook for cast on/bind off.
• Started: October 28, finished November 10, unknown hours.  

Lessons Learned

• Crochet bind off.  
• Better tension control for purling! (!!!!)
• Where to buy yarn, bah.

I think that's all with crafts that I can show right now.  I have some small projects on the crochet hook which are turning out quite fun and really cute.  Plus I have another Christmas present on a different set of needles.  Plus plus I have some holiday cross stitch in the works.  Plus plus plus it's almost Cookie Time!!  I'm so happy to be excited about Christmas this year. :)

nyaa-p time

And even though it has nothing to do with anything I made but LOOK AT MY NEW PAJAMAS.  I don't impulse buy very often but I had to have these instantly, pink or no pink.  How can I ignore sleepy kitties and yarn balls!  These are seriously adorable and very comfy too.  They were brand new with tags, in a thrift store no less, so I got them for a whopping $6.  :D

helping

This entire post could've counted for Gifted Gorgeousness, haha.  I look forward to joining in again next year!  I hope you all have a wonderful time and those of you in the US, have a Happy Thanksgiving!  I don't have to cook for it this time.  \:D/

End of the Month: Winners and Stuff

Hello again! October has slipped on by with more excitement than I can really take, more on that in a bit!  I hope you had a sufficiently wonderful Halloween and are not in too-terrible of a sugar coma.

e'e

Hello to all my new followers! I do hope I don't talk you to death. :) I have followed those who have linked up via Blogger in my feed reader but have run into a snag with using the actual blogger widget to follow you back! Blogger has evidently changed something in their system and it will no longer allow me to link my blog profile. Instead, it is trying to use my "real name" profile and I. Do. Not. Want. I'm starting to get fed up with Google trying to push having one's real name everywhere, even if I "lied" so my real name wouldn't be on the internet! Bah, humbug. I'll keep searching for a workaround.

Next, you want winners, right?!  :D  I was curious to see if one design would be more popular than the others but I wound up with six entries for each! I used the random number generator to pick the winners  drum rolls

GGG #1

GGG #2

The winner of GGG#1: Garden Samplers is... Christine!

The winner of GGG#2: St. Nicholas is...  Bea!

Yaaaay!  Please contact me with your addresses and I will have them out ASAP and they will be one less thing I have to pack because... we're moving!  O_O!

yikes!

So, I am going to be rather silent on the blog front for a while. My husband has accepted a new position which means things have really been up in the air and throwing everything they have at my anxiety. There is just too much going on with packing, finding a place, NOT finding a place, actually finding a place, planning for a trip that has been known about for a year that just had to be at the same time as all this, leaving the house and community I love, the new job, the new life, the new aaaaaaaaa seriously, I am so ready for 2016 to just be over!  I am a creature of comfort and stability. There is a silver lining though; the place we're moving to has a Jo-Ann Fabrics and a Michael's and a yarn store.  Priorities!

Haunted House

I did manage to squeak in a little something for Halloween.  I'm not sure if this yarn was a good choice for this but it is what it is!  The haunted house is most visible but the tree and bat were kinda ehhhh....  I did not block it as these cotton cloths take a bit longer to dry and it needed packed right away.


Technical Details

• "October Mystery Cloth" pattern by Kris Knits, found here on ravelry (free).
• #3 needles for cloth, #4 DPNs for i-cord loop
• Yarn: I Love This Cotton, amethyst
• Started August 17, finished October 31, unknown hours.

Hasta la vista, baby! panic panic panic...........

Just One (4th of) July!

Hooray, the 4th of July! Go America, escape from those silly Over-Puddlers who sought to tax our tea! Shame!

via Google Images

Yes, I like the 4th. It's probably my favorite holiday. The town puts on a lovely fireworks display... and so do our neighbors. The neighbors might even do better than the town. We will attempt to grill fancy burgers and hot dogs and otherwise stuff ourselves silly. Hopefully we will not be rained out; this has been a very soggy, stormy weekend!  Of course I had to make some cookies, but I was good and sent most of them into work with my husband on Friday.

need all the sugar

Just One July
So, being the sucker I am for one-focus projects, of course I had to join in when Justine suggested Just One July! So, what have I decided to work on? I bet you're thinking FFIII since it's so close to being finished! Welp, you are... wrong! Buu, buu! I have to admit to myself that I really need a good amount of mojo to work on that piece and I am currently lacking the required mojo. So I am not going to force myself into it and wind up hating it.

before

So, Rathian will get some love this time!  She hasn't been touched since early February, which totally shocked me, even more than the idea of this being July and the year half over soon it will be Christmas again o my goodness.  ahem.  There's not much left on her so I will content myself with a possible finish.  I will count working on the next pattern as part of Just One July as well since it's all one project.  I'll leave it to my husband to pick who the lucky monster will be.

Knitting

swimming on the kitchen table

I needed something new to knit and decided that since all of our bathroom washcloths are completely functional and boring, I would make a new one that would be functional and less boring!  It was my first time knitting moss stitch (the border).  I love how it looks but I could happily live my life without ever knitting it again!  It requires more focus than I want to give but it does help me with "reading" my stitches.  I also added the little loop because I didn't want to totally forget how to do an i-cord.  It was good practice.  Small steps. :)

Technical Details

• "Dolphin Dishcloth" freebie pattern by Kelly Daniels, found here (ravelry)
• Yarn: Unknown cotton, best guess would be Peaches n Creme in bright blue
• Size 3 (3.25mm) needles, size 2 (2.75mm) DPNs for i-cord
• Approximately 8.5" (21,5cm) square, 3" i-cord
• Started June 22, finished June 27, about 7 hours.

It helps when there's a two-hour knitting meetup, twice! After the first meetup though, I did wind up ripping it back several inches. I wanted to try knitting on the purl side to see if I could make it reversible but it made for a rather wonky looking dolphin.  At least it boosted my confidence in ripping back and putting stitches back on the needle correctly!

Okay, that's enough Iskabibble Babble! Hope you have a great 4th of July (holiday or not) and if you're in America, give your pets a safe place to hide from the fireworks!

GG, TUSAL, and Things!

Hi!! It's almost spring! My daffodils have started to bloom and boy are there sooo many more this year. I'm ecstatic. :D When we first moved in to this place I think we maybe got three or four blossoms. This year there are probably 100! Please don't mow your daffodils down before they have time to soak up enough energy for the next year. I will come to your house in the night and dig them up, my preciousssss....

the first blossom

click me!

before

after

It's time for the monthly installment of Gifted Gorgeousness. Rathian grows! She got her dangerous claws added in which means the bottom corners are now done.  I'm saving her most deadly bit for last even though it's the first thing I go for in-game!  If you're new, she is part of a set of video game glyphs I'm slowly working up to a little cube for my husband to show off have on his work desk.

need a good blocking

I have also managed to complete another speaker cozy.  Yay, two down!   These will be the smallest (lol/sigh) of the set and already have a happy home on the rear bookshelf speakers.  I will work on the towers next.

click me, too!

March "strings"

Here are my latest floss ORTs and yarn ORTs. I used to put them out this time of year for the birds to have high fashion nests but I decided I'd try to fill the jars entirely as a sort of mini-finish all its own.  Sorry, birds!

squint ... or click to enlarge

Not for any "a-long" but I managed to knit up this little dishcloth just in time for St. Patrick's Day.  I was very close to running out of yarn for it.  I'm not super fond of this colorway so I didn't want to buy another skein of it just to finish a dishcloth!  But I managed to squeak by, woo! That little squiggle is all that remained after omitting two rows and shortening the i-cord (which was a new thing learned, yay!).  There are shamrocks on it though it's a bit hard to tell in this photo.

Technical Details

• "St. Patrick's Day Cloth" pattern by Kris Knits, found here (ravelry) and here (blogger).
• #2 regular and DPNs.
• Yarn: Peaches n Creme Solids in rosemary.
• 8.5" x 8" unblocked. 
• Started March 8, finished March 14, 10 hours.

And last but definitely not least, Kim over at Wisdom with Needle and Thread is having a joyous celebration of her 60 trips around the sun and invites y'all to join in the fun!  She is offering up 60 RAKs to her party guests and if you've never seen her work before, go, go look!  She does such beautiful tiny things.  Really, the borrowers are totally in love with her house.

Alrighty then!  I think I've done enough talking for my two weeks.  I'll be around for Jo's Easter Blog Hop so until then, may you have productive fingers~ :D

FotM SAL - October Edition

Aloha! I am happy you're still reading despite my continued silence. :) I am no longer ill and am capable of breathing through my nose, how exciting!  Are you prepared to be wowed by my spectacular progress on the next flower?

click for more info!

before

after

Yaaaaaa-- wait, that's like, eleven stitches. I won't bore you with the struggle it was just to get those few stitches in.  I haven't touched cross-stitch since then; I'll get back to it eventually but argh.  I'm a bit sad I didn't get any Halloween stitching in.  I may be able to squeeze things in eventually but right now... I dunno.  Guess I'm in a funk.  Or maybe cross-stitch isn't as warm as yarny projects because...

various stash yarns

I did finish another square for the CAL! This is number four of at least nine (I haven't fully decided I want a small afghan haha). I really liked this square though I still hate that black yarn.  The yellow trim at the bottom of the sleigh was a different weight; I should've doubled up but didn't ah well.  Next up is the elf!  He looks like he'll have a couple of fiddly rows where I have skeins of yarn draped everywhere with all the color changes, bah.  I think I've finally learned my lesson about carrying yarn.  As long as it's touching the same color, it's okay to carry it.  If not, snip snip!

I'm still being bad with the ends.  I'll get them in eventually, with much complaining. :D

lemon and rosemary P&C yarn

I also managed to finish another dishcloth (using the same pattern). This time, I tried really hard to control my tension and it shows! However if I knit any tighter it will be a waterproof dishcloth hahaha. I crocheted around the edge out of curiosity. I was expecting to cover the edge but apparently that doesn't happen! At the knitting group, it was suggested that I knit around the edge to achieve what I was going for.

Next up is a simple scarf (yarn bought but not cast on yet)!  I am all gungho about socks and lace but it was strongly suggested that I increase my skills carefully hah. I see the logic but but but......  :)

I'm glad everyone else has been keeping busy with their stitchy goodness~  I'll return sometime.

FotM SAL - September Edition

Hi there! It has finally turned cool here (thank goodness). The cornfield has been harvested and looks so lonely now. The soybeans have turned a lovely shade of gold so they will be harvested next. I have started fall housecleaning which, if you're new to my blog, means an entire dismantling of the house and clean everything from the ceiling down to shampooing the carpet. I am allowing one week per room since this year I am also caulking around all the windows, doors, and floorboards. We'll see if that doesn't help with how drafty this place gets in winter!

click for more info!

A little late in the year, but I was playing with the GIF maker before life got hectic and made this little button for the SAL. Feel free to use it if you want. :)

before

after

I have finished May's lily of the valley, finally! I do like it now that it is finished but it was a struggle to get it done. I am sorry that I do not have a "movie" of my stitches for this one.  I may go back and make one later when I have time to sit down.  I have yet to start June's flower, the wild rose, as I just picked up the huck towel this past weekend. I did manage to get it kitted up though!

I am still considering changing some of the colors. I am missing three, the hazelnut and the two lightest apricots. I'm fine with the unknown brown I fished out of my stash but not sure the lighter pinks fit in. Maybe I will start with the other colors and buy the missing ones whenever I can get down to the store.

Technical Details

• "May: Lily of the Valley" freebie pattern by Ellen Maurer-Stroh, found here
• 2 over 1 on 14-count ecru huck towel (called for 3 over but I thought 2 looked okay)
• Finished size: 4.50 x 4.50" (11,50 x 11,50 cm)
• Started: July 9, Finished: September 13. 12 hours.  

doily by my great-great aunt

Lookit, lookit! I am so excited at winning such a stunning batch of floss from Santa Nancy! I won Mother's flower garden!!  I have left them in the box because they look so pretty and I want to keep them looking pretty and not full of cat hair haha.  When I saw that I had won these lovelies from Nancy, the first chart that popped in my head was the "Welcome" chart (just visible in the thrifty stash picture) I picked up on a trip to visit friends.  I will have to consider it some more but I think they would look lovely with that design.

Frosty!

Update on the pixel square afghan CAL: I have finished the snowman! I despise that black yarn.  It says it's the same weight as all my others (mostly Red Heart Super Saver) but it was so not.  You can kind of see the distortion of the square in this picture caused by it.  It will block out, but still!  I liked the applique star idea from the Christmas tree so much that I decided to make a little holly and berries applique for his hat. Of course, I promptly misplaced them. :) They will turn up eventually. Or, if they do not, they are not difficult to make so I will make more. And then the others will turn up for sure.  I have not yet started the next square, the sleigh.

it's almost square

And knitting: I can knit a thing!  This is my first little (and very messy) dishcloth, #3 from this freebie pattern on Ravelry.  There is one very obvious mistake that I will need to ask the ladies about at the next knitting get-together.  I am guessing I slipped a stitch but didn't notice until I was several repeats away. Let me tell you, casting off was an adventure all on its own.  I apparently knit (and crochet) tight and that doesn't work well casting off!  I could barely squeeze my needles back under the stitches let alone slide the one up and over, yikes.  Maybe I should practice that more and my tension will improve for both yarny endeavors!

PS.  I have TEMPORARILY disabled comments.  I am so sorry.  Nothing is wrong! This time of year is very busy for me and I can't make comments like I normally do.  I would feel guilty receiving comments knowing that I couldn't reciprocate.  I have been reading but staying quiet.  Thank you for understanding.  >_<