This week has absolutely flown by and I’m not sure what I did with half my time! Well I did a blog post each day this week, so I guess that took some time and I was getting to grips with some of the Guild membership processes, just not much crafting.
Felting
I managed to destroy my slippers I made last weekend. If you can bear to read such a sad tale there’s a separate post I did about them. However, on Friday I made a new pair that fit, yay! I’ve not sewn the sole on yet.
I thought about doing a YouTube video of how I make my lampshades, but it’s so dark in the kitchen, I’m shy, I don’t have editing software. So I did a series of 3 posts about how I make them. Now anyone who has an interest in giving it a go can do. I made another highland landscape lampshade, as seen in part 3 of my How I make my lampshades posts. I like the subtle colours on the wool I dyed. I am going to dye a bit of a darker green as well though and perhap some heather colours.
When I made this one it was to keep and use in my hallway on a 20cm rounded square shaped shade, but once felted I realised I’d used the larger size of pre-felt. So instead I made a 25cm drum shade, so it will go to the shop.
On Friday evening a large order of pre-felt arrived so I can start to make some more. I need to make some more 20cm ones for the shop as they are running low. As I was doing a big order of pre-felt I did add a few other bits of fibre to my shopping basket! I bought myself some superfine merino to dye and make myself a fancy scarf and go wild with splashes of sari silk. A christmas present for myself!
I also ordered the smaller slipper last, after my disaster with last weekend’s pair – this time I bought from Wingham Wool as they were reduced to £10 there. They were also selling 500g bags of lap waste so I bought a bag and have some yummy fibres. You don’t know what you are getting but there’s some gorgeous soft fibres in the stash.
Knitting
Last Sunday evening I finished my Smitten Advent Garland and there’s a separate post about that.
When I should be gift knitting or finishing my Christmas socks, I cast on a hat, not one on my YOP list! More about this once I’ve actually made some decent progress on it, I’ve only done the brim, but I did learn a new cast on for it…Italian Cast on/Invisible 1×1 rib.
For the crocheters amongst you, please check yesterday’s post which has a link to a website that has a free cute gnome pattern. Be warned, one of the ladies in my Yarn Club has already made half a dozen…so they look addictive, she’s knit and then felted them and they are brilliant.
My yarn advent calendar from Cookston Crafts has had a children’s programme/toy theme so far, with colourways called Frozen Elsa, Tellytubbies, Tiny Tears, Furbies, Batmobile etc. Some of the colours I’m thinking they’d make some lovely cuffs, heels and toes, I don’t know how much yarn you need for those as I’ve not done contrasting ones yet. Or maybe one of Mina’s Minilicious Club patterns from her Knitting Expat patterns on Ravelry. I’m going to wait and see what colours are going to be best with others and then make some decisions.
Other News
I watched the 2 series of The Kominsky Method in one day! It kept saying it was a 98% match to my likes so I finally pressed play…Netflix obviously knows me well now as I did really enjoy it. There are some brilliant star cameos, but even the leads are Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin. I love Alison Janney and she’s one of the cameos. On Friday I watched Season 1 of Ozark, another brilliant show. I’ve fancied Jason Bateman for many years.
I’ve also started watching Living with Myself starring Paul Rudd who I LOVE! Plus that has Aisling Bea in it, who I find hilarious and love the wee series she wrote called This Way Up. Aisling is Irish and if you are wondering how that’s pronounced it’s like Ashlynn.
Hmm a lot of TV watching you can tell it’s winter.
In November I started a few books but returned them to the library unfinished. I’m struggling to get into reading at the moment, made worse by the fact we are watching I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here every night. It quite often has one American person in there and this year it is Caitlyn Jenner. For a 70 year old she’s done fantastically well in the trials. The final is tonight, so normal bedtime routine will resume tomorrow.
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This is a Year of Projects update. If you would like to find out more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry, or you’d like to join in, please follow the link for details. To read what the other members of the YOP Group have been getting up to please click on the latest weekly folder and follow the links to their blog posts. This is a friendly group with a wide mix of skills and crafting interests.
HighlandHeffalump 
Wow, you have been busy! I really admire your felting skills. Felting is the one craft i just can’t bring myself to try. I will read about how you make your lampshades, though, because I’m curious.
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We are binging Kominsky Method. It gets better and better! The dialogue is hilarious.
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All that yummy fiber and such pretty colors. I am so happy to hear you got the slippers you wanted. It was sad to see the first ones were no good.
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Lap waste… for something that has a rather unpromising name, you sure got some beautiful colors! 🙂 Okay… going to go check out some of the posts I’ve missed this week!
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So much to comment on where do I begin? I added you to my list so your posts come up on my blog. I had no idea you were posting throughout the week too! I definitely want to read how you do your lampshades! Your fibers are gorgeous and those gnomes are the cutest! How does Netflix match you with movies? Is that something new? I’m more of a reader than a movie watcher. I’m so glad the slippers worked out finally. I know I gave up as my first pair were too small but one of my grands was able to wear them thank goodness! I’m going to have to watch the Kominsky Method…I need a good laugh! Have a great week!
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Hi, Thanks very much. Re: Netflix if you mark when you’ve watched something that you like it, it starts finding other things that it thinks you’ll like and gives them a % rating on how much it thinks it matches with my taste.
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Busy as always! Glad you have new slippers, and the new lasts are the right size!
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Ah I’m glad the slippers came good in the end. I too have been following I’m a celebrity – I love the cyclone!
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I already have Ant and Dec withdrawal symptoms 😂
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