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YOP10 Week 7/52 – Notepad cover and beeswax wraps

Crochet

I finished my sample of some of the Havana blanket stitches as a notebook cover. It was just an excuse to practice the technique, see what I think of acrylic yarn and see what the colours looked like. Obviously I prefer the pink, purple and turquoise. I think when I make mine I will definitely go with either wool or a wool blend, I don’t enjoy the feel of acrylic but of course that would be a much cheaper option. (The green rows were made up and not an official pattern.)

Knitting

I cast on my 2nd sock and knit it to the same place as my 1st and I’m now knitting the foot. It is much slower than the sockwonder needle, but at least they’ll be the same size doing them 2 at a time.

I thought about knitting a swatch for the Fine Sand cardigan but that’s as far as I got. Perhaps next week I’ll actually do it.

Weaving

I finished weaving the scarf on my 10″ loom. I spent too long weaving on Wednesday and it aggravated my shoulder again. I think I’ll need to just do an hour or two at a time on the loom rather than a focused day at it.

Other News

It wasn’t on my YOP list but I did make some beeswax wraps this week. I used 3 of the Winnie the Pooh fat quarters from my bundles from Aldi. They are made with beeswax, pine resin and some vegetable oil melted. It was a bit of trial and error and I had too little on my first attempts and then added more. I made different sizes as some are for covering bowls and some for wrapping veg and fruit.

This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group is in its 10th year, but this is my 3rd year participating. To avoid confusion I am labelling my posts as YOP10. If you would like to find 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 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. The YOP year runs from July to June.

*Some people have experienced some visual problems caused by the new Ravelry style, so if you are prone to problems then I recommend changing to Classic Ravelry View.

28 comments

  1. wow, another really productive week, in spite of your shoulder, which I hope will stop giving you trouble!

    Did I say already I love your socks? I LOVE your socks, that yarn is fabulous and I love the contrasting heel!

    But everything in your post is as pretty as a picture – I really like the technique on the cover, I wish I could crochet with a regular hand, your cover looks really very nice.
    And I did not know there were beeswax food wrap kits, I’ll look them up as I really like the idea: how do you clean the wraps (I guess you re-use them!)?

    You haven’t shown us the scarf!

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    • Thank you. The scarf I think is a present for someone so it’s not been relieved yet. You do re-use them and wash them in water that isn’t hot otherwise the wax melts off. You can’t use them on meat or fish but you can wrap fruit, cheese, veg, sandwiches in them or use as lids on cling film. They are supposed to keep things fresher and more eco friendly than cling film or plastic bags. My first time making them so will see how we get on and report back. šŸ˜€

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    • Oh I just put some more info on my reply to lovetoswatch. You don’t use them on fish or meat but fruit, veg, sandwiches, cheese etc. Things you’d usually use cling film or ceran wrap is it called in US? You rinse them clean in not too hot water otherwise it will melt the wax. They are an eco alternative and you often find markets here have people selling them but I thought I’d give it a go.

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  3. I love the socks!! I need to make myself some shortie socks! And I love the pen quiver on your gorgeous notebook cover ā™„

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  4. Love your socks! I haven’t tried two at a time yet. I can’t wrap my head around it. The beeswax wraps are great. They are on my list of things to make. Was it a messy process?

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    • Thanks. It wasn’t too messy, I melted it in a bowl I will keep for that use. I had greaseproof paper and a dedicated new paint brush and my usual iron with no steam on. Gilliangladrag has a YouTube channel that has a video and I did mine like she did and bought the kit from her shop online. But there are US videos so assume a US stockists sells the white beeswax and pine resin. The smell on the pine is amazing. I did have sticky fingers but counters were fine and the greaseproof paper protects the iron and can be reused for next time. It’s worth having a go as it was enjoyable and the smell is so fresh and forest like.

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  8. The socks are so pretty. The colors of them is very pretty. You have done well with your mosaic crochet. The fact you have even gone off pattern and done your own is impressive. It is a very addictive way to crochet. Your bees wax covers are cute. Love the material you have used to make them. I hope they work and hold up well for you. I have heard many good things about bees wax wraps. I am sorry your shoulder is still giving you issues when you weave. Hopefully it will get better soon.

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  9. Your notebook cover looks really great using that stitch pattern, Liz. I look forward to seeing a larger Havana one of these days. šŸ™‚ And your socks are so pretty. Now, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of these beeswax wraps, but I’ve read your further explanation above. Interesting idea. And the fabric you used is so cute!

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  10. I seriously love the colours of those socks that you’re knitting!! I’ve also just cast on a pair of rolled cuff socks. They are my first go ever. Yours really look so lovely. I’m very sorry to hear about your shoulder. I hope that it fixes up soon.

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  13. So sorry I’m late…..I went back to bed yesterday and slept the day away…very unlike me. I love your Havana notebook cover! The socks are so sweet! I thought about making some of those wraps but I am curious as to how you clean them? Sorry about your shoulder….ouch! I watched the 2nd episode of Colorado Stitcher podcast (she is also the owner of The Loopy Ewe yarn and fabric shop) and she gave a bunch of exercises for hands and shoulders for crafters. She actually consulted a chiropractor. They looked very good and she gave a very good tutorial. Have a good week!

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  16. Your Havanna looks great, and what a great idea to use the test piece as a notebook cover. A case of “waste not, want not”. šŸ˜‰ The socks look great as well, interesting idea to do the heel in a different colour. I usually keep a piece of paper with my socks to mark down the rounds so they both are the same size. I’m oldschool. šŸ˜‰

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