A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 4

 A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 4

I am continuing to add Yarn.

New Yarn

With the Super Chunky finished I am having to use other Yarns to continue. I had another Black in stock. This is an Ordinary Chunky.

Grey Wool

I am trying to keep to the same Colour Pallet. I have run out of Light Grey Yarn but I have this Grey Wool. It is heaven for my fingers after all that Acrylic.

Cast off Grey

I have completed 9 Stripes or 3 sets of 3 blocks. I have decided that it is time to Cast off the Grey.

Sew Up Grey

I have Cast Off and am now Sewing up the Bottom.

A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 1

 A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 1

Apologies if this blog might be a bit wordy in places. I had such a struggle that I didn’t take as many pictures as normal.

Lots of Balls

Right. After doing so many projects for myself and others I have ended up with Lots of Balls of Yarn. I say Yarn in this case as although I use Wool for myself I do use Acrylic or Blended for other people.

First of all I sorted all the Yarn into there respective materials. Since I might want the Wool for a project for myself I put that aside.

Adding Grey

I am afraid that I have jumped a great deal here. The Yarn was so tight that I was really struggling to Knit at all. So to Back Peddle naturally the first stop after sorting the Yarn was getting a suitable Knitting Needle.

This was my first problem. I decided that I would Knit in the Round so needed Circular Needles. I had several large Needles but unfortunately these were all accompanied by extremely short Circular Cords. Therefore I had to go down to a Smaller Size. 

I believe the Size I was using was 5 or 5mm. This was better but the Cord was still shorter than what I would like. This was because I was Casting on 201 Stitches. It is an uneven number so I would not lose any Stitches when I joined together.

Six and a Half Cm

I started off with Black Super Chunky Yarn which was left overs from projects where I had made my boyfriend things. See below for details. I Cast On 201 Stitches.

I immediately found that apart from the amount of Stitches on the Needle I was also was having problems with the Yarn itself. It liked to Split and even when Knitted it had lots of Fuzz all over the place.

This made extremely slow progress and the Needles were digging into my Fingers. To my mind it wasn’t so much Knitting as Alligator Wrestling. However I got to the End of the Row and Knitted 2 together to make the Join. After a long while  I finally got to the End of the Black Yarn and started with the Grey. This was the same type and just as difficult.

I decided to measure how far I had got. It was only 6.5 Cm but I decided I was going to start Decreasing anyway. I Decreased roughly every 4th Stitch until I reached 180 left on the Needle.

Argh a Twist in the Tail

I carried on Knitting a few more Rows then held it up to see it properly. To my Horror it was Twisted. One Twist I could cope with but with this I had no chance. The only thing I could do is Undo it all and start again!

Previous blogs

Nott’s County Hat

24/03/2022

https://lady-jane-quirky.blogspot.com/2022/03/notts-county-hat-2022.html

31/03/2022

https://lady-jane-quirky.blogspot.com/2022/03/notts-county-hat-2022-problem-with-pom.html

08/04/2022

https://lady-jane-quirky.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-problem-with-pom-poms-2022-solution.html

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 64

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 64

I finally feel like I am getting to see the light at the end of the Tunnel

Sew Pair

Naturally, all the Pins came out of the Leaves so I had to sort them all out again. Starting at one End I began to Sew a Pair of Leaves together. I did this by Partially Overlapping. I then Sewed with Yellow Wool down the Inner Edge of the Yellow Leaf.

All Sewn

As you can imagine it has taken quite a while to Sew All of the leaves together. I kept having to Swap Coloured Wool.

Curled Top

One of the main problems with Stocking Stitch is it tends to Curl. I am going to have to do something with the Top of the Pocket. It not only looks bad but also is slightly obscuring the Rat’s Ears.

Fold and Sew

I have Folded and Sewn the Top with a Backstitch. I am going to go across again with a Tacking Stitch to bring it together more.

Press Stud Pocket

I have a small collection of Press Studs. I selected the best size and Sewed them on to the Pocket. I put three on so as to spread the wear on the Top when Opening.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 58

 Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 58

I have reached the part where I need to start really concentrating.

Begin Grey

I Begin to add the Grey Wool that will form the Basis for the Rat.

Shorten Rat

As soon as I started to add the Grey Wool, I could see that the Pattern needed to be Altered. I am having to Remove a good five Stitches from the Chart. I note this in Ink so I will not make a mistake in Counting.

More Shortening

After Removing five Stitches towards the Rear of the Rat, I realise that I am also going to have to Remove some towards the Head. Again, I highlight this in Ink.

It is getting very complicated to keep track of the number of Stitches to be Knitted in which Colour. I may have to do some adjusting by eye as well as using the Chart.

Cast Off Pocket

I have finally managed to finish the Chart and Cast off the Pocket. How well I have done will be discovered when I start adding the details.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 54

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 54

The final furlough of this part.

One Edge

Since the Blanket Stitching I had already done was questionable and with the added possibility of Fraying I decided to Reinforce the Stitching. I was originally going to Blanket Stitch with Brown Wool but I realised that I had quite a few strands of Red Wool. I thought this would be nice, bright, and therefore easy to see.

One Complete Side

After going along One edge and was satisfied, I continued all the way around. This Completed One Side of the Bag.

Both Done

Now that One Side was Completed, I could continue with the other Side. They are now Both Done. On to the final test.

Success

Well it was a lot of Blood, Sweat and Tears not to mention a choice selection of Expletives at times. I Slipped a Baking Tray inside to check for Size. Eureka! It fitted so I declare Success. However, I still have a few more bits to finish it off.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 46

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 46

Another quick blog. On to the Toggles.

Marking Pins

 

The Side I am working on is the Strengthener attached to the Main Bag. I thought it best to do this Side first as it will not move. Before I start Marking out I Pin, the two ends.

Confident that it is now Secured I move the Hem so I can see the Loops. Next, I Mark with a Pin in the Hem.

Either Side

I am using some scrap Wool to Sew the Toggles into place. I am Sewing Either Side of the Pin to ensure that the Toggle does not slip.

Toggle and Loop

I have now Sewn all four Toggles in place. I have put the Loops around them. The Bag will slightly give a little but that is to be expected. I have to confess that I am not entirely sure whether I should have done the Toggles Horizontal or Vertical. If needs be I can always change later.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 45

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 45

Once again, I have been plagued with difficulties. This time it is not illness although that is still on going. I had found several areas that needed covering with more leaves.

Three times, I had nearly finished making one and three times, I had to start again because I found the Wool had Frayed. So annoying.

Slightly Wonky

The book Measuring had worked out better. It is still Slightly Wonky but it does not need to be perfect. Anyway, I did Unpick some and redo it.

Cut Excess

Now I can finally Cut away the Excess. I had started it then stopped, as I was not sure if I needed to go all the way along to the End. Consequently, it has been a pain in my side flapping around whilst trying to Measure and Sew

The reason why I was not sure about the Length is because one of the Strengtheners is higher on one side than the other. So far from being too long, it may in fact be a little short.

Double Hem

 

Since there is the Weight factor to take into consideration, I have decided to Fold over and Make a Double Hem. Now I can move on to making adding the Toggles.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 41

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 41

Apologies I have had camera problems so have had to improvise this blog.

Crinkly

 

Change of Wool. I have quite a bit of various Odds and Ends of Wool left. Since this next bit is not going to be seen I am using up some Crinkly Wool.

I-Cords

 

I have made a series of I-Cords. They are roughly a Thumb Length.

Loop

 

I left the Tails on the I-Cords so I could Sew them together in a Loop.

Lots of Loops

 

I have made eight Loops in Total

Loop Tidy

 

The Loops are quite easily lost. I have threaded a bright piece of Wool through them and have Knotted it. This will stop them disappearing when I move my craft stuff around.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 31

 Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 31

This week I have Cottoned on to an Idea. Since I cannot find the Correct Colour Wool, I will try to match it up with Cotton Thread.

Secure Cotton

 

I attached the Leaf with the Wool Tail then I switched to Cotton. I decided because of the difference in Width between the Wool and the Cotton I would Double it before using to Secure.

Double Loop

I then proceeded to Sew the Leaf all the way around. I went over each part twice to Double the strength.

A few Leaves

After I had added the Pale Yellow Leaf, I added a few more of different colours.

Cast Off

I need to make some more Leaves so I decided to carry on Knitting for a few more Inches then Cast Off.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 30

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 30

A Tail of Two Stitches.

More Tails

 

The problem with this kind of Colour Change is it leaves dozens of Tails. Not only is this laborious but also does not give me much to blog about either.

 Flap Join

 

I have decided before I go out of my mind with boredom to shake it up a little bit. I have therefore left the Tails for a bit and moved on to the Flap Join.

Wool Secure

 

I get out a Leaf that I had Knitted earlier and begin to use the Wool Tail to Secure it. However, I do not have enough to go around the edge so I need to get some more Wool.

Crivens!

 

How this has happened I have no idea. I cannot find Wool of the same colour. I have the Bright Yellow and the Golden Yellow but not the same colour of the Leaf. I can only think that somehow that the Wool has faded or that I went completely Colour Blind when buying the last lot of Wool.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 18

 Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 18

This blog is a bit of a bust. Most of my photographs seemed to have either disappeared or great quality. So apologies but I have done my best with what is left.

Securing

 

The problem with changing colours so often is that it can leave loose Stitches. This will become a major problem once I have started using it and the Weight will naturally drag it Downwards.

I have begun the process of going over these areas. In the above photograph you can see where I have gone along the edge of the Orange to Secure it.

Blurry Blue

 

This was a very difficult photograph to take. I wanted to show how the Holes are so much bigger where I picked up Stitches. I have held the Knitting up in front of my computer screen. Therefore the Blue of the screen can easily be seen through the Larger Holes.

Brown Blur

 

Another difficult photograph to take. Once again I am holding it up against the screen. Now I have gone through with the Brown Wool the difference is much Smaller.

Red Top

 

There are many Straight Edges that you do not find in Nature that I need to tackle. Here I am Changing the Shape and also I fixing Holes at the same time.

Leaves and Orange

 

I have added 3 Leaves to the Second Strap. However there was a bit of a gap so I have embroidered some Orange in it. Much more to do so need to carry on.