£10 Projects and a rare stroke of genius (maybe)

I've been doing quite well with my sub-£10 projects. I made the Mei-mei jacket, designed by Doris Chan from Paton's Washed Haze Aran (total project cost £4.14). I found the instructions a bit confusing because you have to jump back and forth constantly. Luckily this yarn appeared to be indestructible and I was able to rip it back multiple times. In the end I messed up the front shaping and ended up with a shrug that fits like some kind of weird frontless bra:

I also made a Top-down Round Yoke Cardigan from a big ball of £6.50 acrylic/wool blend (in reality this is a blue-green heathery colour, not grey. Grey is a practical colour, but not all of my clothes are grey. Also, this is pre-washing, and teh sides are the same length):

Although it's not very flattering and the sleeves a little lumpy (my fault, not a pattern problem) it is really comfy and I wear it a lot. As soon as I finished it I decided I wanted to make another in a 'nicer' yarn.

I also have several other £10 Project Projects in the pipeline. Various online discount wool shops have been doing well out of me. Well, I really need some new jumpers.

A rare stroke of genius (or maybe merely sheer foolishness...)

I love the Northern Dreams pullover in the current issue of Interweave Crochet. However it's way out of my price range unless I use cheap yarn. I also like this Cardigan/top ensemble from Marks and Spencer, although I think it would look better with a round yoke rather than raglan shaping. As I said, I also wanted to make another Top Down Round Yoke Cardigan... TA-DA!!! A plan is hatched! I hope this flash of inspiration doesn't turn out to be a moment of utter stupidity... Watch this space...

Yarn labelling fail

I think they meant approximately (~) 1350m, not plus or minus (±) 1350m:

Although it would be excellent for the yarn diet, I'd be pretty ticked off if it turned out that I'd received -1350m of yarn and the corresponding amount of yarn had vanished from my stash.

It's 100% extra fine merino Lane Borgosesia Baruffa Cashwool, a bargainous £8.95 from Pavi Yarns, and therefore part if the £10 Project Project. It's going to be a shawl when it grows up.

Also arriving in the post today was some Mama Ocllo Alpaca Lace from Knit n Caboodle. My two skeins cost a total of £6.90, so also part of £10PP. It's going to be a scarf:


And that's my yarn binge for this week.

Recently finished, The £10 Project Project and a decision

Yay, more completed items:

Luna Lovegood scarf by Pinkleo, done in Artesano Alpaca 100% Alpaca DK:

Seduction scarf by Chickenbetty, done in Fyberspates BFL Aran. I made this scatf longer and narrower due to the yarn being so thick. I'm definitely going to do more of these, but maybe in DK weight yarn.




Crocus Bud Shawl done in Kauni Effektgarn 8/2 in colour EF. This yarn is gorgeous but scratchy, and didn't soften much after two washes. I think I need to buy some Eucalan.




I think I have a major case of startitis at the moment, but it would be quite nice if I finished some of the projects that have been sitting in my project pile for the last few weeks/months.

I've also been trying my hand at broomstick crochet, and am currently making two scarves. This one is using The Yarn Yard Lochan in Froglet:

I love the yarn, I love the pattern, but just now I'm not sure about the two together. We'll see how it turns out.

The £10 Project Project

Since my 'yarn diet' hasn't being going swimmingly I am embarking on a new scheme to control my yarn buying. I am currently aiming to crochet from stash, and not spend more than £10 on each project (unless it's something very special). For the sake of simplicity, I will have a $20 limit on Etsy purchases (I know that $20 is currently more than £10, but I want to keep it simple). However, this means it's retty much goodbye Etsy, hello Kemp's. Admittedly, now that some big expenses are out of the way, I've ordered yarn for several sub-£10 projects (including laceweight which is going to send that yarn diet number soaring upwards)... I'm admittedly a yarn snob, although there are many reasons why I dislike acrylic. Anyway, here is the first £10 project:

A string bag, made from Stylecraft Kon-Tiki - £5.97 spent on materials, but only about £4.18 actually used.

Although I don't know if we'll be celebrating Christmas this year, I do have a couple of ideas - two presents can be made from stash, and another with about £9 of yarn.

A Decision

A while ago I did some dyeing. I dyed this sock yarn:

Now I want to do something with it and am undecided. I'm not sure how much there actually is (somewhere between 400m and 800m, probably between 600m and 800m) so it needs to be a fairly open ended project, must be crochet and must have a simple stitch pattern or else the colours will just kill it. I'm thinking maybe an Eva's Shawl... I have already warned my partner that he is going to help me wind the yarn into a ball as he is more patient with knots and tangles than I am, and this yarn has many knots and tangles!