April 25, 2026
Newsletter - New Craft Unlocked - Wood Whittling
The blue jumper is finished as the second sleeve is done. I’m happy with how it turned out. The washing and blocking process gave it a little extra stretch, so it fits nicely. I’m hoping it will be a good staple for the winter.
I’ve already started on knitting the next jumper, with the Scottish wool I bought after the York trip. It’s a patterned jumper, and I’ve got the exact yarn that the pattern uses, so it should turn out the same. I already had to redo the initial cast-on neck. The neckline looked MUCH too big. Very confusing, as I’m using the exact same needles and yarn. But I think it’s the fault of the pattern. Size 1 says to cast on 112 stitches for the neck, then size 2, 3 and 4 all say to cast on 140. I started with size 2, and the difference between sizes 1 and 2 is just huge. I think the creator designed size 1, and then got a bit inconsistent when grading the other sizes. So I started again, and knitting size 1. It’s already a baggy fit, so it should be fine.
I experimented some more on the pond irrigation at the field, and I’m still not there. I’m still struggling to get the water to flow where I want. I’ve ordered some large containers to fit in the pond, since the tarp solution wasn’t quite working. Hopefully, I’ll figure this out soon because it’s already warm and dry. I’m going to add a few more sprinklers up field to get better coverage there. I’ve drawn a rough map of what the water plans look like to give it more context.
I did a little craft room makeover over the weekend and built this little shelf ledge. It’s using some old wood, and it’s not perfectly aligned, but for a scrap project, I think it looks ok. I now need to style it with some mini plants.
Ah, and almost forgot last week’s new craft. I tried my hand at wood whittling. I bought a wizard-making kit with some whittling knives and made these two wizards. The template and instructions helped a lot with the shaping. I’m not great at visualising 3d, so we’ll see how I do at making something without a step-by-step template. But not bad first attempt.
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Charlotte Leysen
Hi there I'm Charlotte from London and I am a Millennial hobbiest. By that I mean I love making things, for both the process and the outcomes. On this blog I talk about all the things I'm working on and learning each week. On some projects I will go into a bit more detail on what I did and my experience through it.
Some facts about me:
- I am not a perfectionist, preferring to complete something than to attempt to make something flawless.
- I am in a constant cycle of building up inspiration, executing the ideas, then winding down to reflect and regenerate.
- I am interested in almost anything that can be made from scratch using nature / natural materials.
