We're at the end of our rope with Asda. Everything is being substituted, and we're fine with that when it's just another brand of the same thing but like they're sending entirely different vegetables to the ones we need, they're substituting meat-free ordered items with actual meatballs, etc etc. It's got the point where the delivery guy just apologises sadly every week.

It's possible to set "do not substitute" on everything but it's a ballache, and then we'd still have to go shopping anyway since half our order would still be missing.

So. Which supermarkets actually deliver most of what you order? Or at the very least, have a sane policy of substitutions?

Thanks!

Edit: Added a cute dog pic for a bit of extra casualness.

Just wanted to drop in and say, bloody hell, this is actually great! I was expecting people to have much worse taste in music. DJ shows I've managed to catch have been full of bangers too.

Keep up the good work!

This photo was taken all the way back on Monday. There, that's my confession.

It's the start of a pair of Eskarina Socks that I'm knitting in the pattern designer's own yarn, which feels very on purpose but is actually a total coincidence. This project is part of the #DiscworldMAL that is mostly in my Discord and also a bit on Mastodon and omg who can even keep track anymore.

It's actually a really fun pattern, I'm so used to socks being a simple 2 or 4 round repeat all the way but this has charts and actual variety and you have to pay attention! Gosh.

And the reason it's not an actual real Wednesday photo, is that very little progress is being made due to this little madam going off on one and trying to jump up on my knee every time I break out the knitting!

How's everyone else going this week? 😄

(Please forgive this being a day late, it's a busy weekend in our house and I lost track a bit. Paying the "elderly dog we're dogsitting" tax by way of apology)

The observant among you will realise I totally put this theme here in the calendar because I knew I'd have a doll to knit for my friend's baby. Forward planning, baby (+ toddler)!

We've almost all either got kids of our own, or been recruited to knit tiny things for someone else's tiny people. So let's see what sort of things you've been making for the little ones!

Technically the winner of the Halloween theme was...um...me. And I hate that so will just breeze past it, but I do love the socks so have put them in their rightful sidebar spot anyway 😂

Speaking of which. This fortnightly themes thing was a fun experiment, but clearly we don't have the numbers to support the current format and make it competitive. I hugely appreciate everyone who entered a project so far, and have really enjoyed seeing your work, but I also don't want anyone to feel like they have to post just to avoid me looking like a billy no-mates.

SO. On that note, I throw it open to you. What would you like to see going forward?

a) wider-ranging, more general themes?

b) longer timescale for each theme?

c) get rid of themes entirely and try something else?

Maybe instead of people submitting individual posts we can have a sticky thread prompt of the week or something, idk, just brainstorming. Feedback welcome, and if none is forthcoming I'll just try more stuff until something sticks because I have no shame 😉

I've been just really slowly knitting away on a doll for a friend's baby. She asked for a recreation of the one someone knitted her when she was a baby, which would be a lovely idea except it's clearly some sort of creepy clown!

Some kind soul on Mastodon actually tracked down the original vintage pattern for me, and sure enough, creepy clown.

Anyway. I was supposed to still have a couple weeks at least to finish this, but plans have changed and she's being induced on Monday(!). So it's all systems go in every way, including gettting this weird doll done!

It will look less terrifying when it's finished, I swear. But maybe only slightly.

What's everyone else up to? Tell me we're not the only ones who didn't pack away the Halloween tablecloth yet? 😅

Please excuse the poor quality photo, I finished weaving in the ends JUST as our annual Spooktacular movie marathon was kicking off so it was heckin' dark and spooky in our living room 😂

Spiderweb top as per the tutorial here: https://youtu.be/VtQjWlf8NKA

Random black fingering weight yarn I had lying around 🤷‍♀️

Tbh the pattern is not amazingly well-designed, there are weird gaps under the arms and it assumes your body has certain proportions that mine does not (it's very tight around my hips, and fixing that the way the video suggests would result in the neck being way too big).

But it's also a very quick, very simple bit of fun, and I'll probably spruce it up a bit with some fixes for next year so I can wear it outside the house!

🕸🕸🕸

Not me just totally forgetting to post these here despite literally being the moderator and also in charge of making our current theme Halloween... 🤦‍♀️

Anyway. Here are your unsolicited sock pics.

Sock one was done by this time last year, but I just wasn't really vibing with it. It looked really weird and not sock shaped because of the cables down either side, and something about the way the orange and purple yarn knitted up was disappointing to me.

Pulled that first sock out of the drawer a couple of months ago intending to frog it, and of course now I was in love with it!

The second one has featured in many a WIP Wednesday post lately, but here we are. A few mistakes, including a wrong turn on the cables while waiting for husband to get out of surgery a few weeks ago. So now they're not only Halloween colours, they're also a reminder of a genuinely scary night!

*spooky hands*

OoooooOOOOoooEEEEeeeeOOOooooo!

Pattern is "Aquaphobia Socks" by Crystal Flanagan, discontinued but you can find what info there still is on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aquaphobia-socks

Yarn was a Halloween special from Bellwether Yarns a couple years back, and I don't think she does it anymore either!

This was not a helpful reference section 😂

Edit: We have established that everyone here is in fact old.

Like, I say that I'm getting old. I make jokes all the time about being middle aged. But I never really felt old until now, you know?

This realisation is brought to you not by random aches and pains, not by the ever-increasing number of grey hairs, not even by my long list of old lady hobbies.

But rather by how much I'm looking forward to spending a thrilling Friday night *checks notes* watching Top of the Pops reruns with the folks over on Mastodon. It's kind of hilarious because the rest of the week the #TOTP tag is usually all internet security and whatnot, and then we just shamelessly take it over for a couple of hours every Friday.

Missed it last week because husband was out somewhere so we caught up later, but it wasn't the same without the live tooting gang. Really excited to get back to the routine!

What have I become 😭

Tell me about your exciting Friday night plans a day early, that I may live vicariously. Or maybe join me in my grumbles about advancing age, idc, just distract me from all the work I'm not doing right now.

There was a lot of talk on knitting Mastodon last week about how long it takes to knit a jumper. And I just happened to have this amazing green super chunky yarn lying around from a previously failed wedding project.

So naturally I took to Ravelry in the hopes of finding something that could be made quickly, but also look halfway decent and not weirdly bulky at all.

Enter, the Tea Rose Slip On by Retro Claude.

Cast on last...Thursday, I think? Spent maybe about 8 hours on it so far. The front and back are completely done and now it's time for the sleeves already!

What's everyone else been working on this week? If it's a fingering-weight jumper project, you have my genuine sympathy 😂

Trying a new approach to theme switchover, because I'm not 100% convinced people notice a quiet change to a sticky thread title as much as an actual new post! We'll see if this is too spammy though 😅

Anyway! Thanks to all of you who posted projects for the New Technique theme, I for one picked up some good darning advice and it's just fun to celebrate the firsts with each other.

Congrats to our winner @kurobita@feddit.cl with your beautiful pastel bobble hat, and congrats on tackling first-time magic loop and a new stitch all in one project!

The new theme, given that it's late October, naturally had to be Halloween. Remember you can always find details of the current and upcoming themes here in the sticky post as well as details on what all of this is even about!

🎃 Get those spooky FOs flowing 👻

Apparently this one was knitted in April 2013, which means I'd been learning to knit for probably a month and a half on starting this. Lace shawls always looks so apirational and pretty, so I just jumped in, grabbed the free Florelei pattern on Ravelry, and gave it a go!

Slight issue, I only had cotton yarn. But I didn't let that stop the attempt. The first update on my Ravelry page just read:

08 Apr - Cast on without really having any concept of how difficult this will be or whether I can do it.

Actually kinda proud of myself for not letting the unknown hold me back!

The cotton did mean it came out much smaller than intended, and I had to add some extra repeats. And of course there are a TON of mistakes that are honestly quite visible when it's laid out flat but really a non-issue when it's worn.

The mistakes don't bother me though, it was a fantastic learning experience and taught me, among other things, the importance of stitch markers and what a difference blocking can make!

The main problem with this project was that it turns out I don't really have use for lacy shawls, but we live and learn 😂

Sorry to utter the C-word in October, but I got into a conversation about this a couple nights ago where people seemed amazed that adults would still maintain a wishlist like this. I'm on the side of it's totally normal, but maybe I'm wrong?

Personally despite repeated attempts, my mam and grandma will not stop buying Christmas gifts. So I set up a wishlist on Giftster and they just have it bookmarked. I go through and make sure it's up to date a couple of months before Christmas or my birthday.

The husband also has a link to it so I suspect he falls back on that for inspiration quite a lot.

Normal or no?