The Smug Sheep - Knitting News

2010 review

2011-01-03T09:04:00.005Z

Another year has passed, and as usual my knitting goals greatly exceeded my knitting capacity! Still, let's take a look at how I did:

Ten for 2010

steeking - no
entrelac - no
granny square afghan - yes, but still in progress
line a bag - no
top down raglan - no
moebius - no
knit with own dyed yarn - no
more complex sock - no
complex cable -dipped a toe in the water here, taking a short class with Alice
Starmore
slip stitch item - yes
use of blocking wires - no
cable twist stitches - yes, Elsica
soft toy - either knit or crochet - yes, but still in progress
cabling without a cable needle - yes Elsica
inserting a zip into a knitted item - no
kidsilk haze project - no
brioche stitch - no

So if we count the WIPs, I managed five. Not great, but five more techniques than I had tried this time last year. I'm still interested in most of the list, so although it won't be a formal challenge this year, I'm going to try and hit a few more.

And the 100 balls challenge?

BSJ - 3 balls
hat for brother - 3 balls

lightweight autumn scarf - 2 balls
calorimetry - 1 ball

charity hats - 7 balls

charity neckwarmer - 2 balls

ruffle scarves - 2 balls

weekender beret - 1 ball
green lovely lid - 1 ball
scallop - not sure, say 10

Hmm, only 32 balls - yet again, good progress with small projects, but not with sweaters. The one project I was really happy to finish was the scallop sweater for my sister. She was very pleased with it, and looks great in it. I'm also happy that I did some charity knitting this year and got more crochet practise.

Elsica

2010-01-12T23:17:00.000Z

The freezing weather continues, and a walk yesterday convinced me it was time to knit myself a hat. I don't like the beanie style on me, as I have too much hair, but like the look of the slouchy berets that seem to be everywhere. I decided to try Elsica by Woolly Wormhead. Apart from the look of the finished item, this pattern hits two of my Ten410 techniques straightaway: twist cables and cabling without a cable needle.

I went stashdiving and surfaced with a yarn that was the perfect colour. Unfortunately, it was sock weight and the pattern calls for worsted with a gauge of 20. I pulled out a fluffy worsted yarn with a great texture, but questionable colour. I also got a gauge of 18 when I did a mini-swatch. Couldn't find anything else I wanted to use, so settled on this, and figured that going down a size would compensate for the gauge difference.

I have to say I am finding the pattern quite challenging! I thought hats were quick, mindless projects but I am concentrating hard on this one. The first point I discovered was that I needed to slip stitches with yarn in back to get the right effect - the pattern assumes you know this, but I quickly realised I was getting the wrong effect when I slipped with yarn in front.

I found the increase row a bit tricky because there were so many increases that the yarn was quite tight and it became difficult to knit into the strands. I have also ended up with weird diagonal lines where I did the increases.

The cable twist first row was a bit confusing - I think you need to move the marker before starting this row in order to make the twist tutorial and the pattern align. When I did this, all was well. I find the twisting without a cable needle difficult, as the yarn tends to pull out of the stitch when I re-arrange the order. Still, I'll get lots of practice, as this is repeated all the way up the hat.

Cardmaking

2010-01-03T15:19:00.008Z

During my long blog absence, I flirted with cardmaking. Here's a few of my Christmas cards:

I was quite pleased with them, although it was more time and space consuming than I expected!

I've had another few ideas for the Ten for 10 challenge, and have decided that I'll try to tackle ten techniques from a longer list. We covered 1-8 earlier, but I've reproduced the whole list here:

steeking
entrelac
granny square afghan
line a bag
top down raglan
moebius
knit with own dyed yarn
more complex sock
complex cable
slip stitch item
use of blocking wires
cable twist stitches
soft toy - either knit or crochet
cabling without a cable needle
inserting a zip into a knitted item
kidsilk haze project
brioche stitch
reversible knitting

Most popular patterns on Ravelry

2010-01-02T11:57:00.006Z

Browsing through my previous blog entries, I found my assessment of the top 100 Ravelry yarns, which got me thinking. How about the top patterns?

I picked out the most popular patterns on Ravelry as of today:

Fetching - yes, made these for my mother, and would make again

BSJ - this is hibernating - the knitting is finished, just needs making up

Monkey - not yet, but potentially

Calorimetry - have the yarn, plan to make

Clapotis - made it, but don't love my yarn choice so it doesn't get worn

Ishbel - no, not likely to

February lady sweater - maybe later

Noro striped scarf - I like it, but am worried that Noro is so scratchy. Unlikely to make

Turn a square - maybe later

Saartje's booties - maybe later

Swallowtail shawl - unlikely

Sock recipe - no

Ballband dishcloth - would like to make. Bought some Rowan Cotton Jeans to use for this

Starcrossed slouchy beret - hadn't seen this before, but I like it. Have added to my faves list.

Felted clogs - yes made this, but they come out huge!!

Koolhaas - maybe later

Bella's mittens - maybe later

One row handspun scarf - yes, and enjoyed making this

Baktus scarf - maybe later

Lace ribbon scarf - would like to make

Out of the top 20, I've made 4, have one WIP, would consider making 11 and have 4 I don't want to make. I wonder how typical that is of other Ravelers.

I also made a trip to the Liberty sale yesterday. There were some discontinued colours of Rowan cashsoft in various weights and felted tweed. I managed to resist although I was quite tempted!

Ten for 10 project

2010-01-02T11:57:00.000Z

Saw this challenge in the Stash and burn group on Ravelry. The idea is to think of ten things to expand your knitting skills, and make something that tries these techniques. Here's my list so far:

Steeking
Entrelac - a quant headband or garterlac dishcloth look manageable
Make a granny square afghan - I've started Babette, so just need to pick that up again
Line a knitted bag - I'm keen on knitting felted bags, but not so much on finishing them...
Top down raglan -
Moebius cast on -
Knit something with yarn I've dyed myself -
Make a pair of more complex socks - I've only made very simple ones so far, and would like to try something from Cookie A or Cat Bordhi.

9 and 10 to be determined later in the year

Welcome to 2010

2010-01-01T18:36:00.000Z

Knitting goals for this year:

Take the '100 balls in 2010' challenge with the Ravelry Stash Knit Down group. This sounds achievable and is flexible about the types of projects as long as you use up 100 balls of yarn in the year.

Improve my sock knitting by knitting more socks

Finish some of the WIPs - if possible, take a finishing techniques class to help me deal with some of my finishing issues.

Get more wearable garments into my wardrobe - I need to think hard about what I actually wear, and then make sure I finish the garment, not get it to the 90% stage!

Make something out of yarn I've dyed myself

And a quick look at knitting achievements in 2009. NaKniSweMoDo did not work out for me. I planned to finish all my UFOs and whip through several new garments. Didn't happen. In the first half of the year I had other commitments, and couldn't handle knitting major projects too.

In the second half, I managed to knit all the pieces for a sweater for my sister, but failed to sew them together.

I did also manage a cabled jumper for my DH, which I just finished! He is wearing it proudly today.

My biggest challenge was knitting a Zhu shawl in laceweight cashmere. I intended it as a holiday project, following Elizabeth Zimmerman's advice about circular shawls being great travel knitting. Well it was, but then lasted for several months beyond the holiday..... I'm pleased I finished it, but am not in a rush to repeat the experience.

The personal small items challenge fared better, completing the following:

one row scarf

ipod cosy number two

fickle fingers scarf

kitty pi cat basket

felted clogs

So how big is the cat?

2009-09-01T21:35:00.000Z

My sister's cat has issues. Displeasure expressed through inappropriate peeing on soft furnishings issues. However, when I came across Wendy Knits' kitty pi bed, I agreed to give it a go - as my DH points out, better the cat pees on her own bed than on my sister's...

The yarn is Patons Jet, which is a delight to knit with - very soft and lofty. In fact, I kept muttering throughout, "This yarn's too good for a cat". I made it to the specified base dimensions, but added a couple of extra rows to make the sides a little higher.

I then felted it in a newly acquired drawstring bag with dryer balls for friction, and took it out fully expecting to have to put it through another cycle as usual. To my horror, it had felted so effectively that it was much smaller than I expected! There followed lots of tugging and stretching to try and claw back a little size before it dried. Although the net result is beautifully soft and the colour very tasteful, I'm still concerned that the cat will need to be very small to fit inside. Diameter is just over 12" against a target size of 15". Which leads us the question - how big is the cat?

Long silence

2009-07-11T10:44:00.003Z

Sorry about the long silence - sometimes life gets in the way. However, knitting progress has resumed in the last month, and I do have FOs and WIPs to report.

I tackled the famous Fibertrends felted clogs last month, using some wool that I originally bought for a jumper, but then decided was too coarse. The initial plan was to make a pair for my husband, then a pair for myself. In my enthusiasm, I started my DH's pair and got half way through the slipper before I test felted a swatch. When I did get around to test felting, I realised that the slipper was going to be way too big. I frogged, but was then faced with the dilemma of which size to cast on to try and achieve the right fit. I had originally cast on the men's medium, so was going to try the next size down, women's large.

At this point, I re-read the Knitnurse's cautionary tale of too-large clogs. I decided to set aside the men's clogs and work on mine. I chose the women's small, and figured that if they came out a little too big for me, I could find a willing recipient. Lots of furious knitting later, and a 60 degree wash later, I surveyed the result. Huge.

Not going to fit me, or any other woman I know. Tried them on husband. Too big even for him! And this is the women's small size... A quick purchase of some spiky dryer balls (for friction), another go through the washer, and some judicious squashing while shaping to dry, and they've shrunk enough to fit my husband. However, it doesn't look like I'm going to get a pair in a hurry, as the pattern just doesn't go down small enough! I daresay that with finer gauge yarn, it could work, but I think I'll postpone that experiment until the winter.

Unfelted

Felted

Modelled by DH

And a rather cute pair of knitted slippers I bought on holiday:

Cables in progress

2009-02-22T19:25:00.000Z

I should have followed that instinct that DH's jumper was working out too big. I knitted about 35 rounds, waiting until the cable pattern was established, then slipped the work off the needles and measured it. It was about a foot too large! I was pretty mystified, as my gauge measured exactly right. Closer inspection of the pattern revealed that my gauge was correct for stocking stitch, but I had knit the sample in pattern. Still doesn't explain the sheer scale of the mismatch. Back to basics, and a calculator. We decided to maintain the number of cables but make them 10 stitches wide instead of 12. My DH was quite traumatised at seeing 3 whole balls of his sweater in progress being frogged.

I think I'm back on track now, with 2 1/2 pattern repeats completed. It's easy TV knitting, and the texture of the cable works well with the soft, lofty yarn.

The Noni bag has been on the backburner. I had completed a couple of the tulips that decorate the front, but they're quite fiddly and require lots of seaming, and I haven't felt like tackling that.

Snow!

2009-02-03T18:28:00.004Z

After months of reading about 'snow days' on other people's blogs, we finally got one yesterday! First time in 20 years...

Well sort of a snow day. My first mistake was trying to battle in to work, instead of pulling up the duvet. After two hours of trying, I admitted defeat and trudged back. My DH is made of stern stuff, and ultimately did make it to work, but as it took him four hours, it was nearly time to come back again. I did have to work from home, but at least it was a change of scenery (literally) for a day.

The broadband supplier managed to destroy our connection for four days, so I've been getting heavy withdrawal symptoms. Particularly frustrating, as we couldn't get any up to date travel info without the internet.

Knitting progress has been slow due to relatively little free time recently. However, I have cast on for DH's new jumper. It looks ridiculously large with a curly hem, but I'm hoping it will improve as I keep knitting.

First FO of 2009

2009-01-26T14:50:00.006Z

Something of a stealth knit, but I have finished my first Personal Small Item. It's Ava from the Rowan Ribbon Twist booklet, a mini asymmetric poncho. I finished it a few days ago, and have been pleasantly surprised to find it gives just the right degree of warmth around the shoulders when sitting around at home. The only slight irritation is that the fibres shed, so it's not great over a light coloured top.

Pattern: Ava from Rowan Twist collection

Yarn : 4 skeins of Rowan Ribbon Twist for smallest size

Alterations: Knit in the round, so altered shoulder shaping slightly

Speed /ease: A quick and easy knit

The other main WIP is a Noni felted bag. I ordered the yarn months ago, but it was out of stock when I wanted to start knitting it, so yarn and I were re-united at Christmas. I ordered the specified amount for the main bag, but it became clear when I was about two thirds through that I wasn't going to have enough. Pretty annoying as the yarn was ordered from overseas, and is categorically not available in the UK. What to do? Hmm...

While sorting out some small projects for the Personal Small Items Club, I located a bright yellow ball of Irish tweed. When I tested the colour against the bag, it was a close match, but it had red tweedy bits in it, and the texture and plies were different. The top part of the bag folds in to the lining, so I figured I could substitute the tweed there and it would be less obvious. If it shrinks differently to the main yarn, hopefully I can fudge it on the inside of the bag. I used the entire extra ball of yarn, so definitely think the pattern yardage is skimpy. Hope that's not true for Noni bags in general, as I've bought yarn for a few other patterns already.

Stashbusting challenges 2009

2009-01-26T14:45:00.001Z

Time for the annual set stashbusting resolutions.

The credit crunch turns out to be good for one thing: it doesn't feel right to be spending money on more yarn. I've deliberately avoided the John Lewis and Liberty sales, and don't feel the worse for it.

I've signed up for two challenges on Ravelry this year; the Personal Small Items Club and the NaKniSweMoDo. For the Personal Small Items Club, you make up brown bag combinations of yarn and pattern for small items, seal them up and pick one at random every month. The idea is that you get the surprise of not knowing what you'll knit each month, and attack the stash at the same time. National Knit a Sweater a Month Dodecathon is way more ambitious - 12 adult size garments in a year. Gulp. But it's the only way to make significant inroads into the stash, and the DH is already making noises about another sweater. The main reason I signed up for this one though, is that UFOs count, and I have plenty of those. They are mostly at the 75% stage, so I don't actually have to do a huge amount of knitting to get a number of wearable garments.

Personal Small Items Club projects -first batch

Calorimetry with Filatura di Crosa 127 print
Jaywalkers with bamboo yarn
Miss Potter mittens - need to remember to use the errata posted by others
Gherkin tea cosy from the Natural Dye Studio
Felted clogs from Fibertrends
Ava poncho

NaKniSweMoDo projects - half existing UFOs, half new
Moonstone cardigan - UFO
Prepster jacket - UFO
Jolien - UFO
Sahara- UFO
Erin - UFO
Sunrise circle jacket - UFO

The new projects may change but initial thoughts are:
Concentric vest by Teva Durham
Lauryn waistcoat from Rowan club
Wicked in Artyarns supermerino
Twilleys tank top
Cable guy

Christmas unwrapped

2009-01-01T17:57:00.006Z

I can now show off the Christmas knitting, which was gladly received by all. My sister was even plotting to take my mother's socks...

Mum's socks - Opal stockinette on 2mm needles.

Fetchingly shown off with her red clogs

My brother in law's mittens

Now he very patiently submitted to lots of remote instructions before Christmas about measuring his hand. He even sent back a clearly annotated picture with his measurements!

Same pattern, different colour for my husband.

The shrek ears scarf and matching mitts for my sister:

Christmas knitting

2008-12-21T09:00:00.000Z

I finished the tie and small scarf in the mystery rayon. The tie will be wrapped up as a Christmas gift, albeit one my husband knows about.

At the last minute, I decided on an extra few knitted gifts. Two are done, the other two are outstanding. One involved my making knitted bobbles for the first time in thick green yarn. I like them; they look like Shrek ears.

Ok, better get back to those unfinished presents...

Mitts for men

2008-12-20T12:20:00.000Z

My husband loves his handknits, and is always interested in acquiring more. His old store-bought woollen gloves have worn out, and he'd like some hand knittted ones to replace them. I don't feel up to trying to tackle 10 fine gauge fingers and thumbs, so have offered him mittens instead. After initial scepticism about whether mittens were 'manly', he decided he would rather have these than nothing, so I set about finding suitable yarn and pattern. He specified natural sheep colours and nothing self striping. I followed the first stipulation but took a chance on the second, as I found some rather nice variegated Lang West yarn. Fortunately, he liked it, so I got to work using Knitty's mittens 101 pattern. Here's the training mitt.

A lovely present

2008-12-06T17:24:00.000Z

A present from my sister!

2 skeins of Socks that Rock (my first!), a copy of the extraordinarily hard to find New Pathways for Sock Knitters and 2 pairs of Knitpicks Harmony needle tips.

A car journey provided me with enough quiet concentration time to make the first of the practise socks, using the sky architecture with increases across the instep. I'm not too sure about the result; the instep looks very high to me, and I have a fairly flat instep. The technique itself was quite easy, except that I found Cat Bordhi's right leaning increase tricky to do without leaving a hole.

Mystery rayon

2008-11-19T20:25:00.001Z

I've been playing with ideas to use the ball of mystery rayon I bought at Ally Pally. I started with a drop stitch pattern for a scarf, but this just looked messy. I then tried double crochet and this gave a nice mottled effect with the variegated colours.

I got 3/4 of the way through the scarf, then my husband started saying what a nice tie the yarn would make. Except that it needed to be narrower, and knit not crocheted. He had a stitch in mind but couldn't describe it, so I had to knit him a sampler until he realised he was looking for moss stitch. I only had one skein, so I've been knitting off the scarf and letting that unravel as I go.

Bamboo shawl revisited

2008-11-12T21:35:00.000Z

Work has been very busy and stressful recently, so I needed a stress-free knitting project. The Fyberspates easy peasy shawl was ideal. I saw a made-up sample at the iknit London day, and that persuaded me to buy the self striping sock yarn to make it. I quite like it, but am not that keen on the wide bright green stripe; the sample I saw was more subtle. The yarn is bluefaced leicester which is very springy, so hopefully this will blockout well. The main thing I learnt from the pattern was how to cast off using a crochet edging. This looks nicer and is more stretchy than a knitted cast off, so I'm sure i'll use this technique again.

I found my missing balls of bamboo tape I needed to complete the shawl I started in the summer, so pulled this out of the UFO pile and started work again. It's so much easier now I've charted the pattern. I can't understand how some people find it easier to work from written instructions than from a chart. It's now around 150 stitches wide, and I'm getting through a ball of yarn in just a couple of pattern repeats, so still think I'm going to need more yarn. I did leave a ball at my parents' house, so the shawl is going back to the UFO pile until I pick that up.

I've finished the main body of the moonstone cardigan, but can't quite face casting on for the sleeves. My sister has decided to adopt this project and spur me on to complete it in November.

The annual trip to Ally Pally

2008-10-12T17:24:00.007Z

This time I did it all differently.

My usual routine:

Go on Thursday and/or Saturday
Order the catalogue in advance and plan a campaign of stalls to hit
Arrive before the show opens and queue to get in
Work through the main hall from A to P first, then hit the side halls and exhibitions mid-afternoon
Stop fleetingly to bolt down a sandwich and struggle to find anywhere to sit
Leave around 4.30 -5pm and wait ages for the courtesy bus
Can't resist buying too much, and have a nightmare getting home in the rush hour

This time

I went on Friday - which definitely seemed quieter. It never reached the point where you could not physically move, and I could generally get to the stands I wanted to reach.

Due to lack of advance planning this year, I bought the catalogue on the door, and didn't have time to mark it up. I decided to just wander through and only look up a few specific stands I already knew I wanted to visit.

Just couldn't get up and out early enough, and arrived about quarter to eleven. This had the advantage of not having to queue on the door.

Although I did spend the first hour in the main hall (the Colinette stand is temptingly near the entrance), I then went to look at the exhibitions and went through the side halls. I appreciated the exhibitions much more, as I wasn't yet tired and footsore!

I stopped for lunch properly, and ate a hot meal in the Palm Court. I found a seat, and even found two new companions, and chatted to them for a while after I'd finished eating to let lunch digest before hitting the trail again.

I did make purchases but they were mostly exquisite single skeins of yarn or pattern booklets, rather than huge sweater projects, so the long schlep home was manageable. My shoulders didn't ache the following day, and that's a reliable indicator. I paid cash for everything, and thought of my stash when deliberating whether to buy.

I left late, just before the exhibition closed. Surprisingly, the queue for the courtesy bus was shorter than when I've left earlier. I also missed the worst of the rush hour.

Net result: This was definitely less tiring, and I also managed to spend less! As the journey is a round trip of 4 hours, and I can't do anything about that, the most effective way to improve the trip was to choose the relatively less crowded Friday. Yes, some of the top bargains had sold, but really, there were plenty of things left!

Usually, Ally Pally is my one and only chance to see a lot of vendors and visit a knitting show. This year I've been to both Wonderwool Wales and the Iknit day, so the pressure was off, and I'd already seen a lot at those events.

The loot:

Service resumed

2008-10-12T17:22:00.001Z

Contrary to appearances on this blog, there has been knitting action around here. I've just been too busy or exhausted to blog about it.

First up, my sister's vest is up, and she has pronounced herself satisfied. I hope she gets lots of wear out of it.

Although a simple enough knit, this item required a lot of finishing with armbands, buttonbands and seams. I think this would have joined the pile of UFOs if my sister hadn't been so persistent in pushing me to finish it. Hmm, maybe I need to get her to 'adopt' a project at a time, and push me to finish it.

I used my butterfly clips to hold the eges together for seaming, and found this worked really well. I also tried an invisible sewn bind off technique from IK, but it was very slow and quite fiddly, so I reverted back to a regular bind off.

Next, I've cast on for the moonstone cardigan using the Manos silk blend I picked up at the iknit London day. I started out using Addis, but found it a bit difficult to pick up the unplied yarn without splitting, so have switched to Knitpicks options needles.

The pattern has a slightly unusual construction. The lace edging is knit first, all in one piece. The back and sides are then split and knit separately to the top. I've finished the back, and am halfway through the left side.

As it gets colder, I am wondering whether 3/4 sleeves are really a good idea, as I know they will restrict the usefulness of the cardigan. On the other hand, I don't have enough yarn for full length sleeves, and am concerned that adding them may unbalance the pattern, as the body is also slightly cropped.

Finally, I made up the big knit rug. It was surprisingly quick, and the result is wonderfully squishy. So much so, that my husband is now hankering after one for himself.

Iknit day 08

2008-09-07T17:34:00.013Z

I had a good day at the Iknit day on Saturday, although my shoulders still ache from my shopping! The new venue, the Royal Horticultural Halls, was tricky to find, but much more spacious and comfortable.

I had good intentions of not adding to the stash, but was soon tempted. It's so nice to be able to feel yarns in person, rather than squinting at photos on the internet, so I ended up indulging. I got a copy of the new Debbie Bliss magazine. I'm not sure how many of the designs are new, as I definitely recognise some from earlier publications, but it was a nice collection.

I visited Socktopus to get a book I'd had my eye on, but they'd only brought yarn, so of course I ended up with both sock and laceweight.

I was impressed with the really fine work at this stand:

The Dutch knitters' stand was great, with lovely twined mittens and brioche stitch accessories, but I got distracted by the cake and forgot to take a photo...

George, the British wool sheep:

The knitted interior display from the Gingerbread House project for Great Ormond Street Hospital was impressive.

I didn't realise the fire extinguisher was knitted to start with, it was so realistic.

I've signed up for the latest big project - knitting an underwater tunnel.

I couldn't resist the Big Knitting concept

Lots of people had a go, including me. After a lunch break to ponder whether I really needed to buy 1 inch diameter needles and 2kg of yarn, I decided I really did, and bought the supplies to make a small rug. Ingrid was very charming and helpful, and full of infectious enthusiasm.

Where's the vest?

2008-08-29T21:13:00.000Z

I didn't entirely neglect my Vest Vault event in the Ravelypmics. I finished the back, and started the left front before the Olympic flame was extinguished.

I also resurrected the bamboo shawl on a long car journey over the holiday weekend. I had frogged back a fair way, but decided to live with a couple of minor mistakes further back. Before my trip, I gave up with the written instructions and decided to chart out the pattern. I find charts much easier to follow to work a lace pattern.

All was well until I found a knot in the yarn part way through a row. I tinked back, and joined in the new length. A couple of rows later it happened again. And then again. 3 knots within about 4 rows! That's really poor quality control. By this point, I was so fed up that I rewound the rest of the ball just to check for more knots. I'll be doing the same for the remaining balls...

Olympics over

2008-08-25T18:08:00.003Z

So the Olympics is over, and it was spectacular. Unfortunately, I failed to finish in both of my Ravelympics events, due to prioritising the gift I was working on. However, I can now unveil the completed gift items.

A set of golf club cosies! A belated birthday present for my father, who was gratifyingly delighted with them. They were pretty quick to knit, but the swiss darning, seaming and pom poms took as long as the knitting itself. I knew he liked them when they were quickly put on the clubs before I'd even completed the pompoms.

I love it when a gift comes together.

Entering the vest vault

2008-08-16T08:01:00.002Z

I ended up entering two events in the Ravelympics; the vest vault and WIP wrestling. For the former, I am tackling my sister's waistcoat, and for the latter, the bamboo tape top that is not too far from being finished. I had hoped to enter a third event, the gift knits pentathlon, but my broadband died in the critical few days before and during the start of the Olympics. Back online now though, and my gift knit will be a kind of shadow competitor, as I do have a deadline of next weekend to complete it.

At my husband's behest, I agreed to stashdive for the vest rather than rush out and buy more yarn. The pattern is from Noro's mini knits, but I am using some Rowan aran tweed which has been in the stash a while. I had to swatch several times and am using pretty small needles compared to the ball band, but now my main fabric is knitting up tighter than my swatch! My row gauge is off too, so I'm having to throw in extra rows here and there to get to roughly the right length.

2008-08-03T11:04:00.003Z

The knitting for the ribwarmer is completed, so I now need to block and sew together the pieces. They still look quite odd, so I am hoping for a transformation into a recognisable garment.

The bamboo lace shawl has been a vale of tears, as I discovered my stitch count was off, and that I'd missed yarnovers about 20 rows down. Of course I didn't have a recent lifeline, so have been painstakingly tinking back. Unsurprisingly, I'm not keen to pick it up again. The moment has also passed, as the event to which I planned to wear it has now been and gone.

I made the mistake of offering to knit my sister a waistcoat, then realising that the Noro Iro I had bought was too bulky for the pattern. She has however taken to the idea of the waistcoat, so I now have to find some suitable yarn. I told her about the Ravelympics, which compounded my error, as she has now declared with satisfaction that I should enter the Vest Vault event, and knit her waistcoat during the Olympics.

Ribwarmer

2008-07-26T15:30:00.004Z

The ribwarmer is moving on well, despite the unseasonal nature of the project. I'm working on the second side, which is going faster than the first side which required plenty 0f ripping and re-knitting. The first thing I didn't realise was that the width of the piece was almost exactly the same as the dyeing repeat length, which gave weird pooling effects. I ripped and reknit using alternating balls to break up the sequence. I also tried to be clever and use wrapping on the short rows, only to realise that this gave an ugly reverse side, which was no use as I needed reversible pieces. I ripped that back and went for the simpler EZ method of short rows with no wrap, which worked just fine.

Pattern alterations made were to reduce the armhole depth to 8" which has the side effect of reducing the body length too, and to knit the short rows in front to give a less curved bottom edge.

The yarn is working well with the pattern too. I originally bought it to make a sweater, but was disappointed with the colour and texture when it arrived, as the colour mix was too strong and the yarn loosely spun. However, it's perfect for a fluffy, bulky ribwarmer and is knitting up nicely.

I've also started a lace shawl using more of the bamboo tape yarn. This is the first time I've knitted lace from written instructions rather than a chart, and it's much less intuitive and harder to learn the pattern. It works as long I can concentrate without interruptions, and the lace pattern looks good with the variegated yarn.

Casting on again

2008-07-20T09:17:00.000Z

I bought loads of bamboo tape in the John Lewis sale, and immediately cast on for this Sirdar pattern top. The bamboo is lovely to knit with, although I'm a bit worried by the flashing.

I also cast 0n for an EZ ribwarmer to use some stash yarn, and because I was intrigued by the construction. I've turned both corners on the first half and I'm knitting up the back.

Felting Adventure

2008-07-16T09:10:00.004Z

As well as completing Evie, I knuckled down to the Adventure bag, and completed the main body of the bag. I did have a bit of a problem when I felted the bag before picking up stitches and knitting a tab, but managed to force my needle through the felted loops. I've hit a problem with the straps now. The bag is huge, so needs a sturdy strap to sling over the shoulder. The icord suggested in the pattern seems too weak and will stretch lengthwise. I'm thinking of possibly adding a chain strap, but it doesn't really go with the felted fabric. Any ideas?

Buying a long enough (30") zipper is also a challenge - John Lewis only carries a couple of colours in that length.

I did put this in a zipped bag to felt it, but I still have fibres everywhere.

Rediscovering Evie

2008-07-15T09:13:00.000Z

After my UFO investigations, I decided to be disciplined and pull out a couple of them. First up Evie. I'd reached the point where I knew I wanted to change the neckline, but couldn't face the maths to do so. This week I printed off some knitters' graph paper, and drew up the pattern neckline. Then all I needed to do was draw a curve to show my new neckline, square it up and translate into knittable instructions.

It was easy, and I should have done it sooner. The maths involved was pretty minimal. I retained the short row shaping style, but just lowered the front neckline. I used a three needle bind off for the shoulders, and voila!

Overall, I didn't particularly enjoy knitting this, and the outcome is ok, but not very special. Still another finished object, and suitable for the current season.

Mosaic meme

2008-06-29T20:09:00.004Z

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Melanie

2. What is your favorite food? potato cakes

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color? red

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert? apple crumble

9. What you want to be when you grow up? rich

10. What do you love most in life? family

11. One Word to describe you? searching

12. Your flickr name? smug sheep

Photo credits - 1. happy birthday melanie 2. potato cakes 3. Wolfreton Station Norfolk 4. Red beetle 5. Jose Mourinho 6. traditional Martini 7. blue Hawaii 8. baked with love 9. Portofino thru my lens 10. family picnic 11. dawn passion 12. Henry portrait of a sheep

Yarn meme

2008-06-28T16:15:00.000Z

Catching up on some old bloglines feeds, I found this yarn meme on feather and fan's blog, and was intrigued. I'm modifying it slightly.

Top 100 Ravelry yarns as of April (ranked by # of projects)

Used

1, Cascade 220 Wool - a lovely springy wool in loads of colours. It is now available in the UK, but more expensive (of course)

4, Noro Kureyon - like everyone else, love the colours, wish it was softer and cheaper

11, Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM) - before I used this, I couldn't believe it was worth the high price tag. But looking at the blendability of the colours compared to the CTH supersock in the same project, it is worth it for something special

21, Cascade 220 Heathers - same as 1

25, Rowan Kidsilk Haze - tough but rewarding

42, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino- the poor man's KPPPM? I like it, but I don't love it, and colour bleeding has caused me problems

47, Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK - love it, love it, love it -unfortunately, so do moths

49, Rowan Felted Tweed - very nice woolly feel, but takes forever to knit up

50, Rowan Calmer - I really like the top I made from this, and although it seems ridiculously expensive for cotton and acrylic, it is the only one of its kind

67, Rowan Wool Cotton - yes , nice, but too expensive for me

73, Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk - hmm, nice, but wouldn't bother to buy again

90, Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk - this one is a repeat purchase

92, Rowan All Seasons Cotton - very thick, nice to work with, but I struggle to think of garments I could wear this thick

In stash

10, Noro Silk Garden - waiting to be made into a frilled cardigan

15, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi - for stripy socks

33, Berroco Ultra Alpaca - for cabled bags

60, Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton - for a baby cardigan

62, Rowan Big Wool - a jacket

68, Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton - baby cardi

72, Misti International Misti Alpaca Chunky - cropped sleeve cardigan

88, Knit Picks Gloss - socks, but maybe a shawl?

97, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton - summer top

Would like to try

3, Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted,

6, Lily Sugar’n Cream Solid

7, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted

12, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes

17, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky

19, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock - Lightweight

22, Lily Sugar’n Cream Ombres & Prints

24, Patons SWS (Soy Wool Stripes),

27, Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc Peaches & Creme Ombres

29, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock - Mediumweight

37, Colinette Jitterbug,

44, South West Trading Company TOFUtsies

45, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool

46, Mission Falls 1824 Wool

52, Knit Picks Merino Style,

53, Garnstudio Drops Alpaca

54, Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering, 55, Knit Picks Andean Silk

59, Dream in Color Smooshy

61, Dream in Color Classy

66, Karabella Aurora 8

74, Mountain Colors Bearfoot

80, Cascade Ecological Wool

87, Lily Sugar’n Cream Stripes,

91, Cascade 220 Quatro

96, Rowan Kid Classic

98, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi
99, Cascade Fixation Spray Dyed/Effects,

Not too bothered - the rest! List includes:

Patons Classic Wool Merino, Caron Simply Soft, Red Heart Ltd. Super Saver Solids, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid, Lion Brand Homespun,Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, Manos del Uruguay 100% Wool,Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, Plymouth Encore Worsted , Zitron Trekking (XXL), Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc Peaches & Creme Solids, Cascade 220 Superwash, Knit Picks Swish Superwash, , Knit Picks Essential, Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Solid, Lion Brand Lion Wool Solid, Knit Picks Shine, Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Baby Ull, Lion Brand Microspun, Knit Picks Palette

So why are they UFOs?

2008-06-21T11:37:00.000Z

The irony of knitting in public day was that it was one of the few days in the year when I didn't knit in public! The problem was that none of my numerous WIPs was at a suitable point to tuck into a bag and knit without thinking. They were all at a point that needed complicated shaping, too big, needed to wind more yarn, etc. So for once, I found myself staring out of the train window.

The experience made me think about all the UFOs I have, and why they are languishing. I decided to examine each of them:

1) Erin jumper

out of season
not sure where I am in the pattern
bulky and hard to carry around

2) Ozzy octopus

fiddly bits and making up left

3) Sunrise circle

making up

4) Adventure bag

too big to carry around
the pointy needles hurt my finger tips

5) Lucy handbag

not sure where I am in the pattern

6) Vogue strappy top

reached a really fiddly bit with lots of stitches on holders

7) Green top

bored with pattern
out of season when I stopped on it

8) Sahara

one fiddly bit left to do

9) Fish sampler

not sure where I am in the pattern, lost the flow

10) pink glitz bag

not sure where I am in the pattern
need to cut out lining pieces

11) simple crochet bag

not sure where I am in the pattern

12) Mystery stole 3

Need to concentrate to get back into flow of lace knitting
Rows are getting longer and longer

13) Garden path shawl from elann

Hmm, not even sure that's what it is, let alone where I am in the pattern.
Yarn and needle combination is too sticky

14) Purple cardigan

Adapting the pattern gauge and size is too hard
Yarn dye comes off on my hands
Don't know where I am in the pattern

15) Fuzzy scarf

Needs frogging

16) Chevron tie

Fiddly as have to keep cutting yarn and darning in ends

17) Fuchsia crochet bag

Lost place in pattern

18) Jolien

Reaching fiddly shoulder shaping

The overall themes are:

I don't know where I am in the pattern and/or I'm at a fiddly bit ie. it's not just case of pick it up and go, I need to invest some time and brainpower in figuring it out

The projects aren't portable due to size or complexity

The longer the project has idled, the greater the mental barrier to picking it up

However, I have successfully finished some large projects, and some of the features these shared were:
Blitzed in one go ie. never sat in the UFO pile
No finishing or finished immediately
Lots of simple stockinette or crochet so suitable for TV knitting

Not really sure what I do with this information, other than think twice before starting a complex project; experience shows it's more likely to get off the needles if it's easy, even if it's large.
I really do have to try and get some of these UFOs moving. I haven't even counted the items that need lining, buttons, etc.

Vauxhall city farm

2008-06-14T15:42:00.006Z

We took an excursion to the Vauxhall City Farm Sheep & Wool day today, organised by the local spinning group. Turns out the farm actually only has one sheep, but had borrowed a couple more from another farm. The highlight was the shearing of Lamby, a black Wensleydale with an impressive fleece, by Tommy, who kept up an informative commentary as he sheared. Lamby had never been shorn before and was literally rigid with fear and struggling mightily, so it was a painstaking process.

Manoeuvring her into position

Starting with the stomach

Shaving those sideburns

Nearly finished

All done!

The crimp and lustre of the fleece are lovely. The spinners will make the most of the fleece, and have already started carefully combing the locks. Lamby gets to keep the topknot.

There were spinning and drop spindle demos, a chance to dip in the indigo dye pot, and goods and handspun for sale. I couldn't resist a beautiful handspun mini shawl, and some hand dyed amazingly soft alpaca yarn.

I particularly liked the hand dyed and in some cases hand spun felted bags. They were made up of lots of short lengths of different colours, which blended beautifully and made a feature of the knots.

Airport-induced crochet

2008-06-09T20:37:00.001Z

Recent air travel meant that I needed a portable crochet project, so I started on the Prepster from the Happy Hooker. This has been on my wishlist for ages, and I brought the yarn for this from the US last Memorial Day, so I was happy to start it.

I discovered that Cascade 220 is really easy to wind into centre pull balls; no knots, twists or strange doublebacks on the skein. I was surprised to find out how lofty it is for a dk weight, and that it is quite soft. I can see why this such a popular staple yarn in the US.

Starting the project was a bit of a challenge. I tried to swatch with the recommended 3.75mm hook, but the yarn kept catching, so I moved up to a 4mm. This hook worked much better, but I had to work the gauge swatch tightly to get the correct tension for the pattern. Moving on to the main body, I started work and measured after a few rows. I must have reverted to my normal tension as the back was about 4 inches too wide! I then tried again tightly, but too much so, and the back was too narrow. Finally, like Goldilocks, I managed to get it just right.

Crochet moves along so much faster than knitting, and seems to be easier to change the shaping too. My row gauge is a bit off, so I've added a few rows and increased the buttonhole spacing. I've also added shoulder shaping to the front, as it is missing from the pattern.

Charlotte's web

2008-05-24T15:50:00.000Z

Sorry for the delay between posts. I wrote the text of this post 10 days ago, but it's taken me a while to sort out the photos.

Charlotte's web is finished, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. It's soft and light, and the fringe really finishes it. I blocked it on the bed, and the pattern has opened up nicely.

I've started the octopus washmitt, and am modifying the pattern to fit an adult hand.

And I'm slowly adding to Jolien and the possum peplum cardigan. The recent unexpected heatwave has made these woolly projects seem a lot less appealing, and I'm hearing the siren call of summer projects.

April progress

2008-05-04T09:19:00.000Z

I did actually finish knitting the Charlotte's Web shawl in April on the Wonderwool trip. I blocked it lightly, and am pleased that the colours blend more than I thought when I was knitting the shawl. I have learned for the next time I try colour blending that it's easier when the colours are close in tonal value, or you get a stripy effect. I also found the fearsomely expensive Koigu did have more colour complexity and blendability than the Cherry Tree Hill supersock, so is probably worth the expense for this sort of project.

I'm still working on the fringe, which always takes ages, but this is getting very close to being a FO.

I've made a small amount of progress on the possum cardigan, but it looks much the same as before.

I'm not terribly interested in the stashbusting suggestions for May on the Ravelry group, so I think I'll remain with the theme of finishing WIPs.

Knitting goals for May are therefore:

1) Finish crochet star afghan

2) Finish Evie

3) Finish felted handbag

4) Make a baby cardigan for my colleague's expected baby

5) Start an octopus washcloth for my husband

6) Finish the back of the possum cardigan

7) Finish front and back of Jolien

Purchases in full

2008-05-03T18:21:00.000Z

By request, more detail on exactly what was added to the stash at Wonderwool Wales.

Sheepfold bag kits. The first photo shows their newest Starburst kit, using lovely black Leicester Longwool. The second photo is a wool and camel mix, and is very hairy!

Angora goat sock kit.

Various patterns

Mohair locks to knit into a bag for felting

Old Piggery yarn

Um. More Posh Yarn...

Wonderwool Wales

2008-04-28T16:45:00.007Z

Just back from Wonderwool Wales, where I had a blast!

The show was great, with plenty of room, seating and food, all much more pleasant than the K&S at Alexandra Palace.

There were animals:

I loved the Posh Yarn stand where I saw their whole range in glorious technicolour and feel, as well as meeting the lovely Dee and Tony. I couldn't resist the Sheepfold natural sheep bag kits, and came away with their latest design. I also liked the yarns from the Old Piggery and Twist Fibrecraft.

The homemade cakes were delicious; no photos, they disappeared too quickly!

And I went to Woolschool, with a freeform knitting and crochet workshop with Prudence Mapstone, who was very inspiring. I'll write another post about that.

The scenery was wonderful, the number of sheep unbelievable, and the weather fairly decent. Overall, a great weekend!

Missing Magknits patterns

2008-04-20T09:07:00.007Z

Knitting progress isn't very blogworthy this week. Mostly just working on the star afghan which is growing slowly, but doesn't look much different in photos than it did before.

Difficult to say if the moth problem is getting better or worse. I am seeing more of them on the walls, but am hoping this is because they are being flushed out. Maybe not.

I have put in some work on the Charlotte's web shawl, and now have only one pattern repeat, the cast off and fringing to go!

There are still a few Magknits patterns where I wasn't able to get the charts or files. I'm hoping the following will turn up on the web soon:

Misty bag
Beau jumper
Birthday cables jumper
Nothin but a T top - available on the blue blog
Made with love sweater (kid's)
Timon kid's
Tech guy socks - available on the blue blog
Trellis & vine shawl
Delphine jumper
Milanese lace socks
Lux jumper
Summer shawlette
Bakerloo socks
Honorine jumper - will be posted on knotions
Seaside mitts
Invested vest
Brigid shawl
Lemonade cardigan
Jenora cardigan
Summer sky cardigan
Byzantine strawberry bag

They're not on my 'must make' list, so I'm not too worried, but I wanted to keep a list to look out for them.

The M word!

2008-04-13T21:49:00.002Z

Moths! A word to strike fear into the heart of every knitter, particularly one with a sizeable stash. We are suffering from a plague of moths in the house. I've bought up Robert Dyas' stock of mothballs and the house smells horrible, but anything to protect the wool! I found 3 moths munching through a ball of wool in a bag the other day - yuk!

The other big M story is of course the demise of Magknits. Like so many others, I have spent many hours this weekend finding the patterns I wanted and retrieving them from Wayback or Google archives. I found this really helpful post of links late in the day, but it may help you. I did manage to get most of what I wanted, and some of the designers have been fantastic in getting files up on Ravelry, or promising to do so soon. I really should have saved patterns as I saw them - I had a similar experience when the IK site deleted all its free features- but I didn't get around to it because each pattern needed to be formatted individually to be printable in the UK. Same issue with Knitty, although I once I get over all the formatting and retrieval I've done this weekend, I really should start to do the same thing with Knitty patterns.

Star blanket grows

2008-04-08T17:58:00.004Z

Progress on my March goals has been mixed. I did a little more of the Vogue silk scarf, I did make the variegated cotton scarf, but stalled on Jolien. I didn't cast on the bamboo silk or possum.

On to April, and the Stash Knitdown group have set the ever-worthy (and needed) goal of working on UFOs / spring cleaning. I'm not going to specify which ones I'll work on, but will log progress as I go.

However, I'm afraid I cast on another new project this weekend; the possum cardigan. The possum is not like any yarn I've worked with before, but it is very soft. I'm a bit worried that the sizing is too big, but am hoping that the ribbing will make it wearable. I'm working on the peplum and it's already falling into soft folds.

The star blanket is getting bigger, although a round is now about 400 dc stitches, and I had to frog a whole round yesterday! Working on this is hypnotic, and this is definitely my project of choice at the moment.

Granny squares

2008-03-30T09:59:00.002Z

I've always been a bit intrigued by granny squares. They seem impossibly complicated to a beginning crocheter, but armed with some rudimentary skills and a detailed tutorial in Crochet Today magazine, I had a go. To my surprise, they are easy and addictive.

My first attempts:

Building up to the start of a star afghan.

Oriental bag

2008-03-26T17:13:00.004Z

I've spent the afternoon getting re-acquainted with sewing. I thought I'd try a small and simple project to overcome my lack of interest. I'd bought a small bag kit from Ally Pally last year, and decided to make it up. The instructions claimed it was so easy 'it will be finished 40 minutes from when you first thought of it'.

Hmm. Not quite. Three hours was more accurate. Not because the pattern was badly written or difficult to follow. Just because I'm pretty slow with sewing, and because I kept having to scuttle off and unearth another tool; I had forgotten the vast number of tools needed to do even a simple piece of sewing. For this little bag, I had to find:

cutting board
rotary cutter
2 plastic rulers
measuring tape
sleeve roll
metal edge for hemming
scissors
blind hem foot

That's not even counting the iron, moving the machine into free arm mode, changing feet and threading machine and bobbin!

I also made life a bit difficult by forgetting to iron on the interfacing at the right time, and having to retro fit it to the made up bag, and by stupidly sewing seams on the right side of the bag.

The only modification I made to the bag was to iron on the left over interfacing to the bottom of the lining to add stability, and double sewing around the top to secure the handles and lining.

The main bag

The strap

The lining

The finished bag.

So was it worth it?

Well, I still don't like sewing. I find it stressful rather than relaxing, and I get aches and pains from poor posture and straining my eyes. On the other hand, I have got a fully lined attractive bag finished, and I couldn't do that in three hours of knitting. I've also got a hefty stash of cotton fabrics, so if I can make bags, I will make some inroads on it. At least I don't have to worry about the fit or complete accuracy. I think I will try again, although I don't know when...

Stripy hat

2008-03-26T09:01:00.004Z

I promised my Dad a hat for Easter, and having bought the yarn and measured him, forgot to take the pattern with me. I went back to first principles and calculated the stitch count from the swatch. I put in three ribbed stripes, remembering that the outside would be the inside on the turnup, and carried on happily with the magic loop on my Knitpicks needles. Eventually I reached the point where I needed dpns, and also needed to join in more yarn, and this is where my problems started. I only had metal needles with me, and they are slippery as can be. I kept dropping a stitch where I wove in new yarn, and frogged back twice. I finally finished last night, and it will be going off in the post today.

I used my favourite RYC cashsoft dk for this, as it's so scrumptiously soft.

I also picked up my long abandoned Charlottes' web shawl over the weekend, and got back into the rhythm of it. I'm determined to finish it and not set it aside again. Another 30 rows plus fringe to go.

Thrilled with the tea cosy

2008-03-25T08:42:00.004Z

The stranded tea cosy was a big success! I'm very pleased with the results of the left handed stranding technique, and the colours and pattern worked out better than I expected. The steeking was quite easy, and I went for the unreinforced method, as I used traditional Shetland wool.

We don't usually use a teacosy, and it was nice to find that it does actually keep the tea hot, as well as looking decorative!

I've also made my first pair of Fetching, as an Easter present for my mother. I used 35sts as suggested on the Stash and Burn podcast, which gave a nice snug fit. I think my mother liked them, as she was wandering around the house wearing them the next morning.

Fabulous Finn wool

2008-03-16T20:30:00.000Z

Through the marvel that is Ravelry, I spotted that a British knitter had got her hands on Riihivilla wool and was knitting mittens with it. This is the wool brand that I picked up in Helsinki in 2006, and with which I subsequently made my husband's much-loved jumper.

I emailed her, and found to my delight that Leena now does mail order to the UK through her blog. Well I couldn't resist adding buying some more Finn sheep wool to make mittens.

I bought a mitten kit designed by Leena's mother:

A multi coloured yarn selection dyed with natural dyes:

And some natural dark wool to contrast with the lighter colours I already have.

Mmm. Lovely. Leena was extremely efficient in handling my order, and I have to say that both the Finnish postal system and Royal Mail were working in harmony, as I paid for my order on Thursday morning and received it on Monday. Two working days... incredible.

The only downside is the cruel Euro exchange rate. I hadn't realised how bad it was until I did this transaction. Holidays could be very expensive this year.

Moebius and friend

2008-03-14T19:22:00.000Z

Over the last week, I have become mildly obsessed with stranded mittens. I don't know if it's the Ready, Set, Knit podcast knitalong, or the fiddlehead mitten kits at Hello Yarn, but I spent hours looking at all the available patterns in Ravelry. As I've never knitted mittens or completed a full stranded project before, I decided to work up to it by tackling a simpler stranded project first.

I had bought a stranded tea cosy kit at Ally Pally in October, so this seemed the ideal starter project. I didn't have a 16" needle, but no problem, I had a 2.5mm 40" for the magic loop. I also decided to modify the pattern a bit and use corrugated ribbing - another first - at the bottom of the cosy. I cast on, and painstakingly managed a few rows of ribbing. I then looked more closely, and yes, I had the dreaded Moebius strip. A few muttered oaths, some frogging and start again. This time I didn't end up with a Moebius strip. Oh no. This time I managed to get a full twist in the circle. I finally realised that the problem was that somehow I just couldn't get all the stitches aligned with the magic loop caston. I finally solved the problem by casting onto a handy 16" needle in a larger size, joining the loop and ribbing the first few stitches, then transferring everything onto the original needle.

I really like the look of the corrugated ribbing, and it's not as hard as I had read, but it is slow.

Moving onto the main stranded section, I started off working with one yarn in each hand, as recommended by EZ and many others, but my throwing technique is so inept that it takes ages.

Some web surfing revealed a handy post from knitting in colour, which shows how to hold both yarns in one hand. I had unsuccessfully tried this before, but this time I followed her instructions very closely on tensioning the yarn, and it worked! It's still not super fast, but works for me far better than the both hands technique.

Here's the first part of my steek.

Jolien

2008-03-07T22:22:00.000Z

I've started Jolien, a Rowan Studio 3 project that caught my eye when the booklet came out. I bought the felted tweed needed for it, then didn't get round to casting on. I hadn't used felted tweed before, but like both the look and feel of it. However, it is slow going. I've got used to knitting with thick yarn, and this is sport weight (slightly thinner than dk). It's very slow going for a garment! Even slower when I realised that the recommended number of stitches was vastly too big. I ripped back and started with a more sensible number. However the pattern appears to create 80s style batwings with 20" of ease (!) Normally I would stop right there, but I've been watching too much Ashes to Ashes and will give it a whirl. My inner knitter is begging me to stop, but I'm going to see how it turns out.

I finally bought a ball winder, and have been making lots of perfectly formed yarn cakes.

One day wonder

2008-03-04T22:50:00.000Z

I've been thinking about what pattern to use for a scarf from my Blue Heron cotton rayon, and started to swatch some ideas. I tried the Yarn Harlot's one row scarf, but the pattern was lost in the textured yarn, and it looked too dense. I tried a crochet mesh, but that was too open and holey. Finally, I tried a double crochet with scallops sample and that was just right!

Sunday was a busy day, but with lots of waiting around, so a perfect time to tackle the scarf. I used a 8mm hook and just chained until I had over 5 feet of length. Unfortunately I tackled a small portion in the dark, and only noticed the resulting weird curve a couple of rows later, so had a lot of frogging to do. The final scarf is 5 rows of dc plus an all round scallop edging. The only really difficult part was making the scallops into the chained edge; it was tough to insert the hook into the chain, and my hands still hurt today!

I think the end result was worth it. It's very satisfying to find the right pattern for a yarn with lots of personality. I'm hoping the yarn will be soft enough for my neck as it doesn't contain any animal fibres.

Knitting from the shrine of precious yarn

2008-02-29T23:47:00.005Z

That's the title of the March stash knitdown challenge. I've got lots of candidates of yarns I've bought that seem too good to knit. Possible candidates are:

Yak from Schoolhouse Products with the cabled jacket from Runway Knits

Curry variegated cotton bulky scarf

Blue Sky Alpacas red alpaca silk in a stole pattern

Noro silk garden cardigan

Laines due Nord and Noro scarf

Hipknits sari silk hat or bag

Teo's bamboo cabled jumper

Possum peplum cardigan

Debbie Bliss cashmerino in Fetching

Berroco Ultra Alpaca for the Brea bag

RYC wool silk cardigan

Knitwitches silk dk for the Vogue anniversary cover scarf

I think I'll aim to continue with the Vogue scarf I've already started, and tackle the variegated cotton scarf and either the Teo cabled jumper or the Possum peplum cardigan. I've also recently cast on for Jolien, which won't be a quick knit due to the fine gauge.

Frou frou

2008-02-29T23:44:00.002Z

My frou frou crochet jacket is finished. This was an enjoyable knit that grew quickly. Overall, I'm pleased with it, although it's a bit longer than I expected.

Marsan watchcap

2008-02-23T15:26:00.003Z

Whipped up in time for the cold snap - a marsan watchcap for my husband!

The pattern is quick and easy, but beware, it is designed for very small heads! I made the medium and ended up adding several inches of length to compensate for the small circumference. The yarn is leftover Peruvia from the tilted duster, and makes a perfect hat- very warm and fluffy.

Scourge of the scarf

2008-02-15T18:23:00.006Z

I've probably made more scarves than anything else in my knitting career. However, I only have one I love, and several that don't work. Strangely, I have knit four scarves for others and they have all turned out well.

So what's going wrong? Let's analyse the successes and failures:

Colinette Prism keyhole scarves - success

Simple, short, soft, bulky

Debbie Bliss Maya keyhole scarf - qualified success

Same pattern as above, good colour, yarn is a bit itchy

Multidirectional Freedom Spirit scarf - success

Pretty colours, soft enough

Sublime dk scarf -success

Boring to knit, but gorgeously soft and great colour

2 eyelash scarves - failure

Yarn choice, just don't like the look of them

Fox scarf - failure

Too eyelashy, itches if I wear it for long

My so called scarf - failure

Itchy, tends to catch on my earrings, bulky in a rigid way

Koigu chevron scarf - success

Now this is the only for me that I love. Again it was insanely boring to knit, but great colour, soft, drapey and not too bulky.

Conclusions:

I have a very sensitive neck and really need to use merino if I'm going to use wool. The wool should be multi ply and tightly spun to avoid catching my earings in bits of roving. To my chagrin, the scarves I like the best are the ones that were the most boring to knit, ie. fine gauge with a simple pattern. The only saving grace is that I like the fairly short scarves.

It definitely helps to do this analysis. It shows I should stay away from quick bulky knits, and need to be really selective on the yarn choice. I think I may try a cotton or bamboo scarf; less warm but soft - and machine washable!

Made the mile!

2008-02-09T14:05:00.000Z

This week's yardage:

186 m on frou frou

135 m (3 balls) on the ribbed scarf

That's 321m added to the previous 1287m, giving 1608m. Oh that's only two metres short of the mile. Excuse me a minute....

Ok, I'm back.

Finished the ribbed scarf, using another 43m, a total of 1651m, and past the finish line!

Quick scarf

2008-02-09T09:28:00.000Z

The frou frou jacket has taken shape once I seamed the sleeves and sides. I've done the pretty crochet edging on the cuffs, and am now working the same around the whole body. I really like the way the pattern shapes up, and it's been a great stashbuster for a 'difficult' mohair yarn.

I've also been whipping up a quick 2x2 ribbed scarf. I bought some Garnstudio Fox at the K&S show for this, and opted to start it now because I knew I would have some interrupted waiting time this week, where I could knit, but not on anything complicated. The yarn has turned out to have quite an eyelash effect, which I hadn't realised when I bought it, but it's very soft and has a good colour. It's a 3 ply yarn with a wool roving strand, a railroad strand and the dreaded eyelash chainette.

Mostly crochet

2008-02-02T13:44:00.000Z

I've mostly been crocheting Frou Frou this week. As it is knitted in one piece, it is becoming rather cumbersome to stuff in a bag for my commute, but is working up fast. I'm just about to start the second front. Looks rather an odd shape at present - my DH thinks it looks like some kind of weird jellyfish.

Still crunching through the yardage - Frou frou contributed an impressive 414m this week, and I did also manage to finish the sleeves of the tilted duster, using another 96m. Added to the previous total of 777m, I'm now up to 1287m! First time I have been on track for the challenge.

Fran asked how I measure the yardage- nothing as clever as a yarn-o-meter I'm afraid! I just weigh the yarn used or remaining on the ball and multiply by the metres per gramme on the ballband. The red yarn I'm using doesn't have ballbands, so I weighed out 10g on the kitchen scales, and measured the number of metres it contained with my tape measure to get the metres per gramme.

Best of 2007

2008-01-30T23:00:00.000Z

Knit Lit suggested doing a review of last year.

1. your best FO of the year
The sweater for my husband. It doesn't look all that impressive in the photos, but he loves it so much...

2. best FO of the year made by a blog you link to

I'm very taken with the colours of Solange's Babette.

Littlesesame's cabled sweater for her husband is also great.
I may update this as I think of others.

3. best yarn you tried

Rowan cashsoft DK - Gorgeously soft, plenty of yardage and nice and lightweight.

4. best new book/mag/pattern of 2007

Pattern: I liked Wicked; a quick and easy knit that makes a very wearable garment

Magazine: Early days, but Let's Knit in the UK looks quite promising. It's certainly not IK or VK, but the first couple of issues have been more inspiring than the other UK magazines.

Book: Son of Stitch 'n' Bitch. It's so hard to find patterns for men that they actually want to wear. I was a little worried that the patterns would be too young, funky and urban for my husband, but he loves them all (even the ones I'm not sure about). The only problem is that he now wants to know when he is getting his next handknit.

5. best new knitting technique or gadget you tried in 2007

Best technique is beading - I never realised how ridiculously easy it is.

Best gadget is without question the Knitpicks Options interchangeable needles. I already had the Denise set, but the Knitpicks ones are much faster and sharper.

6. top 5 inspirations--what five things inspired you the most over the past year?

Ravelry. Obviously.

Rowan workshops and particularly meeting Marie Wallin, the chief designer at Rowan.

Interweave Knits

Any number of prolific knit bloggers

I knit London day

7. designer who most amazed & inspired you throughout the year

Norah Gaughan - I have her book and love the patterns she designs for the magazines, but am particularly impressed that she also gives out free patterns on the Berroco website..

8. knitting resolutions for 2008--what's next for you and your blog?

Make more jumpers

Seriously work on reducing the stash

Continue to attend workshops to learn new techniques

Crochet a couple of garments

Crochet to the rescue

2008-01-27T17:22:00.000Z

Trying to knit a mile in six weeks? Falling woefully behind target? Then turn to crochet! My work on the Frou Frou jacket is paying dividends in the yardage race. This week I've managed 300m on the jacket and another 112m on the sleeves of the tilted duster. My weekly total is thus 412 m, and challenge to date mileage is 777 m! This is pretty close to 805 m I should be at, so I'm feeling good about it.

Once I got past the section of decreases on the back (which involved a lot of frogging), I've been making quick progress on straight section and addition of sleeves.

Knit a mile week 2

2008-01-18T10:55:00.000Z

I've continued to knit away on the skirt of the tilted duster. It seems to go quite quickly at first, but now it feels like I've been working on it forever. I've used up the 72 g remaining on the ball plus another 24g, a mere 137m. My running total is thus 365m. To make the mile in six weeks, I should be around 540m by now, so it's not looking good.

I also started crocheting Frou Frou from the Happy Hooker. This was my travel project as plastic crochet hooks seem to be much more acceptable to airlines than knitting needles. While I was away I noticed an inconsistency in the pattern, but carried on, thinking that the number of repeats was incorrect. However, I've just checked the online errata, and found the instructions for the whole section are wrong and I'll have to frog nearly 30 rows!! Aaargh. So almost back to square one on that. I like the Happy Hooker book, but it does contain too many errors.

Knit a mile progress week 1

2008-01-12T18:18:00.000Z

All my knitting this week has been on the tilted duster. It started badly, when I spent the whole of Sunday afternoon / evening picking up stitches for the skirt and starting the increase section. Badly, because eventually I had to admit to myself that the pick up was too messy for me to live with. I had followed the Ready, Set, Knit instructions to increase stitches in the pick up row, but it took me four gos and still looked a mess. Finally I bit the bullet, and picked up the number of stitches that were naturally there, and handled the increases in the next row, where I could evenly space them. Much easier, and they are neater and less conspicuous.

One tip from RSK that did work was hanging a marker after each repeat of the pattern. This makes it a breeze to count rows. I'm now about halfway through the skirt section.

Now yarn used this week was 1 full ball of 160m, 28g of a second ball on the skirt (72g remaining), and 15g on the sleeves (140g remaining). The 43 odd g at 1.6m/g gives 68 m rounded down, so a full week's total of 228m.

Hmm. Not as much as I had airily thought I would do, and I had my usual amount of knitting time. Given a target of 1610m in 6 weeks, I need 268 m per week. So 40m short this week. My needles will need to be on fire next week, but the weekend is full of commitments and I'm travelling (I hate airports who ban knitting). Hmm.

Two at a time

2008-01-04T18:18:00.000Z

The tilted duster is working up nicely. I've been listening to the Ready, Set, Knit podcast episodes with this project as a knitalong, and have been following the modifications and techniques suggested there.
That means I've tried three new techniques or ideas already! Not bad for the 4th of Jan.

Spit splice - sounds gruesome, but really works easily on the Peruvia. I wasn't going to do this, but found a knot in the yarn when I was at the end of the row, and rather than tink back then weave in the yarn, I thought I'd give spit splicing a go.
Sloped shoulder bind off - I had heard about this on the same podcast several months ago, but had never tried it. Easy, and it really does smooth out the stair steps.
Knitting two pieces at the same time - Trying this on the two fronts. Not loving it, but that's mostly because the shaping is complex in this pattern, and trying to keep track of what to do on both pieces simultaneously, particularly when you shape on the wrong side for one piece, and the right side for the other, is tricky. I also forget whether I've knitted across one or both pieces, and when to turn the work. I've found a good way over this now; I've put a green locking stitch marker on my right piece, and a red one on the left piece. Port and starboard, you see. Oh yes, it's the first time I've used locking stitch markers too, and I love them.

Knit a mile challenge starts tomorrow at 4pm!

...and first cast on of 2008

2008-01-01T01:12:00.000Z

I couldn't wait to start the Tilted Duster once I got my hands on the recommended Berroco Peruvia, but forced myself to set in sleeves, sew seams and weave in ends on Anise before I allowed myself to cast on.

I found out that it's easier to set in shallow sleeves than full set in sleeves, as you can still match them fairly easily. I also learned that it is well worth using a sturdy but thin yarn for seaming. Still way too many hours in the making up for my taste, but I'm pleased with the result and I've stashbusted a pleasing 900g (give or take some oddments).

It still needs the decorative buttons and press studs. I bought some buttons from Duttons but still need the functional studs. I find that press studs tend to pull on the knitting too much, but I'm not sure what I could use as an alternative.

For the tilted duster, I am following the Ready, Set, Knit KAL from Sep/ Oct. I've pondered the gauge a little here. I decided to use 5.5mm with a gauge of 16.5, which I figured would give me an extra inch on the designed size. However, after knitting an inch of the back, I was getting more like an extra four inches, so frogged and started anew with 5mm.

I should probably go to bed now...

Final FO of 2007...

2007-12-31T23:50:00.001Z

Final FO of 2007! Two whole evenings of diligent seaming!

Anise jacket

2007-12-29T20:53:00.000Z

After finishing the Christmas gifts, I had a craving to cast on a jumper or jacket for myself. This month's Simply Knitting provided the answer in the Rowan Anise jacket, originally published in the Newshapes booklet. The magazine claimed you could knit this in a weekend, it's very fashionable, and I had the perfect yarn marinating in the stash. I pulled out a bag of Rowan's Ribbon Twist and cast on last weekend. I've been knitting furiously over the holiday week, and have managed to complete the separate pieces.

I'm determined to join the pieces and not leave them languishing as I usually do. My mother's friend Jean kindly provided me with matching yarn to seam, as the Ribbon Twist is too bulky and loosely spun to use, so I have no excuse.

I'm trying hard to choose a colour for my next hipknits project. I'm torn between candy shop, tandem, choc cherries or bingo, although the first two are shading it. Candy shop might look good with biscuit, and tandem with navy or biscuit.

The reveal

2007-12-28T18:36:00.000Z

As Christmas presents have been safely delivered and unwrapped, here are the finished gifts.

My sister's beret and scarf:

My mother's scarf:

My brother received an ipod for Christmas, which was clearly going to get scratched quickly. I felt obliged to whip up an ipod cosy for him using the leftovers from my sister's hat, conveniently also trying a new technique of knitting in the round on 2 straight needles. This was quite strange as it involved knitting inside out and slipping alternate stitches. I found I needed to check regularly that I had not accidentally missed a slipped stitch and knitted the two sides together.

We decided a felted cosy would protect better, so I gave the finished item a five minute hand felting under the tap last night. To my shock, the wool felted so quickly and completely that I could barely get the cosy on the ipod! Fortunately, my brother thought that the tighter the fit the less likely the ipod was to fall out, so it's all good!

Countdown - 5 days to go

2007-12-20T22:01:00.000Z

Five days to go, and the Christmas knitting is still going. My stock take:

1) Stripy throw - finished, although there are still a few ends to darn in

2) MD garter scarf - finished

3) matching beret - increase section done, just starting decreases

4) montego bay scarf - knitting finished, fringe needed

5) crocheted stripy scarf - rashly promised to be made with leftovers from the throw, but not critical for Christmas

My sister is the one who is most concerned about her woolly gifts, so the beret is my knitting priority.

My blog was disabled this week because blogger identified it as a spam blog. Now I make no literary claims, but calling it spam is a bit harsh. I responded to the email they sent, and they did unblock it in two days, but still a bit irritating.

For those who liked the Christmas stocking, I got in touch with Debbie Abrahams, the designer. She confirmed that she is still planning to sell the kit on her website, but is very busy right now, so not sure when she will be able to do it. Just to clarify, this is not a free design, but Debbie is planning to sell the kit.

Gift knitting

2007-12-16T23:10:00.000Z

I've been seriously working on my Christmas gift knitting. The multidirectional scarf is done, and I'm about 2/3 of the way through my mother's sea silk fishnet scarf. I had a false start with this, as I tried to choose a needle size based on a fairly firm fabric in the swatch, which meant that I went from the pattern 5mm to 3.5mm. After about six inches, I realised that I wouldn't have anything like enough yarn. I rummaged through Ravelry, and no-one seemed to have changed the needle size to less than 4.5mm, so I tried again with that. It looked loose and ragged to start with, but was easier on the hands, and soon started to take shape. With some length on the needles it looks a lot better, and starts to drape and twist.

Another black and white shot to avoid disclosing too much:

I've started the plaited fringe on the cast on edge. Other people have commented that the fringe takes ages (as well as loads of yarn), so I've pulled out the yarn from the centre of the ball and starting cutting fringe. I got this great fringe maker in the US for a few dollars, and it makes measuring and cutting the yarn easier and more accurate.

However the inevitable has happened, and the silk is in a horrendous tangle. I spent THREE HOURS untangling it yesterday, and there's still a mess to sort through now. Just what I don't need with limited knitting hours before Christmas!

A Christmas stocking

2007-12-03T22:53:00.001Z

I attended a Rowan workshop last week, the latest in a series. I haven't blogged about these, but will try to do a retrospective over the holidays. The subject for this one was a mini Christmas stocking, and the USP was that it would include lots of techniques, including fair isle, intarsia, beading and of course making a sock.

The tutor was Debbie Abrahams, who is a very energetic teacher. She has taught this class for two years, and is planning to put the kit of the project up on her website (not there yet).

Although the finished object is a sock, it is knitted flat, then sewn up at the end. As it's not designed for wearing, it's not really a problem to have a seam.

The stocking starts with some ribbing, followed by fairisle snowflakes. My problems started here. I managed to keep the floats nice and loose, but was very slow knitting this section. I was the only continental knitter there, and struggled to get a suitable hold. I tried to knit with two hands, but found having the dominant yarn in my right hand difficult to knit quickly and evenly. If I switched yarns, I couldn't easily weave the yarns. I think I need to do some internet reasearch to work out how to do this.

The next section was intarsia, which I had never tried. This was an ordeal of bobbins and ends, but everyone seemed to be in the same boat. Again, I couldn't really work out a standard way to hold the needles but just consciously twisted the yarns together at the edges. I'd recommend darning in and tidying ends as you go, and not making them too long. I'm fairly happy with the back of mine.

After that, it got easier. Beading is easy and fast, and I had done this at a previous workshop. The stripes and heel turn were easy, although it seemed a bit odd to do it in two sections.

I Swiss darned the tree trunks and decorations before I drew up the toe, just so I was working on a flat surface. It was tricky to secure all the ends without them showing through, but is worth the faff.

The class was six hours long, and I had to work on it at home to finish it, but I estimate that it took me no more than ten hours to complete. I think it's really cute, and would make another. I certainly wouldn't have tackled the pattern unaided, and that's the real value of the class.

Stripy throw

2007-12-03T22:35:00.000Z

The stripy crochet throw is finished! I enjoyed this project, although it did seem to last forever. The yarn is a delight to work with, and the pattern was easy once I got the hang of the increases and decreases. I managed to straighten up the first wonky corner a bit with careful working of the edging. It's now going to be wrapped up until Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas knitting, I've made a good start in the last week. I've been travelling again, and used the time to start my sister's scarf. A week later, and it's nearly finished. The yarn estimate is really tight though, and I'm going to break into an extra ball. As she reads this blog occasionally, I will just say that it is multidirectional garter stitch, and show a greyed out swatch for now.

Stealth knit

2007-11-16T20:57:00.000Z

I have a stealth knit FO to report. I started this cowl for my mother last week, and mailed it yesterday. I'm pleased to report she has been wearing it all day! The pattern is from One Skein Wonders, and seems deceptively simple. I tried knitting it on the train while talking to my colleagues, and found I spent far more time ripping back. When I went back to concentrating hard, and checking all my yarnovers, it was fine.

Minor mods to the pattern: I used Rowan Cashsoft DK, and as this was thicker than the specified yarn, I cast on 96 stitches. I also did a few rows less than specified, to avoid having to join in another ball.

I haven't abandoned the crocheted throw either; I finished the main section last night!

UK SnB day - part 2

2007-11-11T20:44:00.000Z

The vendors were mostly small companies, including a number of artisan dyers. I got this gorgeous colourway of sock yarn from Jon at easyknits, who was doing his first show. His partner had generously baked delicious gingerbread men for the customers, so my husband was delighted to be presented with a knitting gingerbread man when I got home!

The venue was excellent, and well laid out. There was plenty of seating to sit down and relax, which greatly reduced the stress of crowds.

Rainbow silks had a good array of hard to find knitting tools, such as Susan Bates needles and hooks, Chibo needles, purse forms and peg looms.Natural Dye Studio are starting a teapot cosy club and had models on display.

My stash enhancement was modest.

A number of charity initiatives were showcased including the Children's Society big stitch, walking stick cosy comp, Origins ginger knits and St. Johns Ambulance big tea cosy

I discovered the joy of the pompom, and think it may be a good way to use up yarn that I don't want to knit with - I'm thinking novelty acrylics here.

I was smitten by an Estonian glove puppet:

I finally met some Socks that Rock. I thought the colours were gorgeous, and the base yarn was similar to that in Cherry Tree Hill or Koigu. I also found out that knitting socks on 2 circs is apparently easier with very short needles.

UK stitch n bitch day

2007-11-10T21:38:00.000Z

Today was the terrific 1st UK StitchI Knit London day in Bloomsbury. Gerard and Craig from iknit organised the whole thing, and it was a great success. It had the excitement of Ally Pally, but a much better atmosphere. Everyone was a committed knitter, there was plenty of seating, music, a bar, speciality vendors, workshops and lots to see and do.

The centrepiece was the launch of Debbie Stoller's new book for men. We were very privileged, as apparently it's not even available in the US yet. There was a catwalk show from the book:

Debbie did a workshop on double knitting.

Some people knitted hamsters.

Or pompoms for peace.

More to come.

Minor deviation

2007-11-01T22:34:00.000Z

I deviated slightly from the three projects plan - but only so I could take something on a flight. I figured even the airport authorities couldn't object to a plastic crochet hook, so took a ball of stash and started a Fit to be Tied purse from the Happy Hooker book. I've used an aran weight so reduced the number of stitches, but wish I'd also reduced the number of rows before making the handle slot.

I'm making some progress on all the other three projects, but nothing is near completion. I've turned the first corner on the throw, but that just means all the rows are really long now.

I've got about 65 rows still to go on the MS3, and they're still getting longer (so slower).

I'm struggling with Evie, with very little progress.

Hat patterns

2007-10-21T11:01:00.001Z

I'm going to knit a hat for my sister for Christmas, but she doesn't know exactly what she wants. So here you are, sis, a selection of patterns to peruse - let me know which one you like.

Marsan watchcap

Twilley freedom spirit beret

The three projects approach

2007-10-16T19:07:00.000Z

I've been trying the three projects approach for the last couple of weeks, and it seems to be yielding results. Grumperina outlined an ideal state of having exactly three projects on the go at once with one easy portable, one easy stay at home and one more complicated.

My current three are:

1) Evie - the easy portable

Very bored with this now, but can't bear the guilt of another unfinished summer top

2) Stripy throw - the easy, but too big to heft around

Still enjoying, but still hasn't got to the desired width, never mind length

3) MS3 - the complicated

Having a bit of a renaissance. I just finished chart H tonight, so two more charts or around 100 rows to go. Let's ignore the fact that the rows are getting ever longer.

The main reason I am sticking to three at a time is to try to actually finish something before I start another. I really want to make a start on my Christmas knitting, but am resisting. The throw is going to take ages, but it should be possible to finish in a couple of weeks.

Highlights from the K&S show

2007-10-13T19:39:00.000Z

I went to the Knitting & Stitching show on Thursday and Saturday, and enjoyed both. On Thursday, I did a recce and didn't buy much at all, and went home feeling very virtuous. I did however, fall off the wagon on Saturday....

I took Kerrie Allman's knitted flowers class, which has given me enough confidence to tackle the scarf on the cover of Vogue Knitting. We made silk roses and chrysanthemums, and it was quick and easy.

Two of my favourite stalls were Touch Yarns from New Zealand had some interesting possum yarn, and soft hand dyed boucle. Knitwitches had loads of hand dyed cashmere and silk.were two of my favourite stalls.

Top of the range luxury was represented by Teos Handspun and Shilasdair handspun cashmere, arnica.dk for qiviut and shokay for yak. I particularly like the knitted yak, knitted from yak yarn! The shadecards are pretty cute too.

I didn't venture far into the yarns at the opposite end of the spectrum, although there did seem to be plenty of takers for the jumbo cones of acrylic. I did see the James C Brett Marble that Lixie favours in her podcasts, but wasn't hugely tempted. Good for babies, but not so keen for me.

The vendors on the Sublime Yarns were very friendly, and their patterns and yarns are always great. The colour palette is indeed sublime and very sophisticated.

Rkmwools had a good range of well priced yarns, and the textiles student on the stand was only to keen to help me mix up some combinations for small projects.

The quilting exhibition was interesting, with a wide range of styles. I thought the quilted blog was a clever idea.

How to survive Ally Pally

2007-10-13T19:07:00.000Z

Just back from the marathon of the K&S show at Ally Pally. Despite a heavy cold and a raw throat, I had a great time. I've been going to the show for years, long before I became a knitter. It's the most comprehensive show in the UK, but can be utterly exhausting. Here are my top ten tips for getting the most out of it:

1) Make a plan
Order the programme ahead of time, and mark what you want to see. This means you won't accidentally miss something and read about it later.

2) Don't be rigid about the plan
When there are thousands of people milling about, it's better to drift along and see the less crowded places. You'll take in some of the places on your plan, and can consult your plan when you stop for a break to check what's left

3) Don't take the tube
Driving seems the most luxurious way to get there, as you don't need to worry about bags, coats, timetables etc. However, if you don't/ won't drive, and can't find a willing chauffeur, I'd go with the coach. You can leave coats on it, deposit bags from time to time and knit, read or nap on the journey. Failing that, try the train. I did it for the first time this year, and found it much less crowded than the tube. It also has the advantage that you can walk from the train station to the show - if you don't mind the hill... It's not plain sailing with the train, and confusing that different lines operate on weekdays and weekends. The Moorgate trains are great, the King's Cross ones, not so much.
Avoid the tube. It's dirty, overcrowded, and dumps you miles from AP. You then have to wait, often for half an hour, to get the bus.

4) Dress for a sauna
Lightweight T shirt and the most comfortable shoes you own. Don't bother wearing a gorgeous handknit sweater; you will boil. Use the cloakroom (if you came by public transport). Expensive, but better than carting heavy bags around all day.

5) Take cash and chequebook
Most of the vendors do take cards, but the machines don't get a proper signal, and there are vendors who will only take cash or cheque.

6) Bring lunch and water
Unfortunately, the queues for food and drink are huge, and there isn't enough seating once you finally get something. It's worth buying something en route, so that you don't go hungry. Definitely bring a litre of water, and sip throughout the day.

7) Take in a class or show
It's very hot and crowded at AP. Plan to take a class or see the fashion show. This gives you a chance to sit down for an hour (seating at AP is notoriously inadequate), and makes all the difference between feeling utterly drained or refreshed enough to last the day. It's great to take home a new skill, and the teachers are usually well known.

8) Go twice
If there's lots you want to see and do, consider going on two days. I find it puts far less pressure on you to see everything, and allows you to ponder those luxury purchases before you splurge.

9) See the exhibitions in small chunks
I like seeing the exhibitions, but find my eyes glaze over if I try to tackle it all in one go. Alternate an exhibition with shopping, snacking and classes, and you'll appreciate it more.

10) Use the off peak hours
It's busiest between 12 and 4. If you can, arrive early, or leave late. You'll cover three times the ground in those off peak hours.

11) Grab a bargain, muse over the luxuries
If you see something you think is a real bargain, grab it. It will go. If you are investing in luxury yarn for a big project, make a note of the stand number, and keep going. See what else there is, then come back. It saves carrying around all day, and avoids finding something you like more later.

OK, eleven tips rather than ten. You're all set, enjoy!

Three species of yarn

2007-09-30T11:53:00.000Z

I've had a very yarny weekend. My sister bought me some yak mix yarn which I have been dying to try, and threw in some baby camel for good measure. I found out about a great yarn sale at a local shop which is sadly closing its wool section.

Yarn and plans for it are:

Silk wool for a jacket or jumper

More silk wool for a slipover for DH

Cashsoft DK for a crocheted stripy throw for DH

Soft Lux for a short sleeved shrug

My mother is not keen on knitting, but was persuaded to have a go at a neck cowl she saw in one of my books.
Edited to add: No, ended up like last Christmas i.e. the yarn she bought has come home with me to make for her...

Now that the clementine shawlette is off the needles, I've started a new project. It's the candy striped throw using the cashsoft DK I've just bought. I have to say, I love this yarn. It's incredibly soft, and machine washable too!

Lace grafting

2007-09-25T18:39:00.001Z

I was right to be concerned about grafting the two sides of the clementine shawlette. A little research on Ravelry showed that the airy instruction to just graft the pieces together gives an ugly seam with a break in the pattern. It was also apparent there was no way to avoid a seam. However, Ruthless Knitting and Beautiful Things had documented how to use Lucy Neatby's grafting approach to enable you to graft somewhat in pattern, and therefore at least blur the seam a little.

I decided to work one more right side (patterned) row after the last purl ridge, then use the first colour of waste yarn to do a wrong side, mostly purl, row. I then knitted about 6 rows in the second waste yarn and threaded the yarn tail through the live stitches.

I then was able to graft together the two sides using the guide purl row in colour 1 on each side. The only trick was starting off and making sure everything was in line. I then carefully followed the path of the waste yarn on each side as it touched the main yarn, and ignored where it looped around the second waste yarn. As this was a fairly plain purl row, with no yarnovers or decreases to contend with, it was quite a clear, if slow, operation. Personally, I'd much rather do 3 simple operations in making up than one difficult one that requires judgement and discretion in matching pieces. The final seam is visible but not offensive.

Here it is blocking:

Holiday gift list

2007-09-23T10:15:00.000Z

Hmm, time to start thinking about holiday knitting. I have to finish some of my summer projects before I cast on anything new, but I can do the planning now.

Initial thoughts are:

a pair of men's socks

chunky slub tea cosy

sophisticated tea cosy

montego bay scarf

Irish hiking scarf

one skein triangular small shawl

aran cashmere hat

two colour ribbed hat

a pair of Fetching

In reality, I have only had one request for a knitted gift this year, so I will focus on that first, then consider whether other potential recipients would really want anything handknitted.

I did learn the lesson from last year about not knitting jumpers for Christmas - way too ambitious.

And just for fun....

smug sheep --

[noun]:

A person who is a master of making ravioli

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Hmm, I have no idea how that works, but can assure readers that my ravioli eating skills surpass my making skills.

Inching along

2007-09-22T15:47:00.000Z

The clementine shawlette is coming along, but doesn't make exciting blog fodder, as the second half obviously looks exactly like the first...

I'm starting to think about how to graft the two halves together. Ideally I would add a lace patterned row to do this, but I've no idea how to go about it.

Evie is growing too. I added a little ribbing at the sides, but it's amazing how many times I messed up the switch between garter rib and plain rib until I added some stitch markers as reminders. I'd like to finish this before I start any new winter projects, but recognise it's unlikely to be worn until next spring.

Half a clementine

2007-09-14T19:43:00.000Z

I've finished one of the halves of the clementine shawlette, and have set it aside to start the second half.

I have also frogged Della. Twinkle toes kindly came to my rescue, and I'm going to try again from scratch with her help.

No progress on the mystery stole 3.

I have knitted a couple of inches on Evie, a new summer top - rather late now though, as autumn knits seem more appropriate.

I didn't find any wool shops on holiday. It seems strange to me that to get really nice Italian wool, I have to buy it in the US - you'd think it would be easier to buy in Italy or even the UK. Still, my DH was relieved that there were no stash enhancement opportunities.

Holiday knitting

2007-09-10T19:18:00.000Z

Welcome back after two weeks vacation.

I planned my holiday knitting carefully this time, and took a sock, a simple top, my clementine shawlette, and the Della shawl.
Too much.
In the end, I knit about eight inches on the clementine shawlette, and a few rows on the top. The sock and Della just languished.
I still really like the feel of the alpaca silk for the clementine shawlette, and it seemed to hold up well under exposure to the traditional holiday elements of sun cream, chlorine and water.

Photos to follow, this is just a quick checking in.

Hipknits project club

2007-08-25T15:29:00.000Z

I've signed up for the new Hipknits projects club. The idea is that you get a different project each quarter, learning or refining a different skill each time. I really like the concept, and it was the fair isle cardigan that sold me. The first project is a lace shawl. Unfortunately, the last thing I need at the moment is another lace project, but that's just the way the schedule works.

The first thing to say is that the cashmere yarn supplied is really fine. Much finer than any of the laceweight I have used before. It's 1500 yards to 100g - so that's really cobweb weight isn't it? No wonder it feels fine.

Then I struggled to find suitable needles. My standard Addis were just too blunt and kept snagging the yarn. My lovely KnitPicks don't go down to a small enough size. In the end, I bought some new Addi lace weight 3mm, and these work the best. I was a little disappointed as they had a burr on them, smelt brassy and have a pretty stiff cord, but they're still the best thing I have right now. At some point, I think I'll buy the KnitPicks fixed circulars in the small sizes.

The third thing is the charts. I like to work from charts, but I'm really struggling with this one. The notation is non standard, only a small part of the chart is shown, and the pattern repeat is not marked. All of this has given me a headache. I've tried to simplify the pattern by ignoring the partial patterns at the edge, but don't yet know if this is going to help. In all honesty, I'm not feeling the love on this one, but I will persevere.

So I strayed...onto yet another lace project. I started the Clementine Shawlette, which I've been planning for a while. I had some trouble getting hold of the Blue Skys Alpaca Silk, but having cast on, I love this yarn. I can't stop knitting this project, and it's all about the yarn. Yes, the chart is very clear too, but the yarn is gloriously tactile, and well worth the expense. I'm already starting the straight section of the shawl, having worked the increase section at one end.

Finally, I've updated the blog to use the layout feature in blogger. Not all the data converted properly, so bear with me while I fix it.

Serial swatching

2007-08-21T19:14:00.000Z

Ready to start another easy project, I've been making lots of swatches.

This swatch is more of the Stella I bought in the John Lewis sale, destined to become Evie.

I bought yet more Stella to make the Origami Cardigan in the summer IK, but the bobbles really don't work with the yarn. My pattern gauge is way off, and I think this pattern really needs to be made in a springy wool. I played with an number of other patterns that I thought might be a replacement for the bobbles, but ended up conceding that the bobbles were the main feature in the design, and that the yarn would have to be stowed for another day.

Here's a swatch for some simple socks. This will be first pair using magic loop, so I practised by swatching in the round.

Finally, a lace swatch for Della. More on that in another post, including an answer on why I'm thinking of another lace project while still wrestling manfully with MS3.

Know your nostepinne

2007-08-20T19:08:00.000Z

I've been winding my skeins recently using a medicine bottle, a tip I learnt on the MS3 group. It works really well, but maybe isn't best suited to thousands of yards of laceweight...

So I ordered a nostepinne. It's a lovely handturned yew article, but comes with no instructions at all. I just decided to have a go anyway, and here's the first result.

The ball ended up a bit messy, so I googled and found these helpful instructions a t the Woolery.

Let's hear it for LYS

2007-08-16T19:12:00.000Z

Two good tales to tell of local yarn stores this week:

Stash and burn podcast had described using Misti Alpaca Bulky to make a cropped cardigan in a previous estimate, and I was keen to try the yarn. Stash is the only UK supplier I've found of this yarn, and when I read that they had got new stock in, I called to order some. It was difficult to figure out the colours over the phone, and finally the assistant said, " I think you really ought to come in". I agreed, but explained that the hours the shop was open would make it difficult. She then volunteered to provide an after hours opening just for me! I felt a bit like film star when I went over there, and not under any pressure. Of course, I ended up spending twice as much as planned!

Secondly, I needed the pattern, and tracked it down at Loop. I called them yesterday, and the pattern was here today. As it was just a single sheet of paper, they even waived the postage!

Variation on SP11 questionnaire

2007-08-12T19:23:00.000Z

I'm not a secret pal, but thought I'd give the questionnaire a go anyway:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
My favourite is soft wool. I like most natural fibres. Hate eyelash yarns, and don't generally care for synthetics.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a felted needle roll for my circs and a small wicker basket for my straights and dpns.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
18 months. Intermediate.

4. What's your favorite scent?
Lavender, cinnamon, cardamom

5. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like brights, not so keen on sludgy browns

6. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, except for ponchos!

7. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Hmm, difficult one, anything I can knit in the round

8. What are you knitting right now?
A stole, BSJ, Lutea shell and big bag

9. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes

10. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Addi circs

11. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Swift only

12. How old is your oldest UFO?
18 months

13. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Yes, I'd like the latest Noni patterns, the Norah Gaughan leaflet from Berroco and a cropped cardigan pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas

14. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'd like to improve my fair isle and cabling skills

15. Are you a sock knitter?
An occasional one

16. Ravelry?

Of course! Smugsheep on Ravelry.

Starting my first BSJ

2007-08-11T08:46:00.000Z

I cast on for my first EZ Baby Surprise Jacket today - I say first, because everyone in blogland seems to knit this pattern repeatedly. My first yarn choice went the way of the petal bib - too thick and hence way too big. I settled on a thin sock yarn which is giving me a much better size.

I've worked through the decreasing section and have reached the bind offs on the increasing section. I can't see which parts of the knitting will form which parts of the garment yet, but I have faith. If anyone is thinking of knitting this, I highly recommend Dawn Adcock's row by row notes to supplement the original pattern.

I'm plugging away on MS3 clue 4, and am now knitting it in cars and in other situations where my concentration is less than 100%. I figured I would still make more progress even allowing for frogging rows where concentration lapses. Clue 6 or 7 has now been published, so I'm falling well behind the pace again.

The Lutea shell continues to knit up quickly. I am now knitting the front and back separately. When I tried on the first half, the decreases made it too revealing, so I decided this would be the back, and have tried to maintain more stitches on the front. Not sure if it will work or whether I will have to frog back to the armhole.

Innocents Village Fete

2007-08-05T10:31:00.000Z

Yesterday we headed up to Regent's Park for the Innocents Village Fete. This year differed from the previous Fruitstocks; it was less of a music festival and more of a well, village fete. The weather always seems to be fantastic, and true to form, despite the most dismal summer we've seen for decades, the fete has coincided with a 2 day heatwave.

London is a pretty big village, and the place was packed.

Knitting wise, there was the usual campaign to knit woolly hats for Innocents, with a knitting tent run by Rowan.

Other entertainment we enjoyed included duck herding,

London Swing Dancing society demonstrations and lesson

the Yorkshire tea tent

and of course

My brother was particularly keen to see the ferret racing, but everywhere we asked, no-one could tell us where the ferrets were! Apparently they had been moved. Finally, a kind person from Innocents personally escorted us to the ferrets, where we arrived in time for the last races of the day!

Cast on, frogged, cast on again

2007-08-01T21:46:00.000Z

Keen for a small and simple project, I cast on the petal bib from One Skein, using some Rowan All Seasons Cotton. I worked through the petal edges quite quickly and started the short rows, but eventually had to admit that the bib was adult sized not baby sized! Not being that messy an eater, I gave up and frogged.

I enjoyed working with the yarn, as it's soft and squooshy, so immediately looked for another pattern, and settled on a simple hat, modelled here by Shaun.

Reviewing July's knitting goals:

1) Finish spree bag - no progress

2) Finish the knitting of the adventure bag. I think the finishing will take longer, but I'd like to get the actual knitting done - very little progress

3) Finish Sahara - still hoping to complete by end of June - no, lost the mojo on this

4) Make the icords for large tote bag - no

5) 3 pattern repeats of Charlotte's Web shawl - yes I managed this before getting sucked into MS3

6) New summer top - yes, I did start this, although I didn't pick any of the 4 designs I was considering. The Lutea lace shell is work in progress.

For August, I'll roll forward goals 1, 3, 4 and add some new ones.

That is:

1) Finish spree bag

2) Finish Sahara

3) Make icords for tote bag

4) Finish Lutea lace shell

5) Make a BSJ

6) Clues 4 and 5 of MS3

7) Start Hipknits project shawl

Far too much as usual, but 1-6 are all UFOs or WIPs that need work.

Mystery stole clue 2

2007-07-25T21:58:00.000Z

Progress continues on MS3. I did make a mistake a few rows from the end of clue 2, and kept trying to knit the following row and not understanding why it wasn't working. I eventually realised the error was on the previous row, and to my surprise, found I could quickly identify the missing yarnover visually, and furthermore, insert it on the following rest row. I think I finally understand what they mean about 'reading' your lace. Flushed with success, I raced through the following rows to finish the second clue.

The Lutea shell has become a commuter project for the foot of stocking stitch, so is also moving along well.

Halfway through clue 2

2007-07-21T11:10:00.000Z

After a concerted effort, I am halfway through clue 2 on the mystery stole, but seem to be falling further behind! I was hoping to catch up during the Harry Potter break week the designer has given us, but this week's installment is an alarming 135 rows!

The Lutea lace shell is knitting up quite quickly due to the bulky yarn.

Succumbed to Stella

2007-07-16T16:08:00.001Z

After a couple of weeks of abstaining from wool purchases, I succumbed to the John Lewis sale, and bought more Debbie Bliss Stella than I am ever likely to use. To assuage the guilt, I have been swatching for the Lutea Lace shell from the current IK.

The yarn is borderline chunky so the gauge is off a bit. I'm hoping the maths won't be too hard as there are no sleeves.

I'm going to add a lace border at the bottom edge, using the same pattern as for the shoulders.

Clue 1 of mystery stole

2007-07-09T19:20:00.000Z

A riveting Wimbledon final on TV and losing my needle threader combined to slow progress on MS3. I'm now halfway through clue 1, but don't think I'm going to catch up this week.

Argosy is half done, and I've figured out why the points are curling. I was careful to cast off loosely to avoid the edges pulling, but it seems I have been doing it too loosely, causing a curl. I'm too far through to frog, and will look to blocking to try to remedy.

Sahara is languishing neglected. There really isn't much to do on it, but I've lost interest.

Le Grand Depart

2007-07-08T10:30:00.000Z

There's been a lot of buzz about the start of the Tour de France in London, so today we duly dragged ourselves out of bed early to see both the Caravane and the actual Tour.

We had a good view, but the riders come by so fast that photos are just a blur:

The not-so-local gendarmerie supplemented the Met:

Loads of support vehicles in team colours:

I was quite surprised that any cyclists who were behind the main peloton had to weave in and out of all these cars.

Good luck to the riders, I've stopped for coffee, but they will be riding to Canterbury for several hours yet.

Re-emerging blinking

2007-07-06T17:16:00.000Z

I'm back.

Yes, I spent a week immersed in the highly addictive Ravelry, enaged in an introspective review of my oversized stash. Even I am slightly horrified to find I have logged 240 different yarn / colour combinations. There's still more to go...

I have however, managed to keep knitting. Two new cast ons this week; Argosy and MS3.

Last weekend was busy and involved a fair amount of travel, so I cast on Argosy in the car. I bought some Rowan Tapestry using my 10% discount voucher while looking for beads for MS3. It's now working as my commuter project, although it's slightly more complicated than is ideal for short distance, interrupted travel. It is growing quite quickly, but the points curl badly, so it's going to need strong blocking.

With one thing and another, I only got to cast on for MS3 last night, so not much to show yet. I'm tethered to a huge cone of yarn, so this is definitely not portable. The beads are so tiny they don't really show up much, but I like them anyway.

Someone in the group suggested using a needle threader if the crochet hook was too large for the bead, and this turned out to be a genius suggestion. There are other good suggestions, but the group is currently generating an insane amount of email - several hundred per day!

Ravelry invitation has arrived

2007-06-29T19:40:00.001Z

So excuse me while I excitedly add my stash and projects...

(S)watching and waiting

2007-06-27T18:16:00.000Z

I've put my name down for Mystery Stole 3, and while waiting for the first clue on Friday, I went stashdiving. I hunted high and low to find a mystery angora/wool yarn that I knew I had in there somewhere. I'd bought it as a so called 4 ply, but it was clearly too thin for the intended purpose. After balancing precariously on a stool and rummaging through the overhead cubes, I found the cone, and swatched up. I was delighted to find it was a perfect laceweight and showed off the pattern beautifully. It's a really great feeling to find the perfect yarn in the stash.

I've even managed to get some beads in the right colour. They're smaller than the pattern suggests though, and no way can I get a crochet hook through them. I think I'll try pre-threading and hope for the best.

My first attempt at blocking went well:

It's keeping me busy while I wait for my Ravelry invitation...

Knitting goals for July

2007-06-26T22:44:00.000Z

1) Finish spree bag

2) Finish the knitting of the adventure bag. I think the finishing will take longer, but I'd like to get the actual knitting done

3) Finish Sahara - still hoping to complete by end of June

4) Make the icords for large tote bag

5) 3 pattern repeats of Charlotte's Web shawl

So much for the WIPs, what about starting something new?
I'd like to make a summer top, and have found several candidates:

1) Fifi for the SKC KAL with Rowan Calmer

2) Lana Grossa Summertime 06 model 6 vest top with garter panel using Binario

3) Berroco Badia in Bonsai

4) Green vest top from Knit Today