Testing, Testing….

Despite the Knitmore Girls having training sessions on their podcast, I’m still surprised at how quickly the Winter Olympics has crept up on me. I had a project in mind, I’d bought the yarn, but as for actually having read through the pattern and swatched? Forgedaboudit. So today I’ve been a good Olympian and done my training.

The pattern for the Moch Cardi is written in table form so I chose my size and wrote the numbers in all the blank spaces. Then I knitted myself a gauge swatch. I’m starting to get a little cocky about these things, I don’t think I’ve ever knitted a swatch that hasn’t been bang on gauge first try, and this is no exception. I’m thinking of hiring myself out as some kind of renegade-perfect-gauge-type-deal-bitch but you know what? I can’t think of a single application for that skill. Oh well.

I’ll give you a glimpse of the yarn as it’s not been entered on my Ravelry stash page yet, and might not ever be as in 3 weeks it will be a cardigan This is Twilley’s Freedom Gorgeous DK, which is a 75% bamboo 25% nylon mix. I’ve tried bamboo sock yarn and didn’t like it for socks. They feel saggy after a few hour’s wear. BUT I felt this would work to my advantage for a cardigan that needs good drape. I wanted something light and breezy in good time for Spring, with good stitch definition and a slightly silky feel. And most of all, I wanted something that had 12 balls of the same dye lot in a 50% off sale   The colour is a boring old number, but I would describe it as a nice pearly pale grey.

I’ve decided to make the cardi longer as according to the pattern measurements it would hit my waist, when I would rather it rested on my hips (I’m 5′10″ and pretty long waisted, this is a frequent problem). So a couple of inches longer but apart from that, as written. In a strange way this also counts for Ten for 10, as it will be my first piece knit all in one and yoked, although from the bottom up.

My yarn I purchased from  the terrific Helen of  Ripples Crafts has finally told me what it wants to be.

This blue colour jumped from my stash box and whispered into my ear that a pair of Rimefrost socks is just what’s needed. I’ve not yet decided whether to enter these for SockHockey or whether that’s just too much pressure. But something tells me that the stockinette of the Moch Cardi will drive me insane without a small break every now and again, or at least a REALLY good DVD to while away the hours (No, I won’t be actually watching the Olympics, I Don’t Do Sport on TV). I think I might well do it, why not? I can only fail in a spectacular, Jamaican bob-sleigh team kind of way and they made an inspiring film about that, right?

In lace knitting news:

I’ve almost finished the third of four repeats of the gull lace section of Clothilde and it’s still going well. The pattern is now coming instinctively and it’s easy as pie to knit it while watching TV for the moment. I’m hoping to at least finish the gull lace section and be ready to start the arrowhead lace repeat by tomorrow evening. I can get this done before the Olympics start, I know I can. I just have to figure out where the hell I’m gonna block it, it’s going to be BIG.

Return

It’s a funny old world, innit. Do you know what my ONE new year resolution was? To try and write in this blog at least 4 times a week.

I find it easier to blog a lot than blog a little. Once I haven’t for a while,  I try and think up something momentous to write about to get me started again. But nothing momentous has really happened. In the end, all I do is burble and if I’m quite good at burbling people might drop by to read it when there’s nothing good on TV. It’s all anyone can ask.

New year came and went. There was a family trip to London

This handsome young man reached the grand old age of 5…

and we celebrated by scaring him stupid

(not really, he thought it was cool)

And there’s been knitting, of course. A lot of knitting can be done while watching DVD box sets, which seems to be my hobby right now, it being gloomy out an’ all.  Most of my knitting so far this year has fallen into the category of “keeping my hands busy but mindless”. I made my mother this scarf

and my step mother a lacy Baktus (please excuse the fugly, my grooming skills right now consist of running a brush over my hair before I pick the kids up from school)

These ladies have birthdays later this month within two days of each other, so both need to be posted off pretty soon. I also made my stepmother a scarf for Christmas which she had requested. She used to knit herself until arthritis stopped her so she knew she was asking for something big.

A few days after I sent it off I received a beautiful card to say thank you for it. I think I may well be knitting for this woman in future…. she knows our knitterly ways.

But yesterday I started my first big project for a while, and embarked on my Ten for 10 adventure with Clothilde , my first “proper” lace project (because you can’t really count Damson, it doesn’t have holes ).  I’m using some Fyberspates Scrumptious DK and it’s second only to Malabrigo Sock in my “loveliest yarn I’ve worked with” list. It’s 45% silk and 55% merino, loosely twisted, and OH can I tell you about the colour?

There’s a shine to it you can’t see in this picture, it doesn’t do it justice.

I’m loving this pattern and yarn so much that I’m already addicted. I think a lot more lace projects may well come to pass in 2010. Why did nobody tell me this stuff is like crack?

As I’m supposed to be doing the Ravelympics I’m trying to keep stuff on my needles to a minimum. The only other project I have on the go is some Hubbo socks made from odd half balls of yarn I bought in the charity shop a while ago

He actually expressed doubt when I first showed him the yarn. He was worried the light blue was a little “feminine”. I reassured him by naming them “Stripes of Pure Manliness” and I think he’s satisfied that wearing them won’t make people think he’s a transvestite.

And now I feel the lure of Clothilde. Just one more repeat. I can handle it, honest.

This Was Mine….

How was yours?

Christmas

So. We’re almost done here. Everything is wrapped, save Kira’s cardie which needs buttons tonight. I have no hope of finishing Hubbo’s second pair of socks so I’m going to wrap the one as a “joke”, then produce it’s 60% twin and ‘fess up. No problems, he’ll be so incredibly bowled over by Noah and the BFF socks that he won’t care, for this is why I love him.

And y’all. Whether Christmas means a lot to you, or nothing. Whether you spend it with others, or alone. Whether you’re working or resting. You know what I’m going to say….

Food be damned. Presents be damned. Knitting be damned. Love is that Thing That Matters. Love, and let yourselves be loved.

Yummy

What a perfect way to start the weekend. The kitchen is warm from the oven, and smells of wonderful Hubbo-baked goodies.

(OH and can I recommend Chinese Five Spice for your Christmas cakes and biscuits? You may only think of it with savoury foods but it’s actually WONDERFUL in sweet things!)

He made a delicious Thai fish soup for lunch too. I should have taken a picture but it’s all gone now. And do you know what he’s doing as I type? He’s making a sherry trifle. From scratch. Custard made from egg yolks and everything. If there’s one man in the world who deserves my hand knit Noah?

It’s this one.

I wish he’d leave the cookery books a little tidier, though…

Good News, Bad News

This week has been surprisingly relaxed. Hubbo has been on holiday and so have I, in effect. We’ve hung out around the house while the kids have been at school, catching up on a little TV, reading the newspaper, but mainly (in Hubbo’s case) cooking and (in my case) knitting. Hubbo has been jumping around the kitchen with the radio tuned into the Test Match, baking cakes and biscuits and looking in recipe books to see what interesting stuff he can find.  He’s made soups and casseroles and tasty sweet things for Christmas, mince pies and plum bread and the like. He’s promising me leibkuchen. With the weather so cold and being unable to spend much time in the garden, it’s his way of relaxing and it’s nice to see him unwind from the stresses of work. I’ve been working on Kira’s Christmas cardigan while she’s at school, and I’m almost done. In fact, after she’s gone to bed tonight I need to knit the button bands and that’s it.

Just a little blocking out of the yoke section needed.

In other knitting news things are a little sad, though. Remember I was worried about running out of yarn on the BFF socks? Guess what? I ran out of yarn on the BFF socks. I was about 2 inches short. Cue frantic Google searching on the internet for the correct yarn and colourway, as it had been a birthday gift and I didn’t know where it came from. This breaks my cold sheeping, but to be so close to a completed Christmas gift? I consider it justified. I bought the yarn online and I’m hoping it will arrive in the post in the next day or two.

It was doubly frustrating, as for the last ten days I’ve been completely unable to knit for Hubbo as he’s been around all the time. Today was the first day we had a few hours apart yet I couldn’t finish the BFF socks because I’d run out of yarn, so I comforted myself by starting on Season 2 of Buffy and starting a second pair for him instead

( I’m developing a total teenage crush on Spike already, despite his rather outrageous “British” accent. Anthony Head might have taught him, but not very well.)

The children broke up from school today, they were allowed to wear their own clothes. Kira chose her dress she got from her grandparents for her birthday and Callum chose to be a Power Ranger. Apparently he was the only kid in fancy dress but it didn’t seem to bother him. Nothing much does when you’re 4, I guess. If he still wants to dress as a Power Ranger when he’s 15 we might be in trouble….

Everything is pretty much sorted for our Christmas now. We’re at home this Christmas, just the four of us and my sister coming for a couple of days around the 27th. We’re working over New Year but it’s never been a big deal to me as I’m not a big party person. It’s just another night with more rubbish than usual TV. Often we visit the in-laws but it’s quite nice to do our own thing every two or three years.

Today Hubbo and I went to the supermarket for (hopefully) what will be the last time before Christmas.  I’m not comfortable with the whole Trolley War thang. All the presents are bought. I’m getting four sets of  nickle plated DPNs and Escape, my favourite perfume. So from now on it’s just the 4 of us, some baking, a little light knitting…. relaxation

I really have a disgustingly easy life sometimes.

Perfect Fit

Happy 7th birthday, Kira Louise!

On being reminded this morning that Miss Kira had reached the grand old age of seven, her parents were heard to comment “Holy crap, how did that happen?” They’re right. She seems a remarkably well balanced and happy child considering her genetic make up. As far as I can see, the only problem with this particular model is that she lacks the concentration span to knit a full row yet.

This has its advantages, Miss Kira thinks that her Mum is remarkably clever for finishing a row, let alone a sweater or a dubious cream aran poncho with red plastic  buttons.

Thankfully her grandmother had the good sense to send her something other than a hand knit item, but hey! Every young lady needs some designer togs for her wardrobe…

(Her mother, however, is secretly pleased to report that while the dress has yet to be tried on, the green cabled sweater hasn’t come off in the three hours since she put it on right after she opened it )

Going Kablooie

I really meant to write sooner, but I’ve had limited time and two choices what to do with it. Write about my Christmas knitting, or do it. Incredibly, good sense won out and the latter prevailed.

On Ravelry a user called Erinamelia recalled a Buffy episode where Anya says repressed people eventually go “all kablooie”. I’ve only just discovered Buffy and have all the joys of this ahead, but she pretty much summed it up. In her case she hadn’t bought yarn in a long time, then suddenly went kablooie and bought about 5 skeins. That hasn’t happened here, I’m still just about being good.

In my case, it’s my knitting that’s gone all kablooie. And that’s totally not my fault, I have no control over the knitting. At all. No siree. The fact there seems to be a WIP in every room in the house? Totally not me. It’s just…. there. Lurking in carrier bags, under the bed, even the kitchen… WIPS and Christmas knitting.

Thankfully a large amount of gift knitting is complete

The two blue sweaters there represent Christmas Bounty for my menfolk. The green one is Kira’s birthday sweater to be given to her next Tuesday. I’m going to show you the green cable sweater in a few more pictures, because…. can I be frank? I absolutely love it.

(not funny shoulders, just a slightly big hanger)

Not only is this probably the most complex thing I’ve knitted so far, it’s also by far my favourite. It’s not that I’m proud of the achievement, it was pretty easy….I love the colour and I love the style, and I can’t wait to see Kira wearing it next week. I think this is the first thing I’ve made that, if I saw it on a rail in a shop, I’d actually buy. Have I mentioned how much I love that green? I have? Let me say it again.

Somehow the poncho I also made her back in August never made it’s way onto my Ravelry project page, but oh well! Here it is. I made it back in August when I had 200g of not very inspiring cream Aran just hanging around

So that’s birthday gift mark two. I still have most of her yoked Christmas cardigan to make and that has to be my priority for the next ten days, she has one more week of school then she’ll be home and my secret time will be over.

I’ve done the back up to the arm hole decreases, but that’s all. It’s an odd construction for a yoked item, being knit in pieces from the bottom up. But I’m going with it as I don’t have time to make it up / mess it up myself…. So next week from Monday to Friday, 9 – 3, this is what I’ll be doing.

I have an extra project on the go, too, although this one doesn’t have to be done by Christmas, I’d like to make it a New Year gift for the recipient. it”s my current “in front of anyone” knitting project.

My Dad and stepmother, Darrell, visited last weekend. Darrell used to knit but arthritis has stopped her these last few years. She actually asked me if I would mind making her a really long scarf that she can wrap around her neck several times. Now, as I said, this woman used to be a knitter herself and knows the gravity of what she was asking. She stressed that in NO WAY did it have to be done by Christmas, just whenever I felt like it would be completely cool, and offered to pay for the yarn. I readily said yes and that as I’m sure I could find something in stash she could regard it as a late Christmas present. She quite literally clapped her hands, jumped up and down and gave me a big hug she was so delighted. Now THERE’S  a woman who appreciates a hand knit.

I found some King Cole Mirage in my stash that I have 6 skeins of but no idea what to do with. I found a free pattern created for Crystal Palace Taos yarn, and I started knitting.

It’s a DK yarn held with two strands together using 5 1/2mm needles. Can you say Stashbuster? I’m hoping to use all 6 skeins to make a really long scarf and a matching beanie hat. And the bright colours, a mistake purchase for me, are perfect for Darrell. Real “Darrell” colours.

In other, sadder, news…. remember the yarn my mother in law bought me for my birthday? The yarn I never included in my stash because I was determined to turn it right around into Hubbo socks?

Sadly only one pair looks like turning into Christmas socks. I don’t know where the time has gone, it’s just run out on me. Hubbo pretty much has holiday booked until Christmas now, so no more secret Hubbo knitting save for the odd hour here and there when I can send him out bird watching. I may just about have time to finish BFFs, but there are two problems with these socks

Firstly, the time factor… will he be out enough for me to get them done?

Secondly, whether I have enough yarn to finish them. Hubbo’s feet are enormous. He’s a UK 10, which is big but not amazingly big. The other factor in their enormousness is the fact he has flat feet, so their diameter is hyuuuge. There was 100g of yarn in a ball here which I (stupidly) didn’t divide in two first. So when I finished sock number one I weighed it and the remaining yarn.

Sock = 58g

remaining yarn = 43g.

Ouch. So I’ve made the cuff a little bit shorter and decreased two stitches in the under foot stockinette portion, and maybe I can get away with doing one cable repeat less in the foot length…. yeah, once I block ‘em hopefully nobody except me will be able to see the difference. And for the next yarns (same make and yardage) I can shorten the cuffs a little

But really, the only things that HAVE to be done by Christmas are these BFF socks and Kira’s cardigan, so I’m OK. Darrell’s scarf can be for whenever, and Callum’s other sweater I started at the beginning of the summer doesn’t need to be done until the last week of January. I’m still not sure if the yarn is a bit “blah” for a 4 year old, though.

I’m kind of looking forward to being done so I can do a bit more of my abandoned Elsewhere. In the mean time, this week I have decorations to put up, Kira’s birthday party on Saturday, two Christmas nativity plays, the arrangements for Cal’s birthday party in January to finalise, the wrapping to do, two bikes to hide away in the attic…

Yeah, it’s not just the knitting. EVERYTHING goes kablooie at this time of year.

The Ten for 10 Project

So, I have this little idea.

I’ve been knitting for almost two years now, and come from a non crafting kind of background. My mother in law taught me the knit and purl stitches and how to cast off, but I think I’ve exceeded her knowledge now.  Most of my knowledge since those early days has come from the internet and those handy technique sections in knitting magazines.

My first year knitting was the year of garter and stocking stitch. I made my first sweaters for my kids and learned a few increase and decrease techniques.

Cal models a Christmas 2008 piece

In 2009 I’ve tried to expand my knowledge a little and judging by Christmas knitting this year, I’ve become a fan of simple cables.

I made my first socks

 

 

tried a little basic lace…

stuff to expand my skill set but by no means in any organised way, and I still consider myself at the advanced end of “beginner”.

The idea of the Ten for 10 project is simple. I’m going to expand my skill set by making ten knitting resolutions for 2010. You can join me if you like. It doesn’t matter if you just made your first scarf (that has more stitches at the end than the start), or if you’ve made every Evelyn Clark pattern in your sleep. Simply choose ten things that you think will expand your skill set, and resolve to make something that tries your new skills out   You may want to try socks in a new way, learn a few new cast on techniques… whatever floats your boat. For some of you it may even include a new spinning technique, for instance, or maybe learning some cool crochet moves.

Your Ten for 10 list should ideally be finalised by January 1st but people will be welcome to join in any time along the way.  If you want to take part, tag you projects “Ten410″ and describe the new technique you’ve learned in your notes section.

MY list, although mot yet finalised, will probably include:

1) at least one proper lace project (Ishbel or Swallowtail or something)

2) learning toe up socks, as all the ones I’ve made so far are cuff down

3) learning a few different heel construction techniques

4) making at least one Fair Isle item

5) learning 5 different cast on techniques (to include provisional cast on)

6) learning 5 different cast OFF techniques (I’ll be hitting the Lucy Neatby DVDs hard, methinks…)

7) making a pair of gloves, I’ve only ever made mittens as the fingers seem fiddly

8 ) dyeing at least three skeins of yarn myself with kool aid or acid dyes (haven’t done it since I took a class last year, MUST experiment more at home

9) spinning enough of my own yarn for a shawl or pair of socks

10) to crochet at least one small garment (I’ve only crocheted dish cloths before)

 

SO come on, take up the challenge! Don’t get stuck in a crafting rut! Expand your skills and don’t be afraid! We have nothing to lose but…. well, we have nothing to lose, as most yarn can be frogged and used again

I’ll probably make a thread in the Ravelry Stash and Burn group, as I’ve noticed Stash and Burn Groupies are usually up for this kinda thing. Let me know in comments if you think it should go elsewhere x

 

Noah

“Noah” by Sarah Hatton, from Rowan 41

Yarn – Wendy Aran with wool, approx 650g for the large size.

My first NaKniSweMo and I finished in time! I’m so pleased!

The rain swept away overnight and the sunshine came out just in time for me to take pictures in the garden, thus preserving my “weird” status with the neighbours. The north wind numbed my fingers too much to type but that’s another story that a mug of tea happily sorted out.

(you’ll have to put up with me modelling it until December 25th, sorry :p).

I was also left with this

167g of the aran yarn. It’s an acrylic/wool blend and perfectly nice stuff. Very soft with a high twist. I was hoping to have enough left to make my 4 year old a cabled vest but I think it would be pushing it.  So I checked my queue, calculated the yardage and I’ve decided that once the Christmas gifts are done with this yarn will make a perfect slouchy  Gretel to wear with jeans and a grey marled hoodie, of which I have many.

I’m happy to have this big project out of the way, not having to smuggle it around any more and be on alert is a weight off my mind. Socks are a LOT easier to stuff under a cushion if Hubbo comes home. They’re also much easier to slip into my bag to take into work, and as I have 3 overnight shifts this week that’s what I’ll do – take the BFF socks in so hopefully they’ll be at least halfway done. Also I have one sleeve left of the green cable sweater, but although I love how the finished item will look I’m finding the sleeves kind of tedious, so that’s in time out just for a few days.

INSTEAD, yesterday evening while Hubbo settled down to Top Gear and Match of The Day I started Kira’s Christmas cardigan.

Does that look like DK weight to you? No? Have you noticed how I like to play fast and loose with yarn weights and guage? That’s right, I had some more Wendy aran in another shade and decided I wanted to use it, so I’m just making the 12 month old size in aran and 5mm needles. It seems to be working with the green cable sweater the other way around, so why the hell not? I’m a little suspicious of the construction of this piece, though, a yoked piece like this would make more sense to do from the top down but it’s bottom up….

Aaaaanyhoo. Just a recap on my list of confusion:

When the kids are around, I can knit Hubbo’s Christmas socks, they see me doing socks so much it’s not worth them commenting on.

When Hubbo’s around, the final sleeve and seaming of the green cable sweater, OR the Christmas cardi for Kira. On my project page you’ll notice there’s a “boy’s textured pullover” (exciting name, huh?) for my son Callum but this is for his birthday at the back end of January and can wait.

When everyone’s around I’m supposed to be working on Elsewhere, but…. Remember when I said the other day I longed for some vanilla sock in self patterning yarn, like Anne Hanson knits at her desk? Well, not long after that post I remembered that in July I started these for Callum.

So I plucked them out of the bag and knit on them while Hubbo and the kids went swimming on Sunday. I wasn’t going in this week, so I just sat in the viewing area, turned the heel of sock no. 2 and worked my way about halfway down the foot. Callum is 4 and already has a taste for hand knit socks, but I don’t mind as his feet are so small. When he’s 19 and has feet like shovels it may be a little different. In the mean time, while both of the kids are so little I can literally make them socks out of leftovers and scraps, a pair only takes about 40g of yarn so I always keep my leftovers

Whaddaya think, clown puke bodies with Malabrigo  Monkey sock orange cuffs, heels and toes? Sara’s Jaywalker purple bodies with solid Hedera cuffs and heels? Crystal Palace Panda stripes? I like playing around with this stuff and seeing what I can come up with, hopefully this might fend off my urge to splurge on Trekking and Opal for a few more months. And they’re so fast, it hardly feels worth putting them on my projects page.

I made another decision about repurposing some yarn intended for a project today, and I feel better for it.

I bought this yarn over the summer and the original intent was to use it to make Hubbo a light weight summer sweater. This is the yarn that the pattern I chose called for, probably the first time EVER I had used the yarn suggested for something. It’s bamboo, and….. this was the “manliest” colour of they had, but when it arrived from Kemps I just wasn’t sure. Maybe it was the sheen of the bamboo, but it just didn’t seem very manly to me.

All the same, I persisted, I started the back of the sweater, got through two and a half balls (not every enjoyable – slippery AND splitty). But when I looked at what I’d done and how it was knitting up, I just couldn’t escape the feeling that the yarn would look better on me than on him. Into the bottom of the box the half-finished back went, where it languished for several months.

But today I took it out once again and decided that the colour and sheen to the yarn was just too feminine for Hubbo’s tastes. He’s not as fussy about colour (or lack of) as the Yarn Harlot’s Joe, but all the same while some men wouldn’t mind a sweater made from this at all, I felt Hubbo would. Yes, I know, I should have listened to my instincts and not started the thing in the first place….

So I ripped it out, reskeined the yarn and now I’m thinking of it as a possibility for my Moch Cardi, which as you’ll remember from my last post I want to make but I’m having to decide between that and Coraline for new yarn. This would mean I could make the Moch Cardi, still buy the yarn for Coraline and not have broken any cold sheeping vows Seems like a good deal to me.

I have another Big Thing coming onto my knitting radar, something I shall post about tomorrow. I want your opinion, and possibly your participation if you’re  motivated. I think it’s pretty good, I just need to check that nothing similar is already happening and that I’m not inadvertantly  stealing someone else’s idea. So yeah, check back