Pay it forward gift(s)

I'm so excited! I've just had a spark of an idea which has led me to plan what I'm going to be making as my pay it forward gift(s). I'm itching to make a start on it/them but I've got Christmas knitting still to finish so will have to make myself wait for the new year.

I'm not giving any clues as to what I'm going to be making :o)

So far I only have one of my 3 PIF slots filled (thanks Crafty librarian!). That means there are two still open. Any takers??

Garter stitch, stripes, kitchener stitch, perseverance, but mainly stupidity

I did it! I finally managed to graft my garter stitch stripes! I tried to do this sooo many times! Each time failing miserably. I have a bruise on my forehead from where I just slapped myself when I realised what was wrong. It was all my own stupid fault! I had the technique right all along!!

Short answer:
I hadn't taken into account the cast on row. I'd basically cast on then knit two rows of black, two of red etc. Essentially, I had created three initial rows of black instead of two. No wonder it wasn't coming out right!! Curses!!

Long answer: (which will hopefully keep my stupidity at bay next time I need to do this)
This is what I had in front of me, two row high black and red garter stitch stripes. I cast on and started off with two rows of black, carried on red, black etc until the desired length and ended with one row of red - the graft making up the final red row (and I thought I was clever for having working that out!).



I found instructions for how to graft garter stitch and followed them. I got the right set of red double bumps but an extra set of black - I thought that the black bumps should have been on the wrong side, rather than the right side, so tried again. And again. And again... I lost count of the amount of times I tried.

Browsing through the Ravelry forums in despair, someone mentioned that there was a way of cheating at kitchener stitch! Trusty Google came to the rescue and I found these instructions:
http://pinklemontwist.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_archive.html (scroll down to Dec 22nd 05). Genius!! How to do kitchener without kitchener(ing).

It was through adding my extra contrasting coloured yarn rows that my mistake was detected. Things just weren't looking right, that extra row of black bobbles was still appearing. That was my d'oh moment. I unpicked the 'extra' cast on row and thing looked a LOT better!!

I still went ahead and tried this technique, even though, technically, following my initial kitchener instructions would now work...

This is how I started, two extra rows at each end of the graft in a contrasting colour.


Then just follow the lead of the contrasting yarn for the weave of the graft. For some reason it felt more comfortable to do this from the wrong side, not sure why as it would have been a similar experience from either side...(although probably better to have done it the other way round so that tention of the stitches was visible).


Completely zipped up.


The zip from the right side...


Unzipping the contrasting yarn all went very smoothly...


And there I have a finished graft...although those ends look a bit daunting...


How glad am I! And how cool is that technique! There was something very satisfying about unzipping that extra yarn and seeing the perfect graft appear. Although next time (next time!!?) I'll have my wits about me so I don't have any pesky extra rows getting in my way, and have a go at proper kitchener (not the cheat version).

...and relax.

I hate grafting

Grafting torments me. I can't do it. I hate not being able to do it. I'm pretty much a self taught knitter and have picked up techniques really well through books and the internet - I've actually been really impressed with myself. But grafting is HARD. It reminds me of pool...I'm a logical person, pool is basically geometry, so why do the balls do the complete opposite of what I thought/wanted them to do? Grafting works the same way...it's just a bunch of loops, so why won't they loop the right way?

I need to graft a small section of the hat I'm making for the boys. I've actually finished one. It took me about a week to do the grafting. Lots of swearing and unpicking and trying again. I tried soooo many times and went to bed with a headache on several evenings. I got to the point where I had a join that was pretty bad but, for sanity's sake, would do. I therefore carried on with the pattern for a few rounds. My boyfriend noticed that I'd given up and started looking at it, he convinced me to have another go (it did look quite bad). At one point he even picked it up and had a go himself! During the England match!! He didn't manage but I got a result in the end...it's not EXACTLY right, but only if you look REALLY closely. So this is the first hat - finished (except for the dreaded ends):


But now I have this in front me:


Two failed attempts so far this evening and a headache to boot.

Did I say I hated grafting?

Magic scarf!!

I'm so excited. I'm making a magic scarf. This technique is genius...

Now you see it:


Now you don't:


I cast on last night and couldn't put it down until I had finished a whole scull. I was mesmerised watching it taking shape. It probably took me twice as long as it should have done because I kept stopping to look at it!! Even my boyfriend thinks it's brilliant...and so he should as it's his kids who are going to be sporting the finished items (a hat and scarf for two boys - the hat won't be magic though).

I was scared that it was going to take me ages to make two scarves...

Finished: Cable Comfort Throw

...or at least my version of it. And when I say finished, I mean it's almost finished, just the ends to work in.

I'm soooo pleased with it, it looks great! Not too big, but not too small - hopefully the perfect size for an eighty year old to snuggle into. Did I say how much I like it?



I enjoyed making it, although it became a bit of a chore towards the end. The yarn has given my fingers a bit of a sheen, but I have had quite an intensive day of working on it.

Pleased to cross it off my list and get on with something else!
(note to self: don't relax until the ends are all finished)

Pressure

I'm starting to feel gift-knitting-pressure! I need to get the cable comfort throw finished before next weekend - preferably this weekend, so I can get on with other stuff. I've been picking at it, but not got that far with the last strip. I've been very focused this evening and have made some headway with it, only two repeat pattern sets to go!!



I've not picked up the sweater bag at all, and I'm desperate to make a start on the skull illusion scarves! Not decided on a pattern for the matching hats yet...but I do know that I'm not going to use dpns but try out the magic loop method. I had a bit of a play the other night and got on fine with it (at least for the few stitches, and few rows that I tried). It's got to be better than using dpns! I've even ordered an addi circular turbo needle for it (why don't Denise interchangeable have 7mm?). I have made half a Santa hat, so there has been some kind of progress...

I can make mittens!

...fingerless ones, but mittens non the less. I'm dead chuffed with myself because they look exactly like they're supposed to!! Yey for me!

Christmas knitting - revised priority list

I've been trying to stop myself aimlessly browsing the web (ravelry) and actually get some knitting done! Because of this, I am actually making some progress. It's taken me a while to work out what to make for some gifts but things are finally coming together. This is my new priority list and progress so far (more for me than for anyone reading this...)

1. Cable comfort throw. I got a call from Yarn last week to say that the rest of the yarn I needed had finally arrived. I got straight to work and have finished a second strip, just one more to go! Although...I have, due to my scrappy notes and a lack of checking) managed to make the two I've already done different lengths (d'oh) so am trying to decide whether I'm going to frog a bit of one, or add extra to the other. I'll decide when the third strip is at the critical point - I'm sure this will help me to see the potential size finished throw, and whether or not it needs the extra length. [60% done]
   
   
2. Sweater bag. Christmas gift for one of my nieces. It's coming along nicely and I'm enjoying the pattern and the Cashmerino yarn I'm using for it. The size 6.5mm needles are getting a little tiresome, but mainly because I have a few projects on the go on that size. Not sure how that happened. [25% done]
   
   
3. You Don't Know Our Women Hat and Cabled Fingerless Mitts for my other niece. I ummed and arred about making a bag, but couldn't find anything I thought she'd like. I've decided on a safe bet for now and will make something more interesting for her in the future (and I'm better at knitting). The hat's done! Only took a few evenings to do, and I'm about to make a start on the mitts). [30% done]
   
   
4. Skull Illusion Scarf [x2] and matching hats (not found suitable pattern yet, may improvise). I saw the skull illusion scarf and knew instantly I had to make it!! We've decided to give my boyfriends kids their hats for Christmas, together with the matching scarf. I really can't wait to see these develop. I'll have to get the yarn sorted out first though. [0% done]
5. Santa hat. I want to make myself a santa hat for Christmas morning. Hopefully this will be a quick knit, but if I don't get time for it, so be it.
6. Three Pay It Forward (PIF) gifts. I have one PIFer, need two more! I have lots of ideas, and an itch to get going, but I'm not going to make a start until Christmas is over.
   
7. My poncho has been relegated all the way down here. I pick it up now and then. It'll get there.

There are sooooo many other things I want to make too! (...and sooo many things to finish that aren't on that list).Ravelry has not helped, it just fills my head to bursting point with new idea's and favourite patterns. It seems to be taking me forever to finish things! ...although, that said, I'm really chuffed with the progress I've made - both finished item-wise, and knitting technique-wise.

Gifts

One for someone else...



(rubbish picture I know, but it was dark and the batteries ran out on my camera before I got a half decent shot). Pink girlie hat and leg warmers, all finally finished, wrapped and on their way!

...and one for me (with love from me), felt thimbles from a seller on Etsy...



My pointy Denise circulars were proving to be a little hard on the finger tips (or I have a rubbish knitting technique...). These are fab though and do the trick nicely.

Finished: Pink girlie leg warmers

I'm so pleased to have these finished...I've not enjoyed knitting on dpns, at least not 6.5mm ones. I frogged my initial attempt, then started again but didn't get very far. Not getting on with them and getting them out of the way was making me feel really bad! I finally picked them up again a few days ago and made myself work on them, which wasn't really *that* bad, and they were really quick to knit so soon finished them.



Now that they're done I'm really chuffed with them! They're really cute and go so well with the hat. I hope they're the right size as it was another case of me making the pattern up as I went along and hoping for the best!

I just need to wrap them up in pink girlie tissue paper and send them off...then hope to hear how well they fit... :o/

One third done

I just cast off the first of three chunky cable strips which will make my take on the cable comfort throw. The index finger of my right hand hates me and wants me to stop (one of my joints is swollen) where as I'm itching to cast on the next one! I shouldn't really as I only have a two half balls of yarn, with more on order - but no promise of getting the same dye lot. It would make things less obvious if I wait and do the other two strips in the new yarn, rather than having to change mid-strip. But how different could the colours possibly be? I have a feeling I may just have to start and just hope for the best. Alternatively, I could pick up one of my other WIPs... or even give myself a break!

Drop everything!

I suddenly have a new priority. My boyfriends Mam will be 80 next month...80!?! We obviously need to get her something extra special, but she is soooo hard to buy for! I decided that the best thing to do was to make her something, so after lots of thinking (she's hard to make something for too!) and some help from the Ravelry forum, I've decided to make her a modified version of this Cable Comfort Throw (Ravelry link). I'm going to make it smaller and a bit chunkier.

This is quite a big project and I'm a bit concerned that I'm not going to get it finished but I'm going to give it a try. I'm also a bit concerned because my arthritis has been playing up and I'm not sure how much knitting I can do - I hope it's just the change in the weather setting me off and everything will calm down soon.

Keen to get started I went out to buy yarn for it today (I would have bought online but the post strike means that waiting for it to arrive would cut too far into my knitting time). I went to Yarn in Beeston, Nottingham, as I thought I'd prefer to support my LYS rather than Hobbycraft for such a big purchase. I've only been there once before (last weekend in fact) in the hunt for 6.5mm dpns, but they didn't have any (had to buy online in the end). The lady who served me was lovely and really helpful. I had no idea what yarn would be best - just needed something in white or cream, machine washable and CHUNKY. After much yarn pondering and fondling we decided that Patons Symphony would do the trick if I doubled it up. I've been working on a test piece to workout needle size, I started out on 15mm needles but changed to 12mm which are working out fairly well.



I only have 5 balls as that's all they had, but they have ordered me some more. It's enough to be going on with.

At least I have another finished object! Yey! My green scarf is finished. I love quick chunky knits. I am wondering if I'm going to keep them though - they might end up as a birthday present for my sister-in-law...



That priority list I made needs to be updated, it's not exactly going to plan! :o)

Instructions I like no. 1

I'm not always that keen on how normal cast off looks - particularly for things like scarves where they don't become a seam. So...I've just finished my green scarf and needed a different method. I, of course, Googled and found these fab instructions:

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATsum06TT.html

I used the Elizabeth Zimmermann's sewn bind off and I just want to make a note here so I know where I found it and don't loose it.

My scarf is finished, I just need to finish the ends. I need a better method of this too as my ends keep poking back through my knitting :o(

Pay It Forward

Would you like me to make you a handmade gift? Yes? Then read on...

I'm taking part in the Pay it Forward exchange, I signed up via Sarah's All Fingers and Thumbs blog. It's a lovely idea and I'm really excited to be taking part. The concept is simple:

"It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

So, leave a comment, receive a gift, pay it forwards. Simple!

I'm not sure what I'm going to make yet. It may be knitted, they may not. I've got a few idea's in mind but it will depend upon who signs up!

Progress! Finished hat for me (no. 3 on the priority list)

I love chunky knitting. It's taken me just over an hour to make and finish a chunky hat for me :o)



I've made it in Sirdar Bigga, using a pattern I've knit before. I've also made it in green...as I thought it would be a good contrast to my dark purple coat. I'm not used to wearing coloured hats - I'm a black hat kind of person, that's if I wear a hat at all. Where does my common sense/normal taste go when I knit myself something like this... I hope I'm going to wear it!

Frogging thoughts...

Proof of me not getting on with bamboo dpns and cotton-rich yarn. At least, I'm hoping it's the bamboo...and not just me not being good with dpns...

The yarn doesn't flow well over these needles and, as you can see in the photo, the stitches are really loose on the needle change over at the cable bits. I didn't get this kind of really loose stitch when I made the hat.

I think I'm going to frog it, ready to start again when my new Brittany birch dpns arrive. At least I didn't get very far with it. I just can't believe how much I don't want to re-do it when I frogged and experimented far more when making the hat - this is nothing!

Update: I frogged it. I've started it again. I'm not overly confident that it was the bamboo dpns who were at fault. Hmm.

Priorities

There's so much I want to do knitting-wise, I thought I should make some kind of list to make sure I don't forget anything! So...this is what I'm doing...and the order that I'm doing it in...

1. Poncho for me! Our house is rubbish (rented) and although it's got double glazing, there is absolutely *no* insulation in the roof. In the winter we seem to heat the sky as no heat seems to stay in the house at all! My knitting habit will have to help me keep warm. This is the pattern I'm using: Bear Cub Poncho.
2. Pink girlie leg warmers to match the pink girlie hat I made. I need to get these finished as they are supposed to be a gift (a belated birthday pressie). I'm having a bit of a crap time using the cotton yarn on bamboo double pointed needles - I might post about this at some point soon. I've ordered some Brittany birch needles which I'm hoping will be better (I'm very fond of wood).
3. Hat and scarf for me. I have the pattern and the yarn...just need the time. I'm going to use Sirdar Bigga so it won't take long! This is another priority project as it's been a chilly week, very autumnal.
4. Two boys hats. My boyfriends kids have requested a hat each, and I feel I should get these done as I put them both through the trauma of trying on the pink girlie hat to make sure I'd made it about the right size!
5. A Christmas gift for my two nieces - not sure what this will be yet, may a bag or a hat. I don't want them to be massive projects. I might make my sister-in-law something too for her birthday in December).
6. Three Pay It Forward (PIF) gifts. I'll be posting about this soon, but I signed up for this on Sarah's All Fingers and Thumbs blog. I'm really excited about taking part - it's just a shame its number 6 on my list :o( I have idea's about the kind of things I'd like to make too!
7. Poor orange jumper, last on the list (at least, on the list I'm admitting to). I'm not sure about the colour anymore, and I'm beginning to wish I'd chosen a machine washable yarn. My hands don't like hand washing. I try and avoid it. My other half managed to dye a whole wash purple today because he unintentionally washed a purple dress that's been at the bottom of the laundry basket for months, waiting to be hand washed...it had been there since we got back from Glastonbury! I'm going to finish the jumper though! I'm more than half way through it.

All this and ravelry too! What a fabulous website! I've worked out how to get around - just not had time to add everything to it. I think I'll just have to chip away and add stuff when I can. It's probably for the best (she says, trying desperately not to become completely obsessed with it).

I'm in!!!

Yey! Finally got my ravelry invite! Whoo!!

I'm von and I'm off to ravel :oD

(I may be some time)

Ravelry.com ...I'm almost in!

There are only 1500 people in front of me in the Ravelry invite queue...I can't wait! If they keep up the increased speed of invites I'll be in by the end of the week! I predict a lost weekend of knitting goodness :o)

A finished item - Pink Girlie hat

I’m really chuffed with myself for finishing the hat. All I need to do is finish off the loose ends, but that won’t take long. So here it is...


...I like it, it looks good…but it’s just crying out for these...


...much better :)

I’ve really enjoyed making this, I’m so pleased it’s worked out as well as it has.

As I said in my previous post, I’ve had to master two thing to make this, three if you count using circular needles for anything other than messsing around and seeing how they work, but I’m not going to count that.

1. Cables

I decided to have a go at doing cables because I wanted the hat to be quite ribby, and cables were an ideal way of making it a little bit more interesting. I did what any modern knitter does when faced with having to learn something new, I Googled it. I found lots of sites that gave instructions for plain twisted cables, but I wanted to keep the rib space between the twists. It took a while to find a site that covered what I needed and was easy to understand, in the end two sites gave me the most help, this one http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2005/11/technickety_how_to_unvent_a_si.html and another one which I haven’t bookmarked and can’t seem to lay my hands on just now. These, together with some time spent just trying things out and seeing what happened...

…helped me get to grips and understand how it all worked. I knew exactly what I wanted the hat to look like, and luckly, it looks *exactly* like the picture I had in my head.

2. Three needle cast-off (or bind-off as some seem to say)

I have to admit that this seemed like quite a daunting term but I knew I wanted to try it as it saved sewing, and reports said that it makes a neat seam. Perfect. Again I Googled and found lots of people keen to share how to do this technique, and more than that, they said it was easy. I found this site to be very clear and understandable http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2005/12/one_bassackward.php, it has great pictures and commentary.

It turns out that three needle cast-off *is* really easy! Not only is this method neat from the right-side, but from the wrong side too...

I still need to do the matching leg warmers but I’m going to give my hands a break and work on my orange jumper for a bit which is on 12mm needles. Thinking about, I couldn’t start them even if I wanted to because I’m waiting for the double pointed needles I need for them to arrive.

Works in progress

I have two main projects on the go at the moment (and several more minor ones).

Firstly I have this...

which I’m making in orange Twilleys Freedom. So far I’ve finished the back and half a sleeve...

I’m a fairly rubbish photographer which is why this one is so fuzzy :o(

I’m fairly happy with the way it’s turning out although I wish I’d chosen the dark red instead of the orange. It seemed like a good idea at the time though. Secondly, it’s quite squishy and I think it would work a bit better as a more solid fabric, so using the correct yarn may have been a better idea. Ah well, not to worry.

I’m also desperately trying to finish a hat and leg warmers for a friends little girl. I’m enjoying using my new Denise needles, but not at all enjoying knitting on small (6.5mm) needles. I also took it upon myself to learn how to do cables for it, which are a bit fiddly for my hands, as well not actually following a pattern but make one up myself. I’ve already had to unpick half of it because my cable design wasn’t working, but I now seem to be on track. I’ve made it more simple, which I think I should have done in the first place! Talk about trying to run before you can walk. I don’t plan to do any shaping, but pince it along the top edge with a three needle cast-off - another technique that I’ve read about but not actually done before!! Anyway, this is my progress so far…

Experiment

Being a new knitter, keen to explore, with the newly acquired understanding of gauge…I decided to do an experiment. I took a pattern that I quite liked, and used a *completely* different yarn that I was desperate to use for something. After knitting a few sample squares to work out the right size needles to use…this is what happened:

I took this...

and this...

and made this...

Although I do quite like it, it’s a tad bulky to wear. I keep picking it up and trying it on, then putting it down again to think about what I’m going to do about it some more. I’m chuffed that I managed to make it…but maybe I should unravel and make something else :o(

Think pink (Denise interchangeable needles)

I gave in. After coming across interchangeable knitting needles on the web a while back, reading various blogs, and spending months telling myself they were an extravagance that should really put on my Christmas list and hope for the best…I crumpled, closed my eyes, and bought some.

I really preferred the look of the Boye ones, the colours, and the colour-coding made them *very* tempting but I was put off by the stories of the screw in connectors coming loose - although this only seemed to happen to a minority of people. Also the fact that the needles went down to smaller sizes than the Denise ones was a bit of a put-off - I just can’t use small needles, my hands would hate me. I was also generally put off getting *any* type as I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to use the connectors, again due to my stupid arthritic hands - I’m making this sound worse than it is…well, no, I’m not, I do struggle with small things. Gah.

I decided that if I was going to do it (and I was), it was going to be the Denise ones. I wasn’t too keen on the blue ones so went for the pink.

They’re fab! I love them. They’re so smooth to knit with (although I’m going from using my current cotton-rich yarn on bamboo needles, to using the same stuff on these fellas). They just work really well.

Unfortunately my concern about the connectors was justified though, I almost did myself an injury when initially playing with them, although once I had a look at the instruction sheet I was thrilled to see there was an answer. They’ve thoughtfully put a little hole through the connector which you can fit a paperclip through for more leverage. Bingo. Pain-free needle changes!

I’m so happy with them I’ve already cast on a hat for a friends daughter. Knitting 6.5mm which I’m finding a little on the small side for my hands. I’ll persevere though and then go back to 8mm plus…

Hand painted, super chunky, 100% wool

I bought this on eBay yesterday and it arrived this morning.Yey! The colours are lovely. I’ve started knitting with it already :o)

Quantity: 525g (including cardboard tube -approx 53g)
Bought: eBay
Price: £17 (paid more than I wanted…but I had to have it)

Sirdar - Bigga - Chamois - 686

I love this wool…not so keen on the colour though. I’ve got so much of this wool in various colours for various projects (mainly chunky hats and scarves for relatives…but don’t tell them). I initially bought some of this to make a peg bag for myself, and it all worked out really well - especially considering that I made the pattern up as I went along! Last week my Mam mentioned needing a peg bag - so I got some more of this as it’s **really** cheap at Kemps.

Quantity: 2 x 100g
Bought: Kemps Wool Shop
Price: £0.59 each (absolute bargain!)

Hand spun, hand dyed - no make

I love this wool! I don’t know much about it, or what I’m going to do with it, but it’s fab! It feels nice and is lovely and chunky. I bought it last week at Durham indoor market, it was the only one they had or I would have bought another one…

Quantity: 200g
Bought: Durham Indoor Market
Price: £6.00

Sirdar - Denim Chunky - Slate Blue - 503

Just bought 10 balls of this stuff in the hope that I could use it with a pattern for a different type of wool. Having knit a few tension squares this evening on different size needles, it’s not going to work out. I’d need to use too large a size needle for the wool. Curses.

I bought the wool via the internet without ever seeing it in ‘real life’. It wasn’t what I was expecting when I first saw it, although I’ve quickly come round to liking it. It feels gorgeous, especially when knit, so I need to find a pattern that it will work with as I’m itching to get going with it.

Quantity: 10 x 100g
Bought: Kemps Wool Shop
Price: £1.20 each