I think it might be returning

I can't say for sure, but it does seem like my knitting apathy is starting to fade. It was weird that I kept knitting throughout this time, but then, it wasn't just my knitting that I was fed up with, it was everything!

So, I started making a hooded top for my nephews third birthday in April. I'd thought about it for a while, and took a while to find some yarn that I liked. I chose Lion Brand Jiffy as it's chunky, feels nice, is machine washable, and comes in a good range of colours. I'm going for a red top with gray sleeves.

I hoped I'd get near gauge with this yarn but I didn't. Going up a needle size got me closer, but not near enough. Normally, I would see this as a challenge and launch into rewriting the pattern to suit my gauge, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was hoping to cheat and make one of the larger sizes, with just a crazy hope of it working out. I asked for help on the Ravelry forum to help me work out what to do since my brain wasn't playing. I was warned off doing anything stupid and I listened. I love Ravelry.

I took this project with me when I went to my parents house over Easter, hoping to make a start. My Dad helped me work out the gauge issue. It's nothing I couldn't have done myself under normal circumstances, but I was glad to have some help. We worked out that stitch-wise, I could actually use one of the larger sizes, we calculated that it would work out (give or take half a cm). Length-wise, the pattern gave a schematic of each of the pieces and their measurements which meant I could use the measurements of the right size. The only bit to worry about is getting the increase and decrease spaced correctly, especially for the sleeves. Everything seems to have worked out for the back, I finished that over the weekend.



I sat down last night and rewrote the sleeve appropriately (well, here's hoping). I was also encouraged to find myself making additional changes to the sleeve to make it better (for me). Now, **that** is progress. The sleeve uses moss stitch for the cuff, then stocking stitch for the rest, and is knit on straight needles. Now, because I'm not sure of length of my nephews arms, and because the pattern shows the cuffs as being folded over, I want to avoid having an ugly seem. I'm not sure if my nephew will need to fold the cuff - so I can't predict which side to put the seem on. I therefore decided I'd do away with having a seem on the cuff at all! I'm going to knit just the cuff in the round, then change to knitting in the flat for the rest. I think I've taken everything into consideration that I need to, will just have to see if it works out.

I've made a start on the first sleeve, just a few rows into the cuff. I stopped to write this. But what I **should** be doing is writing a report that needs to be done by the end of the month and I've only got today and tomorrow free. I've also got some other non-work work to do...not sure how much of anything I'm going to get done. Best make a start though and at least get dressed (I'm sitting writing this in my pyjamas and dressing gown)...then have another coffee...and then see where all my other avoidance tactics take me :o/

Trying to make progress

I'm trying to get back into my knitting. First, I decided to make one of those soap jumper things - where a bar of soap is completely knit into its jacket, the theory being that as you use it, the wool felts and shrinks with the soap. I bought my boyfriend a pre-felted one for Christmas and have jealously watched him use it. He didn't think that much of it actually, but I want to try for myself.

I've been planning on making myself one for a while, and had plans of cables and fancy things. A very very cheap ball of Rowan Big Wool (I think it was - 99p in Dunelm Mills!!) spurred me to action over the weekend. Couldn't be bothered with cables when it came to it though (not a good sign). I did however make things more interesting by attempting to avoid having to do any sewing. I used the magic cast on (didn't need to look it up, I remembered how to do it after just playing round with it a few months ago to see how it worked!!), magic looped it on my Denise interchangeables (3 of the longer length cables joined together), decreased straight into the icord, then attached the other end of the icord to make the loop handle by picking up alternate stitches from near the top of the main body, and casting straight off - a complete experiment that turned out good enough. Just need to try it out now :o)



Can't say I was particularly inspired though. Curses.

I also read my first ever knit-lit over the weekend, The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. I'm generally more of a fantasy person, but fancied a change. It was a quick read but not very inspiring (which I was hoping for). The characters felt too manipulated, with extreme problems and just didn't feel 'normal' or easy to identify with. Fairly disappointing really :o( Maybe I should have read some reviews or something rather than buy something on a whim. There's a lesson there. Either that, or it's a great book and my mood is just making everything seem rubbish.

So, back to the knitting. A lonely skein of Noro Iro called to me and I decided to make a birthday gift for my parents next door neighbour. She's in her seventies but you'd never think it. I thought a bit of simple garter stitch would help me get into the swing of things so made my second Long Cut Scarf. All went well, the result is great - as expected. Tempted to keep it for myself. Didn't get into it though - what's wrong with me?



Maybe my next project will help me. I've decided to make my nephew a hooded jumper for his birthday, he'll be 3 at the end of April. Cute kids clothes will surely get me back on track...

Knitting confidence

Another finished item to report. I've made my Mam a hat for mothers day. Not sure how long it's going to be until my family get fed up of me making them things...but I'm still thinking it's nice to get something that you know someone has worked on, over numerous hours, with just you in mind.

At some point last year I made my Dad a chunky black hat with earflaps. I keep getting reports that my Mam keeps wearing it, and that she wishes the earflaps had a button on them so she could fasten them under her chin. I've never seen her actually wearing it, but the pictures in my head are horrific!! I decided that I'd make her one which is a tad more feminine and fulfills her earflap/chin fastening requirements - not to mention improving the pictures in my head....

So, after I mooch around Ravelry (it's been a while since I looked anywhere else!) I found the perfect pattern in 18 Seconds Before Sunrise. It has lovely cables, earflaps, i-cord chin ties. Perfect! Well, almost perfect...

...there was one thing about the pattern that I definitely wanted to change - the cables were all in stocking stitch, even though they extended from partial cables. I decided that I wanted to continue the stocking stitch, as well as the reverse stocking stitch, down through the earflap so that it looked seamless.

Once I read the pattern, I discovered that the hat was created first, then the earflaps added as a kind of afterthought and the stitches picked up. I instantly decided that I did like the sound of that and wanted to knit it all in one go as one piece.

It took me a while to work out how to achieve both of my pattern changes. I wasn't sure how to go about earflap inclusions - knit the earflaps from the top down on a provisional cast on and graft it onto the main hat? knit the hat top down and just continue on with the earflaps? knit the earflaps bottom up and join them to the hat on the cast-on row? That last one is actually the way I did it. I then had to look up and learn how to make the increases in the right directions so that the earflaps grew wider from the i-cord in an neat way. This tutorial was spot on: www.knittinghelp.com/videos/increases, I used the M1L and M1R. Worked brilliantly.

I know it's not brain surgery, but I was chuffed with myself to discover that I actually have the skills to do this. Then I thought about it some more and I realised that I do seem to do it quite a lot - just small scale stuff, but I often tweak patterns. Almost without thinking. The whole thing reminds me of a conversation I had with my Mam a few months after I started knitting. She's knitted forever but was stunned that I could make up my own patterns (my first knitted things were made up designs, it took me a while to build up the confidence to follow a pattern). She has always followed a pattern to the letter, never made any changes or improvements, wouldn't dream of it. It kinda surprises me that she thinks like that.

Anyway, I've wittered on far more than I meant to. Just wanted to log that I was chuffed with myself - for future reference. Oh, as well as to show my finished mothers day hat!

Knit Picks interchangeables, a change of heart - and other stuff

I've decided to slowly build up a custom set of the Knit Picks interchangeable needles. It would be silly of me to buy a full set when I don't use small needles, and I'm not sure I'd ever be able to decide between the wooden and the metal tips. Building my own set means I can mix and match.

I was spurred on after reading a discussion on Ravelry where someone suggested buying single tips of each type to try them out before buying a set. Not sure why I didn't think of that myself! I went straight to the Get Knitted and bought a pair each of the tips, and a couple of cables. I was gutted when they arrived (after a few more days than I would have liked) to find that they got my order wrong and sent two sets of the metal tips. I sent two emails over the course of a week to try and get the correct needle but didn't hear anything. I'd only used Get Knitted once before and had heard really good things about their customer services so I was getting annoyed and impatient to say the least! Am desperate to see what the wooden needles look like in real life, and have a project ready and waiting to jump on them! I eventually found the note on their website saying that they'd been having email problems, which calmed me down a bit and made me a little more sympathetic to them...although I'm still really peeved. I rang them up on Friday and she said the correct needles would be sent that day - I hoped they would arrive in the post on Saturday, but they didn't. Grr.

One good thing I found about the stuff that arrived correctly was that you get two end caps and locking pin with each cable (all for 99p!). Although this was all shown in the photo on the website, it wasn't included in the description, so I assumed you would just get the cable. Bonus. This helped with my decision.

Even though I'm not Get Knitted's greatest fan just at the moment, I have just sent them another order, including more cables and needle tips. It's not like I can go to any other supplier as, as far as I'm aware, they're the only ones who have them in the UK!

I just need to think of a storage solution for them as I'm going to be case-less. I'm going to look into fishing tackle cases as they are generally cheap, often take the form of a neat, zip closed binder with a number of transparent, sealed pockets. Sounds perfect for circular needles! I just need to find a nice looking one...

So on to knitting progress!

I eventually finished my scarf. It's a short, button closed affair and I love it! The softness and gorgeous coloured yarn works out really well. Very happy, although could have done without the numerous froggings of other patterns, I could have knit the scarf 3 times over, easily!



I also made birthday gift for one of my friends. It was an early gift, her birthday isn't until March, but she was calling in over the weekend so I thought I'd save the postage and give it to her early. I also wanted to see her reaction...but curses, she didn't open it but said she'd keep it for the big day. Ah well, I wasn't going to force it.

I used Noro Iro which is a very beautiful yarn. I made a narrow scarf which set the striping off wonderfully, and made some flip top mittens to go with it. I was very impressed with myself regarding the mittens. They're the fiddliest thing I've worked on, especially as I didn't have any suitable needles to magic loop them, so had to use the dreaded dpns. My boyfriend was fascinated with them, I regularly caught him staring at me working on them. He had very nice things to say about the finished article too and was really appreciative of how much work had gone in to them. Aww. He wasn't too happy that it took me a whole evening to do the sewing and weaving in of ends as I needed the main light on in the front room which is very bright and spangley. Ah well, I finished in time to settle down and watch Jools Holland in our more customary mood lighting.







I've come to a stop with my shopping tunic. I'm two thirds done and am at the point where I could try it on. With some help from my boyfriend holding the needles, I wiggled into it and stood in front of the mirror. We were both in complete agreement as to how TERRIBLE it looked. It's supposed to be quite fitted, but this thing is far too tight, and being quite chunky it makes all my bits that are quite big enough look HUGE. Disaster! To try to salvage something I'm going to play with my swatch and see how much it grows in the wash. I've made two of the same size so I can compare after one has been washed and blocked. Too fed up to face it at the moment though.

I've been doing a bit more of my PIF knitting too, but keep needing the needles for other things. This is one project that will come along much faster once Get Knitted send me the RIGHT needles!

I also got to the free limits of Flickr this week. 200 photos! After much thought, I invested in a Pro account but didn't really want to. I'm quite happy with having a Pro account for my general photos, as I have a lot of friends and family I share them with. I don't want to put all my knitting stuff on there as it would take it over. After getting frustrated that I was taking photos and not adding them to Flickr (and Ravelry), I decided I would be happier just biting the bullet and spending the extra money. Happiness over frustration...and it's not *that* expensive...although all these things add up.

Well, I think that's enough rambling for now, I need to do some stuff round the house - although the weather is so lovely, I’m fighting the urge to curl up and have a snooze in a sunny patch - cat like.

This and that...

I can't quite remember the full conversation, probably because of the shock, but the other day, my boyfriend said he didn't mind how much yarn I bought...! *sharp intake of breath* ...so long as I didn't keep it in the front room. I just wanted to log that for prosperity. I've been stopping myself having a huge yarn splurge all week!!

I'm toying with the idea of buying some of those beautiful knit picks harmony options interchangeable needles. It's a difficult one as they're not an ideal solution, and I've already got my pink Denise interchangeables, which I love dearly when it comes to functionality, but they're not the most aesthetically pleasing little things.

The thing is, the majority of the harmony needles are in sizes smaller than I generally use. At the moment I'm going through a 7mm needle phase and my hands seem to like this. They were hurting the other day when I was working on 15mm, which surprised me as I've found bigger sizes to be kinder to my hands in the past. It might be something to do with the type of needles too - my favourites at the moment are my 7mm addi turbos (80cm - the 40cm ones in the same size have a shorter needle body length and are less comfortable). The length of the needle in my hand is comfortable and I like how slippery and shiny the metal is. Would the harmony ones have the same comfortableness? Also, 7 of the 9 needles are smaller than I would use - unless my hands suddenly change their minds about what they can cope with. So that's only TWO pairs of usable needles (although I'd probably use some of smaller ones on the left when knitting in the round). I'd also probably buy some of the larger needles separately (on an as-and-when basis) which takes the price up by quite a bit. I looked into buying the bits I'd use separately, rather than starting with the full set, but it would cost even more, and Get Knitted don't seem to sell the end caps and cable keys separately - so that would be a bit of a problem. You small needle knitters have it so easy!

Anyway, enough about that. I've actually started to make some headway with some knitting for me! I've not actually made myself anything to wear yet! I'm making myself the Shopping Tunic from Twinkle's Big City Knits. Annoyingly, the pattern only goes up to a 33" bust, so I've had to do a bit of guess work to make it a little bigger. I'm also using a different weight yarn as I need it to be machine wash. I love all these gorgeous yarns, but my hands can't cope with hand washing big items, so I need to think carefully about that in my choice of yarn. I've gone for Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in black. It's cheap, machine washable, and actually feels really nice too. I used this converter to help me recreate the pattern to my new gauge. I just hope it works out.

I'm also knitting myself a scarf. It's been a bit of an epic as I've tried and failed a few patterns. I've frogged it so many times I'm not sure the yarn can take much more. I've ditched the My So Called Scarf pattern as I made too many mistakes which I found really difficult to fix - especially with the thick and thin yarn I'm using. I've finally gone for Misti Chunky Ribs & Ruffles Scarf, it looks ok...but not great in this yarn, but sod it, I can't rip it out again, it's this or nothing!

Last weekend I finished a belated birthday gift for my neice. She's really into Harry Potter so I made her the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf. I was really pleased with it but couldn't really tell if she liked it or not...



I've also started my PIF knitting, but haven't got too far, I want to finish my top first.

I think that's all for now.

My 2007

What a strange year.

A year ago, if you told me that I was about to take up knitting and it would completely take over my life, I really wouldn’t have believed you - not the knitting part and especially not the taking over life bit! I have no idea how or why I caught this bug, I had no idea that other people had it too, but I’m glad it found me. Even my boyfriend has accepted it and bowed to my taking over part of the living room to store books, needles, yarn, multiple projects etc. He also knows that I have lots more hidden upstairs and seems to understand that this is something which just shouldn’t be spoken of ;o)

As well as knitting, 2007 brought lots of emotions with a cancer scare for me; a settling of my arthritis and the medication used; my Dad having cancer, then not having cancer, then having cancer again (confirmed a few days before Christmas); and the death of a much loved pet, to name a few. It also brought some big personal decisions which will be played out over the coming year(s).

But to get back to the knitting…as a child, when I was first taught to knit by my Gran, I was rubbish – totally rubbish. I persevered for a while but eventually gave up and didn’t even think of trying again until March last year. All it took was my Mam to show me how to cast on, knit, purl, cast off and I was away! I experimented, taught myself new things by trial and error, and looked things up on the net when I got really stuck – but essentially, it just clicked. Who could believe that I’d be able to make identifiable things! Who’d have thought I’d be able to not just follow a knitting pattern, but understand it too (more or less)! …and I don’t even want to think about how much money I must have spent on all the kit I seem to have collected.

I’ve really enjoyed reading other people’s knitting blogs too. I am a lurker by nature and do read an awful lot blogs both from the UK and further a field. I should comment more but don’t always have anything to say. Ravelry has been a really great resource too. How did people cope before Ravelry?

Since March, I have made the following things:

• Mobile phone cover – the first thing I knit, completely made up (before I had attempted following a pattern). It’s getting tatty but I love it and use it every day!
  


• Long fuzzy scarf – a beginners must do kind of a thing


• Massive yarn store bag made from scraps – a really terrible looking thing which is hidden away upstairs


• Three sets of chunky hats and scarves, as well as various other hats
  


• Gilet for my Mam - she wears it when I'm around...wonder if she does when I'm not ;o)
  
• Massive chunky cardigan – given to my SIL
  


• Sleeveless top – waiting to be frogged and turned into something nice


• Girlie cable tassel hat and matching leg warmers – made up patterns in my excitement of having taught myself to cable
  


• Chunky cable throw – much appreciated by the recipient, and I hope loved...
  


• Cable hat and matching mits – I think the recipient liked them...
  


• Sweater bag – much loved by the recipient
  


• Two skull illusion scarves and matching hats – again much loved by the recipients even though the hats were a bit big...
  (they deliberately made them look worse for this photo!)
  


• Dog snood - went down very well with my brothers family, especially his dog :o)
  
  
• Camera sock – much loved by me, and made specifically for my camera to my own design
  

And that’s just the stuff I’ve finished! It’s not a bad list and I can really see an improvement with each finished project. Go me! I have one more gift on the needles (and then my PIF gifts) but then I focus on making stuff for **me**!!!

I think that’s about it for now.

Happy New Year!

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??

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?

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...

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.

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!