Sarah's Fault Socks...

...that's the official title of my new knitting project! I have no idea if this project will ever be complete, but it's been fun so far. This is what I've been up to today:



Yes, it's the beginnings of a pair of socks. It seems that Sarah put something contagious in that PIF parcel! In no time at all I found myself adding a lovely, shiny set of knit picks 3mm dpns to my Options order - even though I hate dpns. Then I found myself browsing the web for sock yarn, found some on Etsy that I liked - even though I hate using thin yarn (I also surprised myself with the colour choice, but loving it so far). Finally I found myself searching Ravelry for a free sock pattern (I mean, is there anywhere else to look these days?). I definitely wanted to do toe up so that if I got fed up I could just make them really short!! I also like to idea of trying them on as you go. Found a pattern that I'm hoping I can do called Cut & Paste Socks.

I'm getting on remarkably well considering! My hands can be quite temperamental when either holding something small or holding something tight for a little while but so far they've not complained too much. To be honest, I'm finding the small dpns easier to manage than larger ones - although I've never used 5 before now, I generally use 4, so not sure if that has anything to do with it. I have a feeling it won't last...

I'm quite happy for this to be a pick-it-up-when-I-feel-like-it project. It will be quite interesting to see how I get on.

Itchy!!

Well, would you believe it? It's weeks now since I lost my oomph. Not just my knitting oomph, my everything oomph. I've been slogging away at, well, everything, as you do, but sans-oomph.

But it seems, since finishing the hoodie, my knitting itch has returned! I've been itchy all day, although haven't been able to scratch it as we've had lots on today. Not sure when I'm going to get a chance actually, but I'm very happy it's back.

Finished item: Santa Cruz Hoodie

Really love this little top – although it’s not as little as it maybe should be. I’m feeling quite nervous as it’s currently in the washing machine...I ummed and arred about hand washing it initially but decided that since it’s 100% acrylic and machine washable, maybe I should just go for it. I’m hoping this smoothes out some of the stitching as there’s a section on the back of the hood where I made a mistake that is a little loose now, and the grafting along the top of the hood isn’t completely invisible.



I made a few changes to the pattern, which I’ve mentioned on my Ravelry project page. I need to think about the balance between this blog and my Ravelry pages, I’m never quite sure where to put what!

The main thing I did was use a substitute yarn which gave me a smaller gauge. To avoid writing the pattern totally, I (and my Dad) worked out that stitch-wise, although I was aiming for the 6yr old size, I could follow the stitch count/instructions for the small adult size. The pattern handily included detailed pictures of the individual pieces and their dimensions. This meant that I could knit to the right lengths for the smaller size. I know, it all sounds very risky, but it seems to have worked out – I was nervous when I got to the raglan seams, as I hadn’t really taken those into consideration!

Other things I did include knitting the moss stitch cuffs in the round to avoid the need for a seam, which means they can be worn down, or folded back. The rest of the sleeve was knit flat.

I also did the hood a little differently. The pattern indicated knitting the hood minus the moss stitch ending, then picking up around the edge and adding it last. I didn’t fancy doing that, so I just knit the hood complete with edge. As the top of the hood is grafted to avoid a seam, it meant I had to graft moss stitch! I tried not to think about that bit until I needed to. When I did get up to it, I googled but nothing jumped out. I eventually remembered how to cheat graft!! This involved knitting an extra row or two in a contrasting yarn, then doing the graft with the live yarn, following the lead of the contrasting yarn. I started by doing two rows in contrasting yarn, but I found it a bit confusing, so I pulled out one row and that made it better to see what I was doing. I made the graft, then pulled out the contrasting yarn. All worked out well! I’m sure it’s the only way to go about grafting moss stitch.



I’m fairly sure the top is going to be a little big for my nephew, but he’ll grow into it...I just hope he doesn’t need to grow into a new shape!!

ETA: It came out of the wash looking the same size (yey/phew) and far more lovely, soft and fluffy. The stitches have evened out a little, but my tention on the graft was obviously a bit tight (still doesn't look too bad though). I really love it. It's so soft I just want to snuggle my face into it!

Pay it forward: Fabulous socks!!

There was a parcel waiting for me when I got home from work today. It was my Pay it Forward gift from the lovely Sarah! You have no idea how excited this made me. I've been quite down in the dumps of late, the timing couldn't have been better!

Even though the anticipation was killing me, please be impressed that I savoured the moment and managed to take a 'before' photo:



Isn't it such a beautiful and inviting package :o)

And this, of course, is the 'after':



How gorgeously fantastic are they!! (the photo just isn't doing them any justice) The colours couldn't be more perfect. I'm so impressed that people can make such small, perfect and beautiful things. Thank you so much Sarah, you are a very talented knitter! I really love them and am wearing them as I type. I loved the knitting based card that you sent too (just peeping out in the photo above), my other half is going to roll his eyes when he notices it on the mantelpiece :oD

A further 'after' shot will follow...when I've shaved my legs ;o) and the light is better.

My own PIFers should not loose hope! I'm almost finished, so hold tight, it won't be long now. I still only have two, I'll be looking for a third soon. If anyone is interested, sign up on the original post here.

That's all for now from this cosy toed Von, I need to get some knitting done as I've got a Birthday deadline to meet.

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...

My first knitting anniversary

Wow, I can't believe it's a whole year (give or take a few days) since I started knitting! It feels like five minutes and forever all at the same time. I've never had a hobby that's become so addictive, so obsessively long lived, and that I've happily spent huge* amounts of money on!

Having said that, I may celebrate it by not knitting...I seem to be going through a patch where I can't concentrate on anything. I've not knitted anything successfully for a few weeks now. I've either not bothered picking anything up, or just not got into any of my projects. There are so many things I want to make too, it's frustrating, but this feeling isn't confined to my knitting, I'm feeling the same way about everything at the moment. There's a lot going on for both me and the people around me, it's a strange time and one that's got my mind in some kind of close-down.

I even tried to teach myself to crochet a few days ago to encourage myself to perk up a bit. There are loads of great crochet patterns that I'd love to make. I can crochet free-style, by which I mean I can make things that are about the right shape to match the pictures in my head (I've made a pot and a peg bag), but don't know what the stitches are called and can't follow a pattern. Armed with a learn to crochet book, my trusty laptop, and a pattern for a felted skull, I gave following a pattern a go. I started off OK, but things went down hill quickly, and rather than take up the challenge like I normally do, it became clear that I didn't have the energy, and I gave up. I'l try again when I'm in a better frame of mind.

Anyway, enough of that. I thought I'd write about what started me off knitting. It seems like such a tiny spark of a non-event, it's amazing really.

It all started with this



my then new phone, which didn't come with a cover and was rattling around in my bag. I wasn't too keen on that idea as it had cost a lot of money, so I hit eBay looking for a suitable, protective case. I found this



an innocent, fluffy, hand knitted cover. I liked it the best out of the covers available, nothing more than that. I bought it, chose the colour out of the options offered, and someone made it and sent it to me.

Unfortunately, when it turned up, I realised that my phone was a bit bigger than average and the cover didn't quite fit...



I was disappointed, but it was my own fault for not checking the size. I thought about emailing the seller and asking for a price for them to make a bigger one for me, but didn't get that far. As it happened, I was heading to my parents house that weekend, as I showed them the comical cover, a thought crossed my mind. A phone cover would surely be quite easy to make myself, there's not that much going on...is there? I found myself saying 'Mam, would you teach me to knit?'. And that's what she did. She'd not knit herself for years**, but dug out some needles and yarn, taught me to cast on, knit, purl, which side was which so I knew which was a knit row and which was a purl, and I was off. When I got home, I headed off to Hobbycraft after work the next day, bought some supplies - needles, a few different yarns, and made myself this



The phone cover I was after. I think beginners luck had a lot to do with it working out so well. The flap is shaped into a triangle shape through casting off, rather than a more knowledgeable decrease - but how fabulous! I made it (I still use it everyday, even though it's starting to fall apart).

From that point, I started buying books, and needles, and yarn, and yarn, (and a bit more yarn). I was off. I devoured new techniques, experimented, worked out how to follow a pattern, read blogs, looked for help online. It's been great, it had been years since I lost myself in anything like that.

I'm very proud of myself, I can properly knit! I'm quite surprised to find that I seem to be quite a fearless knitter. I'm generally quite willing to try things that sound difficult, work things out, make changes to patterns, or rewrite something completely to suit my needs. I've mastered all kinds of techniques, although still have a lifetimes worth to learn. The most pressing technique for me to improve is the weaving in of ends. I've tried a few different ways but I've not found anything that looks ok, those horrible little ends always seem to poke themselves out of the right side after a while - not a good look. I'll sort it though at some point soon.

It's all so amazing when I stop and think about it. I know my current blip will pass and I'll be knitting again very soon. In fact...maybe I'll just go and have a tinker now...


*huge is likely to be poor estimate, in reality, huge doesn't cover it. A more accurate term is perhaps immense, but lets not dwell on it...
**knitting seems to be contagous as my Mam has started knitting again, or at least picking it up now and then, making kids jumpers for charity - one and a half so far, but she gets me (me!) to do the sewing up.