puddock

2011-11-12T16:05:00.006+01:00

I am temporarily reviving the knitblog for my knitted breast appeal.
Along with a group of others, I'm just about to qualify as a breastfeeding peer supporter for East Kent. We support women who want to breastfeed by helping with antenatal classes, visiting maternity units, and keeping community BFing groups going.
It sounds improbably lentil-weaverish, but knitted boobs are fantastically useful to BFPSs, especially for demostrating good attachment and techniques for hand-expressing milk comfortably and effectively (very useful especially for premature or unwell babies). You don't want to freak someone out by demonstrating with your own breast, and it's rather impolite to grab theirs, so a nice friendly knitted one is the way forward.
I've just made this one, but I reckon we could use at least a dozen. The pattern is here (courtesy of LCGB via Bliss). [ETA and here is a version with a crochet base option instead.
It takes even less time than a baby hat, and is just the thing for using up flesh-coloured yarn. Jaunty tattoo additions strictly optional. IMO the pattern could easily be rejigged to work in the round too - if anyone wishes to write that up, LMK and I'll post it here.
So is anyone up for it? I will take care of getting them to the right people, where they will be truly appreciated.

2009-06-02T21:22:00.004+01:00

Still knitting, socks mostly, but I got out the Frister and Rossman that M's mum gave me for a change and sewed this smocket for my niece's birthday. It used to be a summer shirt of M's - the back provided a big enough piece of fabric for the whole main panel, and I appliqued a piece from the front which already had a pocket, and used an old white shirt for the reverse side. I love the pattern, especially the crossover at the back.

2009-02-15T13:30:00.003+01:00

I have been knitting more in the last week than I've managed in the previous six months, and it's so nice to have the needles in my hands again. First I wanted to get my fairy godmother's 60th birthday winter hat finished before she visited yesterday - she called in on her way to a weekend at the seaside, so I thought she could get some use out of its cosy earflaps before spring has sprung. I made up the pattern in line with her ideas about what sort of hat she wanted, a sort of garter-stitch chullo with a stockinette crown. It's Noro Kureyon in earthy tones, switching to a plain yarn for the crown. The earflaps were a bit like the Woolly Wormhead ones on P's orange Buzzbee hat, and the crown was more or less Dr Steph's beanie, the rest was all me.
And then the incomparable MsHedgehog came to spend the day with me, P had a long nap then a long walk with his daddy, so we had a lovely solid chunk of time to sit and knit. I'm back on the dodecahedron (sixth point), and she's working on a breathtakingly pretty piece of mosaic knitting in a diamond pattern and two shades of blue Jamieson spindrift - one of those bits of work that you just want to keep admiring and stroking, and totally beyond my cognitive processes at the moment. It looks like an interesting technique though, hm, maybe a little hat...

2009-02-10T17:07:00.001+01:00

I love this pattern, though these have taken months to complete... just put buttons on them and sent them off to welcome baby Imogen, who arrived a couple of weeks ago. Knitting time (never mind update-knit-blog time) has shrunk to almost zero. Am trying to decide about my return to work, when and how much; one of the main plusses in the pro column is the possibility of knitting time on the commute!
I'm making Gunny a chullo style hat to her precise specifications, which was supposed to be a birthday present, but I'm already a fortnight late for that. She's visiting on Friday so it must must be done by then. No point presenting people with woolly hats once spring has sprung, now is there.

2008-12-04T15:28:00.002+01:00

This is one of Woolly Wormhead's wee woolly toppers. Despite doing it on completely the wrong size needles (should have been 4.5, somehow the ones I thought were 5mm turned out, too late to rip back, to be 3.25mm instead), it fits well - after a fairly aggressive blocking over a soup bowl. Was off the needles just in time to keep the young master's ears warm now it's got chillier.

2008-10-07T11:46:00.000+01:00

Went to the V&A yesterday and saw this silver hatpin - just right for holding cardigans and shawls together I think. Mum and Dad had given me some birthday money to find something to do this with.

2008-09-24T21:17:00.000+01:00

P is three months old and his head is now big enough for his Djevellue! I'm really happy with how it came out, and it keeps his ears nice and warm. I didn't bother with ties (boring to make + possible hazard) but it stays on just fine anyway.

I Knit Day

2008-09-07T14:41:00.001+01:00

Here we are with ... well, you know who that is. A lovely time, even though I totally restrained myself on purchases owing to the size of the stash and an imminent house move (gah, but it was hard to let that particular skein of Socktopus's smooshy sock yarn go to another). A nice chance to see knitty pals from work and Ealing stitch-and-bitch. P was in his wrap and mostly very good - he seems to be a big flirt when he's awake, and didn't mind at all having his feet tickled or his head stroked by friendly knitters. By the end of Yarn Harlot's talk we were both tired out and ready to head home though - didn't stay even to get a book signed, despite the thoughtful offer of a free pass to the front of the queue for those with babes-in-arms...

2008-08-29T09:42:00.000+01:00

Hand-knit socks, check. Hand-knit cardigan, check. But, to my lasting shame, a shop-bought cotton jersey hat. Hey, the Djevellue is still too small....
Most news still over on the main blog, but we are very excited about the I Knit day a week tomorrow. Well, I am, and Peter is still small enough that he has to go along with me. I'm planning a nice long breastfeed to keep him quiet during the Yarn Harlot's talk.

2008-07-13T10:39:00.003+01:00

Knitting on hiatus while we experience the delights of new parenthood; it's all about feeding, burping, nappies and sleeping just now, though I'm sure the needles will be back in my hands soon enough. P's little frog flippers are already too long for the blue rib socks I made him, so they'll be passed on to someone with daintier feet. Please check back soon, and keep up with our general progress on the main blog. Meanwhile, here are P's wonderful presents from my work knitting group, delivered today - a collective effort on the blanket, and MsHedgehog's brilliant puddock as a companion for him.

2008-06-23T22:10:00.002+01:00

Our little boy arrived three days before his due date in a most obliging way - a swift uncomplicated waterbirth. He's delightful of course, and I hope to be back blogging in a few days.

2008-06-09T09:50:00.003+01:00

Last Thursday I was very pleased to make it along to the West London stitch and bitch inaugural midweek meeting in Ealing Common and met some lovely people. The idea is that, through the Ravelry thread, anyone who wants to can propose a night and a venue and it will carry on under its own steam. The next one might be bad timing if the baby arrives more-or-less when s/he's supposed to, but I'd hope to be along to the one after that...
Meanwhile, another pair of bootees done, a new book (thanks MsHedgehog) for baby clothes inspiration, a bit more of the alphabet blanket border, and fairly good progress on the EZ gull cardy. I'm on maternity leave from this Friday on, so I'll probably have very little to do but sit around swilling raspberry leaf tea and finishing all these things off.

2008-05-28T15:06:00.004+01:00

Here I am working on something or other last week. I'm getting really big now, and trying to decide which knitting project ought to go into my hospital bag. (No, I don't imagine I will be leaning over the side of the birthing pool in established labour working a few more rows - it's more for afterwards if they don't let me come home quickly.) I have a few things on the go now - besides the alphabet blanket border (not portable), more bootees (too small - what if I finish them?) and M's scarf (just doesn't feel like summer knitting, despite the rotten weather), I just cast on Elizabeth Zimmermann's misleadingly named "baby sweater" from her Almanac - it's actually a yoke-plus-lace cardigan, which is giving me the knitting joy that her cunning and concise patterns usually do, and seems to be working up nicely in Rowan Calmer. That's probably the best one for the bag - although I bet I finish it and have to come up with something else long before the baby decides it's time to arrive.
By which time I hope to have my hands on this book, not from Amazon but from IKnit. Their online shop, which I guess will be up and running very soon, looks very shiny and exciting.

2008-05-24T11:15:00.001+01:00

Another photo post. Here's the BBC lunchtime knitters this week. I am really going to miss our get-togethers when I'm on maternity leave...

2008-05-20T11:10:00.000+01:00

Behold, baby knits. This hat is a tribute to how funky garter stitch stripes look on the "wrong" side, and allowed me to use up a load of ends of various worsted weight yarns. I will send it to my friend AP in Seattle for her daughter.

And these bootees are, I think, part of a bootee drive so that I have a little something to give to all my NCT class buddies. I've done both patterns before. The wool for the boxy Debbie Bliss ones was an odd ball from Colinette.

2008-05-05T22:36:00.002+01:00

Nearly there with the garter blanket, just another couple of colours to go and the rows are getting shorter and shorter. A real no-brain knit, nice for engrossing telly and a change from lacy things on tiny needles.

2008-05-05T21:39:00.001+01:00

I didn't knit this, M's mum did (the pattern came out of last year's Simply Knitting and the wool was Debbie Bliss cashmerino DK, both of which I passed on to her a few weeks ago). I can only claim credit for the rather fine matching buttons which I bought from John Lewis this weekend and sewed on (extra firmly) while watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. And no, two blue newborn baby knits ≠ 'it's a boy', I promise. (Though that's what the lady clearing trays in John Lewis told me, without even asking whether I already knew. Hmmm.)

2008-05-02T21:16:00.005+01:00

Predictably enough, now the heat is off on the blanket edging, it's progressing slowly and I'm being seduced by other contrasting projects. On the way to N's christening I grabbed some blue sock wool and 2.25mm dpns and started making up a pair of baby socks (cast on 36, 2x2 rib for a bit, heel stitch flap heel, slightly messed up the instep/toe decreases but replicated this on sock #2 so it looks like a design feature instead of a screw-up). I think they are fine, although maybe a tad small. But rib is very forgiving, and s/he will surely have narrow feet like his/her mama, no?
Then I realised my minimal list of stuff required for a newborn included "blanket", and I didn't have one (and will not succumb to nasty pastels), so out came eight balls of Wool of the Andes/Elann Highland Wool in various shades of brown, and I made up a very simple diagonal pattern, using two strands held together, 7.5 mm needles and garter stitch. [Ravelry details; photos to follow once M is back from his travels with my camera.] It's maybe a bit seventies, what with the browns and the diagonal stripes, but I'm hoping it says "sophisticated coffee-and-cream colour combination" rather than "hey it won't show the poo stains". Anyway, it's going dead quickly - so that's why people like big chunky projects - I only cast on this week and am already past the halfway mark - identified by the scientific method of weighing (a) the work so far on one needle, and (b) the remaining wool plus the other needle on my hope-they're-accurate electronic kitchen scales, and switching from KFB to SSK when a approaches b.

2008-04-18T08:39:00.002+01:00

Well, the centre panel is done anyway, here it is wet-blocking (and looking much less lumpy and grubby for it) early this morning. It'll be dry in time to wrap up and give to N at the christening on Sunday, then quietly borrow it back afterwards to finish the edging! I'm pleased with how it came out, slightly annoyed that I didn't get it 100% done by the deadline, and looking forward to knocking out a couple of small chunky freestyle projects to recover!

2008-04-14T09:30:00.001+01:00

No post for ages - have been in a funk trying to get the alphabet blanket finished. But the christening is this weekend people, and I have not met my targets. Blame pregnancy sleepiness, or just general hubris for ever thinking it could happen. Still 23 rows to go on the letter blocks, never mind the notorious zig-zag edging. My new revised plan is to get the letters done at least, block it out, hand it over on Sunday for oohs and aahs, then quietly nab it back to finish the edge. Don't judge me...
M's mum has made a very sweet little cardy in yellow wool with matching hat for the baby. I've passed on to her some Debbie Bliss cashmerino DK in a pale blue, along with a pattern for a French-collared jacket with moss stitch details (I think it's a Louisa Harding pattern, was in Simply Knitting some time in summer 2006) that I like a lot but thought I'd never get round to - hope the pattern is okay!

2008-03-17T11:08:00.002+01:00

Why, who's that gracing the latest e-newsletter from I Knit London? It's me (striped shirt on the left) and Ms Hedgehog (elegant skirt on the right)!
Up to the psychologically important 100th row on the alphabet blanket, and into the NOPQR section. Onwards!

2008-03-09T11:26:00.001+01:00

There's nothing like a big, time-limited project to make you think about all the other things you'd like to knit... I've dreamt up a nifty striped toddler-sized hat and I know I have just the right bits of stashed yarn, but must resist until the Alphabet blanket is done. I've worked out a schedule to have it all blocked and ready in time for N's christening - basically I need to get the central set of 30 blocks (6x5) done by the end of March so that I can start on the edging. I'm off to a conference in Sheffield on April 1st, so the train should be a good chance to kick that off. I'm liking the pattern and not made any more screw-ups, and I'm somewhere around row 60 of about 240 (halfway up the "STUVW" row). I also think the yarn (dusty pink Rowan 4 ply) is very nice, I'm getting good stitch definition considering it's 100% wool, and it's easy to work with, not splitting or pilling.
I also figured out the reason why I kept misreading the k2togs for skpos on the chart. It diagrams them as "/" for k2tog and "\" for skpo, which is all very logical for right- and left-leaning decreases. But I'm left-handed and am quite comfortable with mirror inversions of letters and symbols (I occasionally write backwards and so on if tired or not concentrating). Because of this, I don't think the distinction between "/" and "\" is particularly salient to me; in a way, they feel like the same thing. Which is clearly a problem when reading pattern charts (!), so I have gone through it distinguishing all the skpos with orange highlighter pen. Which, so far, has worked...

2008-02-27T13:58:00.003+01:00

22 rows down, a mere 200 or so to go... well gentle reader, I did screw up the lace at an early stage (this project is not ideally suited to Tube knitting, I belatedly conclude) by k2tog-ing when I should have skpo-ed and vice versa a couple of times, but I managed to fix it without ripping by dropping a few stitches down a few rows and reknitting with dpns and more attention to detail - I remembered this tutorial, where the incomparable SPMcP describes much the same thing to fix a miscrossed cable, and lo, it worked. Speaking of the Harlot, I'm very excited she's coming to the I Knit day in September - my ticket already booked thanks to Sairzey's efficiency!

2008-02-20T18:24:00.003+01:00

How has it been so long since I last posted? I have since finished (yea, even blocked) this mysterious Colinette Banyan project, which is a nifty newborn-sized cardigan with raglan sleeves and peter pan collar from Vogue Knitting. The reason I was being cagey about it is that it is (drumroll please) for the baby that I am expecting myself, in June. I don't know when or if it is officially okay to knit for ones bump - some people seem to cast on as soon as the little blue line appears, others wait for various milestones to come around, or even the birth - but now that all looks well on a scan and I am feeling him or her moving around, it felt like the right time for me.
Now that that's finished, I have started to make Debbie Bliss's lovely but complex alphabet blanket, as a christening present for my niece, using some nice dusky pink Rowan 4ply. Can I finish it (and not screw up the lace pattern) inside of two months? We shall see.

2008-01-27T14:05:00.000+01:00

I completely forgot to mention a project! This is Gro's Djevellue hat, which I came across on a Ravelry discussion thread. It's a baby hat structured rather like a Jaywalker sock, with three columns of double increases and three of double decreases (the former are stopped halfway up to form the crown). When worn this gives it an unusual peaked shape that I've seen and admired in other Scandinavian baby hats. I used a cotton-rich sock yarn that I bought in Aachen last year, and while I was working on it the combination of colour and shape started to feel oddly familiar... it's just like the magician from King Rollo!

2008-01-25T12:23:00.000+01:00

Just got back from a trip to Paris - I'd thought I'd knit more on the Eurostar, but was so tired after all the Culture that I mostly just dozed off. Bootees joyfully received in Leuven, and other projects all still underway. Hoping to go to the shop night at I Knit next time it's in the shop on a Wednesday (Feb 6th I reckon), it has been too long.

2008-01-08T00:13:00.000+01:00

The weekend's work - now winging their way to Belgium. [Edit: Ravelry favourite Saartje's bootees of course, how rude of me not to say.]

2008-01-04T17:20:00.000+01:00

Hurrah, the Rowan Plaid has arrived. I foresee a weekend of "k2, p2, repeat until you can take it no more" to knock out a new scarf for my beloved.
I've taken up some pretty variegated Colinette Banyan (see left) that I picked up in Wales for a Mystery Project, but that is on hold as my friend Dora had a baby girl last week, so I need to whip up a little something for her and get it in the post to Belgium!
I'm also sort of chipping away at the Tuscany, and working again on the Shedir. Wishing I could find a way to do needle-free cabling that doesn't seem more of a fiddle than just using the needle. Teresa's technique is as always beautifully explained, but seems affy complicated. I'm having slight misgivings about the off-white colour of the yarn; since it's a chemo cap I don't want it to look in any way reminiscent of a bandage...

Stulpen (Pomatomus/Mermaid) instructions

2007-12-27T17:52:00.000+01:00

The bad news is that there's still no sign of the Rowan Plaid... but the good news is that the Pomatomus/Mermaid Stulpen gloves were finished in time for Christmas, and here they are:

.
I used DK wool and 3.75 mm needles, and here are the instructions:

1. CO 48, work twisted rib for 10 rounds, then Pomatomus pattern (only 4 repeats per round) three times from Cookie's Chart A. Three repeats makes them quite long - almost to the elbow - which was the way my sister wanted them.
2. Create thumb gusset by increasing either side of a marked stitch every other round in twisted rib - I adapted Rineke's directions (thanks for the tip KnittingLemonade!). At the same time work 23 stitches of palm in plain st st while working one more repeat of the Pomatomus pattern (from chart B). Order varies - the right glove goes pattern, thumb, palm, and the left glove goes pattern, palm, thumb. Make one of each :)
3. Stop thumb gusset and put it on waste yarn once you reach 19 stitches. Rejoin patterned section to palm to work 10 rounds twisted rib over 48 st.(If you want fingers, see here and here to figure out how.)
4. Cast-off with decrease cast off (k2tog, slip stitch back to LH needle, repeat) for a little more stretch than standard cast off.
5. Pick up 19 thumb stitches plus one extra at the join to make 20, work a few rows twisted rib to desired thumb length then cast off as above.
6. Sew in ends - if you have a bit of a hole where the thumb meets the finger, you'll have a handy bit of yarn in just the right place to sew it up.

I'm very happy with how they turned out but they did take ages.

kindred knitters, scarf Mk. 2, and a silken beret

2007-12-17T12:13:00.000+01:00

After a Sunday afternoon viewing of West Side Story (wonderful), the second Stulpen is nearly up to the end of the first pattern repeat. It WILL be done for Christmas. I met a kindred knitter on the tube last week - I spied her Clapotis, she was eyeing up my Silk Garden beanie - and now we have friended-up on Ravelry.
Am now resigned to the fact that M's beloved scarf is not going to be found, and I have promised to make him a new one tout suite. None of the yarns in my stash or IKL's entire stock would suffice, and he confessed to having been particularly fond of the feel and colours of the old one (Rowan Plaid, a grey-white colourway 167 called "Seagull" - Ravelry pics here). It seems that nothing else would do, but alas, Rowan Plaid is discontinued. However, Angel Yarns had a few balls left in stock, so I have ordered a couple and hang the postage expense; am hoping they come by the 22nd so I can work on it during Christmas downtime.
For fans of crochet, berets or luscious silk yarns, the multi-talented Ms Hedgehog has just posted a very cunning pattern.

2007-12-07T14:12:00.000+01:00

I am still here! I haven't been all that well for the last few weeks and knitting has been set aside, but I've taken it up again now and will get back to blogging too. The Tuscany still has a long way to go (I have slight reservations about the edge pulling in a bit, but expect that the blocking fairy will take care of it) but I have finished Stulpen #1. Fair going cross-eyed with the pattern, and not exactly relishing the prospect of doing it all over again - ah, second glove syndrome - but it does look rather fine. The elephantine-memoried among my readership will recall that they were supposed to be a birthday present for my sister, who turned 30 last week. Well, they are now being repurposed as a Christmas gift...
Nothing else on the go, although the surplice jacket was happily received last weekend and M has sadly left his beloved scarf on the Tube so I sense I will shortly be knitting him a new one. Made it to IKL on Wed night this week, the shop goes from strength to strength and I hope to make it along to their Christmas party on the 20th too.
Here is a photo of me wearing the kid classic cardy (and no, I wasn't deliberately posing like that to show off the sleeves) a couple of weeks ago. Cute niece included at no extra charge.

S&B day

2007-11-16T10:55:00.000+01:00

Radio silence for ages, sorry. Belated thanks to Gerard and Craig for a wonderful UK Stitch and Bitch day; lovely to see the boy-clothes so pertly modelled, and to meet La Stoller, and to spend time talking and poking around the stalls with knitting buddies old (MsHedgehog, WoollyRockers, sairzey) and new (froggy). I was extremely restrained, only relieving Robynn of Purlescence of some Norwegian pewter clasps that I've had my eye on for ages. Although it was awfully hot in there, as others have observed (especially when you're wearing your best knitwear), we found a lunchtime stroll to the Carluccio's at Russell Square to return refreshed at about three when the crowds had thinned a bit was most convenient.
I am working mostly on the Tuscany shawl and the Stulpen, but keep hearing new projects calling to me. Must... finish... WIPs... first...

2007-10-30T08:50:00.000+01:00

Here's this week's new WIPs; the Stulpen (left) arm tubes are based on the Pomatomus lace pattern but with a larger gauge and only four repeats, and of course a thumb instead of a heel when I get that far.
I enjoyed Amy Singer's Tuscany shawl lace class; several useful tips for getting free from scrutinising the charts and reading the knitting instead. Most people were using thinner silks with variegated dye, which will be beautiful, but I think the plain-coloured bamboo will make a soft dense fabric which should be quite suitable too. I hadn't visited the Loop shop (or Islington) before either, seemed like a nice set-up, and as well as the more pricy luxury yarns they had a good stock of GGH, which I'll bear in mind if I ever fall in love with a Rebecca pattern. My heart still belongs to IKL though...

EZ surplice baby jacket

2007-10-27T09:57:00.000+01:00

The Zimmerman surplice jacket is nearly finished. A great pattern, though I didn't figure out the topology until quite late on. If you're making one and can't visualise it yet, it helps to know what each section of stitches along your needle will become:
1. top front of R sleeve, from collar to cuff
2. R cuff stitches (between markers)
3. top back of R sleeve, from cuff to collar
4. back of neck
5. top front of L sleeve, from collar to cuff
6. L cuff stitches (between markers)
7. top back of L sleeve from cuff to collar
It all becomes clear once you have 2 and 6 (the cuff stitches) off your needle - either on spare thread or cast off, as in my photos. 1 will be grafted to 3, and 5 to 7, leaving 4 to be cast off.

I chose the purl-marked-stitch-on-WS variant, with running stitch increases, which I think looks nice, and the cuff stitches are on green thread because I'm going to lengthen the sleeves a bit (not decided on rib or more garter though). I can weave away the stripy ends, so I'm going to omit the i-cord edge, and I don't see the point of a phony seam on a garment like this.

2007-10-27T09:35:00.000+01:00

Behold the yarn cupboard! Until now it was all squeezed into the gap between the sofa and the wall in bags, which was offensive to the eye and made it hard for M to hoover. So the videos, which we barely watch, have been relegated and the cupboard is mine all mine.

Now, those WIPs: cardy is nearly sewn up, Stulpen still not begun, Clapotis having a rest (I got to the first drop though), and Shedir ticking along. I'm going to make a separate post about the Zimmermann surplice jacket.

Six WIPs

2007-10-16T21:36:00.000+01:00

I now have six works in progress (if you count the Tuscany shawl, currently waiting at row 9 for next Sunday's workshop with Amy Singer, eep!), which is a little out of hand. Besides that, the cardy (nearly done I promise), Clapotis and Shedir, I'm starting to think about and swatch up a pair of gauntlets/long fingerless gloves that my sister said she'd much prefer to a hat. These will henceforth be referred to as Stulpen, the German word for gauntlet/cuff and much more suitable. Meanwhile, K's baby daughter arrived yesterday so I'm stepping up work on the EZ surplice knit I'm making for her too. I've also been soaking up the reading material that came back from Maine with R: No Sheep, the Fall IK and especially the Opinionated Knitter - have I mentioned before how much I love Elizabeth Zimmermann?
Workplace knittiness tomorrow and IKL night on Thursday (how could I resist 10% off and free chocolates - those boys know how to bring in the punters).

Sorting and starting

2007-10-08T13:26:00.001+01:00

M was writing all weekend, so I was able to get down to stash-sorting and project-starting. The cardy pieces are now all done and sewn together, and I've started picking up the stitches all the way around the collar - just got to continue with 1x1 rib for 3cm, which is quintessential autopilot telly knitting. Clapotis is still going fine (still increasing), and I've started the following projects:
Tuscany shawl - I'm going to Loop in Islington for Amy Singer's workshop, but after a call from the shop I have obediently worked the first eight rows. Three times actually, trying different cast-ons (long-tail - too chunky; backwards loop - too stretchy/flimsy; knitted-on lace as per Eunny Jang's advice in IK Fall 2006 - just right!). I'm using Rowan bamboo which is wonderfully soft though a little bit splitty. Should be fine.
Shedir - in cream Calmer, on wooden DPNs. I may send this to a relative who's just had a mastectomy, once I find out whether or not she's having chemo.
Zimmermann surplice jacket - in Elann wool swapped with Sarah - probably for my friend K's new baby, who should be putting in an appearance within the month.

Clapotis progress

2007-10-05T14:53:00.000+01:00

I'm really getting into the Clapotis now - the Colinette colourway is coming out nicely, and it feels soft and not scratchy. Here it is on my desk at work... I'm still on the increase section, so waiting impatiently to see the first dropped column emerge. Took it along to I Knit in Vauxhall last night and decided it deserved a needle upgrade from old coated metal hand-me-downs, which are a bit short and chipped at the tip, to long Brittany birches. The wooden needles are lovely, very light and smooth, and cost less than the couple of drinks that Eleanor and I can blame for last night's dropped stitches. How wonderful it is to have a knitting shop with a licence...
I'd initially thought I'd use circulars for this project, but somehow the straight needles feel more suitable. I've also made the possibly foolhardy decision to dispense with most of the stitch markers, just keeping them at each end to remind me about the kbls on the knit side - I felt they were slowing me down, and a rhythm of "back front back front two three; back front back front two three" for the RS stitches seems to be establishing itself quite nicely. I can see the twisted stitch rows well enough that I think I'd notice if I was screwing up... (famous last words?)

2007-10-01T11:46:00.000+01:00

The cardigan is nearly there now, just the last bit of the back and the ribbing to go. And I've also started a Clapotis with the DK I picked up at the Colinette mill. I won't be sure whether I like the yarn and pattern together until I get to the dropped bits, but so far I think it looks and feels pretty good.

Ravelry and IK joy

2007-09-23T08:21:00.000+01:00

Shortly after my last post, my Ravelry invitation finally arrived, so I have been diverting my knitgeek time to populating my projects, stash and queue of future ideas. It's marvellous. Anyone on there I know who I haven't found and befriended yet, please seek me out!
Meanwhile, AGCC#1 is recovering well after surgery, I'm onto the back of the pointelle cardy, and I've sorted some yarn out in anticipation of a stash swap this Wednesday at work. And, lastly, let there be rejoicing in the hills, for I just received this message from O who is in Maine visiting R's folks:

Dear Cie,
I have in my possession the yarner's current equivalent of gold-dust: a copy of Interweave Knits Fall 2007. It was serendipitously easy to procure, but it was the last copy in the shop (there were multiples of all other magazines) and as I gleefully handed it over at the cash register, the proprietoress of KnitWit in Portland commented on how it had been a sellout issue. There is a rather gorgeous garment on the front, which possibly explains it. I shall bear it back triumphant to Blighty!

Thank you Olivia! You may have all the baby blanket patterns you wish for.

2007-09-15T08:14:00.000+01:00

Here's the second sleeve of the cardy/bolero. The pointelle is a simple 6-row repeat and I think it looks nicely un-girly. (See those smooth round black stitch markers? Salvaged from a bra that was being binned.) I sent M on a mercy mission to Bunty in West Ealing to buy one more ball, just in case I run out before I've done the back or border - luckily he even had the same dye lot.
Today I'm just kitchenering the toes of Dad's stripy socks.

I'm just back from a week in Wales; one morning I drove to Llanfair Caereinion to visit the Colinette shop. The tea ladies at the nearby light railway station were very taken with my Calorimetry (which I'm modelling at Caernarvon on the left), trying it on and pronouncing it just the job for walking the dogs, so I wrote the knitty URL down for them. The shop itself was great, especially the sale room of experimental yarns and unusual dye lots (£4 per 100g of whatever you wanted). I was very firm and only bought things that were a bargain, but still came away with quite a haul: 200g of Banyan cotton/viscose (for a largish baby/toddler garment), one skein of their super-flimsy Parisienne mohair (for a lacy scarf), 400g of DK in their jay colourway (something for me?), and 50g each of Cadenza and Point Five wool, which I plan to use for fair isle and border trim respectively.

Grr Interweave Knits

2007-09-14T09:06:00.000+01:00

I'm feeling very miffed with Interweave Knits. At the start of August I subscribed for five issues, thinking it would be a nice birthday present for myself - and I was assured that my first issue, Fall 2007, would arrive in September. So I've been keenly watching the post, but nothing came, so after a fortnight I emailed them to ask when I could expect it. And they said this:

Due to the popularity of the Fall 2007 issue, we have sold out of the Fall 2007 issue. We have extended your subscription by one issue which gives you an expiration of Winter 2008 rather than Fall 2008. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

So basically they seem to have decided, without telling me (and despite taking payment back in August!), to bump back my subscription by three months. I love the magazine and have been really looking forward to Eunny Jang's editorship so I don't want to cancel in a huff - but I think this is a pretty crappy way for Interweave Press to treat IK's subscribers. Surely they should honour paid-for subscriptions before distributing the magazine? And if for some reason they can't, shouldn't they at least contact the people they're letting down to explain?

2007-09-04T12:19:00.000+01:00

Two months today since I registered for Ravelry (sigh) - when oh when will it be mine? I should have signed up quicker, but I was away from blogs and such for a large chunk of June, which explains why I'm still number 2270 in the queue!

2007-09-03T15:49:00.000+01:00

A satisfying week of distribution. The sleepsack is now enveloping my niece (left - note also the personalised playmat made by her devoted grandmother), the tweedy legionary hat and matching mitts have been handed over to three-month-old Austrian cutie Lucian when he and his family visited last week, this blue cable jumper is welcoming yet another new arrival in LA, and AGCC#2 is now safely on its way to win glory in Portugal - perhaps it will send me a postcard.

Despite two other friends' recent pregnancy announcements (one of them's twins!) I'm laying off the baby stuff for a few weeks, and making myself a bolero-cardy out of deep red Rowan kid classic with a bit of pointelle lacework up the sleeves to keep it interesting. Knitting from stash too, for maximum brownie points.

2007-08-23T10:05:00.000+01:00

On the very day I put Avuncular Golf Club Cover number two in the post, this message arrives by email from AGCC#1:

Hello Creator,
I just wanted to let you know how I’ve been getting on since you gave me to that strange uncle of yours at Christmas. Well, the Cobra 484 driver that I look after seems quite happy. It was a bit of a stretch at first but now we get along fine, I keep him nice and warm in Winter and cool on the occasional hot days (like the George Gadd, phew what a scorcher!). My other job is of course to protect him from being bashed by those rough Taylor Made irons and that primadonna of a putter that we have to share the bag with...
Oh, by the way, a slight hole has appeared in my side so he will probably send me back for repair under the ‘unconditional lifetime guarantee’ that I apparently come with. I look forward to seeing you then. By the way, do you ever hear any news of that pullover that I was very close to?
See you soon,
Clifford

Anyone else ever been contacted From Beyond the Needles by something they've knitted?

2007-08-21T09:00:00.000+01:00

I have now returned to the experimental crown-down hat, adapting Dr Steph's Noro beanie (which has a nice-shaped crown and which I've made once before) and using
Emily Ocker's circular cast on to start. Of course, you can't just read a brim-up pattern backwards increasing instead of decreasing, because you've got a different number of stitches on the needle, but I sort of did it by sight, then carried on down. Crown-down means you can try on as you go, and - for my largish head - 6" from the last increase round is a good depth. I was concerned that using the usual cast-off on the rib might be insufficiently stretchy, so I followed Montse Stanley's instructions for a decrease cast-off ("much better for ribbings": K2tog or P2tog, sl new stitch back onto LH needle without twisting, repeat - Ktog if the second stitch on the LH needle is a K, P2tog if it's a P). All in all I'm very pleased with it.

2007-08-20T10:07:00.000+01:00

Rohan/Zodiac is done! Decreasing down (in the purl stitches between the cables) just before that garter ridge to the smaller size worked out fine. Lots of new skills on the top part. Three-needle bind off was a breeze, I can see myself using that again instead of grafting if I want something tougher. The button and buttonhole band was a new thing too, and I'd be confident putting that into something I design in the future now. As for the applied i-cord - I had some trouble with that at first. I'd found online instructions for two different methods, one involving picking up the stitches first instead of as you go, which is a nice idea in theory but personally I prefer something more ad hoc, picking up as you go. Still, I couldn't fathom it until I was actually doing it, but a bit of experimentation and the Keyboard Biologist's brilliant photo instructions later, all done and dusted. I can break it out for the forthcoming baby surprise jacket edging now. To finish off, well-sewn-on buttons along the bottom - I'm leaving zips for another day - and roll it all up into a box. Niamh will be three months old in a week (and I'm told she's getting bigger on the formula top-ups), so the timing is perfect. Thanks Jacque for the original pattern.

2007-08-15T12:13:00.000+01:00

I made this golf club cover last Christmas as requested by one of my uncles. It seems to have caused an avuncular diplomatic incident:

Dear God Daughter,
I learn with regret that my brother, not me! has a mega-tasteful knitted club-head cover for his Cobra driver. My Cobra driver is, alas, not so fashionably blessed, sporting a large "Totes" sock which I fear would be much happier inside a climbing boot,or similar. It has tired of the ridicule from my playing partners and wishes for the quieter, if smellier, environs of its natural habitat.
A second one must be easier than a prototype... Surely???

I have my orders.

2007-08-12T10:40:00.000+01:00

My Monkeys were looking a bit lumpy so Sarah lent me her trusty sock blockers. I was sceptical when I put the wet socks onto them, as the fabric just seemed very baggy and loose, but as they dried they sort of contracted into shape and the pattern got some real definition. Here's the before and after:

.
In other gadget news, I bought a jumper dryer from Tchibo for £4, which looks just the job for blocking knitted things (rather than pinning them out on the sofa cushions for weeks on end).
The Rohan/Zodiac is going fine, though I'm going to need to make some adjustments for my own bone-headedness. I was doing the 6-12 month size, but hadn't taken into account that the cable panel is about 3" narrower than the same number of stitches in plain knit. I think some judicious decreasing once I stop the cable should allow me to switch to the 3-6 month size without it all puckering up, and will fit Niamh (who is still less than 10lb at 10 weeks) if I finish it quite soon. What I should have done is moved the side decreases around to compensate for the cabling, as they both appear on the front now, but life is too short to redo this one and I'm sure she won't mind...

2007-08-06T12:48:00.000+01:00

Stripy socks done, Rohan (Zodiac) sleep sack still underway, and I've been trying for what feels like weeks to find a little peace to line up the next couple of projects. I have yarns, I have patterns, I have (most sizes of) needles, but making the actual choice requires a little yarn-fondling reflection time before I can settle on what I really want to knit next. I resolve to have it all settled by the time I go to I Knit London with some of my work knitting buddies next Wednesday, then I can get anything I still need and a bit of moral support, and I'll be away.

2007-07-26T14:08:00.000+01:00

I have just celebrated the dollar's all-time low of $2.06 to the £ by ordering some books from Knit Picks. Combined with their 40% off books offer, that means two Elizabeth Zimmermans, Amy Knitty's "no sheep" book and a wee circular needle to make it up to the free postage limit, all for little more than twenty quid! Of course, this plan requires a friendly colonial who can traffick the books back to Blighty for me after his summer visit to the homestead, but I am blessed in that department (thanks R).
I'm also feeling quite excited about this... I'll have to get over to IKnit some time soon to find out more from Gerard and Craig.

2007-07-14T18:28:00.000+01:00

Muahahaha, at last, a ball winder is mine! Jo's recommended strategy worked, and it should arrive on Monday. (Thanks for the Texere tip though Craig - and I hope to come to see you and G either at the shop or out and about soon.)

I was working on my sock on the tube yesterday and had two old ladies in the carriage practically cheering me on as I turned the heel. Heartening.

My plans for the Zodiac are getting more complicated by the day, not helped by recent re-viewing of LotR trilogy on our new (to us) widescreen telly. Celtic-style cabling I'm thinking, the sort of sleepsack that the babies of Rohan might get to sleep in.

2007-07-09T10:31:00.000+01:00

Mostly socking away, but also made a start on the Zodiac for the niece. I'm using GGH Samoa on 5mm needles, which is the same fibre content and gets me gauge. I started with a provisional cast-on at the last bit of in-the-round so I could work upwards and do the shoulders, as I have as yet unformed plans for the body, involving some kind of cabling and possibly her name in k&p or something similar. While I mull on that I'm going to get to grips with the applied i-cord edging on the top part.
Have booked myself a treat: in October I'm going to Amy Singer's lace workshop at Loop in Islington. I'll make her Tuscany shawl out of RYC bamboo that I already bought sans project because I loved the colour and softness.
Just lost my third ebay bid for a wool winder, dammit. Some people are just more prepared than I am to swoop in at past midnight and exceed my bid by 50p. Hey ho.

2007-06-28T15:26:00.000+01:00

Just got back from ten days' interrailing (more details and photos in the general blog). Here is the Aladdin's cave interior of Görg und Görg, not only the best yarn shop in Aachen but the only really decent one I came across the whole trip). My self-imposed yarn-buying prohibition naturally does not apply when on holiday, and the sock yarn was so intriguingly striped and well-priced that I couldn't leave it all behind - so some yellowy sock yarn amusingly called Ja Woll and some greeny-blue Lana Grossa found a small corner of my rucksack to live in for the rest of the trip.
There is plenty of opportunity for knitting on trains, as you can imagine. I also had Sunday morning to myself in Zürich, so the sock and I went for a walk to the sound of church bells and the river. I got the toe of the first one and nearly the whole cuff of the second done, sitting on a shady bench by the lakeside. I won't make sock-in-situ pictures a habit, that's definitely the Yarn Harlot's thing, but here's just the one, I'm sure she won't mind...

2007-06-17T06:49:00.000+01:00

I've not yet made my own swift, but had more ball winder joy this week thanks to Jo. This (left) is 100g and 200g of boucle and slubby wool my mum brought back from NZ in skeins which quickly got tangled, finally in usable (and delightfully squashable and flat-bottomed) form. Meanwhile, a lesson in gauge (right): bootees which work up to size on 4ply cotton will come out larger than any baby's feet have a right to be if you use DK and don't adjust the pattern. I have no idea why I thought these would work, nor why I finished the first one just in case it all magically contracted...
I'm going to make N (my new niece) a Zodiac, with some modifications (no swiss-darned zodiac signs, some worked-in detail instead - cables or purled gansey patterns and perhaps her name). What a great pattern! The GGH Samoa I frogged from this wrongfest will be perfect.
I'm also finally finishing these socks and experimenting on making a crown-down beanie hat out of Noro Silk Garden, basing it on this pattern and using a version of Emily Ocker's legendary circular beginning. I had the EZ instructions and these photos and grappled with it for a while and it just wouldn't take. I'm left-handed and, though I knit in a fairly standard non-reversed English manner (and can't crochet), it occured to me that I do naturally wield a crochet hook in the left hand, so all these instructions would have to be reversed, but that didn't seem to work either. In the end, it all came in a rush when I put away the instructions, thought about what topological yarn-path I was trying to achieve instead, picked up the crochet hook in my left and just did it. Felt like Luke Skywalker switching off his guidance computer to destroy the Death Star... The idea of top-down is partly for fun, partly so I can try it on my larger-than-average bonce before starting the ribbing - the last one of these I made was a little shallow for me.

2007-06-05T15:05:00.000+01:00

This Sunday I went to Regent's Park to occupy a comfy corner of the Ethical Threads tent at the Camden Green Fair, teaching people to knit. All organised by Kate who runs Ealing's monthly S&B, who gave me a donated pack of dusty pink Rowan 4ply soft as a thank you - just the job for something slightly lacy for Niamh, I think. Met a few lovely knitters, including Robynn who runs Purlescence (hmm, can I justify Lantern Moon wooden circulars? At the very least, I covet these Norwegian clasps.)
Failed to win a wooden swift on eBay despite lurking until the last minute waiting to pounce, but the price had got rather high so I think I will just buy a new one, or perhaps make my own...

2007-05-29T15:16:00.000+01:00

I've stormed on up to the heel on the second Monkey, probably because of the amount of train travel this weekend - occasioned by the timely arrival of my niece (and youngest knitting ~~victim~~ lucky recipient) Niamh. Started her off with the purply hat and socks, and also this little red top.

2007-05-22T13:44:00.000+01:00

Had a very therapeutic stash-sort last weekend and now I have an orderly queue of yarn waiting for projects and projects waiting for yarn - fiscal prudence of course dicates that the first should command my attention before the second.
My dad is off up some Scottish mountains shortly, and they get nippy even in June, so I've made him a chunky Shetland marl rib hat which I will give him this weekend. Like my brother's, it's a tweaked version of the Hot Head from the first S&B book (but not quite, as dad's head is not quite so exceptionally large). I was going to do a brioche or mistake rib for interest, but it looked a bit fussy in the marl and M, official arbiter of masculinity, declared that a simple 2x2 would be preferable. Next, I tried out short-row heels on a teensy pair of baby socks with the wool left over from that purple umbilical cord hat. They worked fine except for the large holes on each side by the first wrap&turn, but that might be less noticeable in a sensible sock weight and needle size rather than DK on 4mm.

2007-05-12T15:39:00.000+01:00

Just got back in from a brilliant march from Vauxhall across the Thames and all the way round Parliament Square with the knitted river.
Here's why.
There a few more photos here.
And I wore my new Picovoli!

2007-05-11T13:30:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday's trip to IKL with M's mum was a great success (main blog); she bought some shetland yarn and a pattern book, and I got her some Cathay for a top she's making for herself. This Saturday I plan to help march the WaterAid knitted river to parliament.
I have finished - and worn - the picot-free Picovoli. Not bad at all, photo coming shortly. E has posted our knitting hands video on YouTube.
I started a pair of bootees for my Seattle-dwelling friend AP's baby (due tomorrow) but the yarn is a bit thick so they're coming out rather large - I'm thinking by the time the kid's feet are that size, it'll be in shoes already.

Due to bad planning...

2007-04-29T10:31:00.000+01:00

"How did it happen?"
"Well, she was standing on one leg, trying to photograph her own foot, which she couldn't put to the floor because it was bristling with needles, then she noticed an empty Minstrels packet spoiling the shot, so she tried hopping and spinning round... "

2007-04-28T08:14:00.000+01:00

At the iknit boys' prompting, have joined the London Knitters webring (well, the code is up and the button is there on the right, but I think I'm still queueing). The handful of other blogs I've read on it so far look pretty interesting...
Picovoli is whipping along nicely; there's the shoulder part on the left. The colour is not that bright, more coppery - spent ages holding balls of Cathay up to my face in the shop making sure this was a becoming shade. I'm using my first metal Addi that took an age to come - curse Designer Yarns - and it (they? Are circs singular or plural?) is great, very slippery and sharp. I've got a few more rounds to go before the waist decreases start (I'll have to try on to judge whether it "nearly covers bust while stretching lightly" first).
I really want to finish it to wear next Saturday, when I'm taking P (the woman who would be my mother-in-law if M and I weren't godless unwed types) to the iKnit shop. She used to teach HE and knits beautifully. I want her to choose something nice for a late birthday present, maybe some natural fibre yarn or some birch needles in a size she uses often.

2007-04-19T13:10:00.000+01:00

We knitted al fresco yesterday, with coffee-walnut cake, salsa dips and mango chunks as an accompaniment.

I've finished the blue cabled baby jumper that I designed, and polished off a half-done umbilical-cord baby hat that's been lingering on my only set of 4mm circs for far too long. Meanwhile the first Monkey sock is now well past the heel.
I want to get started on a larger project, maybe Picovoli at last, once I settle the sizing issue. There's negative ease there - the finished bust can be 32" or 36", for a suggested bust measurement of 34" or 38" respectively. Only mine is 36", so I'm midway between two sizes. I'm thinking I'll go down rather than up, as I don't want it to hang off me, but then I don't want it to be too hubba hubba either. Grumperina gives excellent advice about measuring an actual garment to decide, which I will get around to before I cast on. Maybe I'll even do a gauge swatch too...

2007-04-06T10:18:00.000+01:00

Fantastic ball-winder fun on Wednesday (thanks Jo), as I turned the frogged and washed skeins of GGH Samoa into ten new balls ready to be turned into something other than the disastrous sack of an adult-sized jacket that was Zigzag - a Rowan pattern I started last year. I completed it despite a growing sense of foreboding and sho nuff, when I'd blocked and seamed, I tried it on, and it looked vile. A rookie error: I was seduced by the nifty stitch detail and didn't pay attention to the shape of the actual garment, which is deeply unflattering. Also, I think the lilac colour of the yarn is perhaps better suited to a child, so I think it may well become a baby blanket. Ah well...
Many projects sloshing around now. I think I'm in my post-project scattergun fertile phase. I picked up Dad's self-striping Opal socks again for a long bus ride, and they've made me want to kick off another couple of pairs - Cookie A's Monkey (which I'll do with some plain Opal that Sarah gave me) and I think also some Jaywalkers with the nice Fortissima I picked up last autumn.
On the same trip I got this interesting blue-green wool, which I've now swatched. (Ooh, I love those T-pins. How sad am I.) Hmm, I might try felting it. I've also been given six balls of DB cashmerino DK in two shades of blue with which I'm going to design some sort of toddler garment, and I broke my self-imposed yarn ban last week with a few balls of pale green Rowan bamboo, just because I really want to try it. It's surprisingly silky and very soft.

Swallowtail is finished!

2007-03-25T11:05:00.000+01:00

The last few rows were done yesterday - with moral support, Joss Whedon DVDs and smoothies from Ry, and bacon butties to sustain us when things got tough (yes, I managed to screw up the antepenultimate row, so just when I thought I was on the home stretch, I got to tink back once more for old times' sake). Wet-blocked in the late afternoon, following the Yarn Harlot's method, pinned out on the mattress of the sofa bed, and it's pretty much dry by now.
The blocking was every bit the transformation I'd hoped it would be. Here's some detail showing the nuppless lily of the valley, which I am perfectly happy with; there are more photos here.
[Edit 6 April: I gave it to Mum on her sixtieth birthday last weekend, and she seems really delighted with it.]

This Sunday, if you feel like dancing...

2007-03-14T11:07:00.000+01:00

2007-03-11T11:04:00.000+01:00

It's all Swallowtail all the way (apart from this quick mistake-rib iPod nano cover for my colleague). Have made the decision to rip back a few rows and do a nuppless version. The p5tog was costing my sanity too dear, and all the various fixes (slipping some, using a crochet hook) were not helping; they were coming out more wrong than right, leaving ugly loops. I did the sums and just knew that I couldn't face doing >200 of them. There were tears of frustration while ripping back (at one point I really thought I couldn't get the work back on the needles, and it was well and truly ruined, hours and hours of my life down the tube...). So I put it down, made celery soup, took a shower, ate the soup, then sat in the sunshine and thought 'don't write it off yet, just pick up as best you can, even if some stitches are twisted or dropped one row, and if we come up short (which it seemed to be, by about 5 stitches) you can always make a few extras'. So I did so, trying to 'knit on through all disaster' a la Elizabeth Zimmermann, then worked the next row untwisting and fixing the drops, and lo, the stitch count was spot on 199 stitches. So I'm suckered back in until the next crisis. This is a specific beautiful project as a gift for a particular occasion, and I will be so proud when it's done, but I think it will be a while before I do something like this again. It's the inability to fix mistakes that's causing the most stress; you have to concentrate and count so much, it's just not much fun.

PS My work knitty group has set up a Flickr site for our projects pictures.

2007-03-05T11:07:00.000+01:00

Sunday was a lovely knitty day, also featuring American pancakes, Buffy, fajitas and longer than necessary rambles through the streets of west London. I knew from early on that the Circlesquare hat would be too big, but I wanted to finish it anyway to see how the pattern and the decreases looked. I didn't swatch for such a small project, but still I'm surprised that it came out so enormous considering the yarn I substituted (Knitpicks Wool of the Andes) was the exact same fibre and length/weight.

It looks kind of okay as a pouchy rasta-style hat for those with lots of hair (the way Ry is modelling it on the right), but that wasn't really what I had in mind so I'm pretty sure it's a frog job. Useful exercise though - I do like the decreases though I think they're best for something that will be stretched while being worn, and I also like the pattern, which I may put round the chest of a two-tone jumper. I think the rib needs to be either deeper or done on smaller needles, because it rolls out a bit.

2007-03-02T10:07:00.000+01:00

Pah, that scarf needed to be longer anyway. It's done now, incorporating nearly all of the third ball. I'm in another promiscuous phase. I started and cast aside a Center Square hat, which in my mind is called Circlesquare instead, in tribute to The Wonder Stuff. (Oh god, I've just realised that single was seventeen years ago! I'm an Old Woman...). The baby cable creation is nearly done, with a whole new neckline concept. Swallowtail is behaving itself on circular needles now, and I'm nearly ready to start the Lily of the Valley part with the dreaded nupps.

2007-02-20T23:29:00.000+01:00

This is what nearly looks like. As in "two balls of Jamieson's shetland on 4.5mm needles with a 31-stitch row is nearly enough to finish that scarf..."
Of course, other fixes are possible: make it a triangle shorter - give it a notch-shaped end like a piece of ribbon, incorporate an as-if-intended splash of a contrasting colour - but the best option has proved to be "get Craig to find one more ball in the shop and bring it along to Albannach tomorrow night so you can finish it while nursing a Speyside single malt."

2007-02-12T14:42:00.000+01:00

Bought the requisite T-pins in a haberdashers in Canterbury, so no need for the Gallic stumblings (they were needed only to rebuke some odious children on a cross-channel school trip to the cathedral). However, Swallowtail itself continues to test my patience and, if I'm honest, my skills, to breaking point. I still love it, but if knitting projects were children, I feel as though I'm now handling an awkward vexatious adolescent when so far I've only had obedient tots. It's the same predictable problem each time: carefully make the lace row with all the YOs and decreases, purl back, venture on, then count to discover I have the wrong number of stitches on the needle. I can even see where I've slipped up (usually by omitting a YO) but it seems impossible to tink or to drop down with a crochet hook to make one. The last evening I took it up, I spent a couple of hours, screwed up on the 8th row, only to have to rip all the way back to the lifeline thread I'd put in at the start of the evening. It is on its last chance with me. Next time I'm feeling unusually patient, I'll give it one more shot. But any more nonsense and I'll cut its allowance and ground it for a week.
I've been productive with other things though. After I saw the one Gerard made at IKL last week, I knocked out a Calorimetry with the remains of the Tapestry, and wore it out round Ealing on Sunday. I've designed a baby-sized cabled jumper with set-in sleeves, and have knitted most of it while toying with different neck possibilities. I wanted the cables to separate forming a V-neck, but after some back-of-an-envelope maths last night (yay trigonometry), I realised that the baby's head would not fit through - something of a design flaw. Meanwhile, I've started a diagonal scarf with the gorgeous Jamieson's Shetland stuff from IKL.

2007-01-29T10:12:00.000+01:00

A Tapestry hat I whipped up out of what was left over from the Fetching mitts. Sorry about the extreme close up. I used Dr Steph's pattern, which makes for a beautifully-shaped crown, though I think next time I'll make it a tad deeper, maybe 6" before starting the decreases. Big 23" head, you see.

Meanwhile, I finally sewed up the kimono-style top from this book. Although Rowan wool cotton seemed a good sub for the discontinued DB yarn, actually my gauge seemed a bit bigger once the fabric relaxed a bit, so I had to adapt the pattern slightly to make it fit proportionately, which basically worked. I was unhappy with the first sleeve I sewed in as it was a bit lumpy and uneven, so I ripped, found some decent instructions (best tip - to start in the middle at the shoulder seam not in the oxter!), and did it again. I swear, I am being Taught Patience. And dorkiness, because the seams are now so perfect I could just sit stroking them. I didn't have enough yarn for the tape ties in the pattern, so I made some 4 stitch I-cord ones instead, which I think are cooler anyway.
Swallowtail is ongoing, but it's not knitting for less than 100% concentration, so I'm kicking off another couple of projects for train and TV. I do want to get cracking though, so I can catch Jo up where the pattern changes... I had a very vivid dream this morning that I was trying to buy blocking pins for it in a weird little ironmonger's where they only spoke French. Seriously, I was surrounded by people in white overalls, saying "je fais un echarpe avec du laine tres fine mais des aguilles assez grand, alors il y a des trous dedans [nope, don't know the French word for 'lace'], et, quand c'est finit, il faut le metter avec des epingles comme ca, et ajouter de l'eau, alors il est tres important que les epingles ne ... [nope, don't know the word for 'rust' either]." Hmmm.

Swallowtail day one

2007-01-23T13:38:00.000+01:00

Okay, I got my Knit Picks order from R at the weekend, including my lace yarn, so as of yesterday evening, after a bit of practice with some scrap for the cast on and first few rows, Swallowtail is underway. Early days - I'm only up to row 13 with 27 stitches on the needle. Frogging or even tinking is so tricky with lace (ha, ask me how I know this already) that I've decided until I feel more confident, I'm going to put regular lifeline threads through at the end of each day's work. The yarn is so much finer than anything I've ever used, and the work is so light and fragile-looking! With the tiny movements, wire-thin filaments and the poring over charts, there were moments last night when I felt like a bomb disposal expert. Which is insane, because it's only knitting, and I do it to r-e-l-a-a-a-a-x, right?

2007-01-23T09:02:00.000+01:00

This baby shrug pattern, extracted in a magazine from the latest Debbie Bliss book, was, oddly, posted to me anonymously in the internal mail at work. Serendipity continued to reign as I found the two balls of cashmerino aran required for the smallest size reduced to £1 in John Lewis in Liverpool. It was a very quick knit, in less than a week, and quite pleasingly constructed all in one piece bar the edging. I added a little faggoty hexagonal pattern (a flower?) to make the back less monotonous. I think I like small motifs centred between the shoulder blades because if I'd ever been devil-may-care enough to get a tattoo, that is where I would have had it. Not that I'm advocating tattooing for babies aged 3-6 months, naturally. They'd be all blue and distorted before they even reached playgroup.

Here are the instructions if you too would like a faggoty hexagon (sorry no chart - maybe later).
It's across 8 sts and 10 rows.
row 1, 5, 9: k2, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, k2
row 2, 4, 6, 8, 10: purl all stitches on wrong side
row 3, 7: k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk.

rogue sewing post

2007-01-22T19:33:00.000+01:00

The stole in progress during Saturday's bright sunshine. The applique is now done, I'm beading and embroidering next before getting out Mel's sewing machine to make it all up.

2007-01-18T13:03:00.000+01:00

Knitting continues, but meanwhile, a sewing project is afoot. My dear friend R (he of the Half-Dome hat) is being made a deacon this summer, and I have long intended to make him a stole as an ordination gift - I've decided it's now time to stop musing and start plying the needle. Stoles are the long narrow scarves draped round the neck, decorated with embroidery and appliqué at the ends, like this. There are many things about them that I didn't know until recently: they come with or without fringe/tassels, the part round the back of the neck can be curved or pointed, the ends can be flared or spade-shaped, and they must be made in one of four colours - white, green, red and purple - for different times of the liturgical year. Mine is going to be red, for Pentecost, feasts and martyr's days.

Ah, so many potentially inflammatory design possibilities. Jesse Custer and Tulip O'Hare, one up each side? The phrases "Don't mess with Texas" and "I have nothing to apologise for" translated into Latin? Perhaps a hidden iPod pocket? Seriously, it's a bit of a challenge coming up with something that has no inappropriate connotations and is suitably devotional, while not being an incongruous gift from this basically atheist friend. However, I have A Plan. I will post some photos once there's something to show, without completely spoiling the surprise if R should be reading this. I will reveal that I'm recycling some scarlet shot silk from a charity shop salwaar kameez, and there's a bit of a Celtic theme going on. A college friend (also now a priest) kindly sent me the Simplicity paper pattern, so this Saturday I'm getting cracking on it.

2007-01-07T12:17:00.000+01:00

Many knitting opportunities over the holidays, what with the train and car journeys and the sitting about watching telly, so the socks were finished before 2006 was out, and very pleased with them I am too. My next socks will be finer gauge and for my dad, I've decided, with the self-patterning Opal that's been languishing for a while, and then for a third pair perhaps I'll tackle one of Cookie A's patterns, Baudelaire, BFF or Monkey (which one do you reckon Jo?).

Meanwhile, I've made some mittens to match the legionary hat with they yarn that remained, but they may be a little short - okay if the unlucky recipient keeps his or her hands balled into fists at all times, otherwise not so good. Perhaps they should be, ah, refashioned. The green baby kimono top is nearly done; here's the back part folded up (unblocked), showing the gansey-style motif I added in the centre.

Orrible wet day yesterday, but O and I still sallied forth to I Knit London so that I could show (or rather remind) her how to knit, as she'd asked. She needed v little instruction to remember plain stitch, and she was soon casting on and purling with no help very quickly, so basically she's away! The pieces of Water Aid river quilt lying around vere very useful for demonstrative purposes - this one is garter stitch, that one is stocking stitch, the other one is moss and so on. She's gone home with my trusty Stitch and Bitch book, some lovely almerino yarn and 5 mm Addi Turbos to practise with - i think a stripy scarf is in the offing. Gerard has lots of new year plans for club nights, and everyone's looking forward to the pub smoking ban from July, which will make evening knitting out a much more fragrant experince.

2006-12-23T15:15:00.000+01:00

Turned my first heel! (There is a festive satsuma inside, for display purposes only.)

2006-12-20T00:45:00.000+01:00

Photo time! Detail of the Mystery Item, and this weekend's creation, a toddler hat which I think, with its topknot, ridged bit and earflaps, is reminiscent of a Roman legionary's helmet:

PS Have a look at the Yarn Harlot's eloquent Médecins sans Frontières appeal.

2006-12-18T18:18:00.000+01:00

Hours of blissful knitting time on the train when I took a day trip to Canterbury this weekend, so have made good progress on the green baby garment (though my tension/gauge has got larger since I did the trousers - I must be less tense now - which may mean a bit of tweaking of decreases to make it all work). And yesterday while M worked on his book I had a quiet domestic sort of day - haircut, grocery shopping, and then just more sofa + screen time, during which I've cast on two new things: potluck supersocks with the Cherry Tree Hill yarn, and a baby hat with earflaps, for my nephew/niece to be. And since my friend R is in the USA for Christmas, I've cunningly made a Knit Picks order for him to bring back for me in January: some Wool of the Andes for an adult hat, a copy of the first Barbara Walker treasury book and (gulp) some alpaca laceweight yarn with which I'm going to attempt a Swallowtail as my new year project. It's daunting, but there's a blog and a KAL, so at least I'll have my virtual hand held.

2006-12-14T14:15:00.000+01:00

I think the latest Knitty is one of the best ever. I'm casting covetous glances at the Monkey socks and the ballet slippers, and I rather like the idea behind that cover hat too.
The BBC lunchtime knitters had a festive feast yesterday, featuring much more Stollen, Lebkuchen, clementines, posh cheesy snacks and ginger beer - mmm, fiery - than actual knitting. And we're doing it all again next week, hurrah, because this was only the last Wednesday for a couple of the regulars, the rest of us will still be at work. Clever Ry has hatched a plot for us to hire a car and toddle off to somewhere rural for a knitty/walky long weekend in the spring, which sounds brilliant.
Meanwhile, the mystery item is all done bar the mattress stitch - I finished it off while watching last night's disappointing episode of Torchwood - and I'm off on the train to Canterbury tomorrow to see my sister (who is in a play there), so will knit more en route.

2006-12-07T10:06:00.000+01:00

Currently making:

a scarf out of Colinette Enigma which I've decided, though beautiful, is a pain because of the slubbiness. Still, it's no-brain knitting, suitable for watching DVDs to.
a mystery holiday gift item involving Rowan Calmer and a five rib braid cable - nice yarn, like cotton but shiny and stretchy, with an odd squeaky feel. This project is the small portable one, for lunchbreaks and train journeys.
an apple-green wool-cotton baby top to match these trousers - more or less following a Debbie Bliss pattern, although I'm tweaking it a bit and adding some moss stitch business here and there.

I also want to make a couple of adult hats and maybe some gloves, and in my latest trip to my favourite yarn shop Gunny bought me the necessary yarn for Picovoli, so I'm just waiting on the right size Addis to come in. And I now have enough sock yarn for three pairs, despite having not yet turned a heel, having been unable to resist with their Cherry Tree Hill stuff either. I reckon 2007 will be the Year of the Sock.

2006-11-26T11:53:00.000+01:00

Golf club cover (in super-tight water-repellent acrylic, featuring cable and moss stitch) - check. Fetching mitts (in Rowan Tapestry, because I've been dying to try it) - check. Wee feather-and-fan iPod mini cozy as a leaving present for a colleague - check.
I was given an excellent little spotty zip-up washbag, as a birthday gift (thanks O), and it is just right for carrying around small projects like the mitts or cozy along. It's wide enough for dpns and deep enough for yarn, row counter, mini notebook, rescue crochet hook and all a girl needs for train journeys or lunch hours. It's been getting some heavy use, since I've been travelling around a lot the last couple of weeks, which is also why this is the first post in a while.

2006-11-10T09:59:00.000+01:00

Since Mel has mentioned her alpaca cowl in her blog (and been so generous as to describe it privately as 'skeely work'), here is a little corner of it, draped over a chair. Of course, what I'd really like is a picture of her sporting it in the Ontario breeze...

Lots of finished projects, not so much with the works in progress. Works still in the planning stage are various Christmas presents - golf club cover (yes, really, my uncle has actually asked for this), hot water bottle cozy maybe, little iPod cover, a couple of scarves, and I've begun to wonder if you can knit slippers, so Family Beware. And, having seen a real live pair at Westender Stitch and Bitch last weekend, I have an urge to make some Fetching mitts from Knitty. Also, there is a faint patter of tiny feet to be heard and, though it's still very early days, i'm quietly starting to think about projects for our prospective nephew/niece too. But things actually on the needles - well, my shrug has stalled halfway up the first sleeve, and I am now thinking of ripping and restarting something completely different. Zigzag has been finished for weeks and weeks, I just have to sew a couple of seams, which I for some reason really don't seem to want to do. Off to Liverpool on the train later today, and I think I'll get cracking on something small, both for portability's sake and for what my manager at work refers to as a Quick Win...

zenith and nadir

2006-11-07T21:39:00.000+01:00

Behold two recently completed projects: my Kureyon tank top, which is a self-designed triumph (the waist shaping actually sits on my waist, not 2" below), and the bouclé hat, of which we will not speak. I designed this as I went along, and was clearly feeling rather blasé about my ability with hats, so Arachne [or whichever deity oversees the woolly crafts - answers on a postcard, or a blog comment - Mel, this means you!] decided to take me down a peg. The resulting garment is several inches too big around, and puckers at the crown most unattractively. In short, despite my feeling moderately confident about the stitch count and decrease-spacing as I went along, it has emerged in the shape of the bastard child of a shower cap and a tea cosy. Only less alluring. When I can face the frogging, it will be Untimely Rip'd.

But back to the tank top! For the first time, I have seen some knitted thing I like in the shops and magazines, thought "hmm, yes, i could make me one of those", and it is ready in time to wear (a) while the temperature and season still demands it, and (b) while it remains fashionable - not that the latter is a huge issue for me, but there are shallow days when such things can ratchet up the old self-confidence a little, especially when sporting clothes that one has made. But everyone who has said "Ooh, did you make that yourself?" has done so with an inflection that I interpret as admiring and appreciative rather than scathing and pitying.

2006-10-15T14:06:00.000+01:00

In New York, Mum sought out Stitches East and bought me three balls of this Noro Kureyon. I'm really pleased with how quickly and nicely it's knitting up - cast on on Friday night and here's my self-designed v-neck tank-top so far... I'll need to find a couple more balls from somewhere, but I'm sure that'll be easy enough. Thanks Mum...

2006-10-15T13:53:00.000+01:00

Had an excellent trip to the Knitting and Stitching show with Eleanor and Jo on Friday. Visited Westender Kate at the Glitterati champagne bar, got barged out of the way by a few ill-mannered ladies d'un certain age keen to get at the bargains, got to actually handle lots of desirable yarn I'd previously only seen online (Lorna's laces in particular - well, perhaps just if I win the pools), ate some very disappointing sandwiches sitting on the floor (Alexandra Palace should really sort out its catering facilities, which were crap and mostly smelt of cabbage). Spent Nana's birthday money and some of my own on this stash: sock wool, special offer Jaeger aran, clicky frog row counter (and another for Jo), stitch holders that can never point the wrong way, glitzy bag handles, experimental beads and the blue-green hand-dyed because it was so lovely.

2006-10-09T12:23:00.000+01:00

Knitted less in la belle France than I thought I would, but have since completed a couple of projects - Zigzag is all done except for the seams, and Mel's cowl is also finished. It looks lovely and wavy, but photographs terribly (i think the alpaca halo confuses the autofocus or something), so I'll just have to send it off to Canada and have her send me back a photo of her modelling it instead.

While in New York, Mum nobly sought out Stitches East and bought me Interweave Knits and three beautiful balls of Noro Kureyon that caught her fancy. I wonder if there's enough to make some kind of funky V-neck sleeveless jumper? Off to the K&S show at Alexandra Palace this Friday, and I'm also getting involved with Innocent's mini-hats for Age Concern thing this year... and, since M is busy with his book until the spring and the social calendar is only sparsely populated, I'm anticipating a prolific season of knitting as the evenings get shorter and the urge to curl up in front of the TV/radio grows stronger.

2006-09-08T13:35:00.000+01:00

So many schemes, so little time. If yarn boy is monogamous, I think I must be polyamorous...
1. I am going to get the last front panel of Zigzag done this weekend so I can block it, then do the picked-up collar and finishing by Tuesday, when I'm going on holiday. It's just too big to take with me and I'm ready to move on.
2. I am making my dad a fabulous scarf, which I hope will appeal to his mathematical mind, but details must be kept shady in case he looks at this. It is not going to be ready in time for his birthday next week, but should be off the needles by the time it's suitably autumnal.
3. I am also making my beautiful Scottish friend Mel (who has Snow White colouring and wears only red, grey and black) something to keep her warm in Toronto. It's also going to be a sort of tubey scarf, but more of a cowl/snood/wimple effort, like this or this. And (gulp) it's going to be out of alpaca, and it's going to be (double gulp) lace.
4. I'm planning to use the rest of the apple green wool-cotton to make a top to match these trousers. Loosely based on a Debbie Bliss toddler kimono pattern, but with a few changes.
5. Four balls of maroon Kid Classic seem to want to be either a sleeveless V-neck or a bolero-type cardigan. My partner's mum knitted a lovely one of the latter recently, and she's supposed to pass on the pattern...

Meanwhile, baby sweater and mini-coronet hat are all blocked and wrapped up in tissue ready to be given out, and Half-Dome is soon to go the same way. All this worthy stash-busting is of course to enable me to buy new autumn yarn without guilt, firstly at Gerard's shop and secondly at the Knitting and Stitching show in October, to which I'm going with some of the laydeez from work.

2006-09-03T20:08:00.000+01:00

Gerard and Craig of IKnit opened their shop yesterday! I went along to sit, knit, eat cheese straws and take advantage of their fantastic stock and 10% discount. (Birch double points and alpaca, but I'm going back for Cathay, and the Rowan Tapestry and Addi turbos when they come in.) Liz and Eleanor and Eleanor's mum came along, and somehow hours went by. Here they are on the squashy sofa where I hope to spend much more time in the future. While I was there, I pretty much finished R's half-dome, but ran out of yarn about 150 stitches before the end. I was too tight to buy yet another ball of cashmerino aran - after all, this was meant to be a using-up-the-leftovers project - so this morning I unravelled one round from the bottom of my Tubey then re-bound off using a crochet hook. Mmm, thrifty! The decreases look great, though I fear the hat may be a little large - here I am modelling it, though I think R's head is bigger so all should be well once it's blocked.

2006-08-30T08:04:00.000+01:00

Sophie's hat is done! M took this picture of me working the last few rows of the crown on the train to Kent. I finished by sewing the brim down and chain-stitching her name inside.

A very productive long weekend in general: the bespoke osteopath's tea cosy is also all finished bar the sewing-up:

half-dome in the round

2006-08-30T07:07:00.000+01:00

The original Half-Dome hat (which you should look at first!) is knitted flat. This is an adaptation of the pattern to knit in the round, large adult size only, posted here with the designer's permission. Caveat: I don't think there are any errors in this, but I haven't actually finished the crown of the hat yet, so it's untested...

Using 3.25 mm needles and contrasting brim colour, CO 132 stitches. Join and work around in stocking stitch [=stockinette] until work measures 1.5 inches. Change to 3.75 mm needles and main colour - using jogless jog for colour change if you wish - and continue in stocking stitch until work measures 5". Proceed with either the no-marker or marker method below.

NO-MARKER METHOD (requires 5 DPNs)
If you're using 5 DPNs, you can use the ends of each of your 4 working needles instead of markers. Ensure you have 33 st on each needle to begin.
Next round: K1, K2tog, K to 3 st before needle end, SSK, K1.
On second needle, K1, K2tog. K to 3 st before needle end, SSK, K1.
On third needle, K1, K2tog. K to 3 st before needle end, SSK, K1.
On fourth needle, K1, K2tog. K to 3 st before needle end, SSK, K1.
K one round plain, then repeat these two rounds 13 times. [20 st on needle.]
Next round: K1, S2KP, K2, S2KP, K2, S2KP, K2, S2KP, K2, K1. [12 st on needle.]
K one round plain. Next round, K2tog, K2, SSK, K2tog, K2, SSK. [8 st.] Finish.

MARKER METHOD (using circular needles and/or DPNS)
Place one marker for start of round and three contrasting markers at intervals of 33 stitches each.
Next round: K1, K2tog, K to 3 st before 1st marker, SSK, K1. Slip marker, K1, K2tog. K to 3 st before 2nd marker, SSK, K1. Slip marker, K1, K2tog. K to 3 st before 3rd marker, SSK, K1. Slip marker, K1, K2tog. K to 3 st before round-start marker, SSK, K1.
K one round plain, then repeat these two rounds 13 times. [20 st on needle.] Remove markers on last plain round.
Next round: K1, S2KP, K2, S2KP, K2, S2KP, K2, S2KP, K2, K1. [12 st on needle.]
K one round plain. Next round, K2tog, K2, SSK, K2tog, K2, SSK. [8 st.] Finish.

2006-08-27T09:50:00.000+01:00

PS Just read an interesting piece on Knitting and Public Politics (link came from Skeintily Clad who set up the science-knitters webring).

2006-08-27T09:24:00.000+01:00

Very convivial IKnitLondon on Thursday, in the Black Friar pub. Gerard and Craig open the Vauxhall shop next week, which is exciting. That evening, I produced WaterAid bluesquare #2, in some violent turquoise acrylic DK Mel had given me, trying out a lace pattern (Norwegian fir, I think). Finished the last few rows and bound off on the homeward tube, after Eleanor got off.

Meanwhile, my work knitting buddies have organised tickets for a knitting show in the autumn, and I'm still working on Rob's hat, Sophie's hat and the Zigzag jacket. Also, after a bit of puzzling, I've just cast on my first sort-of commission, a tea-cosy for the osteopath boyfriend of a work colleague. She specifically wants hearts, bones, his name and a pompom. I took it on because I thought it would give an opportunity to try out intarsia/fair isle on the pattern, though if it proves too much for me, I will resort to Swiss darning instead.

unseemly gatherings and rowdiness

2006-08-23T21:48:00.000+01:00

Yarnharlot's gansey reminded me of my 1973 50p book - Patons Book of Knitting and Crochet, by Patience Horne and Stephen Bowden - so here's another gem. This time, it's proof that there's nothing exclusively 21st century about stitching and bitching. In the introduction the authors talk of knitting as "the occasion of unseemly gatherings and rowdiness", then they go on to quote William Howitt's The Rural Life of England in 1844:

the whole troup of neighbours being collected, they sit and knit, sing knitting songs and tell knitting stories ... they often get so excited that they say "Neighbours, we'll not part tonight", that is, till after twelve o'clock. All this time their knitting goes on with unremitting speed. They sit rocking to and fro like so many weird wizards.

Meanwhile, Sophie's hat, while not requiring wizardry, did need a fair dollop of patience. Here it is post-grafting, picking up the stitches round the brim (something tricksy like 9 to every 13):

I'm the left-handed one!

2006-08-22T17:07:00.000+01:00

Eleanor has posted video clips she took of our different knitting styles on her website here. Caution: it is 4.8MB (and Windows Media only). Four people so far, but it will expand - it's actually really fascinating to watch.

2006-08-18T16:54:00.000+01:00

Arrgh. I worked a nice bit of braided cable to go round Sophie's hat - which is a scaled-down version of Coronet (Knitty) - and, when I got to the end to do the magical kitchener stitch invisible join, the wheels totally fell off. Not because of the kitchener grafting per se, I'm pretty sure - I've done it before on the tops of two knitted pieces, no bother - but because my initial provisional cast-on was a piece of crap. I'd knit all 100+ rows of the cable pattern (with the cable patern looking just dandy) with a little voice expressing doubt about whether the cast-on had worked right, and when it came to the grafting I knew for sure. The stitches were all twisted round each other and somehow wrong.
Three tries to get it to work, then a last-ditch attempt to mattress-seam the band together instead, which looked horrific, increasing grumpiness, then I tried unravelling a couple of rows to somehow re-cast-on, which didn't work either ... rip rippety rip, all the way back to the beginning. Bah. I have crossly gone back to Half-Dome for a bit (just the straight round-and-round plain stitching, no fancy decreases to muck up yet). I'll get right back to it in a few days, maybe when one of my knitting mateys can hold my hand through a better version of provisional cast-on...

2006-08-10T09:47:00.000+01:00

As usual, Wednesday lunchtime knitting was an oasis of companionable calm in a stressful week at work and at home (see main blog for details). Eleanor filmed our different styles and I'll post a link here once they're online. In particular I covet Jo's efficient-looking English lever method, the movements are so much more spare than my throwing method, which seems to involve my whole right arm, so maybe having a little clip will help me try it out.

Just the fronts to go on Zigzag, and I've done the first few rounds of the Half Dome for Rob. I've adopted the pattern for DPNs instead of straight, because I wanted a purl-free project for a change. I tried the jogless jog for the colour change, but I'm not far enough on to see whether it makes a big difference or not. I think Sophie's project is going to be a hat too, but I'm still pondering.

2006-08-04T10:07:00.000+01:00

Last Thursday Eleanor, Liz and I made it along to iknitlondon in Covent Garden, which was very jolly despite it raining on us. Ooh, ooh, I just checked their website and there are two pictures of me on it! (Top left with Eleanor and 2nd row far right, with my square.) Fame at last.

I'm nearly done with the second sleeve of the Zigzag, but I think I might need to switch to making something for Sophie (who's nearly two) if it's going to arrive at the same time as her attention-grabbing new sibling in mid-September.

2006-07-23T21:54:00.000+01:00

Here's some of the women from the Westender Stitch & Bitch (Yahoo group here), picnicking at the Ealing Festival this weekend: Ryanne came and met me and we went along for a couple of hours. I always mean to go along every Sunday fortnight, but haven't managed it much. I think it's just Sunday nights I'm usually either busy or exhausted... must try harder. Meanwhile, the Zigzag jumper's making good progress - finished the back and I'm halfway up the second sleeve now.