I've joined in with the Denim People knitalong with Polly and Eva, starting in July. I haven't yet decided what to knit though. I have 10 balls of Rowan Denim in the Nashville colourway in my stash that I would very much like to use. I bought it ages ago for a baby cable-y thing that I just didn't get along with so no chance of matching the dye-lot.
Now 10 balls doesn't go very far for an adult sweater and not many of the designs use such a small amount and I've spent some time (probably too much) trying to weigh up my options.
I like Picot, on the left, (haven't yet done a picot cast-on and would like to try it) which only uses 6 balls in my size but I'm a bit iffy about the shoulders.
I could do Bret, reverse the stripes and buy another 10 balls of Memphis but I'm having trouble picturing this as a girl sweater without the Boris Becker lookalike inside it.
I really like Nova but not those dangly crocheted flowers (same goes for the dangly bits on Picot - what's with that?) and thought I could rehash it by lengthening the body a little and shortening the sleeves but would 10 balls cover it ? I'm too impatient to knit to do the maths plus it's a bit of a re-design isn't it?
Another idea - do Vintage and stripe it with the Nashville and extra Tennessee or maybe Nashville and extra Ecru - too nautical??
So what to do? Anyone know of any cute designs anywhere else that only uses 10 balls of Denim - just to muddy (or should that be blueify..) the waters even more?
By the way, Driving Over Lemons by Chris Thingy is a good read. If you ever get the chance to kick over the traces and take off for the good life, just do it. We did last year - best move we ever made....
So, I got a little distracted from the purple poncho but I just needed a bit of stitch definition that I could actually see. I liked the look of the deep border on the Jingle Jangle sweater from Miss Bea's Band and before I knew it, there it was!
I didn't have any Rowan Wool/ Cotton as specified but I did have some ancient Annabel Fox Double Knitting (100% pure new wool) in my stash in a pretty lilac-y colour. Feels quite virtuous to use up those old purchases!
The poncho has moved along - at this point in time, it looks similar to the first picture of the back shown here, just imagine it a few inches longer. I was being unjust to the pattern writer in my previous entry. I'm sure they had a smoother yarn in mind when the pattern was written!
In reading news, I have actually made a good start on Anna Karenina. It's my second time of reading it which I think helps as I'm not going through that agony of working out who is who. It's much easier to relax into the storyline and admire the writing.
I've just finished reading "Turn Again Home" by Carol Birch which was enjoyable. The back cover blurb suggested that it was a saga-type novel about three generations of a Manchester family, which it was, but written in a more modern fashion than that suggests. It was a little light-weight in that it included a lot of the family rather than concentrate on 'main players' but the author certainly covered a lot of ground - right through the twentieth century in fact. What did I take away from reading the novel? Well, the message for me was that behind a seemingly ordinary family facade lie a number of different passions (jazz for one husband), feats of bravery (surviving in the Malayan jungle for another husband) and just general getting-by stuff (the women!). An interesting read.
...what would you do it for? I'v spent most part of the week wrangling with a tufty, slippery confection which is, allegedly, yarn. Progress has been fairly speedy, mostly owing to the fairly constant questioning from the nine-year-old as to whether I have finished it yet? Well, I finished half of it. It's half done and I know that I must immediately cast on for the second half and blast through it as quickly as I can.
It occurs to me that I could have told a fib and said that I'd finished it - how could you tell?? The pattern is a scream - you start with 155 stitches and then decrease either side of the centre stitch. What's so funny about that, you say? Well, in the midst of all that tuftiness, I'll have you know that there are mirrored decreases. Yup, that pattern actually stipulates to do that - just in case anybody can see through all that tuftiness and actually make out any stitch definition.... Still, I know it's there but I say again - how could you tell??
I picked up some interesting yarn last week. In a small yarn shop full of acrylics and fairly uninspiring stuff there was a display of Adriafil Yarns. Pretty surprising. I bought a few balls of a yarn called Graphic which has a fleece-like appearance shot through with brilliant colour. It's cute stuff...
I thought I might have a play around with it. The site looks worthy of a bit of a browse. There are some free patterns online which look interesting. See? it's really worthwhile going into every yarn shop you come across - you just don't know what surprises they might have!
Just one little extra thing. Here's my new knitting bag, big and roomy for lots of projects...
Could there be an Audrey in my future? Is it a sign?
It's been busy around here this weekend - birthday celebrations for our nine-year-old daughter continued on Saturday with a party for her friends. Our middle daughter was the official photographer and snapped this picture of one of the guests -
tee hee! No, of course not one of the guests, just one of the animals in the petting area at the riding stables where the party was held. The girls had a riding lesson followed by some energetic bouncing on a huuuge bouncy-castle. A good time was had by all - I hope!
I cast on for the Vintage Knits camisole but was thwarted from making too much progress by not having a 3.25mm circular needle to use after the ribbing. I'm going to do it in the round as there is no body shaping, and front and back are identical up to the armholes. This is the hemp yarn which feels quite like linen (our youngest daughter, who is totally blind, touched it and said "Mummy's knitting with string!")
However, it has not grown any larger as I took my nine-year old with me when I went to get the needle (we were out spending birthday money!) and she espied this funky little purple poncho:
So I just had to get the yarn and give it a go, didn't I? I can't resist knitting for them when they particularly ask for something, even though it is 100% polyester! (machine-washable and tumble-dryable!) Who's the yarn-snob??! Here's progress so far:
It is very textural yarn, Wendy 'Shimmer' - a polyester tape with fluffy tufts of yarn attached, resulting in a soft, dense, fluffy fabric - should be fun to wear. Absolute murder to knit with though.
I had a lovely day out with my husband yesterday, we walked and looked at the sea, had lunch and, of course, visited the local yarn shop. I picked up some cotton to have a go at the Fiona bag from bruxknits - scroll down to see the link to the free pattern pdf.
I had it in my mind that I wanted to use green and trim it with pink, as they are my colours of the moment but somehow the girly part of me chose pink as the main colour and green as the trim. Ah well - a girl can never have too much pink, can she? I have made a start on it but no photograph as yet, I'll show it when I'm a little further along.
It was a good day for post as well, some lovely Opal sock yarn (I got the Magic 1035 at the top of the page) and Addi circular needles (my first pair of Addis!) from the lovely people at Get Knitted. It's a great place to order yarn from, I rang them (no online facility as yet) on Monday and it was here (and I'm a long way from anything!) on Wednesday. It even came with a free sock and little gift-pouch pattern. Looking forward to knitting up these socks which will be for my eldest daughter (who is nine years old this Friday!!!).
The other interesting thing that arrived was this yarn from The House of Hemp. I think, co-incidentally, that Emma has it in the same colour which I believe is called 'Ah'. They hand-dye the colours so I guess there is some variation.
I plan to make the camisole from the cover of Vintage Knits with the hemp yarn, all in one colour, like MJ's over at Yummy Yarn - isn' it pretty?
Oh and the lunch and especially the company was excellent - could a girl ask for anything more??!
I applied myself to Joy and finished the back. She's got a cute detail on the armholes - a slip stitch edging, I think it's called. You pick up the bar before the last stitch, slip the last stitch and then knit them both together on the next row. It makes the armhole edge look pretty neat. Not sure if you can quite see it in this picture...
The colour is more green than the photograph suggests. Now, do I cast on for the front of this or cast on for the front of Flighty? Hmm, choices, choices...
I'm joining in with Polly and Eva's Denim People knitalong - starting next month, I think. I like Picot, or Thelma, or Sassy - hmmm, more choices...
Here's the latest addition to our burgeoning collection of soft toys, flat cat (bet you couldn't wait to find out..). He's done from a pattern in 'Double Knits' by Zoe Mellor - "a great way to use up spare yarn". Sweetheart, none of it's spare - it all has potential.
I used some Debbie Bliss merino DK for the black and white bits but the red was really a bit special. Here I used Debbie Bliss cashmerino which is gorgeous, a really soft handle that gives lovely stitch definition, even in plain and simple old garter stitch. Actually what is plain or simple about garter stitch? The number of times I reverted to purling the wrong side - stocking stitch must be deeply ingrained in me.
I've been leafing through my pattern books, always fatal as something completely different to the intended projects always surfaces. On that note, I give you part one of the slipperfest which ensued on looking through Debbie Bliss' Simple Living.
It started out life as a right slipper but somehow metamorphosed into a left. Perhaps too much tv, I was watching Robert Downey Jnr in Restoration at the time which I quite enjoyed - that Meribel character really goes through it - if you haven't already, try the book, it's a good read. Any road up, now the slipper needs a partner in crime, preferably a right-handed one. Watch this space...
A little in the knitting doldrums this week - nothing on the needles is particularly inspring at the moment. I came up against a bit of a hurdle with Joy and haven't quite got back into the groove with it yet. It was just the armhole shaping but something about the way it was written and my execution of it, made it a bit labour-intensive. Ah well, it will come. No photographs of that one as it hasn't changed substantially since the last picture.
I've decided to go with Elizabeth I. I've loved this pattern for the longest time - hope my knitting skills are up to it! I think that it's good to push our limits a little though, yes? Now, the next choice is colour - not an easy one as there are so many beautiful ones to choose from. I'm quite taken with Bogbean, a dark green (not sure if it's the colour or the name that appeals!), but I'm wondering if it might be easier to work in a lighter colour. Out of interest, Virtual Yarns emailed me to say that the Elizabeth I design is being re-published within the next year which is interesting - guess they might mean the Tudor Roses book or a collection of patterns.
Here's my last long-term project, done a couple of years ago. I loved working it up but it did take a long time. I wear it a lot in the winter months and love it, despite a few little bits that I might do differently now! I think the colours work really well together and it was a joy to knit the (sometimes surprising) colour combinations.
That's the front (the stripes actually do line-up - why do I only notice that once I've uploaded it??) and here's the back :
I think I'm being quite brave to take on a new project with sleeves! First sleeved project in several months.
Finally, a litttle unrelated item just to show that I haven't completely hung up my knitting needles this week:
Can you tell what it is yet?? Answer after the weekend.
I think that as I've been working with a lot of cotton or summery yarns lately, my thoughts, and my hands, are turning towards something with a bit more wool content. I've been browsing the Virtual Yarns site through a link from Heather (thank-you Heather - btw, the bucket hat is actually quite loose and unstructured once removed from the bucket-shaped red thing!). I've long admired these designs and want to have a project on the needles that I can take my time over - too many quick projects, perhaps?
I've been thinking for a long time about Elizabeth I but I understand that you need the Tudor Roses book for the pattern which is, of course, out of print and I've been unable to track it down so far. I love the shape of this design - bell sleeves are really appealing to me. But no pattern, no dice.
Then I saw Kimberly - lovely sleeves with the added benefit of just a little bit of fairisle. Quite a lot of stocking stitch, though. Love the colours they used.
Maybe I need a browse through my knitting books:
Can a girl ever have too many knitting books??
In actual knitting news, I had to undo a several rows of Joy as I'd made a mental note to start a new ball of yarn before the armhole shaping so as not to have to join one in on the edges. Which of course I forgot to do. That's the trouble with mental notes - mental - need to write it down!
Having taken a little too much sun on Saturday, I thought that a hat would be in order. What better hat than a Bottoms-Up Hat?
I did this one in some stash Rowan Handknit DK Cotton in cream. Scrumptious to knit with, I'm very pleased with this. I'm slightly tempted to add a few little knitted flowers using the greens from my Flighty (no, I haven't forgotten about it!). I do like the unsullied cream though - it's very pleasing in a minimalist way.
I've been a little intrigued by shawls and ponchos (ponchoes?) of late and so decided to whip up a little number this weekend. Inspired a little by Melissa's Cape Mod from the Stitch 'N Bitch book (thank you, Melissa!), I tried out this little number:
But wait, don't be fooled into thinking that I'm a fantastically quick knitter, the recipient of the poncho was this little lady. Doesn't she wear a lot of make-up these days? She's so shiny it's impossible to get a good photograph. These little items are real fun to knit apart from the small person who asks every two minutes, "Have you finished it yet?".
I'm staying indoors today - on an incredibly hot and sunny day, we saw our eldest daughter get her first rosette for horse-riding yesterday, so exciting! However, despite slathering SPF60 over all of the children, I neglected myself and am now an advert for not going into the sun unprotected - ouch!
I wanted to share this link from John Peel's Home Truths programme on Radio 4. A thirteen year old girl wrote a letter to herself in 1957 to be opened on her 60th birthday. She opened the letter during the programme and read it aloud - so poignant to hear the echoes of her younger self and her concerns for the future of the world in the shadow of the Cold War. Interesting too, as a comment on how we change and grow as people, yet parts of us are fundamentally the same.
I've made a start on the back of Joy. Cotton Tape is a 'joy' to work with - it's so soft and the resultant fabric has a light airy body.
The pattern is pretty straightforward - the rib effect is created by slipping a purl stitch with the yarn behind the work and then purling it on the way back. Sadly, not straightforward enough for me - I've purled once where I should have knit some 10 rows back - sigh. I'm going to try and ladder down to the stitch and re-knit it with a crochet hook. This stuff is knitted on an 8mm needle and isn't too slippery, so it ought to be possible - wish me luck!
I'm joining in with an "Anna Karenina"-readalong with Annie starting sometime soon - would anyone else like to join in? This will be my second reading of the novel - it's supposed to get better as you get older and I loved it first time around.
*added later..
I unravelled the offending stitch and re-purled with a crochet hook - it worked like a charm!
..is not-quite-a-top. I finished it off today and it's more of a camisole, I feel. Something to be worn under a shirt perhaps.
Here's a not very good arm's length photograph of me wearing it. It was a very quick knit and the Giotto is a joy to work with as the colours constantly surprise and delight. I'd like to knit something else with it - the range of colours is really scrumptious. Perhaps next time, I'd try something like a shawl or drapey scarf on the bigger needle recommended.
I'm going to give Joy (see last entry) a try next. I like the edging on Shells very much but I need a change from stocking stitch.
We've had visitors for the last few days so only a little knitting has been done - I'm working on the front of my Giotto Not-A-V-Neck Top, no photograph to show as it looks very similar to the back.
It's my husband's birthday tomorrow so, while shopping for his present, I made a little detour via the wool shop for emergency supplies.
I picked up some books: the two new Miss Bea books and a couple of older books, Rowan's Cotton Tape Collection and It's a Tape Thing. I'd not really looked at the Cotton Tape yarn before but Eva drew my attention to it recently. I bought some in a dark sludgy green:
I thought of doing either Joy or Shells. Joy appeals as it's a break from the stocking stitch of the Giotto top!
Away now to do the thank-you notes for the birthday presents or maybe a little knitting? I know, thank-you notes need to be done straight away...must set a good example to the children...