messy knitting

I promised photos of my messy knitting house

we have, knitting pattern and pencil on top of knitting bag, trailing tape measure to 3 blocking boards with kiddy owls and more pattern paper.

then we have the other side of the room  we have yarn, a zip removed from the hoodie that’s on the sofa, more yarn, another knitting bag…

I didn’t photograph the dining room the day I decided to line my gloves with fleece… I recently got given my grandma’s sewing machine and I’m definitely stil a novice sewer, so there were false starts, endless bits of paper… they’re done except for the tacking in of the lining

The Navy blue owlet that I knitted above (largest baby size) was given away whilst we were away. I don’t have the photos as they’re on my dad’s camera, kids definitely pull off the cute in knitwear look though. I was close to giving up knitting before that-well close to giving up garment knitting. I finished the cardigan for my dad and gave it to him. I’d blocked the bottom similar size to the chest forgetting I’d allowed for tapering of  torso, so it flared out (mind you bad posture is part to blame too) so, it’s an OK cardi that’s OK to wear at home, but…

Although I’ve picked up all the stitches for the change to my cardi, I haven’t as yet done anything. Took up sock knitting instead… Oh and since then I’ve bought myself a petrol greenyblue sweater and I am concerned I’ll be greened out (the contrast colour I went for is kingfisher tealy greenyblue)

Let me finish this whiney entry with a funny oops moment. I was preparing the 3 sweaters for blocking. I’d soaked them in hand washing stuff, then put them in the machine for a rinse and gentle spin (most of my handknits get this treatment, even elizabeth zimmermann recommends it!). I’d left time tight before my afternoon nap time. Blocked the first sweater, get to the second green one and BIG HOLE. Somehow I hadn’t case off on stitch and it had laddered down the neck. Picked it back up but not secured it yet! Glad I blocked and washed before giving it away, I can sort this but…

negative equity knitting

This morning, snuggled into bed, I grabbed my knitting bag from under my bed. Switched needle sizes and started knitting away on 2 sleeves at once, using magic loop-I’d done the ribbing previously. 25 rows later I suddenly remember that sleeves need to be increased regularly to fit arms! Cue: ripping. Leaving me in what I call, negative equity.  Although today’s venture probably doesn’t quite hit that, as I’m not further back from where I started. OOPS!

Re Frogging: I don’t frog unless I have to. That is, I don’t like leaving mistakes either, but a lot of things can be rectified by dropping back stitches and not frogging entire rows… Redoing cables like this, will be a picture post at some point. For now, my sleeves call.

Frugal knitting one step too far?

I have a hoodie that I finished in March last year.

Now, it’s a little shorter than I would have liked as I was running out of wool fast and the zip length also kind of determined the length of the hoodie.

If it were a bottom up hoodie, I’d rip back the hood and the flipped up hem (in contrasting yarn) and add a contrasting button and neck band and use the grey wool to add some ribbing/garter stitch to the bottom.

As the hoodie was knit top down though, this isn’t as straight forward….

why do i want to alter it and not just knit a new one? cost!! and it’s perfectly good wool-in fact i really like the wool… hmm. your thoughts would be gratefully received

Why knit?

Eskimimi recently asked “Why do you knit?” I then started writing about how I started knitting and it all got a bit bogged down and boring, so it’s living in my drafts folder…

Why I knit in bullet points:

• it’s a craft that (mostly) does not aggravate my pain
• I love woolens
• I love creating woolens
• I like having something to show for my time
• I enjoy the feeling of needles and wool and the knitting action
• I feel connected with others through it (past and present)
• maths!!

Interestingly Ekimimi commented about the thriftyness of knitting and people’s mis-belief that it’s a cheap past-time. It really really isn’t. Yet,  through necessity, I have managed to keep all my sweaters to a price I’d be willing to pay in a shop for a woolen garment (£30) with a few coming in cheaper… This budget knitting hasn’t meant knitting in acrylic either, but it has limited my choices… Socks work out quite expensive, but are at £5 for a pair of socks it’s a luxury I enjoy (I rarely go over that price bracket).

My question to any readers interested in replying is Where do you knit? with a sub question of what do you do whilst knitting and do you knit in company of your cohabitees should you cohabit (be that houseshare, family, etc)

I’m saving this entry until I have photographed my environment of knitting for you

Morning knitting done in bed

the view from my bed (through ugly window)

where ravelry happens when the laptop needs charging

The living room-lunchtime and evening knitting

Dining room,where wool winding happens, book and wool storage is and where a lot of bits of paper get scribbled on.

I do knit in company. In the evening if the tv’s on, I’m usually knitting. If we have music on, I’m definitely knitting. Being able to knit and chat and do is what makes knitting an amazing pasttime. In fact I am constantly trying to persuade Simon to knit “just” sitting watching tv seems strange, but then maybe that’s what he needs!

I’m off down to my parents for a week tomorrow and have some 75% wool 25% acrylic ready waiting for me to make owlets-my first forray into kids knitting and with machine washable wool too (socks excepted)

addendum

an addendum to my brief entry about wise choices. Another unwise choice is to expect said recipient of the cardigan to be a reliable source for measuring!

Let me explain a little more. I am about to join the arms and body together, but need to do another round on each to put stitches onto waste yarn. So I remeasure and realise that the arms are currently 23″ and I wanted to add another 4 rounds of garter stitch to the cuffs to bring them to the same depth of the garter at the bottom of the cardi. So, I picked up the phone, hoping my mum would remeasure my dad/one of his sweaters. Except she’s in the bath and my dad is cooking. So dad grabs “a sweater” I don’t even know if it’s a well fitting sweater, being so tall means that often things are a little short. He also grabs a DIY folding meter rule and measures the arm length.

I smiled, said thanks. I remembered I have one of his sweaters in my drawer (I kind of nicked it, it was/is cosy) so I’m going to measure that and go from there…

resisting the frog

After the great workshop (awful classroom) with Jared Flood, I think I got scared of my cardigan, so it’s been hibernating since, I couldn’t even look at it as I thought I might have to rip it out and start again. The other week I got brave, pulled it out the bag and got dad to try it on and I do think it’s going to be ok! I haven’t knitted any of it since though, for 3 reasons:

1. I haven’t knitted much (1 pair of socks, 1 sock knitted and frogged) at all this summer and knitting was beginning to become the big elephant in the corner.
2. I need to wind a skein of yarn into a ball
3. I thought my pattern notes were in my weekend bag in the loft. Turns out they’re still at my parents.

The elephant has been conquered. I have knitted a pair of fingerless mitts, which I am now however tempted to rip out as the yarn would work for a hat I’ve seen and love (I have a small stash) I am desperately trying to resist frogging them. The fact they don’t have a thumb gusset is making this weakening my resistance :S

I shall wind some wool today/tomorrow in anticipation of my pattern notes arriving soon.  Maybe I should spend some money on some yarn too to prevent the frogging urge further-although still tempted to reknit the mitts with a thumb gusset-much much more user friendly.

bad blogger

I just had a comment on this blog about my owl sweater and it’s kicked me into updating. I am a bad blogger, I know!

Easter saw some sad knitterly news. I was visiting my parents and went to the loo. I got very cold feet. I guessed someone had been over energetic washing their hands and that I’d trodden in a puddle. No wetness on the floor. I turned my foot so I could see the sole and there was the problem. My first pair of socks I ever knit for myself (using my grandmother’s hand me down metal DPNs and short row toes and heels-oh yes, nothing like jumping in at the deep end)  had developed a hole on the pad of my foot. I know I could darn them, but they are looking remarkably thin EVERYWHERE! It does mean that my mum has taken pity on me and is currently knitting me a pair of socks, that is when I don’t interrupt her with my phonecalls!

That same weekend, saw me battling with a fried M.E. brain charting out and calculating the start of my dad’s Birthday Cardigan. I am doing a Saddle Shoulder Cardigan but without the pattern as I couldn’t justify the postage for one pattern from the states. I have EZ to hand and she is all about no patterns, so I hope Meg will forgive me. I managed to cast on and knit, and somehow twist the join, so had to restart!

Roll forward to now and this weekend I completed the body (I’m knitting this in DK-slowwwww) and have just joined the cuffs to start the sleeves. Dad’s birthday was beginning of May, but he doesn’t mind… I am attending a class in June at Uk Rav Day being run by Jared Flood on steeking. I am secretely hoping that I will have speed knitted this and steeked it before then, but as the workshop is weekend after next, I realise that’s a tad ambitious! I maanged to skein, wash and dry some more wool for the sweater, all in one day thanks to the gorgeous sunshine this weekend.

For dad’s birthday Simon and I joined my parents in Edinburgh for a week. I did NO KNITTING (except for maybe 2 rounds on my socks) but can see why so many knit designers are bred there. The city really inspired me. From stuff you see and think NO WAY why all of that in ONE thing, but some of it might be useful… to amazingly perfect things. I’m speaking of all things, art, clothes, buildings, scenery, even food… loved my time there. I will be emailing Edinburgh council about wheelchairy stuff though, I got stranded several times…

here’s to more updates.

Rugby + Lace

Rugby and lace knitting do not mix. I knitted a whole round of k4 YO k1 Yo k4 k4tog 20 TIMES before i realised that I should’ve been knitting a knit round. It really was an elementary mistake, as I shouldn’t be knitting anything but knit stitches into the previous rounds YOs. So I spent the first half of the Scotland game today, knitting that round, then promptly unknitting it! Managed to do the k round, then the pattern round and another k round in the second half. Glad scotland won too

A pic of me in my newly finished sweater (owls by kate) in New Lanark chunky knitting my lace (Girasole in 4ply), just before the rugby.

Old meets New

Last weekend whislt down at my parents’, we got a phonecall from my grandmother requesting some lace-weight yarn to knit some baby shawls. 2 things: She hasn’t knitted for years due to ill health and there are no babies on the family horizon.  Trawled through the britishyarns website and bookmarked a load of favourites for later perusal! Mum went and dug out one of the shawls that she’s had for over 30 years. When we were photographing other knitting stuff, we took some of the shawl; here they are

The tale of Rowan Polar

Bought for a hoodie for myself… it was going to add too much bulk to my slimmed down self though. also not 100% sure about the colour for me.

an unfinished hoodie

unfinished hoodie from front

bought extra wool and it was then a finished sweater for simon, but was a bit skimpy and bulky again!

it was then made into something of a mystery parcel for Tom.

A brown paper wrapped box

YES, another hemlock ring blanket

and a candle flame shawl for my grandmother’s 80th birthday present. It now sits on the back of her chair