Wool Boutique

Holiday Plan 2011

2011-07-28T08:11:00.001-07:00

My “holiday” is swiftly approaching. Tomorrow afternoon at approximately 1.30pm i will begin an entire, luxurious 1 week (or 9 days including both weekends) off work.

I’m having a short holiday this year. Usually it would be 2 weeks in Summer, (which ain’t got nothing on the 4 weeks my Swedish colleagues take) but owing to the fact that i want to save my paid leave to tag on to the beginning of maternity leave i chose to shorten it.

So here’s the super-human effort of a list that i want to somehow try and achieve in this time period.

Day out at Newby Hall admiring the stately home, gardens and exhibitions
Day out in Scarborough (where husband and i met) or Whitby for fish and chips and an ice cream
Check out Saltburn auctions and/or car boot sales for furniture that can be repurposed into nursery furniture
Paint the Peanut’s room and get it all tidy and clean and looking like it might be ready for moving furniture into
Sort out the rest of the unpacking and make everything look “homely”
Sow herb seeds in planters outside before it gets too cold.
Find some winter biennials to plant out
Try and finish sorting the garden
Swatch for a new secret project
Bake lots and stock up the new freezer

I concoct a list every single year at both Summer and Christmas. I’ll admit, the list above is forbiddingly and ridiculously long for such a short amount of time off. It’s really just a list of the things i would like to get done, or at the very least the ways i would enjoy to spend my time off.

Of course, with our tremendous British weather, you know, the type that makes a dip in the North Sea look warm and dry, there may be a week of duvet days, movies and knitting.

In fact, sod the list, bring on the rain!

The First Baby Cardigan

2011-07-21T01:52:00.001-07:00

I’ve started making baby clothes, but this one isn’t for my own Peanut. This one is for our friends Sarah and Dan who just had a baby girl, Erin. Sarah enjoys hand knit baby clothes and i couldn’t resist making something, knowing it would come in as handy practise for myself.

Pattern: Maille
Needle size: 3.75mm
Made from: some random baby acrylic 4ply
Techniques: bottom up raglan; lace
Finished with: Pearlised heart buttons and white satin ribbon

Before selecting the pattern, i wish I'd read a lot of peoples’ project notes on the sleeve to body joining. It was messy and i attempted to fudge it my own way a little bit, which sort of worked but left me without enough stitches in the raglan section (between the decreases) to attempt the lovely lace. In the end i accepted it and left the lace out anyway, figuring it would look less girly as we didn’t know the gender before the arrival. I also knitted the sleeves a little bit shorter (about 1 inch) than the pattern called for. This was lucky because it appears that Erin has short arms and they’ve been rolling up the sleeves on every hand knit cardigan they received so far!

Verdict: A nice finished piece, but not a pattern I’ll be knitting from again, due to the weird sleeve contruction.

Are you in there little Peanut?

2011-06-29T07:20:00.001-07:00

Aaah, I've left my little bloggy home alone for a little bit too long I'm afraid. Those of you who have me on a feedreader (incidentally, for those who dont, you should... it really is the best way to keep on top of blog updates) will be surprised to see the blog title pop out in bold!

So why the silence? Well some of you who hang out in the same places as me on Ravelry will already know the news, but for those of you not in the know, meet Peanut.

I am now 18 weeks pregnant and have had very, very little urge to pick up the knitting sticks since i found out hence the radio silence. According to the other lovely ladies on the Due November '11 group over on Rav, this is not abnormal. Nearly everyone has felt the need to down tools until at least the 2nd trimester, preferring instead to rest and concentrate on growing their tiny offspring. The good news is that this aversion to knitting shouldn't last. As I'm now officially in my fifth month, I'm expecting my mojo to kick in again any day now. Any day.

Future blog posts around the subject of babies and whatnot shall be filed under the tag "Peanut".

Love love affair continues...

2011-03-06T07:55:00.001-08:00

The love affair with the self-striping yarn continues. I finished these gorgeous (and comfy) Regia Kaffe Fassett socks using the pattern in my head (60 stitches over 3 dpns, short row heel, traditional toe). Unfortunately for me these will be gifted i think.

And then i went and bought some Zauerball Crazy in Pumpkin. Can you see the orange theme emerging here? I'm not sure why, i just like it. Maybe it's a longing for sunshine thing.

Chocolate Cake Trials

2011-03-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

There's not much better for a chocolate lover than the good old chocolate fudge cake. When on the hunt for an appropriate cake for my mam last weekend all i could think about was how to get hold of the chocolatiest, rich cake i could find. The shops disappointed me, so home-made was the way forward!

The Masterpiece

Made for: mam's 60th birthday.

Recipe: Nigella Lawson's Devil's Food Cake

Decorated with: White Milk chocolate writing, edible glitter, edible stars and dark and white chocolate hearts

The verdict: Extremely dense cake made with a very loose batter (warning: don't attempt this in a loose bottom tin). I was disappointed with the (non)rising power of this cake and ended up making an additional cake instead of dividing one cake in half horizontally. The chocolate fudge frosting is also very rich and not very kid friendly. I added some icing (confectioners) sugar and 50g of milk chocolate to make it lighter.

Striping Love

2011-01-31T00:55:00.001-08:00

I have been known, in the past, to be somewhat slow on the uptake. I'm definitely not what marketers would call an early adopter, the person who has to have the latest gadget and gizmo. Foolishly, i like to feel as though i can rise above trends, be my own person and know my own mind. In other words, i don't want to be that person who is easily swayed by hype.

In the end i always realise that i am wrong. That the iPhone is popular because it truly is awesome. That Gladiator was on so long at the cinema and had so many people talking about it because it really is epic. And i realised that i was also so very wrong about two other things. Self-striping yarn and DPNs.

I gave DPNs (double pointed needles) my first go at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show where i bought a set of six Knitpro wooden DPNs on a whim. I seriously don't think that i can now knit socks any other way. It seems so much quicker, no fiddling about with cables and trying to gently ease my tight stitches over the knuckles of circulars anymore. It seems so much smoother and faster. An uninterupted circle of knitting bliss.

And the other thing: Self-striping yarn. You may have seen Alison's socks in my previous post, knitted with some gorgeous Regia World College Colour 6-ply. Well, i seem to be starting an unhealthy obsession for self-striping socks and have now splashed out on some Regia Kaffe Fassett and Zauerball Crazy. I'm out of control, I can't help myself.

My pledge to knit what's in my stash has gone all wrong. I might as well admit it.

So next time i read about the latest knitting trend on a blog or newsletter, I'll learn not to ignore it. To think all this time I've shunned DPNs and stripey yarn in favour of magic loop and plain patterned socks and there was such fun to be had.

The Gift of Giving

2011-01-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

Every now and again i try to do something that proves I'm not a bad person. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm not a bad person anyway but everyone has doubts don't they? Dreams about letting out an angry, shouty tirade at your boss, making a comment about the receptionists new haircut, silently judging your friend for the latest guy she brought to the pub... These are not my own personal failings, of course, merely examples. Everyone does things like this and if you don't then you're the exception to the rule. There's a reason the phrase "you're only human" exists. As beings, we're flawed.

However, at the weekend i performed an act of knitting sainthood.

I recently knitted a good old pair of socks. These socks were dear to me. I bought the yarn at the Christmas Market in Ulm (Bavaria, Germany) in December and the yarn was so lovely it sent shivers down my spine. It was "only" Regia from their 6-ply World College Color series, so you could argue that it really wasn't anything that special, but it was soft, squishy and felt wonderful to knit plain socks with. I even loved the way the two socks matched perfectly. I tried them on, they were too big. I frogged back the toe and an inch of the length and re-knit. No way. They were too wide and too thick to wear with any of my shoes. Even after a hot wash in the washing machine, the superwash yarn thwarted me and refused to shrink. They were demoted to house socks.

I took them to a party at the weekend, expecting that if the host's house was a little chilly, they'd look better than getting my slippers out.

Said host tried them on and fell in love. On a whim, to be a better person i gave them away.

Alison's feet, in what are now Alison's socks. I'll graciously accept my medal now.

Lean Year

2011-01-18T00:34:00.000-08:00

I have started the year as I mean to go on. When I buy yarn this year, I intend to knit it up straight away. There'll be none of this languishing in a plastic bag in the wardrobe, waiting for me to spend some time with it. It's going to be put to work, and so it should be. This year is the year of scrimping and saving for a house deposit. For those of you not in the know, it's hard to buy a house these days without 10% deposit. That's a lot of money that i can't spend on yarn. This year i need to buy my yarn and use it.

But this throws up the chicken and egg situation that always messes things up. Do you buy the yarn first and then find a suitable pattern? Or do you spot the pattern and buy the yarn? In general i'd say the second approach is more sensible, but if we knitters were sensible there would never be such a thing as a stash would there?

Last week i was very good. I spotted Riding to Avalon on Ravelry and i couldn't get it out of my head, especially after looking at some of the other modded projects that created a more fitted jumper. So there was my mind made up, that was what i was going to knit. I bought the yarn from colourmart.com in a gorgeous olive browny green Merino/Cashmere mix with slubs of burnt orange viscose to give a tweed effect. The delivery came within two days.

I've even swatched.

So how long can this behaviour last? I mean, this is not normal. It's the knitting equivelant of the cabbage soup diet, surely. Well if it is, i have to admit, this is some tasty cabbage soup.

Finally Done and Moving On.

2011-01-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas has been and gone. It felt like i focussed on it for a long time. It was great, we all had a wonderful time and it was amazing to have a Christmas in which there wasn't a job lost or a wedding to plan for. Michael and I had enough money to spare for gifts and enough time to focus on each other and our families. It was as perfect as we could have wished, and we came back down to earth with a bump this week!

I realise that this is late, but i wanted to share my Christmas knits. Of all the things on the list i knitted, the only ones i photographed were:

Mam's lace shawl

Pattern: Leaves and Arrows

Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Sock

Colourway: Winter's Night

Needles 4.5mm

Sarah's Spiral Cowl

Pattern: Spiral Cowl

Yarn: King Cole Merino Blend Aran

Colourway: Rose

Needles: 5mm

Rachel's mustacheoed Cowl and Chapeau

Pattern: Incognito and Meret

Yarn: King Cole Merino Blend Aran

Colourway: Rose and Damson

I really had such fun with the knitted gifts this year and everyone seemed thrilled with their presents. I was proud to hand over a luxurious silk shawl to my mam who, being a knitter herself, understands the amount of time and effort that went into it.

As much fun as it was, I'm glad to be able to get back to knitting for myself. I went stash diving yesterday while spring cleaning and found all sorts of yarn i'd forgotten i have! So it's time to get back down to it. Since New Year, a few FOs have come off the needles and are awaiting photography, I'll get round to those very soon.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!

Tutorial: Felt Gingerbread Ornaments

2010-12-20T00:59:00.000-08:00

Has the cat eaten your baubles? Got a bare spot where you've taken the crackers and candy canes away on Christmas Day? These gingerbread shapes are so quick and easy to make and can be hung from your tree or strung together to make a garland. All you need is:

A piece of thin card
A pen
Sharp scissors
Felt in a tan/fawn/biscuit colour
White/cream & Black embroidery thread
Embroidery needles
Soft toy filling

Fold the piece of card in half and draw half a gingerbread man shape. The will make sure your man is nice and symetrical. Cut him out and unfold him. (I'll happily provide a downloadable PDF of shapes should anyone want one)

Draw around your men on the felt, fit them as closely together as possible to make the most of the material. Cut out the shapes. The sensible person will now embroider one half with the design of their choosing. Give the man eyes, a nose and mouth and buttons (if you wish). I gave my man eyes and a nose and a belly button using a french knot.

Place two man shapes on top of one-another and start stitching together using a simple blanket stitch. Start at one shoulder and work all the way around to the other shoulder leaving the head un-worked.

Now for the fun.

Grab a small hunk of filling and tease it apart in your fingers to fluff it up. Start to fill your man. I found that using the end of a crochet hook helped to fill the extremities.

Sew up the head, secure the belly button on the back of your man with another french knot and slip the needle up and out of the top of your man's head.

Make a loop and secure.

Thread the loop with ribbon and hang your man in the tree.

Make other shapes too, hearts, Christmas trees, stockings and stars will all work well. Use them as little samplers for trying out different embroidery stitches. The stitch below is rosette stitch which looks like gorgeous icing dribbled all over a cookie.

So have a go, I guarantee you that making these charming ornaments is about ten times quicker than this post took to construct. Thanks Blogger!

The time, it's going...going....

2010-12-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hmmpf.

Life always seems to end up a bit like this. It seems not long ago since I was here, writing away, worried that it might still be a bit early to start writing about Christmas, what with it still being 10 and a half weeks away.

So here we are, now only 2 and a half weeks until Christmas and where has the time gone? I have no idea. It has disappeared, like a dropped stitch. You can’t catch it. It laughs in the face of you trying to catch it.

This time disappearance has had something to do with the amount of time I have spent on Christmas gift shopping and minor domestic disasters such as the car breaking down and the mister getting a piece of rusting metal in his eye resulting in a trip to the eye infirmary. Clearly I cannot refuse his request of a lift to the hospital in favour of knitting can I? The non-knitterly reader might argue that there really shouldn’t be a question mark on the end of that sentence.

So where am I with my Christmas knitting list…

Mammy: Raspberry Dreams Stole
This didn’t happen. Raspberry dreams caused me such a headache that I frogged it and started Leaves and Arrows instead, a gorgeous Estonian inspired design. This is finished and there are pictures to come.

Mammy-in-Law: French Press Slippers
Not started. Oops.

Nanna: Basic Cardigan – Finished! I am not bowled over with it as a FO. It’s too plain and the pattern was a royal pain (knitted flat and then seamed), but it will fit and will be warm, achieving everything I wanted from it.

Step-Daddy-in-Law: Sexy Hoes (Toirneach Kilt Hose) - done!

Sis: Heart Scarf and Hat Set
The plan for this has changed. I’m now making Incognito and a hat in a matching colour with detachable moustache. The gorgeous King Cole Merino Blend (aran weight) I’m planning to knit it in arrived today from Modern knitting. I’m more than happy with the squishiness and shall be starting tonight.

Sis-in-Law: Spiral Cowl

Boss: Owlets – this may or may not happen…. Depends on time/materials

Also I have an extremely ambitious list of Christmas crafts to wade through, starting with cute little felt gingerbreads. I’ve almost perfected my method, so expect a tutorial soon.

Barring another trip to eye casualty tonight, I hope to be able to say that I’m halfway through at least one more of the projects above. Maybe I shouldn’t hold my breath.

The Knitting and Stitching Show 2010 : Knit 1 Pass It On

2010-11-24T01:42:00.000-08:00

This weekend is The Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate Exhibition Halls. Rather than simply attend as a guest, I decided to get involved and volunteer at the K1 Pass It On stand. Knit 1 Pass it On is a national campaign to encourage knitters to pass on their skills to at least one more person.

Although I’ve already filled this lifetime quota (I helped my friend Toz to learn how to knit and crochet), I cannot suppress my desire to teach, therefore I will be at the stand, passing on my vast knowledge of knitting, purling, yarn-overing and decreasing. The world is honoured, no?

On the invitation it says that materials will be supplied, but if you want to you can bring your own knitting too. I’m imagining that since this is The Knitting and Stitching Show, a show for knitters, the majority of people there will have a basic understanding of knitting but may want to improve or try something they’ve never done before. From my trawling of the Ravelry forums it always seemed that cables, lace and socks (turning the heel in particular) are the things that seem mysterious and terrifying to new knitters so I’m planning on taking a nice piece of lace (a relatively easy pattern) and a sock (with a lifeline through the heel flap).

I’m excited at the prospect of teaching someone something new. If you’re coming along to the show, come and visit at Knit 1 Pass it On (stand C701). Tickets are £14 (concessions £12, Children £6) on the door.

Movember

2010-11-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

It's Movember, the month in which men all over the world grow funky facial hair to raise money for Prostate Cancer Charities. If you've never heard of it, where have you been? Maybe you're just not a facial hair lover, but I am.

Because of my fascination with facial fuzz and hot handlebars, I helped to start a moustache knit along on the British Banter group over at Ravelry. So far we only have two takers for joining (as well as myself), but I'm hoping even if we don't get many knitters, we'll get plenty of bidders! We plan to knit and crochet moustache art to auction off on ebay for charity in aid of prostate cancer.

So watch this space people. If you feel like joining along, come and see us over on Ravelry. If you fancy owning a fine piece of moustache paraphernalia, I'll let you know when the auctions go live.

Happy Movember!

Doom Thursday

2010-10-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Last night my faithful little car broke down about 3/4 of a mile from our flat.

I asked dearest husband if he wouldn't mind popping home to get me some knitting while i waited for the tow truck.

He laughed. I failed to see what was funny about it. He then refused.

Is that funny? Am i mad? It has made me decide that i should be carrying a project with me wherever i go for times such as that. This means i need to invest in a bag that is big enough to carry at least a ball of yarn and some needles around with me at all times. More research will go into this over the weekend.

The car is going into hospital tomorrow. Fingers crossed it won't be too expensive/hard to fix. Doom Thursday strikes again.

Raspberry Rip-ple.

2010-10-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I had an accident with my Raspberry Dreams Stole (rav link).

I don’t know how it happened, I really don’t. I am completely stunned. I had to rip back all of this gorgeous panel (and more considering it's 3 repeats wide and i was at least another inch higher above that lifeline you can see)…right to the very beginning.

I made the fatal mistake of not moving my lifeline up with me and when tinking a s2kp went badly wrong and left me with unravelled stitches, I ripped back to the lifeline, only to find that I could not make head nor tail of where I was in the pattern, no matter how hard I tried. I had the feeling this was not going to be rectified even if I left it overnight to give me some thinking space….that pattern is just too bloody complex. If you lose it, you lose it. There are many people remarking in this months KAL, that they are not finding this stole relaxing and it is a difficult knit, probably due to the chart not being easily memorised with lots of little niggly bits such as K7togs.

So. I am back to the start again.

My Christmas knitting is now officially killing me dead inside.

Nanna's cardigan has been an ordeal as well. But it is almost finished and there are pictures of that to come.

I have decided that i shall recover by knitting handwarmers, oh yes I shall.

Christmas Knits

2010-10-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

It's that funny time of year when i get a little bit introspective and slow. I find it hard to get up in the mornings, especially because the winter duvet we have switched to is so snuggly and it's dark outside at 6a.m.

It also becomes harder to take pictures for the blog at any time other than weekends, so for the lack of posts i must apologise, but for what i have planned i need pictures. Maybe i just need to plan better!

Christmas is looming like a big scary monster, threatening to eat me alive if i don't get knitting. The list of knitted presents is long and i feel as though i've not made a dent yet. At least there are still 10 and a half weeks left to really get motoring.

Here's my list (Ravelry links to the patterns):

Mammy: Raspberry Dreams Stole - in progress
Mammy-in-Law: French Press Slippers
Nanna: Basic Cardigan - in progress
Step-Daddy-in-Law: Sexy Hoes (Toirneach Kilt Hose) - done!
Sis: Heart Scarf and Hat
Sis-in-Law: Spiral Cowl or Thermis (i haven't decided which yet)
Boss: Owlets

and if i have the time i might try and squeeze in a manly hat and scarf for my dear beloved hubby and a pair of cosy socks/mittens for our friends' little boy, patterns to be decided upon.

When i put it all down like this, it somehow seems less overwhelming, especially when i have some on the go already. Make a list, tick them off, feel better.

What are your plans for Christmas knits?

Why You Should Use Stitch Markers

2010-09-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

The humble stitch marker.

At least this is my very simplified take on the stitch marker. There are many glorious types of marker, from DIY ones like mine above to the beautifully hand crafted ones you can find on artisan shopping sites like etsy. There will be more on how to DIY your own stitch markers in my next post, along with some of my top picks for stitch markers you can buy on teh internets.

The point of this post is to show you how to use these in ways that may possibly spare you from going slightly mental and committing Hara Kiri with a knitting needle.

Why might you need to use stitch markers?

To mark the beginning of a round when knitting in the round
To mark the position of pattern decreases/increases (e.g. in raglan shaping)
Counting stitches in long cast ons
Counting stitches in large increase rows (e.g. PI shawls)
Mark the right side of a piece with no obvious wrong side or right side
Mark out pattern repeats, especially in lace

I think we've covered previously that i love to knit lace, but if you're new around these parts, Hi, my name's Liz and i'm addicted to lace.

This knitting of lace is one of the things that forces me to use a lot of markers. I mean a lot of markers. There are 36 markers in this piece of lace. I sat and knotted 36 pieces of embroidery floss. Good times.

In the above PI shawl (Camping by the very wonderful Mwaa Knit) i have 576 stitches on the needle and keeping track of that many 16 stitch repeats can be tricky and result in the knitting needle stabbage we've already mentioned when you make a mistake and have to tink all those stitches, or worse still, you have to frog the beautiful and delicate laceweight yarn and risk breakage.

I've used a stitch marker between each 16 stitch pattern repeat to show where the repeat starts and ends, forcing me to focus simply on 16 stitches at a time, helping me not to get lost. I can easily check whether i have 16 stitches between each marker after i've knit a repeat, allowing me to see where i might have missed a yarn over or added one by mistake.

Another way stitches come in handy is for counting. Counting long cast-ons can be an arse, same with counting intensive increase rows (e.g. k1,yo to end). Place a marker every 10, 20 or even 50 stitches if you can get away with it. Breaking the row up this way spares you the horrible sinking feeling of losing count. The "oh man, was that 64 or 66?" or "Did I skip straight to 50 from 46?" Just count between the markers and then forget about it. Count your sections at the end and you know it's all good.

I hope this post shows that markers are a useful addition to your knitty arsenal. They don't have to cost a fortune, you can make some on the fly using embroidery thread or some scrap yarn in a contrasting colour to and the same weight as the yarn you're knitting with.

So now i'm off to knit a bit of lace. Unfortunately all the markers in the world can't get me away from the fact that 576 stitches equals roughly 1 hour per round. Hari Kiri? Where are those knitting needles....

Distraction

2010-09-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

I love Knit Alongs (or for the Acronym-philes out there, KALs). I love them with my whole heart. I especially love the Knit Alongs in the beginning lace knitters group on Ravelry. No matter how many WIPs i have on the go, i seem to manage to get sucked into the current KAL, buying more yarn and casting on yet another project. I even bought new needles and a new book for this one. Very naughty.

I got dragged into this KAL with good reason. This year in the 100th anniversary of the birth of our knitting herione, Elizabeth Zimmerman and the KAL pattern is a commemorative shawl (tablecloth for me) based on the PI shawl technique from the Knitters Almanac called "Camping".

The construction is wonderful and the pattern beautiful. It's my first venture into knitting with laceweight and all is going well so far. I'm using the gorgrous Knit Picks Gloss Lace i got from Great British Yarns.

Most people in the KAL have opted to knit the half-circle version, but i had visions of this bright turquoise table cloth brightening up my living room and i fell for the full circle like i was sucker punched.

I'm now up to the 576 stitch round and the pattern is coming along slow but steady. The next section might just take until the end of September if i consider how slow the progress was on the slanting twigs section. The good news is that i reckon i'll have at least one skein of this gorgeous turquoise yarn left over. Enough to make a delightful little treat for myself.

I can't wait to finish this but i already feel like i'm cheating on my other WIPs. Jim's Kilt Hose are in the corner, looking at me with sorrowful eyes, and i never was one to resist some scottish charm. Looks like it's back to boring 5 x 1 rib tonight. Yay.

Christmas Knits Part 1: Kilt Hose

2010-09-08T02:34:00.000-07:00

I’ve had an extra long weekend off work this week, first day back today. The problem with long weekends is that I want to procrastinate, even if there are 50 new emails in my inbox highlighted in red, demanding attention.

So, to prolong the procrastination I want to talk about Christmas knitting.

Yes, the time has come. There’s no use fighting it. In fact I saw a few threads on Ravelry about Christmas in July…I steered clear.

I started my Christmas knitting when I got back from holiday in August with these little beauties:

A pair of Kilt Hose for my Scottish Step-Dad-In-Law Jim. He’s a proud Scotsman and I have to admit to sometimes not understanding a word he says. I find that nodding and giggling at him usually does the job. He’s probably funny, I never met a Scot who wasn’t (something about living in the rainy cold gives you a nice dry sense of humour).

In the summer, as I was knitting my first pair of socks (a disaster) he happened to mention that the kilt hose he buys are rubbish these days and they’re not like his mum used to make. He also mentioned that his short legs were the bane of a Scotsman’s existence when it comes to Kilt Hose. They’re just all too long! Foolishly led into it, I reckoned I could make some for his Christmas present and if they were good enough he could wear them for his daughter’s wedding in May.

So in the search for Kilt Hose on Ravelry I came across a few traditional type hose (all with comments exclaiming how complicated they were) and then I came across Toirneach from Knitty. I had a brief look through the pattern and it looked ok. Unfortunately I didn’t like the Amphora lace cuff. It wasn’t for Jim, it seemed too feminine. So true to type, I decided to do what I always do on these important projects. I decided to try something completely new to me. Cables. Also true to type I didn’t just start of with a simple 2 x 2 cable. I started with a nine stranded plait. It was too small and not stretchy enough, so after about five started and frogged cuffs, I ended up with the simple plaited cable repeating pattern which is nice and stretchy because it’s kind of like a large scale rib and I used the leg pattern from Toirneach with a short row heel rather than a heel flap.

I’m rather happy and perhaps most worried by the fact that Jim’s leg measurements are almost spot-on the same as mine. I mean, he told me he has short legs, but really?

International Threads

2010-09-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

The thing about hanging out on international sites like Ravelry is that you get to hear about all the fantastic yarns of the world. You try some of these wonderful international yarns, for example Cascade 220, and you realise what all the fuss is about. This is compounded somewhat when you come across 5 knots in a ball of Rowan (by the way i found a knot in the second ball as well, 6 knots total).

So you're buying all this wonderful yarn and then...what happens when you find an amazing yarn that you just can't get at home, no matter how hard you scour the internet? Worse, a whole range of yarns and the only website who deals in it won't, not can't, won't ship to your country? Knit Picks range of yarn is one such example. But yay! I've found a UK supplier. A UK supplier of Knit Picks Yarn.

Thanks to Great British Yarns (the name is ironic considering Knit Picks is an American brand, please don't stop stocking it because of that) i am now the proud owner of 3 skeins of Gloss Sock in Midnight and 4 Skeins of Gloss Lace. Yesssssss. What's even better is that delivery has been SO quick both times i've ordered, i won't hesitate to go back for more.

So if you've ever hankered after a go of some Knit Picks yarn, now is your chance. Good on ya GBY!

FO: Nutkin Socks

2010-08-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Pattern: Nutkin by Beth LaPensee
Yarn: Violet Green Socrates Supersock
Colourway: Kingfisher
Made for: Me

I finished these weeks ago, after we got home from holiday. The second sock was knitted on the long car journeys to and from Alton Towers theme park. The yarn is fantastic to work with and the colours are to die for, but unfortunately the variegated yarn just does not show the pattern. Consider it a lesson learned, variegated yarns are now for ribbed and plain sockies.

The pattern featured some firsts for me. It was my first turned cuff and my first proper short row toe that had to be grafted shut. It was also my first time knitting at a gauge that didn't leave the socks as stiff and (probably as bulletproof) as sheet steel.

As an aside here, i would like to share a word about my foot modeling. I have cankles and also my feet viewed from the sides are like weird wedges. From the top they are almost perfectly rectangular. I hate them. I imagine that this is what the witches feet from the Roald Dahl books look like. Except mine have toes. Really long finger-toes. I am also flat-footed. You might be getting the message that i really hate my ankles and feet. So don't get used to seeing my socks modelled in this way. Kay? Kay.

About the pattern. I really loved it knitting it, but the left leaning bias is really screwing with my love for the socks. The saving grace is that the pattern is obscured a bit by the variegated yarn, I am in like with the socks, not in love but let's face it, anything that covers these monstrous tootsies is well worth the effort.

Never knit a knot

2010-08-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

It has been said that the wise Elizabeth Zimmerman advises "never knit a knot".

Do you think she was thinking that after she found her 4th knot in a ball of Rowan Pure Wool dk?

Well i'll tell you something, i have found my 4th knot in about 25g of double knitting wool. 1 knot i can handle. 2? Mmmm, ok. But really, 4? In half a ball? Have i managed to get the scratty end-of-run ball somehow?

I would vent about this on Ravelry but seriously, people are sick of reading the "are knots acceptable?" posts so i won't go there. The cats don't understand and the hubster? Well i might as well be speaking in tongues. I'd better be careful about that because coupled with the stamping hissy fit i've just had, he might well be calling for an exorcist.

The Humans are Dead

2010-08-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hiyar.

I'm back from holidaying in the exotic lake district. I feel like a bad blogger, like i should have blogged as soon as we got back this weekend, but i needed to settle back into the boredom of being at home and "the gotta" for sharing.

We spent a lot of the last week doing various walks along craggy hillsides and mountains. It's not really necessary to share all my holiday snaps since most of them are of me doing this face:

at the top of a lot of different mountains and hills. The bad news is that the wind changed at the top of Cat Bells and now i'm stuck this way. My boss is not pleased. He has to look at this every day. Hubster says it's an improvement.

Because of the improvement i made to my countenance whilst walking the fells, i received a lot of presents from dearest hubster. I didn't get him anything (bad wife) but i bought us a new tent so that we won't be cold and wet next time we camp in the lakes. I think that's priceless really. Our current tent leaks.

My Hubster knows me better than anyone. He knows all about my quirky taste. Hence i ended up with three of the things that would please me better than anything else on earth.

A pet Ninja and a pet Samurai. Almost any japanese style gift is always a winner.

Tattoo themed journal/notebook. Tattoo themes are also a winner. I have a japanese leg sleeve tattoo with rats on it. That's three of my very favourite things combined (tattoos, japan, rats). Can you guess how much i love my own leg? An unhealthy amount. I would probably lick it if i was bendy enough.

Novelty crochet book of AMIGURUMI ROBOTS. Japan and robots! I am one of those people who makes true knitters uncomfortable. One of those crochet-knit hybrids. More on these delightful crobots soon.

I can't wait to crochet one of these little suckers. I've been working far too hard on "serious" projects these past few weeks. On that bombshell, it's time for me to go and steam my face straight. Good day!

Going on our Jollys

2010-07-31T04:48:00.001-07:00

We're off to the lakes again. Aren't we lucky?

Back in a week :)

Diamond Socklets - Free Pattern

2010-07-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so on a scale of 1 to 10, how sick are you of me banging on about these bloody socks?

Well the good news is that they are finally through test-knitting and they are live on Ravelry! The test knitters fought their way through pattern mistakes and have come out with some lovely footwear and i'm anxiously awaiting some more projects starting so i can see all the different types of yarn that ravelers decide to use!

I already have an idea for my next sock pattern. The world is not safe. No.