I Almost Forgot

I just realised I haven't posted the pictures of Gen's birthday gift - Arielle by Kim Hargreaves.  Although - technically it ended up not being a birthday gift as I had a button crisis at the last minute followed by sleeve paralysis.

On the Saturday before her birthday brunch I was pretty close to being finished - just a bit more of the front, the neck edging, the cap sleeves and a bit of sewing - and I needed some buttons.  (Oddly, as I write that now it seems clear that there was no way that was all going to get done before the brunch.  Hind sight!) 

The button issue had me waffling between a shorter trip to a local-ish yarn shop - where I couldn't be sure they'd have the  right buttons but I'd have more knitting time - and a longer trip to John Lewis - where I knew they probably would have the right buttons but I'd lose valuable knitting time. 

I managed to waste quite a bit of time debating the situation and eventually decided that the local-ish yarn shop was the way to go.

I was wrong.

Not only did they not have the right buttons - they didn't have any buttons.

So I hop on the tube and head up to John Lewis.  I do indeed find the right buttons (I buy 2 styles so I can compare and contrast later), and I do indeed waste most of the day's knitting time.

Not to be beaten by buttons I return home and knit up a storm.  I finish the front, and e neck edge and both sleeves in no time at all.  I seam up the sides.  I'm on a roll.  But...

But the sleeves seem way too small for the armhole.  Inches too small.  I pull at them a bit but they still seem too small.  I do a quick search and see many others have encountered the same problem when knitting this pattern.

I admit defeat and stuff the sweater into the knitting basket. In a fit of pique I ignored the sweater for a couple of weeks -- because clearly THAT will make the sleeves fit the armholes. 

Finally, last weekend I pulled the sweater out and was considering re-knitting the sleeves adding in some extra rows when I decided that maybe - just maybe - if I steam blocked the garter rib they would fit. I gently stretched the sleeves holding the steam iron about an inch above the fabric and heh presto -- now they fit the armhole!

I like the finished sweater - and I think it will suit long and lean Gen very well - but I don't think it's a style that would suit shorter curvier frames.

I knit it in the recommended Rowan Fine Milk Cotton on 2.75mm needles.

Knit Misty for Me

On Friday I stopped into John Lewis on the way home from work to buy something to store my shoes in and just happened (ha!) to wander into the yarn section.  I love the John Lewis yarn section - there is something reassuring to me about a department store that still stocks yarn. Most stopped by the end of the 80's but John Lewis and Liberty are hanging in there.

Anyway - I caught sight of the latest Kim Hargreaves pattern collection - Misty - and after a few seconds flipping through the pages I knew it was another winner.  I've made quite a few of Kim's patterns over the past couple of years as gifts - and each one has been really well received.  She has a great eye for detail and her designs are fresh enough that my 15 year old goddaughter loves them, but have enough style that my (slightly older than 15 years old) sister likes them as well.

I picked up a few skeins for Rowan Fine Milk Cotton and will be making one or the other of these for gorgeous goddaughter Genevieve's 16th birthday in July.  I'm leaning towards the first one.....

In Wedding Ring Shawl news I'm still knitting.
I still have a lot of knitting to do.
The end.

(I've just started the 5th repeat - so another 100ish rows and I'll be ready to start the wide border.)

Last of 2009

Happy 2010! Hope it's off to a good start for all of you. I've been back in London for a week and Christmas seems like forever ago. But before I can move the blog out of the noughties I need to catch you up on my Christmas knitting.

Christmas sneaking up on me meant that I hadn't actually started any Christmas knitting before December which allowed me to be creative in my knitting planning/timetable. Due to comings and goings of the recipients I needed my Mom's first (for the 25th), my niece's for the 27th, my sister's for a day or two after that and goddaughter Gen's for when I returned.

My plan was clear, start with Mom's and get most (or all) of it done before I got to NB. While there I could knit up my niece's and my sister's gift and then work on Gen's on the way back. Easy peasy.

Pah.

Suffice to say that the knitting gods weren't working any miracles for me. In combination with changing schedules (my sister was now coming BEFORE Christmas) this meant my sister received a ball of wool and some buttons (with a note proclaiming them to be Magic Wool which if left with a friendly knitter woud become a Nantucket Jacket), my mom got a box with cardigan pieces and a promise that I'd seam them up soon. My niece and goddaughter fared better and both got completed gifts! WooHoo!

Ma's gift was the Katharine Hepburn cardigan (available as a free pattern from Knitting Daily) in Rowan 4ply Cashsoft (not Rowan pure wool as I mistakenly said last time!). I used smaller needles than called for -- 3.5mm for the body and about 10 skeins of Rowan 4ply Cashsoft for the middle size.




The pattern is clear and it's a pleasant knit. Simple 12 row repeat - relaxing with just enough going on to keep your interest. The yarn is gorgeoously soft and great to knit with. I seriously underestimated how long the cardigan would take to knit -- and had to resort to knitting it in front of my Mom to make any progress at all! (It was a desperate move - but proved that all knitting looks the same to non-knitters. I told her it was my sister's cardigan and she believed me!)

Mom seemed very happy with the gift which made it all worthwhile. (Apologies for the photo -- my fault for photographing it in a hurry just before I left!)

My sister's cardigan is the Nantucket Jacket from Interweave Knits (also in the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits magazine). Knit in Rowan Pure Wool Aran (just over 4 skeins) on 5 mm needles it was a quick knit. If I were to make it again I'd change the collar shaping. I haven't seen it on my sister yet so I can't declare it a success or failure - as I think the fit of this cardigan is key.




My niece Kali got a wrap which some of you will find familiar -- I made the same wrap last year for my goddaughter! It's based on the Aimee wrap in Kim Hargreaves Thrown Together collection. I realised today that the only photo I took of Kali's is this one - which shows off the label but doesn't do the wrap itself much justice.



It is 3 skeins of Kidsilk Haze knit double on 5.5mm needles. As a reminder here is a photo of Gen's so you can see what the wrap looks like unfolded!



The last knitted (oops crocheted) gift of 2009 was a Flourish scarf from Kim Hargreaves Heartfelt. It worked up quickly on a 9mm hook - especially as I didn't include the fiddly beads. I used 5 skeins of Kid Silk Haze (the pattern says 4) and it is the fluffiest thing ever. Perfect for a 15 year old in the coldest UK winter in 40 years I think!



Enough of 2009 -- I'm off to find some knitting projects for 2010. If I had learned any lessons from this Christmas of course I'd be starting on gifts for next year --- but I haven't!

Joy in the Morning

I've called this post Joy in the Morning for a few reasons.

First, it is indeed morning as I compose this blog entry. (And heh -- given my recent posting activity - just posting should be a cause for joy!)

Second, it is a Bank Holiday here in London and it is NOT raining.

Finally, and most importantly (at least as far as this blog is concerned) I present Joy, a summer cardigan from Kim Hargreaves Nectar collection.


This cardigan was the latest project in my 'working through the stash' drive. I bought the yarn (Rowan Luxury Cotton DK - now discontinued) last summer at the Liberty sale and decided it was time to get it worked up into....something.

The usual aimless flicking through books and magazines followed until I stumbled across this pattern. I decided to make it for my younger sister (surprise!)(I'll find out now if she actually reads the blog or just looks at the pictures) which is of course always a bit of a knitting risk. But I figured I could probably find another pair of shoulders if she decides it isn't quite right for her.

I love Kim Hargreaves style details and the attention she gives to things like lining up the pattern in the sleeves with the body of the cardigan and the scalloped cast on edges.

The pattern is clear although the text for the 'Eyelet Ridge Pattern' could put beginning knitters off - it shouldn't. I think a chart would have been a lot clearer but for some reason they don't appear a lot in Hargreaves' books.

The pattern calls for Rowan Denim yarn - which shrinks (lengthwise) when washed so you may have to do some adjusting to the pattern if you are using something else. Miraculously (more joy!) I just knit and managed to get the right row and stitch gauge without any changes. (I still don't quite believe it myself.)

PS - Apart from being a convenient blog post title Joy in the Morning is a very funny book by PG Wodehouse. If you haven't read any of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories do try one. I can't really pick one out over the others as to be honest the plots are all pretty similar -- but that is in no way a criticism. I've read them all more than once and expect to read them all again.

And if you are a fan of Hugh Laurie in House - but haven't experienced the delights of the British series of Jeeves and Wooster from the 90's check out this clip for a bit of House like you've never seen him before!




PPS - In the interest in Truth in Blogging I should confess it is now well past noon (got a bit distracted) and it is now raining. But there's no way I'm changing that title now.

A Few Christmas Gifts

Happy 2009!! (And bad news if like me you never got around to acquiring 2000, 2001, 2002.....2009 comedy glasses. You've missed your chance! I've just realised that next year - the '00' is gone - 2010 just doesn't work for novelty glasses.)

I hope the New Year is a great one for all of you. My only resolution is to make the most of this temporary retirement. It's a great gift and I mustn't let myself forget that. (Or forget that it is TEMPORARY.)(I'll need to go back to real life at some point.)

After I got back from Canada I got to do Christmas all over again in London. As you know we kicked the festivities off here with the Gingerbread House. Unfortunately shortly after that I came down with a cold which wiped me out for a days and lasted until after Christmas day. Thanks to the wonder of Day Nurse/Night Nurse drugs I didn't have to abandon all the fun, but I did have to pace myself!

The first gift I knit was a whim. When the cold was at its worst I didn't feel like knitting at all(!) and as I started to improve I seemed to have a strange knitting craving. That's the only way I can describe it - a craving. I had no plans to make a hat, I didn't see any immediate use for a hat (I don't wear them) but the only thing I wanted to knit was a hat.

Luckily, I had just received the final shipment of my Lucky Lurker yarn from Duet Sock Yarn and with it was a slouchy hat pattern. Hurrah!

I satisfied my craving by casting on for the hat and a few hours later had a cute little hat that I decided would make a fine gift for Gorgeous Goddaughter Genevieve. It was a good choice. She put the hat on immediately after I gave it to her and has reportedly been wearing it pretty much constantly since.

I love Duet Sock Yarn - the base yarn is lovely and the colours are always amazing. The yarn club is a nice treat, and always includes interesting patterns and great treats.

With my weird knitting craving out of the way I was able to begin work on the two gifts I had planned. Starting with a Kim Hargreaves mini poncho thing-y - Aimee from Thrown Together. I modified the pattern quite a bit beginning with a yarn substitution - doubled KidSilk Night instead of KidSilk Aura. I did this because the KSN was what I had in stash -- but I'd recommend it as a great way to cut the cost of the project! I used about 3 skeins of KSN rather than the 5 skeins of KidSilk Aura called for.


It's a reasonably quick project, and a good thing to work on while watching DVDs - in this case the first season of Lark Rise to Candleford. I missed this last year when it was on. It is perfect comfort viewing and I can see why it was very popular on Sunday nights. Not much happens but it's lovely to watch and very more-ish even if the stories do begin to blur together.

When it was finished I decided to make a flower accessory to finish it off - and I'm quite pleased with what I came up with. It's amazing what a bit of scrap yarn, a crochet hook and a few beads can become.

Gen loves it - although it's fair to say she was a bit perplexed by what the tube was when she first opened it! It definitely improves on wearing.

For Caroline I wanted to make something with some of the lovely Posh Yarn cashmere I accumulated late last year. I picked out a gorgeous warm pumpkin coloured aran yarn and began looking for the perfect pattern. I started and frogged about 4 different patterns before settling on this design which I remembered from Knitting New Scarves. I didn't use the pattern, just cast 25 stitches on to 8mm needles, knit in garter stitch until it was a pleasing size (36 rows) and then on the next row cast off 12 stitches from one end and cast on 12 stitches on the other. I repeated that until I ran out of yarn.

The scarf is about 6 1/2 ft long and more importantly super soft and warm. She seemed very pleased with it and I've seen her wearing it a few times since so I'll take it as a success.

I've got one more finished project from 2008 to share with you which I'll do in my next post. Then it's back to real time blogging!

Deja Vu

...in blue! This is the second Glint shrug I've knit. Same yarn (Rowan Summer Tweed), different colour (blue).

As with the first shrug, I only used 4 of the 5 skeins called for in the pattern. In both instances I had enough of the 4th skein left for finishing and some to keep for any future repairs.

While I was seaming the shrug I found myself contemplating the threads that pop up regularly in Ravelry and other knitting forums from people who hate finishing sweaters. And the general consensus from responses is that - yep - seaming sucks.

While I confess I don't like seaming as much as knitting -- I don't hate it. I do get a little (sad) thrill when I pull the yarn up on an invisible seam as the two pieces come together like magic. And I feel a frisson of pride when tackling a trickier seam (rows to stitches, curved edges or something that requires 'easing') successfully.

I pondered the finishing hate a little more and I think that largely it comes down to the TIME it takes to do it properly. I think it's ironic that although most of us have the patience to spend tens of hours on a project, we balk at spending a small fraction of that time getting it all together.

But seaming can't be rushed. I do a lot of checking and double checking while seaming, and will immediately undo a seam that doesn't look quite right. Sometimes I have to try two or three different stitching techniques before I find the one that works perfectly in the situation.

Finishing this little shrug took just over 3 hours. The side seams are mattress stitch, the shoulder seams are fake knit seams, and I used slip stitch to crochet the sleeve seams. When I picked up the stitches around the neck to knit the edging, there were a couple of loose stitches which I tidied up with a few duplicate stitches.

So what's my point? Who knows? I guess it's to accept that if you are making a project that requires seams - you have to embrace that part of the process. Take a bit of time to learn and practise the different techniques -- it will make all the difference between a sweater you wear all the time, and one you shove in the back of the closet because it never looked quite right.

Or - just make shawls!

Spring Break
For those of you who have been following my rollercoaster relationship with the Spring Shawl I have to report that we are currently 'on a break'. I don't know where we'll go from here, but following the drunken abuse and snappish behaviour I think we both need time to consider what we want out of this relationship.

Short and Sweet

A very quick update today - to present this short and sweet shrug I made for Caroline's birthday (which is today!) I delivered it this morning and it looks fabulous on her.

It's Glint from Kim Hargreaves Nectar collection. I've become a bit of a Hargreaves groupie lately, this is my 4th project from her books in the past 6 months. Her patterns are stylish, well designed and generally well written.

This one is knit in Rowan Summer Tweed. The pattern called for 5 skeins for the small size, but I only used 4. The body is knit on 5mm needles, the edging on 4.5mm.

The colour is richer than in this picture - for no reason that makes sense to me I want to say it's velevety!

Ummmm....that's it!

Finally - The Friends and Family Prize

If you are a family member still struggling to come to grips with not winning the 'Friends and Family' prize from my contest you may want to look away now.

For the rest of you - I present Shirl wearing her new shrug.

She asked for a shrug and after reviewing a few options settled on this - the Enchant shrug from Kim Hargreaves' latest collection: Nectar.

When I first looked at the pattern description online I thought this would be a quick knit, with minimal sewing up. Errrrr - not quite.

The body of the shrug is knit in one piece from cuff to cuff, and that is plain stockinette and does move quite quickly. But what I hadn't realised was that the sleeve and body edging is all knit separately and then stitched on. So much for minimal sewing!!

The edging pattern is k 1 row, purl 1 row, purl 1 row, knit 1 row - which gives a sort of double time garter ridge. There are small picots knit at the beginning of every right side row.

Oh - and there is about 6 1/2 feet of it. (I had barely made a dent in the front edging when I took this picture.)

I confess that I was dreading sewing the edging on. Seaming is not my strong point (perhaps that is why I like knitting lace scarves!) and was really worried I wouldnt be able to do it neatly enough....

But, I'd promised Shirl this shrug, so a-seaming I would go. Last Sunday I woke up early, drank a strong cup of fortifying tea, cleared the kitchen table to work on, picked up my darning needle and started stitching.

And I stitched.

And stitched.

And 5 1/2 hours (yep, 5 1/2 hours) later I had completed the last seam.

It was a good reminder that I CAN do neat seams - but that I need to take the time and space to do them properly.

The hard part over, I gave the sweater a steam block, made up a little label and voila! The last of the blogivesary prizes ready for presentation.

I met up with Shirl on Friday and handed over the shrug and she seems very pleased with it. Hurrah!!




The details:
Enchant from Nectar by Kim Hargreaves
Rowan Calmer in 'Calm', 5 balls (cotton, polyesther blend)
5mm needles (and a very tired darning needle)

Rowan Calmer has a stretch to it which takes a little getting used to, but it is gorgeously soft and (despite what the label says) is machine washable.

As with most Kim Hargreaves designs, the pattern is clear and easy to follow.

Random Act of Kindness
This little white cloud of fluff will be a random act of kindness (if it is completed SOON) or, a fluffy white thing I knit which I don't really have any use for (if it isn't). So I'm off to knit.

Lemur Puppet Patterns and Stuff

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the Forest Path Stole. To quickly answer some of the questions:

I think the stole can be made narrower by removing one lace panel from each of the tiers. It would be pretty straightforward with some tweaking of the placement of the panels required (this makes more sense if you are looking at the pattern – honest!).

Making it shorter is very simple, just reduce the number of tiers – and the pattern gives options to do this.

And – errrrr - thanks for the kind offers to let me finish up the hibernating FPS’s out there – but I think I’ll pass for now!!

As often happens when I finish a big project I’m at a bit of a loss about what to tackle next. And my knitting this week reflects that.

The first thing I did was pull out the hibernating Melon Scarf and faff around with some border options. After two or three unsatisfactory attempts I remembered Gen saying before Christmas, “It looks great like it is – I don’t think it needs anything else.” And I looked at it, with non-knitter, non-Victorian Lace Today eyes and saw what she meant.

So I cast it off.

It is a very simple scarf, made just a little bit more special by the sheen of the SeaSilk. Here it is wrapped around a vase of tulips which are meant to imitate my head.

One skein of Handmaiden SeaSilk, pattern from Victorian Lace Today.

Then I turned into a hat machine. This was driven by two factors: a need to knit up some stash yarn, and the fact that the last hat I made which little

Mads claimed as hers does not in fact fit her. While
she’s wearing it, it slowly slides up her head until it is perched precariously on the top of he

r head. Apparently because I made it, she insisted on wearing it anyway. (How cute is she? She wins handknits for life!)

So I pulled out some wool left over from the great poncho
knit-athon of 2004(ish) and started knitting hats.

(The great poncho knit-athon began when I responded to a casual comment from Caroline that she loved a poncho she’d seen in Liberty. “I could make you one” I said. And then Susie, Gen and Mads (who was 5 and had no idea what a poncho was) chimed in with “Could I have one Sooby?” And thus began 2 months of poncho knitting. I didn’t even like ponchos.)

The purple hat and the grey hat with cables are from the Harlot’s ‘Unoriginal Hat’ pattern. The other three are even less original hats made up by me as I went along.

The linen coloured hat was meant to have cables all the way up the hat, but I got distracted and missed the second cable so rather than rip it out I decided to leave the one cable in and call it a design feature. I expect this is how all the great designers work.

While churning out hats I came across some Rowan Big Wool left over from the cardigan I made for Gen for Christmas. Keen to use up more stash I pulled out the Kim Hargreaves Heartfelt book and knit up Cherish for Gen.

However, when I handed it over to Caroline yesterday I got the distinct impression that it might never actually make it to Gen’s wardrobe as Caroline seemed quite taken with it.

The most random project of the week was a request from the Caked Crusader for a jumper for a very old, very worn, and very well loved lemur puppet named Merf. Apparently, Merf was a childhood favourite of the Caked Crusader and her brother and has now been handed down to the Caked Crusader’s nephew. He is showing his age and the Caked Crusader thought a new jumper might spruce him up a bit.

Designing for a lemur puppet took a bit of thought, mostly due to his sticky out arms and lack of a neck. A bit of fiddling around and I came up with the red jumper. Being an overachiever I immediately cast on for the black version. And as an inspired afterthought I crocheted a dapper scarf to be worn with either.

I’d offer to write up the lemur puppet pattern but I don’t expect there’s much demand.

Christmas - The Results

Finally unveiled for your blog-reading pleasure are the Christmas gifts of 2007.

This is the first Christmas in ages that I've knit so many presents. It seems that my re-energised knitting (thanks largely to my late discovery of the knitting world on the web last April) has reminded my loved ones that they like knitted things.

The first request came from one of my nieces in Canada who wanted to know if I could possibly knit her some mittens, preferably blue. She didn't know why, but she had developed a sudden longing for some knitted mittens -- and if it wasn't tooo hard (she asked) could I possibly put the initials of her high school on the mittens. After a bit of research I selected NHM #7 from Selbuovotter - Biography of a Knitting Tradition (lovely book). I knit SMHS (her high school) into one palm and 2008 into the other (they are New Year mitts I decided).


















When I completed these mitts I loved them - but I suddenly got worried that she might prefer some plain mittens. So I made these, very plain blue mittens (American mittens) from Folk Mittens as well.





Her sister hadn't asked for anything specific but when I saw this pirate mitten pattern I knew I had to make them for her.












My sister had requested some warm socks so I made her one pair of thick socks using Regia 6ply, a thin pair using Trekking XXL and just to amuse myself a lacey pair of ankle socks. The ankle socks are Hedera socks (but shorter) knit with Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino yarn. The fourth pair of socks -the very colourful stripes - went to the niece who got the skull mittens. I figured that although she generally just wears dark colours - who can resist colourful socks?















Quite pleased with this output I made some special labels for each of the gifts and shipped them off to Canada (with the famous Lyra).





The recipients were all very pleased, particularly my Mom -who reportedly teared up when she opened Lyra - and my niece who requested the blue mittens - she LOVES the selbuvotters.

Of course last Friday I decided to make a couple more gifts and began this hat and pair of mittens for S. The hat is a simple rib pattern knit in the round, and the mittens I just sort of made up as I went along. The yarn is cashmere from Posh Yarn and was a pleasure to knit with.










On Saturday I started the final gift - a cardigan for gorgeous goddaughter G. It's Tess from Kim Hargreaves Heartfelt collection. It was knit on 12mm needles using Rowan Big Wool.

It was a very quick knit, and was a good lesson in why blocking isn't just magic for large lace pieces. When I finished it I was less than impressed. My stitches were uneven and the bottom edging was a mess. A quick wash and a few hours drying time sorted both of those problems out. (A gigantic fan was very useful in speeding up the drying process, so the cardigan was dry when I wrapped it early Christmas morning.)


My decision to make the last minute gifts was a good one. S has been wearing her new hat CONSTANTLY for the past 3 days, and G immediately put on her cardigan (over her pyjamas) and wore it later that day to her grandmothers. It looks great on her and fit perfectly. In fact, it has proven popular with her mom as well. C has already borrowed it -- she wore it on her annual boxing day theatre trip with her family.

All of this has left me with a warm fuzzy feeling -- which is I guess what Christmas giving is all about. .... but I'm looking forward to some Soo knitting now!