Absence makes…everyone forget about you!

I know, I know. I’ve not written anything for ages. Would it help if I told you that I had been busy with the knitting?

I finally finished my Gran’s cape. Only about 2 weeks after when it was due

I’m not entirely sure I’m happy with it, on account of my yarn wasn’t as white as the one photographed for the pattern, but I imagine that they touched the photo up and had special lighting and everything when they took it.

I haven’t really been working on too much else to be honest, on account of being introduced (by accident!) to a series called the Wheel of Time. I’ve only read as far as book 3 (of a 12 book series) but have been engrossed the whole time! I’ve been trying to track own book 4 but I’ve not found it in my local bookstore, and applying to jobs right now kind of takes precedence. Yes I’m unemployed again, but with a mind to move onto something more engaging than my last position. But I mention the books because I can feel a strange need to design patterns based around ideas from the books.

My favourite character is Perrin and I’ve decided if I’m ever in an alternate universe set in the past, I’m heading straight for the nearest blacksmiths.

But back to my yarny crafts. Since last posting I’ve also spun a couple of hanks of yarn. I’ve only got a picture of the yarn I called ‘Stone Mountain’ on account of not having finished up the second yarn completely.

The colours reminded me of looking at a mountain from a distance, which is why it became Stone Mountain.

I’m really quite pleased with the way this came out. I got a new spindle and found it so much easier to work with than the one I originally purchased. My yarn is still a bit slubby, and it’s going to take a few more practices to consistently get any thinner than worsted weight but I’m much less reluctant about the idea of buying more fleecy goodness. I like the ‘plaits’ of yarn to work with the most so far I think.

Well that’s all there is to report for now. Hopefully I should be better at keeping this updated, what with being home before 8pm (if I even leave!) so hopefully I’ve not been too forgotten about.

See you next time!

I made it!

Literally!

Ravelympic Haruha Scarf

So admittedly this is a picture of my scarf still in it’s blocking stages, but I just wanted to show off my completed Ravelympics project to the world, along with my medals.

Not only did I manage to finish, but I did it with time to spare after crossing the finish line on 21August. This is a great achievement I reckon and I feel like I did myself proud (I wonder if Olympians feel the same way?).

I loved taking part in this ‘competition’ (for want of a better word. It was the taking part that we did it for. Well that and an awesome jpeg!), but I wouldn’t want to knit all of my projects this way as I feel like I missed out on the actual knitting part of it.

Now that the games are over I’ve gone back to my other WIPs and managed to complete my Jaywalker socks (woohoo!), and have even made a few more triangles for my baby blanket (not that it’s anywhere near finished yet).

I’m going to be going to I Knit day at the end of the week, one of the rewards (along with Ally Pally!) I would get for burning up my stash, but part of me just wants to carry on burning up what I already have, instead of adding more yarn to my collection. However that part is greatly outweighed by the part of me that wants to go, so I’m getting all excited instead. I hope I’ll be sensible about what I get this time though, as I’ve still got a few bits from my last venture that are still unsure of their destiny.

I’ve also managed to use up a small amount of yarn that’s been sitting in my stash since forever too recently, as part of a gift for a birthday. I’m pretty sure that yarn might have been from one of the first projects I ever made (not including the projects made from the yarn that came with my Klutz book). It makes me all nostalgic and annoyed at the same time, as the yarn was used for a scarf which came out too short, and has now visible (to me) mistakes on it. I don’t want to chuck it out though (I’m far too sentimental it seems!), so it will sit in my stash until it is all used up into something else.

Anyway, on with the knitting and thanks for reading!

Industry

It’s been a long couple of months at Alterknit HQ with knitting spells arriving and disappearing as quickly as the sunshine in Wimbledon inspired weather. My job’s been making me blue lately and I’ve found myself drowning my sorrows in rows and rows of knitting (far better than rows and rows of something else).

I finally came back to my sweater, after a prolonged absence. Math, is seems, is something I will try to avoid at all costs. But I pushed through and have finally managed to complete the front and back pieces. I’m especially proud of the shape of the vee neck, as I wasn’t sure it would end up the way I had hoped. Admittedly, I’m not sure this is exactly what I had hoped for, but if it wasn’t then I must have been wrong!

The 'vee'

Now if  could only be bothered to work out the sleeves….

Next up on the completed projects list is my North Star Tam, designed by Donna Druchunas. I love it so much. I consider this to be another step in my journey to become a Master Knitter, as I had to learn how to read lace charts. Once I worked out how it’s possible for you to still have the same amount of boxes on the chart representing the stitches, the little light bulb of clarity shone above my head, like the North Star itself Incidentally, if you’re new to charts, the Arctic Lace book is awesome.

I don’t have any quivut, nor do I think I’d be able to afford any any time soon (what with not being paid!) so I used one of my delightful balls of Habu Silk Mohair, that had previously lied to me about it’s yardage. I think it turned out really well.

North Star Tam

I also found out that using the regular bind off method is just not working out for me. I’ve tried using larger needles, trying to ‘loosely’ bind off but it’s just not happening. Lucky for me then that I found out about Cat Bordhi’s ‘Stretchy Cast Off’. It takes longer than the regular bind off (and I’m pretty sure it uses much more yarn), but I luffs it and it has become my saving grace on more than this tam.

There’s been a few more projects on the go but I think I’ll save those to write about another time. Until then thanks for reading!

Extended edition

It’s nearly April and my draft entry has become irrelevant since I saved it. Perhaps this blog was in fact meant to be monthly?

I’ve managed to squeeze a lot of knitting in lately. I’m not sure if that means I’ve been hiding away from the outside world more, or if the grim weather has just been the perfect opportunity to hide away with a pair of needles and yummy yarn.  Either way, there’s lots of new projects to see and read about.

One of the first is my 1930’s style sweater. I’m not sure how true it is to the original pattern, there wasn’t a photo, only an artist’s impression. I made some changes to the  pattern because I thought using 10mm needles would result in a fabric the was too loose, even on 8mm needles it still seems a bit floppy.

I like it mostly, but I think I made a mistake with the crochet edge. The pattern didn’t specify the hook size needed and I think I used 6mm. In hind sight I think I should have just gone with 8mm like the main body. I thought about redoing it, but I don’t have enough yarn and it doesn’t look so bad.

I finally finished up the black beaded scarf I’ve been working on seemingly forever. I decided in the end to call that project ‘Sloth’. It took so long, and I spent ages trying to avoid working on it, hence ‘Sloth’.

I made my cousin socks for her upcoming birthday and for the Selfish Knitters KAL on Ravelry. I love the colours in this but if you look closely you can see that the socks are fraternal twins only, rather than identical. (which is why I only took a photo of one!). It also meant I got to use up some of the oldest sock yarn in my stash

I did ruin my yarn diet a little though by buying some Noro yarn to make what I have dubbed ‘Ponchirto’. The yarn didn’t stay in my stash long, I finished the project the same weekend I bought it, but I’m still kind of annoyed that I couldn’t stick it out. But anyway, the pattern was for ‘Ponchette’ by Bonnie Knits, but I figured it would kind of make a cool skirt too. (Poncho + Skirt [Ponchskirto] = Ponchirto!).

 

I learnt how to do Purl long-tail cast on for this. I didn’t expect it to have made a big difference but it was a really good result. I figure I could take this with me when I go camping. I bet it would make a good pillow as well as keeping me snug when I’m chillin’ (no pun intended) in the evenings.

Speaking of camping, I finally bought my sleeping bag. It’s so exciting, I’ve never had one before so I had to try it out as soon as I could. I could fit about 3 of me in it but I still think it’s great! Needs a pillow though

Next a tale of woe. My ‘Scat’ that I made with my Christmas yarn was dismantled to make way for an alternative project. Too many people laughed at it and I lost the confidence to wear it anymore

All is not lost though. I kept the pom poms and made a pair of Super-Comfy Slippers instead. I like them a lot and think they’re much nicer than my store bought pair which only make my feet feel sticky and not necessarily warm (eughh). I forget I’m wearing them after a while too.

(Do you like my socks? I know it seems like I have a pink stripe obsession with this pic but it was just coincidence)

I’ve made some progress with my baby blanket too. It’s plodding along, I’m pretty sure that years from now when it’s done there’ll be a little bambino to gift it to.

Finally, I cast on for Wisp. I got a bit bored of my Kool Aid dyed shawl and Wisp is so easy to memorise. It’s my ‘Sheffield yarn’ and I’m really pleased with the way it’s worked in this pattern. I’m actually trying to talk myself out of buying any more Kidsilk as I’ve got plenty of lace weight to get rid of already.

I think the yarn and pattern complement each other really well in this project. I’m hoping to get some shell buttons in purple to finish it off. I even found some crushed velvet ribbon too that I can use to make the ‘hood’.

I’m looking forward to starting up some new projects too, I’ve got so many plans for the rest of my stash, it seems almost cruel that I can’t knit any faster.

I hope this entry makes up for the lack of news for a while but thanks for reading and hope you’re back soon.

The Uber Entry

I know, it’s been ages since I updated my blog. I’m still trying to get used to how everything works here. But anyway, I thought I’d write an uber post to make up for it

First up, Lilith is FINALLY finished! And since a picture paints a thousand words, here’s 2!

 

This is Lilith in shawl mode, and below is Lilith in shrug/cardi mode

Ok, it’s not exactly finished because I haven’t sewn the buttons on yet but the knitting part is finished, and I wore it as a scarf the other day so I think it should count!

Next I made a Nintendo Cosy. It was a perfect weekend project made all the better that I spent it at home doing nothing but knitting and watching a Clint Eastwood movie. The movie was a bit random (I didn’t know Clint Eastwood sang!) but it was good quality entertainment. I think it was called ‘Paint your Wagon’ or something along those lines. There were goldmines, wild west and songs

I changed the pattern for the cosy though, because it seemed like it would be too big when I started. In hindsight, it’s a bit smaller than maybe it should have been, but definitely a better size than the original. Why would I want a Nintendo Cosy? No, I don’t worry that it will get cold, I just want to protect it from scratches and fingerprints whilst I transport it. It’s also cheaper than buying an ‘official’ case. Also, note for anyone thinking to do something similar, don’t use wool because it might create static (apparently. I don’t really know these things, I just saw it on a forum, fortunately before I started using the other yarn I was going to use).

No, I haven’t sewn buttons on this either, but in my defence that’s because I don’t have any!

Okay what else?

Oh, I made a ‘Short and Sassy Magic Shawl’. There’s nothing really magic about it other than the fact that I used a Be Sweet Magic Ball to make it. Because I wasn’t sure how much yarn I was going to have for it, I cut the fringe pieces first, and in a moment of inspiration I figured I’d cut the strands from all the different colours to keep the theme going. I wasn’t sure what I thought of it when I started, but once I’d done a couple of colours I was quite impressed

and a close up…..

There are no buttons on this.

And last but not least, I made a pair of Dragonscale Mitts. As I told the recipient, no dragons were harmed in their making (but the angora in the yarn did make my nose itch. For a yarn that’s so beautifully soft and delicious, it’s a bit annoying to knit with sometimes. And I have another 4 balls of it in my stash…)

I have requested a picture of them being modelled, but I guess it’s still in make up.

So all in all, I guess my stash busting is going pretty well. I’m a bit perplexed about why I have a whole skein of yarn leftover from my Lilith project though, I think there was an error in the pattern. It’s not so bad, I’m pretty sure I can find something for it. I also had a random thought whilst I was cutting the fringe for my shawl. Magic Balls are just lots of different yarns of a similar weight knotted together and they’re a bit outside my usual price range (but for a good cause. They support African communities. ) . So, my thinking is, all those silly odds and ends that I have that are too long to throw away and too short to do anything with could all be combined to make one entirely Alterknit ball! All I have to do is work out which ones are best together.

Well, I guess that’s all for now, hope it won’t be ages till I write my next entry.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

When will it end?

Ok, it’s been quite some time since I’ve had the chance to do a proper entry but life, it seems, doesn’t want to hang around long enough to let me catch up.

There’s not too much been going on on the project front, because of the life reason mentioned above, but I have managed to get onto the last part of Lillith. So hopefully my next entry will be one of finished victory. Woohoo!

I’ve also noticed that most of the projects I’ve been working on lately are ones that require lots of patience and aren’t the sort of thing that’s only going to take a night or two. In light of this realisation I thought I’d check out my project queue and see if I could find something I could knit up really quickly. It turns out my queue is quite lacking in that department. So let that be a lesson to all you people thinking of buying more lace weight yarn before going on a yarn diet. I’ve got some great plans but they all require time and love which I just can’t give them at the moment

On the plus side I have got a bit more organised about things. I printed off all the patterns waiting in the wings so that when I finally decide I want to cast on it can be ‘full steam ahead!’ (rather than ‘oh maybe I’ll wait till tomorrow when I turn my computer on’). I even got some nice binders for all the loose bits of A4 floaing around. Now if only I could fit another book case into my room….

Oh yeah, I just remembered, I did get 2 projects completed in the time I’ve been away. One was my second green sock and I made this head scarf to

a) use up the leftover yarn and

b) to use when I go camping in case the whole experience makes my hair a bit rubbish. (I’m so excited about it!)

Well anyway, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading!