confessions of a slack knitter

I have been horribly remiss but hope to get caught up at least a bit!

I have finished a blanket, a scarf for Mum and am two thirds through a pair of socks. I have started a wrap and am taking part in a knit-a-long of a shawl by Alice at Socktopus using some gorgeous orange superwash merino dyed by Indieknits. I appear to be on a roll which feels good after being a bit out of knitting sorts for a few months.

I plan to sort out posting some pictures at the weekend when I will hopefully have some better light to take decent ones. That’s if it doesn’t pour all weekend!

I can hardly believe I haven’t posted since August. It’s been a long few months around these parts but I am looking forward to a new year that will hopefully be less stressful than the last.

My knitting has been going somewhat slowly as I haven’t really been able to settle into anything. I have finished a few small projects, though and have [of course] added quite a few yarns to my stash! It’s a disease, I tell you!  Not done a huge amount of spinning but the plan is to buy a wheel in the new year. In fact, this will be a present from my Mum. who loves having something I actually want to get me as a gift and as it will be my birthday in three weeks, she is happy to go for a serious present. Hoorah!

On the FO front I have Auntie Barbara’s Midwest Moonlight Scarf which I made from Knitwitches silk and came out beautifully. Sadly the photos I have do not do the colour justice. My Aunt loves it and waves it at other members of the family any opportunity she has!

Auntie Barbara's Midwest Moonlight Scarf

I finally finished my Percy bag after leaving the completed pieces to one side, not having the energy to sew it together and line the thing. The finished object is actually rather nice and I am very pleased with it. I am not going to say that it was worth the blood, sweat and tears of the strap knitting, but I am rather proud of how it turned out.

Percy Bag lined and finished.

I have made a couple of presents as well. A hat from Drops which came out really well. I made a scarf  in Rowan Tapestry for my friend Kim’s birthday last year and this year she asked for a hat to match. This hat was easy to knit but looks really effective and Kim loves it!

Drops Basque Hat in Rowan Tapestry - front

Drops Basque Hat in Rowan Tapestry - back

Finally I made a pair of Toastie fingerless mitts and a Bainbridge Scarf. Both these projects took a few hours and I have been wearing the mitts for the last few weeks [never got around to blocking them as a result]. The Bainbridge is for my friend Chris who I am seeing tomorrow. I found some lovely red yarn in All the Fun of the Fair on Saturday when I braved the sales with Mel and it took a couple of hours to produce a really nice scarf.

Bainbridge Scarf in Araucania Nature Wool. The colour is gorgeous.

I currently only have three projects on my needles [there are also two that are in hibernation, but I am not counting those] at the moment, the Elm Row Scarf for my Mum and a Silver Birch hat for me and a pair of socks. Here’s how they are looking so far:

Elm Row Scarf for Mum in Mericash by Punta del Este Yarns

Silver Birch Hat - the yarns are Colinette Tao and Rowan Kidsilk Haze so it feels amazingly soft.

The socks are coming along nicely but are hard to photograph as I am knitting two at a time on magic loop. Trying them on is a bit of a faff. I will need to go up a needle size soon, though, as I have very fat calves and I want these to be long socks.

Today was the second of the two-part spinning class with Diane Mulholland and much fun was had by all.  This time we learned the basics of fibre preparation and of spinning with a wheel, which is harder than it looks – or maybe not as it looks pretty damn hard! We also had a chance to try out spinning with a variety of different fibres – it’s amazing the difference in the feel of spinning silk in comparison to bluefaced leicester, for example.

I also brought along the yarn I have been practice spinning over the last few weeks.  I had a visit to the Handweaver’s Studio as it is down the road from me and I wanted to buy some different fibres to have a go at spinning.  The 20g of alpaca I picked up for 75p spun so that it plyed to a 14 wraps per inch thickness. Then I knitted up a swatch to see how it looks using 3.25mm needles and I am thrilled with how it turned out.  I have a feeling that I shall be buying some more alpaca and knitting enough for a garment of some sort.

I also bought myself another spindle, this one lighter so I can spin more delicate ply. It was made by IST Crafts on the Isle of Wight and is made of reclaimed Honduras rosewood. It’s truly a thing of beauty!

Whilst watching tv I spun up quite a bit of the dyed bluefaced leicester that I got from the first class. I am planning to finish spinning the rest and then seeing how much yarn it makes so I can work out what to knit it up into. It’s two-plying to a thickness of 18 WPI.

Today I also purchased some fabulous sock yarn from Socktopus as we had the class at Alice’s flat. Her yarn room is amazing and I totally caved when I saw some of the gorgeous colours available. The Malabrigo has some gorgeous colourways and I was really impressed with the range of colours from The Knittery.

I also nabbed some of Karat Stix adorable notions: a wrap per inch tool and stitch markers.

Two weeks ago I joined various crafters from the Oxford Bluestockings and their families [Katie, Kim, Liz, Ellen, Ruth, Hilary and Jacqui] on a visit to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham.  I spent a lot of time explaning that quilting is not my craft which cased great amusement, epsecially to the stallholders on the Button Company/Eternal Maker stall. I got some cute fat quarters of Kokka Japanese fabric and ribbon from them which I plan to make into bags and/or purses or some sort. I may even make a knitting project bag from some of it.

I also got a silk brick from Oliver Twists in a really beautiful golden brown tinged with blue. It’s hard to do it justice in a photograph but I can’t wait to see how it spins up.

Finally, I am currently knitting an alpaca vest for my friend Deborah from a classic pattern I found at work [and one day I may explain about where I work].  I am almost at the decreases so it’s coming along nicely and should help to see her through the winter at her place in Brittany.

I also started yet another Midwest Moonlight scarf, this time in a gold silk I got at last year’s I Knit London Day. It’s for my Auntie Barbara, who has had a rough time over the last couple of years and who was admiring my orange version. This one got stalled when the yarn got horribly tangled but now, having untangled it, I am on a roll and hope to get it finished soon.

Oh dear. It appears that I have been horribly remiss in the last few months but I have the excuse of life and work being pretty full-on and stressful.  But the summer is here and I am looking at my knitting and deciding what to cast on next.  I have a couple of projects on the go at the moment but one of those is a tank-top in alpaca which is more suited to an autumn knit – very hot and fluffy!

Yesterday Mel and myself went along to the first of two spinning sessions organised by Alice from Socktopus. DIane Mulholland is the tutor and I would recommend taking one of her classes as she is a really good and encouraging teacher. Diane had us all spinning away happily by the end and I am very much looking forward to the next lesson.  Just what I need, another hobby! In classes dorky style I shall endeavour to photograph my first spun yarn and subject you to it. It feels amazing to take a hank of roving and turn it into a length of yarn. It’s like magic!

I finished my Hemlock Ring Blanket! Actually, I finished it a couple of weeks ago but have only just got around the photographing it. I really love how it turned out and hope that Mum likes it when I give it to her this week.

The finished article. It’s very comfy to sit under [just ask Lara!]

Here we have the blanket in its just off the needles state.

I would like to draw your attention to the bedspread as it was a gift to myself from Melin Tregwynt Mill, not the cheapest thing I have ever bought, but I love it – as do the cats.

This is the blanket spread out on my bed atop two layers of towels. I was somewhat concerned about putting a damp blanket on top of my lovely bed but it was fine and the only place really big enough to block it.

One last shot of the finished blanket. I shall be knitting other versions in the future as it was a really satisfying knit.

I have been happily knitting away over the last month or so.  After finishing Kim’s scarf I cast on Percy using Matchmaker Aqua Cotton in a gorgeous purple with pink for the contrasting inner pocket. I have finished the outer shell and am now faced with 50″ of 2×2 rib in cotton on 3mm needles. *weeps*  I am not pleased to note that pretty much everyone on ravelry who has knitted Percy has complained about the strap!  I would start the inner pocket [stocking stitch in the round ftw!] but don’t have the right needles – my 3mm circulars are too long to comfortably manage 93 stitches in the round on cotton. Ho hum. But as you can see, it does look really lovely so far so I am hoping the pain will be worth it in the end!

I have also started the Hemlock Ring Blanket using Wensleydale Longwool in Aran from the Sheep Shop. The folks from the Sheep Shop were at the London Stitch and Bitch Show last Autumn and were very friendly and the wool is gorgeous. I have the cream undyed and so far I am really pleased with how it is knitting up. I used Emily Ocker’s circular cast on to start as it was recommended by other Hemlock knitters and did indeed prove perfect for the pattern. The blanket it meant for Mum who starts radium at the end of this month and who will need something lovely to sit under after the hospital visits.  This is it so far and I feel great having done this much in just an evening.

I also finished the Salina jumper and am really pleased with how it turned out. I got some lovely red buttons from Liberty and they finished it off nicely. Maybe not the best picture of the jumper itself, but the best picture of me so I am putting vanity before knitting technique.

Finally a picture of Edie, who likes to inconvenience me whenever I forget that she is more important than my knitting. I transferred my stash into this rather nice storage bag and the moment I zipped it up Edie decided it made the perfect bed!

Have been a tad less slack lately and so have finished the Midwest Moonlight scarf that I knit in the Rowan Tapestry. Nice yarn to knit with although I wouldn’t want to use it for anything complex or fiddly!

The colourway worked really well with this pattern, the yarn gave a more subtle stripe and the glossiness really showed beautifully. It is the kind of scarf that you really want to fondle all the time. I found myself petty it even when I wasn’t adding rows!

I am now trying to finish Salina before starting anything else. This is proving a bit of a struggle as I have yarn for three projects sitting on the floor by the sofa. I was just winding it… honest!

Various projects are galloping along at a pace. I have finished my blue socks, and very nice they are too! There’s nothing like wool socks on your feet to take away that frozen toed feeling. See how snug I look?

I am also half way up the front of my Salina jumper after finishing the back the other week. I put it aside for a little bit while I finished my socks and then, after recklessly deciding to knit Mum a scarf for xmas, starting a new project. In the end, the scarf is going to be for a friend as I know that Mum will never wear a scarf as warm as this one. I am using up the four balls of Rowan Tapestry I have in my stash and knitting them up as Midwest Moonlight. It is coming along at great speed and looking great.

I really like this pattern. It’s a 16 row repeat and is a fast and satisfying knit. I have a version in Handmaiden Sea Silk in a gorgeous pumpkin orange. Amazing what a difference using a completely different yarn will make. It might as well be two utterly different patterns!

I have a few things queued on Ravelry which I already have the yarn for. It’s just deciding what the next project will be!

Went to the Stitch and Bitch London Day on Saturday and had a blast!  I was helping out my friend Katie on the Oxford Kitchen Yarns stall. OKY is Katie’s hand dyed yarn company and she produces the most gorgeous semi-solid colours using natural dyes on wool from British Blue-Faced Leicester sheep.  [Try saying all that without taking a breath!]

I have finished the back of my Salina and am galloping along with the Opal yarn socks. I also made good headway with the lace scarf I am knitting from Victorian Lace Today although I managed to use much bigger needles than I meant so it’s going to be two repeats rather than three!  Hunami is still on haitus but I think I will manage to get back into it once I have finished this scarf.

I am trying to stop myself casting on anything else. I am determined to finish one of these first!

Salina’s back is finished! I really like knitting with the Rowan Felted Tweed, it slides nicely along the needles and I have had no problems with it so far. I have added a size to the jumper and 10cm in the length as they really do not write patterns for tall people! Here’s a picture of Salina taken not long after I started the back. The colour is gorgeous.

I am planning to take a brief rest from it while I knit a scarf for a friend’s birthday. I am not quite sure which of the patterns from Victorian Lace Today to knit up, but I have a couple of cones of Habu Silk which will look fabulous and, as she is allergic to wool, the silk is just the thing.