Lancashire Knitter

Laceweight Knitting

2012-01-22T14:38:00.001Z

It's not many years ago that finding 2 ply yarn was incredibly difficult, we all knitted in DK or aran as 4 ply or under had fallen out of fashion in the 70s. My Mum is currently knitting her first ever project in 4 ply! But now, lace is all the fashion and laceweight yarns are common. I've really got into lace knitting recently, and enjoy the challenge. So I now have two lace projects on the go.

The first is Dulcie, from Fyberspates. It was originally knitted in a Fyberspates silk, which is very nice but I decided instead to use Rowan Fine Lace, a new laceweight yarn this winter. It's lovely, with a slight halo and very soft. The pattern called for 2000m, since the original yarn only comes in 1000m skeins. A bit naughty, I think, as it was clear that based on the skeins/sizes provided there was no way I'd use all of the second skein. A good way to make extra cash for the manufacturer, though. So I guessed at 1600m and bought 4 balls of the Rowan. I suspect it may take only three.

The shell pattern is at the bottom of the body, the short sleeves, also up the centre of the front, and it's knitted in the round until the armholes. I struggled to get the tension and ended up on needles 0.5 smaller, in fact I'm knitting it on a set of long dpns I got in an antique shop a few years ago. I have so many needles I really hate buying new ones!

Anyway, I've finished the bottom pattern and am just about to do the last shaping decrease on the way to the armholes. Looking good so far.

My next choice is a pattern from a 1940s book, Knitting for All Illustrated. It's a great book, with lots of patterns of all kinds and ideas for adapting patterns and colours. The pattern is called "Afternoon Blouse", and is originally designed with a deep ribbed waistband, which I'm not using. Instead, I did a few rows of garter stitch onto which I will add an edging I think.

Being an old pattern only one size is given, so I had to do some sums to enlarge it from a just under 36 in actual size to a 40 in. According to the tension given, I needed an extra 14 sts on both front and back. But the pattern repeat turned out to be 20 sts +5 (I had to work that out with pen and paper, they don't tell you!) so I had to add 20, which will make it around 41 ins in total. I will also need to make it a lot longer, not being a devotee of the short, nipped waist design!

The final problem was the pattern itself. Unaccountably it uses the abbreviation M1 instead of yo. I read the pattern and saw "M1" throughout, but the photograph showed a lacy pattern clearly constructed from yarn overs. So I checked the glossary in the back of the book, which described M1 as "M=make. Making a stitch may refer to any of the three methods mentioned below. The method depends on whether the previous stitch is knitted or purled." A little further down the page it describes three abbreviations, wool forward, wool round needle and wool over needle. So the mystery was solved, since the lace involves only knitted stitches it's a straightforward yarn over for me. The wrong side rows are all purled, which is nice.

The picture above shows one repeat of the pattern, it's not too clear but it consists of open diagonal lace which switches direction every few rows, together with a more solid panel which is kind of a geometric leaf shape. The yoke is knitted in the diagonal lace only, so will be more open.

The yarn is actually a machine remnant pure alpaca. I have a full cone of it, cost £20 and should be able to get several garments out of it! Handily it is a perfect handknitting laceweight, so hit the tension exactly. Very shiny, and a dream to knit.

These projects will keep me occupied for a while. I did finish a pair of socks for Ol' Big Foot (as the cat has named him), but they ended up on his feet before I could get them to the camera!

Happy knitting!

Addictive Knitting

2012-01-03T14:40:00.000Z

After spending a solid three months knitting for other people, I decided to make something for myself. What could be nicer, I thought, than some relaxed knitting now the Christmas rush was over? Big mistake. I picked a pattern - Framboise - by Sarah Hatton (published in The Knitter a few months ago), and I should have known better. The last design of hers which I knitted was the Bayberry Wrap, and I couldn't put it down, it became an obsession. As did this. I don't know what it is about her designs, I just have to keep at it, one more row of the chart, then I'll stop, I thought. I never did.

There are similarities between this pattern and the Bayberry Wrap, both are designed from the middle outwards. In this case I knitted the top on straight needles rather than circs because I didn't have a big enough circular and I'm trying to stop keep buying needles. So it was knitted straight and seamed along one diagonal. The photo doesn't really do it justice, it looks a bit uneven in places but really isn't, just isn't designed to be hung on a hanger and gingerly balanced on a sash window for the purposes of photography. It flatters the figure well, the diagonal increases creating a slight flare at the hips and shoulders.

By pure chance the yarn I chose happened to be the one recommended. I tend to have list on my person of "x000m 4 ply, x000m DK", often without a note of what the pattern actually is. So when I found myself in my local wool shop fingering the gorgeous new SMC Select Alpaca/Wool 4 ply, I had no idea that this was what I was going to knit with it, or that this was the very yarn used in the pattern. But it has worked very well. As my Other Half said last week when he saw me knitting and enquired what it was, "Well, you can never have too many sweaters, can you?" I think he was making some kind of point, not quite sure what...

Christmas Knitting - Mission Accomplished!

2011-12-24T13:33:00.000Z

I made it, just! All my Christmas presents are finished, though it has required some furious knitting over the last few weeks. The gansey was started on April 19, finished yesterday and is still slightly damp in a couple of places! Very difficult to photograph as it's huge, made for a 6 foot 2 man and is the only sweater he has ever had which is the right length. Commercial patterns go up in sizes but they don't tend to add length for the tall man, so I always add some but it's never been enough, until now. For this I added 8 inches to the standard length, so he'll be cosy when standing on a cold railway station platform.

Designing this gansey from scratch was a big learning curve, many thanks to Gordon at ganseys.com for his advice and invaluable website. I have made a couple of mistakes in my design process, but only I will know which is ok. But for my first gansey, I'm really happy with it.

Here are my Mum's socks. The feet look like wedges of cheese! There are two reasons for this; firstly the honeycomb pattern across the top slightly distorts the feet, and secondly she has really tiny feet. This means that once you've finished decreasing after the heel, you're almost ready to start the toes! I do like knitting socks for her, much quicker than for anyone else!

And finally, Mum's lacy jumper. This was a pattern from Knitting magazine, November issue I think. It's lovely but took a lot longer than I expected. Knitted in Artesano alpaca 4ply, it really is beautiful and I know Mum will love it, I try to knit things for her that she would never attempt for herself and this is a classic. I might make one for myself one day, but not for a while, the memory of endless weeks knitting this is still too painful! But it has turned out beautifully, even if I say so myself.

So now it's back to knitting for me. My Christmas present from Mum consists of SMC Select pattern book 003 and a consignment of Rowan Fine Lace, but I have two other projects lined up first, plus finishing a pair of socks for my Other Half. Onwards and upwards...

Have a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Christmas Knitting - one month to go!

2011-11-20T18:04:00.001Z

I'm making good progress on my Christmas knitting, here is the first of Mum's socks, knitted in a honeycomb slip stitch pattern. I've turned the heel and am now working on the foot - the top is worked in honeycomb, the bottom in plain knitting, with stripes due to the yarn alternation. If you haven't done this slip stitch pattern before, it's worth while looking at close up to see how it works.

The pattern is created by using two yarns, here it is one row of black, one row of pink and another row of black to start. The variegated yarn adds an extra something, traditionally this pattern is done in two contrasting colours. After these three rows, you work the next 5 rows in the pink, slipping two of the black stitches at regular points in the row. In this picture you can see how these stitches are stretched. Then a row of black, pink, black and so on. Next time you put the slip stitches in between the previous ones to create the building block or honeycomb effect. It does pull in the fabric somewhat, so you need a higher stitch count. But it creates a thick, cosy fabric perfect for socks.

I'm also getting on well with the lacy jumper, and in this photo you can see all the patterning. Starting at the left, the big central panel is called Leaves, then there is a cable, followed by Wasp Wings, another cable and finally a pattern called Berry - this doesn't show too well in this photo but it does look like berries! The Artesano Alpaca yarn is a dream to knit with and the only problem I'm having is that I can't do it when the cat decides to sit on the sofa next to me as the long needles I'm using poke her in the back! Thankfully at this time of year the windowsill above the radiator is an attractive destination for her...

Finally, the Gansey. I finished the body and knitted the neck, after testing it out on the victim first. It fits perfectly, which is a relief!

So now I've started the sleeves, using a smaller circular Knit Pro wooden needle bought especially for the purpose. Only 44cm on each sleeve, I'm determined to get there by Christmas!

Christmas Knitting - Full Speed Ahead!

2011-11-05T16:49:00.003Z

It's early November and, as is traditional by now, I have a number of projects on the go. This is my knitting for doing with TV programmes which require my full attention such as Downton Abbey. Once you get past the border, it's stocking stitch all the way, on nice large needles. Most relaxing. This is Rivelin, using some stash wool. I haven't posted a picture of OH's gansey, but it is progressing, the back is completely done and I'm determined to complete the front this week. I also have a pair of socks on the needles for him.

This is part of my Mum's Christmas present - socks in a honeycomb pattern, not easy to see properly in this photo, but it's rather clever. One yarn is variegated, one black, such a clever use of colour. The pattern comes from the Knitter, it's called Electrify.

And this is also for Mum, a lacy jumper in the latest issue of Knitting magazine. It's done in Artesano Alpaca, which is lovely, and which I bought from Moss Stitch, who specialises in Artesano and Manos yarns.

And finally, this is for me, my local yarn shop in Crawshawbooth has just stocked the new SMC Select range and I fell in love with this. It will be sitting in a bag until my Christmas knitting is finished, honest!

Gansey Progress

2011-10-16T11:03:00.002+01:00

After months of knitting, I finally reached the armholes of OH's gansey. As I checked it against him, I did, I confess, accuse him of growing in height during the knitting. This is a little unlikely, I think. More probably it was my gloomy frame of mind in knitting for a man a good few inches over 6 foot tall. Moral: if you're a knitter, pick a small man, they're easier.

It was rather difficult to measure the gansey against him while it was on one circular needle because he's broad as well as tall and a 52 inch chest gets compressed on the needle. So after dividing I checked again and it looks perfect - the body length is a full 5 inches longer than the largest size given on the free Frangipani pattern leaflet, so it should be just right.

I did the armhole gussets in reverse stocking stitch as instead of one seam stitch on each side I had three purl stitches, so it made sense to go with the same pattern. Anyway, now I'm working each side separately it's going much faster, though it is strange working the pattern backwards and forwards instead of in the round.

Apologies for the poor quality picture, light levels here have been very low due to incessant rain, plus the gansey is a dark colour so my camera really wasn't very cooperative.

Crazy Cable Socks

2011-10-03T16:23:00.001+01:00

Every year I knit a pair of socks for my nearest and dearest, and this includes me! So, using some Araucania yarn I had in my stash, here is my first pair of socks for the winter. The pattern's called Eunice and it's by CookieA, who clearly has a rather twisted mind! Cables all the way down, the pattern includes seven charts for different parts of the socks, and the cable crossings require two cable needles so you do need an extra pair of hands.

This was a pattern where I rationed myself to 10 rows at a time to ensure absolute concentration. Even the heel is cabled, as you can see.

What's rather special about this socks is the combination of lace patterning with cable, quite unique and challenging. Great fun, and that's another one out of my Ravelry queue, where it sat for over a year!

Crochet Cable Sweater

2011-09-15T19:35:00.000+01:00

I'm on a drive to get some projects finished to make space for more Christmas knitting. This week's achievement is my crochet cable sweater. The pattern is from Inside Crochet magazine March 2011 and I just had to do it as soon as I saw it. I found some Patons wool tweed DK, which is really a kind of light aran weight, which was just perfect for this. It's made a lovely thick, warm sweater for the winter. As you can see, there are cables up the front, while the rest of the sweater is worked in a Basket stitch.

Here's a close-up of the cable panel It's worked separately from the rest of the body, which is worked in one piece. On the right is a right twisting cable, then a bobble, another cable and another bobble. These panels are balanced on the other side by a left twisting cable and bobbles. The centre cable is to the left of this photo. Making crochet cables is fiddly and there is no crochet equivalent of the cable needle. Instead, you work one or two stitches to "move" the cable, then the following stitches have to be worked in front or behind the stitches you've just done. Can be awkward, but ok once you get the hang of it.

The bulk of the sweater is worked in a basket stitch made up of relief stitches (where you work around the bar of the stitch below instead of into the top) and trebles. I really enjoyed this project, the only slight worry I have is the width of the neck. Having narrow shoulders it's a bit wide for me. I've still got a little yarn left so I'm going to wear it once and then see whether I need to add another row of stitches on each end. But I'm definitely converted to crochet cables and would like to do more of this in the future.

Bias Jumper Finished!

2011-09-06T18:05:00.003+01:00

So here's my August impulse knit finished. I was wearing it all day before taking this photo, hence the crease near the bottom, which I didn't notice until I downloaded the pic! The pattern called for a mohair yarn held double, but I used a machine knitting yarn instead. The yarn was oiled so if you compare these photos with those in the previous post you will see it looks a lot fluffier now it's washed. Using machine yarns is always a bit of a gamble, but it paid off as it's a lovely light autumn sweater, with the feel of 3 ply or light 4 ply. An incredibly clever construction, the only sewing you have to do afterwards is the underarm and side seams. The only problem I had is that one sleeve seems to be slightly longer than the other!
Here's a close-up, where you can see the lower front, joined to the middle front and the pattern detail. I'm fully converted to the possibilities of short-row knitting now and have ideas mulling around in my brain about further projects in this technique.
Here's a sleeve detail, the pattern runs down the outside of the arm. It's certainly a striking sweater, the bias construction is flattering and it was so much fun to knit, even if the instructions took a little deciphering at times!

Back to the gansey now...

Bias Knitting

2011-08-22T18:08:00.003+01:00

Sorry about the lack of posting, it's not that I haven't been knitting, it's just that I have so many projects on the go and all have been in the early stages. This sweater is one of them. It's a really clever pattern called Bias Knit Jumper by Fiona Morris (Knitting Magazine 93 September 2011), and the construction is most intriguing. I'm using a machine yarn I have in my stash, which is very thin so this is going to need careful blocking when washed to get it to the right shape, which it isn't quite at the moment. The piece above is the lower and middle back along with the underarm. Yes, you read that right. The phrase "bias knitting" didn't mean much to me, but "short row knitting" is probably one we all recognise, certainly if you knit socks as that's how you shape the heel. In the photo above you can see that the stocking stitch part at the bottom is knit in a standard way from the bottom up but is triangular in shape - that's the short rows. Once you've made your triangle, you move on to this...
By casting on more stitches to the same needle and knitting short rows back and forth, taking in one or two of the stitches from the earlier piece, you not only add the lacy pattern (not very clear in this photo, needs blocking) but you add the middle part of the back at a right angle to the bottom. And that's how you also knit the underarm part of the sleeve on the end. So, so clever and very hard to describe, hope it makes sense! I'm currently working on the underarm sleeve of the front section, then all I have to do is add the top of the sweater in a similar way. A fascinating knit. Will post pics when I finish it.

I'm also still toiling away on the gansey, making a crochet cable sweater and a pair of Cookie A socks. Lots to do, must get back to it!

Silk/cotton Sweater

2011-08-07T20:41:00.003+01:00

Back in May, I got a coned yarn remnant, a silk/cotton mix and started working on it for a summer sweater. As you can see, the yarn is a bit slubby and it turned out to be hard work knitting due to the bobbles. My fault, for choosing to work it the way I did, but it has turned out fairly well. The first thing about yarns designed for working by machine is that they're often oiled, as was this, so the finished look is never what it looks like at the start.
So my tension swatch was washed to see how it would work out, you can see in the photo above that the washed yarn fills out compared to the work on the needles. So my stitch numbers took the changed tension into account. I knitted it on small needles, 2mm, which I wanted to do so as to make it a dense fabric, which it certainly did, though it made the knitting harder work. As it turned out, sloshing the sweater around in the machine for a while actually made it softer and more "felted" than even this photo shows. The finished sweater has a lovely feel to it.

The design was simple - a wide base without rib, narrowing to the waist and I decided on three-quarter sleeves, mostly because I wanted to finish it! I wanted to wear this over loose blouses and tunics, so it's a wide fit below the armholes. Looks loads better on than in the picture.

But you can see one problem with the yarn in the photo - the little bobble in the bottom of the sweater on the right is because the side seam has moved round to the front. The yarn is a single ply, and these are prone to twisting. I did realise this was happening part way through the knit, but hoped I would be able to fix it in the drying. I wasn't able to do this, so both seams are twisted slightly. It looks fine on though, not noticeable. If I had knitted in a broken rib rather than stocking stitch, it would have helped prevent this level of twisting.

I do like experimenting with different yarns and this was a great experience. The sweater will be good for an average British summer, and is lovely and soft. I have quite a lot of yarn left, so I'm going to remove it from the cone so I can wash and measure it and hopefully knit or crochet something else with it next summer.

Two Quick Projects

2011-07-24T14:11:00.001+01:00

Over the last few weeks I've been working on a few final summer projects before my knitting thoughts turn to the coming winter. I'm pretty pleased with this cotton sweater, using up some more of the bag of Araucania cotton I bought earlier this year; this is the second sweater I've made with it and I still have two skeins left over. £30 well spent, I think. The last sweater was a lacy knit, so I really didn't know what the colours would do on a plain knit. But I couldn't have designed it better than it turned out, the patterning at the bottom is great.
The base pattern was a Drops pattern for a striped (rather than self-striping) sweater, I chose it because it was the right gauge and I thought it was nicely shaped. It fits well and is rather flattering. With self-patterning yarns you really don't know what will happen, but I like the effect. By the way, if you look carefully at the right hand side of the photo above you can just see the head of my sleeping cat, curled up on the bed!
I've also made my first pair of crochet socks, using some yarn I had left over. This yarn isn't great, it tends to always make up bigger than the pattern requires, and did so again in this case. But these are summer socks, so a good fit isn't necessary - they're just to give my feet a little warmth when I'm sitting knitting on a chilly evening. This was very much an experiment, but a useful one and I have more ideas about crochet socks in future.

Gansey update - July

2011-07-18T07:49:00.001+01:00

It's been a while since I posted about the gansey. It's progressing, albeit slowly, but since it's a Christmas present that doesn't matter. As the year wears on, I'm trying to do a few rounds every day - more than that it becomes a chore as it is so big and heavy now. I'm trying not to think about how long it needs to be to fit a 6'2" man before I get to the armholes!

Anyway, I've finally got the cables to my satisfaction, decided that 7 rows is the optimum number between crossings. The triangular "thingies" are also looking good and the moss stitch panels provide a nice contrast to the more interesting panels. All in all, going well.

Woolfest 2011

2011-06-30T19:47:00.003+01:00

It's two years since I last went to Woolfest, so I really enjoyed my visit last Friday. It was interesting to see the changes in the last two years; more spinning, more laceweight yarns, more unusual fibres. I checked out all the sheep, my favourites were the Ouessant, the lambs were a good match for my cat in size, so tiny. Anyway, the first thing I did was sign up to Inside Crochet magazine. I didn't actually know there was a crochet magazine here, I said as much to the chap on the stall. He looked at me in shock and said "But it's in WH Smith". Like there's one on every corner, of course. Well, the nearest shop is several miles away and I don't go there very often, certainly not to look for a magazine I didn't know existed. Not all of us live and work in towns, you know (he clearly didn't!).

Anyway, I got an excellent goody bag (above), managed to blag an extra back issue on top. I got 750m of yarn yard 4 ply, which I know is lovely from experience, a large ball of sock wool, a couple of patterns, some moisturiser and various bits and pieces. And I was able to go through a box of books and pick a free book - I chose Lily Chin's Power Cables book, which I'd had my eye on already. So that was a really good start to the day.
This is silk roving, a good quantity which I really must spin up over winter, though I do have a stockpile of fibre already. Love these colours, just gorgeous.
And here's a pair of mohair socks from the Woolclip, Mum and I bought a pair last time too. They're particularly good for getting inside shoes which aren't quite big enough for 4 ply socks. Great hand dyeing too.
And this is hemp, I had my eye on it last time but didn't buy any. This time I spent a ridiculous amount of time selecting these colours. Of course, I haven't got a clue what I'm going to do with it, but that's half the fun!

We had a great day, lots to look at, I gazed lovingly at lots of yarn but there is a limit to the size of my purse in the midst of a recession. So I've stored lots up in my memory for next year. Now I have to get on with what I have, and I do have a lot in my stash!

Wimbledon Knitting

2011-06-23T14:01:00.005+01:00

With several hours of tennis on the TV every day, I need something to occupy my hands, so I have been getting a lot of knitting done. While I'm continuing with my silk/cotton sweater, I decided to start a new project. Some weeks ago, I asked the question on Ravelry "does anyone knit/wear wool socks in summer?" I'm programmed for wool socks in winter, but summer? After I asked the question I spent a couple of weeks sitting in the evening with freezing feet as it has been unusually cold and wet here for the last month. So I suppose the answer is "I do"!

Knitting magazine included a sock pattern supplement this month, with summer socks in there so I decided to have a go. I picked this lacy pattern and got some wool out of my stash. It's a 3 ply, so a bit fine for socks generally, but nice and fluffy as I think it has some angora in it.
The pattern is nice and fairly easy, so suitable for tennis knitting. Here's the pattern along the foot, dead easy, just 2 pattern rows out of 4. The heel was supposed to be done in short rows, but I've only every done a short row heel once and the pattern instructions looked like they'd been written in German, translated into Japanese and then into English. Incomprehensible, so I just did my standard heel.
Just above the ankle there is a nice diamond pattern repeated four times around the leg.
And the top has a special pattern which creates a firm fabric which stays up, without the need for ribbing. So I've finished one sock, should be able to get the second one done by the end of Wimbledon. It's a nice, airy construction so not too hot, just enough to keep my tootsies warm.

Tomorrow I'm off to Woolfest, am going to try to restrain my spending. Let's see how I do...

Sanquhar Gloves - Prince of Wales

2011-06-11T17:50:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I finally finished my second pair of Sanquhar gloves - this time the Prince of Wales pattern. This has to be my longest project ever - I started them on 24 September last year! I do find these gloves rather addictive because they are challenging in both pattern and technique for me. In particular, I was determined to crack the issue I have knitting gloves and socks, where I end up in pain because of a long-standing problem with my left elbow. I want to be able to knit for another 40 years, so I really wanted to fix this. I only have this difficulty with dpns, and it means tight and variable tension in my knitting, along with pain in my arm. I do think I have resolved it finally with this project, the first step was switching to Portuguese style knitting (lots of info on this on Ravelry and YouTube) which has helped, but the solution to the tension in my left hand (probably due to over-compensating for my weaker grip) has proved to be both holding my knitting lower and concentrating on relaxing. I seem to have trained out the tight knitting during this project, but it does mean the second glove is better than the first!
Here's a close-up of the main pattern sections, you can see the transition point between rounds in the centre. I used two remnant machine yarns for this, unfortunately the orange yarn turned out to be ever-so-slightly heavier than the undyed british breed yarn. Also the British breed was slightly variable in thickness. The bottom pattern is a two-colour rib, the middle "spot" pattern and the top is the main pattern proper.
The pattern puts three lines up the back of the hand, in imitation of the stitched lines on a leather glove. On the right hand side you can just see a similar line up the outside of the glove, which marks the start and end of the round. As for the pattern (the SWRI authentic pattern), there are a few pointers I can give to help. Firstly, only knit this pattern if you can concentrate properly, don't do too much as it gets tiring, and do read the pattern properly before you get too far with the second glove! I inadvertently started to knit a second left glove because I forgot that while the beginning of both is the same, you then have to - wait for it- read the pattern instructions BACKWARDS for the right glove! Yes, backwards, while the rows follow the same order, you actually read the stitch directions from the end to the beginning. Now that does take concentration!

The other thing with this pattern is that you repeat certain sections while doing the thumb increases, so the instructions for the increases are not correct when you're repeating the rows. I must have missed an increase or messed up some other way in this section because the pattern started to get messed up. I realised that I had the wrong number of stitches in total, but couldn't figure out whether I'd missed an increase at the beginning or the end, so had to work it out row by row after that, matching the pattern by eye. If I were to do it again, I'd write it out so that I had the right number of stitches in the thumb at all times.

For those with this pattern, there's also one typo in the 11th round which you only pick up when you're doing it backwards second time over - it should be "(3 lt., 3 dk.) 8 times".
Here's the thumb - you can clearly see a line where I put the stitches aside after the increases. I had this both times, thought it was my over-tight knitting. While it was better on the second glove, I couldn't figure out what had caused it - the stitches were really tight when I picked them back up. Then I had a "duh!" moment. I'd put them on a safety pin, a big safety pin, but still a safety pin. It was too narrow, the stitches had contracted as I knitted on either side and inadvertently pulled the yarn tighter. I should have used a proper stitch holder which was wider than the knitting needles, not a narrower safety pin. So if anyone reading this is planning to do this pattern, I pass this tip on to you.
So here they are, they could be blocked more beautifully but they'll change shape once they're on my hands anyway, and I'm not an absolute perfectionist. Like all Sanquhar gloves it seems, they are very long and extend well past my wrist - the spot pattern between the rib and main pattern runs round the wrist. You could shorten the rib section, but personally I think the length is one of the great things about these gloves, and I will appreciate it when I'm out in them next winter in the snow at -6 deg C.

I still have two SWRI patterns left to do, but think I'll put them aside until 2012. I'm seriously thinking about my next project being my first-ever "summer" wool socks, given the cold days and nights we've been having here in mid June!

Birthday Bag

2011-06-05T16:14:00.002+01:00

It's my Mum's birthday this week so I've been beavering away getting this bag finished. Ta-da! The pattern is from Simply Knitting April 2011 (yes, I know it's crochet so shouldn't have been there). It's taken a couple of weeks, I did have to take it back once to fix a mistake. The yarns is Paton's Cotton DK, the hook was 5mm. Paton's cotton is an excellent yarn, and it worked up beautifully.
As you get into the body of the bag, the scallops move slightly to the side each time, which creates a nice effect. Not a difficult pattern, but I couldn't do more than one scallop section each day - what you don't see in the picture is all the rows in between the scallops.

Blocking was a challenge, you actually work this top to bottom (i.e. upside down) so after that the scallops all want to face the wrong way. What I did was put it on an ironing board and starting at the bottom, pulled down the scallops in one row, then held an iron over the row on full steam (not pressing, just above) to damp the cotton. Then I moved on to the row above, and so on. It flattened better than I expected.
Finding a lining material was difficult - the yarn looks pink, but it's actually a pink at the purple end of the spectrum and so all the pink material I looked at was just wrong. I settled on this large pink and purple print in the end. Mum will love this, she's very excited from the occasional glimpse she got as I was working through it. A most satisfying project for me too; now back to the knitting...

Aargh! Disaster!

2011-05-28T13:42:00.003+01:00

So last night I got out the gansey to do a couple of hours on it, worked half a round when snap! one of the needles broke.

Really, really irritating, but since it is a Christmas present I think I have time to get more...

Not Knitting This Week

2011-05-23T21:33:00.003+01:00

Some crochet for a change this week. This is going to be a bag, the pattern's from Simply Knitting magazine and my Mum really liked it. Since she doesn't crochet (I taught myself) she asked me to make it for her birthday. I like the way this is constructed, with scallops worked as whole motifs along the row. It's easy and grows quickly with a 5mm hook. The yarn is Patons cotton DK, which is a lovely cotton I've used before, b0th as DK and 4 ply.
It needs a lining so I went hunting in the remnants shop for a suitable piece of fabric. This proved more difficult than you'd think, it turned out the shades of pink were not normal pinks, but with a strong hint of purple. So this fabric was the closest I could get. I'm also having trouble finding a handle of the correct design, will have to hunt around the internet as none of the handles I've seen in shops so far will work. I'm hoping to finish the crochet part of the bag this week so I can spend time on the lining and handles problem.

Knitting Progress 3rd week of May

2011-05-16T20:06:00.003+01:00

I started my Sanquhar (Prince of Wales pattern) gloves months ago and they got a bit neglected due to the amount of other knitting at the time. So I'm determined to get them finished and this week made excellent progress. After the false start when I discovered I was knitting a second left glove, a small amount of ripping back and some serious concentration has happily resulted in a right glove instead. I've got the hang of this pattern now; I think Sanquhar gloves are one of those patterns where you improve second time round. This second glove is better than the first, no mistakes in the pattern (that I can see anyway!) and the tension is more consistent. As you can see, the pattern creates lines up the back of the hand, rather like where a leather glove is sewn to create raised sections. Rather a nice effect, I think.
And here's the palm showing the thumb gusset. There are two downsides with this pattern; firstly to create the right glove you have to read the instructions for the left glove, but backwards (yes, really!). Secondly, it repeats rows regularly and this makes it easy to lose track of the stitch number in the thumb gusset as it doesn't specify how many stitches there are in the thumb gusset on the fifth time you knit that row. At one point I probably forgot an increase and the first I knew of it was when it threw the pattern out following. Then of course, I had the dilemma of whether I had missed the increase at the start or the end of the gusset. No idea, so I had to guess. Every so often it does give you an overall stitch count so I just aimed for that and hoped for the best. Oh, and it says "XX stitches and 31 gusset stitches" when it means "XX stitches including 31 gusset stitches", just to make your life even more interesting! Still, the fun is in the challenge with these gloves. So now I just have the fingers and thumb to do - easy enough, just exceedingly fiddly, so I'm hoping to get them finished in the next week.
I also cast on the silk/cotton yarn which I got on Friday. When you buy yarn remnants, they're often oiled, which can throw the gauge out a bit. This is a good example - you can see the difference in the photo above. After washing out the oil, the yarn fluffs up; the gauge was 23.75 stitches before washing, 22 after, so it really pays to do a proper swatch. Of course I'm always too impatient to do a proper size swatch, I knit as little as I think I can get away with!

This is going to be a simple sleeved sweater, shaped at the waist. I'm not using a pattern, just making it up as I go along. It's on 2mm needles (UK 14) so it will take a while, but there's no hurry, it's just an easy occupation in the evening.

Birthday Yarn

2011-05-13T17:44:00.004+01:00

It's my Mum's birthday next month, and she wants me to crochet a bag for her so today we went the local woolshop to choose the yarn. It's Patons cotton (DK) - this cotton is a lovely yarn, there's nothing better. So I have to start it this weekend...
Of course, while I was there I spied this lovely yarn in the sale bin. A gorgeous tweedy purple, so I bought all 11 balls - Patons wool tweed. It's DK but the shop owner assured me it would also knit up as a light aran on larger needles. So this has gone into my winter stash box, i.e. wool for knitting up later in the year. I've no idea what I'll do with it, but that's half the fun!
Then we went off to Fairfield yarns to look for nice remnant yarns. Originally the idea was for Mum to buy me a particular garden tool for my birthday next week, but this tool proved hard to get and ridiculously expensive so I suggested she should buy me some yarn instead. She's a bit aggrieved because my finds were too inexpensive! Anyway, we start with a lovely Italian yarn which looks so much better in the flesh than in the photo. It's a lovely shiny yarn, brown with flecks in it, mostly a blue/green colour. I'm told it contains linen, viscose and some other things, but he was unable to locate another cone with the label intact.
And this is a silk/cotton mix, slightly slubby so will knit up into a textured sweater, I think. This also has flecks of other colours in it, mostly light blue and green, so I'm looking forward to starting with this.
And another thing for my winter stash - lambswool in a lovely petrol colour. Why do we call blue green "petrol"? It's not like it actually resembles the colour of petrol, which has no colour at all. Anyway, I fell in love with this colour as soon as I saw it. Gorgeous.

I like knitting with coned yarns, but you do have to swatch rigorously, something I'm not particularly good at generally. The first thing I'll do is wet one end of the yarn to see what happens - coned yarns are often wound so tightly they're compressed so you don't see the full effect. Once I've determined roughly what thickness the yarn will be once knitted and washed, I can start experimenting with swatches and different needle sizes. I'm very lucky to have a remnant shop nearby, the variety of yarns available is amazing. Most of them are fine, some too fine for handknitting, but there are some glorious mixes and unusual yarns - baby camel, alpaca, silk, cashmere, angora and designer yarns.

So I have a gansey to progress, Sanquhar gloves to finish (made good progress this week), a birthday present to crochet and itchy fingers as I want to make a start on these new yarns...

Oh, and I also have to work for a living, shame.

Gansey Part 2

2011-05-06T17:27:00.003+01:00

I've made good progress on the gansey in the last couple of weeks, finishing the rib and starting the pattern. Here you can see the full repeat; cable and a triangle type thingy (half-flag?) bounded by moss stitch on either side. When I was doing my sample knit, what I realised was that what you put on either side is as important as the main pattern. So I have a vertical rib on either side of the cable, with a 6 stitch moss stitch pattern in between.
The triangle pattern has a vertical rib on one side only, which is how it was worked on the examples I looked at, with 2 purl stitches on the right side to set the pattern off. This is a really easy pattern to work but looks quite striking. I thought about doing another main pattern in the body but decided against it as it would look too "busy" to my eyes. Happily Other Half liked the cable and this the best, so I just inserted moss stitch between to keep textural interest.
Here's the cable, a 6 stitch cable twisting to the right. The only question I have in my mind about this is whether it's a bit too "tight" and whether I should add an extra row before the next twist. As always, my sample doesn't look quite the same as the finished version, I seem to be knitting slightly tighter, probably due to the extra stitches/weight on the needles. So I'm going to add one row before the next cable twist and see how it looks.

Although the patterning looks complicated, I find doing this much easier than, say, a lace pattern which requires much more concentration. With a gansey, you just "read" the knitting and know what comes next. With lace you have to actually think about it rather than figure it out. So I think this gansey may take me less time than I expected, as I'm perfectly able to knit while watching TV, with the one exception of the new series of Doctor Who, which requires my full attention as I haven't got a clue what's going on!

Starting the Gansey

2011-04-26T20:37:00.004+01:00

Now I've been playing with the gansey for some time. I did a sample square, trying out a number of patterns, some of which have made it into the final version. All were passed by Other Half for his approval, as this is going to be his Christmas sweater 2011. You might think I'm starting Christmas knitting a trifle early, but it is being made with genuine 5 ply guernsey wool (from Frangipani) on 2.25mm needles and OH is over 6 feet tall. Put it this way, I have to lengthen every sweater I knit for him, and knitting it takes forever even without thin yarn and tiny needles, so I decided to reduce the time pressure by starting early.
Here are some of my notes, not sure what they all mean now! My planning is rudimentary; I have decided on the patterns, worked out how many stitches and am all set up to the armhole gussets. What happens after that is going to be a voyage of discovery as I haven't got a clue. Haven't yet thought about how I'm going to construct the shoulders or neck, I'm just focussed on covering the acres of knitting up to the armholes. I reckon I've got a few months before I have to tackle that.
So here it is, the welt (2x2 rib), on my lovely new KnitPro circular, which makes knitting a dream. So far I have managed to create two problems; I didn't close the circle of stitches correctly (i.e. there was a twist part way round) and the 2x2 rib didn't quite work first time round. The first issue was easily solved; with over 400 stitches on the needle, trying to get them all the same way is very difficult so when I realised I had a kink, I just put a twist in the second round to fix it. It's invisible now after several rounds of rib. The second problem was that I was short 2 stitches for the rib; i.e. the round ended with 2 x K, and the next round also started with 2 x K. So I just created two new stitches between, problem solved. The number of stitches isn't crucial in the welt, when I increase for the main body I'll have to make sure the stitch number is right to make the pattern work.

So now I'm off to do some more mindless rib for the rest of the evening. Sporadic gansey updates will follow from time to time over the coming months...

The Pleasures and Perils of Knitting in Cotton

2011-04-20T19:10:00.005+01:00

When the new copy of Knitting Magazine arrived last week, I did something unusual for me - cast on a project within hours of opening the magazine. This pattern was in the supplement, a Patons sweater, and I decided to use some of the cotton I bought a couple of months ago. The recommended Patons yarn is a new one called "Fusion"; this didn't endear itself to me by being 80% acrylic. I can't wear the stuff as in acrylic I generate enough static electricity to power a small electrical appliance. Cotton it had to be. But this in itself creates other issues; in my experience the problems with cotton are:

gauge - an "aran" cotton yarn is not necessarily the same weight as any other "aran" cotton yarn, even if they seem to knit to the same tension. While you can substitute wool aran yarns without worrying too much in most cases, the same cannot be said of cotton. My gauge for this pattern was one stitch less than the one prescribed.
stretch - cotton stretches more than wool and can droop alarmingly, so finding the correct size and shape to knit can be a challenge. If you look at the photo above, the front of the neck looks high but it's not when worn, it's a not-too-deep scoop neck due to the stretch (sorry there's no picture of me wearing it but it was very out of focus).
shrinkage - some cottons shrink alarmingly when first washed, so creating and washing a sample is a must, even for those of us who are normally cavalier about this! In this case I already knew that there was minimum shrinkage with this yarn, less than 1%, but you do need to take shrinkage into account for some yarns.

So taking all of the above into account, I knitted the smallest size offered, knowing that my gauge would make it a little bigger anyway. But of course when the gauge is off, the number of rows is off too so I had to compensate. As I was getting near the top of the back, I measured it and realised it was going to be too long. So I decided to shorten the last two lace patterns while leaving the garter ridges the same size.

Looking at the front of the sweater in the pattern, another thing that stood out to me was that the neckline was wide and deep; bearing in mind the stretch problem with cotton (as opposed to the original yarn used which was mainly acrylic) and my narrow, sloping shoulders, I needed to reduce that. So as I planned the shortening of the back, I also planned the front and made sure both would work. N.B., this is probably the only time I've planned anything in advance, I'm normally a fly by the seat of my pants gal!

Because of my narrow shoulders, I've long since got into the habit of completely finishing the body first so I can try it on and see where the sleeve seam lands. That way I can decide how long the sleeves need to be. In this case the sleeves were rather long in the design, so I was able to shorten them to just above the wrist by missing out two whole lace patterns. If I'd knitted them the original length, the bottom edge would have been at the end of my fingers!

So this is a rather customised sweater but I'm very pleased with it, it fits perfectly, and the assortment of lace patterns is interesting. And a very quick knit too, just over a week from start to finish. That's the real pleasure of knitting in aran weight cotton!

Wray

2011-04-10T14:46:00.003+01:00

Another piece of spring/summer knitting; this is Wray by Lily France, a short sleeved cardi knitted in laceweight. I used Debonnaire Lace by EHD Knits, 80% merino, 20% silk and it was perfect for this project. It is faintly striped as you can see better in the picture below, and I do have quite a bit left over, so very good value for money.
Knitting a cardi in laceweight was a new one for me, I liked the pattern but one of the instructions was "knit the knits and purl the purls"; now when you're knitting in laceweight it's not terribly easy to see which is which unless you're in absolutely perfect light. Still, once I'd got my head round the patterning it was quite enjoyable, all except the arm pleats which were extremely fiddly. I did more buttonholes than the pattern required; I could say it was by design but actually it was by accident. It's unlikely I'll ever use all the buttonholes, but I've put a button for each one just so it looks right. Anyway, it fits beautifully and I'm looking forward to wearing it.

End of March, End of a Project!

2011-03-27T17:16:00.002+01:00

I really like to finish things, so getting this one done was welcome. This is my fourth knit from Noro Catwalk Two by Jenny Watson, an excellent book containing lots of really useful patterns. I was keen to do something in a lace knit, but being an impatient knitter, this took way too long (7 weeks) as it requires more concentration than a standard knit. At the start I occasionally forgot to pass over slipped stitches and dropped the odd yarn over, but by the end I had ironed out these problems.

However, the pattern is actually easy once you get into it and I enjoyed this. It's a three-quarter sleeve, with deep v neck, ideal for spring wear so I hope to be putting it on this week. For buttons I raided my button box for odd left-overs. Thrifty and quirky!
I went to the woolshop to get a zip for a tunic I've made. But being a yarn addict, I couldn't resist the bargain box and picked up 8 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Chunky at a discount. Like everything else, this yarn is going up in price for the new season, by about 70p a ball, so I feel extra virtuous. That's my excuse anyway. So this yarn is going into my stash until later in the year or until I think of the perfect pattern, whichever happens first!

I often find the choice of yarn overwhelming in a yarn shop, and rather like the restriction of ferreting out yarn from the bargain box to see what I can make from it. Another project from bargain box yarn is the Top Au Crochet I made last year, which is actually the most popular project on this blog! That cost a few pounds to make and I still have 2 skeins of the yarn left. I can't visit the shop without buying something I didn't go in for, that's the sign of a real addict...

New Projects for the Third Week of March

2011-03-16T21:02:00.003Z

While I'm still finishing off a couple of projects, I've been progressing a couple of new ones. This is the start of Wray, a top down short sleeve cardi worked in laceweight. This is a perfect project for sitting on my small sofa with the cat by my side - she insists on this for a couple of hours in the evening and knitting with long needles is awkward as there isn't room for me, the cat and long needles! So a circular project is ideal. By the way, if you think I could dissuade the cat from this practice, you can't be a cat owner. Once she has decided she is going to sit there, nothing can stop her, she'll sit on the knitting or yarn, or pattern or pursue her game of "chase the row counter on the end of the needle".
And here's my swatch for the gansey. I tried out a few patterns, have decided on the moss stitch (top right), the cable and the diagonal thingies next to it. From this I should be able to do the maths and work out the stitch number for the gansey, which will be knitted on a rather lovely Knit Pro circular which I bought last week.

1st Week of March 2011

2011-03-06T14:04:00.002Z

This week I finished the trumpet skirt. I did adjust the pattern a bit - the flare isn't as wide and the skirt isn't as long as the pattern stated, but it's fine for me. Besides, by the time each row contained around 500 stitches I was losing the will to live. Also I decided to turn over the top of the skirt to thread a tie through rather than construct an elastic casing using yarn embroidered on the inside. It does make the skirt a little bulkier around the top, but I feel it is more secure and less prone to stretching. I'll be wearing long tops over it anyway, so there's no issue there.

What I noticed in the photo rather than on the skirt itself is how the yarn patterning changes as the rows (or rounds, rather) got longer; from large drifts of colour to thin stripes. An interesting effect. So now I'm looking forward to the warm weather when I can wear it.

This week my yarn arrived from Frangipani. Gorgeous stuff, 5 ply guernsey yarn and I'm feeling very virtuous as it's 100% British wool, spun in Yorkshire. This colourway is olive and a lovely deep colour.

It's destined for a Christmas Gansey for my Other Half - yes, I know I'm starting early but he is over 6 feet tall and this is going to be knitted on 2.25mm needles so I need to get going this spring! I actually haven't got a pattern sorted yet, so the next task is to look at stitch patterns and designs, then knit some swatches to work everything out. Then final approval for the design from OH. Better get back to it then...

And now for something a bit different

2011-02-27T14:46:00.004Z

My knitting progresses, but it's really not very interesting since it looks the same as my last post, so I though I would post something different. I learned to make lace some years ago but haven't done any since. I have another project "brewing" (more on that in a few weeks hopefully) and thought about using some lace in it. I think I've changed my mind on that, but started the lace anyway. After a revision course, I picked up a simple "ground" lace pattern. If you look at the top of the picture, you'll see my efforts are not wholly successful early on, with the lace looking like a wiggly worm, but it does get better as I started to remember the extra twists on the edges to stop it distorting. The "pillow" is a block of polystyrene I got in the kit which taught me how to do lace, the plastic bobbins also came with the kit.

Lace is not difficult technically as there are only a few "stitches", but you do have to concentrate to make sure you work the bobbins in the right order and direction, plus stop them twisting out of position. I'm going to try to do a bit more of this.

Those of my readers who also visit ganseys.com will know that Gordon over there is an avid breadmaker. I'm not going to try to compete with him on that subject, but thought I would post this picture of Italian Semolina Bread as I'm really rather proud of it. I recently found a big bag of semolina in my local Tesco, and after using it successfully in shortbread, thought I'd try this loaf. It's basically half semolina, half white flour. The outside is covered with sesame seeds, and it makes a really nice dense slice for open sandwiches, going especially well with peanut butter, I've found. Yum!

Fourth week of February 2011

2011-02-23T19:54:00.002Z

Here's a picture of my Sanquhar (Prince of Wales) Glove - I've finished the spot banding above the wrist rib and started the pattern proper. You can see the shaping of the glove really well in this photo, a narrow wrist, widening naturally in the spot banding as you leave the rib behind, then a few stitches added for width just before the pattern starts.

I was feeling quite pleased with myself until shortly after I took this photo. I was looking at the pattern and preparing to start the thumb shaping when I thought "Hang on, this is the left glove and I'm following instructions for the right glove". Aargh! So I flicked to the back page of the pattern and found that while it is the same up to the end of the spot banding, after that it changes. I really, really hate pulling work back, especially tiny stranded work like this, so rather than pull it back all the way, I got my thinking cap on. The instructions say that for the left glove you read the pattern rows from the end and work back to the beginning (being an old UK pattern, the rows are all written out in full). Up to the start of the thumb shaping, the pattern is the same repeat all the way round so if I move the start of the round back (or forward, not sure which) one stitch so I start with the orange instead of the brown, I may have rectified the problem without taking it all the way back. Will have to sit down and try it out tomorrow...

After that moment of panic, I got out my lace cardi and found a bunch of stitches had dropped off the end of the needle. Of course it would be the row with all the yarn overs and passed over stitches, wouldn't it? Still, it's an easy pattern so won't take too long to reconstruct.

The lace cardi is nice but I do have to look at it while I knit, so here is my TV knitting project. This is the Araucania cotton I bought at a reduced price a couple of weeks ago, and I really like the clouds of colour it creates, very pretty. Given the strong shades, I decided to make a skirt with this - the Trumpet Skirt by Joan McGowan-Michael from Knitting Lingerie style. I had trouble with the gauge, but a quick scoot round Ravelry showed that pretty much everyone else had too. Allowing for the one stitch difference in gauge using the circulars I'd chosen, and for the fact that American sizes tend to be more roomy, I decided to knit one size down from my measurements, and it's looking about right. The top is the garter stitch edge at the bottom of the photo, the shaping runs along the yarn-over "stripes" you can see, though at the moment I'm knitting the straight bit.

So I'm hoping the rest of my knitting this week will contain a little less drama...

I just couldn't help myself...

2011-02-13T10:06:00.003Z

You know how it is, you buy some lovely yarn, put it on top of the wardrobe determined not to touch it for a while, and then.... My excuse is my Mum bought a skein of yarn in Manchester and wanted me to wind it into a ball for her, so while I had the yarn winder out, it was a shame not to get a skein of the Araucania Ranco Multy out, just to see, you understand. Before I knew it I had cast on for a new cardi.

The photo doesn't do it justice, it's a lovely mottled blue and pink. I'm using Design 07 from Noro Catwalk Two by Jenny Watson; it's the fourth garment I've knitted from that book, and there are more that I intend to use eventually. The lace pattern is simple but I do have a habit of forgetting to pass over slip stitches occasionally, having to correct them on the way back on the purl row, which is really stupid. I'm a little over half way to the armholes now.

I'm also making an effort to get on with my Sanquhar gloves, Prince of Wales pattern. I only do a little each day; knitting on 1.5mm needles is tiring and when I get into the pattern properly it takes a lot of concentration. How anybody could have ever knit these commercially I really don't know. Anyway, I've finished the wrist ribbing, done two rows of brown and am ready to do the spot banding on the wrist now. There's no desperate rush for these - it will be next winter before it's cold enough to wear them.

I'm also making an effort to get on with spinning the sack of fleece which currently resides in the hall, taking up space! As you can see from the photo, this fleece is nice and clean, with only some of the tips a bit dirty - I've seen far worse fleeces. It's a Texel/Gritstone cross, from a small farmer up the hill from my house. The sheep are well fed and cared for, and it shows in the quality of this fleece.
I'm spinning it in the grease, as I prefer to, so the colour of the yarn varies slightly in this photo, but I wash the skeins once I have enough to put them in the washing machine (30 degree wool wash). The fleece has a nice crimp and spins easily, plying well too.

I also have half an alpaca fleece from the same farmer and I've been much exercised about what to do with it. I spun my last brown alpaca whole and made a cardigan with it. But there are limitations to alpaca - it can stretch and doesn't have the same memory as wool, so the cardigan I made is short with short sleeves to reduce the weight. I therefore thought I would mix the alpaca with some blue faced leicester, which is a fibre of a similar thickness; this should create a nice light yarn which also has some spring in it.
But how to do it? Carding the BFL was a nightmare as it is in tight curls which don't let go easily. Then a flash of inspiration - the dog comb. Actually I use this comb on my long haired cat, who also has fine fur, so why not use it to comb out the alpaca and the BFL? I had a go and you can see the results: above left to right is uncombed alpaca, alpaca after combing, the dog comb itself, uncombed BFL and combed BFL. For the alpaca, the combing helps to remove vegetable matter which is always a problem with these beasties. For the BFL, the wide teeth of the comb separate the fibres well, and finishing with the fine side of the comb results in a nice fluffy ball. While I have combed this fibre, I intend to spin it woollen style, not worsted, so I'm mixing the two fibres together and then finishing off with a light carding to create a rolag for spinning. Problem solved, now just need to get on and do it!

Moving On

2011-02-06T12:42:00.004Z

I've now finished my Mum's Christmas socks, here's a close up of the pattern. The yarn was Natural Dye Studio HT Blue Faced Leicester, nice to knit with and should be hard wearing too.
My sock marathon was completed by these - Schoppel Wolle 6 ply, perfect for Man Socks as it's tough and knits up quickly. There's a 10 cm difference in foot length between Mum's Socks and Man Socks - that's a lot of knitting! So that's the sock knitting over for now - I only do socks between September and January so I'm going to have a break from that.

Still on the needles - Sanquhar gloves, which have been sadly neglected of late. I'll get on with these now and at least they'll be finished by next winter! I'm also going to get back to spinning - still have one sheep fleece and half an alpaca to do.
But I'm also going to diversify - I also like embroidery and here's some work I finished years ago. It then sat in a drawer for two years before I got it framed.
Here's a close-up. Since it was framed in November, it's sat in bubble wrap behind the sewing machine. I think I know where it's going to go, but it means moving other things, so I keep putting it off.
I went through my stash cupboard recently and retrieved this project: about 12 years ago I found a linen tablecloth in an antique shop. It's printed with a pattern (you can just see bits of it at the top of the picture) and apart from a very small section which had been ripped out, hadn't been worked. Here's one of the corners, which I completed recently.
And here it is draped over the ironing board for scale. You can just see the corner pattern at the bottom. The main pattern is in a big circle around the middle of the cloth, and it's a lot of sewing, I reckon around a year's worth at least.
So I'm going to use up all the odds and ends of threads I've collected over the years rather than buying new. My plan is to do each corner with a different colour theme and then work the centre section around the colour wheel, somehow. Not sure how that will work yet, but there's plenty of time...

More for the Stash Cupboard

2011-02-04T15:41:00.002Z

Today I went to the Manchester Stitch and Craft show with my Mum, a bit of a day out on a dark, wet and windy late winter day. We don't go to this show every year, there's not usually much knitting there, it's mostly paper crafts and embroidery. But it was worth it to find a few special things. Above is the first of my bargains - a pack of 10 x 100g Araucania Ranco Multy at a very reduced price.
And this is Araucania cotton, 11 hanks in total.
And this is also Araucania cotton, looks like 11 or 12 hanks in here - I don't want to open the pack as they'll all fall out. These are all for my stash cupboard, the only problem being that the cupboard is full! Also there is a large bag under the table in the corner which the cat uses as a trampoline to get on and off the windowsill, so no room under there. So I think these are destined to go on top of the wardrobe for a little while. I don't want to open them as if I do, I'll want to knit them up and I have too many other projects to finish first.
And finally, a lovely hank of lace yarn from Erica Downs at Debonnaire, along with a shawl pin. I've been promising myself a shawl pin since I knitted my first shawl last year, so I finally got there.

So now, I must, must, must get on with my unfinished projects before starting these lovely yarns...

The Bayberry Wrap

2011-01-29T09:31:00.004Z

After four months of work, my Bayberry Wrap is now finished. This was a knit-along pattern for subscribers to The Knitter Magazine (pattern by Sarah Hatton).

I didn't knit my first shawl until last year, so I'm not a natural knitter of things like this. It's 2.5m long and if I'd read that before I started, maybe I wouldn't have picked up the needles! But the great thing about doing a large piece of work in sections is you don't see it all at once and you get a break from it between issues. I really enjoyed this pattern, it was something completely different for me. The yarn is undyed blue-faced leicester.

Since I spend all my time at home, not in overheated offices, I do feel the chill when I sit down in the afternoons, particularly in late spring/early summer when it's too warm for central heating but not quite warm enough, so this will be ideal for those times. And it certainly does "wrap" you up!

Blocking this was rather a challenge - it was too big for my standard blocking cloth, so I cobbled something together using a duvet cover, an ironing board, a chair and several cushions. Even so I didn't manage to get it completely flat as I live in a matchbox-size house and I wouldn't have been able to walk around the living room if it was laid out to its full length!

The photo was also problematic - in the end I threw my recently woven rug over the inner hall door, laid the wrap on top, opened the front door and stood outside!

Socks and rugs

2011-01-26T14:21:00.003Z

This is my second pair of Nexus Socks (pattern by Jon Dunn-Ballam), and they're a belated part of Mum's Christmas present. Thankfully she has tiny feet so I've been able to do the small size and they don't take forever. Only one more to go.
I've now perfected my sock pattern for my Other Half, and this pair of socks is going to be a little different. As he's a big, clumsy man who has spent far too much of his life wearing tube socks (socks with heels are a foreign country), his socks need to be a little more robust than 4 ply gives. So I decided to try this 6 ply Zauberball. It's a lovely yarn, which knits up easily and is stronger than standard 4 ply sock. I did a 1x1 rib at the top as he often turns down the tops of his socks, then did a 2x2 rib for the body to improve the fit.

As part of the experiment, I also bought a tiny circular needle on which to knit them. A Knit Pro 40 cm 2.75mm, to be precise. For a sock this size (70 sts), it turned out to be just the right size to hold all the stitches, no magic loop required. The tips are wooden and though it took a little time for me to adjust knitting socks in this way, now I've got the knack it's very comfortable. I think I might have to invest in more Knit Pro needles. I'll certainly be making another pair of socks in this way.
And now for my new toy. Before Christmas I sold quite a number of my old books on ebay and decided to splurge some of my takings on a loom. So I bought this handmade rigid heddle loom off ebay and though it took ages to arrive, it turned out to be a good buy. For my first project I decided to use up left over yarn to make a rug. If you know something about weaving, you may notice that the heddle is on upside down and the warping isn't quite right, but that's why I did this project, so I could make mistakes and it wouldn't matter.
Getting the sides consistent was a challenge, but I definitely improved as I went along. The warp was made of some cotton I've had in my stash for years, and I beat down the weft with a dog comb so the warp doesn't show through. Other Half pronounced it very warm under his feet, and for a first project, I'm rather pleased with it.

This week I'm hoping to get some projects off my needles, before I go to the Stitch and Creative Craft show in Manchester, where I'm guaranteed to come back with more things for my stash cupboard...

Spring Knitting

2011-01-15T20:20:00.002Z

At this time of year I tend to start knitting things with spring in mind - shorter sleeves, lighter yarn. The first thing I finished was this alpaca/silk mix cardi. It was supposed to be short sleeved but the yarn went a long way - it's a Noro pattern and like many Noro patterns they were generous with the yarn requirements. So I completely finished the body before knitting the sleeves and was able to make them elbow length as a result. It's a lovely cardi, light but warm.
Next was part 3 of the Bayberry Wrap, a Knit-Along for subscribers to The Knitter magazine. It's 2.5m long, and this month we did a feather and fan pattern to finish the ends. This is knitted in an undyed Blue Faced Leicester I got in the remnant store nearby. Just one more month to go for this.
And then I did another Noro pattern, another short-sleeved cardi but this time in my own handspun alpaca. I did the edges in an undyed, well-twisted handspun to prevent the alpaca stretching too much. I'm really pleased with this - I still had some alpaca left over at the end, and it the fleece cost me £8.50, so it was a bargain! I wasn't fussy about the spinning, so you can see faint stripes as the bleached tips came in and out. A nice effect, I think.

Old and New

2011-01-01T15:55:00.003Z

Today I got a couple of old projects off the needles. First was this lace sweater which was a Christmas present for my Mum, but infuriatingly I ran out of yarn a few inches from the end. I got another ball of it on Thursday, and it didn't take long to finish off. The colours are spectacular, but King Cole Riot isn't a yarn I'd use myself due to its high acrylic content; I'm a very efficient generator of static electricity and so don't wear anything with more than a very small percentage of artificial fibres. I find the cat objects to receiving an electric shock when I stroke her...
And I also finished these socks which I started back in October. It was my first use of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn and will also be my last use of this yarn for socks. The characteristic unevenness of Noro isn't very suited to socks, and I found this a hard knit, glad to have them off the needles. They'll be very warm and thick, but not ideal socks.
When I was in Manchester the other day, I perused the yarn in the sale for a little something for myself. I settled on this Austermann Alpaca Silk, which is 80% alpaca and 20% silk and an aran weight. I really like this; it's pleasant to knit with and has a lovely sheen. I've never come across Austermann before, but if it wears as well as it looks, I might try some more.

Christmas Presents for Me...

2010-12-28T15:45:00.005Z

We really wanted to get out of the house today, but since the weather was dreadful, had to resort to secondhand bookshops and antique stores. In the second of these I found several treasures. In all the years I've been scouring antique and bookshops I've never found any patterns for tatting, but here was a collection of patterns and instructions. I sifted through them and bought the best ones. The newest seems to be from the early seventies, the others from the sixties or maybe late fifties.
There were also crochet patterns, so I picked out a few of these too.
But the major treasure was four boxes of vintage crochet cotton in various colours. As you can see, three boxes were full of cottons which were either new or barely used. The fourth box was labelled "various craft" and contained cottons (mostly used), metallics and other thread.
But it also contained some part-completed tatting, as you can see above;
a lovely part-completed tatted edge for a handkerchief, a crochet pansy and an orange crochet flower.
And at the bottom of the box were a part-edged handkerchief and two tatting shuttles. I was particularly pleased with the tatting shuttles as I had seen some lovely old ivory/bone ones in the shop but couldn't bring myself to spend £20+ on them. So here were two shuttles, one large and one small, already wound with thread. I got to thinking about the woman who had owned these and all the other items I bought, wondered what had happened to her. I might try to finish the tatting she started in due course.

Anyway, the little lot above cost £33 in total, which I thought was a bargain.
In the other shop we visited, I found this book on dyeing with plants, a really useful and comprehensive tome for £2.
And a set of crochet hooks in a zip up case for £3.50. While I did have some hooks of these sizes already, I have now filled in some more gaps in my collection and have a lovely carry case for them.

The Wrap Marathon

2010-12-27T11:15:00.003Z

Having almost finished the Christmas marathon, just awaiting more yarn, over Christmas I decided to get on with the Bayberry wrap KAL from The Knitter. The first instalment was the centre section knitted in the round (the part next to the magazine in the picture), little did I know what part 2 was going to be! Many hours of knitting later, I have successfully knitted out from the centre square to make the two ends. I do like the pattern, and managed reasonably well.

The only downside was that I missed the middle (cluster) row on one of the sides so I'll have to fix that with a needle at the end. Also, I managed to finish the edge pattern at a slightly different place on each end. No idea how I managed to do that!

I can honestly say I've never knitted anything as long as this, so I'm looking forward to the next instalment which should be here this week.

Christmas Knitting Frustration

2010-12-23T17:16:00.003Z

There's nothing worse than running out of yarn, especially a few days before Christmas! I got a little over half way up this second sleeve before I had to stop. The yarn comes from 20 miles away and given the snow, I haven't had time to go and get more but am planning to next week. So Mum will have to wait for me to finish this next week. I'd already finished one of her presents, so it's not like she'll be without a present on Christmas day.
So I've now got time to finish the second of this pair of socks for my Other Half. The yarn is Zauberball and I really like it. It seems to go further than the earlier trial pair of socks I knitted for him, even though it's supposed to be the same length of yarn. It's taken me two attempts to get the sizing right for his strangely-shaped feet, which are rather out of proportion. He thinks his feet are perfectly normal, but they're very wide with a high instep and rather short for his height. Anyway, I got there eventually and have some more yarn for the next pair.

Happy Christmas, hope your Christmas Knitting has been more successful than mine!

Another Project off the Needles

2010-12-10T15:06:00.003Z

This is the first part of Mum's Christmas present - a scarf knitted in Manos lace. The pattern came from Simply Knitting Christmas gifts, though what it was doing in Simply Knitting I don't know! A complex lace pattern, it was rather unclear on the method of construction and had errors in it too. Eventually I worked it out and while there are subtle differences between the first pattern and subsequent repeats, it's mostly in the number of stocking stitch rows between parts of the pattern. It's my first try using a proper laceweight yarn and I'm very pleased with it. The picture above shows it pinned to a cloth on my ironing board for blocking.
Yesterday I went to the local small town to do some Christmas shopping, and popped into an antiques/vintage/allsorts place, as I habitually do. One of the stall holders does buttons and bits of knitting/sewing stuff, and I always buy vintage buttons from there rather than new ones. She sometimes has knitting needles and last time I went I found a set of 4 long (i.e. sweater-size) 3.25mm (10) dpns. I'm not altogether fond of circulars as I find the weight distribution of a large sweater unwieldy, so I keep an eye out. No more needles yesterday, but I did find this lovely piece of crochet, worked in a variegated cotton yarn on a tiny hook. Beautiful work, I might try to figure out how it's made and replicate the pattern.

Anyone recognise these sheep?

2010-12-07T15:39:00.003Z

These brown sheep have been here since summer, they're long-tailed and seem quite at home now.
These sheep arrived on this farm in October, and this week I got a closer look at them than I had before.
Here they are next to some Texel sheep, for scale.
They have lovely horns and are very black, with brown tips bleached by the sun. Not a shred of white on their bodies.

I think they may be Black Welsh Mountain, but not having seen any before, I'm not sure. Any ideas?

The Knitting Marathon

2010-12-05T14:00:00.002Z

At this time of year I usually have a lot of projects on the needles. I find certain things, such as socks, uncomfortable if I work on them for too long, and some patterns need more concentration than others. So in the gap between finishing my first Christmas present and obtaining the yarn for the next one, I started this - the Bayberry Wrap from The Knitter magazine. This pattern is for subscribers and comes in four parts. I've now finished part 1, but part 2 will have to wait until I've finished my Christmas knitting. I've used the Blue Faced Leicester I bought in September - so soft to knit.
So this is part 1 of my Mum's christmas present - a lace scarf knitted in Manos lace. I've never used this yarn before and it is gorgeous. The only disappointment is that the pattern is a little unclear and contains errors. It's from Simply Knitting magazine but why a complex pattern like this is in Simply Knitting I don't know!
And this is a lace sweater, again from Simply Knitting magazine. Mum chose King Cole Riot for this, have just finished the back. I like the yarn though with its high acrylic content I'd never wear it as I have a major problem with static electricity when wearing artificial fibres. It's a simple lace pattern, easy to do.
I've also knitted my first sock in Noro Silk Garden sock - nice yarn but it knits bigger than standard 4 ply. I've put this aside now as I'm working on a pair of socks for Other Half, in Zauberball.

First Christmas Knitting finished

2010-11-18T16:04:00.002Z

This week I've finished the first Christmas sweater. I'm quite pleased with it, but I think I need to do some more fitting on the collar - it was shaped using short rows and I didn't find it quite satisfactory. I've put it aside for now so I can have a think about it. But I do like the rib pattern - a combination of slip stitch and twisted rib, which is rather good for a man's sweater, I think.
Today I finished my first Sanquhar glove of the season, completing the thumb. You may notice that there is a clear line where I picked it up. It's quite odd, looks like the orange yarn was knitted a bit tight on the lower part of the thumb, whereas I've knitted it more loosely on the top. I'm hoping it will even out a bit in the blocking - the orange yarn is an oiled machine yarn and should bloom slightly when it's washed. There are a couple of errors in the pattern, which I will correct using swiss darning. So I hope to do the second one perfectly!

Noro Sweater No 2

2010-11-13T11:06:00.003Z

I've now finished my second Noro sweater, and here it is. It's pattern 08 from Noro Catwalk 2 by Jenny Watson. A gentle cable and lace pattern, easy to learn. The sizing is generous, could have made a size smaller I think, but it fits well anyway. I only did 88 stitches for the sleeves instead of the 98 recommended.
The thing about Noro is that sewing up can be difficult, if you don't want to have obvious stitches running along the seams. The way I handle it is a little like mattress stitch, but on the wrong side. By running the needle through the border stitches and pulling tight, it creates an invisible seam.
Here it is - the seam was worked in green (you can just see a little of it at the bottom) but it's completely invisible on the blue and pink. Anyway, I love this sweater and a bit of colour is welcome on yet another wet and stormy day here in north-west England.

A Noro treat for me...

2010-11-01T15:08:00.003Z

I'm generally very thrifty in my yarn purchases, seeking out bargains wherever I can find them, but following a bit of luck, I decided to splash out on something luxurious for me. I love Noro, but it is pricey. Still, a little over a week ago I decided to throw caution to the winds and buy a new Noro design book, along with enough yarn for two sweaters. This first one is Number 10 from Noro Catwalk Two, by Jenny Watson. I lengthened the body slightly, shortened the sleeves but still had 100g of Silk Garden left over, which was surprising. Once I got my head around the pattern, it was an easy knit too. Gorgeous.

A crafting weekend

2010-10-17T15:20:00.003+01:00

So here's my Sanquhar glove, first finger finished. It's very snug around the hand, a better fit than the Duke one I made last year. The fingers are very fiddly and take some time. The wrist is a bit loose - will see if I can do anything about that with the next one. Anyway, so far, so good.
This is a crochet garter, from a 19th century pattern which is intriguing if a little vague. I think I know how it's supposed to work, but will only find out when it's finished.
And this is something I made using the left over short bits of fleece which were too short to spin. I find sleeping with two pillows too much, but sometimes one pillow isn't enough, so this is a small pillow stuffed with wool which should give a little extra depth but not too much.
I went to John Lewis in the Trafford Centre this week and while there spotted this - a tatting shuttle. Tatting is something I've wanted to do for years, so I've started learning, with mixed results so far. Perhaps by next week I'll have more idea.

Progress

2010-09-29T16:15:00.004+01:00

The thing about Sanquhar gloves is they are addictive, I mean, really hard to put down. The photo above shows the pattern (Prince of Wales) developing nicely, with a tidy thumb gusset - the gusset seems better to me than the one on the Duke gloves, but that could just be me. Anyway, you can see the chequerboard pattern.

Working on 5 needles is much better than 4 and I'm happier with the quality of this work than I was with the Duke pattern.
Here's a close-up of that pattern. This pattern is highly detailed, with every row written out in full, for understandable reasons. If you lose concentration, this is what happens...
This section is one stitch out, it was at the beginning so I couldn't "read" the stitches as I hadn't done a full repeat. I thought about pulling it back, but pulling back tiny two colour stitches as far as I needed to didn't fill me with enthusiasm. I'm not a perfectionist, so decided that I would fix it using swiss darning at the end - it will be a quick job and I have done this before for the odd mistake in fairisle patterns.

Still, what this brought home to me was the need for absolute concentration. Knitting this small is a bit tiring, but it's the mental tiredness that gets to you, so I spend up to an hour a day on it now - enough to do 4 to 6 pattern rows.

So, having done today's stint, I'm now going to start Other Half's christmas sweater - he has pronounced himself satsfied with the colour and yarn I selected last week. Onwards...

It's that time of year again...

2010-09-25T18:05:00.003+01:00

Summer knitting behind me, and the nights drawing in, it's time to get out the wool and start winter knitting. Having made a reasonably successful attempt at Sanquhar gloves last year, I've started on another pair, this time in the Prince of Wales pattern. I learned a lot from the last pair, and picked yarn which was 3 ply thickness, 1.5mm needles from the start, and met the 10.5 sts to 1 in gauge straight away. More on the yarn below, but one change I've made since last time is to knit using 5 needles. Traditionally I knit on 4 in the round (the British way) but having struggled with ladders and seen suggestions that knitting on 5 helps, I've tried it and it does make a difference, the angles between the needles are not nearly as acute.

I've now finished the two colour rib and started on the spot banding. The last pair took 2 months, so I hope to have them finished by December, at a rate of an hour or two per day - more than that is a bit torturous given the tiny needles, but these gloves are very hard to put down!

The yarn for the gloves is new, the brown an undyed welsh black, both machine knitting yarns from Fairfield Yarns. I've been meaning to go for months, but have concentrated on using up my stash, so yesterday I finally got there. It's an Aladdin's cave, full of all sorts of things and I had a good rummage. The orange yarn above was an unusually small cone, but perfect for the gloves - in reality, machine yarns are the only ones thin enough for Sanquhar gloves. Above is a cone of undyed Blue Faced Leicester, so, so soft and this will be good for dyeing.
I also found this british wool - a light grey/dark grey ply around 3 ply weight. No idea what I'm going to do with it, I just liked it.
And this for my Other Half's Christmas Sweater - if he likes it. I've knitted up a swatch and washed it (the yarn is well oiled for machining) and it looks rather nice. So I'll see if it will be suitable for Himself.

Balwen Skirt finished - finally!

2010-09-10T14:17:00.003+01:00

And finally, seven months after starting it, here is my Balwen skirt. I bought the fleece in 2008, finished spinning it over a year later and started knitting then. It blocked really well, and looks lovely though I don't think I'll be feeling cold when wearing it as it is so, so warm.
The fleece is rich in lanolin, and the texture quite stiff, so it's probably best for outergarments which will be well worn. One of the things I hate about knitted skirts is the way they sag round the behind, so I chose this pattern and yarn deliberately to avoid that. I think it will work out well.

So now onto the stole I'm knitting with some recycled Rowan Summer Fleece...

Recycling

2010-09-05T18:01:00.005+01:00

I made this sweater out of Rowan Summer Tweed several years ago but haven't really worn it much recently, plus it had a hole on the front, so I decided to recycle it. I was a bit disappointed with summer tweed - I found it lost its shape rather easily, particularly on certain kinds of stitch patters such as the moss stitch you can see above. So it became rather baggy and shapeless.

After several hours of unravelling, here is the yarn ready for re-knitting. Since I know a shaped garment is a no-no with this yarn, and the yarn is old, I've decided to make a stole out of it as shape won't matter. Just need to decide on stitch pattern.
I've also picked up my balwen skirt again - I'm 3/4 of the way up the front now (already done the back), but it's hard going as the yarn is stiff and I'm knitting to a tight gauge so I can only do a couple of hours. The stitch markers you see in the photo above are recycled old earrings - very effective and very cheap.

Halcyon

2010-09-02T18:59:00.004+01:00

I finished this a few days ago, but then had to wash it. It's a Rowan pattern, but I used Drops Safran yarn. Safran is lovely to work with, though the dye wasn't completely fast and came off on my fingers after a couple of hours of knitting. Still it worked well for this pattern and looks lovely.

It's an interesting construction - you start at the waist, do the ribbing and then knit downwards for the frill (you do the same on the sleeves). This means you do the pattern upside down for a bit, which was unusual but very clever. Then you cast off, rejoin at the waist and work upwards.

The neck is quite wide on me; I have narrow, sloping shoulders and the sleeves are a bit longer than I expected as a result. They always use models with wide, square shoulders, not the average woman! But it looks lovely - better than it looks in the photo above.
My only gripe is the pattern/chart. I hate charts, with a passion. I just can't work with them, and in this case, the pattern chart is tiny, I mean really tiny, with little coloured lines showing where you start according to which size, whether you're doing the back/front, the cuffs or upper sleeves (yes, three different places to start for one garment). They do blow up the main pattern, but you can't use that for where to start/finish. So I sat there and peered at it for a while, writing it out. Of course, I made a couple of mistakes as a result, but worked those out fairly quickly.

The other problem was where the pattern changes over at the 13th row - I offset it by one stitch first time out as I followed the chart exactly (I thought). Studying the pictures made me realise my mistake. The picture above shows the pattern how it should be - it would have been easier if the pattern writers had included a similar one.

I've never knit a whole garment in a complicated pattern like this, so it was satisfying. In fact, once I got used to it, the pattern wasn't too difficult, but with all lace knitting you have the problem of forgetting the occasional yarn overs. It's actually quite a substantial garment, will be cosy for the chilly evenings to come.

18th Century Stockings

2010-08-25T20:14:00.003+01:00

Now I love wearing wool skirts in the winter but find my legs get cold. This is the answer - a pair of knitted stockings. I made them from a pattern on Ravelry, or rather directions as to how to calculate the number of stitches and exact shaping to fit my legs. The instructions were great, but I did have a couple of problems.

First, a long-standing difficulty I have when knitting in the round - tight, tense fingers resulting in a tight knit. This long project has really helped me to get out of this habit, though the resulting difference in gauge is quite apparent. I hope my second pair will be more even.

I also had problems with ladders. This is unusual for me, and I think that the yarn (a synthetic/natural mix) has something to do with it, but the biggest problem is that knitting with 4 needles creates tight angles and hence ladders. So I really need to knit with 5 - unfortunately my 2mm needles only come in sets of 4. So the next pair will be knitted with a set of 5 x 1.75mm needles which will be a better fit for the yarn now I have relaxed my knitting and I hope this will also resolve the ladders problem.

The heel and toe are done with a three needle bind off, which I've never done before and that was fun. I think my next pair will have a modern heel and toe though. All in all, an interesting project which I will build on for my next project.

First alpaca blend

2010-08-07T13:23:00.002+01:00

I started on my new fleeces this week; here is the first skein. I did one ply of the Texel/Gritstone and one of alpaca (which shows as the darker colour in the strand). I've never mixed fibres before so this was interesting; I washed this first skein so I could see the results, warts and all. Learning points? I need to be more consistent in the thickness of both plies, but the biggest issue was overtwisting the alpaca. This has left the yarn a little unbalanced in places as the alpaca is overtwisted while the Texel is a bit more relaxed. I'm really not sure if this blend is going to work at all, so I think for now I'll concentrate on doing a two-ply texel instead. I suspect the alpaca might work better with the blue faced leicester, which is more similar in texture.

NB Texel is a common sheep breed round here, it's a sheep bred for meat rather than fleece, so Texel based sheep fill a lot of the fields around me.

2010-08-01T13:54:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since my last post, but I have been busy. Here are a pair of boot socks for my Other Half, made in my own handspun - Balwen/local sheep. The pattern is modelled on a Sanquhar pattern - midge and fly.
I've also started this top - Halcyon. Took me a little while to get the hang of the pattern, but it's growing nicely now.
And it's the fleece time of year - here is a Texel cross fleece which I got locally, a massive quantity of surprisingly clean fleece.
And here is my star buy - half a white alpaca. Gorgeous stuff.

Nexus socks

2010-07-10T19:47:00.002+01:00

I finished these socks over a week ago - for some reason I tend to knit plain socks but am determined to be more adventurous. I loved this cable and lace pattern, and enjoyed the challenge.
Today I finished this - the border was too loose, probably the yarn was a little too thick, so since I took this picture I've tightened it up somewhat and it fits better. It was a remarkable quick knit - about 10 days.

Top au Crochet

2010-06-29T17:48:00.003+01:00

Today I finished this crochet top. I've always been predominantly a knitter, but in recent months have rediscovered my love of crochet, helped by some of the new and exciting patterns out there. Amazing to see a crochet magazine in the supermarket! I started this a while ago and have really enjoyed doing it. I found I couldn't get the gauge though I did get a bit tighter in my working after the first round or so, so I made the smallest size to compensate - it fits perfectly, stretching and contracting in all the right places.
The construction is simple - lots of motifs joined together, with an added edge containing a picot type motif. I couldn't wait to post these pictures so it's unwashed and unblocked, therefore a bit uneven in places. The pattern is in French on Ravelry ("Top au Crochet"), so if anyone wants a translation, let me know - it's quite simple really. I made it using yarn I found in the bargain box of my local yarn shop, so it is ultra inexpensive - cost about a fiver, I think. A very good buy.

Tiny Stitches

2010-06-19T17:34:00.002+01:00

I finished this cross stitch work for my Mum - she started it 8 years ago and had done most of the flower pots but found the tiny pale stitches of the windows and surround were just beyond her. It's funny, but you can't see the picture at all when you work on it, only when it's done and photographed. She's going to get it framed for her house.
So then I tried my hand at tiny crochet - this is done with sewing thread and a tiny hook from the collection I got at a car boot sale some years ago. I'm planning on doing more of this kind of crochet now I've got the hang of it.

I also finally finished the Balwen fleece this week, another 50 yards of yarn destined for socks. So I've started on Blueface Leicester fleece now, which is a joy to spin after the challenges of the Balwen.

Balwen Skirt

2010-06-06T20:49:00.002+01:00

A few days ago I put the first half of my Balwen skirt on the floor to (a) check the measurements as I have done it a different length to the pattern and (b) take a photo. I got the measurements done but while my back was turned as I went to get my camera, someone took up residence on it. So this is the photo I got - skirt plus cat who loves the smell of lanolin in my handspun wool!

A busy crafting week

2010-05-31T12:18:00.003+01:00

I've managed to get lots done this week - the French Open tennis being on TV has helped, as while I love tennis I can't sit there doing nothing. So I finished this cardigan, ideal for the cold spring we have had. I saw this yarn (Patons Vintage) earlier this year in the bargain basket of my local woolshop and toyed with it every time I went in. Eventually a couple of weeks ago I decided to bite the bullet and bought 14 balls of it, almost all that was left and then looked for a pattern to use it. It's an aran yarn, so a quick knit. I should have knitted the smaller size though - in UK sizing I tend to knit a generous size to ensure it's wide enough up top but I forgot that American sizing is already generous!
This finally arrived - my Mum bought a subscription to The Knitter magazine as my birthday present, and 2 skeins of The Yarn Yard fuschia yarn were the welcome gift. We waited and waited and it didn't arrive, so they eventually sent a replacement. Have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but will think about it for a while.
I'm trying to clear the decks and get through my stashbusting projects before the next winter, so this week I also finished off these granny squares with left over 4 ply, mostly from socks over recent years. I've only little bitty bits left now, so this will go in the back of the cupboard until I accumulate more yarn.
And this yarn - Bergere de France coton a tricoter - was also a bargain basket buy. I got 5 balls of this some months ago, and wanted to use it this summer, so hunted round to find a pattern. I found one in French on Ravelry which I really like, so got another couple of balls of the yarn (the last ones!) and have started on it this week. I'll translate the pattern as I go, it's not difficult and the top will be a bargain at £5.25!

Sheep with a Hat

2010-05-25T17:06:00.003+01:00

So there I was, trudging uphill to the post office with my parcels when I spotted a lamb which had an unusually dark head and neck for the sheep in this field. I took another look and thought his head looked a funny shape. Can you see what it is yet? Look closely, I mean really close. You see? Yes, this little lamb was clearly standing in the wrong place at the wrong time this morning when his mother felt the call of nature. She seemed rather unconcerned about having dumped (literally) on her offspring. Still, by now I expect it will be drying off nicely and it will come off then.

Speaking of local animals, I recently discovered some alpacas in the area when on one of my rambles. I got in touch with the owner and enquired about fleeces, so I now have a local source for alpaca and sheep fleece. I'm rather pleased at that!

Spring Mesh Cardigan

2010-05-21T14:11:00.004+01:00

This week I finally finished the crochet cardigan I've been working on for a couple of months and I'm really pleased with it.

It's an easy pattern, with the body worked in one piece to the armholes. The sleeves are very wide - I thought they might be too wide, but actually the fabric folds really well when you wear it, draping nicely. So the sleeves were fine after all. The sleeves in the photo are fairly long, but could be just 3/4 length. All in all a very successful project, worked in Patons 100% cotton 4 ply, which is a simply gorgeous yarn.

I'm also very pleased with the photo; it has taken me two attempts to get my Other Half to take a photo in focus, with me (roughly as you can see) in the centre of the frame, not miles away as in all his previous efforts. I think we've cracked it..

The pattern is available to buy as a download ($2.50) on Ravelry (you don't have to be a member):

buy now

More Crochet Flowers

2010-05-08T20:53:00.003+01:00

I've been doing more flowers from the CAL, above is Daisy.
And this one is Hawthorn. I now have four in my drawer, and plenty of yarn to make many, many more. I'm going to work through them to the end of the CAL and then decide what to do - I may choose one motif to use in a larger project, or mix and match, I really don't know. I like motifs because they fill up a spare half hour really easily.

I need to go and collect more yarn from the shop to finish my crochet cardigan, but in the meantime I'm working on a knitted skirt I started a few months ago. No hurry, won't be wearing it for a while yet!

Sock wool and crochet

2010-04-17T16:52:00.003+01:00

Another week and not a huge amount of progress on my projects. Work has been difficult in the last few months, with sales down so I have been spending quite a bit of time this week working on ways to make more money. Other things have been sidelined as a result.

I did manage to do a little spinning - here is my collection of handspun sock wool so far. In the centre are two kinds of Jacob fleece, at the top is yarn made from fleece I collected in the fields last year and on the left is the finer part of the Balwen fleece which I think will make good socks.
My new crochet cardi is coming along, albeit a little more slowly. This is a close-up of the pattern (unblocked so it's wavey). I have finished the body and spent quite some time working out the pattern for different sizes, with lots of measuring and sums. I'm working on the sleeves now, then all I need to do is decide how to edge it.
The weather is warming up though it's still chilly at nights, so I'm still wearing my woollies. Not a problem for my cat, though, who is still enjoying her favourite On-top-of-the-radiator position!

End of a marathon

2010-04-03T12:31:00.003+01:00

This is a cryptic clue as to what I have been working on for the past three months - first I tried knitting it, then turned to crochet as the best way to construct my dream project. No idea what it is? Check out this link on Ravelry (you'll need to be a member to see it).

I'm now working on a new crochet cardigan design, in a lovely salmon pink cotton. When I was browsing in my local yarn store recently, I noticed that crochet seems to be making a comeback - about time too. So my contribution to this renaissance will be a summer cardigan in 4 ply cotton. Better get back to it...

This week's progress

2010-03-27T15:46:00.003Z

I've really got into crochet lately, and this top was a try out for a number of techniques which will lead to a crochet cardigan in the next few weeks (I hope!). This was made from my left over handspun chunky - mostly a jacob/icelandic cross, with some undyed merino. It was fun making it and it's cosy for this time of year when you still need a little warm wool.
I also ripped out and reknitted the sleeves on this top which I made a year ago from my chunky merino - I'd never been entirely happy with them and decided they had to be remade. It was a success, so I can wear this again now.

This week Mum and I went to our local yarn shop in Crawshawbooth; she wanted to buy some cotton for the Aubretia cardigan in August's The Knitter magazine. She settled on Paton's DK in an emerald shade, really nice, and she's started already. I browsed the shop and decided the Paton's 4 ply cotton looked rather perfect for my crochet cotton cardigan. I've worked out the pattern now and hope to be able to get the yarn soon. In the meantime, I have lots of other projects to finish off, as always!

More Crochet

2010-03-20T17:26:00.003Z

I've been getting into crochet a lot lately, and here's another flower design from the excellent Queenieamanda. It's called Begonia and is simply lovely. I've also been working on other crochet projects, more of that in my next post.
For my spinning this week, I've been working on a sample of fleece which I got free a long time ago. I couldn't read the breed on the bag, but it was ready washed - too washed for my liking. Lanolin makes wool easier to spin and this was very dry; in addition because it was a little over processed, I couldn't card it perfectly and was left with little slubs in the roving. I tried to get them out, but eventually conceded defeat and decided to spin it with the slubs in for a thick n thin yarn. Actually I think it will look quite nice when it's dyed as the slubs will pick up the dye differently. Also had a small length of singles over, as you can see from the photo.

My First Shawl

2010-03-10T16:38:00.002Z

I've been knitting for over 35 years and had never made a shawl. Maybe it's more popular in America than in the UK - when I joined Ravelry I was astonished at the number and variety of shawl patterns available. So I saved one in my favourites until later. It's called Traveling Woman.

It actually only took a few days, and I did enjoy it though I had to concentrate hard. It's so easy to miss a yarn over in these patterns, and that throws you off. The pattern was easy to follow, and I quickly got the hang of it, so I can safely say I am now a shawl knitter. My only regret was not having more than one skein of yarn - I would have liked to make it bigger.
This week I finally finished spinning the alpaca I bought last June at Woolfest. I have 5 skeins of it, and it is lovely yarn. It will sit around for a few months now while I think about what to make with it. I've now moved on to spinning up some samples I got when I bought a full fleece in 2008 (yes, 2008! and that fleece is still largely unspun), along with a small quantity of a fleece I picked up on the moors near here last summer. It's all destined to be sock yarn for next winter - 51 yards done so far.

Crochet

2010-03-03T20:32:00.003Z

I started crochet later than knitting - in my late teens, as my Mum had never learned herself. So I taught myself from books and magazines; my technique may not be classical, but it works. Still, I do need practice so I joined a Crochet-Along on Ravelry, in which QueenieAmanda publishes a new flower motif each month till the end of the year. This is the first one - Jonquil, and I'm quite pleased with it. A bit different from granny squares!

In other projects, I'm about to put my skirt aside for a little while as I need the circular needle it's on for a shawl I'm anxious to knit. My granny squares are progressing, and I'm now working on a new knitting design which is fiendishly difficult - at present I can't quite work out why the second piece doesn't match the first. Will think about it tomorrow when my brain is fresher. I always have several projects on the go at the same time - I don't like to be bored knitting, and I do find big projects get a bit tedious. So it was nice to make a flower this afternoon...

Stash busting

2010-02-23T14:58:00.003Z

This week I finished the aran cardi I started a few weeks ago, in an attempt to clear out the cream swaledale which has been sitting in my cupboard for years. I chose some patterns from A Shetland Knitter's Notebook by Mary Smith and Chris Bunyan and used a yoke cardigan as the basis for the pattern.
Like all experiments, there were some things I could have done better. For example, one of the patterns I chose didn't have the same pattern repeat as the main star pattern, and I made some mistakes in the pattern too. But overall I'm really happy with it, it's a striking cardi and will be just right for spring, when it's too warm for a sweater but not warm enough to go without something woolly.
Having removed wool from my stash, it was time to add some! Here is a skein of alpaca/devon longwool 2 ply. I'm now thinking about what to do with it...

Curious Hooks

2010-02-15T21:42:00.003Z

I just noticed a discussion on Ravelry about vintage needles and hooks, and thought I'd share my favourites. I got a job lot of knitting needles and crochet hooks at a car boot sale some years ago. I occasionally add to my collection with finds from antique shops - most recently a set of 2.00 mm long dpns, which are not common.

But it's my set of crochet hooks which is most interesting. A lot of them are incredibly fine, for working something of the thickness of cotton sewing thread - one day I will find out what they are for! The ones pictured above, however, are my favourites. Three of them are made of bone, I think, the one at the bottom has a beautiful turned base and must have been expensive when new. The one second from bottom is odd, looks like something has snapped off the end, but it's a nice hook. The one at the top is really unusual, has a hook at each end of a different size. Economical and practical, after all you don't use one end of the hook, unlike a knitting needle.

The metal one in the middle is an example of the very fine metal hooks I have, but this has been adapted for someone who was clearly find it difficult to use, as she got older perhaps? It has padding around the handle, secured with cotton or linen thread, and most unusually, a metal button soldered onto the middle to provide a firm grip. Every time I look at this I wonder about the woman who used it, it's a little bit of history in my hand.

Honeycomb Bag

2010-02-05T19:57:00.004Z

This is my latest creation, made from the left over vintage cotton I had after my previous project. Actually, there's still a bit left, hope to be able to get a pair of socks out of the remnants!

I had these handles lying around, and thought I would make something to fit them. The pattern is officially called "hexagon" but I think it looks more like a honeycomb. This was fun to do - the pattern is available on Ravelry ($3.00) or you can contact me - lancashire.knitter@virgin.net for details if you would like to pay in sterling - £1.50.

So it's back to the socks and granny squares for me...

Rippled Shale

2010-01-24T15:21:00.003Z

This is my new design, now available for download on Ravelry. I love the Old Shale pattern, and really wanted to make a top with it.

I have a large collection of old patterns and searched through them to get ideas, finding two patterns using the stitch, one from Canada in the 1950s and one from England in the 1980s. But neither of them did any shaping around the arms, instead just knitting two rectangles for front and back; presumably this is because of the difficulty of creating shaping in this 18 stitch pattern.

So the challenge was to create a shaped garment in this stitch. I had learned that a garter stitch edge works well on this type of pattern, as it shapes naturally so the bottom and the necklines were easy. After a bit of thought and experimentation I figured out how I could do the armhole shaping, though the armholes are rather more square than normal armholes. Then the only difficult bit was working out the stitch divisions for front and back for all sizes. I've retained an element of the cap sleeves of the older patterns as the "straps" of the top are quite wide due to the requirements of the pattern. On me the armholes just fall slightly off my shoulders, but maybe less so on someone with wider shoulders.

I enjoyed the challenge of this project, and managed to use up quite a bit of the vintage cotton yarn I bought a few weeks ago. So now I'm working on using up more of the yarn and am designing a summer bag (purse in American). I hope to get it done in a week or so, watch this space!

2010-01-13T16:07:00.005Z

I started spinning my alpaca fleece (Sebastian) this week - here is the first bobbin. It took a little practice to get it right, partly because I had just been spinning a much coarser Balwen so had to adjust to this fine fibre. Beautiful though, isn't it?
A few weeks ago I bought some vintage cotton which I found in an antique shop and had to think what to do with it. I've wanted to do summer knitting in cotton for a while, but struggle to find patterns I like, so decided to design one myself, here's a sneak preview. This is the second garment I've designed from scratch and, unlike the first one, looks like being a successful project. I learned a lot from my first efforts. So it will be a sleeveless, pretty thing in mercerised cotton and will be available for purchase on Ravelry once it's done. I've just managed the tricky decreasing for the armholes and will finish the back in the next few days, so it should be ready in a few weeks. The great thing is it looks complicated, but really isn't - my kind of knitting.

Simple Socks in DK Cotton

2010-01-08T16:34:00.004Z

A free pattern from Lancashire Knitter

These comfy socks are a simple knit, with a double rib around the short ankle section.

Dimensions: ankle circumference 22 cm (8.5 inches), foot length 23cm (9 inches).

Yarn: 200m DK cotton - I used Elle True Blue which is a multi-stranded cotton.

Needles: 2.5mm dpn (or circular if using the magic loop method)

Gauge: 28 stitches x 35 rows measured over 10cm (4 inches) in stocking stitch after blocking. N.B. some cotton yarns have a small shrinkage - generally this means the work is a little wider before blocking. Please check your yarn carefully to ensure the finished article will be the right size.

Pattern

Ankle:

Cast on 60 stitches, work 40 rounds in K2, P2 rib.

Work 1 knit row.

Divide for Heel:

Next row: K15, turn, slip first stitch purlwise, P29, turn, leave remaining 30 stitches on a spare needle.

Slipping the first stitch in every row, work 25 rows stocking/stockinette stitch.

Turn Heel:

Row 1: Slip 1, P16, P2 tog, P1, turn

Row 2: Slip 1, K5, SSK (slip 2 stitches knitwise, then knit together), K1, turn

Row 3: Slip 1, P6, P2 tog, P1, turn

Row 4: Slip 1, K7, SSK, K1, turn

Row 5: Slip 1, P8, P2 tog, P1, turn

Row 6: Slip 1, K9, SSK, K1, turn

Row 7: Slip 1, P10, P2 tog, P1, turn

Row 8: Slip 1, K11, SSK, K1, turn

Row 9: Slip 1, P12, P2 tog, P1, turn

Row 10: Slip 1, K13, SSK, K1, turn

Row 11: Slip 1, P14, P2 tog, P1, turn

Row 12: Slip 1, K15, SSK, K1, turn

Next row: Pick up and knit 13 stitches from side of heel, place marker, knit across 30 stitches from stitch holder, place marker, pick up 13 stitches from other side of heel, K9 and start each subsequent round from this point (74 stitches in total).

Tip: If, like me, you hate using markers, arrange your stitches on the needles in such a way that the “markers” would be just before or just after a break in the needles. I tend to arrange them thus: 22/30/22.

Shape Instep:

Row 1: Knit to 3 stitches before first marker, K2 tog, K1. Knit to the next marker, K1, SSK, knit to end.

Row 2: Knit

Repeat the above two rows until you have 56 stitches left.

Knit until the foot measures 18 cm (7 inches) from heel.

Shape Toe:

Row 1: Knit to 3 stitches before first marker, K2 tog, K1, slip marker K1, SSK. Knit to 3 stitsches before second marker, K2 tog, K1, slip marker, K1, SSK.

Row 2: Knit

Repeat the above two rows until 24 stitches remain.

Graft stitches together:

Arrange stitches in equal numbers on two needles and wrong sides together, with yarn end on the back needle at the right end (assuming you are right handed). Cut yarn (leave plenty spare), thread through needle and commence grafting:

Insert needle knitwise through first stitch on the front needle, pull yarn through and pull stitch off needle. Insert needle purlwise through next stitch on front needle, but do not pull stitch off. Insert needle purlwise through first stitch on back needle and pull stitch off needle, pulling yarn taught so stitches join up. Insert yarn knitwise through next stitch on back needle, do not pull off, then knitwise through next stitch on front needle and pull stitch off. Work through all the stitches in this way until they are all grafted.

Memo:

Knitwise front, off, purlwise front, leave on.

Purlwise back, off, knitwise back, leave on. Repeat these two steps.

New Year, New Projects

2010-01-03T12:52:00.003Z

With the new year, my list of projects is growing now that Christmas knitting is behind me. First I washed this blue-faced leicester fleece which I bought in 2008. I've already spun up some of the cleanest parts of this fleece, but decided that the rest was simply too muddy to be spun as it was. So here it is, cleaner and ready to go. It's third in the queue for spinning!

This is my easy evening project for when I get bored with whatever else I'm doing. Last year I made good progress in using up my stash, knitting several pairs of socks from left over 4 ply. So I just have remnants left and decided to use up what's left on these small but perfectly formed crochet granny squares. Self-patterning yarn creates a rather interesting effect!

These are cotton socks - I'm trying to perfect my pattern as cotton works a little differently to wool. I think the feet are a bit wide, so will try a different number of stitches on my next pair. It's dk cotton which I bought cheap a couple of months ago, so these socks cost me £1.20 in total!

Christmas Goodies

2009-12-28T17:36:00.004Z

Santa brought me a lovely book - Richard Rutt's History of Handknitting, an out of print book which is hard to get and goes for silly prices. This is a lovely clean copy and I am exceedingly grateful for it.
I wandered round a local antiques place today, haven't been in months and found this vintage cotton yarn. A couple of the balls are incomplete, but it's a good heavy cotton in three different shades. One ball shows slight signs of damp marks, but I know from previous experience that this will wash out. So now I'm looking for a project for this yarn.
And finally I got off my needles a long-term (august) project. This bedjacket has driven me insane. It's a ridiculously complicated lace pattern, from a 1940s booklet (see previous post) and my original intention to get it finished by November failed due to the sheer tedium of knitting it. I haven't done the knitted edges and neck, partly due to lack of yarn and partly due to desperation to finish it. Instead I did a simple crochet edge, with paired and spaced trebles around the next. Instead of the traditional ribbon tie, I made a lucet cord with what was left of the yarn and threaded it through. So now I can sit in bed and read on the cold nights to come, in comfort and without swathing myself in a crochet blanket, my current practice, which my Other Half finds highly amusing. It will be easier to turn the page wearing this rather than a blanket!

Extra Christmas Knitting

2009-12-25T09:36:00.003Z

A little extra knitting for Christmas - the Helm (pattern's on Ravelry) which, despite checking my tension before I started, ended up way too big. So I threw it in the washing machine and shrank it. A little stretching while wet and - hey presto - a very warm winter hat, just right for the cold weather.

Have a happy Christmas!

Christmas Knitting Finished!

2009-12-15T16:35:00.003Z

So it's done, after 5 months of furious knitting, the last Christmas present is off the needles. I still have to add buttons to this cardigan, but that can wait until the weekend when I will scout the antique shop nearby for vintage buttons - I only buy new when I can't find what I want elsewhere.
I've also finished my Sanquhar gloves, ready for a couple of days birdwatching in the great and increasingly cold outdoors. They were certainly challenging, the biggest problem was keeping the tension correct across the pattern and between needles. I wasn't always successful, but it was a great project.

So I'm putting the needles down until the weekend and going cold turkey. Wish me luck!

A Knitting/Spinning Weekend

2009-12-06T11:08:00.002Z

At this time of year I like to hibernate with my knitting, and avoid going out. Don't know why, but I'm always the same in December, not very motivated to do anything. This year the weather has been atrocious so I don't have to feel guilty about not getting out in the garden either. So lots of knitting to do - here's a scarf I'm doing for my Other Half, who hasn't got one at the minute. I'm using left over wool from the Lochalsh sweater I knitted for my Mum, it's just a simple garter stitch, nothing fancy.
Christmas Sweater No 4 is progressing well - the chunky yarn knits up quickly and I've already finished the back. It's done in twisted broken rib (Row 1: K1tbl,P1 etc, Row 2: K) and is good for this single ply yarn, adding strength as well as great texture. The wrong side of the fabric is flat, so comfy on the inside of the cardigan.
I finished another skein of Balwen yarn yesterday, so threw it and 7 of its companions into the washing machine for a couple of wool washes to remove dirt and excess lanolin. I now have 16 skeins of this and should finish another skein in the next day or two. It's really lovely yarn, and I am toying with ideas about what I should knit when it's done.

So back to the spinning wheel...

Christmas Present No 3

2009-12-03T15:52:00.003Z

Finally finished this, a sleeveless coat made with Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed Aran, using a pattern from the Debbie Bliss Winter 2009 collection.

It was a fairly easy knit, though I had to knit the neck edge twice as the number of stitches the pattern specifies to pick up seems far too few. So I undid it, and did the number I thought best. It looks rather shapeless on the hanger, but better when I tried it on myself. Anyway, it's for a Christmas present and is now safely awaiting Christmas in its bag.

The yarn is lovely but, like all designer yarns, pricey. What was interesting about it is the fact it is single ply. Now single ply has a tendency to twist and misshape, but the broken rib pattern seemed to counteract this tendency, and, together with the weight of it, no twisting resulted. So broken rib would seem to be a good choice for a single ply yarn.

Now I'm knitting a quick scarf for my other half, who is currently scarf-less, and I am starting Christmas Present No 4, a cardigan for my uncle. I'm on the home straight now, and am looking forward to doing some knitting for me, especially want to finish my Sanquhar gloves!

The Knitting Marathon Continued...

2009-11-17T13:26:00.003Z

Once I finished Christmas project number two, I moved straight on to number three. This is a sleeveless coat, by Debbie Bliss. A really easy, fairly unshaped design, I'm over half way through the back now. The yarn is lovely, a single ply yarn with nobbly bits of other colours and unevenly spun. The pattern is broken rib (1 row of K1 P1, one row of purl) and so it's an easy television knit for me. Hope to get it finished by the end of next week so I can get on to my final Christmas knit.

In the meantime, I need to find time for my sanquhar gloves, my bedjacket, spinning and the making of the Christmas puddings. Lots to do, so little time!

Christmas Present No 2

2009-11-09T19:23:00.003Z

This evening I finished Christmas Present No 2, for my Mum. This is a shot of it before blocking. I shortened the top and made some adjustments to the pattern, you can find details on my project on Ravelry. The colours are a bit nicer than they look on the photo. I like knitting in the round, but doing the top is hard work, with the weight of the whole sweater on the needles. Anyway, Mum loves it, she has tried it on twice as I needed to make some changes, and she has told me it will be an heirloom which I inherit!
This weekend I also completed another two skeins of Balwen yarn, a little over 100 yards in total. I'm finally making progress with my big bag of fleece!

The Shoe Box Method

2009-11-02T15:36:00.003Z

I'm making an effort to do an hour's spinning every day - I have a lot of Balwen fleece still to get through, before moving on to the Alpaca and Blue Faced Leicester. I plyed another 48 yards this afternoon, using my favourite shoebox. Yes, a shoebox. Most people buy gadgets to hold bobbins when they ply yarn, but I'm the thrifty sort and I read in the Women's Institute Book of Country Crafts that a shoebox makes a good substitute. A couple of odd knitting needles poked through the side of a strong box on which the bobbins are suspended. Easy and cheap.
Following my pledge to use up something in my stash cupboard (this includes lots of fabric) each week, here is this week's effort. Some months ago I knitted a bag out of recycled curtain fabric, but it sheds a bit so I have now added a lining to it. It's made out of left-over curtain lining and is now home to my sanquhar glove knitting - have started the second glove this weekend.

Progress

2009-10-25T12:05:00.003Z

Yesterday I finished my first Sanquhar glove. I'm pleased with it, though I think I could do better next time. I still have some difficulties keeping the yarn tension right in a few parts of the pattern. I adjusted the length of the fingers and thumb as it seems my fingers are rather short! I'm going to leave starting the second glove for a little while to get on with other projects.
This morning I did a job which I have wanted to do for three years. I needed a shelf in the hall for winter gloves, scarves, boot socks and hats. Every winter I end up rummaging in coat pockets to find gloves and hats, instead of having them to hand. The shelf in question has been sitting in the loft for ten years, awaiting a use. Of course, living in a 180-year old house means that none of the walls are flat so the shelf has a slight lean forwards, but I'm glad to have this done finally.
By nature I am a hoarder (much to the frustration of my mother when I was young), so I never throw anything away unless it is completely unusable. Eighteen months ago I put a pair of trousers away in my stash cupboard as they were no longer wearable and today I finally found a use for them. They have now been resurrected as a cover for a draught excluder which keeps the cold air out of the living room on windy nights. I joined two legs together , took up the slack material on the back, sewed together the ends and hey presto! a pretty draught excluder.

My resolution for this winter is to make something each week with an item from my cupboard. Let's see how long I can keep it up!

Latest Bargains

2009-10-21T18:36:00.004+01:00

I went to the woolshop today to buy a short 4mm circular needle for Mum's Christmas sweater sleeves. While there I browsed the noro and araucania yarns somewhat covetously, but managed to restrain myself on the basis I had no time to knit anything for myself anyway. But when it came to the bargain basket, I just couldn't help myself. So I bought these skeins of mid blue cotton...
and these of dark blue, for 75p each. And then I spied...
this Bergere knitting cotton in white, so I bought 5 skeins for 75p each too. All this is destined for socks next year - I will try dying the white cotton when I've knitted it up.

Weekend Knitting

2009-10-19T15:10:00.004+01:00

So I started the Christmas knitting this weekend, beginning with this sweater - Lochalsh - from The Knitter Magazine issue 9. This is the bottom border, just a couple of coloured rows to do at the top now and it's plain knitting up to the yoke. It's knitted in the round, bottom up. This is the first big fairisle project I've done since I switched to knitting portuguese style (I got some practice on the Sanquhar first) and I have to say that I'm knitting fairisle faster than before using this technique. Once you get the hang of the pattern, it's easy, but it took a while to get the right number of stitches on the needles at the increase - I counted them several times but didn't get it right. Is it just me or is it much harder to count stitches on circular needles than on straight?

I really love the picot edge which is done rather cleverly with a row of yo/k2tog stitches sandwiched between two sets of stocking stitch. Then you fold it back and knit the cast on edge into another row to form the nice edge. Having done this before, I was aware you can get out of synch - you should just match cast on stitch to needle stitch but somehow it doesn't quite work out that way and you go off course. So I checked regularly and corrected by "missing" a stitch every so often. All in all, a nice project and easy TV knitting.
This is the Sanquhar so far - I'm almost up to putting stitches aside for the thumb, should get there today. It's looking good!

2009-10-16T12:08:00.002+01:00

The yarn for my Mum's Christmas sweater finally arrived today. She's very happy with it - it is to be a fairisle style sweater, with pattern at the sleeve ends and yoke. She loves bright colours - can you tell?

So I have finished the cuff on Sanquhar glove version 2 - here it is. It is a snug fit and quite unlike any other gloves I have ever knitted, more like a leather glove as the fabric is dense and not very stretchy. But oh, so warm...

Sanquhar again

2009-10-14T15:24:00.003+01:00

I started my Sanquhar gloves on 2mm (UK14) needles, instead of the 1.5mm (UK16) needles prescribed by the pattern. As I went along I realised that they would turn out too big, so decided to order some 1.5 needles (and some 1.75mm as insurance). If you're in the UK, you can get them from English Yarns. I couldn't find them anywhere else. Very fast delivery too.

So I started the gloves again, keeping the earlier version so I could compare sizes. The 1.5mm is just the right size. You can see the two compared above. I've taken an inch off the width - on the main section of the gloves I calculate the new diameter to be 8.5-8.75 inches instead of the 9.75 in the first version.

My hands are 8 inches in diameter, so allowing for the effect of the thick fabric (with the stranded yarn on the inside) and for some ease, I think these will be just right. You may also notice that the quality of the knitting has improved too - I had problems with too tight/too loose in various places on the first attempt, but I have now mastered the two stranded technique in the portuguese knitting style I recently adopted. So now it's full speed ahead...

Unusual knitting

2009-10-04T13:02:00.004+01:00

This morning I finally got around to putting photos away in albums, dating back to 2006. It took me two years to go out and get the photo albums! Anyway, I really wanted to post this - I found it in a church somewhere in Suffolk, I think, in 2007. It was in May, so presumably this is a depiction of the Last Supper placed on a piano in the church for Easter.

I'm not one for novelty knitting, but I couldn't resist taking a picture as it is so clever.
I finally started my first ever Sanquhar project - a pair of gloves in the Duke pattern, from the Scottish Rural Women's Institute. More details on this style of knitting are on the Sanquhar Group on Ravelry, but basically it is a form of knitting indigenous to Sanquhar in Scotland. It really deserves to be better known (I had never heard of it before the group popped up), so our little group is making the effort. There are four patterns available from the Scottish Rural Women's Institute in Edinburgh, and I am knitting the pattern which is the most popular.

I recently switched to knitting Portuguese style (there are videos on YouTube) which is very different to English/continental knitting in that you sling the yarn around your neck and flick it over the stitches with your left thumb. It's less tiring, and creates a more even tension for me. The best thing is that when knitting in the round, the natural stitch is the purl, not the knit, and by purling to create stocking stitch you end up with the right side always on the outside. It does mean that when reading patterns in the round you have to read purl for knit and vice versa.

I thought working two colours in this way would be more complicated than using the throwing technique but actually it's easier - all you have to do is decide to take one colour over the other when changing yarns, and one colour under. That keeps the yarns from tangling, but it definitely goes quicker than changing colours with the throwing technique.

I'm hoping that the yarn for my Mum's Christmas Sweater will arrive this week so I can get started. Not long to christmas now...

Washing the Balwen

2009-09-26T13:02:00.005+01:00

A couple of days ago I set about washing the first batch of Balwen yarn. It was spun unwashed, in the grease, so had plenty of lanolin in it. After the first wash, it dried with a slight stiffness as there was still too much lanolin, so I washed it again. Now it's softer, but still has lanolin. It does shed quite a bit as the staple length isn't as long as other fleeces, and it has coarser fibres mixed in, plus a bit of kemp. So as you can see from the above photo, it's not what you would call a "smooth" yarn.
Still, I like it, and the depth of colour is fantastic. Some of it is a little overspun, until I got used to it, but it plied really well. It also doesn't seem to felt - after two times round the washing machine, most of the strands, except where they were tied in the skein, were still separate.

So, what to do with it? First I need to spin a lot more. But I think this yarn will be great for large knits where you want minimum stretch and a robust fabric - skirts, tunics. I have my eye on a couple of tunics with a fair isle yoke, also have loads of skirt patterns, so I think this will be my new year project. I think it might also make hard-wearing socks, so if I have some left (think I will have with a whole sackful to go at!) I may make some socks with it.

Before that I am about to embark on my Christmas knitting. Actually, I started in June with a sweater for my SO. Just as well I did, because I had offered to knit something for a relative and she has taken me up on the offer. Then her SO looked at the pattern book she bought after our knitting consultation and he would like a cardigan. Then my Mum saw a fair isle pattern she loved (she can't stand knitting fair isle) so asked if I would do it for her. So I have three garments to do for Christmas. Oh, and I also have to work for my living. Never mind, I'm sure I will find enough hours in the day as the nights get longer...

Bootsocks done!

2009-09-22T21:27:00.002+01:00

Tonight I finished my 2-needle bootsocks. The yarn is one of my handspun, but I ran out so the toe of each is done in a swaledale. The pattern isn't too bad, but there is no repeat on the leg part so you do have to keep track. The stitches decrease towards the ankle, shaping the leg. I hadn't done a short-row heel before, so that was fun, but it did create little holes which is a hazard of short-row heels, I think.

All in all, a satisfactory project, but the seam is under the foot and that would be uncomfortable for prolonged wear, I think. A good pattern for bedsocks, where that doesn't matter. From "Easy Knitted Socks" by Jeanette Trotman.

Sock progress

2009-09-19T12:15:00.003+01:00

I haven't had a huge amount of time for knitting this week as it is a busy time for work. But I have managed to finish this sock - a knee sock using some left over yarn. It's shaped by using different needle sizes, which I think (having done both methods) is better than actual shaping in the knitting.
It has a butterfly pattern which I have never seen before, but which is pretty easy and also performs a function, preventing excessive stretching of the fabric.
My other sock project is doing ok, but I think I may be short of handspun to finish them. So I stopped at the toe on this sock - have started the second and then I will need to find some yarn from my stash to finish them off. This is a sock on two needles with a lace pattern, a bit complicated to knit as it is non-repeating, but I've never done a sock on two needles with a short-row heel, so it has been interesting. These socks are destined to be worn with a pair of boots which are rather big.

Project Raphael

2009-09-10T18:23:00.002+01:00

I finished this today, it's taken a month. It's a bit big, I might try to shrink it, but if not, it will be a comfy warm layer for the cold winter months. I have been thinking about dying it, but I'm not sure.

Full project details are here on Ravelry. The crochet edges are lovely, but just look at the length of that hem! They took a lot longer than I expected.

It's a lovely yarn, and I have lots left, need to think about what I use it for.

Winter Nightwear

2009-09-06T11:04:00.001+01:00

As winter approaches, my thoughts turn to cosy nightwear. I've long wanted a nightie made of brushed cotton - nothing nicer on a cold night! A couple of months ago I found a brand new brushed cotton sheet in a charity shop - it cost me all of £3 and so today I finally got around to making it up. I used an earlier nightie as the size model (you can just see it on the left). Unfortunately as I cut it out on the floor the cat who really, really likes clothes (especially on the floor - I often find him on my laundry pile) decided to take up residence. He viewed the scissors as some kind of metal mouse and chased them around for a while.
Here it is - not sexy, just practical!

Capelet

2009-08-30T16:56:00.001+01:00

When I have long projects on the go, I like to do other, quicker things in between. This capelet (the pattern is on ravelry.com) was ideal to use up some of my Jacob/Icelandic handspun yarn. This yarn was the first I made and consequently is very thick, so I needed a chunky pattern to use it. I used some left over yarn as a tie for the neck instead of a button.

Autumn Knitting

2009-08-30T10:01:00.000+01:00

As the temperatures are dropping now at nights, I really must get on and finish my bedjacket for those night when I snuggle up in bed with a book - it's one of winter's real pleasures. I was lucky enough to be given a large quantity of old patterns recently, and there are some real treasures among them. I'm even tempted to knit the hot water bottle cover in the photo above!

My Mum's knitting this one in a self-striping yarn which looks pretty good in this pattern. The yoke will likely be plain.

And I'm knitting the one at bottom right on this pattern. I chose to use up a 2-ply yarn from my stash so it's a bit fiddly. I need to spend more time on it.

Finally - a knitting blog

2009-08-28T17:28:00.000+01:00

I thought it was about time I started a blog on knitting/spinning which is my main hobby, though sewing may make the occasional appearance too. The garden is becoming more quiet now, heading towards winter so I spend more time on other things.

This is my spinning wheel - I've been knitting most of my life but I only took up spinning last September and it is rather addictive. This wheel is very handmade, seems to have been originally designed for flax spinning and by the looks of the design, may (only may) be an Arts and Crafts wheel. You may notice that the treadle seems to have a bit of floorboard attached - I suspect it is not original! Anyway, it is a bit wobbly, the flyer is not symmetrical and it is very idiosyncratic. But I like it...
It only came with one bobbin so I had some made by a very nice man who did an excellent job (click link for his website) - he also makes niddy-noddys and shawl pins, drop spindles etc, so if you're in the UK you might want to look him up.
So after a year of practicing, my spinning is improving. I'm currently working on a Balwen fleece which I bought from a farm in Wales last winter. I started carding this fleece as the books say, but then realised it was better worked without carding. It's unwashed, and as you can see, is various shades of dark brown with some bleached tips. I love the depth of colour you get in a natural yarn like this.
It sheds a lot, but spins up well - here is today's 47 yards. At present it looks like a DK/worsted but once it's washed I expect it to be more an aran weight. I do have a project in mind for this yarn, but I have a long way to go - here's the sack of fleece!
It was very tightly packed, and expanded when I opened it, but as you can see there is a long way to go before I get to the bottom of the bag!

While I'm doing that, I need to start thinking about what I'm going to do with the Jacob/Icelandic yarn I finished a while ago. I can't keep putting it in the stash cupboard as I have no space left!