Blue moon and stars

Just a quick post to show off my first foray into the murky world of stitch markers.



R and I went to see The Magic Flute at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was a fabulous production: great singing, wonderful set and costume design and a big snake - what's not to like?

Anyway, I picked up the beads and fixings for these markers at Bead Aura in Neal's Yard on the way to the opera house. I wish I could say that they were inspired by the Queen of the Night but I just liked the colours!

I've not posted for a little while, but it's not been for lack of knitting or stitching. In fact I've been very busy on a secret project with the STR lightweight that I bought from Christine.



Can you tell what it is yet? Of course you can't, it is a secret project after all.

Mental block

I've been itching to get started cutting and sewing Felix's fabric since she gave it to me last Wednesday but first there was another little job I had to do:



This is Katie's needle roll in the fabulous cupcake fabric. I'm getting more and moe confident with the quilting foot and I'm pretty pleased with how the quilting on this turned out.



It's basically a large zig-zag with the lines of stitching about 1 cm apart and a few places where it goes off at a tangent.

Once i got let loose on Felix's parcel I decided on a basic snowball quilt using the oak leaves and the darker green gingham for the corners and the other six colours for the "snowballs". Sadly, despite spending a lot of time and paper doodling out different quilt designs and making calculations I still managed to balls it up rather as I somehow managed to misunderestimate by half how many corner squares I would need. It's not a crisis but it does mean that my squares aren't quit based on a nine patch block and that piecing them is a little bit trickier.



Still, the first eight seem to have gone OK.

Stained Glass Quilt

I finished off the quilt top on Saturday morning and couldn't resist pinning it up against the window to show off the colours. I'm going to finish it off with a border in either the red or dark green and a back in the cream to show off the quilting. It's just going to be a lap quilt with a finished size of probably 36" by 56" and should be lovely and bright for the spring.

Whilst the quilt top looks pretty impressive I'm conscious that behind the scenes (or seams if you like) it could be neater and there are some fairly fudgy spots. However, I'm on the learning curve and I've learnt a few useful lessons for my next attempt such as the larger the individual pieces the easier (and quicker) it is and that less than a quarter-inch seam allowance is not a good idea.

Serendipity

Finally I get to show off the great fabric I got at Hobbycraft at the weekend. It's been under wraps till now as I used it to make a needle case for Lara's birthday present and I wanted it to be a surprise.



I bought quarter metres of the three fabrics plus another metre of the cupcake print for Felix as I was pretty sure she'd love it. My hunch was confirmed when she turned up having bought the very same fabric herself (also from Hobbycraft) to wrap up her own present for Lara (Felix has revolutionary ideas about wrapping paper which I may be adopting).

The Twighlight Zone vibe just got more intense as Felix presented me with my own beautifully wrapped parcel just as I was saying how I nearly bought this great cabbage print fabric and how I still really wantesd it.





Lo and behold, the very same was in my parcel (second from the left). I'm going to have so much fun making these up into a spring garden-y type of quilt, maybe with strips like Jane Brocket's Allotment quilt or a simple log cabin. I really enjoyed making the star blocks over Christmas for my current on the go quilt project but they are a bit labour intensive and I'd like something a little more relaxing (and with a little less ironing!)

Talking of which...



There's nothing like either a) the successful conclusion of a project or b) new stash to fill you with enthusiasm so it was small wonder that I got out the sewing machine when I got home and got piecing.

There are now 16 completed blocks sewn together and I think I need 8 more (which are cut out but not yet pieced) to make a decent sized top. A job for the weekend I think.

Early Valentine!

My Socks That Rock lightweight arrived in the mail this morning from Christine along with a really cute little tag and some heart-shaped chocolates.



Between the light and the not-so-great camera phone picture this is not a representative picture of the colour of this yarn. The colourway is Blue Moonstone and it's kind of a sky blue/bluey-grey with some undyed patches. I know it must have been a bit of a wrench for Christine to part with this (just remember it's in a good cause!) but I can assure her that it's gone to a good home, there'll be lots of other sock yarn to keep it company and I have big plans for this little skein - it's going to look so pretty knit up.

I'm nearly through the first ball in my Tatami - once I've finished the first ball I'll try to do some knitting maths to check whether I'll have enough yarn to complete. I really should do, given that I'm knitting to gauge and the yarn I'm using has a longer yardage than the recommended yarn. I'm (not actually sure how that squares with the fact that I had to go down two needle sizes to get gauge but I guess it will all work out). I'm up to the second lot of side decreases anyway. Tatami looks like a huge project (especially if you knit a giant one like Felix) but the extra width gained from the drop stitches means that your rows are much shorter than for a conventional cardi (yay) so at the moment it seems to be motoring. This is partly helped by the fact that I've made one slight adjustment to the pattern and am knitting, rather than purling, my drop stitches - so much faster. I can't see that it will make too much difference to the overall size (I swatched the other way!) but am perfectly prepared to listen to arguments to the contrary and/or be struck down by the knitting gods for my hubris.

Birthday yarn cakes

Yesterday was "our* birthday"! Number three on the list of reactions I get when I tell people I have a twin brother after "are you identical" and "do you know what the other one is thinking" (to which the respective answers are "no" and "actually sometimes yes") is "too bad you have to share your birthday". In fact I love sharing my birthday with my twin. When we were growing up the fact that it was the birthday of 2 out of 5 of our family made it much more special a day - to the extent that my elder sister had to be bought a consolation present to make up for the fact that all the other kids (me and Ste) were getting spoilt rotten.

The "spoiling rotten" still seems to be going on (in the yarn department at any rate). In the midst of many other pressies (including the ultimate gift of M&S** knickers) was a bag of enough hand-dyed Blue-faced Leicester in DK (above) from Oxford Kitchen Yarns to knit a Tatami. The colourway is Latte/Biscuit and is a special order from Katie as she thought (having knit one herself) that Tatami would look much better in a variegated yarn than a more or less solid. The colour is ridiculously caffiaceous - so much so that I want to lick the yarn because I'm convinced it will taste like coffee icing!

On top of that, Katie turned up at the pub on Wednesday bearing a gift of hand-spun, hand-dyed Blue-faced Leicester as a gift from herself and Lara.



This stuff is truly special. It's spun and dyed by Heike whose etsy shop you can find at All the Pretty Fibers and it's the softest, squooshiest yarn you can imagine. I'm keeping it in the skein just to pet for a while!

Finally a work-in-progress. I'm having a bit of a blitz on socks at the moment as I've noticed that a couple of my pairs are wearing through at the heel (I'm going to have a go at reinforcing them of course but I'm not sure how well that will work). The latest pair are just some very simple toe-up blue socks knit from some leftover denim regia of Aliki's which I got at the yarn swap with heels and cuffs in slightly lighter leftover denim regia from my own stash.



They are knit with a gusset and heel-flap and (inspired by Cat Bordhi) the gusset increases are created by the yarn-overs in the simple lace chevron which then carries on (in a purely decorative function) up the leg.

* me and my twin brother.

** to the Americans - M&S stands for Marks and Spencer and is very, very different from ess & emm.

Destashing for a good cause

A quick update.

Christine over at threedogknits is asking you to buy her yarn to help fund hew trip to New Orleans where she will be doing some volunteer work for the National Trust for Historic Presevation to help restore an older house in a low income area of the city. She does have some lovely stuff and it is in a good cause (or at least that's my excuse for breaking my yarn diet!).

Fearful symmetry*

It's a bit late for the silent poetry reading but for your literary edification I present:

The Tyger by William Blake (1794)

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

There are 4 other verses (plus the first one repeated) but the first is the best. Reading the poem reminded me of a favourite childhood series of books by Willard Price (in particular Tiger Adventure). Perhaps Willard Price isn't quite up there with William Blake in the literary stakes (although he probably knew a damn sight more about tigers) but he does a similarly great job of showing the beauty and danger of these animals in the wild and he's right up there with David Attenborough in giving me a love of natural history.

From tiger hunting onto the equally hazardous occupation of pancake tossing.







No action shots of pancake tossing sadly as I'm in on my own this evening and self-portraiture does have its limits! Never mind, all the more pancakes for me.

* Or at least rotational symmetry.

You make my day!

Slightly belated I know but I found this half written post in my drafts and thought I'd finish it off.

1) The Oxford Bluestockings - aka Abstar's World, Knitaluscious, The Frog Princess, KnitWit, Mootthings, Oxford Kitchen Yarns and Practical Polly: Despite seeing these girls at least once a week I love being able to catch up on all their knittings and doings via their blogs and I always get very excited when one of them turns up modelling an FO that I'd only previously seen on the blog.

2) Second only due to the fact that blood is thicker than water - the Yarn Harlot. I know that every second knitter out there will also have nominated Stephanie Pearl McPhee so I'm not telling you anything new but the woman is hilarious. Yarn Harlot is the first blog I check out in the mornings and if there's a new post it always makes for a great start to the day. Her knitting is pretty great too.

3) I adore Knitspot. Anne Hanson's designs are bee-yew-tiful (check out this, and this, and these, oh and this!) She always seems to have something new either on her needles or her stove to admire.

4) The Panopticon is where I head for great writing, gorgeous lace knitting, fun cartoons and bitchy comments from chain smoking sheep. Love this blog!

5) Cast-On a podcast for knitters is hosted by Brenda Dayne. Brenda is a great writer and knitter and her voice is as relaxing as a long, hot bath. Her podcasts have got me through more stressful train delays than I care to remember.

6) Slipped Stitch (or Kirsty's Flatmate Alice's blog as I usualy refer to it) is another favourite. Her designs are lovely and quirky and her posts have a nice mix of knit content and other topics.

5) Jared of Brooklyn Tweed is a photographer as well as a knitter and it shows. I only wish I could get my knits to look that good! He spins and designs too and is always willing to respond to queries about the things he's knitted.

6) My Fashionable Life was the first knit blog I started reading. Anna isn't posting so frequently at the moment due to her latest FO (Stanley John Alexander) but her patterns (for free and to buy) are linked to from her site.


9) Librivox is a volunteer organisation which creates audiobooks recordings of works in the public domain. Their catalogue is constantly growing and already contains hundreds of classic works from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

10) Strange maps is not a knit blog but it's always good for a laugh and some interesting cartographic trivia. This is one of my favourites.

Thanks everyone!

Tyger tyger

There's nothing like new yarn to light a fire under your knitting and this yarn is, at least, new to me. Yesterday Katie invited all the Bluestockings round to hers for the 2nd great annual wind-off and yarn-swap. I took along 2 skeins of silver Debbie Bliss Pure Silk (a guilt purchase in Port Meadow when I felt I had gone in once too often without buying anything), a ball of purple/blue Trekking XXL for which I just wasn't feeling it, 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Merino aran in dark green and one ball of DK in bright red. It's true that one knitter's unwanted stash is another knitter's treasure. Amongst the unwanted yarn that the rest had brought were nearly four skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock multi, two in purple/grey, one in green/brown and one in yellow/black. After the usual stages of polite "after you", "well if you're sure you don't want it" and "it's mine, all mine" had been gone through (much to the amusement of Katie's husband) I ended up with one of the purple/grey skeins and the yellow and black which I knew straight away were going to be a pair of Jaywalkers.



Once everyone had negotiated for what they were really interested in we started picking off the rest and I snaffled two part balls of dark denim Regia, which should make a pair of short socks with some of my lighter denim Regia for heels and toes.



Finally I picked up a pile of oddments in Lamb's Pride, Manos del Uruguay, Noro Silk Garden and Maya - these are all yarns that I've never knit with so it will be fun to see what they're like.

Quite apart from thinking Christmas had come around again early after the yarn swap I had such a great time. It was lovely to see everyone, especially Lara and Abby who can't get along on Wednesdays very often at the moment, and we just had a great afternoon knitting, chatting and eating slice after slice of Katie's gorgeous marmelade cake.

Katie and I also had a breakthrough on the Hopscotch test sock after we discovered the three wrong numbers that meant she had had to knit the heel three times! She had actually finished the heel by the time I left so may even have finished the whole sock by Wednesday - very exciting. I'm then going reknit the sock from the amended pattern and then it will only need some better photos before it's ready to publish (yay!).

After the yarn swap there was yarn winding. I wound the three skeins of louet Gems from the Knitting and Stitching show, Ellen wound some hideously fine merino laceweight which snapped once and even jumped off the ballwinder and Helen wound her first skein of yarn using the winder and discovered just how pretty yarn cakes are.

The prizes didn't stop there as when I got home I discovered that the boyfriend had bought me this as my anniversary pressie. After eight years he's finally catching on!



Luckily the sizes are all from 3 months to 2 years which means that there's plenty of time to knit all the patterns that I want to before Laurie grows too big for them. What with this and the Jaeger sale at Masons temptation is coming at me from all sides but I'm determined to stick to my yarn diet for a couple of months at least - or at least until all my yarn can fit in the one box again!

Ravelry is evil

Must go to bed.

I may have a problem

Hi, my name's Liz, and I can't stop knitting baby clothes.



Pattern: my own
Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4 ply
Needles: 2.75mm and 3mm circs

I've even started knitting baby clothes from yarn that I fully intended to use to knit stuff for myself.



I bought this gorgeous Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4 ply with the intention of making another tank top for myself but I just couldn't resist this beautiful baby cardigan "Sally" by Martin Storey from the poetically named Jaeger book JB29.

Get this, I am the only person knitting this on Ravelry. That's unheard of in my experience!

Do you want to see the back. Yeah, you know you want to really.



I would have preferred not to trap the floats but babies have little fingers that get easily tangled so I've got to keep them nice and short, especially on the sleeves.

I can stop any time I want to, you know...I'll just see if I can finish the back before going to bed.

The Knitted Baby

Baby Porter wears Feather and Fan bonnet by Larissa, Boatneck sweater By Debbie Bliss from Baby Knits for Beginners and Posy bootees by Martin Storey from JB29 all knitted by me. The blanket is from Debbie Bliss "The Baby Knits book" in cashmerino aran and was knitted by my Mum (peer pressure finally paying off).



I can't believe she's already big enough for the sweater which was the first thing I knit for her and which looked huge* when I knit it. The bonnet is the latest creation and makes her look like something out of a Rembrandt painting**.

I received this picture via phone on Thursday afternoon and it had the usual effect of making me want to knit even more stuff for her. I did a little swatching and calculating and came up with a striped raglan cardigan knit from the bottom up. After a few rows, however, I realised that my stash purple yarn was much brighter than I had thought and so ripped back to the end of the ribbing and began again using much narrower stripes and knitting in reverse stocking stitch to tone down the effect.



So far I've knit the body and one arm up to the bottom of the armholes and I'm well on the way with the other arm. Baby knitting really is instant gratification.

Talking of which..

FO - Fetchings in Kidsilk Aura and Kidsilk Haze



I ran out of the Aura just after the thumb hole on the second Fetching. Luckily I had a coordinating ball of Kidsilk Haze in my stash. Although I didn't intend to knit a pair of bi-coloured gloves I'm really pleased with the effect***. There'll be lots more KSH knitting to come as I've still got 2 and 2 half balls in my stash (a combination of leftovers and impulse buys) luckily in complementary colours.

* All size is relative when talking about baby knitting.
** Insert Dutch cap joke here.
*** More so that the boyfriend who commented that he thought it just looked as though the gloves were dirty!

More finished objects

It feels like I've been on a finished objects spree this weekend - the joy of quick projects.

Feathers and Fan bonnet



Although this was incredibly quick (one evening) and easy to knit the result looks pleasingly fancy. Next time I might skip the eyelets for the ribbon and knit some garter ties which run on from the bottom edging of the bonnet. There's a link to the pattern in the previous post.

Dead quick bootees

Knit from small amounts of aran weight yarn these really are a last minute gift. Each one knits up in less than an hour.



Materials
Yarn: 2 balls Debbie Bliss Merino Aran (or other similar yarn) in contrasting colours (you will not need the whole ball).
Needles: Set of 5 4.5mm double pointed needles.
Large yarn needle.

Cast on 16 stitches in contrast colour (CC) using Judi's Magic Cast-on.

Round 1: Purl around (this is tricky but not desperately so).
Round 2: (K1fb, K6, K1fb) twice (20 sts).
Round 3: Purl around.
Round 4: (K1fb, K8, K1fb) twice (24 sts).
Round 5: Purl around.
Round 6: (K1fb, K10, K1fb) twice (28 sts).
Round 7: Purl around. Cut yarn leaving a 3-4" tail.

Rounds 8-15: Switch to main colour (MC). Starting with a knit round and ending with a purl round knit the next 8 rounds in garter stitch. DO NOT cut yarn.

Re-arrange stitches as follows. Place 10 back leg stitches (5 from either side of the end of the round with yarn tail in the middle) on needle 1. Divide the remaining stitches evenly so that you have 6 stitches on each of needles 2, 3 (these are the instep stitches) and 4.

Instep:

Row 1: Join CC at start of needle 3. Knit 5 stitches from needle 3 then SSK last stitch from needle 3 and first stitch from needle 4. Turn work.
Row 2: K5 from needle 3, SSK last stitch from needle 3 and first stitch from needle 2. Turn work.
Rows 3-6: Repeat rows 1 and 2 twice.

Re-arrange stitches as follows: Slip 5 needles from needle 1 onto the spare needle. Slip 2 remaining stitches from needle 4 onto needle 3.

Row 7: K5, SSK. Turn work.

Slip 2 remaining stitches from needle 2 onto needle 3.

Row 8: K5, SSK, Turn work.
Row 9: K5, SSK, Turn work.
Row 10: K5, SSK, Turn work. 6 stitches remain on instep needle. Cut yarn leaving a 3-4" tail.

Cuff:

Resume knitting from the back of the leg with MC. Starting with a knit round, knit 8 rounds in garter stitch.
Change to CC and knit two rounds in garter stitch ending with a purl round.
Cast-off in CC using Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind-off. See here for instructions.

I'll hopefully knit another pair of these in the next couple of days and a) test-knit the pattern for bloomers and b) note down such ephemera as gauge and dimensions. The finished bootees were whisked off to baby Laurie so quickly that I forgot this time around.

Treasures

I've really been enjoying looking at all the old recipe boxes over at Mason Dixon Knitting. We don't really have recipe boxes in the UK, but we do have recipe books and this weekend I came across not only two of my granny's recipe books but one inscribed (in beautiful copperplate) "Mrs Holt Recipe Book" which must have belonged to my Mum's granny.



My granny's two books are small, leather covered, ring-binder style notebooks. The pages are filled with recipes written in pencil or pen in my granny's small, neat handwriting or else typed out on her typewriter.

Between them are stuffed relevant cuttings from magazines or newspapers with recipes for Royal Icing (next to the typed recipe for Christmas cake), Rhubarb and Ginger Fool, and Bury Simnel cake. The inside pocket of the brown notebook contains a cutting on how to deal with various "Cake calamities". There's also a small booklet with the title "Festival Fare" on its yellow cardboard cover which contains recipes from the congregation of "Blackburn Road United Reformed Church to commemorate the Bolton Leverhulme Festival" in 1981. There are reipes for Parkin (my gran's own recipe), Supper Ginger Cake, Pineapple Pudding and Mushroom Soup (this one from my mum). Page 36 is headed "Hints" and gives some sound advice:

Are you like me? Do you beg a recipe from a friend, try it out once, then lose it and have to search frantically for it only to be disappointed and frustrated?
More often than not they are written on pieces of note-paper, backs of envelopes* or whatever is handy at the time.
After one such day I thought, "Why not buy yourself a photo album, one with transparent cover sheets, and you can stick your scraps of recipes into that!"
In that way you would always know where they were and be able to find the right one in a trice.
The same idea could be used for knitting patterns taken from magazines.

Whilst my granny's book is packed with recipes that I remember her making and some that my mum still makes today my great-granny's book is much more exotic. Here recipes for cakes and biscuits are mixed in with home-made remedies. Here's a sample from the contents page at the back of the book which is written out in reverse to avoid running out of space.



4. Butter Sandwich
Vanilla cream
Russian Sandwich

3. Jam
Christmas Macaroons
Rubbing bottle
Backache

2. Treacle Cake
Extract of Malt
Emulsion

1. Constipation
Ginger biscuits
Cocoa-nut Biscuits

I don't know whether there's any link between the recipes and the remedies, or whether one could be brought on by eating the other.

Some of the recipes contain unfamiliar ingredients. What on earth is "Patent flour"? Luckily, should I ever want to make the Russian Sandwich the recipe for Patent flour is on page six. This was back in the days before you could buy self-raising flour and baking powder ready-mixed from the supermarket.



There are some very traditional sounding northern dishes - tripe & onions anyone? - and some with great names like "Railway Pudding".

Page 48 is headed "Party for 50" and page 49, the last written page in the book, is dated 7-10-40. I suspect great-granny would have found it difficult to get all the ingredients for her baking in the period of war-time rationing.



Later on in the book, after a few blank pages, there are more recipes cut out from newspapers and, best of all, a helpful article headed "Useful Measurements For the Sales - take this list with you" for anyone who has found themselves in Liberty at sale time wondering how much fabric it would take to make a dress or skirt.



Finally the article reasssures you that "These quantities are fairly generous estimates, and the woman who is a really clever cutter will be able to manage with a little less".

A quick FO to round things off. Dad's socks have finally been finished and given to him.



Pattern: Cast on 16 sts at toe and increase to 48 sts around. Begin gusset 4 inches short of end of foot and increase to 72sts. Knit toe-up heel flap with short-rows. Stripe pattern is 6 MC, 2 CC.**
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed (one ball each brown and blue)
Needles: 3.25mm

* My gran's book actually does have a recipe for pickled onions written on the front of an envelope addressed to "Aunty Ruby and Uncle Harold"!
** Notes are mainly for my benefit for the next time I want to knit my Dad some socks that actually fit.

Where did all the time go?

I'm not quite sure how it's got to be nine days since my last post. Things have been pretty hectic since I got back from my vacation at Craighall Towers. The boyfriend arrived back first on January 2nd, put the car away and then discovered that the garage door wouldn't open*, then I got back on January 4th to a ton of laundry and discovered that the washing machine had taken the decision that draining out the water should be an optional part of its program. So there has been lots of ringing of repairmen and the landlord (on my part) and waiting home for them to come (on the boyfriend's part).

And in the midst of all that there has been work and knitting and sewing.



This is my newest toy. My Mum and I chose it at John Lewis back in November and since then it's been sitting in the spare wardrobe wrapped up in blue paper with robins on waiting for me to get back after Christmas. I had a little difficulty fitting the quilting foot. Despite the fact that Janome (who made the foot) apparently make John Lewis' own brand sewing machine the line in the foot is a millimetre out of sync with the needle position. I've found the right size washers to shift the foot over a smidgin, I just need to have a play with my dad's tools this weekend to see if I can customize one so that it all fits together nicely.

Even with this technical hitch I still managed to make my first quilted project with the new machine using leftovers from the baby quilt.



The needle roll is kept closed by two (slightly off centre) press studs.



Behold, needles and snails! I still absolutely adore these fabrics from Anna Griffin which I bought from The Quilt Room. I kept stopping whilst sewing up the binding by hand just to stare at and admire the different patterns next to each other.

On the knitting front my Dad's Christmas socks are almost done. Hopefully Dad will like the reversed colourway on the second sock as much as I do. He has been warned so there shouldn't be any exclamations of "but they don't match!".



I've also squeezed in this gorgeous little bonnet which turned out to be the quickest thing to knit ever. One evening and all it needs is ribbon and a one inch seam to be sewn up.



Pattern: Feather and Fan bonnet by Larissa available here.

It looked a little on the small side when I'd finished but I think it will block out quite nicely.

* I should say "wouldn't reopen". If the boyfriend had been actually locked in the garage we would have got it open in sooner than a week!

Just do it!

This was the basic message of the New Year episode of Cast On "Start as you mean to go on" and as (as a runner) I never underestimate the power of the inspirational slogan* I have picked up the Anya sweater as my first step towards knitting more sweaters in 2008. I have plenty of them lined up: Anya to finish off, a sleeveless sweater in Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4 ply for which I bought yarn back in November, a long sleeved sweater in Wensleydale Longwool which I bought back in August and strangely didn't feel like knitting up at the time (who buys longwool in August for goodness sake!).

Anyways, after a particularly mild and wet Christmas the promised cold snap has arrived (it was bitterly cold and windy at the football match this evening) so it's perfect sweater knitting weather and Anya is coming along quite nicely. One of the front/back pieces** is done up to the start of the funnel neck and I've knit 9" of the second piece (below).



I've not got around to making a light box btw. This photo is just the serendipitous result of combining a flash and a cream bedspread.

I'm starting to wonder a little bit (as is traditional when knitting Rowan patterns) about the yarn estimates. I know that I've switched the colour scheme about a tad but I seem to be going through my 1 ball of Kidsilk Night at an alarming rate, even though I think that if anything I'm knitting less of the colourwork with it than specified. Fingers crossed I won't end up having to buy an extra ball. Conversely I'm not sure why they specified 2 balls of one of the KSH shades as that seems to be used least. I suppose if push comes to shove I can always switch the colours around again for the sleeves and pretend it's a design feature.

* "Impossible is nothing" (Adidas) got me through two marathons.
** Back and front are identical for this sweater, or would be if I hadn't made different errors (of pattern and colour rather than rather than anything ugly like dropped or twisted stitches) on each. I'll wait until both pieces are finished before deciding which is prettiest and should be the front. Neither mistake is earth shatteringingly obvious - indeed I'll buy a drink for any sharp eyed Bluestocking who spots both mistakes the next time I bring it along to a meeting.

First footing

I took a little break from post-Christmas Christmas knitting to knit the first pair of baby practice socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

Little Sky Socks
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK
Needles: 3.25mm



These, needless to say, are going straight to baby Laurie (my lovely new niece). I don't suppose she'll appreciate the revolutionary sockitecture but they're very soft and warm for her little feet.

I've also got in some work on the Anya sweater today - apparently the cold weather's coming and I'll be needing that cosy mohair. I've finished the front up to the funnel neck and I'll be working that as soon as I've finished the back ribbing (as I've only got the one 3.5mm needle with me).

It's been a very educational holiday for me. I've learnt how to make the almond icing for the Christmas cake, how to steam a pudding, how to change, bath and bottle-feed a baby and today Mum showed me how to knit 1, purl 1 the English way with the right needle under my armpit which makes moss stitch a whole lot easier. I managed to get the hang of it pretty well but I'm sticking to my non-traditional method of knitting for the rest of this sweater as I don't want to have gauge issues.

Photos of (hopefully) a finished sweater front tomorrow!

Sockapalooza

Star Christmas present this year is Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters.



My Dad ordered it from Socktopus and it came in such an awesome package with pink tissue paper, a Socktopus stitchmarker and two samples of Eucalan fabric wash.



I now have quite a collection of stitch markers as I also got five from my OBS secret santa along with a great alternative Christmas mix CD (thank you Secret Santa!)



Our secret santa gifts were swapped at the final OBS meeting before Christmas which took the form of a party at Lara's newish flat. I managed to get a fairish bit of Christmas knitting done despite the distractions of a table crammed with edible goodies and the entertainment of Felix playing the accordion.

Back to the post-Christmas Christmas knitting. The reason why I haven't yet started knitting any of the revolutionary mini socks in the new book is that I'm still working on a pair of the more traditional variety for my Dad.



These are knit in Rowan Felted Tweed on 3.25mm needles using toe-up with gusset and heel flap method. I'm trying to make these a fitted pair so really it's a good thing that I'm running late with these as it's nigh on impossible to fit someone for a sock whilst keeping it a surprise! I'm nearly done on the first sock, despite the fact that I spent most of today working on a quilt (which I'll post about tomorrow on All To Pieces) and acting as tech support whilst Dad tried to get his new digital photo frame up and running. It's been educational though as I've learnt how to add or remove images from an XD card without waiting for a popup window or options and how to retrieve an XD card from the inside of the PC when it's been accidentally posted through the wrong slot. It's amazing what you can do with a stout sewing needle and a bit of blu-tac.

Sprint to the finish

I've got 25 rounds to go on the last item of Christmas knitting, a Shedir* in Rowan Felted Tweed. Normally I'd consider this the home straight but the pattern for the crown decreases is by no means straightforward and it's been slow going this evening. I've created some of my own issues by (on 2 separate occasions) attempting to start round 56 before finishing round 55, but what do you expect when attempting complicated cable knitting whilst watching Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. Concentration is bound to slip at some point.

Given that I only started a fortnight before Christmas it's a fairly impressive haul: one pair of socks, one hat, one scarf. I've had to drop one item from the roster but I'll make it up to the would be recipient at some point and it's not like anyone is going without a present.

Hopefully I'll post some shots of finished items as modelled by the lucky knittees soon, in the meantime I wish everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas!

* I'll be knitting one of these for myself asap btw - I love the pattern and the hat fits me a treat!