Zoo Bag

This has knit up fast. I now need to sew it up. Hopefully, this will not take long. We know how I feel about sewing (and yet I've started a night class on garment making - Darth Sewing Machine and myself currently enjoying a ceasefire. It hasn't committed GBH on me and I haven't threatened to dismantle it).



It's a simple knit - just a very long rectangle folded in half to create a sack. The top of the back is to be folded over and sewn down to create a draw-string tie. Yes, it was a very long exercise in st-st but the striping relieved the monotony, and the elephant on the pocket was a fun little Intarsia detail. Yes, that is an elephant, not a dog - it's a Zoo bag, after all.

New technique of the knit was French knitting the cord. (Below, on a bacdrop of lovely stitch definition).



I've never done French-knitting before and the pattern didn't actually require it. It said to knit two lengths of tie - back and forth across six stitches for a metre. Struck me as boring and besides... I had a new GADGET!



From Ally Pally.

Birthday Goodies

It's my birthday today. (And Margaret Thatcher's - hmm; and Paul Simon's - yay!) And I'm having the day off. Bliss.

Guess what the BF got me...

"Old Harry's Game" - Seasons 1 and 2 of the Radio 4 show which has me in fits every time I hear it. So, I'll be spending today listening to that.

...And...



This gorgeous yarn swift! I'm so pleased. The BF reckons it's a gift for him as well - he no longer has to provide skein assistance and it's a gadget. He demanded a demonstration before he left for work. (It only took 20 minutes too).

My friend Liz, at work, also gave me a box of needle huggers - I'm touched by the thought and the time she took. She's not a knitter .

Postie hasn't been yet - but I'm told to expect some more goodies. What a great day.

Ally Pally Porn

Ally Pally! I went on Thursday with Auntie Anne. We had a great day and in my opinion, it was a much better event than last year - more knitting stalls, less paper, less ironing and not as crowded. (Which has always got to be a good thing when you're wandering around).

Surprisingly, I didn't buy as much as last year. Or spend as much.

Here's what I did buy.

Ten balls of "Sirdar - Escape"...



... to make.



Three balls of "Sirdar Denim Tweed DK" to make...



... this cardi for Talia.



Four balls of Laceweight 2 ply.... 2 ply! Jesus! What was I thinking? What am I going to make with that?



Oh, yeah... these rather smart and snazzy gloves. I want to knit something a little more challenging... but I don't want a huge challenging project. Gloves will do.



Ten balls of beautiful "Regia Silk Colour" (4ply) to make a myself a smarter jumper than the usual chunky ones I go for. I fancy a finer yarn.



This is gonna take bloody ages, isn't it? Remind me that I want a finer yarn jumper.

Here are the obligatory sock yarn purchases. The rainbow on the left is for me. The "Wendy Bamboo" in the middle will either be socks for the MIL or my wool-allergic pal, Lesley. The blue ball on the end is for the BF.



I made a rod for my back there. He wants more socks.

I also ordered some lovely Teal colour "Muskat" (100% Egyptian Cotton" from Scandinavian Knitting Design. At least I think it's Teal - I am colour blind over weird shades of blue and green. I thought my first car was green. Everyone else thought it was turquoise.

Looking forward to some squishy parcels soon.

PS Apologies for not regularly popping into blogs to comment. I just haven't had a lot of time over the last few months. I do read when I have a chance but don't comment - it's awfully rude of me so I am sorry.

Can You Guess What It Is Yet?

Well, obviously, this is a hoodie for Talia. It's pinned to hold the trim straight in preparation for the zip that I will buy tomorrow. And sew in. Honest.



Can you guess what this is?



A close up of the stitch definition ("Sirdar DK Cotton") and an annoying little grebby stain. I have no idea what this is or what caused it because it was in the centre of the ball and it's hard. I can't pull it off because that will snap the threads.



And, here we have an elephant taking shape.



What is it? It's a Zoo Toy Bag (Zoe Mellor's Nursery Knits) for Thomas. The BF requested it and even picked the colours. It has only taken me two days to knit 3/4 of it.

Please note - Christmas Not-Quite-Panic-Knitting-But-Certainly-Very-Aware-Of-What-Still-Needs-To-Be-Knit-Panic.

Gloves

Talia's hoodie is on hold.

Autumn has hit Reddish and it's bloody cold going to the bus stop on a morning. So, I'm making myself some gloves. Here's one of them - showing it by the palm, might be an odd way to show it but...



...that's because of this loose thread sticking out.



They're made from "DB - Merino DK" in pillar-box red as opposed to this strange shade of dark pinky red that the photo seems to suggest.

And they're also out of the orphan ball box!

Four Days to Ally Pally.

Stealth Knitting Update

The BF is away. He's visiting his parents. I'm on-call so I can't go... which means I've got the house to myself for some stealth knitting. Thanks to being able to knit this at my Mam's, I've finished the body.



This weekend, I'll get one of the sleeves finished and with any luck make a good start on the second.



In other news... here's the "Kon-Tiki" hoodie for Talia, which is knitting up fast. I love the fact that the wrong side is the right side - the reverse st-st makes it a more interesting pattern than the simple stripe.



The BF will wonder why I haven't made more progress this weekend. I'm sure I'll think of something.

Technology

Just what exactly was wrong with the carrier pigeon? Or writing on slates with chalk? (Apart from the 'orrible grebby feeling you get on your hands from the chalk dust. It's setting my teeth on edge just thinking about it).


(Me and my 'puter - a relationship made in heaven)

I've got the camera, check; I took the photos, check; I have the cable, check; it's attached to the computer, check; there are no loose connections, check. All present and correct and still I resort to downloading a picture of the pattern I am now making for Talia AKA Baby Sumo.



This was going to be for Lois (the pink and girly niece) but as I had something of a setback with the clothes I had knitted for Talia as her Christmas present (i.e. they're all too small), I've nicked this from Niece Number 1. What Niece Number 1 doesn't know, won't hurt her. Also, as I'm making it in the same colours as shown (yes, I have no imagination - too the tune of "yes, we have no bananas"), they will be perfect for my cunning plan to make Niece Number 2 not as girly as Niece Number 1.

This is knitting up really quickly. (Well, it would - I'm doing it for a two year old as opposed to a six year old. So, no surprise there). The yarn is "Stylecraft Kon-Tiki" - 50% acrylic and 50% cotton. Having moved from some lovely soft sock yarn and Merino (also Stylecraft), the yarn felt a bit like string at first. However, the acrylic softens this string-like texture and being cotton, it highlights the stitch texture beautifully. I'm really enjoying making it.

There is going to be a lot of yarn left over. Definitely a matching hat in the pipeline.