Summer Knitty

Summer "Knitty" is on-line (www.knitty.com) and there is a veritable feast of socks. Among this quarter's items are this/these(?)...

Unmentionables



They're inspired by Victorian prudery about dreadful young ladies wearing drawers to go riding in - so they could get their legs over the horse. All the underskirts under their gowns only left the option of riding side-saddle.

Hurrah for drawers!

PS The sellers of the house we want to buy are now playing silly buggers. Having spent the last six weeks working to a completion date of the end of June, they've now decided they want to complete at the end of July. On top of this, their estate agent let slip that this was decided last week, so when were they going to tell us?

I'm seriously pissed off.

Do you want the moon to play with?

That's the one line of a song, that my Nana used to sing to me, that I can remember. It seems very appropriate when you consider what I making for Bump. This may be hard to believe, but it's something of an improvement on "Fireman Sam" which has been on permanent loop in my head since yesterday morning - in a Scottish accent. Don't ask.

(I have nothing against Scottish accents. I don't really have much against "Fireman Sam", even if Naughty Norman did get an ASBO. This weekend has increased my knowledge of children's TV to levels it really didn't need to reach).



Here is the lovely "DB Cashmerino" and the start of the blanket in moss stitch. The wool is so soft that even the moss stitch texture feels squishy and flexible. (I love moss stitch).



A good star - that followed the pattern as it should.



The back of the star to show off my Intarsia. This is my first real successful attempt at Intarsia. I remember to twist the threads this time.



A wonky star - adding my own personal touch to the pattern.

PS The "Revel" Scale:

Chocolate - Best, obviously
Toffee - Not as good as Chocolate, but Very Good
The Malteser One -Good
Peanut - Pretty Good
Orange - Really Not Very Good At All
Coffee - Bleurgh! Bleurgh! Bleurgh!

This was all scientifically worked out the other day.

PPS Buyer wants to move THIS WEEK! We had agreed on the end of the month because our sellers can't go 'til then. Buyer texted on Saturday to see if they could pop around for measurements. Sure no problem. Then between Saturday night and Monday morning they have a huge barney with his Mum and Dad and now want to move this week!

It ain't happening... though we would love to because we want to move to our new house. I feel for our buyers - first timers living with the in-laws. It's bound to get tense.

Hallelujah!!!

I've just returned from a conference in York. During the day I've managed to squeeze in several knitting related adventures.

Taking my trusty sock yarn ("Fortissima - Sombrero") with me on the train, I managed to add a few more rounds to the dismal two I managed before the prawns struck me two weeks ago. When the train reached Huddersfield, a lady got on and after she sat down, I heard the unmistakable 'tink' of knitting needles dropping out of a bag onto the table. At first I thought she was making A Gryffindor scarf - the yarns were claret and gold. However, she was actually adapting the Alan Dart elephant pattern from "Simply Knitting".

We chatted about knitting and yarns until the train reached York.

This afternoon, I strolled off to 'The Shambles' in search of "Sheepish" and spent some time browsing through their stock. There is some lovely stuff in there. However, although I saw some beautiful "Regia" sock yarn which was very tempting, I didn't buy anything.

I did pick up a copy of "Knit Today" to read in the Museum Gardens (accompanied by a chocolate icecream). It came with a small pamphlet of baby patterns. I am taken with the chunky cardigan and the T-shirt and combats combo. There is also a beautiful "Rowan - Kidsilk Haze" cardigan. However, other than that... I'd give this edition a Peanut on the "Revel" scale of magazine content.

It was actually the first time I had picked up a copy and I'm not certain I will buy another.

However, yesterday I bought a copy of "Knitting" which I was impressed with. I like the reviews and I was really impressed with the clarity of the techniques section. There were also several patterns I liked - especially the plain men's (ok, unisex) jumper. On the "Revel" scale, this is definitely a Toffee.

Magazine buying - like everything - is very much determined by personal taste. I can take a passionate dislike to an article if I don't like its tone and style. "Knit Today" felt quite staid, even if there were some funky designs - such as the mock rib jumper. "Knitting" feels more professional and isn't patronising.

PS Our "Borders" knitting group now have a name. We decided on "The Mad Knitters' Tea Party" - inspired by the birthday cake brought in by one of the girls. It was iced to looks like some knitting, with a pair of actual needles and a sample sticking out of it. (There's a photo on my phone but I can't find my cable).


(Edited: Found it!!)

PPS The "Moon and Stars" blanket for bump is progressing nicely...however, the photo cable is safely hidden somewhere.

Stealth Knitting 2007

I've fallen off the stashalong, or I could treat it as my one day off per month. Friday was a warning - the yarn buying impulse was getting trigger happy.

A few weeks ago the BF casually asked: "So, will you be doing any stealth knitting this year?"

I laughed and said I doubted it.

A few days later, as I was knitting the "Opal- Neons" for his sister he hinted that he wouldn't mind some socks - green ones.

This made me think. There's every likelihood, he will get some socks, probably for Christmas, and I think I'll make him some "Opal -Caterpillars". However, he really seemed to be hinting for another jumper, and asking me now gives me plenty of time to knit it in secret. (The BF has a very good idea of how much stealth knitting went into "Leo").

So, for the last few weeks I've been looking at jumper patterns that aren't too patterned - not too many colours, not too much texture so no cables, though ribbing is fine. Once again, "Knitty" has come to my rescue. This is "Saranac" which has a zippy neck and is very much to the BF's taste.



The remaining problem was to find the yarn. The pattern for "Saranac" recommended "Cascade Sierra" which is an aran weight blend of wool (80%) and cotton (20%) or is that the other way around? So, I've been hunting around the usual suspects that provide a). nice yarns, b). of a similar blend and c). at a nice price. I didn't want to faff about with ordering from the US.

So, I've settled on "Rowan - All Seasons Cotton" because it's aran weight and while it doesn't contain any wool, I've used it before and like the way it holds a pattern. The supplier was Cucumberpatch because they were having a sale when I stumbled across them last night...



Voila! "Mocha-choc" at £1.95 a ball - wasn't that worth falling off the stashalong wagon? :-)

Completed "Paisley"

While it may be far too hot to wear (and one of our neighbours is thoughtfully sharing their music), I've finished "Paisley". I always underestimate how long it will take me to finish belts and ties, so Friday's theory that I would finish that night was far too optimistic. :-)

Here is the view from the back.



And... Here is the view from the front. I really like the sweep of the huge collar and it will be a lovely, big, warm cardi to snuggle into when it's cold. I made the belt about 40-50cm shorter than the pattern recommendations as it would have been trailing below my knees otherwise.



I didn't really understand the pattern's instructions about knotting lengths of yarn through the cast-on and cast-off edges of the belt. I couldn't see how this would hold the belt in place and allow it to move so made my own belt loops which you can see in the pic below, if you squint!



I liked the way the slipped stitches at the edge of the belt created a looped effect so I did something similar:

Cast on 6 stitches.
For 24 rows - Slip first stitch knitwise, purl two, knit two purl.
Cast off in pattern.

I felt the belt hoops needed to be chunky to match the overall feel of the complete cardi.

PS I got a new laptop yesterday so I will try to update my blog more often.

Why is it always the people with the cackest taste in music who feel the biggest need to share?

The Lure of Ebay

It's not that I haven't got anything to do at work - it's not as if I'm even bored. However, I'm being drawn to Ebay. It knows I'm attempting a stashalong, even if it is a stashalong in baby steps. The first stage ends on June 14th. If I make it to then, I will have lasted one month without buying any yarn. So far it has been two weeks.

You have to take these things slowly.

However, I've just seen these on Ebay. Whilst, they're not tremendously new by any stretch of the imagination, they're pushing my cravings.

For a start, this rainbowy "Opal - Feelings" could be used to make some socks for my SIL. She always had a rainbow jumper at Uni and I think she would love these.

Pah! Enough of this altruistic justification... I want a pair of Tigers to go with my Snakes, and my Blue Frogs and the Peacocks and the Zebras and the Fish. Ok, so I haven't knitted those last three up yet.

However, then there is this lovely stuff... "Opal - Handpainted - Autumn". On Kay's website (Seventy By Heart) she showed a pic of the most beautiful scarf she made in 'Old Shale' and I fell in love with the colours. I think these are they... though I know she didn't use "Opal" yarn.

I've hidden the credit card. Maybe I'll have another look at these tomorrow and think about it. Or maybe I'll just buy them.

Who knows? :-)

New Month, Better Luck

May has been a real mixed bag with quite a lot of bad stuff happening both personally and at work. Admittedly, it hasn't all been bad but it has been like the little girl with the little curl - when it has been bad, it has been 'orrid. So, here's hoping that June improves. :-)

Ok, bit of an update on some of the things that have been happening.

1. Remember the chav in the BRIGHT LILAC tracksuit? Well, the police called the other day and somebody, whilst not giving a statement, had given them the name of this sartorially challenged individual. So, she will be interviewed on Monday next week and dependent on what she says, I may be asked to go in to see a line up. I didn't expect the police to catch anyone but the nice officer who called the other day simply said: "We got lucky."

2. The house selling and buying lark has given us a few jitters but I think (fingers crossed, touch wood, chuck salt over my shoulder, count magpies, etc, anything for luck) that we're nearly there. My solicitor told me we can complete very soon.

3. The prawn lurgie has definitely gone now. It came back on Tuesday!

And the knitting.... I have nearly finished knitting "Paisley", I started the belt during "Hustle" last night. The collar seemed to take ages, and as a result I'm sick of ribbing. This may have something that I ended up with 30 more stitches on the needles that required.

For each section (the back and the two fronts) I consistently picked up ten more stitches than the pattern recommended. Obviously this was wrong, so I tried again being strick on the required number but the join between the collar and the body looked as if it was full of holes, so I decided denser was the best way to go.

Naturally, this took longer to knit and used more wool but I'm pleased with the end result. It fits!

Of course, now the weather has suddenly warmed up again!

If I finish this tonight I think I'll start on the moon and stars baby blanket for Bump.