TTFN Or Ta Ta For Now

Well I definately won't be posting for the next 10 days or so. The packing is about done but I'm at that stage of running around convinced that I've forgotten something. Guaranteed I'll remember whatever it is when I arrive at Mum's. Nevermind! Just as long as I have my knitting - who needs anything else? LOL!

What State is K8 in?

I sat like an expectant father waiting for the washing machines cycle to finish so I could see K8. I was both excited and nervous and had a slight worry that my jeans may turn slightly orange from the dyes but....

There was nothing to worry about. There was K8, still in one piece and looking gently felted, more fulled looking (I know that technically they're both the same but it was more fuzzy than felt if you know what I mean!). The cork did it's job and the thumb section still fits. As for the rest if the mitt, well there was a definite improvement on the overall fit but still a little on the wide side but nothing too drastic as you can see in the picture! Except that you can't see it as I can't find the lead to connect the camera to the computer so I can download the photos - oops! I'll post them later on.

Now, should I knit up the left hand mitt now and hope that the felting process works just as well? What are the chances of being able to get a matching pair this way?
Anyway regarding the rest of the mitts I had planned I found this. Hopefully this will be a better pattern to use but I will certainly amend it to include a lacy design and may do a bit more playing around until I'm happy with the overall effect.

Anyway I'm off to do more of the Metis Jumper as it really seems to be growing quickly now - a few more nights of good telly and I'll be done!

Things that distract you...

At the moment I should be trying to get everything ready as we're off on Holiday on Monday. I've a pile of washing to do and there is a nagging thought of something I could try, something that is not at all constructive towards getting me nearer to being ready for Monday.

This is where we're heading, well, up in those mountains in the background!

I've been thinking about K8. Well, thinking about felting K8. I know I have my worries as to if the thumb section will still fit after felting but a thought came to me as I was trying to sleep - what if I inserted a mould into the thumb section to try and retain the shape somewhat? How about a cork? It's roughly thumb shape and won't be affected too much by the felting process.
So, in amongst the jeans I'm hoping we won't need for our holiday will be a lacy fingerless mitten that I certainly do not need for the next couple of weeks!

The other difficult decision of what knitting to pack has already been made. In fact this decision was made before everything else! Obviously the current main WIP Metis (colinette Lasso yarn) will have to come. I'm on the front now and plodding on nicely. The other project, just in case I finish Metis, is a very boring Patons Cargo jumper that I've already started. Very simple, very plain in monotonous Hessian shade and very quick to knit on 12mm needles. It's just dull after the Colinette yarns! Take a look at Artis-Anne as I think she has progress shots of hers. Typically Mum and I share the same tastes in patterns and yarns so we usually end up both doing the same projects often in the same colours as well!
Anyway it will be nice to spend some time with her for the next week or so even if we're just using her house as just a base as if it was a B&B (I will add it would have to be the best B&B around!).

If I have time I may report later regarding the fate of K8. If not things will be a little quiet for a week to 10 days (we haven't really decided how long we're staying either!) but hopefully Mum may have 'dragged' me to Colinette during that time!!

Royal Mail Sucks!

Talk about 'Snail Mail'! I am not amused at the moment with the post for a number of reasons.
Firstly I won some sock dpns on e-bay and my Mum won some the very next day. Now, admittedly they are coming from Hong Kong but her's arrived last Thursday or Friday and I'm still waiting for mine despite the fact that mine were posted first (according to the e-mails we both received).
Secondly I'm waiting on a copy of Fall Interweave Knits that was posted on the 17th July according to their account system on their site. How long should this take to get here from the States?
Thirdly, and this is annoying, I really ought to give up on this ever getting here. I bought a copy of Rebecca Baby Special (the one with the doll pattern) and have been waiting for over 2 months. The seller in question is supposed to be chasing this up for me but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a response.
I know the post is bad and things get lost all the time but at the moment I'm getting seriously annoyed that it seems to be eating all my knitting related goodies! It is too hot to be patient to wait for post to arrive especially when I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on them!

Anyway rant over for now. I came home from the Knit and Knatter with my arms full of copies of Vogue Knitting to borrow, 'Exciting Patchwork Knitting' by Horst Schulz and two drop spindles and some Merino rovings to practice with. Oh, and 'A Handspindle Treasury' to help get us started. I'm sure once Mum reads this she won't be able to wait until my Holiday starts and I arrive at hers with all these goodies!

Metis is still growing well. The armhole shaping has now been done and is progressing nicely. It was well admired last night both with the colours and the drape of the fabric, which I must say is nice and light and ideal for this weather.

Here's a detail of how the colour is knitting up - like I'm sure I've already said it's a pastel Camouflage that reminds me of After Eight Mints!

Here we have 'K8' - I've given up the lucky part cos it's not for me! Hopefully you should be able to see the newly improved thumb section that is the right shape this time! Obviously this shot is pre-blocking.

Here we have it half sewn up. I stress the half sewn up point as it really is too wide for my hand and I'm not sure what to do. I did consider felting the mitt but the thumb section fits well and had visions of the thumb becoming impossible small so hurriedly yanked the mitt out of its hot bath before I really got started with the felting.


Not sure if you can really tell but there is about at least an inch too much fabric for my little hands and the rib is too big as well. I got my babysitter/mate to try the mitt on last night and the size is OK with her so it is probably just me. So... do I make them in the size specified in the pattern or try it on a few more people to get and average idea of if it's too big or just right? The trouble is that this is a possibility for presents so I can't really ask the intended victims, I mean recipients if they fit or not.

Sock it to me!

Knitting with the Monsters... has kindly posted a pattern for toddler socks. Admitedly Emily will have to grow a little before she'll fit into them but it maybe an easier way to enter the world of sock knitting by doing mini socks instead of me sized socks! Of course this does mean I'll have to buy some sock yarn - oh no, I feel another stash increase on the way!
Am off to meet up with the New Brighton Knitters again in a moment so will sign off and get my knitting packed and ready. Either Metis or the boring one will be knitted, which ever needs the least concentration - there does always seem to be a large amont of nattering that affects my concentration! Just too many lovely ideas floating around! Will report later!

By The Way...

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

It amused me - after all I am Welsh!!

The Saga of K8!

As I write mitt number 1 (right hand) is drying after being blocked. I would show you a photo but it's on my ironing board which is virtually the same colour as the mitt. To be honest I'm glad it's only a test run as I think it's going to be far too big. Admittedly I haven't got the largest hands in the world but the mitt looks large - too long and too broad. I suspect I'm going to have to downsize it somewhat and rewrite the pattern a bit more for my needs. It would be simpler if the pattern worked the first time round but at least it's a good thing to learn and practice on before trying to design things from scratch (not that I'm really anywhere near that yet).
Been having a few quiet moments watching TV and knitting in the last few days and have come across a few knitting references. Firstly in 'Lost in Translation' Scarlett Johansson's character was knitting (or at least holding knitting - and it wasn't Noro which it should have been if it was set in Japan surely!). Then today I was watching 'Little Women' and Jo was complaining saying about sitting 'knitting like a pokey old woman' - it made me laugh as I was knitting at the time and do not see myself as being an old woman at just 30!
Metis is growing well and is virtually at the point of doing armhole decreases, but then it is plain and simple and it really is the colours of the yarn that make the statement in that garment. Lasso is being really nice to knit with as long as you don't have any snags in your finger nails that will catch on the yarn. The colourway itself is coming out as more of a mint toned camouflage which I thing I like - it is always so hard with the Colinette yarns to tell how they will knit up compared to the skeins.
Anyway I'm off to get on with Metis and see if I can finish the back tonight. I promise I will post picture soon! It looks too dull without them!

Heatwave Update!

Well as the weather heated up my knitting slowed down. I've half sewed up the Tie Front Shrug but it is too hot to have it sitting on my lap as I sew. The Colinette stash was proudly displayed to the N.B. Knitters on Tuesday and went down well and resulted in the possibility of a little day trip there being planned! (Note to self: start putting money aside now!)
I then decided to try and escape the worst of the heat and visit Mum up in the mountains of Snowdonia and running about in the sea near my Uncles house. Little One came with me and to everyones suprise decided to take a walk in the sea. Up to her neck. She doesn't even like lying down in the bath so what she was thinking I do not know!! Take a look:



I haven't zoomed in on the shot to show you how far out she went. Mum took the photo and was standing at the shoreline and had to zoom the camera in to get that shot!

In the mean time the right hand amended 'Lucky K8'(response to query regarding YO's: I don't think it really matters whether you YO before or after the marker.), now with different lace pattern, has been completed and just needs blocking. I'm sure there's a mistake on the 2nd lace pattern repeat but I was not going to frog this for a 4th time. Besides these are a test pair for myself. I know I'm not going to complain about shoddy knitting on the lace - it's the others that need to be spot on (potential presents).
Current knitting is Metis using the Lasso yarn in Moss (I think). So far the colour is a lovely muted cool green with deep chocolate brown specks that makes me think of 'After Eight mints'. As it's a straighforward pattern it should grow quickly fingers crossed. And in case I can't cope with that there is always the jumper I started in Patons 'Cargo' which feels lovely and soft and knits up on 12mm needles - very quick knit but boreing colour Hessian can't compete with Colinette! Anyway am off to knit and relax - have not one but two days in work to come and a friends 30th birthday party as well this weekend so will be worn out no doubt. At least will have Little One as a suitable reason for going home early from the party as she's joining us! Will either be fun or a nighmare - wish me luck!

Unlucky K8

I think this is the first pattern I've knitted up from MagKnits and I'm a little disappointed. Firstly it is a little unclear to read. Secondly I think there's a mistake in the pattern. Take a look at the following shots and I'll explain.
On the diagram that came with the pattern the thumb section is shown as growing in a wedge-shape equally on both sides. Looking at the actual mitten in front you can see its works as an uneven wedge. Also the stitch count is out in connection with this - the blue stitch-marker shows where the thumb section should actually finish rather than the white marker next to it. Based on my calculations and what I've already knitted up I think the pattern should be as follows:

Inc 1 at beg of next 4 rows only, working thumb increase below AT THE SAME TIME:
K to marker, pass marker, YO, k to 2nd marker, YO, pass marker, k to end of row.
Purl.

and not:

Inc 1 at beg of next 4 rows only, working thumb increase below AT THE SAME TIME:
K to marker, YO, pass marker, k to 2nd marker, YO, pass marker, k to end of row.
Purl.

as appears on MagKnits.

Otherwise everything was great with it - the colour is fantastic, the pattern was working out OK and I wasn't a million miles away from finishing the first mitten which made it all very frustrating. Just look at it -


And now it's practically back to square one again. Well at least I'm back to the end of the ribbing, again! But this time round I actually fancy trying a different lace panel to what is on the original pattern so we'll just have to see how it works!

Pictures at last!

Well as promised here is the photo of my Colinette haul:
Doesn't it all look yummy!! It makes me smile just looking at it!
Okay, clockwise from the bottom left corner is as follows - 200g of 4ply wool that looks like Jay colourway; 125g of 4ply wool, no idea what the name of the colourway is but it knits up like a sunset! More on what it's being knitted into in a mo; 2 skeins of Lasso in Morocco already wound for knitting up (again seeing as its been frogged already!); 1 skein of Giotto in Jay for my throw and finally 4 skeins of Lasso in Moss (I think).

The sunset 4 ply is currently being knitted up as 'Lucky K8'. Looking again at the pictures with the pattern I think I've not done the rib section quite long enough but the pattern seems a little unclear to me. It's probably done to my frazzled brain at the moment! Other than that they're knitting up ok. The wool will probably itch but they look sweet and the colour is fantastic enough to warm anyday up.

Now for some FO's.
I thought I'd take the picture of the Ribbon Tee laid out on the carpet as I usually do - can you see the flaw in that in the picture? Can you even see the Tee? Oh yes, it's pretty much the same colour as the carpet.



So Take Two:

Okay, it is a little blurred and I look like I'm doing the 'I'm a little Teapot' pose but at least you get a better idea of what the Ribbon Tee looks like. It was really easy to make and feels so comfy to wear that I would definitely recommend the pattern. I'd thought I'd need to play around with it to get it to work but it only took 3 evenings to make with very little sewing up to do.



And Finally (until I sew up the Tie front Shrug!):


The 'Anthologie Inspired Capelet' as seen in the photos at Colinette below. This was idiotically simple! And it only took one night to make! Had I started it earlier I wouldn't have had to stay up until 1 am to finish it but it is still a quick project for those 'I want it now!' moments. Besides, I wanted to have something newly knitted to wear to Colinette the next day and I wasn't in the mood to sew up the shrug. Which, by the way, will probably be sewn up on Tuesday night in the Knitting group as it doesn't need too much concentration to do and shouldn't go wrong, unlike my current WIP's would be likely to!

BTW - have you noticed the current trend that every other word or subject seems to be 'Colinette'? Do you think I could be a little obsessed? LOL!

Links for the above projects have been included in a previous post if needed.

Definately going to frog Artemis and start again using it as a meditative exercise to cleanse the mind of worries. Will just have to keep knitting 24-7 to keep the beasties at bay now!!
It doesn't work with cats though - my little furry beastie wants feeding and I haven't got him trained to understand not to interupt my knitting yet! Must go and feed him (yes he is greedy and has already been fed tonight, he is just fussy about what I've given him).

Just found this via a websearch:
"Older children of alcoholics may show such depressive symptoms as obsessive perfectionism, hoarding, staying by themselves, or being excessively self-conscious."

That explains the Stash then LOL!!

~ Full article can be found here

Don't you just hate...

... it when you start a new project, eager to see how it grows, see how the colours look (you realise I'm talking about the Colinette Stash now?) and then get only 5 rows into the pattern and hit a problem? The problem is Artemis and the lace pattern - the problem is only on the 3rd row of the lace pattern. Call me impatient and stubborn but I really do not want to have to frog the whole lot, cast on another 85 stitches and start all over again. All I want to be doing is knitting this vest in a progressive way - ie with it growing not shrinking.
It is my nightmare Lacy Jumper all over again. I started that 5 times and hated the entire thing whilst I was knitting it as you can see in my etribe archives if anyone really wants to read of my struggle knitting the beast. And the sleeves need unpicking and knitting a bit longer - even if it does have dropped sleeves the are no way long enough for me (and I'm not hugely long in the arm department). The pattern can be found here if anyone wants to try it and tell me that it is in fact quite easy!
I'm just tired and really want to be knitting but not if it is going to be a nightmare that will make me want to fling the thing across the room. I don't want to hate this top, the yarn is a treat for myself from my trip. I can't really afford it but it was supposed to be a special luxury and I don't want it spoilt by silly mistakes in lace patterns. It may have to be shelved for a bit until I'm in a better frame of mind to deal with the complexities of knitting lace along with the complexities of life.
Sod it - it's going to be frogged and I'm walking away. I don't want to play anymore.

The Technicolour World of Colinette

Oh My God!! It was just so amazing! Mum and I were so excited by the whole thing. The shop is an explosion of colour and you just don't know where to start. Until you find out where the Sale area is. Then, after grabbing a basket you start grabbing things wildly! Well at least I did!
Here you can see one of the baskets of odd yarns - there was the most beautiful skein of 'Enigma' in dark green with flashes of red which I really wanted and even now looking at the pictures I can see things I love and want. Not being rich this causes problems!

On Mum's blog you can see some of the shelves and the cones on top of them. These were great - from about 50p you could have little bits of all sorts of things and the colours just seemed to jump out at me, begging to be put in my basket. We spent 3 hours deciding what to buy and I still don't think I really saw everything. Up until the last hour I was still wandering round in a daze picking up cones in luscious colours which I had no clue what I would do with but the colours were calling to me like Sirens on the rocks. This photo shows my already thinned out decision pile. Four of the skeins of 'Lasso' were abandoned, along with three of the cones (why? I know now what the mohair would have been great for!) and the skein of Mohair and 'Wigwam'.
In the end I discovered 'Lasso' and the pattern book 'Muse' and then started to think big - as in garments and not just colours for the stash. Firstly there are two skeins of 'Lasso' in Morocco colourway to make 'Artemis' vest and then four skeins of Moss colourway to make 'Metis' jumper.
Here I am, still grinning madly clutching my new Colinette goodies.
Even now my head is still filled with the colours and thoughts of what to do with them all; thinking of cones left behind and wishing they were here with me. There is only one solution to all of this - as Arnie would say "I'll be back!"
For the mean time though I want to get back to my knitting. So far I've been flying through things - the tie front shrug is complete but needs sewing up; I started and finished the Anthologie inspired Capelet from Craftster on Sunday night (I was up to 1am finishing off!) and am now halfway through the shaped ribbon tee which again is from Craftster. See, the sooner I finish these, the sooner I can play with my Colinette Goodies! BTW I'll give a full run down of the Goodies tomorrow hopefully with pictures!
Anyway, Back to the knitting!

Off on Knitting Safari!

I'll probably not be posting until Wednesday as I'm off to visit Mum tomorrow for a knitting weekend sans Emily (yeah for peace and quiet but I will miss her!).Hopefully I'll have loads to report back about as we're off to visit Colinette as a treat for ourselves. I somehow don't think it will be a treat for our bank managers!
Then back home on Tuesday and straight out to New Brighton Knitters (there must be a quicker way of saying that!) to show off our wares (if I've been naughty and spent more money) and give my field report. Well, I may not have been to WoolFest this year but I think I'm having a crafty enough time so far!

Oh yes, I bought more yarn in work (must put sign up saying 'do not serve this woman'!). 500g Patons 'Washed Haze' called Marshmallow Spray. I was going to say Bagpuss colours but marshmallows works as well. Typically now that the subject of marshmallows has been brought up I really fancy some - think I'll go and have my tea instead!

Made in Wirral

Today started off hectically as Emily decided that Doggy wanted to get in the bath with me. If only she could have done this on a lovely hot sunny day so that I could guarantee that Doggy would be dry for bed-time. Emily will not sleep without him. So he was hurriedly shoved in the wash, put on another spin cycle (no tumble dryer!) and pegged on the line while Emily wasn't looking. There were tantrums for nap time but at least she did sleep eventually and Doggy was dry for bed-time!

Well I did get to the exhibition today and it was well worth it. The craftmanship on display was wonderful and there was a wide range of crafts on display. But I must admit the one that appealed to me most was spinning! There were a wide range of different yarns on display in both the raw forms and spun: silk, cotton, wool from various breeds, alpaca and dog. Yes, Dog which is the yellow item in the picture. I forget what breed it was but the yarn was so silky and soft and looked lovely knitted up - if I'd have had to guess what it was I would never have said Dog. The Alpaca was local as well, some had been sheared(?) and spun, the other example was from sweepings from the floor and showed different colourings to the other (more muted browns rather than the rich chocolate of the other. There was wool from Wenslydales (I can see the attraction - nice and silky), Blue-Faced Leicesters and Jacob sheep with gave a nice variegated effect. Anyway I decided to pick the brain of the lady minding the display, whose name just happened to be the same as my middle name. Prime topic for questions? Spindles. Forgot all about top and bottom spindles and just asked how easy they were to use, what was the best yarn to start learning with and what was the best spindle to start with. She thought they were quite easy to use but said that some people found them hard. Wool was her starting yarn of choice and as for spindles, well she dug out a home made spindle out of the pot as seen in picture 3 and said that this was cheap enough to start with as some could be expensive, she said holding out a very pretty £40 spindle as an example (none for sale just display). Well I know my budget - CD's and dowel is more for me at least I knew where I'd seen the instructions for them! Oh, and of course she had also been to WoolFest and thought it waswonderfull and 'had everything you could think of to do with wool. You must go!' I guess people like WoolFest then!

Wish you were there?

Been surfing the net and reading about peoples visits to Woolfest. I really wish I could have gone but try reading these reports to wet your appetite! Woolly Wormhead; Susool, GourdonGirl, Acrylik and Knit-Tigger.I could list loads more but have a search through the UKnitters Webring links in the side bar. When you read their blogs and hear how much fun it sounded it makes me all the more determined to visit next year, dragging Mum with me (probably with very little need for persuasion!). And the more I think about it the more fun it seems.
As Mum has a camper van her hubby can drive up and stay on a site with the dogs along with my hubby and daughter in a tent whilst Mum and I shop our hearts out buying yarn, stroking sheep and hopefully investing in drop spindles and fleece to spin ourselves!! (After someone shows us how!). I'm sure there will be something for the boys and little one to do! Anyway I'm probably getting carried away thinking about it all. But fingers crossed we'll be there next year!

To Dye For!

Well the visit to join New Brighton Knitters was as enjoyable as last week and is reasuring to find people as obsessed as Mum and I are about knitting. Mum sent me a challenge to find out what dyes Chris (the multi-talented rug lady) uses with her wools. Thankfully I remembered to ask and Chris remembered what they were: 'Easy-peasy' she said; 'Okay' says I 'what are they?'; 'Easy-Peasy' Ah! And just look at the site, they do sound as simple and easy to use as she said and quite within my realms of ability. Which at the moment is not saying very much at all.

The tie front shrug is a bit of a disaster zone lately. I can't thing of another simple project I've done that I've made so many mistakes on. I've just had to rip back the sleeve as I'd misread the pattern and was 2 increases short. It's not as if there's a compicated lace pattern to follow or anything like that it's just jinxed. Or I could have been nattering too much and not reading the pattern enough. It's just nice to finally feel part of the wider knitting community and share ideas and thoughts. Chris and I must surf the same sites as both weeks she's mentioned a free pattern and I've known which one it was. One of the other ladies asked if surfing the net was all we did! After the past few days I've had it is nice to have this group to focus on and draw my attention away from worries and onto more important issues like Cashmere!

I received my free sample from ColourMartUK of various weights of mainly 100% cashmere yarn. The only one that wasn't was 50% cashmere, 50% merino wool. So I've spend a large part of the day knitting up my samples, most of them on the finest needles it feels like knitting with tooth picks! And once they've been washed to clean the oil off them - Wow! Such soft caressable swatches!

Anyway either tomorrow or Friday I'll be visiting another local craft exhibition called 'Made in Wirral'. It's been really badly advertised and even the website from the leaflet has no details which is really bad. I'd forgotten all about it even though I'd read the details at last weeks craft exhibiton and it was only when Chris reminded us all last night that I remembered. Of course she'll be there with her Spinning group but there are also quilters, embroiderers and book makers so will be an interesting trip. I might just go there by train to try and amuse Emily.

Anyway this is not finishing my sleeve - it is too hot to knit really, but must at least appear to make an effort. Besides it should be finished by next weeks knit in!

My Two Left Fronts.

Okay, I've a lot on my mind. How else can I explain the fact that I have ended up with 2 left fronts for my tie front shrug. And I only noticed that when I checked the fronts for lenght against the back. And to make it worse, it was only then that I noticed that on one of them I had miss read the armhole lenght of 19cm as 9cm. So I've had a lot of unpicking to do lately. I'm slowly getting back to square one but life seems to have been getting in the way somewhat! There is one section of the new right front (which really is a right front) that will be as tight as anything as I tried to calm myself down! Thank goodness for knitting, at least I have Colinette to look forward to!

But there have been constructive things - I have nearly finished a wall painting in Emily's room which, as she correctly points out, are flowers and which make her room suddenly seem like a little girls room. Day by day she seems to learn new words and has just over 10 words in her vocabulary including 'all gone', 'oh dear', and 'ka' (cat obviously!). She never ceases to amaze me and it is a marvel to watch her grow from a baby (which she hasn't been for a while) into a lively little toddler who certainly has a mind of her own!

I sent my Mum some links of things to look at including the list of members of the UKnitters web-ring as there are some interesting reads out there and they're local (well at least the same continent!) and was suprised when she e-mailed back and said 'I saw you there'. I couldn't think what she meant for a while as I had sent a few links then it clicked. I had forgotten all about it whilst waiting for an e-mail saying I'd been accepted and so was suprised to see that I was now on the list! Fancy someone else having to point it out to you! I really feel as if I'm now part of the big wide world of knitters now! Mum on the otherhand is edging into the unknown and dabbling in freeform crochet. I've still to get her to teach me basic crochet before I go off the rails and go mad with the stuff! I have added 'The Happy Hooker' to my Christmas wish list but, impatient as always when she's caught up in an idea, Mum has just ordered herself a copy. I suppose I shouldn't grumble as I did have both the S'n'B books before she did. And she has more money to buy all these things with! The pair of us seem to want to move on to new things at the same time such as crochet (Mum a little more so than me seeing as she understands the stuff) and now the pair of us fancy trying, along with the shawls mentioned previously, socks. After months of wondering what the fuss was all about we now fancy a go ourselves. I may just end up with one sample sock if I can't face the second but there are so many nice patterns out there to try such as these daisy socks. Anyway really before I start anything new I should finish this shrug - I have so have some progress to show tomorrow at New Brighton Knitters meeting. And this time I'll set the video for 'Lost'!