Long Time No Post

So, almost two years between posts…  At least there is a lot I can tell you about!  In a nutshell, there are a lot of finished projects, started projects and hibernating ones.

Knitting discipline

You may notice that my cream jumper is getting nearer completion – this is because I have been disciplined!  As soon as mum’s jacket was finished and sewn up, I set to and finished both sleeves. Now all I need to do is sew in the ends and the small underarm holes.  I’ve worn the jumper around a bit and have realised it’s actually really warm, so I think a big polar neck is going to be just too much.  I’m going to do something like an extended crew neck which hopefully won’t be as bulky either.  I’ve also decided to use plain ribbing as the cabled affect is going to be too tight to go over my head!

My mum is getting on with her toasty arm warmers as I write this and so far so good.  She cast on,  although I knit the first two rounds to show her what to do (she’s never knitted on DPNs before) and she’s done about an inch so far.  I’ll take pictures as soon as there’s something more to show!


I keep eyeing up this little fella here with a view to knitting him.  He’s by Jean Greenhowe from her “MacScarecrow Clan” collection, and he’s called Scamp.  I acquired a number of her pattern collections quite a while ago, but apart from Blue Teddy I’ve not used them yet and I’m looking forward to having a go.  FunkyKnitter over on Ravelry came up with a bigger version by both doubling the stitches and the rows, which looks like it has turned out well so i may try that.  This I think will be one of my “no purpose” knits, but with Christmas coming up i don’t think it’ll stay that way for long!

Too much yarn, not enough knitting

It's quite possible I've overbought on yarn, especially since I'm 6 inches from the underarm with about 9 to go, with 50g left from my first ball. I'm tempted to knit the last 100g up as socks, but I started some "meida's socks" (Favourite socks, interweave press), got three rows in and then decided that they were going to be entirely the wrong shape. Might have to delve into ravelry to find an easier pattern!

A few months ago i tried my hand at teddy knitting. I knit a traditional bear from Jean Greenhowe's "Traditional Favourites" in blue acryllic. Although the baby for whom it was intended was still a little small to really understand it, mum on the other hand was thrilled, and has asked for some more! I'm now debating the football mascot doll from "Mascot Dolls" also by Jean Greenhowe, knit in their favourite team colours.



Between (and sometimes during) knitting, I've had a manic week. I met a lovely bloke on friday night wihlst at a friend's house - is picking up an escaping ball of wool the modern equivalent of picking up a lady's hankerchief? Sunday was spent at a horse show, sitting mostly in the sun watching the ponies go round. Took plenty of photographs but I will only bore you with them on request. Oh, and i might be getting a puppy...

Update

As normal, Ive been meaning to update this but just havent gotten around to it.

Finished a few bits and peices and have finally uploaded the photographs for it! So, in no particular order:

The little baby hat I knitted ages ago and didn't post photos for... if it looks an odd shape it's because its perched on a spindle of cds! I think you can just about see the yellow flecks in the bobble, it came out quite well really!




This is the palindrome scarf i half-knit on holliday in about 3 days, the other half took another 2 weeks! It's made from wendy serenity Aran and is in colourway purple haze. I never ever take it off, it's just too warm. Oh, and it's 6 foot long! A quick note to anyone considering the pattern - there is so much cabling that your hands will fall off. Seriously.





This bookmark took me about 2 hours to knit in total, although i did it in little bits because 2-stitch cabling is hell on my fingers, and I'd already knit enough cables to last me the year when i made my scarf! I used a stitch pattern from a dictionary, and added the border, a tassle and an eyelet to feed it through. If anyone wants the pattern, I'd be willing to pass it on, I prudently wrote it down as i was doing it!



These are my first pair of socks I've knitted - I bought a lovely set of 5 2.5mm dpns called "purple pins" from Knit n Caboodle (prompt delivery, didn't charge until dispatch) which have been my inspiration, after all you need to have the right tools to start with! I knit them with the super expensive chi sockyarn which i bought at The Natural Dye Studio open day thingy i went to in the summer, and they're so comfy, but i feel so guilty about wearing them cos they're handwash only... The surprising thing about the yarn though was that i only used 45g of it to make this pair of socks, so I've just started a second pair...

This is little blue teddy, the first of two i intend to knit (one in blue, one in fawn). This little chap is for a little boy being born in early january, and will be sent off along with all the other little things i knitted. The pattern is from jean greenhowe's Traditional favourites - The knitting was as easy as pie but the sewing up was another matter. The head, no matter how hard i tried, would not go on straight. I matched up seams to the best of my ability, but after sewing around the neckline, looked more like one of those tortured teddies that end up being used as some sort of voodoo doll for children! I eventually managed to get the neck so that he was looking in a more healthy direction, but it's still not straight and I'm not unpicking it again! The scarf was made from some white acryllic, couldn't tell you what it was though except that it was the first ball under my questing fingers. And thank god I've always got half a ball of some sort of black yarn lying around! Now all i have to do is work up the motivation to get the other one done too (will be posted to a lovely friend who is attempting to help me through my degree, more on that later!)

Thats all my finished objects... now i look back I've actually done quite a lot!

Update on shawl - it's still not finished - the sewing of the border has gone badly, it is in the naughty corner and will probably stay there til after christmas now. After hours of faffing about and arguing with my mother about how the corners should be sewn, we finally decided on a corner shape. The long and short of the problem is in the fact that she got the measuring tape out, made lots of precise calculations about how much of the work to use for the corners and how much would be needed in between, then completely disregarded them and pulled a different number out of thin air. Guess what? It doesn't fit. I don't want to talk about it anymore, it makes me sad.

Been planning as a future project a pair of rather theatrical armwarmers from some mohair that Mo sent me, with pointed cuffs that come down over my hand, and a big thick ribbon to lace it up the side, since I'll be knitting it straight I think. Unless i pull off the 3 rows i knit to start a top on my 4mm circs... Now there's a thought!

In other news, my love life still sucks and will remain in such a condition because there is no such thing as men when it comes to the equine industry, seems like what few there are go into hiding or something! It's gotten so bad now that i have various family members keeping their eyes peeled for me!
My degree is confusing the crap out of me but that isn't anything new. It's not the learning bit that is confusing, it's the process of organising to take exams and do coursework and the general administration of it all. I'm not the best person for getting out there and talking to people, and when i get worried about things i have a tendancy to get over-emotional about it and panic over nothing.
And I've still not had my refund from angelyarns yet. And it's been 2 months. Not Happy.