Damn, Knit & Blast It

The long awaited Ben scarf was all over in 3 days

I really enjoyed the mindless long rows of knit and the regular gratification of finishing a stripe.

I cast off with a 4.5mm needle (was knit on 4mm) and made sure it wasn’t too tight (I used a cable cast on BTW – in case you were wondering!) and it didn’t even seem to need blocking once I was done.

I promised to let you know about yarn usage – I used less than one ball of each colour! I have no idea why the pattern implys, with it’s ambiguous wording, 3x 50g  balls of each colour?? So now you know what to knit to use up some of those odd balls from your stash

I did try and persuade Ben that I should use the excess to make him matching gloves, hat and possibly underpants but that was a step too far. He wasn’t interested , strangely, so I’ll have to be pleased if he wears the scarf. The excess yarn has now been returned to the shop and I feel virtuous for doing a little “unshopping”.

So here’s close up of the scarf and all it’s stripy glory…

From Ben Scarf

Ben did his best “Grumpy Ben doesn’t want a pooie old scarf!” routine for the photo shoot at first..

From Ben Scarf

Then I caught him admiring himself and arranging his new scarf 2 mins later (He wasn’t really grumpy)

From Ben Scarf

So here’s a happy Ben who is actually quite pleased with his scarf!

From Ben Scarf

…And a shot of it under his big winter coat…

From Ben Scarf

And lastly a shot of it flung over the banister, waiting for the weather to be cold enough for him to wear it!

From Ben Scarf

Do you remember Liliana?

This is the picture from the pattern book…

From Lilianna

I had finished knitting her and just had the neckband and sewing up to do last February when I was overwhelmed by my beautiful furry ginger boy, Thug dying.  I couldn’t face the fiddly sewing up and Liliana was flug to one side and forgotten. Poor Liliana…

I’m now in a,

” I want to start new things and get all the old WIPS out of the way!“

kind of mood so Liliana has had the finishing treatment and actually – I wish I’d finished her sooner – she’s rather a warm and snuzzley success!

So without further ado – I present the finished Liliana…

From Lilianna

A shot of the back (you can see where it’s quite fitted and a little snug – probably because of Christmas excesses!)…

From Lilianna

And a close up of the neck band – which is a thin strip of rib, sewn on sideways and tied in a bow….not sure I’d do that again – gapes a bit but I think it looks ok??

From Lilianna

She is a very warm jumper although the Aura is a little irritating on my skin if I’m honest – and I’m not usually that sensitive to itchy yarns.

There were lots of previous blog posts talking about Liliana so I’ll just give you the completed knit report containg the list of previous posts and leave you to click away if wish
Happy reading!

I have learnt from bitter experience that some yarns are not for knitting on the beach.

Suncream and silk? … disastrous. Kidsilk Haze and hot sweaty hands? … tangled, sticky and unpleasant. Shetland wool and sea water?….. you get the picture huh?

So what did I take to Africa?

I thought that the perfect yarn would be Rowan Denim. Why? because it’s cotton, so doesn’t get hot or hairy or sticky and, most importantly…when it’s done you bung it in the washing machine to shrink it to size and wash out any suncream, sea water, perspiration and drunkenly split cocktails!

I chose Joy from Kim Hargreaves’ book Nectar.

This book and this pattern…

From Joy

I confess I didn’t knit at all on safari – too much to see! I did knit on the beach in Zanzibar though – here’s the evidence…

From Joy

And in all the airport (there were several!) This is Zanzibar airport….

From Joy

One of the nicest things to happen was that one of the chaps working handing out towels on the beach in Zanzibar very shyly asked me what I was doing? He and his friends were facinated and had never seen knitting before – I ended up giving a short master class and letting them all have a go! It was totally surreal

So what about the garment? Want to see the finished object? Course you do….

From Joy

Like the buttons? I was going to use cream coloured shell ones but I’d just bought a red top and I fell in love with these heart buttons and the necklace…

From Joy

There is a cute picot edging (knit 3, cast off 3) and bands of alternating stocking stitch, and reverse stocking stitch and some “yarn overish lace” to break it up.

From Joy

Nothing difficult but you had to pay attention not to knit a row when you should be purling!

I always feel I have to show you the back, even though, after a month of holiday indulgence my bum is trying to fill the view finder of the camera!

From Joy

Any problems? well, if I’m honest – it has come up a bit smaller than I had hoped. I knit the 34″ size and it’s snug and pulling a bit if buttoned. On the plus side – it’s a summer jackety kind of thing so I doubt I’d wear it buttoned anyway

All in all, I’m pretty pleased with my “Honeymoon knit” – now maybe one in blue Denim???

From Joy

Excitement this week – My copy of A Stitch in Time Volume 2 arrived. Susan Crawford even signed it for me – Thanks Susan!

It’s this book

From Top Secret 2

It is a HUGE book, ram packed with 120 fantastic patterns from 1930s – 1959. All graded and made with modern yarns. Some are not to my taste but others are definately on my wish list. Even if you didn’t knit, it’s a facinating coffee table book to flick through.

Do you  remember that I knitted “To Wear in the Evenings” (or Top Secret as I called it) for the first volume? I blogged it here –>> Top Secret – Declassified

This was the garment…

From Top Secret

Well, told you in my “Where have you been?” post that I had knit a garment for Volume two and here it is!!

From Top Secret 2

It’s a fabulous lace top from the 1950′s called The Ribbon Threaded Jumper. It’s on page 310 if you have the book.  Here’s the original picture from the 1950′s…

From Top Secret 2

Do you like??

It really was an absolute pleasure to knit. Knitshop Pima Cotton and a pretty straight forward lace pattern. Very “my kinda knit”! The yoke is interesting – the back, front and both sleeves are put on a circular needle and yoke is knitted in one piece. Strangely, it’s knit back and forth with an opening at the back that you sew up later. I would knit it in the round if I wasn’t making a sample strictly to the pattern!

Wanna see some more piccies?
Here are some, just before I sent my “Ribbon Threaded jumper” back to the publishers.

How the sleeve and yoke attach…

From Top Secret 2

The completed jumper before sewing up (I send it back without sewing it)…

From Top Secret 2

Some yoke detail….

From Top Secret 2

And from the book – a cute sleeve picture…

From Top Secret 2

And that neck – all beribboned and finished

From Top Secret 2

So did I get a mention in this fantastic book?

Naturally, at the front in the acknowledgement – a list of all us brave knitters…

From Top Secret 2

So all that’s missing from this post now is a completed knit report and a picture of Mewsley, refusing to get off the knitting!

From Top Secret 2

Oh WOW!!!

I’ve finished the Modern Quilt Wrap and I am beside myself with the results. It definitely one of my favorite things I’ve made in a long time. (Yep the knitting mojo is back!)

It has been finished quickly, mainly because it has that “I’ll just finish this stripe before making dinner, I’ll just finish this block before bed” kinda  hook that made me a total progress junkie.

I may have mentioned before that I’m not a massive blocking fan – I can reliably ruin knitted fabric, particularly when armed with an iron! It this case I took a huge leap forward in my knitterly experience….

I bought blocking wires…..

From Modern Quilt Wrap

These are the “Block-It kit” I got mine from HuluCrafts. I’ve never had blocking wires before because I’m not really a shawl knitter (except the lovely Birch which I marmalised with an iron because, back then, I didn’t know any better about blocking shawls!!) Oh, I just noticed the rulers in that picture – the kit comes with a ruler in inches only – the cm one is mine from years ago – wouldn’t want to mislead you.

I carefully threaded the wires through my shawl and pinned it out on the sofa bed in my knitroom/guestroom on some towels….I was impressed how easy that process was and how much better it looked even befor the steaming, even though this is the back of the wrap….

From Modern Quilt Wrap

I hovered the steam iron over it without squashing it until it was good and damp then left it alone for several hours. Mewsley was under strict instructions not to sleep on the wrap. Something she had taken to doing in the guise of “helping”..

From Modern Quilt Wrap

So how does it look???

Well, I made this wrap to cheer up a big, thick unflattering grey wool winter coat so I guess I had better model it with that…

From Modern Quilt Wrap

From Modern Quilt Wrap

And a shot with the whole thing? Of course!

From Modern Quilt Wrap

Even my office chair looks good wearing it

From Modern Quilt Wrap

As you can tell I love this wrap. If you possibly can, in Kidsilk Haze or any other lovely yarn, try making this wrap. It’s easy, addictive and massively rewarding

I think I’ve finally broken that Kim Hargreaves curse of mine! Still is finished and I’m very pleased.

How did I manage to finish so quickly?? That would be because I’ve been off from work since Tuesday after a small operation on my foot.

OK,OK so the foot isn’t exactly broken – but I did have a huge boney lump chiseled from the top of it. The lump was pressing a nerve and giving me serious pain with shoes. I was only in hospital for the day but came out with a Popeye type bandage…

From Still

…which has now thankfully been removed leaving stitches and a huge plaster (you really don’t want to see that!)

I seem to be healing fast, but must keep my foot “elevated” for at least another week until the stitches come out. Hmmmm…what to do when I can’t go anywhere, can’t stand, can’t walk and cant drive and must pretty much sit on the sofa with my foot up…. KNIT!!

So after a couple of days of knitting like fury, I am delighted (as you can see!) to present the finished Still…

From Still

I like that piccy but here’s a better couple of shots where you can see more of the garment…

From Still

From Still

And the back view…

From Still

Still has been a quick and easy knit, the pattern was well written and there were some very cute details incorporated.

The horizontal rib was worked sideways for the cuff, then stitches picked up down one side to start the main sleeve. Very neat and pretty – so much better than normal ribbing…

From Still

And the neck line – that is terrific

From Still

The shaping is achieved by keeping the horizontal rib pattern going over 6 stitches for the neck band while increasing in the stocking stitch part every few rows. You then cast off the shoulders and continue the neck band for a few centimeters to slip stitch onto the back of the neck. it all makes an easy, neat construction without all that annoying picking up of stitches (have I told you a dislike picking up stitches? I did? Oh good…. )

From Still

All very effective

You may be wondering what Mewsley has been doing to help? “Matron Mewsley” has been making sure I stay on the sofa by sitting on my lap to pin me down a great deal. Then she did a stirling job of keeping an eye on the trimmed off yarn ends when I was sewing up…

From Still

But she is elderly….once she was sure I was on the mend she let herself have a little 6 hour nap in the knitting equipment!

From Still

After putting in the effort to finish Elizabeth, I’m disappointed to find, she’s turned out too big

This really isn’t helping my lack of knitting mojo!

I think she wearable but not the sleek, elegant fitted look I was expecting…see what you think….

From Elizabeth

It’s ok over the hips but huge under the arms.

Mewsley tried to join in and make me feel better but it was beyond even her fluffy skills (hmmm, except I’m smiling more in that shot!)…

From Elizabeth

The “girls” at the Guilty Knitters suggested that a deep V neck like this is better suited to a big busted woman. One thing I sadly am not!! When I breathed in and puffed up my chest it did fit better but…I don’t think I could sustain that through an entire working day

I do think I got the buttons right – I looked at matching, same coloured ones but thought they would just disappear into the jacket…but you cant go far wrong with neutral shell buttons…. and actually, that’s the kinda buttons in the picture in the book.)

From Elizabeth

Wanna see the back? you can see all the extra fabric…

From Elizabeth

So what to do with it? I may wear it to give it a “road test” but I deeply suspect my sister is in for an early Christmas prezzy ….

Completed Knit Report
Name:	Elizabeth
Pattern:	Kim Hargreaves from Heartfelt
Yarn:	Rowan Summer Tweed
Pattern Problems:	Errata in pattern, badly written front instructions, turned out way too big
Pattern Modifications:	None
Washing and Wearing:	Meh
Knit It Again???:	No.
Difficulty:	4/5 (only because the pattern was badly written
Rating:	2/5
Other Postings Relating To This One:	Where have you been This is too Hard The Kim Hargreaves Curse

The green cashmere delight is done.

Against the background of the most dull DIY project possible …painting the hall stairs, landing, coat cupboard and airing cupboard plain white instead of a horrid dirty, dark cream which was probably painted on 20 years ago…

…With hands so rough from 2 days  sanding down paintwork that I couldn’t run yarn through my hands any more because it had pilled before I had knit it(!)

…fighting exhaustion bought on from running up and down ladders…

…are you feeling sorry for me yet??? Fed up with my verbose description of the DIY hell?

OK – The short version – We’ve been busy with DIY but I managed to finish the green cashmere. S’pose you like to see it??

From Green Cashmere

‘fraid I’ve had to edit out my face and horrid “post painting mong-pant-jogger-bottoms” as I didn’t want to scare you with the haggard tired wreck I look like tonight after my all day paint-a-thon!

So, less of the whining about the painting – more about the knitting

This has been a lovely project – I recommend the pattern to anyone who can wrangle a cable or two. BTW, if you’re searching for the English version of this French pattern, google for “Bergere de France 106.26”

The sleeves fitted in a treat when making up and I love that arm cable…

From Green Cashmere

And I think I did better with the joining of those two strips of cable at the back of the neck…

…if you remember (why would you?) when I made this before, way back in 2006,Blogged here in “Back Catalog Delving”, the only thing I was unhappy about was the way I joined at the back of the neck.

Here’s the previous version…

From French Cable Jumper

And this version…

From Green Cashmere

I just took more care, centralised the cables…and Kitchener stitched it rather than the quick bodge of a three needle bind of I did  on my cream one before!

Hmmm – I liked this piccy of the back better but not such a good shot of the join…

From Green Cashmere

And what has Mewsley been doing while I slave away, alternating between knitting and painting? Being a good cat and curling up on the most comfortable blankets and chairs and staying out of the way and waiting for the disruption to be over

Awww!

From Green Cashmere

From Green Cashmere

“I need you for Socks!”, I said as I burst into the room. Ben looked simultaneously excited, confused and a little bit scared.

“No, I said SOCKS – put these on and make pretty for the camera”, I said as I waved my latest piece of commuting knitting at him….

“Oh”, said Ben, “Socks…” He obeyed my command.

These are the beasts being ably modelled by Ben…

From Ben’s Monging Socks

(Sorry about the hairy legs ladies – I assure you that’s Ben modelling…)

Ben had wanted some “comfy, warm monging socks”. “Monging” is an “us” word that has slipped into regular usage in the place of words like veging, slobbing, lounging or relaxing. It’s a verb – “I’m going to mong on the computer for a while” and an adjective – “That Mewsley cat is always sleeping – she’s a mong beast”…you can see how it goes.

I showed him the selection of sock yarn in my stash and he jumped on the lovely DK wool called Weaver’s Wool Quarters from Mountain Colours. The shade is Mountain Twilight – I can really see a “Mountain Twilight” in the subtle shifting purple, black, blue and brown – sumptuous shades

I didn’t have a DK pattern handy and I also needed something that would scale up to Ben’s huge 11 inch long flippers I mean feet. (It must be love to knit socks that large!)

I downloaded (via Ravelry) So Simple Silk Garden by Glenna C. It’s a nicely written pattern designed for Noro Silk Garden but worked well with the Weaver’s wool.

The pattern has a wide ribs and a subtle cable down the outside of the foot but the yarn doesn’t really do it justice. here’s the best shot I could get…

From Ben’s Monging Socks

And a solid reinforced heel…

From Ben’s Monging Socks

They are not the world’s most thrilling socks but Ben likes them….

From Ben’s Monging Socks

Mewsley however has not made up her mind. She’s still deciding if she might need to bite them!

From Ben’s Monging Socks

And my commuting knitting at the moment?? The lovely green cashmere is on the train with me this week

Knitting has a wonderful ability to change my response to situations.

My trains have been late, cancelled, crowded and generally a disorganised mess since the snow in December. MPs are now involved and there is a growing call for Southeastern Trains to loose their franchise all together. As a beleaguered daily commuter on this shabby excuse for a service,  I should be cussing, fistwaving and stamping my foot. But I’m not

Why not?

Because, after a couple of weeks of adding up the total number of minutes my trains were late, I was gaining at least an extra hour a week knitting time! So now, when the driver announces that there is congestion at London Bridge, a dog on the line or that the train has lost it’s path (Yep, we really had those and more this week !) I huff and puff a little, then think , “Great, I can get some more rows in!”

So, all these late trains mean… I’ve finished my Easy for the Train socks .

From Easy for the train

From Easy for the train

Not thrilling or challenging but colourful and fun – a success.  For me these were not all about the finished product but about de-stressing my commute – a success in that respect too!

Oh! I must be turning into a process knitter- Gasp!

I have  finished Flag and it’s great!

A couple of evenings of dull garter stitch and careful seam sewing for the sleeves and I was done

The pattern did call for a crochet edging all around the edge but I have not done that. Partly because crochet now aggravates a tendon in my elbow and more because I’m frightened that I’ll make the already quite neat edges pucker…I can always add it later.

Flag has now been worn to show the Guilty Knitters (who loved it) and modelled for a photo shoot with the lovely Ben behind the camera….

But which shot to show you??

I give up. Flag can be worn so many ways and posed and played with I had to make you a collage of some of the better shots … that means, “where my eyes are open and my mouth is shut”…

From Flag

Flag is probably a little big on me – probably because I took a casual approach to the tension (bad Susan ) But the garment is so flexible that I simply have to turn back the collar a little – like this…

From Flag

From the front, Flag looks like a geometric, angular waterfall cardigan but, Of course, the whole “Flaggyness” of the garment is not revealed until you hold out one side and view from behind!

From Flag

Or even both sides!

From Flag

I’m hugely pleased with Flag – it’s going to be versatile and surprisingly warm too …if I can stop posing with it…

From Flag

Do you ever get one of those knitting projects you just can’t put down and they are a delight in every detail?

I’ve just finished one of those rare beasts – lucky me!

I cast on “I’m a Little Teapot” on last Saturday with the intention of it being my new commuting project – That’s this kit with the pattern and two balls of Jamieson’s Spindrift that I bought on my trip to Ally Pally in October.

From

Oh Boy! What a romp!

There are so many different and enjoyable details crammed into this tiny pattern.
As you have probably guessed – I couldn’t stop knitting it and have finished already so I’ll show you a finished shot – then I can show you all the fun bits.

From I’m a Teapot

So. The obvious fun is the fairisle wording. There is a big, bold, clear chart that is easy to follow in the pattern. To make it easier the diagonals of the “M”s and “N”s are embroidered in afterwards.
Like this…

From I’m a Teapot

The whole rhyme goes like this…

I’m a little teapot,
short and stout.
Here is my handle.
Here is my spout.
I get all steamed up,
then I shout.
Just tip me over
and pour me out.

It’s surprisingly easy to knit the letters as you know what’s coming next – even if it is knit from top so the letters are upside down as you knit!

Between the rows of words there are different fairisle patterns – all different and interesting to do…so easy to slip into,

“I’ll just finish this pattern block before bed. Oh, I’ll just get the next lot of letters set up so it’s easy on the train…Oh dear, it’s 1am. I’ll just finish the row…”

Once you get to the bottom there is corrugated rib (easy if you hold the purl stitch yarn in your right hand and the knit colour in the left)

From I’m a Teapot

To finish the top there’s Old Shale Lace (or my Mum calls this Feather and Fan)…

From I’m a Teapot

All of that little lot looks like this…

From I’m a Teapot

From I’m a Teapot

Then there is a little icord to gather up the top, poked through the holes in the lace…

And then there’s the steeks…Yes, I said the scary word….”STEEK”.

It’s actually all rather easy when you use the right “sticky” shetland yarn! I had to cast on some extra stitches and knit alternating colours for the steek where the handle and spout would be….

(Bad pic – sorry!)

From I’m a Teapot

The steek is the bit below the blue stitch holder with the parallel lines of stitches.

I held my breath and cut my steeks – what do you know? My knitting did not explode and unravel before my eyes. It just sat there obediently waiting for my to finish the edges…

From I’m a Teapot

At this point I had to abandon the pattern. I had nearly run out of yarn and couldn’t pick up stitches and knit a rolled stocking stitch edge as suggested. I simply crocheted and edging (single crochet), did blanket stitch down the cut edges of the steek (probably overkill – it wasn’t going anywhere) and loosely oversewed the flaps to the inside of the cosy.

Wanna see inside?

From I’m a Teapot

And how it looks on the outside with the spout and handle…

From I’m a Teapot

From I’m a Teapot

Now the big question is – What am I going to do with it? I rarely drink tea and I really don’t remember the last time I used a teapot!

Maybe Mewsley has some ideas….

From I’m a Teapot

I started a new new role with work 3 weeks ago and it has stolen all my knitting time.

Well… the new role plus the horrendous commuting through the 14″ snow  stole my knitting time. I’m in an area where an inch of snow that stays two days is considered an ice age!!

More on the the product of my snowy “commuting knitting” in a moment….

“So is the new role at work the exciting news??” I hear you ask?

Noooo……

The exciting news is……

The lovely Ben proposed and I said, “Yes”.
We’re engaged!
It must have been the Second Chance Hat that finally did it!

Wanna see the ring???

From Ring!

I’m so thrilled with it 

The plan is to get married in the Summer…It’ll be a small wedding and I definitely will NOT be knitting the dress

Sorry! I know it’s a knitting blog and that’s  not knitting but I had to share

So back to the snowy commuting knitting…
You could say I’m being unfaithful to Ben – Gasp! Shock! Horror!
I have been knitting for another man!

Our Twitter buddy, Yaquaholic saw Ben’s  Second Chance Hat and desperately wanted one like it. He pleaded, grovelled, flattered and spun tales of woe and cold ears until I finally agreed to make him one.

Yaquaholic chose Rowan Felted Tweed in great shade called Carbon (colour 159)- a kinda slate grey with flecks of cream and brown – love the colour – I could be tempted to a garment in that myself – yum. Apparently it emulated a long lost beloved hat he had never been able to replace…<insert violins here>

The hat got finished yesterday – just as the snow here thawed – sorry Yaq!

So here it is – the product of a couple of weeks of snowy commuting….Yaq’s Hat (badly modelled by me…)

From yaqs hat

And a pic of it blocking over a bowl (Like I did for Ben’s hat) Showing the nice swirl…Although oddly – the Felted tweed didn’t go nearly as pointy as the pure wool version for Ben??

From yaqs hat

And one of it flat on the desk…I tell you – it’s impossible to get an exciting picture of a dark grey ribbed hat!

From yaqs hat

With all the fun of sorting out the Knit-Room, the only knitting that has been done has been a gift for a baby – Let me tell you how that started…

While working together,my friend and colleague, James, made the fatal mistake of complimenting my laptop wallpaper and asking what it was…

This picture…

From Double Vision Cushion

It is, of course, a close up of the back of my Double Vision Cushion. Poor James didn’t know what he had let himself in for and got chapter and verse on how it was only 4 colours, combined in 10 combinations…yadda…yadda….

I helpfully emailed him a link to my on-line pictures of the cushion ….

He was actually rather impressed with my knitting (bless him!) and asked me to make a little something for his new baby. ..

Flattery. Works every time.  How could I say, “No”?? !!

I turned to my Debbie Bliss baby books . Strangely I don’t like her women’s patterns (kinda shapeless and baggy on me) but I think she does wonderful baby things.

I made the Matinee Coat from the first Baby Cashmerino book.  It’s the on on the cover – “Tsk” to me and that habit of mine of knitting the cover shot!

From Baby Jacket

Here’s the finished little sweetie of a jacket….

From Baby Jacket

I have to admit at this point – As someone who really isn’t “baby oriented” (give me a kitten any day) That I hadn’t appreciated how much knitting there was in a baby garment. And they have all the same parts as a grown up garment!! Don’t laugh at this revelation – this is my first knitted baby garment.

I remembered my Mum once saying that you needed to make sure there weren’t bulky seams in a baby thing because they would chafe the delicate skin,  so I short-row shaped the shoulders and was very careful setting in the sleeve…Good enough?

From Baby Jacket

The finishing touch that really makes this cutie is the picot edging around the bottom…

From Baby Jacket

I really wanted to sew in one of my little “Hand Made by Susan Crowe” tapes but was worried it would irritate the baby so I opted for a safety pin – Yes, I know I’m a show off….

From Baby Jacket

I hope James, and his Wife and his daughter like it!!

I’ve finished Ben’s Second Chance Hat.. See here for the reason for that name!

I made particularly quick progress returning from Bristol on the train – for all the wrong reasons….

Happily head down and knitting – I looked up and didn’t recognise the next station…

“This train is going to London Paddington isn’t it?” I ask the nice lady next to me,

“No dear – Leeds.”

There was much despairing, waiting on cold windy platforms for cross country connections, slow chuggy local trains and a very late night home. The only good thing to come out of it was that I had Ben’s just started hat with me!

I got home with a large part of the boring rib finished – Ben was “delighted” to model it for me…he especially liked the Knitpro deely boppers!

From Ben Hat

I finished the hat quite quickly on a couple of (correct) journey’s into London. The decreases were fun “Knit, Knit, Pass knit stitch over” (makes a bulkier decrease than S1K1PSSO).

But the finished hat was….was…”pointy”…

From Ben Hat

Ben was understandably reluctant to look like a pixie so a serious session of blocking over a 2 pint pyrex bowl quickly followed…

From Ben Hat

All tucked in tight….

From Ben Hat

This really gave me a chance to admire the twisting pattern..

From Ben Hat

Now considerably less pointy – Ben agreed to model his hat for a final photo…
Side View…

From Ben Hat

And full frontal!

From Ben Hat

God help him if he looses this one!

The Flower Blanket is finally finished

I am so relieved.

First I must say, “Thanks you” for all the sympathy, empathy and support on my Despair Filled Wailing post – I think I’ve gotten over it now

Before I show you the inevitable “Finished Blankie” pictures, I guess you’d like to know about the edging?

I pretty much used the ideas from my wonderful Debbie Abrahams blanket books and threw in a couple of my own embellishments too.-

So, I picked up 37 stitches per block (that’s every stitch top and bottom and 3 out of 4 down the sides) and got 370 stitches.

I was worried I didn’t have much lilac left so I just did one row of lilac and….

….well this is getting boring – I’ll just show you!

From Flower Blanket

Some of each colour and a few beads nestling in with the garter stitch – just to pick up the “beadiness” of the blanket.

It worked really well in the corners too..

From Flower Blanket

Enough teasing – want to see the final, finished Flower Blanket??

Taaa Daaaa!

From Flower Blanket

I kinda liked this swooping shot of it too…

From Flower Blanket

It has been a slog to get it done but I have enjoyed most of the process
But the important question is – do the cats approve?

Hmmm… look what happened about 30 seconds after taking that photo, and putting the blanket out of harm’s way on the back of the sofa…

From Flower Blanket

Yes, that is Ben and his handknit, Brooklyn Denim jacket in the background – knitting every where you look in this house

“But, you made this for me. Right? Didn’t you??”, Said Mewsley – pulling her best ‘sad face’.

From Flower Blanket

“Don’t care. I worked hard on the snuggle-ability testing – I deserve it.  My paws and claws are tucked in and it’s mine now… I’m ignoring you…

“

From Flower Blanket

When I get the Flower Blanket back from Mewsley, what am I going to do with it? Honestly – I don’t know – I started it when I lived in my flat and had a purple living room…maybe my knit room should be purple???

Until then it might end up living on the table, waiting for a good idea…

From Flower Blanket

You must be as bored with my “knitted some more blanket squares….” posts as I am trying to finish the damned Flower Blanket. Be assured I’m still slogging over the purple monster

So just by way of some light relief for all of us, I’ve dug out an old, pre blog , never seen before on the internet, knit of mine!
Now then, stop jumping up and down with excitement or I won’t tell you about Maria.

Maria dates back (I think) to about 2005  – about the time I discovered the John Lewis yarn sales. I had greedily snapped up a big bag full of Rowan Linen Print in and unusual colourway for me…
(This is a scraplet I had left)…

From Maria

I didn’t have a clue what to make with it so I bought the Linen Print book too – designs by the lovely Kim Hargreaves (which at the time meant little to me!!!)

From Maria

So wanna see Maria??

Here she is…

From Maria

The reason I’m so fascinated with the sleeve in that piccy is that the yarn is very soft and drapy, making the slit in the back of the sleeve design a feature I love -it just flaps around in a decadent, bohemian way The picture was a result of “naughty Ben” snapping me doing the “how can we get the sleeve in? conversation!!

Here’s a much better shot of the sleeve slit (it is a slit in the sleeve and not just the seam left unsewn BTW!!!)

From Maria

I remember sitting down in the garden to start Maria, thinking she’d be nice and easy – the first thing you do on Maria is short row shaping to make that nice curved bottom edge – EEEK – I’d never done short row shaping!

The deep V in the front also had some “Gottchas” – there is a nice slipped stitch edging that makes a neat finished edge – all new to me at the time – here’s a front close up  – and YES you do need to wear something under Maria!…

From Maria

In case you’re wondering – the beads on the crocheted ties were my idea – some I had bought them for a long forgotten necklace!

I suppose I should show you the back too…

From Maria

So was Maria worth it – most definitely “Yes” – I learnt to do short row shaping, learnt to make sleeve slits (obvious if you’ve done it but it was my first time) and I got an unusual garment for me in colours that I wouldn’t normally go straight for.

Any problems? Only one – I sat in the garden sewing up Maria. When sewn, I proudly put Maria on – unfortunately, because of the sleeve slits there was a left sleeve and a right sleeve – guess who sewed them in the wrong way round?  -Swearing ensued!    Followed by some bad tempered resewing

If I’m still wearing her 5 years later,  think she tuned out OK in the end- wonky sleeves of not!

I’ve really enjoyed the burst of creativity in making my Conservatory Cushion and I  love the logic bound technique for combining the colours.

Fabulous pattern
Here’s the finished creation…

From Double Vision Cushion

And in place in the conservatory…

From Double Vision Cushion

The slightly different gauge yarns I used (all apparently DK weight) really made the squares  different sizes. I blocked the hell out of the finished front and pinned the squares to size and let them dry – seems to have worked but another time – I’d try harder to use the same yarn.

I really made my life difficult by using the mohair in the “joints”too. Fuzzy, sticky and disguising any hint of a stitch – not ideal when picking up stitches. It kinda works though  and gives a different texture so I’m happy.

It did mean it was easy to join the two sides . I picked up and knit one row around the front of the cushion then cast it off. Then I simply oversewed it to the “knobbles” on the ends of the garter stitch back of the cushion…

From Double Vision Cushion

The strange thing is…

…I think I like the way the B-side even better -that’s the back to all of you too young to remember 45rpm single records

From Double Vision Cushion

I love the way the colours pool and seem to form waves…

… So much so that I’ve used this picture as my desktop background on my Computer!

From Double Vision Cushion

How sad am I? But, but….it looks so pretty….

From Double Vision Cushion

So how did I do the back?

I looked at the front and saw that there were in fact 10 different combinations of yarn, using it double.

I used the technique of knitting diagonally to get a square (start with one stitch and increase in the last stitch of every row until wide enough over the diagonal then decrease at the end of every row).

I picked a progression of 6 of the combinations that always carried one of the colours into the next stripe and picked up the next colour. Then I had 4 combinations left over so I just bunged them on top!!

Here’s a mini pattern if you’re interested  how the colours went – or were supposed to go !  I messed up a couple of time but ~I won’t tell if you wont!! (Look at the missing dark stripe in a couple of places…

Y= Yellow

L= Light Green

M=Mid green

D= Dark green

Use two stands held together in the following combinations:

Row 1    Y & Y

Row 2    Y & L

Row 3    L & L

Row 4    L & M

Row 5    M & M

Row 6    M & D

Row 7    D & D

Row 8    D & L

Row 9    Y & M

Row 10 Y & D

…And repeat until you’re done.

I think both sides go  well with the “inspiration cushion” but what do you think?

Front or back? Which is best??

From

I can’t believe I started Halcyon back in April.

It’s taken me two and a half, very dull and uneventful months. To be fair, it has been delayed by my usual attack of SKS  (Summer Knitting Slump) – there were a couple of weeks there I didn’t knit at all – shocking!

I’ve also been distracted because Thug hasn’t been too well. He suddenly seemed to loose a lot of weight and meow even more. I was worried sick. The good news is that he’s had every test the vet can think of – stopping short of opening him up! The vet can find nothing wrong and I’ve changed his diet to fatten him up. He seems OK now after a couple of vitamin and steroid shots but he is 18 . He’s an old man. But enjoying all the extra meaty treats and so is Mewsley

Just in case  you’ve missed his appearances, here he is in a favourite picture of mine, inspecting the conservatory..

From Halcyon

On top of all this – more DIY – This time we restored a dilapidated greenhouse from badly weathered wood, green algae covered glass and doors hanging off to this, my potting Tardis!!

From Tardis

Love the view from inside looking up!

From Tardis

Enough of this – you really want to know about Halcyon don’t you? The pattern is deceptively easy and became quite boring to do. I don’t normally knit such voluminous garments so I’m not used to the sheer amount of knitting this took. Nothing at all wrong with the pattern, easy to sew together- It was just a long slog.

But was it worth it?? I think it was!

From Halcyon

From Halcyon