Category: craft

…even if it’s only knitting and blogging about knitting.

In case anyone has been wondering, the amazing amount of knitting that I’ve been getting done recently has been down to a combination of giving myself some time off from studying followed by what the nurse yesterday described as a “flu-like illness”. This was the same nurse who described me as “amazingly sensible” for having spent the past week curled up on the sofa and told me that, if I wanted to spend another week on the sofa, she’d happily write my employer a note to say that I could.

So, here I am, back on the sofa and thank goodness for BBC iPlayer and Doctor Who on DVD. (I should point out that I’m not terribly happy to be on the sofa but really don’t have the energy to go anywhere else.)

However, all this means that I do have more finished projects to show off. First up, my Leyburn socks.

And a close-up of the lattice pattern on them:

These just help confirm that I am insane. They’re slightly too big (one day I will knit me a pair of socks that fits); I’m still not really a fan of variegated yarn (although the lattice looks pretty good with it); I didn’t particularly enjoy knitting them but I’m already thinking about the next pair of socks that I might knit!

Next up is the baby cardigan and hat that I knitted for my friend’s new baby. These were actually knitted ages ago since the baby was due the day before our wedding but didn’t actually get seamed until a couple of days after the baby arrived. Fortunately for my knitting, but not for the parents, baby Daniel was a week late so we were back from honeymoon in plenty of time for me to finish the cardigan.

I’ve also finally gotten around to taking pictures of my Darkside Cowl that was also finished weeks ago. When I’m not sick, this is really handy for commuting to work. It’s just big enough to keep my neck snuggly and warm while being small enough to slip inside my bag when I get on a train.

You’ll have to excuse me now though, I have an episode each of Doctor Who and Doctor Who Confidential to go knit through.

So, from never having knitted a shawl before in my life, I’ve now knitted 4 in the past 6 months, 3 of which have been in the last month.

First up (after my wedding shawl) was a Sunday Market Shawl for a friend who recently had a baby.

The original pattern is for Noro Cash Iroha, which is a gorgeous yarn and I probably had enough in my stash to use it but it’s not machine-washable. Since the idea of the shawl was something that mum and baby could snuggle up under, I thought it best to stick with something that could be put in the washing machine when the inevitable happens. So, this was knitted in Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed instead. The Aran Tweed is a thick/thin yarn, like the Noro, so it kept the ever so slightly rustic feel of the shawl. The pattern itself couldn’t be easier since other than some yarn-overs at one end and dropping stitches at the other it is a stocking stitch rectangle.

In fact, I liked the pattern so much that I made another one.

This one is in Rowan Cocoon, colour Tundra and, if I can bring myself to give it away, it’s destined to be a Christmas present. The Rowan Cocoon is amazing yarn. It feels really soft and luxurious but only sheds a little. I also love this colour, which is impossible to photograph (especially using the built-in webcam on Steven’s Mac) but is light brown/grey and reminds me of wild rabbits.

Finally, I succumbed and knitted what sometimes seems to be the most commonly knitted shawl pattern on the planet: Clapotis. Being a contrary sort of person, I had always resisted knitting it, because I didn’t want to knit what everyone else was knitting. Then I decided that I didn’t have the money or energy to go shopping for a new dress for the Christmas parties this year and would instead spend a little money on some yarn and knit a wrap to liven up one of the large number of little black dresses that I already own.

Looking back, I think that all this was actually just an excuse to buy the skeins of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in pink that had been calling to me in John Lewis for months.

Bizarrely, I didn’t really like the pattern, I hated the yarn but I love the final result! The pattern involves lots of knitting through the back of the loop, which made it feel fiddly and meant that it wasn’t really mindless knitting although it felt like it should have been. I also ran out of stitch markers at one point and had to make some more. The yarn was a nightmare to wind, tangling every time I blinked; was quite slubby, which I hadn’t expected in a silk yarn; and started pilling as I was knitting with it.

Fortunately, I love the finished shawl! Unfortunately, I’ve been ill and haven’t actually made it to any of the Christmas parties that I was invited to so I’ve been wearing it round the house while watching Doctor Who. There’s always next year, though.

It’s only taken me about a year but I finally got around to knitting myself some nice winter accessories. And here they are; complete with compulsory hands-hiding-face pose.

These were a really quick knit. I bought the yarn on Saturday and managed to knit three gloves (I frogged one and re-knitted it) in order to have a properly finished pair to wear to work this morning. The pattern is Evangeline and is only available (as far as I know) as a free Ravelry download.

I modified the pattern slightly as suggested by someone on Ravelry so that the ribbing round the fingers continues out from the cable pattern instead of being slightly offset. It’s a really simple modification  (P1 before you start the K2, P2 ribbing in the round) but it makes a big difference in the look of the finished gloves. I didn’t go so far as to reverse the cable pattern so that the gloves are mirror images of each other; that would have required too much brain power for after-work, before-bed knitting.

I still haven’t managed to knit myself a scarf, which was what I was complaining about not having last year but I am going to cast on for a cowl to match the gloves.

(This post got written weeks ago but I somehow managed to forget to push the button to actually publish it!)

Two weeks have passed since my exams and I find myself wondering what happened to all that time I used to spend studying. Actually, it is not that hard to figure out, studying has been pretty much replaced by wedding planning and worrying about exams has been replaced by worrying about the wedding. Not that there is anything to worry about, everything is well in hand but it seems I can’t help myself.

There has been a reasonable amount of knitting going on though, even if I haven’t managed to do all the things that I promised myself I would do with the free time that I thought I would have. I also haven’t managed to photograph any of the knitting so you’ll need to make do with words for the time being.

My wedding shawl is completely finished and is far and away the most beautiful thing I have ever knitted. In fact, I think it is quite probably the most beautiful thing I will ever knit. It is currently wrapped in tissue paper in a nice box waiting for the wedding but it is very difficult to resist the temptation to take it out and wear it everywhere. In fact, after I had finished blocking it and removed all the pins, I put it on and spent at least 40 minutes dancing round the flat wearing it. Given half a chance, I would never have taken it off. The Knitwitches 100% silk laceweight was absolutely perfect; the colour (undyed) is a good match for my wedding dress; adding some extra width means the size is exactly what I wanted and the (small) mistakes that I made are pretty much invisible, even to me. At the moment, I’m torn between dying it after the wedding to a colour that I’ll be able to wear more often and leaving it as it is to become an heirloom. I think it will be dyed though, since I’m unlikely to use it as a christening shawl and I can’t face the thought of it sitting in a box for a couple of decades just in case a future daughter or grand-daughter would like to wear it at their wedding.

I also finished the first of my Leyburn socks. It looks really good, the pattern is a good match for the yarn and it has absolutely helped confirm that I just don’t like knitting socks. I keep thinking that so many other people like knitting socks that I must be missing something but no matter how many times I try, I just don’t get it. I will knit the second one of the pair (eventually) but next time I suggest that I might try sock knitting again I’d appreciate being reminded of this post!

Jumper knitting however, I love. My Sahara is progressing nicely now that I’ve tried it on and reassured myself that it will fit and will not look like a circus tent and I’ve just cast on for a Vino cardigan.