craft – Page 5 – Knit one, read two

I have this habit…

February 6, 2012 Susan3 Comments

…of knitting gifts for my mother-in-law and then keeping them for myself. She doesn’t know that I do this but it doesn’t stop me feeling guilty about it. I decided though that last year would be different and that I would get around the problem of not being able to part with whatever it was by knitting two very similar items and then picking one to keep and one to give to her.

I’ve had this Hedgehog fibres silk lace yarn for ages and decided it would be perfect for two lacy scarves. We both wear a lot of warm browns so the colours were ideal as well.

I picked a couple of lace patterns from the Haapsalu shawl book, swatched, blocked my swatch and then started knitting. Presumably because they were intended to be knitted for sale, the Estonian stitch patterns are easy to memorise and seem to just flow off the needles. For all that these look complicated, they were actually good TV knitting.

Project details on Ravelry: Käpakiri scarf

Project details on Ravelry: Tapeedikiri scarf

The end result was two lovely, floaty, lacy scarves. I loved the Hedgehog Fibres silk – the colours are beautiful and the 100% silk is really luxurious. Not only that but the yardage was incredibly good so I still have half a skein left!

Christmas knitting and other crafting

January 31, 2012 SusanLeave a comment

Today I finished my Christmas knitting (and, yes, that’s for presents for Christmas 2011, not Christmas 2012).

I am a fairly disorganised person (my family would say “very disorganised”) and towards the end of last year, for various reasons, life just got completely away from me. So much so that I didn’t even start thinking about Christmas till about the middle of December and, as mentioned above, have just finished knitting all the presents that I decided to make. Fortunately, my family is used to this state of affairs and appreciate handmade gifts whenever they get them!

Amazingly, I did get my Christmas cards out on time:

They used my mini Christmas stocking pattern, hung on some embroidery thread using a mini clothes peg with ink-stamped text.

Next up on my Christmas crafting was my cake. (Ignore the cutting board, please, my disorganisation stretched to forgetting to buy an actual cake board.) I use Nigella Lawson’s recipe from “How to be a domestic goddess” and this year went for a simple white-on-white theme with edible ball bearings.

Starting on the presents, Steven and I used our new chutney-making skills and this recipe to make some home-made chutney. We kept a couple of jars for ourselves and I can highly recommend the recipe!

We also made a couple of jars of mulling syrup (which we failed to take pictures of) from this recipe. We didn’t keep any of this but it did look really pretty in the bottles and made a really nice gift with some wine or cider and a couple of attractive glasses.

Finally, the knitted presents.

First up, a replacement Henry scarf for my Dad. I had sworn never to knit another one of these. I love the finished scarf but the slip stitch pattern takes forever and for some reason I make more mistakes when knitting it than in anything else I’ve ever knitted. However, Dad loved the first one so much that when I found out he’d left it on a train, I knew I’d have to knit a replacement eventually. This is absolutely definitely the last one ever though!

My Mum also got a scarf (or will when I get around to posting these) but this one was a bit of a cheat since she’s getting the sample of my Hill House Scarf.

Last but not least were some fingerless mitts for my Gran.

I was looking a quick, simple, elegant knit to keep her warm since she’s always cold and the “M is for …” mitts from the Fall 2011 KnitCircus were just perfect. Yarn details and other project notes for these and the Henry scarf will go up on my Ravelry projects page soon.

So, now that 2011 is dealt with, bring on 2012 (or at least the 11 remaining months of it)!

Pattern: mini toe-up Christmas stocking

December 18, 2011February 18, 2012 SusanLeave a comment

As promised, here is the pattern for the mini stockings. They are worked from the toe up with a short-row heel. Some experience with short rows and toe-up cast-ons would be useful but I’ve included links to good tutorials on both if you need some extra help.

This pattern hasn’t been edited or tested by anyone but me yet so let me know if you have any problems.

Materials

2.75mm needles
small amounts of 4 ply yarn in two colours
stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional)
tapestry needle (for weaving in ends)

Toe and foot:

Using main colour, cast on 6 stitches using figure of 8 cast-on and knit 1 round. (See this article in Knitty for details of the figure of 8 cast-on.)

Round 2: * K1, m1, k2. Repeat from *. (8 stitches)

Round 3: Knit all.

Round 4: * K1, m1, k2, m1, k1. Repeat from *. (12 stitches).

Rounds 5-10: Knit all.

Heel:

Row 11: Knit 11 stitches. Wrap last stitch and turn work. (See this Purl Bee tutorial on short rows for details of how to wrap stitches.)

Row 12: Purl 4 stitches. Wrap next stitch and turn.

Row 13: Knit 3 stitches. Wrap next stitch and turn.

Row 14: Purl 2 stitches. Wrap next stitch and turn.

Row 15: Knit 2 stitches. Pick up wrap and knit next stitch. Wrap next stitch and turn.

Row 16: Purl 3. Pick up wraps and knit next stitch.

Row 17: Knit 4. Pick up wrap and knit next stitch. Wrap next stitch (leg stitch).

Row 18: Purl 5. Pick up wrap and knit next stitch. Wrap next stitch (leg stitch).

Row 19: Knit 6 stitches (back to end of row).

Round 20: Knit all stitches, picking up wraps on 1st and 6th stitches.

Leg:

Rounds 21-30: Knit all stitches.

Cuff:

Change to contrasting colour and turn work so that you are knitting in the opposite direction.

Rows 31-35: Knit all stitches.

Cast off: Knit 2 stitches, place two new stitches back onto left-hand needle and knit these two together. * Knit one stitch, place two new stitches back onto left-hand needle and knit these two stitches together. Repeat from *.

Weave in any ends.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

December 17, 2011 SusanLeave a comment

… which is somewhat unfortunate since I would swear November was only moments ago! A combination of illness, craziness at work and just no energy whatsoever (see points 1 and 2) has meant that I’ve done very little except work, eat and sleep for the past month.

I do have quite a lot of knitting to show you though, starting with my current addiction: mini toe-up seamless Christmas stockings.

It’s hard to tell from the picture but the stockings are about 1.5″ tall with a foot length of about 1″. They’re adorable on the tree and look just as good on a handmade Christmas card:

They’re my own design and, if my brain cooperates, I’ll put the pattern up sometime tomorrow.

A bit of a jam *

November 15, 2011 SusanLeave a comment

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the Make Lounge and the latest workshop that I attended was no disappointment. Steven and I spent Sunday afternoon at their Jam and chutney making class, thanks to a birthday present of vouchers from Steven’s mum.

The class covered the whole process of making jams and chutneys, and included lots of hints and tips on ingredients and equipment to use. We got to try our hands at making four different jams and chutneys: blackberry & apple jam, plum & orange jam, red onion chutney and a sweet chilli jam.

They all taste absolutely delicious and, since both Steven and I both went, we have plenty of each for future consumption as well as the recipes so that we can make more when we finally run out. I’m almost disappointed that we have so much since it means there isn’t much point in us making any more any time soon. Although, I can think of a few people who might appreciate home-made chutney for Christmas!

* I tried really hard to resist a pun in the post title, honest, but there are just so many jam-related puns that it was impossible not to use one.

Story of a design – The Hill House Scarf

November 5, 2011 SusanLeave a comment

Considering that this turned out to be the quickest I ever managed to get a design from initial idea to published pattern, this design came very close to not happening at all.

I grew up in Glasgow surrounded by the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and, if I’m honest, had grown a little jaded with it by the time we moved to London thanks to the proliferation of Mackintosh-inspired tea cosies, tea towels, fridge magnets and place-mats. When I saw the brief for the Glasgow School of Yarn design competition, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to come up with something that I thought was worth entering but I couldn’t stop mulling it over.

Then I thought about how much I had always loved the simple elegance of his furniture and, in particular, the chairs. A little online research led me to the tall, narrow ladderback decorative chairs that he designed for The Hill House in Helensburgh. Click here to see a picture of one of the chairs in its original location.

Initially, I was going to use the geometric pattern in a sock but, much as I loved the pattern, I just couldn’t get it to work as a sock. A scarf was the obvious alternative and the two-colour pattern immediately suggested double knitting.

I used Malabrigo Sock in Natural and Chocolate Amargo for the sample and it’s wonderfully soft and snuggly. The double layer also makes it very warm, perfect for autumn and winter in Glasgow!

The Hill House Scarf is now available from Yellow Ginger Designs and Ravelry.

Glasgow School of Yarn and a new pattern

October 20, 2011 Susan2 Comments

The Yarn Cake in Glasgow is a year old this month and to celebrate they’ve organised “The Glasgow School of Yarn” — two days (this Friday and Saturday) of classes, demos, shopping and cake.

I can’t make it to Glasgow for the event itself but I do have an entry in their design competition. Run in conjunction with the Charles Rennie Mackintosh society, the brief was for any designs inspired by the life or works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. After my exam at the start of the month, it was a bit of a rush to get the pattern together and the sample finished, blocked and posted in time but it all came together in the end. (Remind me never to attempt to learn a new technique, design something using said technique and write up and publish the pattern in less than a month.)

You can see (and vote for!) the Hill House Scarf in person at the event or the pattern is now available on Ravelry.

Little blue box

September 22, 2011 SusanLeave a comment

For Steven’s birthday, I gave him a little blue box that travels in time and space and is bigger on the inside. No, not that one, this one:

Believe it or not, this box contains the next four issues of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, which is quite impressive for such a teeny little box.

Magazine subscriptions are difficult presents to wrap but the ever creative McSweeney’s team had a wonderful suggestion – an origami box with details of the subscription on a scroll inside:

You can find the instructions for the box on their website. I used origami paper that I already had so I think mine came out a little smaller than if you print out and use their page.

Feeding the habit

September 17, 2011 SusanLeave a comment

I currently have a brain filled with ideas and inspiration but no time or energy to work on anything complicated so instead I’m compensating by laying in supplies in preparation for getting stuck in after my next exam (17 days and counting!).

Just arrived: a skein of Malabrigo Sock in Natural and some Addi needles destined for a new scarf.

Grey inside and out

September 10, 2011September 22, 2011 SusanLeave a comment

Outside:

and in:

A simple lace scarf in leftover Fyberspates thick nef lace yarn. Easy to pick up and put down, which makes it perfect for relaxing between study sessions. Speaking of which, time to get back to the books!