{quilt} while you're ahead

- 2 - seed stitch cowl

... or moss stitch cowl, which means the same thing and it would be a better name for this given it is totally the colour of moss.  (Don't show this sentence to my English teacher... clumsy or what?  Didn't sleep well last night, it is what it is.)

Knitted using two skeins of Madelinetosh 80/10/10 worsted, colorway 'rambler'.  Gorgeous yarn.

Slow knitted because let's face it... seed/moss stitch is wonderful... but very tedious to knit.

Super warm and soft.  Not itchy at all.  (Am I the only one who finds alpaca itchy?)

I have another skein... mittens or hat?

Decisions decisions.

*117** seed stitch

It's one of my favourite knitting stitch.

BUT.

It's very boring to knit.  You kind of need to concentrate a little so it's not mindless knitting... at the same time it's not exactly challenging.

AND.

It takes a long time.  All that passing the yarn back and forth.

I'm making myself the simplest of scarves.

All in seed stitch in mossy green.

Classic.

Simple.

Warm.

 

And slow.  It might take me awhile. (Especially now that Mr M and I finished watching Series 5 of Homeland and have to wait a while for Series 6 - they better sort out Quinn by the way... or else).

Have a good Friday night, you know what I'll be doing.

 

*88** Norby hat no 2

As part of the 'finishing-itis that's been afflicting me recently I introduce you to a new winter hat. Because that is exactly what you want when the country is gripped by an unseasonal heat wave, right?

Also, it only just occurred to me that this second Norby Hat is in blue like the first one was.

Doh.

This second Norby has been knitted in a gorgeous Plucky Knitter yarn kindly gifted to me by the lovely Kristina.  I'm not sure what happened to the first one either...

(gosh I hate my nose... it's enormous from this angle... sigh)

(must replant that horrible plastic vase)

(must learn to take selfies)

 

Anyway, it's a lovely lovely pattern and fits well, even though I knitted a couple of extra repeats distracted by the television.

Stupid woman.

 

A part from a flurry of behind the scene activities life with three kids at secondary school is taking shape.  

I've signed on for a Pilate class every Monday.  (I'm so out of shape that even the beginners class might be a tad hard)

The scaffolding that have covered our house since the beginning of summer are finally coming down... (as I type)

The dog refuses to go for walk and only wants to go across the road to the square and then runs back.

I've fallen down twice in less than a week.... the first time I slipped on a tree root that had lifted the paving on the sidewalk.  I have the right knee of a three year old.  The second time I completely missed a step and plummeted (slight exaggeration) to the floor.  Badly bruised pride and a slightly sore ankle.

Gees Louise...

I'm totally procrastinating taking tonnes of cardboard to the dump... blah.

 

See ya'll.

 

 

*79** sous sous

So my knitting goal is to knit myself a new jumper/cardigan whatever each year.  Which sounds easy... and it would be if it was my only knitting endeavour, the problem is I get distracted by shawls and hats and quilting and a spot of crochet so it's really hard to get to one big finished item per winter.

It's August and I've just finished last winter's project: the glorious and clever "Sous Sous" (pattern designed for Loop London by Nora Gaughan.  You can download it from their website or Ravelry.

I really wanted to finish it and take it away for those chilly Canadian evenings... but life got too crazy and with 20 min of knitting still do do I had to admit defeat and get on with packing something else.  On Saturday though, during a rare lifting of the jet-lag cloud (still lingering at the horizon I have to say) I sat down and finished the bloody thing.

And I sewed it up too.  

A real miracle.

I was really worried it wouldn't fit... but it does and while it's not perfect, I like it enough that I know it'll get worn a lot.  

It's warm, very warm and light.  However I used Rowan felted tweed DK instead of the much more expensive recommended yearn and it doesn't have the same level of drape.  And that is my main bugbear.

I love how tight the sleeves are and that it covers my bottom,  I am however totally annoyed at myself for the different in gauge between the back (nicely tight) and the front (loosey goosey)... What was I thinking????  What was I doing????

I'm hoping that once I get to wear it (bit hot right now) it'll soften and mellow.

Deluded?  Moi?

All in all?  very pleased though.  It wasn't an easy knit... count this, do this whilst keeping count of that and increasing here whilst counting there...

But I did it.

And it's perfect enough for me!

*44** running out of yarn is not fun...

... I've been knitting "sous sous" (a Loop London pattern) for months now.

The recommend yarn was beautiful yes, but very (VERY) expensive so after a deep research in the depth of Revelry I settled for a replacement in the shape of Rowan Tweed DK.

It's a beautiful pattern.  Geniusly (yes, it's a word) designed.

I started from the back.

Not a problem.

Never a mistake.

Not a frog in sight.

Wam bam thank you m'am.

 

Now the front... it's a different story.

I lost the ability to count.

I lost the ability to follow a chart.

I kind of lost the ability to knit!!

Unravelling is my middle name... 

Frogging is my first name!

Disaster.  Catastrophe.  Mess. The swearing that sometimes ensued would have made a gang of Hell's Angels blush.

 

And then this:

I wanted to give up.  I wanted to turn this into one of those projects my grandchildren would find at the back of the cupboard when I'm dead.  I wanted to cry actually.

Instead, I drank a whole bottle of 'rescue remedy' (kidding.  I'm kidding!!) and ordered two more balls from the first shop I could find with an overnight delivery... forget about dye lot (I did have a feeble attempt at that...)... because I knew that if I didn't this would become one of those 'vintage knitting projects' on eBay when people empty grandma's flat.  Which is kind of sad.

So tonight, I'll carry on.

Regardless.

 

Send good wishes.  And more rescue remedy.

*18**2016 "sous sous"

Pattern 'Sous Sous', available for download on the Loop London website

Yarn Rowan Felted Tweed.

Progress: slow.

But I'm loving every stitch.  I must be getting old.

*8**2016 Umaro blanket

Have you ever knitted a blanket?

Me neither till this one.  I always thought it was one of those bonkers things like jumping off a plane with a parachute or swimming with sharks... great... for somebody else to do.  To be admired for sure... but no thanks.

And then I was told by my darling husband that he didn't want a quilt on his (he chose it) new sofa.

WHAT???

To be honest I kind of expected it.  You see... he has a lot of qualities this man of mine... but quilt appreciation is not one of them unfortunately.  (Unfortunately for him that is because there are a lot of quilts in this house regardless).  It was when he proposed buying one of those fake 'fur' things that you find in boutique hotel rooms and novelty catalogues that I realised I had to dive straight in and grab the shark by its fins.

Enter the 'Umaro blanket' pattern by Jared Flood, available on the Brooklyn Tweed website.  

Enter 14 (or 13 I can't remember exactly) balls of Rowan Big Wool and giant size 10 needles. (I bought the yarn from Love Knitting)

Exit... a blanket!

The pattern is gorgeous.  It looks a lot more complicated than it is, trust me.  I'm no fancy pansy knitter and I often knit in whilst watching television.

And it's ... huge... I knit very very loosely so this baby grew and grew and I haven't blocked it because I'm scared of how big it would become.

And it's warm.

So there.

I can tick the knitting a blanket item off the list.

 

Now regarding the sharks....

103-2015 - stripey socks -

Striped socks.

Socks with stripes.

Stripes is one of those words that if repeated a few times begins to lose its meaning... try it... stripes stripes stripes stripes... it turns weird.

Just me? 

Sorry.

Anyway, as you know I have a lots of hand knitted socks.  Too many probably.  BUT I love knitting them and it's been too long since my last pair so.... here we are again:

This time with added stripes though.  So they're different, right? I mean I'm using two different colour yarn and all...

Don't ask me about the yarn.  It's gorgeous... but I've had in in the stash for a few years and the bands and any info have vanished in the mist of time.

I've just turned the heel of the first sock and I'm ridiculously excited.

Happy socks indeed.

 

93-2015 - fingerless mittens -

It amazes me every time how I can cast a project aside when with twenty minutes of extra work it could be finished.

It really is weird.

Yesterday morning I was bumming around in my study looking for something to take with me when me and a couple of the boys head over to Italy on Thursday; I couldn't possibly take the chunky knitted blanket, it'd take over the suitcase and I wanted something I could do on the plane too... crochet perhaps...

Anyway, I stumbled upon this bag with a pair of virtually finished fingerless mittens.  And I mean REALLY almost done... like... only casting off and stitch them together almost done...

 

What was I thinking?

I temporarily abandoned my search to finish them off... and voila'

and before you could say 'wip' they were done.  Geesh.  Sometimes I get embarrassed by my own weirdness.  Why on earth did I leave them languishing in a project bag?

The pink yarn is some gorgeous alpaca I have had in my stash for like ever... it wasn't even a whole ball.  I think I might have crocheted my sister a hat with it years ago.  The two borders are made of scraps sock yarn held double.  I think Koigu, from a Chevron scarf from eons ago.  (Remember when chevron scarves were all the rage?).

Done.  Round of applause please.

Me think they'll be coming handy (joke!) very soon.

And yes I have found something to take away with me... more about it tomorrow.

84-2015 - Umaro, by Jared Flood -

... it's knitting season again..

The slight chill in the air... the shorter evenings.. the longer shadows...

I hadn't picked up the needles for months but I had a real itch that had to be scratched.

 And I knew I didn't want to go down the garment route, or the socks route, or the shawl route... so after a little bit of research on Ravelry I picked this gorgeous pattern by Jared Flood.  It's deceptively complicated.  Seriously, I'm not too good at knitting following charts, but this is simple.  And very effective.

In fact... no it's not simple! It's terribly complicated and the instructions are so hard... it's just that I'm awfully cleaver and skilful.

Not.

Wink wink.

I choose to use Rowan Big Wool and I went down a needle size to 9mm because I'm a really loose knitter... but that's ok, because in a blanket gauge is not as important me thinks.  So what if the blanket comes out a little bigger or a little smaller?

Piffle.

It's going to be so warm and soft...

 

On a different subject, Downton Abbey has started again... I'm a little sad it's going to be the last serious... I've come to think of the story as comforting as knitted blanket... Autumn will never be the same...