Thanks for the replies on my last whiny post. I’m still feeling really weird, but I dragged myself outside today as I had to visit the sorting office, do various mumsy things and pick up a couple of books from the library.

The selection of knitting books in my library isn’t great, but there’s the facility on the librarys website to search through the entire borough for books and have them delivered to your local branch for the princely sum of £1 each. So it was that way that I managed to snaffle the only copy of any Alice Starmore book in the area and whilst I was at it, I added Fitted Knits to the list as I’ve never seen it in any bookshop and wanted to have a flip through.

The Celtic Collection is gorgeous, of course. The yarns are all Rowan and probably all discontinued, and the styles of the sweaters all a bit dated, but that doesn’t matter. The patterns are knit in the round and some are steeked and have given me a big knitting thrill. So many cables and colours!

Fitted Knits is completely different. The patterns are all fairly simple – from my point of view, anyway – and none use any stranded knitting but they’re all knitted mostly in the round (woo!) and I like the shapes.

I hope my knitting mojo returns soon, as I’d love to knit several of the designs from these books, but when every time I look at the needles I get a headache, I know I’m really not well enough to start anything that needs thinking about.

I am suffering. For a few days now I’ve had an annoying sore throat and now it’s decided to become a full-blown cold and general acheyness and bleurgh.

I’m spending the next couple of days on the sofa reading, I think, in between the occasional internet visit. Knitting will have to wait, sadly, so in the meantime, here’s a cat in a pullover to ensure this post has yarn content.

more animals

I’ve got as far as I can with the Cargo trousers as I need buttons and elastic and have neither, so I’ve started on the matching tunic instead. It’s a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern (number 211 to be precise) and I’d really recommend them if you fancy knitting something top down but don’t quite have the confidence to go it alone, although Diane’s article is also really helpful if you want to try it and has a photo of a monkey.

And, yes, it is a tunic, even though it looks like the beginnings of a knitted bra in the photo, or a pair of cat ears.

I had to stop knitting on the tunic a couple of days ago because I didn’t have the right size circular needle. This is mostly my fault because I decided a few weeks ago to sell on my set of Denise Interchangeables. I bought these as an investment instead of buying several separate circular needles. But I just didn’t like knitting with them. The cords are too thick and the needles too sticky. I have tried other interchangeable sets, but I can’t get along with the screw fittings and I think that truly, I’m happiest when using Addi Turbos or Bamboo (or KnitPicks for Magic Looping) and I’d rather buy a needle as and when I need it from now own.

I forgot to mention the yarn I’m using for both the trousers and the tunic. It’s Rowan All Seasons Cotton, which I’ve had in my stash for ages and can’t even remember why I bought it now, but I have plenty for a little matching baby set, so I can’t complain. It’s interesting to knit with as it has the squishyness of a wool yarn without the stretch. Many years ago I knitted smallest person a very simple Debbie Bliss jumper with it and it pilled terribly, but looking at the ball band, I might have perhaps tumble dried it by mistake/being ignorant, so that wouldn’t have helped. Interestingly, the description on the Rowan website say it’s acrylic microfibre, not just acrylic like the lot I have. I wonder whether it feels or knits differently now.

With all the fun of knitting tiny clothes, I haven’t been doing any knitting on Kingscot for a few days. Yes, Fiona twigged what it was first, but then she’s a knitting genius, so I’m not surprised.

The problem is, and I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I’m finding it just a tiny bit boring. It’s knitted flat and there is *a lot* of plain stocking stitch to get through before the cabled edging. (I’ve left the bobbles off my version because I wasn’t happy with the way they were coming out.) It’s a beautiful pattern, but I know that once the fronts are done, I’ll have two sleeves full of stocking stitch to knit and I’m just not feeling motivated to continue. I’m beginning to think that I need more of a challenge with a new technique or lots of fiddly stitches.

So I don’t know. I’ll carry on with the baby knitting for now, which is quick so it’s over before there’s time to get tired of a pattern. I need to look at my queue, perhaps, and see if there’s anything there I could knit instead that will give me the thrills I need. Or maybe I need to dig out the Mystery Shawl and get another lace kick.

Pattern: Brigit, my own pattern available here
Yarn:The Knitting Goddess 4ply superwash wool yarn (100% merino wool, 360m/100g) 1 x 100g in “Chilli Pepper”
Needles: 2.5mm Knitpicks metal circs

Designing socks gives me the chance to try out so many different yarns, and it’s such a hardship.

The mixture of hot pinks, red and oranges in this colourway made me think of fire and heat (and the name is a bit of a giveaway…) and from that I created socks for Brigit, the Celtic goddess of fire.

Designed to be knit using the Magic Loop method, these socks are definitely good for lace addicts. The flickering lace pattern extends down to the heel flap of the socks and there are bobbles to add texture.

The pattern is available exclusively from The Knitting Goddess.

I decided it was time I made a start on the baby knits. As I had the yarn in my stash and getting the pattern was a matter of just printing it off, I started with the Cargo trousers.

It’s a long time since my two were this tiny, and I wasn’t sure which size to knit as they all seem so small! Just having a waist measurement doesn’t really help, so I had a hunt around for baby size charts that gave the average size for babies of a certain age, as I’d figured I wanted to knit them to fit a baby of around six months old. After all, you never know how big a baby will be and everyone always has too much small stuff anyway.

Anyway, I didn’t realise how difficult it would be to find a waist measurement for a small person. Eventually, I combined this chart for nappy wraps with this one which gives the weight per age for babies and plumped for a Medium.

The pattern is very simple, so will be a nice bit of mindless knitting for a few days, and definitely a lot less stressful than choosing what size to knit in the first place.

I like to listen to knitting podcasts while I knit, especially when it’s something that needs attention and TV will only distract me. But recently I’ve become tired of the podcasts I used to listen to, and wanted something else.

So looking through the audiobooks on iTunes, I found that The History of Hand Knitting was only £3.95 and decided it was well worth buying as it’s considerably more on CD (the book itself is currently out of print).

I listened to about an hour of it last night. The reader, Melissa Hughes, has a nice soothing voice, although she does have a habit of putting on a gruff voice when quoting sources written by a man which seemed a tad unnecessary and made her sound like Sir John Middleton in Sense and Sensibility (1995 film version, to be precise!).

The problem is that I kept stopping what I was doing to pay closer attention to the book. There’s a lot of information and it all seems to come very fast. I’m also not sure I like Richard Rutt’s style. Without the book to see where he has found certain information, he comes across very single mined, as if there is no possible way he could be wrong in his assertions. Unless he actually has a time machine, in which case I apologise. So what with questioning what I was hearing, it wasn’t really a successful alternative to listening to knitting podcasts. Maybe I should stick to music instead.

Although some clever people have it worked out already.

The postie knocked on my door today bearing gifts!

This is from Nadine, who was my spoiler for the UK Swap.

I have lots of goodies! The nibbly things have already been passed straight on to very appreciative small people and one big person! But I received a lovely crocheted scarf and slippers, useful magnetic things to mark my place in charts, two balls of purple Wendy Bamboo yarn, plus some handcream and stickers and a yoyo also for the small people but I might play with them too.

I’m the first person to admit that I am a bit of a fibre snob, but with the disadvantage of not wanting to spend money. The sweater quantities of yarn that I have are sale or eBay purchases or birthday presents. I’m not fussed about brand names or stuff like that; just that the yarn is lovely and has known the backside of a sheep or alpaca or other furry animal.

So I had some festive money left over from buying the New Lanark yarn and with a few projects in mind that used larger quantities of DK yarn than I had stashed, I started looking around just to see what was available. Which lead me to find Melandra Pure Wool DK from Woolshopdirect.

This is handwash only 100% wool. It’s considerably softer than the New Lanark yarn and after washing a swatch, it produced a lovely, even fabric. I’d say it was similar to King Cole Anti Tickle Merino or Stylecraft Pure Wool DK, except that they’re both superwash. Unfortunately, there’s no meterage given on the ball band, so I took the precaution of buying more than I’d need so there’s no danger of me running out. And how much is this yarn? £1.49 for 100g.

*waits for everyone to pick themselves off the floor*

So as I’d swatched, I figured I might as well cast on for something…

Can you tell what it is yet?

Pattern: Deep V Argyle Vest by Eunny Jang
Yarn: New Lanark DK (100% wool, 120m/50g) 3¼ x 50g balls Ecru, 5¼ x 50g balls Natural Black, plus small amount of Blossom for crocheting the steeks
Needles: 4mm Addi lace circs and Brittany Birch dpns

View all entries on this project

All done! After blocking for the second time and weaving in the ends, the vest was dry enough at the weekend to actually be worn and have photos taken (and you can see the lack of snow compared to a week ago). But before I finish my round up of this project, I have a story to tell.

Many years ago when I was at junior school (age 7 to 11) we’d have sewing classes, where we’d be given a choice of things we could make and then sit in class for probably an hour a week and make our “thing”. I remember one time that amongst the projects we could choose from where some gorgeous dolls. However, having already been labelled a not-very-good-sewer, I was “firmly encouraged” to do something easier. So I made a rabbit instead which I didn’t particularly enjoy doing and probably stabbed my needle into the fabric with my bottom lip stuck out as I resented all the other eight year olds who got to make dolls. And maybe I would have made a mess of my doll and that would have been considered a waste of good material, but I would have been attempting something I really wanted to make, not the thing I did make which was considered to be more my “level”.

I am reminded of this sometimes when I see other knitters declaring that a pattern is too hard and “ooh, I couldn’t make that”. Do they also have a bad experience holding them back? And I am just as bad at times, except I don’t normally broadcast it on the internet ; I just hear the little voice my head reminding me that I’m not that clever really, and I should stick to something simple because it’ll be a waste otherwise.

So this vest is very much a knitted version of sticking two fingers up at all the negative things that pop into my head telling me to stick to knitting one colour stocking stitch. And apart from the fact that I’m the most stubborn person in the world (according to Mr B), that’s why I *had* to finish it.

So, to the pattern! I think it’s been fairly obvious that I wasn’t happy with it towards the end. It’s beautifully written and for a first venture into steeking a “real” project, I’d heartily recommend it. There are heaps of diagrams on how steeking works and how to apply a crocheted steek and what cutting does and so on. Although if even the idea of cutting your work brings you out into a rash, I do recommend you try Diane’s Steekalong. Cutting a swatch is far less traumatic!

What knitting this pattern has taught me is that I need to really look at the finished measurements before bounding in and starting to knit. Just because my boobage is bigger, doesn’t mean that I have a much longer body as well (sadly). And I am still not entirely happy with the armhole sizing. I feel the shoulders are now too wide and I should have reduced the amount of ribbing as it now gets folded over in my armpits.

The yarn, however, is a different story. I adored knitting with it, and even forgave the copious number of knots that were in a couple of the balls. It had just the right amount of stickiness and softened beautifully after washing so that, while it’s never going to be like wearing a cashmere blend yarn, it’s not nearly as rough as you’d think it would be. When I need some more DK or aran yarn (and maybe I will eventually, if I keep working through my stash!) I know where I’ll be buying it.

In the end, I *will* be wearing this vest a lot. It fits perfectly everywhere apart from the shoulders and it’s warm and snug. And every time I look at it, it makes me happy because I tried something hard and it worked.

But of course now I have to decide what to do next!

I stole this list from Cat’s blog. Cat was my stalkee (is that a word?!) for the UKSwap and I had a lot of fun sending cryptic messages to her and probably being a PITA.

Anyway, you need to mark with bold the things you have done, mark the ones you plan to do sometime in italics, and leave the rest.

Afghan
American/English knitting
Baby items
Bobbles
Buttonholes
Cable stitch patterns
Cardigan
Charity knitting
Combination knitting
Continental knitting
Cuffs/fingerless mits/arm-warmers
Darning
Designing knitted garments
Domino knitting
Drop stitch patterns
Dyeing spinning fiber
Dyeing with plant colors
Dying yarn
Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Free-form knitting
Fulling/felting
Garter stitch
Gloves
Graffiti knitting
Hair accessories
Hats: Cuff-up
Hats: Top-down
Holiday related knitting
Household items
I-cord
Intarsia
Jewelry
Kitchener stitch
Knitted flowers
Knitting a gift
Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine
Knitting and purling backwards
Knitting art
Knitting for a living
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting on a loom
Knitting smocking
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting to make money
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Knitting with alpaca
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Knitting with beads
Knitting with camel yarn
Knitting with cashmere
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with cotton
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Knitting with dpns
Knitting with linen
Knitting with metal wire
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Knitting with silk
Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Knitting with wool
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Participate in an exchange
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book
Purses/bags
Rug
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers
Socks: toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Tassels
Teaching a child to knit
Teaching a male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting
Toy/doll clothing
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Writing a pattern

So finally, about six months after everyone else, I got a copy of Norah Gaughan Vol 3.

I’ve been trying to find it for a while and it seemed that everywhere had sold out, and those websites that did sell it wanted stupid money to send it to the UK. So I was pretty chuffed when I found that Loop in London sold it and snapped up a copy.

The main reason I wanted it is for this pattern:

This design is Eastlake and I just love it an unreasonable amount. It’s the perfect shape for someone like me who has a bit of a wobbly frontage. I don’t know if it’ll be my next project, but I’ll think about that once the vest is finally signed off.

I also like these two, which are a similar shape:

Due to my rather large stash, I have enough yarn to knit all of these if I so wanted. Now I just need enough time.

Firstly, a huge thank you for all the comments last Friday on my saggy vest disaster. It really meant a huge amount to me to just get some sympathy and virtual hugs.

I did stuff the whole vest in the corner of my bedroom and ignore it for the weekend. I was cross with the pattern, with myself for not doing enough measuring beforehand and just feeling very disillusioned. I was sorely tempted to fetch some yarn from my stash and start a new project; it’s not as if my queue isn’t lacking in jumpers and cardigans. But I am very, very stubborn about some things and I wanted a vest, dammit! I’d bought a new shirt ready to wear underneath it and I was determined that it wouldn’t go to waste (I can’t wear the shirt without something over the top unless I buy some less-colourful underwear..!).

I was ready to frog to the point before the first steek was set, as I couldn’t see how else I could frog it. But Lien suggested in the comments that I just unravel the shoulders to a suitable point. In the end, I had nothing extra to lose by trying this, so why not? The snowy weather and a house full of people put paid to my plans for fixing the vest after the weekend, but Mr B is back at work, the school is open and I sat down this morning to start.

Fortunately, I hadn’t woven in the ends very much, so unpicking all the ribbing wasn’t too much hassle. I painstakingly put the reserved stitches from the armscye and neck shaping onto spare needles or yarn and then began the terror of the great unravelling.

What I hadn’t thought about was the fact that there would be so many ends.

Each row is two strands of yarn, cut either end by the steeking process. So for each row I had to find the right brown and cream thread and unravel them. It took a long time. But finally, I was happy with the result and grafted the shoulders together at the new finishing point.

I’ve lost the back neck shaping, of course, but without knitting backwards and forwards there’s no way to recreate it, as I can’t re-steek. But after trying it on, even with the dangling threads and needles around my neck, I’m much happier:

Once the ribbing is redone and I have reblocked it, I’m hopeful that I’ll now have a wearable vest. Though I also have lots of crinkly yarn which I think will need unkinking before I can reuse it. It’s never easy to fix something, is it?!

Today is not nearly as fun as yesterday. The excitement has worn off and to be honest, I just want to get back to normal!

School is still closed, though, and although the icicles are a good sign that the slow is beginning to disappear, if it doesn’t start melting just a bit more quickly, I think there’ll be a third day of disruption. Oh joy.

Now you have to realise that living in South London, we just don’t *get* snow. A light powdering is normally all we can expect sometime in January. So when we awoke to this at 6.30am, we knew that the entire area was coming to a standstill because it just doesn’t happen and when it does, we can’t cope. The first inkling that things were wrong was hearing that every single London bus was cancelled. Just cancelled, not even attempting to run. Most trains are cancelled as well, so forget sending the small people to school, even though we live so close that we can see it from the back garden. There won’t be anyone there to teach them. Proof of our closeness to the school is in this photo, where the school is circled in red:

Mr B walked round this morning to see if it was open and found the caretaker trying to shovel enough snow out of the way to get to the front door of the building. Cars were skidding all over the road and the corner shop was being plundered for every last loaf of bread and bottle of milk. We soft southerners just don’t do cold weather very well. I dread to think what would happen if we had to deal with a real weather emergency…

At least here we have heating and a freezer full of food. I’m settling in for a day of knitting.