Category Archives: random stuff

Nothing to post about today. We had snow Saturday night, but it was a piffling amount compared to what everyone else seems to have had and not even worth photographing. I even went out this morning to the Post Office and didn’t once slip over in a comical fashion.

I also haven’t knitted much this weekend because I am in the never-ending cycle of sleeve knitting which bores me to tears so I don’t knit, so it never gets done. I need to motivate myself with the leafy cuff pattern that I get to knit once I’ve done another billion decrease rounds.

Though on a positive note, I have chosen buttons! Photos will follow when I have them.

I have spent a lot of time looking at buttons these past couple of days, when I could be knitting a sleeve. In the comments on the previous post, Roo mentioned Textile Garden, which was another reason to spend an hour browsing buttons and getting more confused!

I think I am now leaning towards buttons with a shank, which is a start, although I was also rather fond of these when I saw them:

because they can be edged with some of the yarn from the sweater. I think this is a lovely idea, although I know that by the time I’ve sewn on the ribbon backing onto the buttonbands, and then all the poppers, I am not going to want to faff about decorating buttons!

So it’s just a choice of whether to go for pretty decorated buttons or plainer ones. Right now, my favourites are these:

What do you think?

The latest craze around these parts.

I finally cut out the felt heart for Louie’s tummy, using a handy cookie cutter as a template, and then glued it on. He is now resting under a few heavy books so that it will stick down firmly. I haven’t sewed up the body yet because the stuffing will probably need re-plumping after being flattened for a day or so. Perhaps it will be a chance for him to become better-acquainted with English literature, though maybe these aren’t the best choice of books for a Lovebot.

It sometimes feels as if I post FO photos on here and then my projects are never seen or heard of again. Do they get worn, loved, used and abused? Well the hats do, at least. Which is a reason to post a lovely photo of Oscar and Rose keeping warm last weekend wearing Koolhaas and Quatra.

I came across this brilliant video linked on another site. No yarn in it, but I bet there are some craft books somewhere in amongst them..!

The birthday socks are blocking! One seems to have knitted up bigger than the other, which has happened before with my stranded knitting and I have no idea why. Hopefully the difference won’t be too great when they’re being worn. It was very much skin of my teeth by the end of the second sock as I was in severe danger of running out of the contrast colour. In the end, I had this much left over:

You can probably imagine how stressed I was about running out of yarn at one point. There was much swearing under my breath.

Of course, if I had been more organised and had extra yarn, this wouldn’t have been an issue. And this tenuously brings me to Lauriel and the preparation needed before I even buy the yarn.

I mentioned previously that the patterns are ultra-adjustable for a perfect fit. The first step is to take a gazillion measurements with the aid of a willing friend:

I got MrB to help with mine. We got about halfway through before I realised he was measuring from the plastic tip of the tape measure, not from zero inches. So we started all over again and I now know probably more than I ever needed to about how big different bits of me are.

Comparing these measurements to the sweater now leaves me with a conundrum about what size to cast on for. Clearly my back width measurement either hasn’t been taken correctly, or I have a strangely wide back. The most important factor is the underbust measurement. So looking at the measurement table, I am plumping for the 40 inch size with adjustments for the ginormoboobs, a-line shaping for the waist and a longer body length. If this had been a “normal” pattern, I would have absolutely chosen the 44 or 46 inch size and ended up with a giant baggy cardigan that looked dreadful!

I’m still not sure about what yarn to use, but am leaning towards Rowan Calmer, perhaps, in a spring-like shade.

Finally, sorry for not replying to all the comments recently. I am slowly working through them all and promise to reply to everyone eventually.

So many sweaters, so little time!

(Click on each image for the pattern details.)

But none of these are going to be the first sweater I knit for myself this year, beautiful though they are. I am going to knit Lauriel from Little Red in the City. Back in July when I went to KnitNation with rubbishknitter, the samples from the book were available to fondle and I was very taken with the fact that they weren’t just tiny little sweaters. I ummmed and ahhhhed for a long time about buying the book because it was going to be purely for my benefit and it’s obvious I am very bad at doing anything for me. But when the book price had gone down to a measly £14 on Amazon (it’s gone back up to £17 now ), I caved in and bought it. The great thing is that there’s a scratch ‘n sniff panel* at the back of the book with a code so that I can add the pdf version of the book to my Ravelry library for free. Meaning I have a nice book to browse and print offs to scribble on.

Lauriel was the first sweater that really caught my eye, because of the scooped neckline and bust shaping. I used to be big all over and, though I’m slowly getting smaller all over, my bust seems to have its own agenda and is getting bigger… This means that I have to wear larger tops than the rest of me really needs, and mostly end up looking like I’m wearing a tent. In addition, anything with a high neckline makes me look like a pair of boobs on legs. So I was very taken with the idea that I could actually wear a cardigan that fits properly all over, with neither gaping buttons nor spare fabric flapping about.

I am finding it very hard not to buy the yarn and cast on immediately for this cardigan, but it’s going to be my reward for finishing the birthday socks. The second one has half a leg, so I’d better keep on knitting..!

* may not actual smell of anything

(Because I meant to do this last week and forgot!)

I managed to complete twenty seven projects in 2011. That’s equal to my previous record in 2008, which I thought I would never match!

It was a very Rose-centred year, with lots of sweaters and cardigans for her. I learnt to love seaming and Sirdar patterns, and found that knitting toys was actually very satisfying. For myself, thought, I only managed to knit Mayrose and Bitterroot. 2012 is going to be far more selfish!

Yes, I do this every year and will probably not manage half of them, but it’s something to look back on in a year’s time and shake my head at my rubbishness.

Firstly, Christmas was good. Although the fruit cake was revolting and literally went straight into the bin after I took one bite. But there were plenty of other things to nibble to ease the pain and I know now to avoid that recipe!

I received absolutely not a single knitting-related gift (other than a pattern from the lovely rubbishknitter) so don’t have any gift photos to share.

Mr B loved his three pairs of socks, though. He wasn’t even expecting one pair because he never notices what I am knitting unless I wave it under his nose. This is handy for gift knitting! All three have been worn at least once I am am hoping that I can get another pair done by his birthday at the end of January.

So, to the resolutions.

Buy Fewer Patterns
Quite simply, I have a problem with buying patterns. The easy access to pdfs on Ravelry and elsewhere makes it far too simple to spend my money on patterns, then not have the money to buy the yarn to make them! I resolve to not buy any pattern or pattern book or magazine unless I will be casting on for a project from it immediately. No more hoarding Interweave Knits, either. I was strong in the face of the Winter 2011 issue and realised I don’t need to buy it just so that I can have all the issues looking pretty in my Ravelry library.

Knit For Myself
I mentioned before that I have joined the 12 in 2012 group with the aim to knit 12 projects for myself next year. I honestly would be happy with just one! I have kind of scuppered myself for the best part of January already, with a couple of swaps that need knits and then Mr B’s actual birthday socks, but planning and yarn buying can be done, at least.

Keep Getting Smaller
This year I have cracked the 5 stone (70 pounds!) weight loss since I started dieting back at the end of 2007. A certain small person put paid to my weight loss for most of 2009 to 2010, so this year I want to get rid of the final pounds.

Learn Something New
Whether it’s a new knitting technique, or a foreign language, or anything. Rose seems to pick up new things every day and while I don’t need to learn the difference between an apple and an orange, it doesn’t mean there are things that I don’t know!

Keep Blogging
Blogging has kept me sane this year, more than anyone probably appreciates. Even if I can only manage two or three posts a week, I’ll keep doing it.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! See you in 2012.

Thank you all for the lovely comments on the Eriksay Sweater. As I said in the last post, it made me realise that I do love knitting – and clearly need – something a bit more challenging. I am finishing up one last WIP (more on Wednesday) and then the backlog is clear and I can look forward to new projects.

I have joined a group on Ravelry with the aim to knit 12 things for myself in 2012 and have rashly started my list with six sweaters. This may change pretty soon! I am totally crap at knitting for myself, other than my annual winter hat, and I do want to change this. For some reason, I feel incredibly selfish spending my time doing things for me. I suppose knitting in itself is something for me as I enjoy doing it, so knitting AND knitting something for me seems positively greedy. But just one sweater would be nice! I have also joined a couple of swaps so won’t be knitting entirely for myself next year, either, so maybe that will help absolve me of any guilt.

And for Rose, my first project for her will be Alice Starmore’s Secret Garden from The Children’s Collection:

because it’s been on my wishlist to knit since she was about six months old and I’ve been waiting and waiting for her to be big enough to fit into the smallest size. It definitely meets the requirements of being a bit more challenging and shouldn’t end up in the corner because it’s too boring!

It’s that time of year again when the panic sets in. Even if it’s not knitting-induced, I still find myself fretting about getting everything done in time for the Big Day.

But it’s also that time of year when there’s the diversion of the Drops Christmas Calendar. Maybe this year will be the one that I knit Rose a Santa hat. If not, there’s always the anticipation that they will somehow top last year’s cheese ribbon.

I realised yesterday that I hadn’t posted about my own swap scarf. A few weeks back, I posted the photos of the scarf I knitted for my partner in the International Scarf Swap on Ravelry, and last week I received my own parcel of goodies.

I have a lovely soft PURPLE cotton Liesel, as well as some new additions to my stash: some Queensland Collection Sugar Rush and Interlacements Irish Linen:

so that’s me sorted for scarf/shawl knitting for a while.

So after my confessional WIP-W post, I set about organising my knitting.

Firstly, I frogged the scarf and bought Rose one instead. I certainly don’t need any more mindless projects when I have a giant sock on the go! If I want to knit one at a later date, it’ll be something that actually looks like it’s been handmade, rather than a strip of navy blue fabric which doesn’t scream “hours of knitting” to anyone.

Next, I got cracking on the waistcoat. I have finally finished the back and am halfway up the left front. I changed from using bamboo circs to Addi lace circs, and the difference is amazing. The stitches slip along the needles much faster and they’re nice and pointy for poking into the row below on every fourth pattern row.

After that’s done, the Christmas socks will get finished, then Rose’s second sock, her umpteenth hat, then Henry’s Struan and a hat for Oscar (still undecided). And then (!) either my Honeycomb or Rose’s Eriskay which has been languishing for ages now and I am slightly worried that I won’t have a clue where I am on the pattern..!

I also set about sorting my Ravelry queue. Rearranging previously queued items apparently makes it look like I have actually newly-queued them (thanks, rubbishknitter!) but I deleted A LOT of patterns. Honest! I first realised that I might have a queueing problem when on at least two occasions I saw someone’s FO or saw a pattern advertised, thought “oh, that’s nice, I’ll queue it,” went to the pattern page and discovered that I already had…

So nothing new is going to be added to the queue. I will favourite stuff instead. I still need to weed out a lot of patterns that I really won’t knit, and priority for knitting is now given to those patterns I already own or are free.

I’ve alluded to my pattern buying binges on here before, but I think the full enormity of how many pattens I now own can’t be expressed without me taking a photo, and I’m too much of a coward to do that. The problem started when I was stuck on a chair with a baby superglued to me, unable to do shift to do anything other than watch daytime TV (can’t move to put on a DVD) or the internet. So rather than gouge my eyes out, I ended up looking at knitting patterns. Though there were many days when I couldn’t even find a spare five minutes to get dressed, at the same time I had a fervent belief that I would knit myself fifteen cardigans in six months and furnish all my friends-and-relations with personalised scarf and mitten sets for Christmas, knit Rose a complete wardrobe of sweaters, knit MrB eight pairs of socks for his birthday, etc, etc..!

It made sense at the time, in my sleep-deprived state, because I was clearly on another planet. And sometimes I ended up doing nothing at all because of the pressure to knit all these things! So, being realistic about what I can do is important to me. Getting bouts of startitis isn’t helpful and having too many projects OTN just makes me want to spend hours avoiding knitting.

So, boringly organised is the way ahead. And at least then I won’t have to buy more needles to fit all the projects onto.

It is cold! I wore my new winter hat today for the first time and was snug. Rose, with her selection of hats, went for Queenie. I think the ducks approved of being fed by such splendid hat wearing people.

(May not be actual duck met this morning, but he does look cheerful.)

Being female apparently means you are designated as the Finding Fairy of the house. But if I don’t know where something is, standing there looking agitated at me doesn’t mean I will magically pull your PE kit out of thin air, eldest son.

All that talk of gift knitting has given me ideas about the dozens of other things I could also knit.

I may therefore have cast on a shawl last night.

And frogged it this morning.

And printed off another pattern which I believed was less challenging but on closer inspection contains patterning on the wrong side.

I am drinking tea instead.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

As I mentioned in my previous post, a decision has been reached about Henry’s winter hat. I want to get all the hats done and dusted before the cold weather actually arrives so that I don’t have to knit hats at midnight in December. So with a combination of cajoling and nagging and not moving from the pc until he had been forced to look at Ravelry, Henry chose his hat.

To refresh your memories, here he is in last year’s hat:

Struan by Ysolda Teague, which he did love and wear a lot. So maybe I shouldn’t have been too surprised when he chose THE SAME PATTERN for this year’s hat. But I am allowed to have a little scream of frustration because there are about seventy bajillion men’s hat patterns out there and I am going to knit the same one all over again!

The original hat is a bit worse for wear now. Squishy Rowan Pure Wool Aran is not ideal for a hat that is going to be used and abused by a teenage boy. So I have plumped for Lion Brand Cotton-Ease instead. I really wanted to used Rowan All Seasons Cotton but if I can avoid weaving in any extra ends where I can, then I will.

Small balls are something I have been thinking about a lot this past week. I don’t understand why yarn companies sell heavier weight yarns in 50g balls. There are very few things you can knit with 50g of aran or chunky yarn, other than tiny hats for babies or cozies for inanimate objects. I was reading my copy of Knits Men Want this week which was probably a bad idea because it makes my blood pressure go up – brilliant patterns but incredibly sexist – but I still have occasional fantasies about knitting MrB a sweater before I come back to my senses. In any case, would need thirty or more 50g balls of aran weight yarn for a sweater in his size. Thirty. That is a stupid number of ends to weave in. I know not everyone is knitting for a giant person, but please won’t somebody think of the end-weaving?!

So there I was, all prepared for a knitathon, with my huge pile of WIPs being rapidly reduced, and then real life had the temerity to interfere with my plans. Mr B managed to do something peculiar to his leg simply by running up a hill and has been immobile for almost a fortnight. At the same time, Rose decided that having an afternoon nap would set her up nicely for not going to sleep until 10 o’clock at night. I have therefore been pretty much knackered and not inclined to play with yarn at all.

Instead I have had a bit of a revamp of the blog, which I had wanted to do for some time, but couldn’t find a style I liked. But after a bit of tweaking, this one doing the job nicely. All my patterns are accessible from a whizzy drop-down menu at the top, and I do like the larger typeface because I am getting old and squinty, although there’s a distinct lack of purple compared to the old template!

And I want to get back to my knitting because there are new temptations! Ruth emailed me last week to point out that Sirdar have new patterns out, including one which uses my two favourite design elements :

Plus there are the Annual Winter Hats to make for the boys, for me, and hopefully a couple more for Rose. Better get those needles moving!

Whilst catching up with everything knitterly that I’d missed while I’d been away, I discovered that the Fall 2011 issue of Interweave Knits was out! I thought I’d seen the preview, so snapped it up along with the newest Knit Simple magazine (from Hulu, as usual).

However, I think the preview actually came out as I was boarding a ferry to cross the English channel and I was confused with the previous one. Which is a great shame because this is probably the most disappointing issue I’ve ever bought and wouldn’t have done if I had bothered to look at the projects beforehand. I am all too aware that I never knit anything from the magazine (*cough* Elephant Vest *cough*), but it’s still my knitting inspiration and this issue just didn’t feel very inspiring. There are far too many projects knitted with very chunky yarns (2¼ stitches to an inch!) and not enough modern-classic designs with crafty shaping and lovely stitch detail, which I always associate with Interweave. (Speaking of ultra-chunky yarn, did anyone else see Dragon’s Den on BBC2 last night? Two women wanted an investment for their giant knitting needles and crochet hooks, which looked like they were easily 50mm or more. )

To me, the Dahlia Cardigan by Heather Zoppetti is easily the most attractive pattern in the magazine:

The back lace panel is knitted from the centre outwards and then the rest of the cardigan is picked up and knitted afterwards. That’s the kind of whizzy construction and beautiful detail that I love and want to eventually emulate in my own designs. There’s also the Flanders Bay Pullover, but that’s a book extract (and Vintage Modern Knits is now on my Amazon wishlist, to add to my pattern SABLE!)

I am worried about the direction that Interweave Knits is taking. I have been buying it since early 2005, so it might be that I am getting older, and my tastes are changing and moving away from whatever the high fashion knitting trends are. But then I looked at the last two issues of Knitscene and fell in love with several of the patterns, and I always though that was aimed at the younger and/or trendier knitters. IK is the only magazine that I have ever bought regularly without fail, and I think I really am going to have to start picking and choosing which issues I buy from now on, which makes me feel a little bit sad.

On a more positive note, Knit Simple isn’t usually on my radar because, as the name implies, it is aimed at newer knitters. However, the Fall issue has three of Rebecca Danger’s brilliant monster/animal patterns in it, and I fell in love with Harriet the Haberdashery Hippo:

who might end up being knitted all for me. And “haberdashery” is just a fantastic word, isn’t it?

My blogiversary is actually on the 3rd of August, so this is a bit of a belated celebration. (I did intend to write and schedule a post in advance before I went on holiday but time ran out.) But as far as I’m concerned, six years of blogging is worth celebrating, no matter how late!

For this anniversary, I though it would be nicely self-indulgent to look back over what I’ve knitted and find my favourite project from each of the six years I’ve been blogging.

August 2005 to July 2006
This was the year I discovered sock knitting, so it’s an easy job to find my favourite project – my first ever socks! This is a slight cheat as I knitted them back in February/March 2005, but I can’t think of another project that could possibly beat them.

I don’t know if any other project I have ever knitted has given me the sense of achievement that I got from this one. Mastering dpns, turning a heel, it all made me feel like the Knitting Queen of the World and I don’t know if there will ever be anything I attempt that can match that feeling!

August 2006 to July 2007
Another “first” for my favourite project from this year – my first stranded knitting.

Although the We Call Them Pirates hat I knitted for Henry has never actually been worn by him, I don’t mind at all. It was the perfect choice of first pattern for me. (I’d wear it myself but it’s the wrong style for my non-existent forehead.) Watching the little skulls appear row-by-row was addictive and the gradually appearing pattern is one reason why I love stranded knitting and really should do more of it.

August 2007 to July 2008
This is a difficult year to choose a favourite project from. I went a bit sock-obsessed in 2007, evidently, as I knitted FIFTEEN pairs of socks, so it’s ineviatble that it’ll be a sock pattern. I’ll go for my own Hareton socks as they were the first manly socks I designed and I’m rather fond of them.

August 2008 to July 2009
This was partly my “Year of Lace” and over the whole of 2008 I managed to knit ten lacy scarves and shawls, as well as lacy socks. A couple of the shawls were gigantic and complicated and I just can’t imagine having the time and lack-of-being-jumped-on to complete something like that these days. Imagine a wistful sigh at the end of that sentence.

So my favourite project is going to be the Peacock Feathers Shawl because it’s definitive of a period in my life when I had too much time to knit.

August 2009 to July 2010
Aside from Rose in September 2009, who is clearly the best FO I’ve produced during the time I’ve been blogging , my most memorable project was the Baby’s First Fair Isle sweater which I knitted for the Knitting Olympics.

Although this wasn’t my first dabble with steeking, it was my first steeked sweater with sleeves, and it was a big achievement to get it all done and blocked before the Olympics were over. Steeking might be the one thing that actually compares to the “first sock feeling”. Cutting up your knitting is always going to be a bit scary, after all!

August 2010 to July 2011
And just because I can’t top cutting up my knitting, I’ll go for something entirely different – knitted toys. I loved my little monster-knitting-phase and it’s really made me get over my (probably) irrational dislike of knitting widgety things.

If you don’t already have a copy of The Big Book of Knitted Monsters in your life, then I heartily recommend you getting one!

And that’s it for the past six years! I wonder if I was doing this all over again next week whether I’d choose six totally different projects?!

It was always going to be hard to get back into the everyday routine after being away for two weeks, but the pile of dirty clothes helped. It took a while to get into the holiday mood but then it was just wonderful to be free from the internet, TV and phones for a while and just enjoy a strange mixture of culture, tackiness and nature.

We stayed in Paris for a few days, spent a long weekend at Disneyland Paris and then a few more days almost-camping (a cararvan on a campsite, so no need for nocturnal toilet treks!).

I have eaten my own bodyweight in baguettes, spoken French and made myself understood (which is the most miraculous part), knitted about half a sleeve , travelled on the Metro for the first time, drunk a bottle or two of verrrrry nice wine, and I wish I could go on holiday again tomorrow.

But now I need to get my knitting head back on. I’ve got things to finish, a swap to knit for and the new Interweave is out!

The Great Washing of Clothes and Packing of Bags has begun for the holiday, where everyone ends up with nothing to wear the day before leaving. In between unloading and reloading the washing machine, I have packed my most essential items – my knitting. Though I don’t suppose I will get the chance to sit and knit quietly in the next couple of weeks, I am taking both the cable and lace cardigan and Aurora to work on.

Just a note about the cardigan from the comments on the previous post – it’s definitely small person-sized. The more I knit, though, the more I want to make a larger one as well!

I will be away until 6th August with no internet access, so will see you all when I return to civilisation!

I waited for a train

went down a tunnel

and found some yarn

and some more

and even more

and beautiful bags

and cake

and knitting.

(Yarn purchase photos to follow!)

I know there’s still a few days left before KnitNation, but this morning I am mostly printing off my ticket, maps and train times, charging up my camera and working out what I want to buy yarn for.

I do have a list, though I wonder whether I am cursing myself by doing so. Each time I go to yarny events with a list, I can’t find anything I’m looking for. But if I don’t have a list, I’ll forget what I’m looking for if I do find it…

I also have a splendid new purple rucksack:

which I can fill with yarn if/when I do find what I want. And will be very useful for spotting me in crowds.

Just because it’s wet and miserable here today, I feel like looking at a few hats ready for colder weather. Maybe in reality it’s too early to start knitting one to wear, but planning and hoarding patterns can be done at any time.

What constitutes one person’s idea of a silly hat is probably another person’s idea of a sophisticated noggin warmer. For me, they have to come under the banner of silly, but not too silly for me to hypothetically wear on the school run. Your embarrassment mileage or that of your offspring/significant others may vary, etc. There are very silly hats indeed:

(click on each photo to go the pattern)

And the slightly more wearable, but still a bit unusual hats:

(again, click on each photo to go the pattern)

My favourite hat I ever knitted and the first hat that fell victim to the Kate-Always-Loses-Her-Nice-Hats-Curse was Russian Winter from Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation. I loved that hat. I knitted it back at the beginning of my renewed knitting obsession interest and it felt most exciting to knit even before I wandered around Croydon with ears on my head, simply because I ordered the specified yarn all the way from Germany (not very challenging as the website was in English, but even so..!) which seemed very exotic and daring when previously the most extreme my yarn buying had been was to make a special trip to John Lewis in London!

When hat wearing weather comes around for real, I will be ready to embrace the silliness and maybe if any of you dear readers are feeling brave, we can all join forces and take over the world with daft headger! Have a good weekend!