skein

Flagstone progress - and a new project!

I've not worked much on Flagstone.  I'm past the patterned bit and it's just stocking stitch now, pretty boring.  I'm now 6" into the body, just about to start increasing after waist shaping. 

 

And a new wip!  I finished two pairs of mitts and cast on - a shawl. First one this year.  I've gone for a simple garter stitch shawl, in two colours, blue and pink, not my usual colours at all.

 

The blue is from IKL sock club, the pink was won in a competition on the SKA ravelry board.   

The beginnings of Different Lines:

I fully intended to start a crochet blanket for my table (in some stashed Rowan 4ply cotton) but relaly fancied a shawl, despite the weather forcast being Good and Sunny and Warm this week. 

 

Urban Troubadour

 

Pattern: Urban Troubadour

Started: 26th December

Finished: 19th February

Yarn: Renaissance Dyeing 4ply Organic Poll Dorset.  I bought a kit.

Needles: 3.5mm circular.

Mods:  I really couldn't see me wearing this as a hooded cape, so I stopped the ribbing 50 rows earlier, and intend to wear the ribbing seciton turned over, so it's a high polo neck.

 

The size is medium and I'm not, so this was never going to be a cape, but more like a shoulder wrap.  this is exactly what I want.  I can't see me wearing a hooded cape!  I've worn it pulled down for the photos...

 

I bought the kit from Renaissance Dyeing, but the pattern as a pdf downlaod from ravlery, personal preference, I like my patterns in one place.  It's a great stashbuster too, and should be fairly easy to resize, with just the bottom lace and the second chart which might need retweaking.  the rest of the patterns have short repeats and would be easy to work with on different stitch counts. 

 

I really like this yarn.  It's a bit hairy but seems very sturdy.  No way can I break it with my hands, I need to cut it!  The Hall of Fire tam I've just started is also a kit using this yarn.

 

One project done, a new one started

I finished Urban Troubadour over the weekend.   Saturday I knitted and Sunday I steamed it and added little nupps to the corners of the lace section. 

Photos to come, but here's a teaser from the weekend.

 

This is meant to be a hooded cape, except mine is more like a shoulder warmer!  And the hooded bit - well, not really something I'd be wearing, so I finished the ribbing 50 rows shorter than the pattern stated, and will just turn the ribbing down and wear it as that.  I'd ran out fo the red too, so finished with soe lime green. 

And I can't get enough of the yarn!  So I've started a hat, again, bought as a kit from Renaissance Yarns.  It's the Hall of Fire tam, and there's only one project on ravelry!

 Really, just started, that pigging ribbing took me a whole evening.  It's knit colour A purl colour B, and soooo slow.   I'm on the charts now.

New projects tend to distract me from my other wips, so this is staying at work, for lunchtime knitting. I need to get a move on with Acer.  I have another three inches of body, then the seeves to do.  That will be mindless evening knitting.  If I lok at my February goals, in the next eight days I need to finsish this hat, Acer, start and finsih some fingerless mitts and knit 7.5 hexipuffs!!!

Urban Troubadour progress

This has been an easy and enoyable knit, so far.  I've managed to meet my January goal for this, which was to knit the charts.  What's left to do is the boring bit, just ribbing - for more rows that I've worked so far.  This will be the difficult bit, keeping up the enthusiasm! 

 

It's a bit scrunched up on the circular, but you can see the colours and pattern.

And for my knitting friend J who has had a hiccup with her progress, hope it keeps you motivated!

 

 

Christmas knitting

No, not gift knitting.  Knitting over Chirstmas and Boxing Day!

 

Christmas evening I sat down and cast on Boreal.  I wanted to get an early start for 12 sweateres in 2012.   For this KAL you need to finish 12 garments in 2012, adult sized.  Nothing about not starting them in 2011. In fact a lot of the participants use this KAL to finish UFOs from previous years. 

 Now Boreal in my mind is a Christmas jumper.  Initially I thought I'd knit it in red and white, and in Arttesano Aran.   Then I thought about it again, and went for a cheaper, less hot, alternative, Brown Sheep Worsted, in Christmas colours, though not as bright!  Instead of red and white I've gone for sage and oatmeal. The oatmeal could do with being a bit creamier.

It's knitted bottom up, then sleeves and all joined for the yoke.  I had a bit of a problem in that I couldn't get tension.  Mine was slap bang in the middle of the two given tensions on 4.5mm.  I've gone for size 2 in the larger, 4sts/inch tension.  I do knit a little looser in stocking stitch than in stranded knitting (and yes, my st st tension is correct).  I've changed needles from a 4.5mm to a 5mm for the stranded knitting though.  This yarn is not very stretchy and leaving longer strands is making me nervous!  I usually weave in every 3-4 sts, but this is a thicker yarn and I think the less weaving in the better.   Most of my stranded knitting has been done in 4ply, some in dk, not a lot in aran weight. 

 

 Boxing Day evening I cast on for the Urban Troubadour, which is a shoulderr wrap with a long bit that can be worn as a hood.  On ravelry here.   I swa this when I went ot investigate Renaissance Dyeing after seeing Kate Davies'  Funchal Moebuis using thier Poll Dorset yarns.  Decided to treat myself the kit.!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaelyn Shawl

My final shawl for 11shawls2011! Finished in the nick of time!  This has been finished since 27th November, just didn't get around to blocking it!

Pattern: Shaelyn Shawl

Started: 27th October

Finished: 27th November

Yarn: Indie Dyer Supersock

Needles: 4mm

 

A perfect pattern to finish this KAL, simple yet effective.

 

I'm going to have a break next year and not participate in 12shawls2012.  This doesn't mean that I won't be kntiting shawls, just not twelve!

 

 

Irling's Half Diamond Seaman's Scarf

Talk about forgetting to blog this scarf!  It's a Christmas present and today I wrapped it up, put it into an envelope ready for posting - and realised that I didn't have modelled photos of the finished scarf!

So.  Unpick the envelope, unwrap the scarf and model it myself, with someone in the office taking the photos on my mobile, in what can only be described as a very gloomy day!

Pattern: Irling's Half Diamond seaman's scarf

Started and finished: 4th - 10th December (a quick knit!)

Needles: 5mm

Yarn: Artesano Aran in dark grey, two skeins

I love this yarn, and seaman's scarves go down well as manly gifts.  One day I'll do some lace versions. 

 

Still here, still knitting on birthday and Christmas presents

It's sooo easy to blog every day in November.  Then it's soooo easy to not blog in December!  I have no excuse, not even frantically knitting as I ought to be.

I'm concentrating on just two wips.  One I can knit when Mr C is around - it's his father's Christmas present, a scarf.   I'm doing my usual, a Seaman's scarf, in a favourite yarn to knit scarves in, Artesano's Aran, a wool/alpaca blend,  and thick enough to knit last minute quick gifts. 

This is the first 24 row repeat/ 

A half diamond pattern. I only knitted another repeat on this last night. Hardly picked up the needles!  And went to bed worrying that two skeins may not be enough.  According to Myrna's book a Seaman's scarf has the tail length from 18-24", the neck length from 10-16" (I think), so a minimum length would be 46".  My yarn might only knit a 45" scarf.  I lie to knit the neck ribbing a bit more than the minimum too.  I will give it a few more evenings and see whow it goes.

The last scarf I knitted for his father took two skeins but it was slightly narrower.

 

And the knitting I knit when Mr C is away.  It's his birthday Voyageur's hat, which needs to be finsihed for Saturday!  I have two evenings this week when I can knit, knit knit.  Fortunately it's dead easy knitting.   At this stage it's nearly halfway done, about another few inches. 

I am not felting it.  It'll be the easiest finishing, ever.  Four ends to darn in, no blocking.  I just hope he manages to felt it down ok.  He has felted clogs and moccasins before, so knows the basics.......

 

December knitting

I'll post my November knitting stuff at the end of the month.  December knitting is being posted early, as I've just realised that I'm on such a tight schedule that I need to start - now!  Shaelyn shawl is off the needles, and with just my long term wip, the Beekeeper's Quilt in my knitting bag I might as well start now.

It's always a busy month.  Yes, Christmas has sneaked up on me again, it's Mr C's birthday on the 10th, and a friend's daughter is due to give birth early on in the month.  I also forget about last postal dates for Christmas, which means a lot of stuff needs to be knitted well in advance. Oops.

So here's a list, with order of priority!

1) Early December  birth day - a baby ensemble for a baby girl due early December, needs to get to Moscow!

2) By 10th December - Mr C's other birthday present (socks already knitted) - either felted clogs or a voyageur's hat.

3) By 14th (parcel) or 20th (first class) - Christmas presents for Mr C's father (scarf or hat), Miss E (cardigan and hat), new baby T (not yet here! - baby cardigan and hat)

4) By 24th Mr C's Christmas presents (socks and whatever I didn't knit for his birthday)

5) Knitting for ME.  A knitting kit to open and start on Christmas day.  We always have a very quiet day, just pottering around.  All I do is cook the turkey and imbibe,  so plenty of time to knit,

In other words

Newborn:  one pair of bootees, two cardigans, two hats

Toddler: hat and cardigan

Man: socks, felted clogs,  voyaguer's hat, one hat or scarf

Dawn: knitting kit. It's a shoulder cowl :)

That's twelve things.  And I bet I cast on a few more!

 

Shaelyn shawl progress

Well, none really!

I haven't picked this up for about a week.  I'm still working on the fourth repeat. 

On the train into work this morning I thought I should count the stitches, as I'm getting ready for another feather and fan section, so they ought to be nearly a multiple of 11. 

One side has 95 sttiches and the other side has 99 stitches.  Both should have 97 stitches.  A sinking feeling.  I may have moved the centre stttch (it has happened before),  Yes, that's what's happened. 

Now if it were just a matter of having to fudge stitch counts I wouldn't mind at all, I've been doing that since I first started knitting.  But the displaced centre stitch stuck out like a sore thumb.

So it's tink time, hopefully just the centre stitches.

This is one of the four things I want to finish this week.  I've finsihed two - the toddler socks and the hat (which is now dry, just need a day of light to take photos), and the other thign to finish (blogging tomorrow I think!) is Pepper, which is progressing well.  Keep knitting!  No sign of new great nephew yet.  His mother is still fairly active for one day past due date. They're going to ive her 12 days over and then take her in....