skein

finished more socks

wow!  A week's gone by without a post.  Not that I haven't been knitting, but I'm in the middle of stuff, and I can't be bothered taking yet another photo of a couple of inches progress.

Finished the first koigu scarf last weekend, and am now nearly finished another one in shades of purple.

Here's the finished one (and the neckline is scrunched up because it came off my neck to be photographed)

And a close up of the beads (yes, they are a bit too close to the colour of the scarf, but were the only ones to hand)

And I've finished some socks for AC's birthday next week.  Knitted in approximately four evenings!  Plain socks, with a 3x3 rib and only 56 stitches.  I tried out the 5 inch bamboos that I bought last month.  The jury's still out on these. They dig into my palm, and I'm forever losing stitches off the ends. BUT they fit into my handbag nicely!

These were made from the sockyarn that Polly brought back for me from Austria, Fortissima Socka in shade 8021.  It's difficult to tell from the skein what the patterning will be, but I do have the next shade up too, more limey green and for me!  Now these labels have additional info on which I think refers to the yarn being rendered with anti-bacterial properties. I've not looked it up, will ask Chris's mum when we see her next.

And a close up of the pattern (n.b. all photos taken in dim artificial light!)

Other knitting is just sitting there - Donna and C'est la Vie wrap.  Now that I've finished the socks, I'll sit down and knit on the wrap tomorrow, see if I can finish the first rectangle.

I've ordered another couple of books too. Pursenalities (aka Christmas presents) and Hot Knits. This has been a 'might like' book for a few months, but I saw that it was available on Amazon so included this in the order for the free shipping. Not that I need any more books!  Jill is tempting me with Emma King's new book too.

And KBTH has a great felted bear pattern at their Fall 04 Virtual Conference!
This will be fun! 

Finished socks!

The fluted bannister socks are done!

Socks #3 from the six sock kal.

Yarn was from Joslyn's fiberfarm, a gorgeous shade of pale green (and not one photo really showed the depth of colour; it's really not as washed out as this.  Even the photos taken outside today looked dreadful.

And here's a pair that I've knitted earlier, but just love!

These were knitted from a kit purchased from Blackberry Ridge Mill, one of my favourite suppliers.  Great for shawl patterns and yarn.  (The pattern's Fiesta Feet from Tradewind designs).  A fun knit, even if I have to hand wash the socks. Makes a change from self patterning yarns.

I was hoping to photograph my one skein koigu shawl, but it's pinned out and still wet (and the towel on the floor is the same colour as the shawl, so you can't see the lace).  I can see me knitting half a dozen of these for christmas, such an easy pattern.

(Nearly) an FO

I've nearly finished Freya (must look that up and see if it's the correct name). I have the pompoms and cord to do now. BUT I really don't like the edging on this, or rather, lack of edging. It's rolling. OK, I've not done any sort of blocking or pressing, and this may remedy some of the problem. But it will drive me mad, putting it on and having to rearrange it every time. So I'll probably get the crochet hook out next week and dc all around the front edges. The bottom edge isn't rolling at all.
This has a weird collar, just pick up the stitches and knit 16cm of stocking stitch. It looks ok though, from the front, as if I've got a hood on the jacket. I'll be looking out for some more Plaid, it's on the approved list!

Fluted bannister socks are nearly finished too, just have half a foot to go. These will have to be washed first though, the wine stains are ruining the look of them!

I'm now back onto Donna. This is really boring stocking stitch. It's too boring even for TV knitting. Great for blog-surfing though!

Agnes is so...... 4-ply! I've only knitted about a third of the front. This will probably be an FO this time next year!

C'est la Vie is stalled, until I wind a few more skeins of yarn. Great pattern though.

I've moved office at last! We worked all day Thursday. The furniture failed to arrive - apart from a couple of small cupboards, so I've borrowed a desk and have work piled up in the corner of the office. The desk is tiny, broadband won't be up until 1st November, so I've got a really slow dial up connection.
Chris came up to help me move stuff. At 6pm we were shattered, filthy and parched. The pub won over Libertys I'm afraid (and who would want to sit next to a very sweaty Dawn!) and before we knew it, it was 11pm and I'd downed a large number of pints of Hoegartens. Staggered home, stopped off for a takeaway, cracked open a bottle or two of wine and stayed up until 3pm. Woke up at 6am, dreadfully hungover, and I suffered all through Friday. I'm just now surfacing. What was especially funny is that I tried to knit in the early hours and couldn't control the fine motor skills. Oh, and I tried to type numerous replies to emails, thankfully not sent!

A blurry shot of my drink (taken on the palm in a dark pub)

Moving offices

I'm moving offices tomorrow (hopefully)

I work on a mezzanine, cut off from the rest of the office. It seemed ideal when we moved a couple of years ago. BUT it's not ideal. It's noisy, I can hear everything from the office downstairs and from the kitchen area in the basement. It's smelly, the kitchen smells waft upstairs. It's HOT! Summer unbearable, and in the winter the whole office heat rises towards my little space.

I'm moving onto the ground floor, a side office. It will be a lot quieter, I have control of the radiator (hooray) and the kitchen is at the opposite end of the building.

It's a nightmare moving. I've ordered a new desk, side cabinets and cupboard. So I'll have one cupboard less than now. This is due tomorrow. (Due on Tuesday, but the driver was sick). I've been told that my yarn stash (under desk/ in the corner/ under the second table / in the cupboard) has got to either go or be hidden!! So I've put 7 boxes of work in the storeroom, to make way for my stash!

Broadband is installed in the new office, but might take a week to be connected. Phone extensions ok. Tomorrow I unplug everything and lug it downstairs. I'm working with just a computer and a few essential files, and the rest is already boxed up ready to go. I'm hyper over all of this. Will the computer work when I plug it back in? I should really spend tomorrow morning doing backups!

On the knitting front, things are slow. I've been taking my time with the last sleeve of Freya. Only half a dozen rows an evening, but I'm up to the raglan shaping already.

Fluted Bannister sock from the six sock KAL is coming on, about 1/3 finished on second sock. This needs to be finished as I have a birthday coming up on 4th November, and she likes my socks!

I've started the front of Donna at last, about 3 inches done to date. It's boring stocking stitch, except for the side ribs. The yarn is very forgiving, that little bit of elastic with the cotton gives it a wool/cotton feel.

Got to go, chicken casserole is being dished up :)

Productive!

Yes, despite the little setback this week, I've steamed ahead on Freya.  I only have the second sleeve and collar to knit now.  It's incredibly quick and easy knitting.  I'll be on the lookout for discontinued shades of Plaid in the sales.  I think it would make a wonderful wrap.

Looking at the photograph in Rowan 36 and at my work so far, it's looking more like a bulky cardigan than a jacket.  I'm just over 5ft 4 - are you telling me that the Rowan models are short?  It's not that the length is taken up with my width - this is just from holding it up!  Hmmm....

Apologies for the poor quality - this is because I didn't get dressed until 6pm today!  Anyway, the weather outside looked pretty dreary!

And I've finished some Mexiko DK socks for Chris.  Love this yarn. 

And being such a busy bunny, I've started C'est la Vie.  I originally wanted to knit this in a pale green, but have opted for the russet brown instead, otherwise I'll be washing it every week.  I have no idea what colour to knit the ruffled edging in - nothing in my stash is suitable, and I'm really not certain just what colour would go with this one.

The detail isn't showing up too well in this picture, and the colour looks too red - it's much browner than here.   

I'm off for an early night now, my throat is scratchy and we've had a bout of sore throats going around the office.  Yuck. And I'm moving office on Tuesday!  From my little (hot) mezzanine to a room on the ground floor, where I have control of the radiator!  New furniture should be arriving on Tuesday, so I need all of my energy to move my stuff and put together the flat packs.

Knitting Progress

After the fiasco of Lara, and the cold weather setting in, I've just had to start something else, something with near instant gratification, that'll use up some stash and keep me warm. (Heating is still not on, though Chris has now closed the window!)

Anything over aran weight and 4.5mm needles I normally avoid like the plague, but I've had some Rowan Plaid in my stash since last winter, and this seemed ideal for a quick knit project. Looked through Rowan 36 and have found a warm cardigan (jacket really) Freya. My plaid's brown (not normally a colour I would even look at, can't understand it, must have been the impulsiveness of the moment) and I've also some chocolate brown kid classic. Soooo, started on Thursday night, and I managed to knit the border pattern (with the two yarns) and get a start on the stocking stitch back. Friday night, I finish off the back! Now that's instant, or near enough for me! I'm now starting the raglan decreases on the left front. Hopefully, photos tomorrow.

And I've finished a one skein koigu shawlette! Put the beads on this afternoon. This will join the pile of things needing to be blocked. I may have a blocking day in a months time, and just do the lot of them in one swoop.

Supposedly we're going to have a cold snap next week, so I'm going all steam ahead on Freya!

Aarrghh! Forgot to mention that I've finally cast on for the C'est la Vie wrap! Some Rowan magpie in the stash. As of Thursday, I've only knitted a tiny bit on on this, in a pale sea green colour. I'm not sure yet on the suitability of this colour, and I do have some more brown magpie in the stash, so this is a resting project until I finish Freya (say I!)

It's peculiar not having some sort of lace on the go. I love listening to the radio but can only do this if I've got a patterned bit of knitting - lace, arans, fairisle.

Hope to have time to post some pics tomorrow evening (the only time I'll have to get on the computer!)

Lara cop-out

Lara is no more.  Lara is stuffed in a carrier bag with the remaining skeins and will be left to mature for at least a month.

I finished the knitting on Monday evening, sewed up the arm and side seams. Tried it on and it looks awful.

1) too short
2) the border ribbing on the fronts looks great, but the transition from stocking stitch to 2x2 rib looks makes the ribbing stick out.

The unstructured shape (side to side) doesn't suit me.  I've done garments in one piece, but only from the top down or bottom up. This somehow looks odd on me. 

In a months time I'll either have another go at it, by lengthening it and gently pressing it (to see if the ribbing / st.st transition looks better).  Or I may frog and re-knit another garment.  I should have taken Jill's advise and used this alpaca silk for the cardigan in the womens weekly supplement.

I've put it completely out of sight, in the under-sofa-storage area.

I haven't got bored with this yarn yet though, can't wait to re-knit it! 

On another note, I spent last night sorting through a few bags of stash, rearranging the  summer cottons and winter wools, and oddballs into separate areas. 

I've finished the Colinette fluffy scarf.  Garter stitch, 20 sts.  I've not used the whole skein either, it was getting ridiculously long, so I cast off.  I can double it and still wear it.  Here's a picture of me modelling the thing.  I'm holding up the ends to get them into the picture.  (Doesn't it look like a bit of tinsel?)

We had three goes at that photograph. I can't pose, and I always get red-eye. I've had to crop it too, as Chris managed to get the open bathroom in the background, complete with dirty washing!

Well, since I've abandoned Lara, what to knit?  I could cast on the front of Donna, or plod along on Agnes, but I really need  a cardigan or jacket.  I have this mohair from the Sandowne show, and it looked very nice with the moss stitch on huge needles.  Now to knit a tension square and get going on Sweaterwizard! 

 

Weekend knitting

I think I'll try to post at the end of the weekend or beginning of the week on my weekend progress.  That's when I do a lot of my knitting. 

I'll knit every evening too, but I'm usually so tired that I have a little catnap with needles in hand for 1/2 hour or so most weekday nights.  I've got really weird sleeping habits.  Up at 7am.  Work. Home at 7.30pm (give or take half an hour, depending on the transport system).  Eat about 9pm. Get really sleepy about 10pm.  Wake up at 11pm and stay up until 2am. I've tried going to bed at 10pm, when I'm really tired, but I wake up (wide awake!) about 1.30am and can't get back to sleep.  I think I start doing too many busy things later at night, so my brain's active.  For instance, I'll start a new knitting wip at 1am, instead of when I get in from work. Silly season.

It's now nearly midnight and I've just got back on the computer to play. 

Weekend knitting.  The urge to play with all of my new stuff is waning now.  I've started a couple of scarves and that's it!

One from the silk/acrylic fluffy yarn from Kaalund. Not photographed (it's somewhere in my knitting basket: this was started straight away when I got back from Ally Pally and has been discarded temporarily!)

Another from the fluffy colinette, in the garish colours.  Boring, but I've knitted away on this during Midsommer Murders.

And I've finished the first sock on the 6 socks KAL. It's the fluted bannister sock in some joslyns fiberfarm yarn (sport weight?) in a beautiful shade of green, which looks really washed out in this pic.

The red splashes are not part of the yarn colour!  I've got a glass of wine beside me and managed to spill some whilst trying to juggle the camera, wine and sock!  I'm sure it'll wash out!  I'm knitting these on 2.5mm for some strange reason, and the knitting is too tight for my liking.

I've ahem started another wip - a one skein koigu scarf!  Lovely knitting, but no photo yet. I've only got one tube of (blue) beads here, so I've chosen one of my lone skeins of koigu with some blue in it that sort of matches.

Apart from that, I've chugged away on Lara. I had a horrible feeling yesterday afternoon that I'd misread the instructions and worked too many rows / picked up the wrong stitches for the edging.  As it was bunched up on the needles, I had to try to lay it out and no, thank God, it looks ok!  I couldn't have frogged and re-knitted: I would have just started another Alpaca Silk project with this yarn! 

I've now knitted the body and am on the last sleeve, courtesy of LOTR Return of the King this afternoon. 

The flat's freezing, so knitting this has kept me warm! 
Chris gets funny ideas about things. In August, he decided that he would not wear socks and shoes until September 1st, just wear his beach sandals.  This was great on the warm days, but our summer's also had a lot of cold days, and he really suffered because of it.

Now, in October, he's decided that his thick Icelandic Unspun jumper (which is increadibly hot) won't be coming down from the cupboard until 1st November, and he's been freezing all day, with two t-shirts, a hoody and his cardy on (cough, cough, I knitted this one about 6 years ago). I don't think I can last till then (with him, not the cold weather)

Here's the jumper which comes out every winter and he loves.  It was just the worst to knit!  The wool kept breaking, the shawl collar was too tight, so I improvised (and he loves it).  I still have wheels of this stuff left. It's a shame I have no photos of him looking normal. Camera comes out, he pulls a face (and this was the best of the bunch!)

Ally Pally Spoils

Broke the bank, yet managed to get back with just one very large bag and a carrier bag of *stuff*!

Amazing!

It was fabulous. I spent most of the day bumping into everyone from Libertys! Noteably Jill, we were shadowing each other most of the time!

From Get Knitted (of course, double the amount, 2 skeins = 1 sock!):

Lornas laces

and Koigu (again, 2 of each)

They also had Rebecca in English (yes, got my copy) and a sampling of the GCH yarns. A bit too novelty for garments! And some bamboo yarn, and their noro bag kits. I resisted these!

As I'm thinking 'novelty scarves make great Christmas pressies (quick!) I bought quite a lot of odd ball skeins.

From Touch Yarns I bough several skeins of boucle mohair and some gorgeous kid mohair laceweight:

Note: Jill and I have identical colours of the laceweight, let's hope we don't decide on the same project!

From Kaalund yarns, some silk/acrylic boucle, for a tiny neck scarf, and some laceweight yarn but I've, um, misplaced the stuff!! Will have to hunt around (in one day??)

From House of Hemp, a 300g of 2ply, for a shawl of course, after seeing Polly's beautiful hemp shawl in the flesh:

From Colinette, 3 skeins of her new fluffy yarn. Forget anything wearable, I don't want to look like a fluffy ball, but great for scarves. Also, some Isis and Tagliatelle, to knit the modular design in Module Magic (OK it called for Wigwam, but I bought Tagliatelle instead).

(started one already!!)

Wensleydale Long sheep Co a couple of balls of 4 ply (looks great for socks) and a few sheepy things:

And from Web of Wool some MORE sock yarn. It's the Stahl DK again. Loved knitted that first sock for Chris last week, so I bought some more for both of us.

That's all of the photos. The weather was rather overcast for photo taking today, so I had the bright idea to use the bath as background! The colours are surprisingly fairly accurate, if a bit dark.

I also bought some addis, a pack of lime green rowanspun dk (on offer, how could I not)

And last but certainly not least, a pack of Debbie Bliss Maya. Just gorgeous. I just forgot to take a photo!

No buttons, no other yarn packs (that's my downfall for the commute back to town).

Wonderful day, exciting to see all of the teenagers trying to knit! Lily Chin was over too (wearing the most ridiculous hat) - I wonder if she won the fastest knitter competition?

Ally Pally preparation

Not much knitting done tonight, a couple of rows of Lara (12 more rows until I divide for the front and back at last!)

I've slaved away at work, so that I can take tomorrow and Friday off work. Tomorrow, I'm off to Ally Pally, and hugely excited. Although I do a fair bit of buying at Libertys and online, there's nothing quite like seeing and feeling yarn.

In preparation, tonight I've:
charged my digital camera batteries
charged my pda (that will be in my hand!)
charged my phone

I've made a list of what not to forget in the morning - things like the above gadgets. my purse, my cash, my credit cards (paid the bills this morning!), my glasses. Sorted out clothes (handknitted socks, comfortable clark shoes, a long sleeved t-shirt with a cardigan). Waterproof in case it rains. Sock knitting. No coat. I've taken a coat each year, and it's far too hot on the underground wearing one, and I won't be able to carry it on the way home, too bogged down with purchases. Bottled water. Note to buy a sandwich on the way there. There's a new Neros opened just opposite East Putney tube, so I'll stop off in the morning. Do I anticipate a leisurely journey because I'm on holiday? Yes! Do I want to stay up late tonight and drink some wine? Yes, because I'm on holiday! Is this wise? NO, because I'll be leaving at 8.30, still commuting time!

I've sat down tonight and made a list of the knitting stands and the stand number. Coloured in the plan. I've tried to input yardages into my pda, but don't have the time to go through my books for everything that I have a Plan for. I haven't yet input my planned purchases, because that just won't happen.
Thankfully, Chris is on this third course of antibiotics from the dentist (Buzz Lightyear no longer, but the swelling has just gone down, so he's gone back for more medicine to prevent reoccurrence) so no wine or beer for him for another week. That will cut down on the monthly shopping bill. More to spend!

I haven't got a bag though. I might empty out the huge bag that I bought a few weeks ago, and use this, maybe take a libertys big sale bag along too. Handbags a problem too, but I need something to put all of the gadgets in. Last year I had so many small carrier bags to lug home! I've discovered the cloakroom - I can shop shop shop then drop it off there and enjoy hobbling around the rest of the show. I might even help Yvonne on the knit and relax, if I have time!

I always intend going back on Friday, but so far, I've been far too excited to play with my new yarn before it goes into stash.

What I might buy:
More Touch mohair
More Kaalund lace yarn
Another Jamieson kit
The new bags book by Emma King
See if KCG have any nick-nacks
More rayon (maybe, it's hard to wind up) from Oliver twists
DEFINITELY more stuff from Habu
More sock wool from Web of Wool
More sock wool (and koigu if it's there) from Get Knitted
Debbie bliss stuff - the new maya?
Noro (lots)
Black Sheep for a bargain
A couple of balls from Wensleydale
Collinette - I fancy knitting the waistcoat in Module magic (OK I forgot to bring home the colinette books, so this is the only pattern I could find here!)
Hemp from House of Hemp (after seeing Polly's shawl, this is the way to go)

And of course, that's the planned knitting buys!

I need buttons, and brooches, and needles, and books!

I've mentioned to Chris that I need huge bags, and he really doesn't understand just how much I'll bring back! That's tomorrows shock! Wish I had a man with a collecting hobby!