skein

Gridiron Socks

 

 

Pattern:  Gridiron socks by Knitspot

Started: September 15th

Finished: September 23rd

Needles: 2.25mm

Yarn: Regia Design Lines Shade 4254

These are a birthday present for Mr C's father.  As usual the birthday took me by surprise, and I had to drop other knitting to work on these. It didn't help that I've been quite busy at owrk, and haven't done any knitting until after 9.30 most evenings (if then!).  

My mobile does odd things on close up.  These are fairly dark as shown in the modelled shot, but when I zoom in they become lighter!  The pattern's great, a nice ribbed pattern, will be great for solid colours.

Close up of the pattern showing very light socks:

and a modelled shot showing the colour.  Amazing!  

We didn't have the usual modelled shot, it was far too wet outside for Mr C to sit on the grass,this is all he would do! It was raingin pretty hard, too, so he wanted to get back inside asap!

 

Sock knitting

A flying post.  I've really not done much knitting to blog about.  A bit alarming, as I only have four things on the go, surely I can get something finished!

Well this weekend I managed to finish a pair of socks.  Unfortunately I didn't finish these until Sunday evening, so couldn't get a daylight photo!  Mind you, our weather was so abysmal on Sunday that even if I had managed to finish them, the lack of light and heavy rain would have made a modelled shot impossible, can't see Mr C hanging around in the pouring rain while I tried to take photos!  I'm hoping this weekend might be better....

No knitting at all last night - I did a bit of negative knitting!  In other words, I went from this:

 

(That's the main knitting books bookcase, by the way)

to this:

An aran weight olive Jaeger yarn.   

I have a gansey which needs frogging, too. It's too big for me, but what a labour of love!  From the book Knitting in America, knitted on small needles, there's a lot of 5ply yarn to be rescued!

 

Maja's blanket progress

I've been quietly knitting away on the squares for this blanket but not much blogging so far.

A nice surprise to discover that I need 20 and not 24 squares for the blanket.  Of course you can knit as many or as few squares as you want to.  I'm sticking to 20, feel that is plenty for the baby blanket.

I'm past the halfway mark now, 11 squares knitted.  I think I may need to buy more yarn though. I am not getting two whole squares out of one ball of baby cashmerino - more like 1.6 - no idea why as I'm using smaller needles and my squares are roughly the same size as in the pattern,  

Once I'd kntited 10 I decided to play around with how I want to join them,   In the pattern you work one round of dc and then use ss to join each square.  I tried the dc, but preferred to have some sort of garter borders around each square.   After an evening of playing I have it sorted.  :)

Using the background colour, a light primrose, I pick up stitches on one side of one square, then pick up the stitches on the side of the adjoining square.  Knit back (so there's a garter ridge on each of the sides to be joined).  Fold, RS together and do a 3 needle cast of.   Just what I wanted to achieve!

I'm joining four squares into a row, then joining the rows.  So far I've joined eight squares and have two rows joined.   I'm also going to stick with the garter stitch and work 8 garter ridges on each border. 

And here we go!  

 

The ends are another matter...

Sock knitting

I've really not done much knitting this weekend - except for socks.

There was I happily knitting along on So Square sock #1 on Saturday afternoon.

Here's a close up of the pattern (sort of)

 All of these photos were taken this monring before work, in a dim room ....

Now I know that John (Mr C's father) has a birthday in October.  Each year I knit him some birthday socks.  Each year I think his birthday is mid October, but it isn't, and I end up franticall y trying to finish the socks so that they can go in the post.  This has been an annual event for, oh, about 18 years.  No different this year.  As I said, I was happily knitting away on these So Square socks when Mr C came in from his walk with his father's birthday card.  I innocently ask him when his birthday is and he tells me, it's the 3rd of October.   I ask him why he hasn't told me earlier and he says 'but you showed me the yarn you were going to use for his socks a few weeks ago'.  Yes I did. Unknitted sock yarn, exoectubg tgat U;d be starting to knit it at the very end of September, for this mid-October birthday.  

A bit cross that my weekend knitting plans have been altered a bit, but quite pleased that I've finished one sock already.

Another Knitspot pattern.  This is Gridiron, a very simple 4 row pattern, Easily memorised and ideal for semi solid or hand dyed solids.  This isn't, it's a Regia Design Lines.  There's some pooling going on (probably meant to!) but it's quirte a dark colour overall.  

Here's a close up of the ribbed pattern.

So, I have two socks completed, but odd pairs!  It was my September plan to finish two pairs of socks, and it looks like it might happen!

Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigan

Pattern:  Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigan

Started: 13th August

Finished: 9th September

Needles: 3.75 mm (3.25mm for borders)

Yarn: Rico Design Baby Classic DK (100% acrylic) in navy, with denim blue, white and green for the yoke bit.

Mods:  this is a top down design. You increase for the yoke, and divide for the body.  The sleeves are knitting back and forth and seamed.  I originally started this pattern for the Olympics, but was using smaller needles, so I frogged back.  Second time around I chose to work this from the bottom up and decrease on the yoke.  It meant that I saved the best bit - the yoke - for last.  Sleeves were knitted in the round and joined.  The only bit I would change in knitting this way is to have underarm stitches.  As the pattern is written there is none.  I didn't think this through, just thought that I'd have to calculate the yoke pattern if I lost stitches to the underarms. Of course, it's very easy to adjust, just use less stitches between sheep.  I've got more of this Rico to knit another girly cardigan. 

Cute central sheep!

Next time I'm also going to avoid Swiss darning.  It was a nightmare in acrylic!  

 

 

 

Flowers in the sun

Pattern:  Flowers in the Snow (but my background is yellos, so I've called it Sun)

Started: 27th May

Finished: 8th September

Hook: 3mm

Yarn:  Yellow background is Patons 4ply cotton, 200g. Other is Rowan's 4ply cotton.  I used seven colours, not even a ball of each - and the pink and light green was used just for the first and second rounds only, so not much used at all.   ALL FROM STASH,

This is for my circular bedside table, to cover the blue tablecloth, so I wanted a square one.  It's 81 squares in total, but as this is 4ply it's fairly small, about the size of a baby blanket. In fact, Mr C thought it was a baby blanket!  

(The edges are not frilly - it's because it's lying on grass!)

Crochet out of the system for a few months (unless I decide on a tunisian crochet shawl, but I have gift knittting to do first)

 

Crochet catch up

This is something which I want to finish this month.  I don't do well with big projects,  tending to put them aside with the excitement of new wips, or when I'm nearing completion of a wip.  Then I get bored, and find other new things to tempt me.   This is just a small project and I'm in danger of abandoning it if I don't get a move on and get it off the crochet hook.

It's crocheted using Rowan 4ply cotton, so although it's going to be 9x9 squares it's quite small, which is what I want, as it's going over a table cloth, to brighten it up a bit. 

This week I've pulled it out and started crocheting the circles, 32 in all, first one round circles, then the second and finally the third round.

And now I'm joining them in the final round, which also squares the circle,  

Fourteen joined, 18 to go (and the border)

Photos are a bit gloomy, taken inside in the dark!  But soon ....  

Now, do I stick to crochet this weekend, knit on a sock, knit soe squares for Maja's Blanket or start a baby garment?

 

 

No knitting = no blog posts

Oh dear.  A long weekend away, plenty of knitting opportunities and I've done hardly any knitting.  It was my dad's birthday on Saturday, lots of visitors, not much time to knit, too busy chatting!   I've managed to knit a few squares of Maja's blanket, and a quarter of a sock, but that's all.

Monday evening I decided to cast on a garment.   After all, i have six to do in three months!  The weekend was warm, and I thought I might have time to whip up a short sleeved cotton summer cardy.  Out came the Rowan Cotton Glace.   Out came the pattern, Addie, from Twist Collective. 

This is a garment worked from bottom up, then the short sleeves are knitted in the round and joined seamlessly to the body.   The bottom 1x1 ribbed borders are knitted separately and then joined to work the body.

Alarm bells rang as soon as I looked at the suggested yarn (worsted weight) and the tension (24st and 36 rows).  Riiight.  Glace has a tension of 23sts so if I go down a few needle sizes I can get the correct tension.

Bottom bands done, and the first two rows of body patern are worked (just st st with some LT and a few purl sts).   Not that confident, as the ribbed bottom bands look as if they wouldn't fit a 10yo.  I have to stretch them right out to fit me!

Never mind, let's get on with the body.  

And that's when the mega booming alarm bells go off.  ABSOLUTELY NO WAY WILL THIS BE DONE IN A FLASH!   There are 14 charts!  Each size uses them in a different order.  Each chart is a different number of stitches, and a different number of rows.  I'd have to be an idiot to try to knit this in a few weeks.  

It's frogged, time to go back to the drawing board.  Harumph.