skein

Juniper Mitts

A quick post before the big day.

Another Knitvent pattern, to match the Juniper socks.  A different weight, but I'm not knitting these as a a matching pair of socks and mitts as these will go in the Christmas pressie bag. 

 

A few mods. 

I've worked longer cuffs (no reason why, the pattern was long enough cuffs, I just forgot to start the gusset).

I worked the thumb first, with the hand last. I prefer doing thumbs first,  It's less fiddly picking up stitches from the thumb than from the hand,

I made mitts rather than mittens. 

Have a wonderful Christmas!  MrC is cooking this ear, so I can drink and work on his Christmas socks. A fair trade!

Getting ready for Christmas

Last day of work before the Christmas break!

Most presents for MrC wrapped, just his birthday socks to go.

Last night I picked  up Storm Mountain cardigan after a long rest.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but the front borders are knitted as you go, in a 1x1 slipped ribbing.  I've been having issues with the very last slipped stitch.  As you reach it, before slipping it, you pick up and place on the right needle the strand between stitches.  You then turn and work that end slipped stitch and the strnd together, and I've been making a right mess of it.  It's been driving me mad. Nothing I coudl do now I've worked some of it. But last night I noticed that one of the edge stitches had been droped 0 several inches down. Decision made. FROGGED.

So that leaves just two WIPs - socks for MrC.  That means I can start something else  Not sure what, yet. But I'm thinking a cardigan and a cowl...

Have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope that Santa brings lots of knitting goodies and knitting time! 

Still in Christmas panic mode

DONE:

Christmas gift shopping

Ocado (remembered alcohol)

Dad's gift has arrived and has been hidden by mum

MrC's birthday socks

Ravelry queue emptied

Shawl Society Amulet shawl frogged and project deleted

Knitvent shawl frogged and project deleted

NOT DONE:

Delivery of one of mum's presents - but it's en route

Posting of the other of mum's presents - will go Special Delivery today

Wrapping up of MrC's presents - tomorrow night's plan

MrC's socks - not even cast on

MrC's hat - not even cast on

Sorting of knits for gifts - I can do that after Christmas

Cleaning

Clearing

Knitting corner tided up - stray yarn, needles and stitchmarkers put in their rightful places

Urgh

At least the WIPs are down to a cardigan and some socks for MrC. I do have to cast on his Christmas knits but he won't complain if they're late.

 

 

 

Christmas panic!

WHY do I leave it so late to sort out Christmas?  

I've not done my Christmas knitting

I've not sorted out the knits to re-wash and tidy for Christmas gifts

I've not sorted out food

I've not tidied up

I've not posted out presents

I've JUST finished online ordering this afternoon

Harumph.

Even teh knitting is suffering, as I'm jumping from one panic to antoher. I can't imagine how people with a lot of people to buy and cater for manage!

The only things I've worked on thei weekend are the Juniper Mitts (finished, hurray!) adn MrC's birthday socks (nearly done, just a few inches of foot to go).

This morning I had another look at all of the things I wanted to do for December. Sixteen things.  I've finished four goals!  

The weekend weather has been so dark that I've not had a chance to take any phtotos. I'm hoping that over Christmas we have a few brighter days - even cloudy will do, just not overcast!

It looks as if MrC won't be getting his birthday socks till Christmas. And that i'll be knitting his Christmas socks for New Year. I'm too busy doing non-knitting chores¬

Three new things

Before I mention my three new things,  Yvonne's reminded me of another thing MrC did when he thought I was lying injured or dead - he also contacted her husband via Facebook (for some strange man thing he didn't contact Yvonne!) though she knew nothing about it until I contacted her!   

Onto the new things. Nothing exciting I'm afraid.

My cardigan and shawl are in the resting phase. Instead, I've been working on MrC's birthday socks. It was his birthday on Saturday but his socks aren't finished.  The second sock is in progress. I need to get these DONE before I start on the Christmas socks...

The second new WIP are more socks for MrC.  These were originally intended for his brithday, until I realised that I'd not get them even halfway done. 

Finally, the fifth Knitvent 2016 pattern, Juniper mitts, to match the Juniper socks.  IThis time I don't mind that they won't be a matching set of patterns, as I'm keepig the socks for me and giving the mitts as a Christmas present. 

 

 amex ,ppdus ingaram ellie reed moods com £402.51

Knitvent 2016 Boreal Forest Cowl

This is the second pattern for Knitvent. The first is still on the needles (a shawl), the third pattern (socks) are done and I'm not knitting the fourth pattern (a hat).

 

I modified this rather a lot.  Instead of three colours I used two. The width was not to my liking - neither a single nor double loop, somewhere inbetween, so i decreased the stitch count to make this a single loop. I also ended up working one less pattern as it was long enough. This might have something to do with using aran weight rather than worsted weight!

 

The fourth pattern, which I'm not knitting, is the matching hat for this pattern. I've lost the yarn I used and don't think i'd have enough anyway. It

The fifth pattern has just been releasedm  Juniper Mitts! To match the Juniper socks, and I'll definitely be knitting these.  I've hardly knitted any mitts this year.  Should be a quick knit. IF I FINISH MRC'S BIRTHDAY SOCKS!

The day MrC joined ravelry

I have no knitting news. I've had the lurgy and didn't manage any knitting progress over the weekend.  This means that MrC's birthday socks will not be done in time for his birthday on Saturday.  I had to restart them last night in a new shade as the previous attempt  had ended up with a knitted mess.

But on to ravelry.

Last night MrC told me that he'd added a new pattern to my ravelry library.  He'd decided that he might like another Voyageur's hat. The last one I knitted was great but the red yarn made him look a bit odd - it would have looked much better in a darker colour.   He was mightly surprised to see that his picture came up when he googled it...

Anyway, I asked him how he's  managed to put a pattern in my library and it turns out that his computer is logged onto my ravelry account. Which has reminded me of something which happened earlier this year...

In Spring MrC went off to Devon to visit an old school friend.  When apart we'll always speak in the evening, and text first thing in the morning.  In our late nght call MrC emntioned that he had dodgy phone reception and texts weren't sending. So come Saturday monring I wasn't surprised to not receive a text and didn't bother texting him.  I spent a quiet day knitting.  Instead of using my phone for raverly and toher web browsing, I picked up my new phone )the spare!) and used this all day via wifi. It was only at 5pm, when I'd added an email address to this new phone, that I saw an email from MrC with subject line 'call me'.  It was then that I descovered that my old phone, the one with the sim card in, was in Flight Mode, from the previous evening. As soon as I turned it back on it started bleeping and notifying me of texts and voice mails. I phoned MrC.  'phone me back in five minutes. I've got to phone Billy (his son) and stop him heading over to you. You need to call your parents'.

So I did.  I'd had a nice relaxing day, but nobody else had!

Dad had tried to phone me about a parcel, something he has never done on a Saturday.  NHo reply from either my mobile (flight mode!) or landline (which turned out to have a fault!).  He sent texts, left voicemail and by 4pm was getting concerned. So he called MrC - who told him he wasn't at home and by the way, he hadn't had a text off me either. Not the wisest thing to say to an elderly paretn! MrC and my parents went into panic mode.  He called Billy and asked him to go over to check on me. My parents phoned my sister and one of my brothers who also tried to contact me. My sister phoned the police who said that they couldn't do anyting as I wasn't a vulnerable person.

My sister was getting ready to travel to London. MrC packed his bags and missed out on the local music festival he'd gone down for. My dad was in tears. My parents thought I'd been murdered, living in London, and MrC thought I'd dropped down dead!  And this is why I thought of htis story when he logged into ravelry as me - because in a last desperate attempt to contact me he'd signed up for ravelry! Unfortunately it has had no influence on him at all.

Further mortification, at 7am on Sunday there was a loud knocking on the door.  And a very loud'Police!  Are you ok?'.  They'd decided to check me out anyway.  

We still refer to it as the weekend when everyone thought I'd been murdered...

 

Knitaly MKAL cowl

I finished t his a few weeks ago, but didnt' get around to taking a photo until yesterday.

it's a bias knit cowl, provisional cast on and grafting the ends togeterh (or of course you can sew them together and not do a proviaional CO,  or do a 3 needle cast off).

It's a very simple pattern, mosaic knitting and short rows to shape the bottom.  Very addictive!

When I read clue 2, which has you knit until the top edge is 16", or longer for a double loop. I stopped knitting. I honestly didn't think about it going over my head, and did think it was uncharacteristically unclear.  It blocked out though, and I'm very happy with it.  Pity I didn't actually read clue 3, which has the instructions as to when to stop!!  

A very pretty pattern, with so many variations.  The red colour is Noro DK and has hardly any variation in colour.  I have a few other balls but they included some darker colors and I didn't fancy cutting them out.  I can see this done with mini skeins, or odball stash.

 

The next pattern from Knitvent 2016 has been released and I've decided not to knit it. It's a hat to match the Boreal forest cowl, I found some light/dark aran yarn for that, but there's not enough left to knit the hat (and I can't find it!). I have a few hats in the GAL so will cast on one of those over the weekend. The first pattern (shawl) is still at the 50% mark and the socks are going well, I've turned the heel on the second sock and it's dk so will go very quickly.  I've picked up a sore throat lurgy which has made me feel really tired, so not much knitting will be done over the weekend. At the moment I jut want to get home and sleeeeep!