Green fingers

Knitting has taken a backseat this weekend as the sun has appeared and I've embarked on a different type of project. Gardening. Or garden making is probably a more accurate description. 

My flat doesn't have a proper garden but there's a sizable patio type thing in the corner of the driveway which is a bit scruffy and the view isn't great (even though I love my car I don't want to sit and stare at it!).  But all this has changed!  I've put up a bamboo screen so the cars and road are less noticeable and invested in patio furniture and some pot plants.  It's great, what was a wasted nasty corner of a drivewsy is now a rather more appealing patio.  Next weekend I'll do some planting in the  boarders/random patches of nasty dry soil and stone.

But I digress, back to knitting.  I've finished a cowl I've been working over the past few weeks, yes I know, another one.  The pattern is Inspira Cowl by Graphica.  I used Lion Brand Amazing wool which transitions through a range of colours as you knit.  The result is very bright but I think it will be fun to wear in the winter when everything needs livening up.

Progress on the fair isle cardigan is slow.  I prepared to make decent progress whilst watching the England game this week but the game was so disappointing I fell asleep.  Not good.  But it's still fun to knit.  I think it will take me at least until Christmas...

A Woolly Weekend

I've just returned from weekend at my parent's in Nailsworth where I've discovered a wonderful wool shop called Bobble.

It's a beautiful shop with shelves and shelves of gorgeous yarn.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that they stocked the wool I wanted for a project I've been mulling over for months now.   I saw this lovely Debbie Bliss fair isle cardigan pattern months ago and it's been playing on my mind ever since.  Considering the fair isle pattern, 14 balls of wool in 8 different colours and the fact that the most complex item I've knitted so far is a hat (i.e. nothing too difficult), it's quite an undertaking, but I bit the bullet and bought the wool (lots of wool!).

I'd like to thank the lovely ladies in Bobble for all their help in choosing the right colours.  I was far from an ideal customer; first I left my pattern at home (foolish!) and second the pattern recommended shades that are no longer available but they helped me choose replacements which created a beautiful palette which I'm very excited about knitting with.  I'll be going there again, even if I do live 100 miles away!

I've cast on and so far so good!  Wish me luck!

Park Life

Enjoying the park and knitting (the pink hat!) whilst waiting for friends to join me for after work drinks.  It's June, just about sunny and really quite chilly. What's going on?! Bring on the summer!

Inevitable Update

So after trawling Ravelry and discovering that 50g isn't enough yarn to knit a pair of socks (I'm still learning) I've finally found a pattern that I *hope* will work with my random bargain bin ball of Rowan wool cotton.  It's going to be a little pink hat using a Ravelry pattern found here (thanks Christy for the free Ravelry download).

It's on the needles and 7 rows in all is going well.  I also faced a fear today...commuter knitting.  London's a great place to live but there are certain commuting rules; do not make eye contact, do not talk to strangers, do not make any sudden movements....you get the picture.  Basically, plug in your headphones and don't take your eyes off of your phone/tablet/book.  But today I broke the mould. I knitted and I loved it!  I got a few odd looks but whatever.  Great use of my hour commute.  I'm aware that there are many commute knitters out there and I salut you, forget the quiet carriage, bring on the knitting carriage!

Inevitable

I did the inevitable.  I bought yarn.  I told myself I wouldn’t but somehow it happened.  I was meeting a friend for tea and cake but she got there a little early so I met her in the haberdashery rather than the cafe...and I bought three skeins of yarn.  They were in the discount bin though and I (almost) have a plan for them.

The first is Rowan Wool Cotton in shade 00951 Tender.  I love the colour.  Socks have been on my to do list for a while and I think this yarn will work nicely.  Watch this space.

The next purchase was two skeins of Debbie Bliss Winter Garden in Silver Birch.  My mum has been asking for a cowl similar to my first knit for a while now I’m going to use it to knit her something similar.  The yarn is so soft it will be perfect for a scarf or cowl.

   

 Let the pattern hunting begin!

Australian Winter

This post looks back at a pair of past knits.  I knitted these hats following a request from my little sister who is currently living in Australia. Apparently it’ll get cold there!

 

For the hat itself I followed the setesdal beanie hat pattern in the book “Knit Nordic” by Eline Oftedal which has lots of lovely pattens based on 4 traditional nordic sweater pattens. It was knitted in a round on 3.5mm 40cm long circular needles, changing to short double pointed needles (dpns) as the stiches decreased. Something I didn’t like is getting a ‘jog’ in the pattern when moving from one round to the next. Think I’m knitting in a spiral but not sure how to correct this - any tips?

The bobble isn’t included in the original pattern but was a later addition. After finishing the first hat I sent a photo to my sister and felt rather pleased with myself. Job done. Or so I thought. The next day I woke up to a message saying “Thanks, I love the hat….but can it have a bobble?….and can you knit another for my boyfriend?”

So I added a bobble. This was the first time I’d made a bobble/pompom and it was really fun. I cut out two (almost) identical 5inch cardboard circles with a 1inch hole in the centre. This produced a very satisfying 4inch pompom. I was running low on wool so it ended up a little loose but I think it still looks cute. As much as I hate to say it, the sister was right, it is better with a bobble!

First to the finish line

So, my first finished project! This was based on one night, one skien, seed stitch tall cowl from knitandbake.com, one of the first knitting blogs I discovered.  I loved the seed stitch, which I've discovered is the same as British moss stitch but differs from American moss stitch which is a variation of seed stitch.

Seed stitch/British moss stitch is

row 1: *k1,p1*

row 2: *p1, k1*

whereas American moss stitch is

row 1&2: *k1,p1*

row 3&4: *p1, k1*

something to try another time.

I used Wendy Serenity Super Chunky yarn in teal and 10mm, 80cm circular needles.  The pattern requires "hat needles" which I took to mean 40cm circulars but I didn't have any so made it larger and cast on 55 stitches rather than the 49 in the pattern.  This worked quite well, the finished cowl was just a little looser than the patten intended but I like it.

I cast on using the European thumb method and cast off in knit.  I really like the cast on edge but not so keen on the cast off.  Looking at the wrong side I should have cast off in purl to get the finish I prefer.

This was definitely a quick knit.  I started and finished it in one weekend.  My mum has already requested a cowl in this stitch.  I think next time I'll use smaller length needles, probably 60cm, so it's a little narrower and higher.

Overall a super quick knit in a lovely stitch...wool ewe knit it?

Let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

Until a few months ago I hadn't given knitting much thought.   It was always something I'd associated with my Grandmas.   As a young child I remember watching them knitting the latest cardigan for my sister or me.  I suppose the click click of the needles and balls of wool rolling around is something I've always related with them.  My Granny is a ferocious knitter producing multiple garments a week.  The drawer under my bed is full of lovely jumpers and dresses she's made for me so the attraction to knitting isn't that I need more knitwear...

It all started a few months ago when I got talking to a friend at work who took up knitting a year or two ago.  She showed me a dress she was making.  It was lovely but I was surprised that its creator was my age rather than a seasoned knitter with a lifetime of experience.   The other thing that struck me was that she wasn't even looking forward to wearing it.  She found pleasure in the activity rather than the result.  She gave me a knitting crash course one afternoon; knit, purl, decreasing, increasing, colourwork, pattern reading...it was intense but by the end of it I was hooked. 

The following weekend I was in my home town of Nailsworth visiting family and I found myself in a lovely wool shop.  This shop was relatively new, I'd not seen before it in the twenty-plus years I'd previously lived there.  I found the wool so appealing; the colours, the textures, even the smell.  I left with a pair of 2.5mm needles, 3 balls of different wool and a pattern for some hand warmers (which are still wip several months later).  I was happy.

I've since discovered the online knitting world and found other patterns and yarns to enjoy, particularly chunky knits which progress far more quickly than a project on 2.5mm needles!  The question that I've learnt to ask myself before walking into a shop and blindly buying wool and needles is...wool ewe knit it?