KnittingNatty

One day, 2 FOs

Thank you all for your well wishes on our wedding anniversary!
We had a lovely dinner out at this lovely restaurant, and I spent all day knitting, watching cricket and then the tennis final last night.

Hence the two finished objects!
First, Tony's socks. Made with Trekking col 62.

And, Ariann, blocking outside in the morning sunshine

Unfortunately, it is a little small for me, so if blocking does not cure it, I must frog the body and reknit in a larger size. Such is the risk of a garment all knit as one piece.  A word of warning if you are contemplating this pattern: if you want the buttons to do up loosely (as shown on the model), then choose a larger size than you would normally do - this pattern does not have much ease.

Also, the pattern is written in a very sparse style if that is your thing. It is not mine.

All Ariann, all the time

A belated Happy New Year to all!

The second of the Ariann sleeves continue apace:

I have been toiling away at my Ariann sock. I got carried away with the idea of the increases up the back of the calf, and then wanted to try it on, only to discover that it was too narrow without a heel to get it over the widest part of my foot. Then, an idea struck me: what if I was to put in a turkish afterthought heel, but with a decorative eyelet up the side of the decreasing seam? My first attempt at this heel failed, as it looked far to bulky and not at all the elegant construction that I had envisaged. I'll frog the heel tonight and try another idea.

(Can you make the little eyelets out?)

But, the temporary heel did allow me to try the sock on, and I can tell you that the pattern looks lovely stretched out over the foot. The chevrons provide a lot of "give" where necessary, not a bad thing.



I will put the new heel in first so that I can see how the increases are working out at the back of the sock. I have some design ideas to incorporate into the stitch pattern, so that it essentially becomes a modified chevron. Intrigued? Me too! Ihave this idea in my head how it is going to look, so for the moment, we'll all have to wait and see!

I'm sorry to say that I find myself back at work this week, so knitting progress will be slow for a while now. I have blog posts planned across the weekend, all the same!

Happy weekend to all!

H is for Christmas

H is for my hammock stand, a present from Santa just for me!

H is for my Harry Potter DVD box set Years 1 - 4 and Year 5, received from the Hubster!
This is what I have knitted so far whilst watching it!

Those would be one and a bit Ariann sleeves - Finally! I had already knit both sleeves previously, but made them too narrow and had to be frogged and re-knitted. In a huff, I decided that the project needed a long time out before getting back on track. I am happy with my progress so far, and am now wondering why I procrastinated until mid Summer to get going on this. I feel that once the sleeves are knitted, then the yoke should follow fast, and with no seaming and little finishing (the buttons have been patiently waiting this many a month of 2007), this will be hopefully an FO before too long!

Also, my Ariann sock, on the foot:

and a view of the back, below. As you can see,  I am just past the heel, so it is time to pick up the patterning all the way around the sock, and not just on the top, and proceed up up and away! I am toying with the idea of adding some increases to make the sock longer than normal, so enamoured am I with the colour changes as they progress. Already, I am imagining a picot edge, hemmed. Dare I dream of a sock to go up to under the knee?

As I have already lost the ball band, I'd better record for the sake of posterity that it is trekking xxl colour 110.

It is approaching mid-Summer very quickly here, and here is the latest produce from our garden: a  pumpkin and a ripened pineapple! (The Hubster is so proud!)

The pineapple was chopped up and consumed as part of a ham and pineapple pizza, and the pumpkin (one of many we have eaten so far this year) is very delicious baked. However, the vine does cause havoc with a lawn, (and may yet take over the world).

Oh, the joys of 10 days holidays, with little to do but attend house husband of (h)offspring and get my teeth really into some knitting!
   

The lotus blossom tank

Finally, here is some of the knitting I promised you - today, we have the Lotus Blossom Tank

Here it is, pulled down at the front just a little:

(self portrait)
And some that my wonderful photographer hubbie took for me

Robbyn? That's my fake wreath, for your viewing pleasure! Doesn't smell very good, unless you like the smell of plastic ...

Whilst I was knitting this, I was mindful of the drapey-ness that Donni had indicated in her FO post using the same yarn and the same colour. I tried to make the length just long enough and thought that it would probably stretch down through the day as I wore it for the first time. I'll have to report back on that one.

Pattern: Lotus Blossom Tank - Interweave Knits - Ravelry link here

Needle: 3.5 mm - knitpicks options

Yarn: Cleckheaton Bamboo - here is a pic on flickr (attribution Flickr id quiltingmick/ michelle/ Michelle Mabelle) to have a look at. I used the same shade as is in the picture. This is a good picture to refer to as it shows the loosely chained construction of the yarn. it was not overly splitty, all the same. I used almost 6 balls and had 2 left over. Note that the details entered in Ravelry are a bit misleading. The entry indicates the yardage to be 125 yds, but it is however 125 m per ball. So I used almost 750m (820 yds). I gave the leftover balls to my Mum to have a play with. This would make a good in between seasons scarf or whatnot, as it is very very soft.


Notes:
I added knitting elastic to the garter stitch under the bustline, and did 6 and a half inches instead of 7 and a half for the flaps from the back to the front. I added at least one inch before splitting the front and the back to make allowances for cleavage, and forgot to knit up garter stitch rows before casting off the front section.

Never to mind, I picked up the stitches again and knitted them in with the rest of the neckline.

I will reserve my verdict until I see how the yarn behaves as a garment being worn: it is in the meantime very soft and very suited to the steamy climate I live in.

Michele - one sleeve down!

See, I *am* knitting! This is the sleeve from Michele, a Melissa Leapman design:

And I am racing along with sleeve number 2!  The Knitpicks  Shine Sport is an excellent substitution (thanks Bron!) with the 3.25 and 3.75 mm needles giving exact measurements for the schematic. Now I know why Bron raves about Ms Leapman's patterns!

I finished some (woollen) socks for DS Ian. I  think his foot has grown since I cast it on. The little poppet wore them all day at daycare Monday, and he didn't take them off even though the temperatures here are already quite tropical! Awww...


(And someone, please pass me a peg for my nose!)

My blues have vanished - all was righted with the world once I worked out that I needed to make a list of "me- jobs". There are all kinds of things on that crazy list and it will take time to work through, but this is definitely a good  thing to realise. For example, my engagement ring does not fit due to my knuckle having swollen/ grown more knobbly in the past couple of years. I realised that I had no plans to fix it although I love it and miss wearing it but I had not worked out any way of actually doing something about it until the list was born! So, its a good thing.

I won't bore you with the list  but let's say that knitting garments for me is right up there!

Blue

Blue for sky

and blue for mood. My mum left after her visit this morning. The older I get the harder it seems to say good bye. Also the harder it is to see her aging, little by little.

There has been knitting, though, hurrah!

Starfish from "Toys to Knit" by Tracy Chapman. Its a hit with the kids - pity it is going in the mail to Baby D on Monday!

I finally got back to Michele in "Hot Knits" by Melissa Leapman. I've had the yarn for almost a year, shame on me! And I'm starting with the sleeve to see how much yarn I have. A common theme with me - worrying about having enough yarn, it seems! My dear friend Bron sent me this yarn, and I am really really pleased with how the colours are knitting up together!

The next photo is crap for colour representation, but shows the stitch definition a little better:

I started a sock for the Hubster

and bought beads for the Secret of the Stole KAL
colour choice inspired by the charcoal cotton leftovers to the  left. Again, the colour representation is not the best, and my apologies.

Apologies also for the lack of words. Moping is pretty well the order of the day today.
But better luck tomorrow!

300 stitches to a row

Ariann has all the pieces put together now, and that is what  you end up with - 300 stitches to a row.

3 rows tonight  - no small achievement.

And now, to bed.

The early bird, and all that...

Ariann has been getting a sleeve on, thanks to getting up at a quarter past dark o'clock, to knit in the silence, hot coffee at elbow, listening to the sounds of the birds waking up...

Proof:

That's the body up to the armhole, one completed sleeve on a provisional cast off and the start of the second sleeve.

(This photo of the first sleeve is the closest to representing the colour accurately so far...)

I have been getting to bed much earlier to make up for the early starts, just like one of my favourite  bloggers.

Whilst I can't say that daily blogging is going to return anytime soon, I think that the weekends are looking more and more like when blog entries will be done. I dont even get to turn on the home computer some weekdays.I am also under a self imposed ban from having the computer on before the kids' bedtime on weekdays. It's just a lack of time overall in many asects of life at the moment.

I do have some other blog posts planned, its just a matter of getting them out of my head and onto the keyboard...

Although the yarn I am using is DK weight, it is not on the thin side. So far, I am able to get away without any alterations to the pattern merely by using the needle size specified in the pattern, and the fabric is knitting up just fine.

One thing about needles: whilst the bamboo needle worked well backwards and forwards on the main part of the body, it did not work for the magic loop for the sleeves. I am back to DPNs, and have found that it is best to change needles on st sts, and not on an inc or dec.

The kids are being very distracting so that will have to be all for now... Ciao!

Getting on with it

For some weeks now I have been itching to get my teeth stuck into a good solid sizeable knitting project, specifically, a jumper/ cardi for me.

I was procrastinating with Ariann, because I am using DK instead of aran weight yarn, and also I fear that doing so will cause me to need more yarn than the pattern specified. The yarn is less brown that this picture shows, but the other pictures I took were more grey. In reality, it is a deep and very tweedy Olive green. Olive is one of my favourite colours and is coincidentally also my grandmother's name. This, and Michele (pics to come), are my cast on projects for Project Spectrum.

I think my guage will be okay as the pattern is dense with all the decreasing and the yarn overs make it airy, and that is fine for my purposes. I have ordered more wool to be on the safe side.

I have cast on a size larger as some of the width is eaten up in the diagonal movement of the pattern. The stitch pattern is easily memorised and I have used stitch markers liberally. I literally have no more stich markers left for non-sock needles now. I think that's a sign I have too many WIPS...

(Oh, I have also updated the sidebar, stay tuned for new banner ideas)

This is one of those projects that feel great whilst you are knitting it, will be a pleasure to wear (I have not seen a knitted up version of this that I did not like) etc. As today is a public holiday in Australia, I will see how much of this I can get done before tomorrow.

I am  having trouble putting it down :)

Hooray for scratching that itch!

All the way with LPJ

Yesterday I had a blocking party, all by my lonesome:

Then last night, I had a seaming party.

Specs: Lace Panel Jumper from Jo Sharp Knit 2

Yarn: Jo Sharp Aran Cotton 17 balls,  colour "Evening". I found the yarn very twisty, and got very tired of untangling it. I have about half a ball left over.

Modifications: none really. The sleeves are very fitted and long, and the body is a little close for my liking. I should have  knit the next size up for the ease I was really looking for.

Housework? Not so much. Photos with me wearing LPJ later.