Blue Ribbon

I can't believe this but I won a first prize for the Sun Ray shawl at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

This was the Sun Ray shawl by Marianne Kinzel from her book The First Book of Modern Lace Knitting. When I set out to do this I wanted to choose something that was challenging to knit and also had a varied enough pattern so I wouldn't get bored. This project was definitely both.

The yarn is the 2/36NM cashmere in Adriatic Blue from Colourmart, held doubled. I used 3mm circular KnitPicks.

Altogether I would probably describe the experience as nail biting. When I started the shawl in the new year, I never thought I would still be blocking it on the eve of submission day.

Nor did I anticipate running out of yarn with half the final round to go plus the bind off. I couldn't find any more of the same colour on the Colourmart website and out of desperation emailed them directly. Thankfully Sue at Colourmart found some and sent it to me FOR FREE. How generous is that? I received the extra yarn on the Tuesday before the Saturday deadline.

One of these days I'll work out how many stitches went into this. The final rounds which had over 2,000 stitches took me well over 2 hours each! I know the crochet bind off was roughly 4,800 stitches and that alone took me 2 nights. Didn't help that I don't really know how to crochet.

Here's a pic of the display in the category. I must say the competition was pretty stiff - especially that beautiful white shawl that came second.

A couple more pics on Ravelry.

Emily's Cardigan

Unlike the many generous knitters out there, I make it a rule never to knit anything for other people unless they specifically request something. Even then I'm quite cautious about agreeing to make something because in my experience, the requester usually has very little idea about the amount of investment that's involved (and I mean investment in terms of hours not dollars). I get the feeling some of them ask only because they think a handknitted garment is cheaper than a store bought one. Really, I'd much much much rather buy them one, or two, or three.

However, when a friend of mine asked me to make a cardigan for her unborn baby girl, I enthusiastically agreed. She and her husband were expecting their first child and they'd moved to Australia a little over a year ago so they don't have a lot of family around to help them. I know it's a small thing but I wanted this baby to have something handknitted. Afterall, a handknit baby is a loved baby, right?

That was a bit of a long introduction but here's the finished product...

The pattern I decided on was the beaded fair isle cardigan from Debbie Bliss' The Baby Knits Book. It took me months to pick a pattern because I wanted it to be something special but also interesting to knit. By the time I picked the pattern the baby was due in less than 4 weeks so I decided to make the 6-9 month size since it won't be cold enough to wear until next winter anyway.

I had 5 balls of Baby Cashmerino in lilac in my stash (purchased in Stockholm, of all places) for the main colour, and used contrast colours from single balls of 100% merino I bought from Wilfert's in Copenhagen and odd balls of Baby Cashmerino.

I have to say the pattern was very difficult to understand. There was no schematic and no summary of how the cardigan is constructed. It was also impossible to work anything out from the 2 highly styled but very uninformative photos in the book.

Basically in the original design, the body is knitted up to the armpits, then the fronts and back are worked separately and a series of bind offs involving short rows creates the semi-circular yoke shape, then the remaining stitches are joined at the shoulders and stitches picked up along the cast off yoke shape, then the patterned yoke is knitted, incorporating decrease rows to shape the yoke and then finally using smaller and smaller needles to shape the neck. The sleeves are knitted separately and joined to the body in a drop sleeve style.

Is this over complicated or what???

I did some simple calculations with the help of EZ's Knitting Without Tears and ended up knitting the sleeves in the round, joining them with the body at the armpits, decreasing evenly to the number of stitches needed for the yoke, then followed the rest of the pattern.

Too easy.

I also used a rib tubular cast on and bind off to give a smooth edge. That's about all the changes I made and it meant virtually no seaming, except for the few stitches under the armpits.

More pics on ravelry.

Oh and Emily arrived early last Sunday. I hope she likes her new cardigan.

Neglected

I've been neglecting the blog. Sorry. Here's a few things I've been doing...

As promised

A few pics of what I've been doing knitting and sewing wise...

Haven scarf from Kim Hargreaves' Heartfelt book. I used this one skein of cashmere I got when we were in Denmark a couple of years ago. It's so soft. More pics on flickr.

A stack of cushions using fabric from our last Japan trip. More pics on flickr.

I'm also making this jumper modified from a pattern in an old Rebecca magazine. Except I kind of ran out of yarn when I got to the sleeves and will probably have to make it a short-sleeve top (which is pretty impractical). Anyone with random balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in colour 300604 please contact me. Although since it's long discontinued I don't have high hopes.

There's something about the DB Cashmerino range that I find really appealing in a ball, but when it's made into a garment I just don't love it. And it pills.

I did really enjoy the stitch pattern, which is probably why I stubbornly ploughed on even though I knew I didn't have enough yarn.

Wedding Bolero

I made this for a friend's wedding last October.

The pattern was designed from scratch, knitted on 3mm needles, and took me 3 months.

I was going to post a photo of her wearing it at the wedding after the big day.

But she didn't wear it.

Blankie

I used about 2.1 balls of Bendigo Woollen Mills' Rustic 12 ply in Elm. The .1 of a ball was courtesy of knittyrobyn from Ravelry. More pics here or on ravelry.

Oh and I finished the bumpy socks started just before our Japan trip.

The yarn is from Live2Knit, Joan in colour Choc Cherry. The pattern is based on Gentlemen's Half Hose in Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. I think I started with more stitches and made a longer heel, and used a tubular cast on. Needles were 2.5mm KnitPicks Options dpns.

V

I finally finished the v-neck for my dad. He's happy, I'm happy.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Jaeger Extra Fine Merino in Natural (SH 937), about 15 balls
Needles: 3.5mm/4mm Knitpicks Options circulars

Comments:
A pretty generic v-neck pattern with set in sleeves. I knitted both the body and sleeves in the round to reduce seaming.

The only difficulty I had was with the sleeves. I managed to mis-measure my dad's shoulder to wrist length, which led to a pretty long first sleeve that had to be completely ripped and remade. Designing the sleeve caps was also pretty tricky, but I found the article on the topic by Pam Allen in the Winter 07 issue of Interweave Knits pretty helpful.

This is the only photo I've got of my dad actually wearing it. It's taken on my phone, hence the awful quality. I can't take credit for the retro kitchen background though.

Dead Sock Day

First up, I've been hibernating. Partly because life has been really really busy, but mainly because there's not much knitting to show.

I've pretty much been working on my dad's v-neck in all my spare time, and that's about it. All the knitting got done last week and as soon as I finish this post, I'm going to attach the last sleeve and block the whole thing. And boy will it be a relief!

Not that it's not been fun. In fact, it's been quite a challenge since it's the first jumper I designed from scratch. But more on that when I actually finish it and have something to show with the commentary.

Today's post is mainly one of comiseration. Yesterday could aptly be called Dead Sock Day.

First I took out the laundry to find that this...

had become this...

I've machine washed these socks many times before, and there's never ever been a problem. For some reason, this time they completely felted!

When I checked the settings, I realised I had set the wash cycle to intense wash for the previous load and forgot to switch it back. And I only did that because (out of the kindness of my heart) I had taken the dirty stinky tea towels from work home to wash! Just goes to show doing good is bad for you.

After the anguish of this incident, I decided to mend another hand knitted sock just to make myself feel better. This one had a hole in the toe. Easy. Rip back a few rows, reknit, rekitchener, done.

When I finished, I went to get the other sock to try them both on. But when I put the 'good' sock on, this happened!

A stitch near the heel snapped and created this big hole! I just couldn't believe it. Two pairs of socks ruined in one day. If someone knows a good site on darning socks - please send it my way.

Anyway, I want to finish up on a happy note. I did manage to finish the Child's First Socks yesterday, from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.

More pics on my flickr. And details on Ravelry.

Oh, and we're going to Japan in 3 weeks!

Convertible

Thanks to the unusually cold weather this weekend, I finally took some photos donning the very very warm Convertible Cardigan by Wenlan Chia from KnitKnit by Sabrina Gschwandtner.



For my 2 cents about this pattern, see this previous post.

Seeing it's meant to be convertible, I tried wearing it a few different ways - see here, here, here, and here. Or just visit my Ravelry.

And finally, here's a glimpse of Dad's v-neck. So far so good.

Happy New Year Everyone

At least I managed to post before January's out. Just a quick knitting update really...

1. Second crochet bag, done!

For all the details check it out on my Ravelry. Incidentally this was made over our Christmas holiday near Jervis Bay where we stayed on a property with ALPACAS!

They are such funny creatures.

2. The Convertible Cardigan finally has buttons. They look like giant chocolate buds.

One day I may decide to model this cardigan (it's more like a jacket) but for now, I'm not insane enough to wear it in 30 degree heat.

3. Oh and I finally moved beyond swatching for my dad's perfect v-neck jumper.

Back in August last year, my dad asked me to make him a jumper after he saw the cardigan I made my mum for her birthday. So I promised to make him one for his birthday which is not until April. Plenty of time.

He specified that he wanted something he could wear to any and all occasions - casual, formal, weddings, funerals (my father is a pastor, so he actually goes to a lot of these). It has to be not too dark, not too light (definitely not Aran), not too plain, but not too fancy either. Piece of cake.

I then proceeded to do what I always do when I promise to knit someone something - I procrastinated. (This, incidentally, is why I do not knit Christmas gifts.) Since promising to make my dad this jumper, I've made 3 bags, a scarf, a cardigan, a baby sweater, a pair of socks and half of another jumper.

What have I done on dad's jumper? This...

So far this is my 3rd attempt at the border. And I still haven't quite decided on a pattern. I guess I work better under pressure.

Summer is just too good to blog. Talk next month.

Foray into the Dark Side

My first crochet project is done!



Despite the stitches being terribly uneven I really like this. I had to make it into a bag because I only had 1 ball of Muskat in this colour.

My favourite bit is where the pink joins the gold...



I used a 5mm hook for the body of the bag and 3mm for the gold bit (it's Twilleys Goldfingering) - they're probably the wrong sizes but they were the only hooks I already own and I didn't want to invest in new hooks until I was sure this is something I want to keep doing.

I'm still not sure.

Garter Scarf & EZ Baby Seamless

Done!

I like the buttons on this one. Here's a closeup.



Details: Baby Sweater on Two Needles from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitters Almanac
Needles: 4mm KnitPicks Options
Materials: Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed DK in Autumn, about 3 balls, and 7 buttons

Also done is the garter stitch scarf I started in the Deathly Hallows queue.



Details: 3 balls of Noro Kureyon colour 134
Knitted on 5mm bamboo circs. Cast on 25 stitches and knit every row. Super easy.

Love the colour changes on this one.

Mini Tote

A quick little project using a ball of Drops Muskat bought in Oslo. Free pattern here. I made a mini version by casting on 25 st (using 5mm circs) as I only had 1 ball in this colour.

In other news, I'm finally attempting to conquer my fear of crochet. My very first attempt shown below...

I have no idea whether it's meant to look like this. (It certainly doesn't in the book I'm using.) The holes are massive and ridiculously uneven. For some reason the holes are always bigger at either end of the row so the piece is kind of trapezoid in shape. Advice, anyone?

Deathly Hallows Scarf

Well the Sockapalooza socks are done, blocked, and packaged (and only 1.5 weeks late - so sorry Sock Pal!).

(More pics here.)

I ended up working the heel as per the pattern because I simply couldn't get the colours to stop pooling when I tried the Widdershin heel, although I did find a very useful link that shows you how to knit this heel for socks with different numbers of stitches to the original pattern (thanks Talvi!).

The pattern is Marigolds by Pamela Wynne of Flint Knits. Yarn is Joan in Lilly Pilly from Live 2 Knit. I used 2.5mm Knit Picks dpns.

In the meantime, I'm working on something I haven't done in years - a garter stitch scarf!

I started this while in the Deathly Hallows queue at Borders, with my iPod plugged in (I was really paranoid I would overhear a spoiler) and grumpy as anything (standing in a queue of 200 people at 8.30am after a big night is not my ideal Saturday morning).

The garter stitch is strangely soothing and the colour changes in Noro Kureyon is just interesting enough to keep me going.

Day in Lieu

Only 2 posts in July - that's got to be an all time low!

My main excuse... (no, it's not Ravelry) is this little charity walk I'm doing called the Oxfam Trailwalker. It's a 100km bushwalk to be completed in 48 hours in teams of 4. My team has been doing 20-40km walks every weekend to get ourselves ready and unfortunately this means knitting has taken a backseat.

I've only been working on the necessary projects - i.e. my Sockapalooza socks (late! late! late!) and my mum's cardigan.

Yes, the cardigan is FINISHED!

(More photos here.)

After blocking, the cardigan was the purrrfect size and mum was so happy with it she squealed and danced around like a silly school girl (a very funny sight). I found the buttons at a shop in The Rocks called Buttons Buttons Buttons. They have a fantastic range of buttons (funny that) in a tiny little shop. The address is 25 Nurses Walk, The Rocks, for anyone who lives in Sydney.

Forgot to add project details yesterday...
Pattern: Lacy Cable Cardigan from Jo Sharp Knit Issue 2
Yarn: Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in Musk - ALL of 8 balls
Needles: 3.5mm (pattern calls for 3.25mm)

Modifications:
I made the long sleeves from the sweater version (the cardigan version has short sleeves) and shortened them to fit my mum. I used a tubular cast on for all the 1x1 ribbing and did the sleeves in rounds to avoid seaming. That's it!

Spot the Difference?

Some of you may be wondering what's happened to the Child's French Socks I started way back on my last holiday. Have I unknowingly fallen victim to the Single Sock Liberation like so many before me?

Well, the answer is, no.

However, perhaps worse than that, the reason why sock #2 has taken me so long to produce, is due to a serious case of dopiness. First I miscounted the number of repeats in the leg (frog #1), then I picked up 1 less stitch on one side of the heel flap (frog #2), then I lost a stitch at the start of the foot and didn't realise until halfway down the foot (frog #3), then I miscounted the number of repeats in the foot (frog #4), then I dropped a stitch in the toe shaping (frog #5), and then the best one of all...

In my infinite wisdom, I decided to use KnitPicks dpns on the 2nd sock as opposed to the bamboos I used for the 1st. I know, I know, it's a cardinal rule of knitting to use the exact same needles but I've broken this on many many occasions, swapping between same sized aluminum and bamboo needles with negligible impact on sizing. (Actually, the main reason I swapped needles this time was because the bamboos weren't sharp enough to pick up the K2tog's and it frustrated the hell out of me on the first sock.)

Anyway, the result is that the KnitPicks sock is about 2cm shorter in both the leg and foot (which you can see from the photo above - it's not just an illusion). When I put the needles through the needle gauge, the KnitPicks went through just a tad easier than the bamboos but clearly a little bit of difference all adds up!

There was no way I was going to remake either sock, so the only way to purge myself of this curse on my knitting mojo was to give the socks away. Which required frog #6 - to make it smaller to fit the recipient. She barely noticed the difference but in my heart of hearts, I know!

More photos here.

Yarn: 4ply Merino in Roses from The Knittery
Pattern: Child's French Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Needles: 2.5mm dpns

Started: 20 April, 2007
Finished: 21 June, 2007

London Calling

I give you, the London Beanie...

I know, my head is way too round for beanies. This is going to a happy home in the UK.

I used 1 ball of Zara in chocolate brown (MC) and scraps for CC. I made it a lot longer than the pattern required - an extra 19 rounds in fact!

And now, the EXCITING news. We're going on holidays! This has been in the works for quite a few months now and we're leaving on Friday. Yes, THIS Friday!

Our itinerary includes a very short stint in London, followed by Scandinavia, Spain, and home via Hong Kong.

I've already started compiling a list of yarn shops in all those places, thanks to some very nice friends from blogland.

Heidi pointed me to a very comprehensive listing of yarn stores in Scandinavia under the Garn Studio stockists page.

Catrin and Gabriella both suggested these two stores in Stockholm, which I will definitely visit...
Marias Garn at St Paulsgatan 20 - near Mariatorget, Södermalm

Nysta at Luntmakargatan 50, Norrmalm

Gabriella also suggested a few around the Malmö area...

Sländan at Lilla Fiskaregatan 1 in Lund
Irmas Hus at Kalendegatan 13 in Malmö
Signe Svensson Garnaffär at Davidshallsg 25 in Malmö
Yllet on Jöns Filsgatan 2 in Malmö (also in Stockholm at Drottninggatan 106)

I'm also thinking of visiting these ones in Copenhagen, thanks to Maud's write up here...
Sommerfuglen at Vandkunsten 3
Uldstedet on Fiolstraede 13
Strikkeboden, cnr of Fiolstraede and Krystalstraede

Back in London, I'm hoping to make a trip to Loop sometime in our 24 hours there. Oh and amazingly, I even found a listing of yarn shops in Hong Kong!!

Okay okay, I am resisting from doing any more research about yarn stores for this trip, or else poor Jerms will surely die of boredom, and bankruptcy!

Monkeying Around

The socks which were to be a birthday gift way back in Feb finally got done and gifted.

Here they are in all their true glory. Thanks Hoops!
This is a really horrible photo taken with *gasp* a flash, but it's the only one I got, modelled by the grateful recipient with our glamorous kitchen tiles in the background. It really doesn't do the socks justice. I'll try to get a nicer one off her.

I ended up making the Monkey socks from Knitty after all, but had to go down a needle size than the one I got gauge with because this yarn has very little elasticity - the K1P1 cuff does not spring back to shape once you stretch it.

I love this shot of the stitch detail and gusset.

Project details...
Yarn: 1 skein of Merino Cashmere Sock yarn from The Knittery in Cherries. You can see the colours better here.
Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbos 80cm (I used the magic loop method). I must say that the Addis are not pointy enough for this pattern. The K2tog drove me nuts.

Modifications: I used a tubular cast-on and did one less pattern repeat in the leg section (mainly because I got bored).

Oh okay, just one more for the road.