Obligatory knitting post

Two posts in one day! I thought it was better to separate them as they are about completely different things. So, back to our usual fare: knitting!

I finished knitting and blocking my Owls sweater, and am wearing it right now. It looks fabulous – it’s so close-fitting and well-shaped it’s actually a very sexy sweater, despite being made of a chunky woollen yarn. The sleeves are very tight – it’s a bit of a struggle to put it on, and I certainly won’t be wearing it over any long-sleeved tops, but it’s perfectly comfortable once it’s on. Hopefully the upper arms will give a little with wear. The reason it’s not completely finished, and I’m not boring you with FO pictures, is that I don’t yet have any buttons for the owls’ eyes. It’s very hard to source 34 identical buttons – neither of my local craft shops carry that many of the same kind. I found some on the Internet, but the site wanted me to spend a minimum of £5, and I didn’t want anything else! Eventually I found some plain plastic fisheye buttons on Ebay, and ordered two packs. I hope they match the sweater!

I have finally bitten the bullet and cast on for my first stranded project. I opted for Ziggy, which is a pattern for crazy zigzag socks in Noro Kureyon. I chose one of the more muted colourways, full of greens and browns and greys. The pattern has already gone through several creative stages:

• At first I planned to knit the socks toe-up, as specified by the pattern, and to stripe the Kureyon with some steel-grey Patons Diploma Gold 4-ply. I decided to cast on 72 stitches, as various people on Ravelry have commented that the socks are tight, and I have size 7 feet.
• After being foiled late one evening by the magic cast-on and deciding to leave it till the next day and find a video, I had a think and realised that I don’t particularly like toe-up socks anyway. So I decided to knit them cuff-down, and cast on 72 stitches on my lovely new wooden KnitPro 2.75mm needles.
• About 3 inches into the first sock, I realised several things. One, at 19 rows the cuff was too long. Two, the first colour in the ball was a dull khaki and I didn’t like the way it knit up in ribbing. Three, at 72 stitches on 2.75s, the cuff was too loose. And four, I didn’t much like the way the Noro was knitting up with the Patons.
• So I frogged it, and this is what I’ve ended up with so far:

This time I cast on 66 stitches on 2.25mm needles. I only knit 10 rows of ribbing, and then I changed to the 2.75s. On the first colourwork row, I kfb every other pattern repeat to increase to 72 stitches. And I’m striping the Noro with itself, as the pattern specified in the first place. I like how it’s going so far, althoughI hope to get some more contrasting colours coming through soon so you can see the zigzags more clearly.

Last weekend I had to buy another ball of yarn for my Owls sweater, and when I ordered it from Cucumberpatch I was completely won over by the RYC Cashcotton in their sale. Some background: I completely fell in love with Kate’s Manu cardigan when I first saw it on her blog. I decided I had to knit it just as soon as the pattern was available, and that I wanted to make it in red. I liked the fuzziness of the Shilasdair yarn, and would probably have been happy to make it in that. But the Cashcotton seemed to fit the bill: wonderfully soft, fuzzy, and a glorious colour called “red pepper”.

I wasn’t sure how much I would need, as the pattern isn’t published yet. According to Ravelry, Kate used 4 skeins of Shilasdair, or 1488 yards. I am less petite than Kate, and I assumed I would be making a bigger size. So I bought 11 balls to be on the safe side, which gives me 1562 yards. I wonder if I should maybe have got a 12th ball, as I did need more yarn than the pattern indicated for Owls (also designed by Kate) – the price of being tall with monkey arms, I suppose! I routinely make patterns longer than specified, and I forget that eats up extra yarn.

Anyway, there is a fire burning in the grate and I’m off to put on the kettle and pick up my knitting…

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Record breaking socks!

Well, for me I think they’re probably record breaking. After I decided to frog the Not Cable Socks (well, the inch or so I had managed to knit) I cast on for the Anastasia Socks last Sunday. And I finished them while sitting in the sunshine on our garden bench today. So I couldn’t resist snapping them on my camera phone right away.

These are the Anastasia Socks in Krafty Koala bamboo/merino, colourway “Marble.” The colours contrast more boldly than most sock yarn I’ve knitted with before, but I love the way it does actually look like veins of marble. And I love the way the subtle pinks and tiny bits of green contrast with the black and white stitches when you look at the fabric up close.

Before finishing the socks I weeded around our gooseberry bush, compost bin and potato bed. I used to think that I hated weeding, but what I thought was weeding was actually clearing our completely overgrown and bramble-infested garden when we moved in. I have since discovered that actual weeding just involves a bit of hoeing and pulling up strands of Sticky Willies, both of which are rather therapeutic.

One chore that I’ve not plucked up the courage to tackle yet is turning the compost. We’ve had the compost bin for a couple of years but I’m too squicked to turn it because it’s infested with those big, grey slugs that look a bit like turds. I am not a lover of slimy creatures and I do not like slugs. This winter I think I might have to tackle it, though.

Yes, I have learned a valuable lesson. Never put sprouting old potatoes in the compost.

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Changing socks

I cast on for the Not Cable Socks on the train down to Staffordshire last week. I did the cuff of one, and a bit of the leg, and then decided that the bold colours of the yarn completely swamped the pattern. So I waited till I got home to my parents’ place, and used their veeeery slooooow dial-up to download a couple of patterns that I thought would work better with bright yarn. I eventually settled on the Anastasia Socks, after the runaway success of the spiralling rib patter in my RPM socks.

I finished one pretty quickly and am about to work the heel of the other.

I don’t usually like toe-up socks – I used to find short rows a guddle (as they say in Fife) and never thought they looked very neat. Plus, if I made the sock too long in the foot (as I did with the first two or three pairs I made) it’s a lot easier to alter the toe if it’s knit cuff-down. But I had a crack at doing the Anastasia socks toe-up, using this tutorial, which tells you to pick up the wrap and pass it over the stitch, rather than knitting or purling the wrap and stitch together. And whaddya know? It worked!

Check out my short-row heel!

Yeah, ignore the hole at the top of the heel. Still haven’t got the hang of eliminating those when I’m doing short rows. But isn’t the heel itself neat? I’m very proud of myself. It even fits perfectly.

I’m going to try to get as much of the remaining sock done as I can today. The Fella is at T in the Park and I’m a bit hungover, so I think I’m going to spend most of the afternoon on the sofa watching last week’s Top Gear and Doctor Who Confidential and knitting.

I have other exciting knitting and not-directly-craft-related things to blog about, so stay tuned.

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Actual real FOs!

Wow, it’s an actual post, with actual real finished objects!

On Saturday we attended the wedding of The Fella’s sister and her fiance. Precisely a week before, I realised that I didn’t have a wrap or shrug to go with my dress, and proceeded to make an emergency trip to McAree’s in Stirling. I came away with five bargainous balls of Patons Washed Haze in “Faded Green” and proceeded to cast on for a Ribbed Lace Bolero. Simple pattern, small garment, aran weight yarn plus three days off sick led to the quickest FO ever:

I actually have three balls of Washed Haze left – that’s what you get for having a really loose tension.

While I was ill I finished the socks that I’ve been working on for a while:

They are RPM from Knitty in Natural Dye Studio Dazzle, colourway Shiraz Mist. I really love how the travelling rib pattern works with the variegated yarn – I was never particularly convinced by the pictures in the actual pattern, and it wasn’t until I saw some nice versions of RPM on Ravelry that I decided it would be the perfect pattern to show off this yarn. I did the heel flap version and accidentally grafted the toes too early, but they are still probably the best fit of any socks I’ve knitted so far (I tend to make them too big, which is one reason I prefer cuff-down – easier to alter!).

I have also just wound the Grace that I frogged last week into balls. I can’t remember how much I had, and my scales are not very precise, but I think it’s about 3 balls. Not very much for a shrug, but I could get more. I actually really liked the way the yarn looked knitted up on garter stitch on large needles – it’s got such a gorgeous sheen that it doesn’t need a complex stitch pattern to show it up. But I also really like the Mia shrug, which looks like a very adaptable pattern. I will have to mull it over…

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Clapoteeeee

I finished the clapotis I was knitting for The Fella’s Mum’s birthday. Despite having only two skeins of SWT Oasis (instead of 3 for the full yardage specified by the pattern) it’s still come out a decent size. I did two-thirds of the increases in the pattern so as to be able to make it the full length, and it looks fine. The soy silk is lovely and soft and blocks well.  I hope she likes it!

And I had this much yarn left afterwards:

I’ve now cast on for a pair of socks: RPM from Knitty. I’m using some absolutely gorgeous superwash blue-faced Leicester from the Natural Dye Studio, in the colourway Shiraz Mist. Here it is before I wound it into balls and started knitting it:

Oh, and on a somewhat unrelated note, The Fella has managed to lose the Manly Gloves. I’ve told him he’s not getting a new pair till next winter now!

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