Hello! It is the eve of another new year! I wish I could say the time has gone fast, but so much has happened, that I think it has been a very full year. It has been an eventful year on many, many, counts. I hope this year has treated you kindly on a personal level. My own has certainly been one of those roller coasters – terrible lows and also incredible highs. I am interested to see what the next 365 days bring!
I don’t have a finished object to show you as knitting time has been a little limited lately. But there are a few nice projects accompanying me into the new year:
This is Regenerate. It should be nearly finished by now, but I made a major rookie mistake knitting this! There are two charts per row for this shawl, and for some reason, I knitted them in the wrong order. I wondered why I had so much trouble getting the pattern to look right and was getting quite frustrated with my knitting skills when I realised, into the third repeat of the second and third charts that I was doing it the wrong way round!!! Major durrh moment, and major sulking occurred as I ripped out the shawl to start all over again.
I re-ordered the printed charts and after a couple of days spent gathering my wits, started again. I am pleased that this time, the shawl is looking like it is meant to. The added bonus is that it is much easier to knit – for some ‘strange’ reason!
I am using Anna Gratton‘s gorgeous silk/mohair/wool blend in the Forest colourway. I really like how it is turning out.
I also have a couple of obligatory socks on the go.
These pretty things are the Waving Lace Socks. I am knitting them in Circus Tonic Handmade’s Revelry sock in the Frilled Monarch colourway. Here’s a closer look:
The other sock is some gorgeous Stray Cat Socks merino/cashmere/nylon blend:
These are for the youngest boy, who is now taller than me. I knitted him some socks earlier in the year, and found to my horror that his feet had grown while I finished them. This time, they are man-sized socks! Let’s hope they last a little while…
As the new year begins to roll in around the globe, I wish you Happy New Year!
A Happy Weekend to you! I for one am very pleased it is Saturday!
As predicted, I managed to finish Braidsmaid this week. I may be lucky and get a couple of wears out of it before the weather warms up too much more. At least it is ready for next Winter? Or am I super late for this Winter? It doesn’t matter much. It will still be worn. There’s no such thing as an expiry date when it comes to knitting!
I knitted Braidsmaid in a DK weight natural grey alpaca/polwarth mix that I got from the South Island a while ago. I used exactly 250gms of yarn, or about 450m. It drapes beautifully and is so warm and snuggly. I do love wearing alpaca.
The shawl is the perfect size to wear under a coat. Featuring a reversible cable and garter stitch, you don’t need to worry which side is the right side, because they both look the same.
It has a shaping that I don’t think I have used before – you start at one end with the braid only and gradually increase the garter edges out to a certain width. Then one side is decreased gradually while the other is knitted on to the braided edge as you go. Such a clever design!
I think the key thing to know about this shawl (in terms of sizing) is that the shawl will only be as wide and as long as you end on Body Pattern I. The width of the shawl at this point determines how long the shawl will be – the remainder of the shawl is all about decreasing one side down. If you want a larger shawl than noted in the pattern, you should work a couple more repeats in this section before starting the remaining sections. In my case, I simply worked the number of repeats noted in the pattern. If I was to knit it again, I would probably chose to work one more repeat to make the shawl slightly larger.
I did a bit of an all-night knit bender this week… I found yet another WIP at the bottom of my basket and proceeded to finish it during the quiet hours of the night.
I lost interest in them last summer after I didn’t complete them in time for Christmas. They are now ready for this Christmas!
These are Stray Cat Socks‘ in Joyeux Noelle, a Christmas colourway, using my Geek socks pattern. I get a little thrill every time I look at the projects in this pattern – there are over 450 projects noted on Ravelry so far – it makes it so worthwhile to make the effort to design a special sock. Thanks so much to everyone who has knitted this pattern!
The current frenzy of knitting shows no signs of abating any time too soon. I have made good progress on the next pair of socks, the V Junkie socks from Socktopus.
The winding party has begun for the 3 colour cashmere shawl. Part of me is worrying that I have chosen the right shawl to knit. The yarn I am using is so special and so pretty that I need to be sure that whatever I use it for is going to do it justice! I might consider that issue a bit more…
I hope you are enjoying a great start to your weekend.
Before I start today’s post, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your caring and concerned comments on my car crash. I may not be able to respond to each and every one of you individually, but your thoughts and kind wishes mean a great deal. Thank you, so much.
This week has been a little hard. Bruised ribs and whiplash don’t go away very quickly, but I am on the mend, and the young boy appears to be completely recovered, which is a massive relief! The insurance company is still to pay out as they are waiting on the police report before doing so. Hopefully that will not be much longer. Being without a car is a major hindrance!
So let’s move on to happier things and talk about knitting!
I finished the edging on Southern Skies, and here is the finished shawl. I have to say, I love it very much. The swirls of colour through it remind me of the southern lights, and as someone said on my Instagram account, it also looks a bit like a galaxy! Thanks again, Audry, for a beautiful pattern, and thanks to Anna Gratton for such a lovely night sky colourway.
The yarn is Anna Gratton’s 4 ply 100% wool, and I made only one change to the pattern – instead of a garter border, I knitted on a Shetland lace Brand Iron edging. It has made the shawl larger and also a bit more feminine, which I like.
Having a lot of time to knit on the train on the way to work has meant that I have been giving socks a bit of attention this week. This is Dark Harbour Yarn‘s lovely Jetsam sock in Narwhal Hits the Disco. I see she has a very similar Rare and Exotic Beast in her shop at the moment which would be almost identical in my opinion. I am using my Bark sock pattern to liven the knitting up a bit.
Before I start on yet another new shawl, I have decided I need to finish another long time WIP.
This is my Ulva Lactuca shawl in laceweight, using Zealana Kiwi. At this weight, it has become more a summer shawl/scarf style, which will be nice to use when the weather warms up again.
Being a blogger and reader of blogs has given me lovely opportunities to meet some wonderful people.
Recently, I had the great pleasure of having coffee with Keiry Belton, co-author of Stitching up Paris – The Insider’s Guide to Parisian Knitting, Sewing, Notions and Needlecraft Stores.
If you have not heard of her yet, Keiry has just returned from a period living in Paris as an expatriate. I enjoyed following the blog she wrote about her adventures while there. While she was there, she also co-wrote Stitching up Paris with Barbara Cattoni, another expatriate living in Paris, who runs personal walking tours of Parisian stitching stores at http://www.stitchingupparis.com.
Stitching up Paris is the ideal companion for any needlecraft fan. The contents are organised very neatly into both genre (knitting/fabrics/embroidery/haberdashery/vintage and shabby chic) and by also by area. This makes it easy to find the information you are after.
Well written, and filled with beautiful photography, I especially loved reading the little stories about the stores/areas that accompanied the reviews. If I ever get a chance to visit Paris, this book will be coming with me!
The book is available to purchase here and if you live in New Zealand, I understand that the book can also be purchased from Minerva.
I leave you today with a new indie yarnie discovery:
This is Artist’s Palette Yarn, a UK indie dyer. With the exchange rate happily a bit friendlier at the moment, I took the opportunity to indulge in some pretty colourways. Her palette is very much to my taste – one of those sites where you could happily tick ‘one of everything please!’
Hello! I hope this post finds you well, and enjoying life.
I have been missing in action on this blog for a week because life has been quite eventful (in a good way), being the school holidays, and I seem to be finding it hard to find the concentration to sit and write at the moment. Thank you for your patience. I do not intend to give up blogging as it is a much appreciated means of communicating with like-minded people like you, my dear readers.
One of the things we have got up to was a quick trip to the mountains.
There was not much snow on the Central Plateau. It has been a very mild winter so far. But there was enough for the kids to have fun sledding. Mostly, it was great to catch up with my siblings and their families, whom I have not seen for some months.
Let’s get into the knitting news!
I have been very honoured to contribute a pattern for another sock box. This one is from Yarn Crush. My pattern is coming out in October, and I’ll be giving you more hints as time goes on, but I thought I would point out this well-priced product if you are interested in subscribing.
Also watch out for a few more sock pattern releases from me in the near future. The samples are piling up, so time to get down to business and finish the patterns! The first one I want to release is this, the Sassy Socks.
You may recall that this was the PostStitch SockStitch pattern for June. Did I ever link you to their interview with me and Hannah Ginn of Circus Tonic Handmade, whose yarn was in that box? Those articles are here if you want to read.
I also have a few finished objects to show you.
Here is the beautiful Liliaceous shawl, another gorgeous design by Mary-Anne Mace.
I used Zealana Kiwi Laceweight in the Fern colourway. It took almost all of four balls to knit.
As usual, the pattern is beautifully written. I loved knitting it, despite making a terrible mistake in the final chart (my own fault), and having to rip out a day’s work in order to reknit the edging correctly. These things happen!
This shawl is a thank you gift for the very nice person who was kind enough to give me a job at the beginning of the year.
I also finished the fingerless gloves, and they have been appreciatively received by the eldest boy. Thank goodness he likes them!
I am still working on the Swan River cardigan. It is almost time to make the second armhole, which means that I should be nearing completion in about a week (she says!)
It is also time to finish the Southern Skies shawl, which has been hibernating for some months.
The thing that concerns me is that despite using much larger needles, the shawl still seems to be much smaller than I would like it to be. I will add on a significant lace border if that is the case – I have plenty of yarn to make that modification. Between that and blocking, I should get the size I desire!
As noted in my last post about this pattern, I certainly did not need 1,400 yards noted in the pattern. Knitted in the smaller size, I used 362 gm, which is the equivalent of 795 metres, or 869 yards. (That’s 3.6 balls of the merino possum yarn in case you are wondering.)
The pattern itself could have included a schematic. I find them very useful so I can adjust sizing easily if necessary. I also like charts, and find written instructions difficult for pattern repeats, so I charted out my own, and that made it much easier to work out the stitch pattern quickly.
I did not do a tubular cast on or cast off. Instead, I used a long tail cast on, and cast off using my own half-stretchy bind-off method.
Alicia used a stockinette style decrease, which contrasts against the purl background of the body. I chose not to do that, and reversed the shaping instructions (P2tog and P2togtbl) so that the shaping was invisible.
I did not put on a button, but just sewed a join into the two sides.
The rest of the pattern was knit as instructed.
I love possum yarn. See the soft, fluid drape of the fabric, and the warm, snuggly halo that develops after blocking. Besides pure wool, it is my next favourite medium to work in. It does not pill, it is surprisingly hard wearing, and it stays looking beautiful for years and years. (Note that recycled possum yarns can be less hard-wearing.)
Waiting for Rain
This is such a sweet pattern. I used Anna Gratton’s silk/mohair/wool mix which she has unfortunately since discontinued. It gives a beautiful organic texture to knitting.
I wanted my Waiting for Rain to be organic looking, and I was pleased that the yarn I chose has definitely given the desired effect.
I did not change anything about the pattern.
The only thing I would say is that I am not 100% happy with my bind off and the edging. It is a tiny bit tight for my liking, not enough to be a real issue, but just enough to make me think “hmm.” I did use the lace bind off recommended by Sylvia, but as I have noted before, my bind off is always very tight for some reason, so I may have to look into a further adaptation of this method to work for me.
There is a lot of knitting news to talk about this week, so I think I will break this week’s postings into two. Watch out for another one from me tomorrow about future projects!
I’m going to be examining three swatches. And trying to decide which one to use for this.
If you are like many in Knitting Land, the advent of December has suddenly induced the uncomfortable thought: “How much time left until Christmas!?” I hope holiday and Christmas plans are going well!
The lack of a day job means that despite the end of year rush, I am able to take as much advantage of the time while it is available to me to knit and especially to develop more of those designs that have been swimming around in my head for ages!
As a result, a lot is happening in my knitting world and there is a lot to show you! So get yourself a nice drink to sip, make yourself comfortable and settle in for some eye candy!
I wanted to first say thank you for liking the Slipped Hat I designed for Zealana! Had to show it one more time… so pleased with how it has been modelled and photographed! It is actually a quick knit, and if you do not choose to make a pompom, then you only need one ball of each colour for this pattern. There are so many pretty colour combinations you could choose to knit this. Another combination I thought of was Kale and Peppermint – dark teal and light mint together. Yummy! You could also go slightly off-grid and use Sugar and Deepwater – creamy silver and ocean blue variegated. The combinations are many!
This year, I have also taken it upon myself to do a limited amount of Christmas knitting. I’m choosing my recipients carefully. I have recently been hearing “more socks!?” and “I have too many knitted things from you, it’s such a pain they take up so much space”, and to those family members, none they shall have! (I forgive them, because you have to be able to speak your mind when you are with family. :-))
However, I do know for certain that there are a few people who should appreciate a knitted gift. My son’s teacher will receive a hat. From experience, teachers usually love to receive knitted things, so I hope he likes this thank you gift for being such an awesome teacher to my son this year…
Compliant young man modelling said finished hat before it was washed and blocked.
It is knitted out of pure, naturally coloured New Zealand wool. The young man picked it out as he said his teacher would look good in it. I’ve decided to be lazy and use a free pattern that seems to work well for many people. Bonus points for being quick to knit! I converted it to knitting in the round. It works just as well, and then you don’t have a seam to sew afterwards.
I might also knit a similar hat for my brother, who spends a lot of time at sea, and likes my knitted things, and for my brother-in-law who works outdoors and is very knitworthy and makes my knitter’s heart burst with happiness at how he wears my knitted things into oblivion. Better hurry though… time is ticking!
I’m also starting work on a new fingerless glove design that will also be a gift. More to come about that later.
Some socks have also been knitted as gifts. You have seen most of them already. One of them is a new design that I will introduce soon.
In addition to Christmas knitting for others, there has been some sock knitting happiness for me…
I have always fancied a Christmas sock, and Stray Cat Socks in Joyeux Noelle is just amazing! The colours glow with a richness that isn’t properly captured by the camera.
Apart from gift and Christmas knitting, I want show you a new indie dyer from Australia, Circus Tonic Handmade. This is an indie dyer who is new on the market, and I rather like her approach to using Australian bird colours for inspiration.
This one is called Galah. The yarn and I are having a difference of opinion at the moment. It wants to be the design I’ve just drawn up. I want it to be Melisandre. I have a feeling the yarn might win. I’ve thought of another yarn that will look stunning as Melisandre, while Galah will be quite lovely in my new design (the yarn tells me I am being sensible).
Speaking of sock planning, here’s a peek at some gorgeous lovelies from Vintage Purls that I was playing with last week. One of them is destined to become a sock design very soon. I hope!
I do not think I have told you yet that I have started Biophilia. I am on the third lace set, which ends in nupps. Such a pretty, pretty, shawl! I only allow myself to work on this on weekends, which is now my official ‘me’ knitting time – the rest of the week is designated to designing and knitting things on deadline, looking for a day job and doing parent stuff. It is very hard to keep my paws off it! Roll on Saturday!
Biophilia is being knitted in Knitsch 100% merino Sock in a colourway called Rocky Shore. It is very ‘oceany’ and lends itself well to the theme of the design!
I have been feeling the need for a summery cardigan, and after much looking at patterns on Ravelry, have whittled my choice down to Drops 95-21 Cardigan in Lace Pattern. I like how it looks on others, so I am confident it will look as good as it appears in the pattern. Mostly importantly, there are not acres of dreaded stocking stitch to knit! I’m going to knit it in this super lovely Madelintosh Pashmina in Tart that was very generously gifted to me by a special friend:
Whether I get the time to do this before Christmas, in addition to starting on several gorgeous shawl patterns I have acquired (will show you next post) is highly unlikely!
You may be wondering what happened to Two Hearts. The back has been ripped out three times as I have adjusted stitch count for a non-cabled back (too much cabling for my taste to have it on both the front and the back of the sweater, so I have modified). Now that I have finally got the right number of stitches to suit my gauge and match the size of the front, it is progressing nicely! It is not finished in time for the end of Wovember, but I shall have it in time for next winter! I won’t show you a picture of the back. Stocking stitch is not the most interesting thing to photograph.
Speaking of Two Hearts, the knitter mentioned in my last post about this was mortified about reader reactions to her pointing out the mis-crossed cable. She said, “Well I certainly didn’t mean it like that! I guess if it was me, I’d be much happier that someone had pointed it out when I had a chance to fix it – which is what happened. And what a brilliant job, and a new knitting skill picked up! At the start of the conversation, I guess I was fishing about to see if it was something I could mention – therefore giving the opportunity to fix, or whether I’d just get thumped. I may have done it inelegantly, but I credited WS with making phenomenal garments, and figured she’d probably want to know – while it was still a very easy fix. I would definitely want to know, and have dropped down around 100 rows to fix a miss-crossed cable.” (And knowing her, yes, she certainly would have done that!)
I am glad that she pointed out the error, and have expressed my thanks, because I learned so much in the process, and as she said, I did want to know while it was still an easy fix! Some mistakes can be left, but that one was just too much over the line for my tolerance levels!
There is so much more to talk about, but I’m going to stop here and save it for another post. Thanks for staying with me, and thank you for sticking with me over this year. I really enjoy reading your comments. You often make me laugh or smile in delight at what you say. You have been good company!
A bit of non-knitting to finish. The hay makers came last week. It was nearly dark by the time they got to the field next to the house, which is why the photograph looks like this:
This is the field now:
You can see how long the grass was by the fact that it nearly hides the calves grazing the edges!
I’m rather enjoying seeing all the different looks to this field over the year.
