life long learning

I took my chemistry-with-hard-sums exam last week.  Now I have no studying for a couple of months, until my next course starts in February (although I may do a little light reading in preparation for it).   Even though my chemistry studies are over for this year, I still have plenty of new things to learn.  I’ve cast on for my bountiful bohus cardigan.  This features a couple of techniques I’ve not done before – short row shaping and steeks.

I have done short rows before, but not for shaping a garment.  The pattern does give some shapings but I’m going to recalculate my own, as well as tweaking other parts of the shaping, using my hard-won mad algebra skillz. If  I can apply the steady state approximation and understand the Langmuir adsorption isotherm then I can damn well work out where to put a couple of bust darts.

Steeks, though! Steeks are a different story.  You want me to cut my knitting?  I think I’d rather derive some more kinetic equations, thanks.  Cut. My.  Knitting! ?  This is terrifying.  But I know lots of knitters who have done it and survived, and they assure me it’s not that difficult but even so, I’m scared.  But ’tis a long way off yet.  I have started with the sleeves, by way of checking my tension calculations (my yarn is knitting up looser than the pattern so I am following the instructions for a smaller size).   I’ve made the sleeves narrower than the pattern has them – I already have one cardigan with big sleeves, don’t really need another.

I did finally finish my summer school shawl, and wore it during my exam – it gets quite cool in the exam hall after 2 or 3 hours sitting still.

pattern: Litla Dimun by Cheryl Oberle (from ‘Folk Shawls‘)
yarn: Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Yarn, shade 1403 (the red is slightly deeper/darker than it shows in these photos)
needles: 4 mm

I love the finished shawl, the Faroese shape really does stay on well. And I love the yarn, in all its crispness and slight roughness. This feels like the kind of shawl my great grandmothers would have worn. Airy lace and softy delicate yarns are good for dressing up, but this is an honest, everyday working shawl.  Although I wear it for working in  the library, rather than the fields or mills.  Ah, which reminds me …

I kniktted this ‘U’ for the Poetry Society’s Knitted Poem.  They asked you to tell them your favourite poem.  One of mine is Digging by Seamus Heaney

But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I’ll dig with it.

progress

sari for lack of posting recently, but here’s updates on some current projects:

Granite Socks

pattern: Baby Cable Rib by Charlene Schurch (from Sensational Knitted Socks)
yarn: Regia Line Steps Color shade 5371 Granite
needles: 2.5 mm bamboo dpns

Finished at last, after being on the needles for over 2 months.  I don’t think I’ve ever taken so long to complete a pair of socks, they were sidelined by the pressures of various presents.  I like this pattern and will probably make it again, good for man socks (just don’t tell them the name of the stitch pattern has ‘baby’ in it).

GM Mouse

pattern: based on Easy Peasy Catnip Mouse Toy by Meelai
yarn: Patons UK Spirit, shade 4503 Bracken
hook: 5 mm

Because Sparky seemed to like playing with soft toys as big as himself

Shap Blue Socks

We went to Rivington again this weekend and I got some knitting done under a tree in the Japanese garden.

Decimal

Body & sleeves finished, now just the button bands to do (ugh) and the sleeves to seam (once I’ve learned mattress stitch).  I have gnawing doubts about the fit but won’t find out until it’s all blocked …. fingers crossed.

bang for your buck

I can’t in all conscience claim that knitting your own things saves money.  Even with the cheapest nastiest baby-melt you’d be struggling to make a jumper for less than you’d pay for a new one in Primark.   And let’s not dwell on the economics of sock yarns.  But when it comes to gift-giving, knitting makes your money go further with the addition of your time and skill and lurv *.   Some things I have given to people recently ….

Owlie Owlings

pattern: Owlings by Kerrie James
yarn: Green Eyed Monsters GEM Squirrel in owlie-brown
needles: 3.25 mm bamboo dpns

Made for my sister, with some very gorgeous squishy yarn that lovely Kate dyed to the perfect greyey-brown for me.

Green Fluorescent Jellyfish

pattern: Juvenile Sea Nettle by Hansi Singh
yarn: Rowan Pure Wook DK in Cloud and Cedar; Bernat Glow-in-the-Dark Green Glow

Made for my dear friend and unofficial chemistry tutor, because last year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded for work on green fluorescent protein, originally extracted from jellyfish (and yes, someone has made green fluorescent sheep so all-natural glow-in-the-dark yarn should be on the market soon).

Tasteful House-Warming Gift

pattern: Toilet Paper Roll and Kitschy Doily by Denise Plourde

*At least I fondly imagine this is so (and ignore any nagging thoughts in those wee small hours that my nearest and dearest dread unwrapping the next ’soft’ present I give them).

I’ve said it before

and I’ll no doubt say it again, and it can never be said enough:

I bloody love ravelry

I’ve been swapping again, and received the most amazing box of lurv from my swap partner, including yummy sock yarns cute stitch markers, a squidy bag and a gorgeous hansigurumi octopus.

I love cephalopoda so much, must get around to knitting up the hansigurumi squid pattern I have.

My partner in the same swap has now received her goodies from me and loved them too, and now I can share a couple of small makes I did for the swap.

pattern: Deep Sea Flower Dice Bag by Nina Hyland
yarn: oddment of Noro Kureyon

made for swap and various other cats of my acquaintance
pattern: Easy Peasy Catnip Mouse by Meelai
yarn: random oddments

In between the sewing, I have managed to get in some knitting time too, enough to finish son’s bee socks:

pattern: basic sock, 54 st, leg in k7p1 garter rib
yarn: Opal Rainforest shade 1613 Bee
needles: 2.5 mm dpns

turn the heel on my second bamboo sock and cast on a new pair of socks for DrM. And I am desperate to cast on a pair of Owlings, after meeting Lucyvanp’s cashmere pair at knit night. I have a single ball of alpaca from a swap, and some matching beads.  When my bamboo socks are finished my Owlings are starting.

because it’s there

For the first 25  or so years of my knitting life, I was content with the skills I learnt from my mum and the odd book.  It’s not that I stuck to simple things – I did cables and fair isle and intarstia – but I didn’t try new or different ways of doing things.  Mostly I didn’t know there were different ways of doing things. Until I took up knitting again with a vengeance a couple of years ago  and discovered the knitting internets, I genuinely did not know that there was any other way to knit than the way I was taught (which I now know is ‘English’ style).  I had no idea there were so many different ways to cast on and cast off, and I’d never knit in the round.

Now I enjoy the challenge of learning new techniques when I need them.  I’ve learnt new cast ons and cast offs, become a sock addict, taught myself to crochet, read lace and cable charts, learnt different ways to increase and decrease, and more.  But one thing I’ve never done is entrelac.  I just don’t particularly like the effect and so have had no desire to knit anything in it.  Then last week, someone brought along a hand-knit entrelac cardigan to knitting group and asked how it was done.  And while I could seen in principle how it must be done, I had to confess I didn’t know exactly.

Well now I do, for I have knit this entrelac tea cosy.

pattern: improvised, first two sets knit in the round, middle section knit flat with decreases, top section knit in the round, I-cord loop
yarn: ancient dk acrylic from stash
needles: 4 mm

Can’t see me wanting to knit entrelac again, all that going back and forward and picking up stitches is a right pain and I don’t like the effect enough for it to be worth it.  But at least I now know how it’s done and the cafe where we have our knit nights has a new tea cosy.  Actually they have 3 new cosies because I fell out with my current wip socks and wanted some simple makes, and because it seemed to me that a cafe that’s often full of knitters really should have knitted tea cosies

pattern: Strawberry Tea Cosy by Katya Frankel (available as a free ravelry download)
yarn: stash acrylic dk, used doubled

pattern: improvised, crocheted in treble crochet (US = double crochet), retro-fitted with bobbles
yarn: stash acrylic dk, used doubled

copy-cat

or more accurately, copy-cthulhu.  I signed up for a Ravelry Rubberneckers Swap, and my swap victim aliseknits likes dice.  Oooh, I know someone who made a geek-tastic glow-in-the-dark dice bag recently, that’s so a good idea.  So I made one too.

pattern: Chthulu Dice Bag by A. A. Leavitt-Reynolds (mods: knit the base smaller and the body over 50 st instead of 70)
yarn: King Cole Fashion Aran in black, Bernat Glow in the Dark in Green Glow (the glow is much more impressive than the picture shows, but it turns out to be really difficult to photograph)
needles: 4 mm

And I received an amazing swap package from CodeCrafter, stuffed full of yarny chocolatey gorgeous goodness, including LittleFreak yarn, a brilliant knitting mag and the cutest project bag that she made herself.

In other news, my calorimetry love goes on. Friend liked her Christmas one in Kureyon very much and asked if I would do her a more conservatively coloured one for work, which gave me a good way to use up the bit of BfL aran left over from dad’s scarf

pattern: Calorimetry by Kathryn Schoendorf (96 st, 4.5 mm needles)
yarn: Violet Green Hand-Dyed Bluefaced Leicester Aran in chocolate

And then I realised I want one too, and I haz a ball of Kureyon in the same shades as Vladi’s one, so am knitting that now ….

I can make it at home for nothing

Honestly, I am turning into that woman from Goodness Gracious Me (except that I don’t like aubergines). When we are in need of anything household-ey, particularly for storing or carrying things, I am inclined to consider making it myself from yarn.  Exhibit A, a felted peg bag.

Today we bought son a small hand drum, as he has got into samba drumming on the summer scheme he’s been going to. (I know we may live to regret this, but today I’m in nurturing mum mode – irritably shouting mum will probably be back soon tho). The drum has no carry handles, so ta da! 20 minutes with a crochet hook and an oddment of sari ’silk’ yarn later …..

Shop also sells carrying bags for drums. Guess what I will next be making at home for nothing?

closing ceremony

Yay I won 3 more ravelympics medals.  Finished my ‘reason monkey’ socks on Thursday, and they were entered in two events, the Sock  Put and the Holiday Handball (can’t put up pictures of the finished socks yet as they are someone’s Christmas present). And on the final day of the Games, in a last minute dash for the line, I started and finished my Free-for-All Freestyle project while watching highlights of sports the BBC considers ‘minority interest’ eg basketball, handball and (my fave) the water polo.

Flag of El Salvador¹, for the 198 Countries Peace Project
Crocheted in Robin DK shades white & roayal

1. note for Salvadorans and vexillologists:  I spent a lot of time fretting about how to deal with the coat of arms in the middle of the flag, then the Wikipedia entry for the flag told me that the version bearing the Coat of Arms is used by the government or state organizations. The other version without coat of arms is used for civil purposes. So, I think it is OK to sumbit the civil version! I will be posting it early next week.

Pratchgan presentation

The fabulous CherryRed did a fantastic job of sewing up all the squares for the Ankh Morpork Knitters’ Guild Pratchgan, and then she got to present it to pterry in person.

pratchgan presentation, photo by Cherryred

Squeeee, that’s my square just below his hand.  Full story and more pictures on Cherryred’s blog.

and another reason ravelry roolz …

You don’t have to join in the groups / fora to enjoy ravelry. But it’s so much fun if you do. Amongst other things you get to take part in community projects like the ‘Who Knits’ group’s aghan project.
People make one or some squares out of left-over sock yarn, knit on the bias, and then someone’s going to sew them up into a blanket and auction on ebay for MSF (as has been mentioned before, Doctors without Borders is the obvious charity of choice for Dr Who fans was well as knitters). These are mine, posted them off today …

Could’ve made oodles more (am not lacking in left-over sock yarn) but have work and chemistry and such to do, not to mention there’s now less than 6 months left for the Christmas knitting.