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.

out with the old, in with the new

my final FO of 2008, finished on 31st Jan Dec, a shawl for my mum who has been in hospital for a bit and looked like she could do with something to keep her shoulders warm while sitting up in bed.

pattern: La La’s Simple Shawl by Laura Linneman (free ravelry download)
yarn: James C. Brett Marble Chunky in 07 Autumn
needles: 6 mm

…. and the first project I cast on in 2009, salto socks for the Violet Green group’s knit-a-long.

This was the progress I made on the first day. Then I realised I’d mis-read the pattern and had to frog most of it out. I am nearly back to this point now …

did I mention …

…. how I can make it at home for nothing? Passed one of the northern quarter’s fine geek emporia while on my way to Abakhan today and saw this in the window

s’not as cute as mine.

Still mostly all about the Christmas knitting at the moment, but it’s nearly over, only a quarter of a scarf left to go.  There has been a little non-Christmas knitting, my neighbour broke her ankle so I’ve made her a festive cast sock from stash oddments

And once I have the final scarf finished and blocking (hopefully some time tomorrow) I’ll be starting a shawl for mum, hence the trip to Abakhan for more marble chunky.

my clapotis is full of fail

I finished my great big clapotis.  I love the colours, I love the pattern, but the finished shawl/wrap just doesn’t work.  I think I’ve made it too big, it won’t sit right on me.

Because of the shape it is (parallelogram rather than rectangular), it was hard to know when it was long enough, and now it’s too long.  I’ve added buttons, which help but don’t solve the problem. So I will have to rip out the end and do it again, but not right away.  Am going to set it to one side for now and get back to the Christmas knitting.

pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
yarn: James C. Brett Marble Chunky shade 03 Wild Field
needles: 1 x 6 mm + 1 x 5.5mm (because I couldn’t find a pair of 6mm)

overcome by the yarn fumes

This is what happens when two knitters ‘just pop in for a look’ at Abakhan

Some of this haul is my belated birthday present from Chrissie, and I think once the Christmas knitting is finished I will have having a shawl frenzy – a big clapotis from James C Brett Marble and a bloom from Patons Spirit.  I still feel that wearing shawls make me look like I’m on my way to a mine disaster but I just love to knit them.

Oooh and I am participating in my first swap – a ’sock yarn from your stash’ swap on Ravelry.  I’ve send a parcel to Anne-Ruth in Norway, now I’m waiting excitedly for my parcel from my upstream partner.  Surprise yarn in the post, what could be better?

North Sea Shawl

Love this pattern, very simple and very beautiful. Knits up quickly and looks beautiful once blocked. I wanted a bigger shawl than the dimensions written so added 12 extra stitches for more width and extra pattern repeats for more length (finished dimensions after blocking approx 200 cm x 55 cm).

The yarn is a perfect colour for this shawl. Can’t get it to show properly in photos so far, it’s not as grey as it looks here. It’s bluey greyey greeney, exactly the colour of the North Sea off the east coast of Scotland.

Pattern: North Sea Shawl by Cheryl Oberle, from Folk Shawls
Yarn: Violet Green Supersock, colour Shark
Needles: 3.75 mm metal straights

blocking update

I’m new to lace and to blocking, so finding out how much things grow (and how much better they look) with blocking is all new to me.

Shawl is now all pinned out on the bed (using the Yarn Harlot String-and-Pins method) and it has grown, from about 175 cm to about 200 cm. Maybe could’ve stretched it out longer but our bed is only 200 cm long. And the width has expanded too, to 55 cm, so I am very happy with these post-blocking dimensions.

wrapping things up

Hurrah I have my North Sea Shawl finished. Well, I say ‘finished’ …. I’ve added a load more repeats than the pattern calls for and it still seems a bit short for me, but I kind of got sick of knitting it and keen keen keen to wear it (particularly to get it finished in time for our holiday at the weekend) so I’ve decided to see if it will grow in the blocking. Here is the unblocked version just before dunking it in the bath this morning …

I’ve only used this yarn for socks before (VG Supersock, it’s my favourite sock yarn) so I don’t know how it’s going to behave as lace. Yes I know that’s what tension squares are for but I prefers the joy of discovery (also I have resigned myself to the possibility of having to undo the grafting and knit more of the centre panel if it still too short after blocking, so I’m not calling this a FO yet …)

In other news, the Picture Editor of the Times has come back from his holidays and sorted everything out; they have taken down the picture from their site and agreed to pay me (well, MSF) for the use. So everything sorted I thought, until he mentioned in passing that The Sun used the picture too (presumably in their print edition, can’t see it on line). Gah. More emails to write (but hopefully more money for MSF).

synchronicity

Sometimes a project is just meant to be.

Reading Knitting Rules made me want to knit a shawl but I had to face facts, I’m not much of a shawl person. I can’t wear them elegantly, I just look like I’m on my way to a mine disaster.

But …. knitting Jeanie for mum has made me fell like I’d like to knit myself a shawl. Maybe the problem is with squares and triangles and perhaps a rectangular shawl would work?

Then … on the train I saw two different women (different shapes and sizes) wearing rectangular wraps and looking cosy and just right for spring.

And then … I got a copy of Folk Shawls and, while many of them are beautiful, fell especially in love with the North Sea Shawl. It calls for grafting which until 2 weeks ago would have made me run away from the pattern. But thanks to lovely knitting friends at COmplete Knitters and Theresa on knitty, I can graft. It’s scarey but I like it and no longer run away from it (not if it’s stocking stitch grafting at least).

And then …. I was browsing Violet Green’s latest colours. Honestly I was just looking but then I met this yarn in most gorgeious greyish blueish greenish exactly the colours of the North Sea off the east cost of Scotland shades.

Three skeins arrived this morning and I have cast on my shawl. It is meant to be.

Jeanie

I did enjoy knitting this and am very pleased with the result, and Mum says she loves it. But it did give me some grief, particualrly the finishing. I’ve never managed to graft anything before so grafting k1p1 rib was a ‘challenge’ ahem which may have involved the odd bit of weeping, some throwing things, and occasional shouting at the family to shut up and leave me alone. Only 2 lots of 16 stitches to graft but it was way painful. The finished result wasn’t perfect but was better that I’d expected (and on the upside, at least I feel able to tackle stocking stitch grafting now; in fact I want to make the North Sea Shawl from Folk Shawls that has a big load of grafting in it). And one of the knitted-on bands went a bit weird and I couldn’t work out why.

But on the whole, once blocked and dried, it is beautiful if I say so myself. Enjoy your cruise, mum.

pattern: Jeanie by Keri Williams
yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, shade 340 Gothic Rose

And in other news, we had our first knitting meet in our local cafe on Thursday. Only, some people thought it was going to be a knitting class and came along hoping to learn. I brought spare needles and oddments of yarn and assorted books and ended up trying to show 5 people how to knit. And we’re doing it all again next week.