ssssssh

Sorry it’s been so quiet hereabout lately, a combination of viruses (several minor ones in quick succession) and the Christmas Knitting have left me without much to post about.

The Christmas knitting is nearly finished (only 1.5 hats to go), I’ll be sharing photos & details after the 25th. I don’t think anyone who is likely to receive a knitted gift from me actually reads this blog, and I know none of them are on ravelry, but it still feels wrong to post pictures of gifts before giving them. When I was a kid my mum always told me it was wrong to read a book you’d bought to someone else, or try out a toy or listen to a cd, or whatever, before you’d given the gift. Posting pcitures woudl feel like playing with the gift before giving it.

One thing I can post is this hat from the Woolly Wormhead knit-a-long. It was meant to be a gift for an adult, who is petite and unlikely to appreciate a very slouchy hat, so I chose the smallest size. Sizing fail, no way will it fit an adult woman but fortunately it looks adorable on on a 6 year old.

pattern: Mayrose by Woolly Wormhead
yarn: King Cole Mirage, shade 866 Georgetown

Work on my bohus cardigan and son’s blue blanket has been on hold for the Christmas knitting, but I’m looking forward to have a Big Push on the cardigan over Christmas. In other news, I got my Open University results and have passed all my courses this year (2 summer schools + chemistry with hard sums), which leaves me with one more course to do, to complete my molecular science degree.

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.

growth

Quite a lazy weekend here.  Went to the local World Wide Knit in Public Day yesterday, it was nice to sit and knit in the textiles gallery at the Whitworth, almost felt part of the exhibition.  Made some more progress on my summer chevron

Although an MMBSS¹ project like this gets boring after a while, I am liking making a jumper top down in the round.  I love that you can try it on as you go, making it easy to tweak the fit.   And of course, there is no seaming waiting for me at the end.  On the other hand, although I’m getting better at working with circular needles, I do miss ‘proper’ knitting on lovely long straight needles.  My next planned project is another green MMBSS jumper but this time worked flat, so back to the trusty straights yay.

Lots of green going on right now, as our teeny ‘veg patch’ on the balcony is coming on.  Thinned some of the salad stuff this afternoon and had fresh salad with our tea.

rocket, chard, beetroot leaves and teeny tiny radishes nom nom nom.

1.  Miles & Miles of Bloody Stocking Stitch

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.

second s—– syndrome

Second Sock Syndrome is a well known affliction to strike sock knitters, in which the the sufferer happily completes the first sock but finds themself unable to follow through on the second.  Personally, I have never (yet) been struck down with this debilitating condition.  I do however suffer from the related, less well known Second Sleeve Syndrome.  To ward it off I usually try and knit sleeves two-at-a-time.  This saves no time but does make sure you actually make two sleeves (and the shapings match).

However, because I’m making adjustments to the decimal pattern as I go, I decided against making both sleeves at the same time (frogging back is bad enough but doing it on both sleeves = ugh).  I have the first sleeve complete, now I am grinding my way through the second.  Which feels like it is taking forever, but grind on I must as I am determined to have it finished in time for UK Ravelry Day.

In non-knitting news, everybody say ‘awwwwwww’ to our new kitten Sparky

tense? me?

I wordled my blog feed

But now I have recalculated my tension issues, checked my workings with maths guru at knit-night, and restarted my decimal.  Meanwhile, while I was fell out with my decimal I finished my Owlings instead.

pattern: Owlings by Kerrie James (available as a free ravelry download)
yarn: Artesano Ltd Inca Cloud shade 053 Damson
needles: 3.25 mm

The little owl cables are so cute!

four and twenty stitches

OK so I’m no Ada Lovelace¹ but I’m not completely hopeless at maths. I haz an O- (yep, I am that old), an AO- and an A-level in it, a pass in the OU ‘Maths for Science‘ course and am currently grappling with their chemistry-with-hard-sums course. And yet, apparently I still cannot count accurately to 24.

Two days ago I realised that I’d mis-measured my tension square for decimal. My tension was actually tighter than I’d thought.  So all my work to that point has had to be ripped out, and I am reconsidering the tension issues.  The yarn I’m using is dk-weight rather than the sport-weight the pattern calls for; I can get the specified stitch tension on small needles but with a very tight row tension.  Hmmm.  Now I’m thinking I’ll knit on slightly larger needles and knit a smaller size, so I have tested tension on two sizes of needles.

I hate  making tension squares.  For socks and hats and such I don’t bother.  I have a fair idea of how my normal tension compares to patterns, and over a small project being a little out isn’t so critical.  One extra stitch to 10 cm doesn’t make a huge difference to a 50 cm circumference hat.  But for a jumper, it matters.  The tension square thing has to be done.   I know it’s essential and not a waste of time.  But it feels like a waste of time.  Lots of knitting that isn’t going to be anything.  I am working on my bad attitude to tension squares.  It is all a part of the process, part of getting things right, part of developing my craft.

Still hate knitting them, though.

1. British mathematician, called by Charles Babbage the ‘enchantress of numbers‘

carrot & stick

Last week, my bff dragged me to the wool shop against my will and made me buy yarn to make myself a decimal cardigan from the new knitty.  All the kewl kids are making one and it’s not surprising – at last, a pattern for a cardigan that isn’t a shapeless A-line thing that makes even slim girls look pregnant.  And it’s sized for more traditionally built girls, too.  Is perfect (with the odd tweak).  Determined not to repeat the tension disaster of my last cardigan I’ve checked my tension, measured, calculated, all that grown up sensible knitter stuff I usually ignore.

But then, a mad busy work storm over the past few days.  Oh noes.  I had to suffer a self-imposed knitting ban.  To get me through it, I promised myself that when all was over I could cast on my decimal.  By way of encouragement, I pinned the tension swquare above my desk.  I even took it with me to my presentation.

And now, all is done, and I am cast on.  Although, I am struggling with these new-fangled circular needles, wondering if  I can fit 200+ stitches on a good ol’ straight …

Oh yes, the yarn, is James C Brett pure merino. Is a glorious royal purple, makes me think of Perkin’s mauveine.

accommodations

Deciding on which socks to knit next can be a tricky business. You have to try and make sense out of what you want to knit, what your yarn wants to be and what the wearer will wear. It took me a few false starts to work out which pattern was going to best with the black yarn DrM chose for his next socks, but now we are getting along fine

And I finished my bamboo socks, which are a perfect union of yarn and pattern.

pattern: Undulating Rib Socks by Ann Budd, from Favorite Socks
yarn: Violet Green Solemate in Chameleon
needles: 2.75 mm (leg), 2.5 mm (heel & foot) Clover Takumi dpns
love love loving the greens

And now my Owlings are cast on hurray

procrastiknition

I have a big project on at work that must be finished this week.  So obviously this is an ideal time to blog about some recent knitting progress.

Odessa is a great pattern and goes up quickly. I know pretty much exactly how long it took me to make this one for Mel – one round trip to my parents’ (2 x 90 mins) plus two 6 Nations matches (2 x 90 mins, yay for Ireland and boo for England).

pattern: Odessa by Grumperina (available as a free ravelry download)
yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite 2032

and then on Sunday I made good progress on my undulating rib socks while watching a third 6 Nations match (let’s not talk about Scotland mmkay?). Have the first one finished now and am love love loving the vibrant greens of this VG solemate (shade = Chameleon). In fact am very loving greens in general right now, maybe it’s a spring thing?