And another new project. . .

Well, I've started a new knitting project.
There's an odd reason I started it. Well, ok, not so odd for me.

You see, I realised the wool stash was getting a bit out of hand and so, while at IKEA, I purchased some storage boxes.
So, I got home and assembled and moth-proofed the storage boxes (including putting some lavender and lavender essential oil in the boxes) and started re-housing the wool and yarn.

There I was, happily transferring from boxes and bags to the nice new boxes and I suddenly came across these two cones of 4-ply herdwick wool I'd bought from Texere yarn mill on a whim - it's made specifically for outdoor garments and is also a bit hairy, though a pleasant gray marl colour. I remembered about a month ago, just a couple days after I bought it, I'd seen a moth crawling across one of the cones. I was quick and killed the evil little critter. But, remembering that moth made me pause and think "what if it managed to lay a couple eggs?".

So I pulled out both the cones and started thinking on what I could make. Luckily I'd used my brain and weighed the wool when I got it home, and the written calculations (rough ones, since I didn't know how much the cardboard cones themselves weighed) indicated that there was about 1450 metres per cone. I knew that was enough to make at least a sweater per cone.
But, I decided I wanted to combine/double the wool and maybe add something else so I'd get a winter-weight yarn (at least an aran weight) and be able to make something for winter.
I was lucky, and remembered I'd gotten 14 balls of deep purple Debbie Bliss DK merino in a sale (£1.50 per 50g ball - a fantastic deal).

I trawled the computer and found a pattern I'd downloaded for a serape-type wrap off the Berroco yarn Website (www.berroco.com). It was a plain pattern, actually developed for one of their fluffy synthetic yarns, but the swatch I did with the combined wools worked out to perfectly match the gauge of the yarn.
I decided to add a border pattern and I also thought it would be a perfect time to try out cabling, since I'd wanted to for a while. So, I added a simple cable, but I did three repeats of it so it would be a wide band. I pulled out a 5.5mm circular knitting needle (42" length), cast on 190 stitches and started knitting. I was VERY lucky and everything worked out fine.
I've just started the third ball of the purple wool and completed 9 1/2" in length - I've only got another 49 1/2" to go. *grin*

The picture above is primarily of the border pattern (a knit-purl weave effect) and the cable. Other than the border and the cable, the wrap is knitted in stocking stitch. It's slow going, but I'm having fun - and knitting cabling is a lot easier than I thought it would be.

One last thing - the picture isn't a photo. It's a scan. I could not, for the life of me, manage to photgraph the knitting. It's strangely reflective and the detail does not come out at ALL. So in desperation I popped the knitting into the scanner and it worked beautifully - the cable was nice and crisp and the colour only needed a tiny bit of adjustment. It's just a shame that the border pattern isn't clearer. Ah well, you can't have everything.

Until the next entry.

Well, nuts.

5 minutes into waking this morning, I realised with a shock that I'd made a mistake on the final measurements of the clapotis yesterday - I said they were 16 1/2" by 32".

I don't think a 2 1/2 foot scarf would work at all if it was meant to be a wrap, would it?

No.
So.
The clapotis measurements are actually 16 1/2" by 76".

Sheesh.

Until the next entry.

The finished Clapotis - finally.

Well, I'm back from Lichfield a week later than I originally planned for. I'm not going into details of what happened - it all went by in a bit of a blur to be honest and I don't want to tell it all again - once to my Father was enough.

So. This is a photo of the finished Clapotis, a bit worse for flash bleaching - but the draping looks nice. The clapotis has been roughly folded in half before draping over the chair and the excess folded (from the back)over the top of the chair again. The chevron effect of the dropped stitches is not intentional, but the right side sort of merges with the wrong side. Ok, that doesn't make sense, but I'm tired (it's 1am here in the UK).
This is a close-up photo (one of the VERY few I did manage to take of it) of the knit side of the clapotis in the early stages. It's here to give a comparison to the next photo.
This is a sort of close-up of the knit side of the finished clapotis. Though it isn't really possible to see, it did shrink a bit after washing. Yes, the colours did fade a bit as well - but not quite as much as it appears. The photo above was taken without the flash, while this one had flash.


The finished clapotis is 16 1/4" wide and 32" long. It's a bit too skinny, but surprisingly enough, it's perfect on the length. I say "surprisingly" because I had the sinking feeling as I was washing it that it was going to shrink more than it did.
Nice yarns.




Oh, one final note. It's not as slinky as I thought it would be, but it is nicely warm and the colours remind me of the surface of the ocean during a high tide.

Ok, got to go - the bed is calling.

Night.

Clapotis update

Well, it's finished. It's been washed (took three washes to get all the oil out of it) - the water for the first two washes was very cloudy and a light aqua. Had a bit of a fishy taint as well.

It's now drying, but tomorrow I'm off to Lichfield for a bit, so I'll take and post photos of it when I get back.
I was going to post a photo of the knit side of it early in the knitting so you could see the colour difference pre-washing, but I changed my mind - I'll include it with the post-washing photo's.

See you when I get back.

A couple of the photos that I said I'd post. . .

Well, finally. It took 6 tries to get these photos on here. I had to ditch the back views. Oh well.

This first one is the right side of my new MP3 holder.
The thread is two skeins of DMC "craft thread" (that's what was on the band of the skeins) in 10 different shades of variegated thread.
The stitch is linen stitch - according to The Readers Digest Complete Guide to needlework.

I think it's very nice and fun.
But . . .






This is the inside out view of the front.

I like it much better, hence the "in use" photo. That's the cord of the headphones sticking out.







Maybe I'll have better luck with posting photos in the next entry. *sigh*.

Until then. . .

Procrastination alert. . .

I shouldn't be doing this, as I'm working on the last half of my final piece of coursework, which is due to be mailed off Monday, but I'm nothing if not bored stiff.

I have, in the last two weeks,
completed the first half of the clapotis. It's nice, but getting boring,
and
knitted, in linen stitch, a cover for my MP3-zen touch player. It's cute and reversable.
There will be photos of both of these next week.

Back to the grinding of brain cells. *g*.

Until the next post

Ok, lets try this again . . .

I'm just a posting maniac, aren't I?

Ok, so I've been busy-ish. I've had to re-start a crocheted bracelet as I discovered that as I went to sew it closed, the crocheting was off, meaning that it was never going to be finished properly. So It's sitting in front of me, with the main body frogged and wrapped around a suitable container (I used a VERY clean prescription container to wrap it around) and the re-started bit is waiting patiently next to it.
I've only crocheted about 1/2 an inch so far, but it's a start. At least this one seems to be starting correctly.
The other thing was that I have completely finished the blue scarf.
There it is, all clean and fluffy. I didn't bother blocking it as it's 100% polyester.
Anyway. I hope she likes it and it gets as much use as the matching hat I sent her last year(I did mean to send the scarf much sooner . . . but. . .

The other thing is that I've started a clapotis. Darn you, knitty.com and all those other happy people on the forums dedicated to making this apparently wonderful item.
Ok, I liked the look of it as well. *sigh*.
So, I'm not using the same yarn asked for in the pattern, but instead, I'm using this:



5 cones (4 - 200g, one unknown weight) of single ply silk/cotton & silk/wool mixes (min. 50% silk) via Texere Yarn Mill. (4 cones of Garden Flowers, 1 cone of Enigma). They cost me a grand total of £14. I got what I could afford. I bought a couple more cones than this and I made a swatch - like you do.

Working with the yarn is "sticky" and slightly smelly, but this is due to the silk in both types being oil-spun. Luckily for me, it washes out easily, as when the swatch was washed, it turned out lovely. The feel is very soft and with a slight fuzz. But it shrunk a little in length - this isn't a disadvantage. It causes the knitting to tighten up just right. The stickiness makes the knitting, post-washing, quite loose.

But the shrinkage (which isn't much) caused me to re-think the pattern slightly, adding a repeat in both the length and width.



So, I started on the clapotis itsself and I'm plugging along slowly (no photos of that as yet) and it's looking good. I'll update with photographs now and then.

Until the next post.

Aborted post

Ok, I just spent 1/2 an hour trying to write up a post with photos.
Trying to.

I'm not very happy now, since I had to scrap it. *sigh*.

I'll try again this weekend. I need sleep.
Yeah.
Sleep.
That sounds VERY good.

Later.

Oh my goodness. I'm writing an entry this soon. *gasp*.
Something must have happened.

Well, yes, it did. I learned how to properly knit lace a couple months ago, so yesterday, I took a look at the first lace project I started (a feather lace scarf), and found it wanting.
Ok, not simply wanting, but cr*p. Pure and simple.
I frogged it, and the needles and yarn have been put away.

Ah well. I know I'll overcome the humiliation and go back to it. After all, I did like the yarn and the pattern - the way it was supposed to look and not the mess I knitted - so I've decided that October will be the month to re-start the leaf lace scarf in Regia sock wool, colourway Parrot.
This does mean that there are no photgraphs of the lace abomination, as I didn't want reminders of it.

On a lighter note, I found a pattern for a tricorn pirate's hat - to felt.
http://knitlikeapirate.com was the wonderful website.
It's a fledgling website, but it's charming.

Until the next post.

A blanket square update - kind of. . .

Well, I finally took a photo of a few of the squares.
It is a very small selection, as there are now 320 of them, but it shows, within reason, what I'm doing.
No square is bigger than 6cm by 7cm.

Ok, now to repeat myself for those just arrived, or those not really wanting to go back into the archives:
The amount of fibre/yarn (actually cotton embroidery 6-stranded floss) I'm working with per square, is 8 metres. It's double thickness (two skeins) in order to get the right feel of fabric, as using it single thickness would make a blanket not much use other than ornament, and I want this for general use when it's finally completed (which will probably be in about 5 years, considering my project finishing rate).
And although the majority of the squares will be knitted with cotton, a very, VERY few, known as the "other" squares, are knitted with triple thickness madeira metallic embroidery thread/floss or of microfibre yarn (DK thickness). This is only because I want a tiny amount of variation in fibre types, and I liked the feel of the microfibre (no squares of which are in either picture). So sue me.


















Here's a closer photo, to show a bit more detail in some of the squares.
I'm actually proud of the consistency of the knitting. It's not fantastic, but it is very good considering I've only been knitting for 18 months.

I have multiple categories of square -
plain stocking stitch,
plain reverse stocking stitch,
diagonal squares,
horizontal squares,
lace squares,
patterned squares (no lace patterns in this category, of course),
striped squares
and then the "other" squares.
Of the main categories, I've worked out that I must knit 120 of each, with only 44 squares in the "other" category.
It is a teeny bit screwy, but it is my blanket. I figure that this will be my first and only afghan, so
I'm going to make it the way I want it. (Well, I say only. . .but time will tell.)

And finally. . .the blanket will (should) end up being 2 metres by 2 metres, if I've done the mathematics correctly, which I sincerely hope I have. I'm going to be really miffed if I end up with squares left over.

On a ever-so slightly different note to finish this post with, I've finished the knitting and cast off on both the blue eyelash scarf and the prayer shawl. I still have the ends to weave in and the fringe to attach to the prayer shawl (a short one), but at least I've done them. *happy sigh*.

Bye for now.

This post is/was to test the hello program that was giving me problems.
It half-worked. *grin* So I'll edit the post and finish it off as I wanted it to look. . .


















This picture is a close-up of my crocheted amber necklace mentioned in the previous post. The pin is 1" high, and the grey "stick" coming out the right is a 4mm double pointed knitting needle used for a core to crochet around. The necklace is a little floppy to be crocheted without the internal support.



This photo is just to show a) the flexibility of the necklace and b)what I've finished so far.

Behind the necklace (and wound with the rest of the "beads") is a cone of beige bonded nylon thread that I've strung the amber "beads" onto.

Until the next post.

Selective Update

Well. I had a shock today. I went to measure that prayer shawl/wrap I'm working on and discovered that I'm 8" away from being finished. So instead of being on the final ball like I thought I was, I'm on the penultimate ball. Which IS true - I can't have anymore than one more ball after this, because that's all I've got in stock - and I'm not buying anymore of the particular wool I'm using on this.

On the bad side, it means I'm about a week further away from starting a new project on the needles I'm now using. *sigh*.

Oh well.

But I've resumed work on a cross stitch project - "Goddess of Mercy" from Myth and Magic patterns book on 14 count blue-gray aida - I've completed over 1/3rd and it's good to be working on it again. Oddly enough, I've really missed working on it. The plan is for it to be hung over the door into the living room (once it's been framed, of course).

The amber crocheted rope necklace is about 1/2 finished - I think - because I've forgotten exactly how much amber beads I'd strung to begin with (no, it's not a truly incorrect usage of the word "much" - I just strung beads until I ran out and they were bought by weight, not length.) *shrug*. I don't mind really - I can see an end in sight, and I just like the fact it can't get any futher away like the shawl project ending happened to do.

And before I totally forget, I've cast off the blue eyelash scarf. It only took 9 months to knit.*sigh*. Just got all the ends to sew in now. . .

Until the next entry - with photos.

And the project I'm concentrating on this month is. . .

Well, for August, I think it'll be two projects - a blue eyelash yarn scarf I should have finished 6 months ago and a prayer shawl that likewise should have been finished 6 months ago.

Of the blanket squares - well, as of the 31st of July, there are 270 squares completed and washed. There are another 2 pre-washed and blocked, and I'll continue to work on them very erratically until I decide to have another month dedicated to that project.

Until later.

A hit, a veritable hit!!!

Well, I'm happy.

A minor milestone in the quest for completing the blanket squares has been reached - I've done over a 1/4 of the 884 squares needed.

As of today, I've knitted (and washed) 245 squares.
*whew*.

I think I'm going to take a break from knitting the squares for a few days.
Then I'll see if I can get another 20 done before the end of the month. Well, since I've already got 5 started on needles, I MIGHT be able to do it.
*grin*.

I do realise I haven't posted a picture of a bunch of the squares all mixed together, but I'll do it next month. I'm a bit busy with coursework (and really shouldn't have done this post.).

Bye for now.

p.s. I forgot to add some info on the post below (previously posted)- that bracelet isn't particularly chunky, it's small, so it looks VERY chunky - I made it for myself and my wrist is 5-1/2 inches around - the bracelet is about 6-1/2 inches on the inner circumferance.

A Finished Bracelet

I like this.
It didn't turn out quite how I wanted it to, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I started and ripped this bracelet at least 6 times. I strung and re-strung the beads and chips 4 times and finally came up with a result that wasn't ugly.

Here it is, after 6 months of work:


A gem chip and clear glass size 11 bead crocheted bracelet. The gem chips are grey moonstone and "white" labradorite. The blue flashes don't show up very well in the picture.

There are also "white" labradorite cubes and small frosted clear glass cubes in the bracelet.

And yes, if you're thinking it, that white paper is exactly what it looks like. But it created the right background for the colours in the stones to photograph correctly.

Bye for now.

Stripy stockinette knitted squares

This is a kind of a tutorial on how to do stripes on double-pointed knitting needles using stockinette stitch.

I'm sure that this is not a new technique. I'm also sure that someone out there will read this and go: "I know how to do that or "Someone I know" knows how to do that and they taught me."

n.b. about this technique - my regular knit stitch is tbl knitting, so doing "regular" front loop knitting is weird for me.

But, I think that this is a very nifty way of getting neat stripes with an equally neat back so here it is:
1. Start with a simple cast on in colour A (A) and purl the first row.
2. "Casting in" colour B (B), knit into the back of the loop (tbl) one row.
3. Slide the knitting over and knit a regular row (front of the loop) with (A).
4. Change to (B) and purl a row.
5. Slide the knitting over to the ther side and change to (A) and purl a row, BUT, into the back of the loop.
6. (repeating the cycle) Using (B), knit (tbl) a row.

repeat rows 3. - 6. until you either run out of materials or you get the length you want.

Last row: Cast off using the opposite colour you started with - I use stretchy cast off as I'm a tight knitter. I tend to end up on a knit row when casting off.

If the above sound difficult (or strange), what you are essentialy doing is knitting two rows and then purling two rows, but in order to keep the stitches from twisting (as it would if you just knit (or purled) regularly for both rows), you knit (or purl) one side of the loop for the first row, then the other side for the next row. You need the double pointed needles in order to change colours smoothly and cleanly (no stranding of colours across the back of the knitting) - and to do that, you need to be able to slide the knitting back and forth between the points.
Try it using your own method of casting on and what you start the first row with - purl or knit. If you use cotton floss, the twisting will become apparent very quickly.
When you've gotten to the end, do a cast off using the opposite colour than you cast on with.



Knitted square (stockinette stitch), using yellow varigated and regular blue cotton floss

The square shown is pre-washed and blocked, so it is quite "curly". If you look though, you can see the end of a yellow row peeking out from underneath the cast-off row.

I hope this creates the urge to attempt one. They're not that hard once you get the hang of it.
Kind of rhythmic, really.

Bye for now.

I shouldn't be here

I really shouldn't. I should be in bed, asleep, dreaming and ready to wake early in the morning.

But I'm awake, so I thought I'd just update this pleasant journal with my latest crafting news.

I've had to increase the amount of squares to 884. I'm very slowly knitting them - so slowly in fact, that I've only knitted 27 in 4 weeks. I guess after the exams in October I'll speed up again.

I've crocheted more bead braclets - 6 (though they haven't all been closed - only 2 have), and I've got 2 green ones waiting to be started right in front of me.
There are also 3 necklaces on the go as well and I have plans for another bracelet as a present - though I cannot give specific details until it is finished - though there will be photos of some of them soon (and photos of the present after it has been given - since I really don't want to spoil the surprise of what it will look like).

I've been slowly working on a blue eyelash scarf for a friend, with stripy fishtail ends - and I'll take photos of it when it is finished.

I think that's it for now.
Ah! I'm still working on the stripy knitted square technique I "discovered". I'll get to that in the future.

Bye for now.

Yet more squares

Well, I'd post a significant entry, but I've no real time.
So suffice it to say I'm working on a knitting entry (with a couple pictures) for this.
I'll try to get it posted within the next couple weeks. *cross fingers*

Until then

Oh, yes, I've finally gotten a new camera. I'm happy. *grin*

An update on the squares

Well, at this point, I've knitted over 120 squares.

I've also done a rough estimate of how many squares I'll need given that I want a blanket measuring 125cm x 200cm.

580.

Five Hundred and Eighty Squares.

Well. I'm not sure I'll do them all. I'm not sure I won't, but from my track record about projects, the future looks set to see me get within sight of finishing them all and they end up getting put in a bag to end up slowly rotting in the pit/box of Unfinished Projects.
Not because I get fed up of knitting, but because I can't face finishing off the project - the thought of sewing or crocheting all those squares together will make me blanch.

But I don't know - there's this small determined lizard in the back of my brain gritting it's teeth and willing me on to complete all the squares and finish the project.

I hope it wins.

Until the next entry.

New Knitting

Not in the sense I have started a new project, but that the blanket project (small square knitting)is getting a little dull.

So I decided to try out some textured knitting.
I've done small squares of alternate stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch (5 stitches for each small square) on a square - lovely. I've done a couple of those so far.
Then I did seed (moss) stitch - it required that I drop the cast on to 18 stitches, but it turned out fine. I've done a couple of those as well.

I then tried doing seed stitch rib (I don't have the pattern as the book is downstairs) - that was nice, as the pattern is reverseable. Only one of those so far, but I'll be doing more.

I have tried doing a "easy" cable pattern (indented diamonds), but it occasionally required twisted cabling and regular cabling on the same row, and with frustration and dropped stitches, that got frogged. I will try it again later in the month, even if only to conquer it.

I also did a alternate to the diagonal half colour intarsia square and for that, I cast on 20 stitches, and purled the first row. (square was done using st. stitch)
(note - colours are single skeins of embroidery floss doubled in half, casting on with the loose ends - the loop will be used in case of the floss running short)

On the next (knit) row, I knitted the first stitch using the alternate colour (AC) and knit the rest of the row using the first colour (FC).
The next row (purl), after slipping the first stitch, I purled with the FC until one stitch before the AC, then purled the remaining stitches.
The rows after that, I slipped the first stitch, and knitted or purled the row increasing the AC until I was left with one remaining stitch of the FC (this would be the 20th row).
On the last row, instead of slipping the first stitch, I purled the whole row in the AC, and then cast off knitwise with it.

There occasionally were problems with the FC being short on the very last stitch, but that was solved by wrapping the end of the floss loop (doubled skein) around the inserted needle and then purling that into the last stitch, I then knit into the loop with the first stitch of the next row with the AC, thereby locking it into place. It does look a little odd, but it works.


Bye for now.

Camera gone

My Father has gone on a trip, taking the only Digital Camera with him.
This unfortunatly means that there will be no photos until he returns.

So be it.

A Tiny Change of Plans

Well, knitting the squares is going well. I've done 40 of them so far and once the two that are on the needles are finished, I'm going to wash them. I figured that if I wash them in batches of 40, then I won't have too much to do.

The next batch of 40 will be knitted half-and-half colour squares. Cast on a colour, purl a row and on the next row introduce a colour on the last stitch (intarsia knitting technique). After that, increase the new colour by knitting one extra stitch of the second colour and decreasing the first colour by a stitch. Eventually, the square will be finished by casting off in the second colour.

Colours will be moderatly randomly picked. There are colour combinations I cannot abide, like red and green (any shades) or bright yellow and royal blue.
Other than that, if it looks ok, it gets knitted.

Wish me luck.

Ok.

I'm proving not so frequent at updating for this month.

So what's new.

I don't spend a lot of time on the internet because I'm crafting.
And in the case of this particular journal, if I'm crafting, I'm not doing this, and if I'm doing this, I'm not crafting.
A hell of a catch 22.

Then add to this I'm doing two university courses, both with enormous reading lists.
(Philosophy and Neurobiology teamed with psychology)
and there's another problem for the majority of this year.

I'll update when I can.
And when I don't, please imagine me sweating over large textbooks or trying to complete mountains of knitting.
Because I'll probably be doing just that.

The knitting projects have increased by two - I've started a new knitting project consisting of small squares of doubled skeins of embroidery floss (2 skeins make one square). They work out very nice knitted on 3.25mm needles, casting on 20 stitches and knitting stocking stitch for 21 rows (slipping the first stitch of every row after the first row), then casting off using stretchy cast-off. It works out that a square takes 30 minutes to do and I can knit them while I'm watching TV.
I'll keep knitting squares until I've used up my large-ish stash of cheap embroidery floss and then I'll update on this when I'm at another stage.

Then there's the baby sweater adapted from a pattern (Baby's First Tattoo) in the "Stitch and Bitch Nation" Book.
I'm knitting it in 4-ply blue King Cole. I've also dropped it down 2 sizes. It's still pretty big for a NeoNatal unit, but I'm hoping it'll work. I've finished the back, and started on the left front.

Bye for now.

Not much happening here

I've gone into limbo, crafting-wise. I just can't do any work on anything. Not that I'm in a funk, or that I have no energy. There's a LOT of work that needs to be finished, or started, or just worked on.

I do not want to do anything enough to actually do it.

I'll pick things up and look at them, then put them down.

A few days ago, I was working on the scarf for the hat-and-scarf set (hat was completed a while ago) and I had to frog it due to a dropped stitch. I've cast the stitches back on, but that's all.

*sigh*.

I think spring fever is slowly building and it's affecting me by creating this feeling of "not now, there's something important coming".

I hope it's bloody important.

Later.