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.