Aaaaaand I’m back.
After a whirlwind few months, I’ve finally got a few spare moments to blog. Knitting has taken a backseat over the past month as I had the squishiest, most adorable baby boy come into my life. He is a very good baby, and I’ve been enjoying lots of snuggles from my last baby. Newborn constantly in arms + breastfeeding + tired mummy =/= much knitting output. I have missed it though, so I’ve figured out how to knit while nursing 🙂
Now to start plowing through my Ravelry queue!
Our completely pointless summer has given way to a very very cold autumn. As the Starks say “Winter is coming.” despite wanting to hibernate, I’m taking advantage of my childrens’ Easter spoils and curling up with chocolate, good bad tv and my knitting. Fingers crossed that I am finally getting my knitting mojo back.
A nice easy project to keep me entertained is a Pinwheel Blanket for the baby. I started it well before I knew the sex, so I chose to dye the yarn bright unisex colours. I love a baby in sunshine yellow 🙂
I’m calling this the Blanket of Doom as, like the proverbial bunny, it just keeps going and going and going. I’m at 47 stitches per section which is 470 stitches total. Each round seems to take forever! I will increase to 50 before I give up. Thank goodness it’s in 10ply or it wouldn’t be finished before his 21st.
On a side note, this is my first time blogging from my phone. Yay for technology!
Poor sad neglected blog!
The last 4 months have been incredibly hectic and something had to give. Unfortunately, that something was blogging.
As a quick recap of the last few months: I am expecting another little boy in July, which is so wonderful. This pregnancy has not been the easiest I’ve ever had. A month long migraine ending in hospitalization meant a lot of my crafting suffered as it just hurt too much to concentrate on anything small, like screens or knitting. Ont he other end of the spectrum, my back and pelvis have given up the fight, so lots of lounge surfing for the next few months has encouraged me to really hook into my knitting. Dyeing has taken a very back seat as I just wasn’t comfortable playing with dangerous chemicals whilst pregnant. Stellar Yarns has also taken a break as morning sickness and two young children is draining enough.
I’ve hardly knit anything for this baby (poor unloved third child) so I have a bulky blanket OTN right now.
Even though I’ve been unable to knit, I have still been acquiring beautiful yarns, mostly sock yarns. How exactly does that happen?
I’m hoping that I will be able to blog a little more and really embrace my crafting passions before the chaos of a newborn throws it all haywire again. I must learn how to blog from my phone for late night feeds….
Here’s hoping to a new year full of blogging!
2.5mm/US1.5 needles – either DPNs or long circulars for Magic Loop
4ply (fingering) yarn – sock leftovers are perfect. I used String Theory Entanglement in the Entropy colourway.
Gauge – Approx 9sts per inch in pattern.
This is a great way to use up leftover sock yarns and knits up fast. The fabric is quite dense, so it protects your phone and has the added benefit of wiping away fingerprint smudges. This stitch pattern can break up yarns that tend to flash or pool, and looks great with short-repeat variegated yarns. It also adds an interesting texture to solids or semi-solids. It is knit in the round so no fiddly seaming.
Bamboo Stitch Pattern
Row 1: yo, k2, pass yo over k2, k2
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: k2, yo, k2, pass yo over k2
Row 4: Knit
Cast on 40 stitches using Turkish cast on (20 stitches each side)
Place marker to show beginning of round.
Knit around once.
Knit Bamboo Stitch pattern for approx. 13 repeats, or until cosy is long enough.
Knit 5 rounds of twisted rib (p1, k1tbl).
Cast off using a stretchy bind off.
Posted in Free Patterns, Knitting
Today’s my birthday (and I’m gonna party like it’s my birthday *insert bad dancing here* ).
My birthday present from my family was some money to spend on yarn *squee*! So I trundled over to Simply Sock Yarn, where I’ve been keeping an ever-changing wishlist. There was lots of oooh-ing and ahhh-ing and hmmm-ing and Ravelry-ing, because I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy yarn without a project in mind. And you have to make sure you pack as much in an order as you can because of, you know, shipping, and stuff.
The final haul is below. Click the pictures to be taken directly to the yarn link on SSYC.
I have adored String Theory Yarns for quite a while now, and I’ve signed up for their Sock Club. But the first shipment isn’t until October, and I really wanted some eye-burning bright stripes. I’ll be doing vanilla knee-highs with this.
Dream in Colour Starry is SHINY yarn. So I naturally bought a truckload.
I’m thinking Boo! socks for the blue, Monkeys with the green, Charybdis for the teal, and… I’m sure I had plans for the red and purple, just need to get through my queue and wait for inspiration *guilty face*
And these solids will become Wonderland Socks. I’m really excited about these, as I’ve never done illusion knitting before.
And that’s my birthday haul! Now to stalk the postman…
Innovation in the sock world! It’s times like these my husband is glad I have a blog so I don’t talk endlessly to him about knitting and knitting excitement.
Cat Bordhi, one of the great sock inventors in today’s knitting world, has invented a completely new heel *thud*. Her Sweet Tomato Heel does not require a gusset (!), and is as smooth as a tomato. Cat, you had me at no gusset. I have cast on a pair of colourwork socks especially to try this heel.
The Sweet Tomato Heel ebook is available for download at the cost of US$20. It features a few patterns and will be updated throughout the year at no extra cost. It also includes an exclusive purchaser pattern. Off to cast on now!
I’m on a sock RAMPAGE!
These are my Lava Waterfall socks. These socks from Wendy Johnson were something a bit different for me. I followed the pattern faithfully, which I never do. I wasn’t a huge fan of the construction of the heel, but I trusted the pattern, and it did turn out nicely. I do prefer the Fleegle heel to this one though.
The yarn is so soft and squishy, and the orange makes me smile. They are probably slightly too short, but I got really tired of the pattern towards the end.
Posted in 2011, Finished Objects, Knitting
These are called Happiness Socks because, honestly, could you be sad if you were wearing them?
These are heavily modified Hermione’s Everyday Socks. I changed them to toe-up, TAAT, with a Fleegle Heel and 10 rows of twisted rib for the bind off.
I adore them.
They are squishy and warm and comfy and RAINBOW!!!1!!
The best part is that there is a lot of yarn left over. I have another skein in my stash, so I might make knee-highs next time 😀
Posted in 2011, Finished Objects, Knitting
I’d eyed off scarves featuring drop stitches for a while, but, like the Odessa, it was so worth it! Drop stitch scarves are very impressive, and look a lot more difficult then they actually are.
I have had so many compliments on this scarf, and it makes me feel a bit smug 🙂
How impressive is that?
60 inches of pure 100% hand-dyed merino
Paired with my Odessa hat it is very warm and snuggly.
Never underestimate how much fun it can be to purposefully drop stitches. I would count down to the drop row, and giggle like a schoolgirl as they unravelled.
After a break from knitting, my to-do list has grown massively as we suffer through a horrible cold snap. Some days it rarely gets above freezing, and I am cold.
What does that mean?
KNITTING!
I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a really cute beanie pattern. now let me preface this by saying that I am not a hat girl. I just don’t wear them. but it’s damn cold.
Enter Odessa.
Such a pretty hat/beanie/headwarmer/tea cosy. The spiral stitch pattern captured my imagination, but what truly won me over was the beads. I am a magpie, and anything shiny will catch my eye and make me happy. Only issue was that I had never done a beaded knit before. Did I dare to try what looked like such a formidable technique?
I totally did, and it was totally worth it 😀
My head is so warm! And shiny!
This free pattern uses a combination of YOs and SSK to craete the beautiful spiral towards the top of the head.
*****space saved for photo when I con my husband into taking it*****
There were a few tricky parts to this pattern, but once I found my rhythm it grew very fast. Two nights and I had a very warm head.
Here is a copy of my notes from my Ravelry project page, which include some helpful hints.
CO 110 on 4.5mm.
Knit 9 rows of ribbing with 4.5mm.
Knit 6 repeats of Odessa pattern to give approximately 6 inches of hat before beginning decreases.
Used 88 beads.
I knit these using a very warm 100% Merino wool. Shamefully (as an Aussie) I chose a New Zealand wool, but it was worth it for the colourway.
Starry Starry Knits 