Handwarmers

I had been wanting to make mittens on the CSM. In stocking stich they came out far too wide, and the sides of the gusset were very difficult to pick up. I considered a 1x3 rib and them closing it up with smocking, like Jenny Deters socks. However, I got a pleasant surpirse that 1x3 rib on its own closes up considerably. The top edge is backstich bind off, much neater and stretchier than I though it was going to be (so I am quite addicted to it now! Needs to be done in a good light though). For the thumb, I used EZ's "afterthought" principle, snipping a stich and unravelling to give 20 all round. Hand knit rib for 8 rows, and there you go. Thumb generally starts at the half way point, it's just slightly off in the stripey colour ones.

Yarnmaker mag

Must be my Autumn - my onion skin dyeing artcle has been picked up by Dot for Issue 2 of Yarnmaker mag.

Grant's Kilthose

Got the kilthose finished at last. How many months have I been struggling? Basis was Cat Bordhi's Personal Footprints, working from the toe up. DId a bit on one, then a bit on the other, so they grew together.

They were a bit tight round Grant's ankles getting them on. The extra length was no problem for this tall chappie, but I had to put quite a lot of extra stitches in for his 17 inch calves (mine are 14 inches). Only just found out he swims 50 lengths every monring before going to work, which explains a lot! I took the calf shaping in a bit before starting the hidden rib.


Then I spent a couple of days deciding on the cable pattern for the turnovers. I ended up with woven lattice. I knew that most cables needed an extra 10% of stiches, but a sample showed it drew in rather a lot, so I added about 20% and forged ahead. I finished with four rows of rib and tow rows of tubular rib to do a Kitchener bind-off - quite pleased with this. But when I tried the first one on my own leg, the lattice was horribly tight. I am now waiting with heart in mouth for Grant to come round and try them on, with not much hope of them being right.

They definitely look better on a leg than off, as they don't want to lie flat on a sock blocker.

October already?

And my birthday month. Got the best present of all - my other half back out of hospital after breaking his leg (neck of femur) whilst we were in holiday in Malta. It was just too hot there to do any knitting while hanging around waiting for the air ambulance, and been far too busy since we came back with visiting, filling in insurance forms, answering all the queries, rearranging our lives...

I have started several projects back home though. Picked up a pattern in Malta, in a lesser known magazine called Knit & Crochet Style (it has an English price tag, but I haven't seen it over here - may be linked to Sandra magazine, all yarns are Stoeller and Stahl). Very intrigued to find a pattern like my Dordogne Authmn Cardi, for kids, but starting with casting on all stitches. A much neater bottom edge. Worked in the round, no side seams. Absolutely made for a long colour repeating yarn as the yarn is not cut at the end of each diamond module, but stitches picked up down the side then left there until the next round, almost like entrelac. So picked up James Brett's baby Bliss in the LYS, blues for M and pinks for S. I have completed three rounds of modules and now need to catch one of them to see if it is going to fit! They both started walking last week. Now the fun begins.

Christmas is coming - the tins of Quality Street are already in my local Co-op. I think it may be another year of tokens and mini-garments - see the pix.

New webzine

Wow! Knitting Iceland has just come out - and I'm in it, in three languages!
New link is http://tricoteuse-islande.fr/2010/09/giant%E2%80%99s-footstep-cushion/

Summer at last!

No, not the weather, the Summer Sizzler Shawl is FINISHED!

Cleaning Lleyn and the rugged farmer

What, August already? Need to start thinking about Christmas! Got two organic Lleyn fleeces from Manor Farm. What a performance washing in bowlsful. No way was I going to put it in the bath and get a bad back, or all that scrubbing out afterwards. Did some dyeing with organic beetroot and o. onion skins plus some very inorganic copper sulphate to get a good olive green from the onion. And my one woad palnt for very pale blue and pinky-tan from the spend leaves. Half an hour per evening carding, then some spinning. Woollen spinning method is not my forte and I reckon this fleece is a bit rough, so I plied it with some o. merino tops I found (to try and keep the organic theme going).

Decided to make the farmer and his wife some form of handwarmers this year. First effort is 40 sts in 2x2 rib on size 4mm needles. Three inches or 22 rounds in olive, 22 back and forth rows in golden onion and last inch or 7 rounds again in beetroot. So here they are - the rugged farmer's handwarmers, or should that be the farmer's rugged handwarmers?

News on Skoleppar Cushion

No entry for May - I was ill on and off for six weeks and on hols in France. Came back to find wonderful news - Helene Magnusson has asked for my cushion pattern for the new webzine Knitting Iceland due out in the autumn - find it on www.knittingiceland.com. This has entailed a total re-write of the pattern to their guidelines and has rather exercised the brain! Plus I have had to send the cushion itself off by post to a photographer in Iceland, presumably to be pictured in front of a volcano.

While in France, I dreamt up some more items to be made for this same shape. One has been inspired by the Uzbek bag in Vicki Square's book, although the final effect will be more Peruvian!

New Crochet edging?

I was making more skoleppar (shoe inserts) and dithering over which colour to use for the simple double crochet edging. I decided to use both. Not wanting to keep twisting the yarns over each other, I thought of the Fair Isle stranding technique in knitting, where the yarns are kept apart.

Attach both colours. Keep green higher, or nearer finger tip than orange. With green, work one chain. *Hook into edge of work, pick up orange, draw through, complete stitch in orange. Hook into edge of work, over orange strand to pick up green, draw through, and complete stitch in green. Repeat from *

An unexpected bonus was that the reverse of the work (the top edge in the photo) looks rather like a braid. Sample here done in dishcloth cotton. In wool, on a smaller scale and fulled in the washing machine, the stitch definition will not be so great.

Cushion finished

And doesn't it look at home?

Cushion back and front

I'm getting there! The top is the front. Now to join with 4-stitch applied I-cord. Thanks to the workshop I did with Tricia Holman last year (Elizabeth Zimmermann's niece), I now know to work this from the back and to introduce extra rows when is seems to pull in.

Skoleppar Cushion

Thought I would do a bigger skoleppar cushion before I go to France in May. Coming along nicely. Took a pix of the halfway stage. about 20 different lengths of colour hanging off it. Glad I had done smaller projects previously!

New Year's Resolution gone to pot

Well, I did get the Spring Thaw Socks finished, then got side-tracked with K's new cardi, a brimmed hat, church offering mitts, 4ply kilthose, Ten stitch patterns for a workshop, bunny blanket buddies, tea cosy with a Yorkshire theme, fingerless gloves for local wool shop ...

Details - K's cardi is Jamieson & Smith 2ply jumperweight, machine knitted.
Brimmed hat is from an old Sirdar pattern and not very good, in my opinion, as the band is too narrow and flares too much.
The socks look really odd if left to their own devices - I think this is because it is twisted rib stich with smooth stocking stitch underfoot.
Teacosy is machine knit the magic "card 2" then thrown in the washing machine.
Scarf is double crochet through backs of loops only, except for fringe ends which are crocheted through two loops as normal. I rather think it looks like a drippy waterfall.
Bunny blanket buddies are a free Lion Brand pattern, they say should be twice this size!

New Year Knitting Resolutions

I thought I really must finish work that is already on the needles before starting any new projects. Being snowed in for several days would be a help, you'd think, but the old acute tendonitis is rearing its ugly head (or left arm) again and slowing me up. However, I am now on the final leaf in the Spring Thaw socks, and should be finished tomorrow (pity the snow won't be gone by then as well). I don't think I'll want to see another twisted rib stitch for a long time after this.

The big new project for the year (and possibly going into 2011) is going to be Hughes Hues, translating a cotton fabric jacket into knitwear. The plan is for natural dyes and garter stitch and methodology from Debie New's Swirl socks and the little baby jumper she brought with her to the Guild's London AGM (in her book Unexpected Knitting). I was so afraid that people would be getting fed up of seeing me in my Dordogne Autumn Jacket - but they've asked me to do a workshop on it at this year's AGM! I might also try a sample of Hughes Hues in remnants of cotton Peaches 'n' Creme. Why the name? Because a lady called J. Hughes was wearing the original.