Appropriate cartoon

 Yes, folks, I forgot to write.  A  bit of hospital visiting was going on which meant not much knitting was!

As  weare coming up to Brussels sprout season, I did make a couple.  Very fiddly.  

A gingerbread house bauble was also fiddly, but I worked out how to knit in in one piece instead of five with seams.

Then there was the square bunny.  So easy, can't think why I have never come across it before.  Patterns exist for croc0eht and garter stitch, but not many seem to be in stocking stich.  Anyway, on the machine, e-wrap start, 56 sts, 80 rows, gather to finish.  Turn work round so e-wrap edge is at top.  Run a line across halfway then up to middle top and down to start point.  Place stuffing in the triangle, draw up, and that's the head and ears done!  Short back seam, pull gathered edge and stuff.  Because I am rubbish at pompons, a small loop of I-cord for a tail.

When Knitting give you lemons

 I was trying for a hot water bottle cover in Fair Isle.  The purple was old Shetland (though unlabelled) stuff, quite harsh.  The white was a new cone from good old J&S, and must have been a little thicker than previously.  The pattern was stacked snowflakes or windflowers.  Tension was 8 on the Kitmaster, and it was like rolling a boulder uphill, with frequent jams.  So I gave up.  The piece of fabric that came off the machine was like cardboard, with several dropped stithces.  As Shetland wool is so "sticky", I couldn't be bothered to wind each colour back.  Then had the idea of seeing if I could sew it onto a thin cork backing as coasters.  It worked.  Bit rough round the edges, but hey, it's "lemonade".  Tried one piece on felt, but that flexes a little.  Looking for the flet (and tidying up my haberdashery trays in the process), I came across a "deep" plastic coaster still in its packet.  By this time I had very little good areas left on the original piece.  It is too thick to let the backing fit neatly inthe frame, so it had to be a sellotape job.

Knitting on, regardless

 It is rare that I post about the mental benefits of knitting.  But after a couple of weeks of chest infection, leg pain, dental woes, the only thing that I could do, and remains unchanged, is my ability to knit.  Every spare moment.  I never think I achieve much, but last week I did a talk to a knitting grop and was allowed to takes some sales.  Looking at that table piled high with items, it seems I do get through a fair bit!  Mind you, the sods didn't buy a single thing.  They all had a good look and probably turned them over and thought "I could knit that for a fraction of the price". Go ahead, girls, be my guest.  The talk was meant to inspire you.

I am currently opening my mind to new ideas.  Must overall be interesting to do, fairly quick to execute (bearing in mind the minumum wage for knitting!), practical use of materials, be the continuation of a tradition, and look good enough to entice people to buy.  Needless to say, my mind is a total blank.

... and neither will other people!

 It would appear that other people like my hot water bottles, as five sold in the first two weeks at the museum shop and I have been asked to supply more.  The tweedy ones seem more popular than the purple, which has surprised me, as in the socks and handwarmers purple always sells out first.  I saw some Shetland ones on the Net (no pattern apart from a couple of stripes) which are selling at 50% more than we are charging.  Somebody must be buying them.

Buying the naked bottles on line was more difficult than it should have been.  At least 30 minutes trawling through "you are buying the cover only" etc.  Or the photo looks like a full size 2L bottle then in the descsription turns out to be a 500L handwarmer.  I did get a bargain few, and that firm even sent me a 15% discount off my next order.  Tried another order - they've now disappeared from the website!  They must have been on clearance the first time round.  So I gave up and went back to my local shop who have bottles with spotted covers (lurid green fleece, but what the heck) for a very reasonable £5.  Thought I had cleared his shelves, but he showed me another two boxes full, which should keep me going until sales drop off.  And, amusingly, a couple of friends in my Wednesday gossip group want the disgarded spotted covers, which I am happy to give them.

We won't be cold this winter

 

The key to buying keyrings online ..

 ... is that the slly advertisers call a keyring two pieces, the fastening bit and the ring where you hang the keys.  So a box of "36 pieces" is actually only 18 keyrings to normal people i.e. me.  Yes, they did picture the full contents of the box along side it,but who actually counts that?  Anyway, I wanted them for mni socks.  Made on the Knitmaster, 16 sts wide leg of 12 rows, foot of 8 rows, turned heels and toe and grafted.

Another heatwave!

 ... and too hot to knit.

Here's a snowman toilet roll cover I finished earlier.

After the heatwave, after the flood

Too hot to knit, then as soon as the weather cooled down, a burst inlet pipe in the kitchen brought all knitting to a halt for a couple of days.

I have been "playing" with a Reader, Hand & Co machine for a few weeks, on and off (mostly off).  This machine has an extra pattern dsik attached to the side, and twin feed for yarn, extra cam for the needle path. There only seems to be the one setting though It came to me in a very parlous state, totally seized, with the knitting attached.  It took the combined efforts of the gang (bribed by cake) to get it apart and the needles out, then yourse truly attacked it with more than one can of WD40.  Today was re-assembly day.  The gang was again bribed by cake as the full machine is too heavy for me to lift.

Show your knots

 

 Look, Yarn Spinners, it's all very well bringing out a pretty rainbow yarn to celebrate Pride month, but it just isn't funny when you not only have a break in the yarn but also go on to pick up a new length from a different dyebatch AND reverse the sequence of the rainbow.

And don't give me the pathetic excuse that trade standards allow you so many knots in a ball of yarn. Similar stuff happened with another of your sock yarn range.  You may be one of the cheaper yarns,but I do expect it to be usable!  Will I ever buy your yarn again?  What do you think?7

Addendum : Stylecraft did apoloogise and replace the ball of yarn.

New Kit

An idea held over from some time ago.  Now I have a 64 cylinder on the pretty Cymbal,  making afterthought or Shaker Socks from knitted tubes looks more "do-able".

Two parts to this - making kits for sale, and holding a workshop.  Who would have thought the instructions would take so long to type out, test, and edit?  Even the label for the bag (opaque, so has to be descriptive- but brief!).

Royal Purple pots

 It was a coincidence that I was making cosy coasters pots whole watching Trooping the Colour on the Platinum Jubilee, but here you

have them!

Red and the Hood

 "Little" is the operative word here for Red's hood.  When mixing machines, tension is not the same ... write this out 100 times, Ms Mary.  And don't be such a wuss about using a circular machine for flatweb now you have conquered heels.

Anybody know what she was riding?  I thought she always walked to Grandma's through the woods.

Pattern was translated for a CSM by the same person who sorted the sunflower.    It' been on my "to do" list for many years.  I have since spotted an Elsa and Anna doll which could be converted similarly, but I think E has perhaps now grown too old.

Rinse and repeat

 

  

These little animals are so lovely to do.  64 cylinder, so they come out smaller overall than the original patterns.  Eventually I must pack them up and send them on to the childen's charity.  I still find it difficult to do the bear's mouth without it looking as if he is leering though'

A clash of Cymbals

 

had the opportunity to play with another Cymbal for a week.  Coloured logo, nearly all gone.  Serial no.3412, so very easy.  Single square bolt-on tray.  Bevel marks on cylinder at 35/37.  This is for balancing rib patterns.  No mention of it in  any manual!  In fact, even for ribbed socks of 5x1 they say to raise back half of needles in all three editions of the manuals seen this week.

Double level row counter.  Bottom disc revolves with crank.  Pointer revolves anticlockwise.  Numbers written on  stationary top disc anticlockwise.

Very smooth.

Sold on.

Willy Bear and Wilhelmina Ballerina

 64 slot cylinder.  Opposite way of working from comfort dolls .  For bears, the head is grafted, the feet gathered.  Ears manipulated.  After face embroidery, eyes pulled down a little to give some shaping.  Wilhelmina's skirt is hand knitted, starting with 128 sts, and a random bit if lace patterning before k2tog all across.  Willy's jumper is tweed.  Face and legs with Yarn2cone from The Yarn Pantry to try it out.

I got a new shorter claspband for the 3D printed cylinder, as it was not picking up loops onto empty needles as it should.  Worked a treat.

Oh to be in Paris ...

 ... now that April's here.

Well, that's not going to happen.  Too many medical appointments.  Also found that Ryanair have chopped the route for May, so that's that!

Another Kegworth event got through, despite Covid trying to take my supporting cast away!  New venture on trying out a 3D printed 64 slot cylinder on the pretty Cymbal.  Not counting rows properly resulted in this Dumpy Granny Comfort Doll.

Knitting continues only slowly.  A baby's jacket, more museum knits

International Women's Day

 No words.  🌻

Organising

 Having decided to launch my eighth Going Round In Circles Event on 17th January (to be held 12th March), life has been rather full of the Excel program on my computer.  I am still knitting museum stock, including neon teacosies on the Knitmaster.  Doing my eyes in knitting these colours, when I look away everything seems to go purple and turquoise!  Just enough left to add the sugar bowl, knittedon the Cymbal

Open diamond gloves

 

The nearest commercial colour I could get to Hex #CFE2DC (Iceberg).  This is Opal Jade.  Althought I aoutomatically grabbed off white for teh diamonds, they really should be dark, so next pair will be with dark green (black would be too intencse, and I haven't got any grey in).

I seem to have bought...

 ... an awful lot of sock yarn.

I daren't even tell you how much.

The price was right, 

I bought it on sight,

And all I can do is touch.

'Cos I had a small procedure done today after which I am supposed to rest my hand for 48 hours.  No chance.