Holiday Knitting Plans

Dear readers, I have a quandary. I am going away for a few days but none of my projects are ideal. Let me review for you:

First up, Skelf. This is on hiatus until this warm weather ends - it's just too hot to sit with most of a worsted-weight jumper on your lap! [Yes I will keep thinking of excuses not to knit it.] Even if it were cooler, it is not sensible to take an entire jumper away for a week - unless I'd have a lot of knitting time. We're flying to a city break. Next!

The gloves I'm knitting for OH are also on a go-slow. I'm not enjoying these at all at the moment; scared of running out of yarn and keep having to rip back every time I knitted a finger, he tried it on and it was too small. Lost the loving feeling, but at least OH will be on the holiday to keep trying them on - though as I said, it is quite warm at the moment and whether he will want to try them on is another matter!

My blue criss-cross socks are definitely in time-out. I was doing so well and going great guns...

...and then, disaster struck:

Oh yes, that is how much yarn I have left to finish the second sock. A real moment for curse words. Shoved them into time-out until I work out what to do with them.


So what am I actually knitting at the moment, since everything is too rubbish / too hard / too big? The answer is some lovely socks, in a pattern called Kalajoki [rav pattern link] in Yarn Yard Yarn I bought two years ago. The colour is called Haar, named after the sea mist that affects the east coast of Scotland [according to Wikipedia] and it is beautiful to knit with. I'm racing through these with their just-addictive-enough pattern and slightly-larger-than-normal needles.

So now I need to decide whether to start something for the holiday. It's times like these I am glad of my approach to Knitting The Queue this year; to have a selection of projects I can choose from. I've narrowed it down to two options:

First, vorticity. This pattern and this yarn (from Wharfedale Woolworks) have been wedded together for some time. Things have been holding me back, sadly: the pattern is on 2mm needles (teeny tiny!); plus, I've mostly been going down one needle size on the sock body and two for the ribbing, which I don't own. However, now my gauge seems to have evened itself out a bit more, and so I could probably knit the body on 2mm and just slightly reduce the number of stitches in the ribbing. Ready to go!

Second, daffodil. I will admit that this yarn has been giving my pause for thought when looking at my queue. I thought I would make a classic, symmetric triangular shawl but then the pooling bugged me; it was random and chaotic (good) then pooled for ~12 rows (fine), but the two together were a bit funny-looking. Instead, we're going to try knitting a cowl with it, and hope that it doesn't flip between pooling and not, but at least picks one and sticks with it! I've got a slightly odd yardage (339yds/310m) so I've gone with the Irish Mesh Cowl [rav link], which takes 220yds/201m. So this one is ready to go, too!

What say you? Should I take two new projects away with me? Or should I be a good girl and take an old project to finish? 

Socktopus

For my birthday (in July), I bought myself the book Socktopus. I had a good nosey on ravelry and loved the patterns, had a flick through and liked the look of it, and got some birthday money for just such a purchase (I think the tagline was something along the lines of, 'buy something for yourself - though I know you have too much yarn!).

As is the way with these things, they tend to sit in the back of my head and then emerge months later, fully-formed ideas and projects I can imagine casting on tomorrow. This is what has happened over the past month or so. I now have four projects lined up from this book (and that's before I've let the yarn from Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show rest in my head for a while. I know that, alongside these patterns, my brain will sort something out before too long!)

The problem with these fits of inspiration is that it makes me want to cast on all of them. Right now. I can hold back the tide a little, but the problem is that as soon as I get stuck on one thing, I throw up my hands and just cast on something else. And as my maths lecturer would phrase it, these patterns are non-trivial. So now we seem to have two pairs on the needles and another than I am definitely NOT casting on today, if only because the needles I need are in another project.

First, I started 2luvcrew for my soon-to-be bridesmaid's birthday ion March. I saw the yarn on The Yarn Yard website in May, and knew it had to be used for her. The ideas fermented a little and voila! - yarn and pattern matched. It's a lacework pattern of hearts, in case you can't tell.

This pattern has five different lace charts, and I've got this far and got stuck. I'm meant to be working the Heel Transition Chart over some stitches and the Heart Pattern Chart over the rest, but I can't get the numbers to add up. One for a day when I have a lot of brainpower - fortunately I have plenty of chances.

So I decided to cast on something that needed a little less concentration. My mum's birthday is at the end of January and she does love socks so I cast on Caretta Caretta for her, in Rowan Cashsoft 4ply bought from John Lewis in Aberdeen. I've had my doubts about the lacework pattern - is it just me, or is there something slightly dodgy-looking about it? - but finished one sock regardless.

I've not done the beads which I think would lessen the dodginess, and I think the effect is also much reduced when done over the entire sock... or maybe I'm just hopeful!

Next on the list is Hundred Acre Wood, which is covered in little leaves (or are they trees?), so this colour of Yarn Yard Yarn seemed entirely appropriate - this time bought from The Yarn Cake, Glasgow, in earlly November. Wound and ready to rock for a while now, but planning to cast on as soon as I finish one of the others.

And then possibly one of my (weather-)geekiest projects to date - Vorticity Socks in this yarn: Storm by Wharfedale Woolworks (which the lovely Steph had dyed for me). In a nutshell: vorticity is a property that storms have by the bucketload. I am very much looking forward to using this yarn - it has a good lot of bounce.

So despite my knitting a LOT of socks in 2012, it looks like my 'sock thing' is going to continue well into 2013.

Day 6: Improving Your Skillset (3KCBWDAY6)

Last year, I set myself two modest targets. One was to try colourwork using Eskimimi's Snowbaby Hat, which I have done and double done. I am happy with my hat and wear it whenever I can, and I like the feeling of achieving targets. The other was to make a hedgehog, which I have not done, and I feel a little guilty about this. My reason is that I should not buy yarn for so small a project, but use the ends of something I have made already, and I have not knitted anything brown yet. I may just have to bite the bullet and buy, but first I might raid my mum's yarn stash.

In general, I feel like I have progressed as a knitter in the past year. Not only stranded colourwork, but garments, complex lace, and socks. All excellent steps on the road to being Expert Knitter. A good year by my standards, and given that I have only been knitting 2.5 years I think I'm making some pretty complex stuff and challenging myself.

But what should me next steps be? I do want to try intarsia, to continue the colour work thing as I enjoyed stranded so much. The other thing I want to try (again) is crochet - I have the yarn for a ripple blanket a lot like this one (ravelry link), though my first endeavours were full of frustration and swearing. So those shall be my targets for before the next blog week - intarsia and crochet. And the hedgehog!

Day 5: Something a Bit Different (3KCBWDAY5)

Once again, with apologies to Rogers & Hammerstein.

Oh what a beautiful yarn!

There's a knitting plan in progress here,
There's a knitting plan in progress here,
The yarn pile's as high as an elephant's eye
And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky....

Oh what a beautiful pattern!
Oh what a beautiful yarn!
I got a wonderful feeling,
Together they'll go as I hope.

Oh the knitting plan is looking dodgy
Oh the knitting plan is looking dodgy 
There's false starts and restarts and hold-ups to boot,
And it looks like it might all need a rethink....


Oh what a beautiful pattern!
Oh what a beautiful yarn!
I got a wonderful feeling,
Together they go as I hope.

All the projects are looking so lovely,
All the projects are looking so lovely, 
Despite all my doubts the outcome is ace,
And it looks like I'll have something cosy to wear


Oh what a beautiful pattern!
Oh what a beautiful yarn!
I got a wonderful feeling,
Together they go as I'd hoped.

Oh what a beautiful day.


(Now I suggest you go and find the unadulterated version from Oklahoma!. Here it is sung by Hugh Jackman in some super-cool trousers)

A Trip to Texere

On 28th December, Texere Yarns had an extra open day that I could go to. I have wanted to go for a long while after hearing good things about it, but I was still surprised at just how much yarn there was available. Fortunately, I have learned from previous trips and went prepared with a list. On a piece of scrap paper that was heading for the bin, that turned out to be a receipt from when my dad ordered his graduation gown. He's having a huge clearout but when I do that the most recent 10-20% of stuff from the top gets sorted but the stuff underneath stays in the same state. I guess this is what you find when you have a serious clearout!

I digress. In short, my mental list has five things on it; four jumpers (Angostura, Skelf, Owls, and Spoke), and the Radiating Star Blanket [rav link]. I wanted to buy the yarn for one of these, preferable two. I went with two. I figured my relatives would approve of my spending my Christmas money this way.

So the jumper plan is:

1. Owls in the Texere Yarns Chunky in Turquoise. I love the colour, and think it would show off the pattern well and suit me.

2. Skelf in King Cole Aran in Lavender. I have enjoyed making things in King Cole, it's not expensive but keeps you lovely and warm, and it not overly itchy. I hope the colour will show off the pattern and am less sure about how much it will suit me....

There will hopefully be a comprehensive knitting plan once I've worked out what that should be. I also accidentally bought a little more roving. I really, really will try to learn to spin this year!

I remember when I lost my mind...

Things have been a little quiet on the blogging front, haven't they? I've been hard trying to turn my life into organised chaos (rather than the standard chaos it's in at the moment), and after a philosophical evening (possibly induced by red wine...) decided that life = chaos, and I should stop. In theory. I may have pulled a loooong day at work today, but it's so I can leave early tomorrow. And I mean early - girly lunch and a maintee at the theatre :)

I think I did go a bit bonkers last month, so thanks for reading the Blog of a Crazy Lady, things much better now. I am my own in charge of my work, not the other way around. I'm managing to have a social life (and meet lovely new people, too!). I've got a housemate. I've got an income. Life is good.

The only problem now is: There's No Knitting! Seriously, I have made one pair of gloves in the last month. And they're a present so no photos yet. So the knitting plan is being formulated, now. Things on it include:

• Interesting crimson and mustard mittlets, to match the mustard hat of some months ago. Sadly not enough of the mustard, cannot get hold of more. Fortunately helped out by Chantel and Steph in Ilkley.
• Finishing off my uber-warm wrist warmers - knitted but not lined.
• Coming up with something to knit for the boyf that's not a scarf, hat or gloves.
• Coming up with something to knit my boy housemate.
• Ishbel for my former housemate.
• Simple City for me.
• The dalek, which has totally ground to a halt lately.

I think it's in that order too. Awesome, there is a plan! Now to crack on with it - bring me my needles!!

PS. Well, indulge me: just one photo of the Brilliant Barcelona Break. Loved it, everyone should go. Especially in September for a week of lovely warm weather and beautiful blue sky.

The Only Way Is Up!

After a week of being in a funk - and before you ask, it is actually defined in the Google dictionary as a state of nervous depression - I seem to be on the way out. And how do I know this? I feel like knitting again! Despite a false start, I think I will crack on with my latest and favouritest project: Hands of Blue Wavy Fingerless Gloves. It ain't worth taking a photo of them yet, I only ripped them back 5 mins ago, but I am looking forward to them - especially as I'll get to keep them! Future projects include the Knitted Dalek, now definitely going to be red and dark grey, and a Grace Lace Beret for an old friend in an excellent shade of mustard yellow.

And just to remind me what got me out of the work-induced funk? Asking for help with the work, of course! It may have helped that the lecturer for the course reminds me a little too much of various Chinese characters in fairly old and fairly racist comedy shows. I feel an evening of knitting and Monty Python coming on :)