FO: Magrathea

Finally, another finished object! I have been getting bogged down in knitting lately and over-thinking things, and it has been nice to make a decision, stick to it and finish something. Let me tell you all about it, from the start...

{Apologies for the photos of me looking like a dweeb. I'm living alone at the moment :( }

I bought this pattern because I love Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which the planet Magrathea features, without any particular yarn in mind. It sat there waiting for it's yarn friend for a few months. First I chose the wrong sort of yarn, both colour and fibre (it was mentioned briefly during my Trying to Kick the Funk post months ago). But then, I saw this yarn in Loop, London in September and fell in love then and there. It turns out to be the prefect partner for this pattern!

There were a few false starts with this yarn, as I found the first 'setup' section tricky - I think it was mainly trying to get my head around the idea of a sideways shawl. Once I got past the first section, the second 'body' section you repeat many times and so I was fine with that after a few repeats; it flew off the needles [though I may have had a few stalling moments, as I mentioned back at the start of February]. There was a little frogging episodes with the final few sections, as the pattern says you need 25% of your yarn to do the edging, and I was determined to maximise this; I take full responsibility for my own meagerness! But then, at the end of the body, trouble. I had the right number of stitches for Size The First (smallest), but had done enough pattern repeats for Size The Second. Time to make a decision. This took weeks and weeks, when it stayed in this sorry state

...Until a visit to the lovely Ewenique when she (quite rightly!) told me to man up and fudge it. Which I duly did, adding stitches in the final pattern repeat to make sure I had enough. The end sections went flew off the needles over the weekend and Monday evening, much to my delight, and it was all finished in time to block before bed on Monday night.

Still in love with that edging :)

False Starts

There has been a bit of a lull, which I regret; things have been getting busy, both in life and at work. I'll tell you about it all in good time; first to show you what I've been working on.

My two main current projects are my Wanida socks and my Magrathea Shawl. More on Magrathea another day. Wanida is a Cookie A pattern from Sock Innovation (kindly lent by Steph though I love the book so I will buy my own copy. Soon.). I saw the pattern and in a fit of ardour cast on with the nearest skein of yarn. However, once I'd boshed my way through the first sock, I took a step back and realised it was not the best yarn for the job.

Such a shame, as it is from The Yarn Yard, my yarn store du jour. It is a 75% superwash wool / 25% nylon designed-for-socks blend called Bonny in the colurway Making Mischief. And boy did it live up to its name!!

However, I never say die with such things, and after a bit of moaning (and maybe a G&T) I cast on the same pattern but with a different skein of yarn, also from The Yarn Yard, also Bonny, but in a very different colour*.
*apologies, I do not know the colour name. There was a sale and some quick purchasing of two skeins of the same price, and with names a53 and a44. It's deffo one of those, though which I have no idea.

And now I love it! I think this is the best combination I could come up with from my sock yarn stash and very much enjoying knitting them (apart from picking up the stitches along the side of the heel, with thanks again to Steph for doing that). First green sock done, and just turned the heel on the second. Just not enough hours in the day to make more progress!

PS. I know I have made two socks, I just don't do odd socks. It was my genius play for the game 'I have never' - until this photo was taken that is!

FO: Owls

I did finish this maybe a month ago, but there has been quite a lot on! Also the weather has been dodgy so I've not managed to get the colour very well. This is still sub-par, but it will have to do. I am very happy with the result, I have been wearing it and getting compliments on it. . The details are:

Pattern: Owls by Kate Davis. An excellent knit, a clear pattern and quick to do - it took me two to three weeks all told, but it wasn't the only thing on my needles. Knit from the bottom up on circulars, the sleeves are just grafted on at the underarms. The yoke is lovely and adds interest, it is a great thing to be looking forward to while knitting all that stockinette!

Yarn: Chunky Wool by Texere Yarns in Turquoise. Bought at their Open Day on December 28th; their list of current visiting hours can be found here. Great cosy yarn, it is so warm and not very itchy.  So far the yarn is holding up very well, pilling a little under the arms, but I've not tried washing it yet.

Needles: KnitPro metal interchangeables in 6mm and 6.5mm.

Mods: Made it an inch longer between the ribbing at the bottom and the waist decreases, which I'm really glad I did as it just fits. However, I did veryvery nearly run our of yarn (again) so had to cut a couple of rows of ribbing from around the neck.

I guess this means it was totally British project: the yarn, the pattern, and the knitter... though the needles let the side down, oh well! I found this chunky knit very rewarding at it made a great jumper to make so early on in my garment-making career; the first I made bottom-up too, which was fine. I recommend it for those fairly new to garment knitting, or those who want a lot of low-concentration knitting with some interest at the yoke.

Resolutions 2012 - Update The First

Some weeks ago I told you about my sort-of resolutions for 2012. As I try to fulfill them, it becomes clear to me that I am taking to some more readily than others. Two months in, I thought I would give you a week update on the four main ones:

1. Knit 12 pairs of socks

I did talk about my slight sock addiction last week. I do seem to be chaining it with them - the second one pair is done, the next is on the needles. I'm thinking this is probably the one I am taking to best of all. Overall, I am 3 down (one with no photo though, sorry), and a fourth on the needles.

2. Cook 12 new dinners

I have done two of these, and both are things I would make again. The first was pizza from scratch, with help from the boyf. The results were good enough, though mine was - as you can see - thick crust and thin middle.  Clearly I need more practice at the pulling it to the right shape. The recipe was from the Great British Bake-Off book  - and though I didn't see much of the programme, I decided I should get the book when it was recommended to me about a billion times (plus it was on sale and I had a token, also both signs). And I recommend it to you too; it has inspired me in ways I never thought would happen. Maybe more on that story another day.

The other one I made was microwave Leek & Mushroom risotto, from the Good Food 101 Vegetarian Recipes book. So happy I found this, as I love risotto but cannot be faffed stirring it. But this way, you sling it all in the microwave, and it does all the timing for you (though actually it's more complicated than that - you put in the leeks with a little oil for a bit, then add rice and stock and whizz again, then add mushrooms...). The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly and it was great, but the second time I cut out the butter (for calorific reasons) and subbed the stock (as I'd run out) from water, and it was not so good. Excellent recipe though, and I will make it again - obviously following it this time!

3. Read 12 new classic novels

I have also taken to reading again, as you can see by my so-far-this-year pile:

Even though it is not the most enormous pile, I am quite proud of it so far; it's probably bigger than all the books I read last year, and definitely higher quality. Mansfield Park was great, but I am a bit of an Austen fan - however, I did need something to get me back into classics. The Great Gatsby I heartily recommend, brilliant book. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a bit grim in parts but it was compelling nonetheless. The other two I also enjoyed and would recommend - I was trying out reading a not-quite-so-classic novel between the classics, and I'm not sure it's sustainable but it's working well for me so far.


4. Watch 12 classic films

And there I was, thinking this would be the easy one; smallest time commitment, and very little planning needed. 'Oh, I only need to find one evening a month, how hard can that be?'. My dad also has a huge selection of classic films, so I just need to ask him for any that aren't on long term loan to me. However, this has not yet come to fruition. I have watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and that is it. It was an enjoyable evening, don't get me wrong, and everyone should watch that film at some point, but the only films I really watch these days tend to be a) so familiar that I knit, wander off, etc or b) in the cinema, where it is dark and there is nothing else to look at. I should really just suck it up and do it, and I will try for next time.

Totally Addicted To Socks

The blog silence can be blamed on many things - busy work, busy life - but the main reason is this: socks. I have been addicted to sock knitting recently, and it shows no sign of stopping. And I'm not sure vanilla socks make for good blog fodder. I did make a pair of monkeys but failed to photograph them before posting them off, and the recipient has not sent me one.

Aside from those, I have made some vanilla socks for my Mum, using Regia 4ply (bought in my local Hobbycraft).

My second pair is also vanilla socks, made for a Uni friend with cold feet, from King Cole Zig Zag (shade 764), bought from my LYS, baa ram ewe.

Both involved mainly involved 64 stitches on 2.25mm needles. Both started with Judy's Magic Cast On (8 stitches on each of the two needles involved), increasing 4 stitches every other row until reaching the 64, short row heels, and knitting the final rib for 8 rows on 2mm needles. The top ones involved some calf increases as Mum wanted them a little longer.

I still feel like I'm perfecting my vanilla sock technique, but it's getting there. The next step is probably an afterthought heel. Though next on the list sock-wise is Wanida by Cookie A [rav link] from her earlier book, Sock Innovation. Fingers crossed I can handle it!

FO - Cadence

So in the midsts of Lauriel going wrong and Christmas stress, I decided I needed some gratification. Preferably in the garment direction. I dug out some wool I'd got the the BaaRamEwe sale way back in August and trawled ravelry for something with more or less the right yardage.

Pattern: Cadence by Jordana Paige, from Knitty Fall 2012.
Yarn: King Cole Merino Blend Aran (7 balls) in the colour 782 Turquoise, which I think has now been discontinued. Bought from BaaRamEwe in August Sale for about £18.
Mods: oh tons, mainly to make it fit for my long body and long arms. I kept to the pattern for the beginning part, but then I knit the sleeves and body all in parallel so I could make maximum use of the yarn. Overall, I'd say I added about 1.5" to the sleeves and maybe 1-1.5" to the body, and I'm glad I did - I think the size has turned out perfectly. However, I was running out of yarn at the eleventh hour and cut about 3 rows off the ribbing around the body; necessary as I have less than 5 yards or yarn left!
It would seem this is my actual first garment, blocked and ready to rock. I would heartily recommend it to anyone else wanting to start down the garment track. You knit from the top down, put some stiches onto scrap yarn for the sleeves, and then crack on with the body. The pattern does contain my four least favourite words to find in a knitting pattern - 'at the same time' - but I just wrote down what needed doing on what row and that was fine.
Overall, I am chuffed with the way it turned out. The yarn and pattern work well together, I love the colour and it fits really well.

Photos courtesy of Stepcuddles

On The Needles

Just thought I would let you know what I've been up to in the past week. Have mainly been cracking on with my owls jumper - which is now owl-ready, how exciting! - but mostly looks like a huge green knitted headless monster.

Just me? Ah well. The other one is the Magrathea shawl, which I was getting along with nicely but I've lost my direction somewhat and it needs Brainpower. It is in the Malabrigo I bought during that desperately needed trip to Loop, London, and I love love love it. You start and one corner which is a new construction for me, interesting once I'd got started.

The title of the pattern [ravlink] is a reference to the planet Magrathea in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where they custom-build planets. One desginer, Slartibartfast, was responsible for Norway, and did the coastline in those lovely fjords. The shawls's edging is inspired by this. Being something of a Hitchiker geek I of course bought the pattern the second I saw it, but even still the geometric edging is very very lovely.