Karin's Knitting

Shoeboxes 2011

2011-11-22T12:59:00.003Z

Operation Christmas Child has been happening around here again.

This year, I have been a little more organised and started gathering little gifts, notepads and some toiletries since mid September.

Oh and we bought lots of sweets - and toothbrush with toothpaste.

I went to our local yarn store and got some nice yarn to knit hats and mittens. I managed to find a nice super wash 100% merino Aran yarn by King Cole.

I first knit the hats and then decided I still had enough time to knit the mittens. Miss T choose the "Hello Kitty" button for "her" hat. The colour of the button is an OK match.

One of our shoeboxes is aimed at a 4-6 year old girl and the other is for a 11-14 year old girl.

But mine had great fun trying on the hats and mittens and to look for all the stuff we put in the shoeboxes.

This year, I have been able to put in a barcode and hopefully we will receive an e-mail telling us where our boxes have been sent.

Miss T wants some mittens to, I have started to knit her a pair of navy mittens.

I have already knit a snood and some wristers for Miss N. Hopefully I will remember during daylight hours to take some photos of her.

My new do

2011-10-20T17:16:00.002+01:00

This morning I joined the rush hour commute and visited the hair dresser.

The lovely Christophe from France cut around 16 inches (40cm) off.

See!

He was very touched, that I donated my hair to The little Princess Trust.

After I had a head massage and had the hair washed and conditioned, he went to work.

Here is the result.

Still the same me what with new hair.

It is shorter than I anticipated.

I think I am in need of a scarf and a hat. Anybody got any ideas on patterns?

Last time I had my hair cut short was when I was around 13 or 14.

Since then I only ever had my hair trimmed.

I have posted the pony tail off to the little Princess Trust.

My Just Giving page will stay open until January 2012.

Now you see it, soon you won't

2011-10-18T19:37:00.002+01:00

2011 has been a bit of a difficult year for us.
My Dad died in April.

He had told me in October 2010 that he was suffering from lung cancer.

I tried and spend a bit of time with him.

Of course we had big hopes that treatment would work and that he could watch his grand daughters grow up.

Somehow through all this, having a hair cut (for me) was the last thing on my mind and my hair grew longer and longer.

I have never had my hair this long. Since June, have I been thinking of having it cut.

Then in July a friend died and shortly afterwards we heard from another friend that his little daughter is suffering from cancer.

I had heard somewhere about the Little Princess Trust and how they have wigs made for little girls and boys.

They need about 10 inches of hair to make a wig. It has taken me a while to get used to the idea of having shoulder length hair.

I have over the years collected a lot of points by buying a certain brand of Shampoo.

I have turned all the points into a voucher for a hair dressing appointment.

Today, I have plucked up the courage and booked an appointment.

THURSDAY is the big hair cutting day.

I have set up a Just Giving page to help the Little Princess Trust.

Bloom

2011-10-18T18:16:00.002+01:00

Miss T loves her new dress. The pattern is called Bloom.

I knit this with 4.5 balls of Louisa Harding Kashmir DK.

I think I bought the yarn on sale when Miss T was just born.

Talk about hoarding yarn!

The pattern is very well written and different sizes are achieved by using different yarn qualities.

I knit the version in DK yarn and it should be size 6 months to around 4 years.

As Miss T is already 4, I knit the yoke a few rows longer and I added one more pattern repeat to the skirt.

The photos were taken last week, it was a lot warmer than now.

The yarn is lovely and soft. For once we were lucky and found a perfect ribbon at our local yarn store.

The pattern includes a bonus pattern to knit the same dress for a doll. As I still have around 1.5 balls of yarn left, I think of knitting one as a Christmas present.

Miss T loves pulling funny poses.

Claude for 12in2011

2011-10-13T16:28:00.002+01:00

Claude has been finished a few weeks now. I started wearing it instantly and then we had a lovely heatwave and I put Claude in my wardrobe.

This week we are back to almost normal autumn weather.

Today I am wearing Claude and the husband is home in time to take a few photos.

Asking to have photos taken of me in my own knitwear always seems to be a big burden.

After all the problems knitting Claude I am very pleased with the result.

I got two finished sleeves and I am happy with the length. Of course they could have been a little longer.

I am not complaining, I finished up another pack of yarn.

10 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora. I had bought the yarn a few years ago on ebay. The pattern is Claude by Anna Bell.

I did modify the pattern, I knit the body as one piece up to the armholes, I raised the back and front neck area to give myself more coverage, shorter sleeves with only a narrow cuff.

Since i finished Claude, I have been busing with more stash yarn knitting.

Look at us ladies wearing new hand knits.

This brings the total of my 12in2011 projects to 8.

Still a bit behind. But I did knit some other projects.

At the moment I got another dog coat for Nowzad on the go.

I will be meeting the author and a lot of dogs rescued from Afghanistan end of next week.

Yarn shortage = knit faster

2011-09-20T21:57:00.002+01:00

A knitters worst nightmare is to run out of yarn before a project is finished.

It's even worse when a project is being knit from stash, with a yarn that is no longer being made.

Yes, that is happening to my knitting.

I started to knit Claude with my 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora.

The pattern states I need 9 balls to knit my size.

As i have 10 balls I feel good about starting this project.

I changed the pattern a little bit, I am knitting the body in one piece to safe on sewing.

It's a lovely yarn to knit with and the project is going well.

That is until I reach the two fronts and realise that I am left with just about 3 balls of yarn for the sleeves, collar and button bands.

Help, what went wrong?

I went back to revelry to check out all the projects knit with the same yarn.

I found the explanation on some projects.

It looks like the yarn was made in two versions with different meterage. Of course I happen to have the shorter one and the pattern was done with the longer one.

I have finished the body with all the trimmings and have started to knit the sleeves from the top down. I am knitting one sleeve using up one ball, I will then do the same for the second ball with the second sleeve. Once both have reached the same length I will use the half ball to knit the cuffs at the same time.

My sleeves will be a lot shorter. My only other option would be to frog the whole thing and knit something else.

To keep me going I have already looked at the next project. Miss T wants me to knit something for her. I have 6 balls of Kashmir DK and want to knit a tunic for her. She loves how soft the yarn is and likes to drape the balls all over herself.

A new beginning

2011-09-12T17:51:00.002+01:00

Autum is the time for new beginnings.

From now it's going to be me and the cat again - during the day.

Hopefully I will be able to sneak a little more knitting and blogging into my day.

School has started, both girls are back in full time school.

The teenager is already in year 9 or Removes as it is called in her school.

Miss T has started Reception.

She was not happy, she wanted to go back to Nursery.

But now, after the first three days, she is very happy and has settled well into her new routine.

I am lucky to have a huge extended family and don't have to take the teenager to school. I can just walk Miss T to school. We enjoy our morning walk together.

About two months ago, I bought another maxi dress. But it has no sleeves. I needed a little something to cover up my arms. Otherwise I can't ever be seen by my extended family.

One option is to wrap a scarf around myself, the other option of course is: knit something.
I visited my local yarn store and had a look at patterns and yarn. I knew I wanted to knit with a summery yarn and maybe a lace pattern.

I found both in the Rowan Purelife, recycled collection.

I bought 8 balls of Revive in the Quartz colour way and started knitting Shallot.

Yes, I have not knit any of my project for 12in2012.

On the other hand, I have not bought a lot of yarn this year at all and I have not up a lot more stash yarn.

My latest project is again something for 12in2012.

This time something that uses stocking stitch.

Shallot was a nice knit, put to knit p4tog for an entire garment and every 3rd row has taken a lot longer than I would have liked.

When I checked out the pattern, my main concern was p through back loop. That is something I am staying away from!

Sadly summer is almost over. I am sure I will get a lot of wear from Shallot and not only with the maxi dress.

Dog knitting

2011-08-21T17:15:00.003+01:00

About two years ago I read this article in the newspaper.

I read and thought wow, amazing story.

This spring I started to go to the library a bit more and the book was displayed in on of the shelves.

I read the book in just a few days, I could not put it down.

My local library lets me order books from other libraries and I got the second book a week later.

Pen has founded the Nowzad dogs charity and has a website and a Facebook page.

Somebody on Facebook suggested Nowzad could use some hand knitted dog coats to sell.

I found some great patterns on garnstudio. I wasn't to sure about the yarn. I think yarn used for a dog coat should be very durable and easy to wash.

I choose a pattern with Aran weight yarn. I bought red Sirdar supersoft Aran weight yarn from my local yarn store. I have enough yarn left over to knit more coats, but in a slightly smaller size. We lack a real life dog to model the coat. Don't think Perry would have been very happy. I was also to worried he would put his claws into it.
I have shipped the coat to Nowzad and Pen has kindly sent me a photo of the lovely Tali wearing the coat.

She looks great. There is a photo of her in the newspaper article (near the bottom of the page).

Look how well she has adjusted to life in the UK.

Yesterday another Mum and her Puppies have arrived at the shelter in Afghanistan.

2 of the puppies are in need of 24 hour care, hopefully they will make and in due course make their way to their new homes in the West.

Please spare some change to feed them all.

Through Just Giving.

Sparkly Martha

2011-07-31T11:42:00.003+01:00

This is my July project for 12in2011, even though Martha should have been finished for May!

The pattern Martha is from Rowan 37. I have had this in m mind since I first saw it way back in 2005.
My friend Johanne has knitted herself one, the version with the eyelet holes. I have always wanted to knit the beaded version.
I bought the yarn sometime in 2006. It was on special offer, I had also bought thousands of Rowan beads.
I even blogged about Martha way back in 2006.
I did make some changes to the pattern, I made the body about 2-3cm longer and I made the sleeves full length.
I have also changed the neckline, one of my friends noticed in the Rowan photos that the neckline seemed very big, I have recalculated the entire neckline. I am very happy with the result.
I have enough yarn left over, oh and enough beads to knit a mini Martha for Miss T.
Of course that would mean to calculate a whole new pattern.

I Heart Cardigan

2011-06-22T15:58:00.002+01:00

Miss T has a new hand knit cardigan.
The pattern is Them Apples. I saw the pattern in the first ever issue of Petite Purls, it has been in my Ravelry queue since then.

The yarn used is Cotton Ease by Lion Brand.
I bought the yarn whilst we were in Orlando last October.
I bought it from Micheals. They did not have a great colour selection.
I managed to get Lime and Terracotta.
I knit size 3 but used the length measurements for size 4.
I knit the whole cardigan in a week when I went to Switzerland to see my Dad. Sadly he died 36 hours after I arrived. I started knitting the cardigan the same day.
My family arrived a few days later, and we all went out together to buy the buttons.
As the cardigan holds now a few mixed memories, it took me a long time be able to blog about it.
According to the calendar Summer has arrived. It's a typical English Summer and I am sure Miss T will wear this cardigan a lot.

Thelma's Ishbel

2011-03-31T14:30:00.003+01:00

Today is the start of Miss T's Easter holiday. But it also marked the last day with her lovely teacher Thelma.
She has started her retirement today.
To mark the occasion I have knitted Ishbel for her.

Miss T told me that her teacher likes purple.
I used a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn. It's a lovely 100% Merino superwash yarn. We choose the colour Abril.
The pattern is Ishbel by Ysolda.
I knit this pattern the second time. Again it was a lovely pattern to knit.
Thelma is very happy with her gift. She loves the way it looks worn, the feel of it and the colour.
Glad my little Miss T made a good choice.
I am finishing a few smaller projects, socks, squares for Japan and getting yarn ready with beads for my next big project.

Squares for Japan

2011-03-18T14:07:00.002Z

A few days ago, I came across this blog written by Amii.
Her and other knitters are knitting squares to make blankets for Japan.
The knitters have also started a group called
Homemade Hugs over on Facebook.
So far I have knitted three squares and have the yarn ready for a fourth.
The green and red are knit with Rowan Pure Wool DK and the blue is with Noro Silk Garden.
It's also a great way to use up single balls of yarn.
Maybe I should call it Stashbusting for Japan.

Third of 12in2011

2011-03-07T11:38:00.002Z

During our week in Switzerland I had a lot of knitting time. I took my half finished shawl with me and yarn for a pair of socks.

I finished the Trinity shawl. I found the pattern whilst looking at the other finished objects in the Ravelry group for 12in2011. I had the skein of sock yarn in my stash for a few years. It's blue faced leicester sock yarn from Skeins.
I must have bought the yarn to knit socks for my daugther. Yes, when I had just the one daughter.

The colour is a nice mix of different shades pink.

I finished the project in Klosters and managed to pin it out on an ironing board, it took me two days.

The pattern is avalaible on the p-hop website.

p-hop stands for pennies per hour of pleasure. I will try and figure out how long it took me to knit this shawl. I added more repeats. It was a pleasure to knit.

A great way to use up sock yarn. I used up around 90gr.
Today is a nice sunny day, perfect to take some photos and to hang the laundry outside.

I knit a pair of socks for my Miss N, she is using them already. I must remember to take some photos when she is home.

I seem to be a bit on a lace trip, my next project is Ishbel. I am knitting her for Miss T's teacher.

I want to start another project for 12in2011. Lucky I have a blog post to tell me what I could knit next. I want to keep a little ahead of time, maybe some projects will take more than a month to knit.

Knitting and skiing in Klosters

2011-03-04T11:33:00.003Z

Does Klosters, Switzerland have one of the best yarn stores?
I think it does, it's called Mystitch Cafe. It's a yarn store/coffee shop.
Really what more could I have wanted? It has no website, but it's right next to the train station. I could see the trains coming and going while I spend some time, browsing the yarn selection, drinking coffee and knitting.

Oh and some shopping, naturally.
I bought five skeins of sock yarn, two from the shop and three from another shop. Amazing how such a small town can have to stores that sell yarn. The second is a undergarment shop with a selection of Swiss sock yarn and other haberdashery items.
Mystitch has a big selection of Knitpro needles and I found the Sockenkompass, a nifty gadget for sock knitters. It tell me, cast on, heel stitches and other measurments to knit socks in Regia 4 or 6 ply, from sizes 22-47, I think that's UK 4 (toddler) to 13 (mens).

While spend time in the yarnstore, Miss T spend some time in Ski school, sadly my Dad was very unwell and had to spend 4 days indoors.
I had to keep the little Miss busy.
She loved it, not once did she cry or moan.
Even though it was bad weather for three days. She still went and enjoyed it all.
The little kids are in a closed of area, called the Snowgarden. Everything is very child friendly, the teachers are great.
Miss T went in the mornings, I picked her up for lunch and we went back to see my Dad, after lunch I took her back to ski school.
He was happy to see us and I think glad that Miss T had something to do. Skiing did tire her and she went to bed early.
I did manage to knit a lot. More of that later.

Hats for Grandad

2011-02-26T16:00:00.003Z

It's the first time my Dad has asked me to knit something for him.
The latest round of chemotherapy has made his hair fall out.
I have knitted two hats for me, one warm for outdoors and one cotton for indoors or when it gets warmer outside.
I used my little Miss T to model them. Of course they are to big for her, they are a perfect fit for my Dad.

The first one is knit with Belle Organic Aran by Amy Butler. It's a lovely merino, cotton mix. The stripes are done with Noro Silk Garden. I used the Turn a Square pattern. I knit the hat exactly like the pattern describes.
The second hat is knit with Debbie Bliss Ecobaby and I used the Seeds of Courage pattern as a base (ravelry link). The pattern is written for Aran yarn, I recalculated the pattern and cast on more stitches. I also increased the row count. I used a little over one ball of yarn.
My Dad seems to like this hat a lot and has been wearing it.

The First of 12in2011

2011-02-16T14:37:00.000Z

I know I am slacking behind with blogging about my first project for 12in2011, I do have a very good reason.
The baby boy was born on 02.02.2011.
We went to see him yesterday, sadly he slept through our visit. But I am sure we will see a lot more of him in the future.

I took the photos of the blanket as soon as I finished it.
I did wash it afterward. It is now nice and clean ready for use.
I used up 9 1/2 balls of Baby cashmerino in Orange. The pattern is from the Debbie Bliss Ecobaby book. Both yarns knit to the same tension.
As usual the pattern is well written, easy to follow and the yarn is lovely to knit with.
I hope my friend Johanne and her baby will enjoy using this blanket.

Second of 12in2011

2011-02-13T13:31:00.002Z

My lovely teenage daughter is finally home during daylight hours. Time to take some photos of her and her new top.
Getting her to put something on that would match the new handknit top was to much to ask.
I used up 9balls of Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Chunky.
The yarn has been discontinued. It's a lovely yarn in charcoal, the yarn has some odd flecks of white in it. The few flecks have popped up in strange places. Originally the pattern we looked at was the Ribbed Tank for the Debbie Bliss Glen book. But I had to recalculate the pattern to fit her tiny 30" bust. I also knit the lower part in the round.
She didn't want it all in rib. In the end, I wrote my own pattern. She wanted it boxy at the top, and she did not want a tight ribbed collar. The collar is still ribbed but a lot looser.
She seems happy with the result, but doesn't know what to wear with it? I don't know what's wrong with wearing it with jeans.
My other daughter has no such problems. She is happy with the short scarf I knit her with left over Cancan yarn.

Near the finish line

2011-02-11T15:48:00.002Z

My adventure with the steek is nearly finished.
YEAH!
I am glad my Bernina sewing machine was not troubled with sewing knitwear.
I used a dark gray thread, it gave me enough contrast, yet stayed invisible.

The really scary part! Scissors!!
Two afternoon later, I have two sleeves and armholes on my jumper. It was a lot of sewing. First the sleeves, then the sleeve facing to cover up the cutting lines. It does make the armholes feel heavy. I am not sure how it's going to drape.
I have also sewn on the zip, it's the first time I used the sewing machine to sew a zip onto a handknit.
So far I have not sewn the collar on. It has been dark and gloomy here. I feel I need bright sunlight to sew the black collar on.
I also noticed I have not finished all the embroidery.
My Dad's hats are finished. Waiting for some sunshine to photograph. I went to a new knitting group and the ladies there were impressed with the hats.
At the moment I am low with an ear infection. It's very painful, do hope the medicine will start to work soon.

Oh no...

2011-02-07T14:58:00.002Z

Last week I had my sewing machine out and I felt ready to tackle the steeks on my St.Moritz.
The knitting has been finished since, well I can't even remember.
The pieces have been resting in our living room. I would occasionally stumble over it. Sometimes I thought, oh my, it's actually gathering dust.
Well it was not only gathering dust but it also has had some very unwelcome guest.
The nightmares of all knitters or lovers of wool.
A hole in one of the sleeves.
I put all the pieces and the left over yarn in different freezer bags, I have left it all in the freezer for three day.
I think I am very lucky to have just one small hole. I was thinking of frogging the top and reknitting it.

I used some sewing skills and closed up the hole. No onto the hard part. I have found great instructions.
I will finish St. Moritz.
Meanwhile Miss T is very happy with her new socks.
If I knit her another pair, I will cast on less stitches and use the 'from the toe up method'.
Off to cut into my knit, wish me luck.

Child's work

2011-02-02T14:42:00.003Z

Miss T and I had great fun making a yarn cake.
Or is that child labour?
For some very odd reason do the yarns wift and the yarn winder not fit on our dinning room table. Our table has a curved edge and I am unable to screw my things on properly.
The only other table in the house is a desk, but it's upstairs in Miss N room. I would have to clear all her junk off first.
Lucky I have two kitchen stools, they work perfect and are the right height for a toddler.
She loves helping.
The yarn is blue-faced Leicester 4ply.
I have had it a few years in my stash, I have declared it part of 12in2011. But each time I go and look at Finished Projects in 12in2011, I keep changing my mind about what to make with the yarn. A small shawl, fingerless gloves... I don't know.
But I do know what to knit with this yarn. I bought it from my LYS today, one ball of Amy Butler Belle Organic Aran and one ball of Noro Silk Garden. It's going to be hat for my Dad, he has started a second round of chemotherapy. It was hard to find nice soft yarn in a mans color. I did not want gray or black. He looks ashen enough. The blue should look nice on him, he has beautiful blue eyes.
We have booked to go and see him in February. Again I am busy making sure our Miss T will be warm enough. I had promised her back in November I would knit her a pair of socks. We went yarn shopping, in our slippers. She choose the pink yarn - what else. I am using the normal generic sock pattern. She will wear the sock over a pair of tights. I have finished two things for the teenager, but she is never home in time to take photos.
PS: I won, I actually can't stop laughing.

And how is the knit wearing?

2011-01-28T10:43:00.003Z

When I saw how large Linus is on Miss T, I started thinking about all the other things I knitted for her.
Some are getting a lot of wear, while others are buried in the back of her wardrobe.
I tend to knit cardigans because I think they are easier to take on and off. But she will keep a sweater on while a cardigan is sometimes soon ditched somewhere.
Betty (ravlery link) knit in Mission Falls 1824 Cotton has seen a lot of wear. She likes wearing the jumper and it's nice and warm. In the winter for inside and in Spring/ Autumn as outerwear.
Betty was knit in size 24 months. I would say a great result. Size wise, wearing wise and washing.

The Debbie Bliss Ballet Top (ravelry link) is knit in Baby Cashmerino. The size is supposed to be 6-9months.
The only short thing are the sleeves.
Otherwise it finally fits her. I would put this top on her occasionally and it would not sit right on her. We always ended up taking it off. Maybe now she can finally wear it, maybe over a summer dress. I have washed it a few times and it still looks great.
Frou Frou (Ravelry Link) is another knit done in ballet style. I love dressing her in this. But it's another thing she tends to take off soon.
Maybe I like the ballet style more than she does. This on was done in 18-24months and I think there is still some growing room. Hopefully she will get more wear out of this in the summer. This too has seen a lot of washing and is looking great.
The Pinwheel (ravelry link) has been buried and forgotten in the wardrobe.
She has never worn it until today.
It was way to big on her when I knit it. To much bulk under her arms and the sleeves had to be almost doubled up.
It's a perfect fit. Shame it has been forgotten, I can only hope she will love it and wear it a lot from today.
She was really happy to use my kilt pin (from my Lara). So far she is wearing it and loving it.
Miss T has greatly enjoyed doing a little fashion show. There was a lot of silly posing.
Other knits that have seen a lot of wear and some tear are both knit blankets. One cardigan that has seen lots of wear is Stripes (Ravelry link). It has seen a lot of wear and has washed very well. It has reached the end and can't be given to another child. I have given a lot of her hand knits away to younger girls.
I have three things on the needles at the moment. Two are for Miss N. I am really happy she wants me to knit for her. The third is my own design. But I think by the time it's finished, it will be for somebody else.

Linus

2011-01-25T13:56:00.004Z

Linus is done.
It looks stunning in real life.
I had bought the kit at the Knitting and Stitching show way back in October 2009.
The pattern is written for three sizes 1-2 years, 4years and 6years.
Miss T was almost 2 1/2 years old when I bought the kit.
Her age was the main reason for not starting this earlier.
The knitting was started in September 2010, I needed a nice easy project to take on a weekend away.
What could be easier than just garter stitch.

The construction did take me a while to figure out. The jacket is knit in one go but in two halves.
It starts with the middle back, bottom left sides border and button band. Yes all in one go. Almost 300 stitches.
Not exactly easy knitting in the car. I don't know who long it took me to cast on. And count and count the stitches.
Once I got the hang of the pattern, it really is an easy knit. The yarn is a very thin Shetland yarn, which is also very scratchy.
I washed the finished jacket and it has become a lot softer. I really hope she will wear it, once it is going to fit her properly. Maybe in a year or two.
I did run into troubles with the pattern. I believe there is a mistake in the pattern. With the stripe sequence. To keep the stitch count correct, I had to knit more stripes than the pattern tells me.
It would also have been better with an extra button hole at the bottom. I can see myself knitting this again with different yarn. I now know how it's done.

Another small project

2011-01-22T16:40:00.004Z

What to you get somebody who's just had a baby, if you only know them a little bit?
Right, something small and hand knit.
I still have a lot of Lang yarns Bebe in my stash. It's all leftover yarn I did not use when I was knitting for my Miss T.
I had a lot of projects I wanted to knit for her and in the end I only did one jumper.
That heart jumper has seen a lot of wear. It may even still fit her. She wore it a lot last winter.
It has survived a lot of washes and is wearing well.
The Bebe yarn is a Swiss classic. It does seem very thin, thinner than regular 4ply. It is super wash - a perfect choice for a busy Mum.
The pattern is from a Lang pattern book I had bought some time back in 1994.
I have never knitted a pair of traditional baby booties. The pattern has some flowers on it, but I knit them just in one colour. They are for a little baby boy.
The pattern is written in three languages, German, French and English. I was following both German and English instructions but then was wondering if there are differences. In the end I stuck to German.
At the moment I am busy finishing Linus and planning my next project for Miss N. I have not knit something for her in a long time.
It will be part of 12in2011. I have taken the 9 balls of Jaeger Matchmaker Chunky and the Debbie Bliss Glen book out. The husband really likes the yarn but he doesn't wear wool. Anyway, 9 balls would never be enough to knit something for him.

More last years knitting

2011-01-18T15:17:00.002Z

I have been thinking, what did I knit the last few months?
I know that I knit on my own design until we went on holiday end of October and alternated that with Linus.
I knit an Iphone cover in one afternoon. It's in constant use since then.
I started a pair of socks on Holiday. It's the only knitting I took with us to Florida.

The socks were finally finished yesterday. I knit almost one sock in Florida, the second sock was done in Switzerland. Silly me had forgotten the book and I could not remember how I did the cast off.
It's my first successful pair of socks knit from the toe up.
I used the book by Wendy D. Johnson and her plain sock pattern.
The yarn is from my LYS, it's Regia Kaffe Fassett
in colour Exoctic Pool.
While in Switzerland I had to kit Miss T out in a new coat, winter boots etc. She has actually grown and last years coat(s) are all to small.
I visited my friend in her home town and she took me to her local supermarket. I could not believe my eyes when she showed me the yarn section. I knew the department store has yarn but was surprised to find it in the supermarket.
Well I bought some lovely red yarn and some matching fancy yarn to knit a scarf to go with the new coat. I got her a fleece hat with it. It was cold and I wanted her head covered.
The yarn is a lovely DK Merino. I really liked knitting with it. Somebody seems to have issues with itchiness. Sometimes she will wear the scarf other times she won't.
I did finish the baby blanket. Hopefully my friend Johanne will have her baby in the next few days. I really hope all goes well and we will meet her baby soon.

Last season

2011-01-09T14:56:00.002Z

As my first project for 12in2011 is a gift I feel I should not blog about it.
A little look back is in order, way back in 2009, Miss T and I visited Ally Pally in October.
I bought the Hanne Falkenberg Linus kit there.
I started knitting on this in Sept. 2010. It is all knit in Garter stitch. The whole garment is done almost in one piece. It has taken me a while to get to grips with the pattern. I still believe that there is a mistake somewhere with the stripe sequence.
I am knitting it for age 4. We have put half the garment (left side) on Miss T and it is huge on her. All there is left to knit is the right sleeve and collar. Have a look at all the other Linus's on Ravelry.
My Christmas Knitting for 2010 was reduced to three scarfs.
My local yarn store is selling Rico Yarns now.

I saw the owner knit a scarf in store. I bought one ball and got knitting. It is not the easiest of knits. Somehow it did not agree with my continental style of knitting and I had to knit the English way. There is great instruction video on YouTube.
I first knit the purple, then the gray and the green one last.
All three ladies are very pleased with their gift. Most could not believe it's a handknit.
I put myself in a bit of a deadline. I gave the purple and gray one to friends in Switzerland and had to finish the gray one in time before going home. Otherwise I would have had to post it back to Switzerland.
I am holding a bit of a destash on ebay. So far I managed to put one item on.

12 in 2012

2011-01-01T15:35:00.002Z

Happy New Year!!!!

This morning I came across another blog. I had a closer look on ravelry and thought it's a great idea.
Why not decide now on 12 projects for 2011.
Surely after a bad year like 2010 even I can knit and finish 12 projects using stash yarn.
I also like the look of the ravelry group dedicated to 12 in 2011.
My first project is one I started about a week ago. It's a blanket. I won't say more at the moment. My friends baby is due in about 3-4 weeks and the blanket should be ready by then. The yarn is my favourite baby yarn, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Of course also the pattern is by her.

Next up, in no particular order.
6 Balls of Louisa Harding DK yarn, I want to knit something for Miss T. I am sure I have enough yarn and will find a pattern soon.
Then there are 6 balls of Rowan Denim. It was a free gift a few years ago. I want to design a jacket for Miss T. I have something in mind, but I don't know if it will work.
I have 9 balls of Jaeger Matchmaker Chunky. I originally wanted to knit a cowl with it. But the one I have in mind only needs 6 balls. I may look at patterns again. Or knit the cowl plus matching mitts.
The Cotton Ease yarn has been bought to knit Them Apples.

There are three projects earmarked for myself. One is Claude knit with 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora. Year ago I bought 15 balls of Rowan 4ply Cotton to knit Martha with beads. There could be enough yarn to knit 2!
In the last July sales I splashed out for 15 balls of Rowan Classic Cashsoft Aran. I want to knit Nantucket with it, but I hope I have enough yarn to knit longer sleeves.
My three skeins of lovely sock yarn are waiting to be knit up into Ishbel or even a pair of socks.

Last up are my four skeins of Lamb's Pride worsted. Originally this was bought to knit something for Miss N, well as there are only four it will have to be knit for Miss T. I want to knit an Aran but I have not come found an ideal pattern.
Anybody got some ideas?

All this yarn should keep me busy in 2011.
I have great hopes that this new year will be a better one.
Husband will find a job and earn some money - again. It has been nice to have him around, but I think even he is ready to get back to work.
Our biggest worry at the moment is his Mum and my Dad, both have been diagnosed with cancer. Both are receiving treatment and we have high hopes that both will be around for a long time.
Both our daughters are growing up fast. Miss N has just turned 13. She is now officially a teenager. We have now become parents that stay up late to go and pick up their teenager from parties or school do's.
Miss T is getting bigger, she still has her dairy allergy. I think we have it under control. We are always looking for new recipes.

Delphine

2010-10-22T11:04:00.002+01:00

Say 'Hello' to my new autumn cardigan.
It's Delphine by Kim Hargreaves.
Knit with Rowan Felted Tweed DK in Bilberry.

It has taken me over 6 months to knit. I started sometime back in March and did not finish it in Spring.
But now it is ready for the colder weather.
I love the peplum shaping. I believe it is very flattering.
But I have to wear a scarf around my neck as I find the yarn a little itchy.

My LYS had lovely Italian buttons, the purple inside the buttons is a perfect match.
I have seen a few more lovely peplum patterns that I could consider knitting for myself.

New Baby = New Project

2010-10-06T16:00:00.002+01:00

Hearing that a friend or family member is expecting a baby is always exiting news. I think for a knitter it's double joy.
The chance to look at patterns, yarn and to start a new project.
My pen pal in Singapore had a son in July. As she lives in Singapore it made choosing knit wear a bit harder. I have no idea really if one would need a jacket or not. But one thing that was sure, a blanket in cotton.
Lucky my local yarn store (LYS) has Debbie Bliss ecobaby yarn and the little pattern book.
I love, love knitting with the ecobaby yarn. I used up almost all 8 balls of yarn.
I finished the blanket a few days after the baby was born and it has safely arrived in Singapore and it's getting used. One day, I hope, I will go and visit my friend and meet her family.
Closer to home, my sister-in-law had a baby boy Sept. 22.
I knew I wanted to knit another project from the same book with the same yarn.

I knit the Striped Sailor Top in size 6-9 months.
I knit the body and the sleeves in the round. Not having to sew up seams makes for faster finishing.
My little daughter loves looking at the pattern book and she wants me to knit her a dress. I think I have no other option but to knit her this for next spring. It is from Debbie's new book, Design it, Knit it for Babies. We had a lot of fun at the photoshoot almost a year ago. The dress too is knit with the ecobaby yarn. Debbie told me about the new yarn then and I have spent all winter looking forward to it. It knits up to the same tension as her Baby Cashmerino yarn.

Yesterday my husband lost his iPhone cover and he has asked me to knit him one.
I had a quick look on ravelry to see how many stitches to cast on and I came accross a pattern that uses a 'sock from the toe up' cast on.
Rather than sit in front of the computer with my knitting, I remembered I had a good book that explains different cast-ons. I had no problem following Wendy's great instructions. I went really wild and started using the Magic Loop method as well.
I am sure my husband will have a new phone cover tonight and I have learned two new knitting techniques.

My baby is off to school

2010-09-08T10:46:00.002+01:00

Today is the first day of school for Miss T.
I can't believe this day has arrived.

She is starting in a private nursery, hence the school uniform.
I bought the smallest sizes they have.
Big sister has the first day in year 8.
Including a year in reception and nursery, she has been in school for the last ten years.
I think even Perry was impressed.
Back to the school run for me, two kids at two different school. Lucky, I only do Miss T in the morning. My brother-in-law picks up big sister.
Miss T will also eat lunch in school. Hopefully she will like it, I can just see that she will eat a second lunch when we get back home.
Hopefully I will have some more knitting time. Both kids should be going to bed earlier again and leave me with more free time in the evening.
Some time in May, I started knitting this Market bag. I had finished all knitting soon after wards, but I left it in a cupboard and forgot all about it.
I had bought the Plymouth Fantasy Naturale yarn a few years ago on eBay. I found the pattern online when I googled the yarn.
The bag has now got my other project inside. It's Delphine in Rowan Felted Tweed.
I should finish her in the next week or two, ready to wear as it's getting colder around here.

Where has the time gone?

2010-08-10T15:36:00.003+01:00

It's been difficult to blog about knitting for gifts.
Initially I was hoping to post a photo of Fletcher being worn. But my friend has not send me one - yet.
I started knitting a garment for myself, it's in dark purple and almost impossible to photograph. I have about 1 1/2 sleeves to knit and all the finishing touches. It's been hidden away as it has been a lovely summer and often to warm to knit with wooly yarn.
In May our friends in Switzerland had a baby girl. Of course I started to knit a little garment straight away.
It's the Provence Baby Cardigan, the pattern is available for free.
I found it on Ravelry, where else. I knew I had five balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay in bright pink in my stash.
I think I knit the cardigan in size 12-18 months. I wanted to knit the larger size but wasn't sure I had enough yarn. I used four balls. Now I still have one ball left over. So much for using up stash yarn.

We also managed to purchase a lovely dress matching in colour and size.
Another friend of mine has had a baby boy and I have knit him a lovely baby blanket.
My biggest knitting news otherwise is, I am trying to design a garment.
I actually knit a swatch and have been sketching patterns and doing some calculations.
The knitting is coming along nicely, but the calculations for other sizes is a big challenge.
At the moment I am stuck at the armholes. I was going to calculate a nice curved armhole, but I may need to rethink that and just use a simple set in sleeve. I have enough yarn in my stash to keep me busy.
Our family has been credit crunched, no more yarn purchases for me. I still love visiting my local yarn store and buying cute buttons never breaks the bank.
For the Provence Cardigan they had see through buttons with little pink dots, an exact match to the yarn. The cardigan has reached it's destination and hopefully will be worn.

Fletcher

2010-04-05T11:53:00.004+01:00

My stealth project for March has finally reached its destination. I knit this as a special birthday request for a 6 year old boy.

The pattern is Fletcher from the old Rowan Pipsqueak book.
I am sure I have knit this pattern already two times before.
This is Fletcher the third.
Again in Rowan All Seasons Cotton. Both my nephews have loved their Fletcher and it has been passed to other boys in our family.
This new Fletcher has been knit in size 8-9 years. First because I could not remember how old he was going to be (6 or 7). Of course I also want him to have a few years wear out of it.
The All Seasons Cotton does wash and wear well.
The yarn also knits up great. Overall it was a joy to knit.
I am glad it has arrived in Oklahoma safely and I hope he will get a lot of joy out of it.
He is very happy with it and very impressed with my knitting skills.
The Rowan Pipsqueak book is my all time favourite when it comes down to children knitting.
I have knit 6 patterns from this book, before my blogging time and way before Ravelry.
Hopefully some of those handknits will pop back to us, after they have been worn by other members of the family.

A Sunday in London

2010-03-22T09:53:00.004Z

We did it!!!!!
We all did the Sports relief mile yesterday at the London Embankment.
The four of us and my sister-in-law and two of her kids.
It was a fantastic spring day yesterday and a great location.
Miss T loves to run and she is always saying: I want to run!
Here was her change to shine.
Miss T and daddy at the start. We were at the end of the race and in the last wave.

Half way!

Finished!

Miss T did really well, she ran, jogged or walked the whole mile. She fell at about 3/4 mile and wanted to be picked up. We managed to cheer her on and she finished the race.
She loves her medal, of course she got to wear daddy's as well.
Afterward she had a well earned nap in her pushchair.
You can sponsor our team here.
Please, please sponsor us. Read some of the stories and see where the money helps.
Just £5 buys a mosquito net and safes lives.
Later on today we will watch the Mile Show on BBC iplayer, maybe you can to!

A tale of two buttons

2010-02-04T13:26:00.003Z

Two weeks ago I finished knitting this cardigan and went to my local yarn store to buy buttons for it. I bought nice looking buttons, they are rectangle and a paler blue green than the yarn. I sewed on three buttons and tried on the cardigan.

My husband told me they made a great cardigan look frumpy.
Really!!
Lucky a few days later we went to the West End and visited Liberty's. I wore the cardigan with the three buttons and bought some more buttons. I choose pearly buttons with a pattern on it.
I think the husband was right, the new buttons look much better.
I wore the cardigan a few days before I changed the buttons. I am sure I made the right decision. The green buttons are going back to the yarn store.
I was hoping for some sunshine to take some photos. In the end had to settle a rainy day.
Husband took one photo before I had to rush off to drive him to the station.
I am very happy with the cardigan and have been wearing it a lot. Giving my February a little break!
The pattern by garnstudio was easy to follow, I did find the instructions on the sleeve cap a bit confusing. Glad my cap fit my armhole perfect.
I made a few small mistakes or altered the pattern, depends how I look at it. I only made six button holes and not seven. I made the rib section longer because I knit to much.
I used Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. I don't know how it compares to the Drops Silke Alpaca. Both yarns have the same composition and almost the same length. On ravelry there are a few knitted in either yarn.
Another lot of stash has been used up. My next project is using brand new yarn. I am knitting a request and did not have appropriate yarn at home. I'll talk more about this project once I have something to show and not just a finished back.

Small knits

2010-01-20T16:48:00.002Z

Or how to keep your child warm. Way back in November I was looking for yarn to knit Sylvi. I had ordered a skein of Malabrigo chunky and a skein of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky.

I spend a lot of time on Ravelry trying to look for patterns that use one skein.
I found the Spring Pixie hat. It was a very easy knit. I used up all the yarn. The plats are a little short, I did not have much yarn left to do them.
Next up was a pair of mittens. We found the Bella mitts. Miss N loves anything with Twilight. I knit the mitts shorter. The pattern asks for two skeins, I found plenty knit in the Lamb's Pride Bulky yarn. It took me two evenings to knit the mittens. Sadly all the snow has gone now and we did not get anymore today. But winter is still long and cold.
I have been making some comfort food recently. Miss T loves to keep me company in the kitchen. She usually nibbles onions or other vegetables. Well now she has discovered Indian flat bread making. I made filled ones the other night. We like Aloo Paratha, potato filled flat breads.
Now I have a little helper when I take out the rolling pin. Lucky I have small one, Miss N is not very interested in helping anymore.
On these long winter evenings I have been busy knitting. My own cardigan is coming along nicely and I went to buy buttons today. Once we have a bright day I will finish the sewing and take photos.

Winter Warmer

2010-01-08T16:21:00.004Z

We have been in London now for 10 years and it has never been so cold nor has snow stayed for this long.
A real winter, only problem is that London can't cope very well.
Our road has become a no go area for the refuse collectors. The postman still has found his way to our house.
I have been knitting a bit, having the almost finished fronts and back on my lap has helped keep me warm.
Last night I went to our monthly Stitch and Bitch and started the sleeve there. I was not going to carry the big body around with me.
We have played outside in the snow every day. Sadly our sledge is in Switzerland. Each year I wonder if we should get a plastic one to have here in London? Somehow I think if I do it will not snow again. I did use our snow shovel yesterday and made ourselves a little path to the pavement. It is good exercise.

Our cat Perry has been outside a bit. We can exactly where he went. Looks like he has been busy.
Miss N had to go to school again yesterday, it was the end of her three week Christmas Holiday. They started an hour later to give everybody a chance to get there. We may get more snow over the weekend and see what happens for Monday morning.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T15:38:00.003Z

We wish you all a very Happy New Year.
Hope 2010 will bring everybody happiness and good health.
We spend the last evening of 2009 with our family.

Here is my last FO for 2009, a pair of Fetching fingerless mittens, I made them for my next door neighbor. I think she will like them. I used left over Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.
I started a new project just before Christmas.
It is a Drops pattern, Jacket with Rib.
I am using Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran. Johanne got it for me when she went to the Debbie Bliss stash charity sale. I have used the same yarn and colour to knit Lara. The Lara cardigan is one of my favourite cardigans and I have been wearing her a lot. It is starting to show.
Hopefully this new jacket will be a favourite to. If I had a different colour I may have knit myself another Lara. Sadly I was unable to find the yarn in the sales.
We did go to the shopping centre on Sunday and I got myself 20 balls of Debbie Bliss Prima yarn.
Has anybody knit something wonderful in this yarn?

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T18:45:00.004Z

Merry Christmas from all of us here in London.

Hope everybody is having a great one and enjoying time with loved ones.

Snow Party

2009-12-18T17:19:00.006Z

Last night it started to snow around here. This morning we woke up to a small layer of snow. Not much, but enough to get all the kids excited. They went outside to make some small snowballs and have fun.
Miss T called it a snow party.
Because the girls started Christmas holidays on Wednesday, we had cousin A stay the night. The three of them had a lovely time.
We followed the fun with a visit to the coffee shop and tumble tots.
More knitted presents.
Cherry Bark Mitts in Noro Silk Garden Lite (only on ravelry).
This mitts have given me a headache. I bought two ball of the Noro yarn. I knew that the balls were slighly different. I thought I would find the same spot to start the mitts in both balls. I happy knit the first mitt and went on to the second. I could not find the same color sequence. The second ball had a knot and all the turquoise was missing. I knit a hat for Miss T with it.
I went back to the yarn store and bought another ball. I was very surprised when that ball seemed to have no beige. I now have to almost twin mitts.
Hope my friend will still like them. I like them. I am tempted to go back and try and get some more Noro yarn. But I will try and check the balls better. I did notice that another ball there also had a knot in it.
I am knitting two more presents, I have been busy finding a pattern for my 20 balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran. I wanted to knit Nora's Sweater, from the new Interweave Knits. But the 20 balls are not enough.

Multnomah

2009-12-11T14:00:00.003Z

Birthdays in December are hard, both for the gift giver and the birthday girl.
My oldest daughter has her birthday just after Christmas and we try to make it as special as possible.
The same for my friend Johanne.
I had ordered myself a skein of Fyberspates Sparkle sock yarn directly from Jeni.
When I received it I knew it was perfect for Johanne, her colour and with just that little bit of Sparkle. The yarn shimmers and sparkles in the evenings with the lights on. I used the yarn to knit Multnomah, another great pattern I found on Ravelry.
The yarn feels very special. I am sure I will use it again in the future.
Maybe Johanne can manage to take some better photos.

Into Lace

2009-12-07T14:36:00.004Z

I seem to be knitting a lot of lace recently. I must admit I do like a bit of yarn over and knit two together.
Until now I have knit lave sweater and the odd lacey scarf but never a shawl.
I seem to have a collection of fancy sock yarns. But the only one to wear hand knit socks is Miss N and even she hasn't done so for ages.
Ravelry again has come to my rescue. I came accross the Ishbel pattern and had a look at the yarn ideas. I remembered I have a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool in my stash.
I had bought it when I saw it on someones blog.
It must have been in my stash 3-4 years. The yarn is made out of 70% Wool and 30% Seacell. The yarn is nice, soft and has a little sheen to it.
The colour is called Blue Lagoon.
I started knitting the shawl Thursday evening and did the cast off on Sunday evening. Even I am amazed at how quick it all went. Seems a shame since I greatly enjoyed the process of knitting Ishbel.
At the moment half of it is pinned on my ironing board. I was unable to fit it all on there. I hope that the first half will be dry later tonight and I can pin the other half.
There could even be hope that the sun comes out tomorrow and I can capture Ishbel in full glory.
Now I am a bit at a loose end. I have fallen in love with the front cover of the new Interweave Knits. I also have about 20 balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, I am wondering if the pattern and yarn will work together.

Boheme for Miss T

2009-12-02T14:27:00.005Z

Boheme has had its first outing today. Yesterday we went button shopping and blocked.

I finished all the knitting on Monday night. Besides two ends and the buttons there was no sewing. I did a little reinforcement on the armhole. I thought the join from the sleeve cast off looked a little loose and vulnerable.
I used about 100 grams of the Dreams in Color Smooshy yarn. The skein itself was approx. 130 grams.
The yarn really is nice and smooshy, sadly the London yarn store is closing down. I only just discovered them!
The pattern is available for free, I do think it has some flaws. There is no overlap on the button bands. I added a total of 8 stitches for the garter stitch borders and knit a garter stitch border along the bottom edge and did not do the picot edge.
I can see myself knitting something similar again and change it around to make up my own pattern.
The pattern is written for a DK weight yarn. I used the sock yarn with 4mm needles. I knit loose. The fabric is nice and lightweight without being holey.
Miss T wore it today under her coat, but she took it off as soon as we got inside. I do hope she will like wearing it.
As soon as I did the cast off on Monday I cast on for the next project.
I have been following Jeni from Fyberspates on Twitter and saw her mentioning her Sparkle yarn. I have started knitting a Christmas gift with it. In fact I have planned several gifts this season. How many days left until Christmas? I'll better run and knit faster.

Lady February Sweater

2009-11-27T17:11:00.004Z

My Lady February Sweater has not left me since I finished.
I love this sweater, the knitting, the yarn and wearing.
I used a little over 14 balls of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in Dahlia.
The pattern is free on Ravelry or here.
I made some modifications to the pattern.
I made the sleeves wrist length and I decreased.
I positioned the buttonholes one more stitch in. I don't know if that made it better or worse.
This is a pattern I could see myself knit again. I have knit the same baby patterns again but I never thought of knitting an adult pattern again, besides socks!
I made Miss N take the photo of me. She only took one and said it was OK.
I have gone back to only have one project on the go. I am happy with that - for now.
Lady February took three weeks to knit.

Thanks to Ravelry

2009-11-25T11:41:00.003Z

My Lady February is finished. I am hoping somebody will take a photo of me wearing her.
As soon as she was off the needles I started on a new project.
Once I got that lovely skein of Dreams in Color Smooshy sock yarn in Ruby River, I looked on Ravelry to find something nice to make with it.

There are plenty of projects were knitters used the yarn, over 6800 projects.
I knew I wanted to knit something for Miss T.
I looked through almost 32 pages of baby projects knitted with the yarn. Well I found 6 knitters that knitted Boheme with the Smooshy yarn. I had come accross this pattern some months ago but since it only goes up to 18 months I did not even put it into my queue. Only now after knitting the Lady February did I realize how easy it would be to make any top down project a perfect fit.
The usual worry of course is the question if one skein is going to be enough? But while knitting from the top down I don't have to worry to much about it.
I did increase more stitches and knit more rows on the top than the pattern. Also after looking at some other Bohemes I am going to knit a garter stitch border similar to Lady February down the front.
I love the fact we can try on whatever I knit to last night. So far it seems a great fit.
Perry has suffered some more. Somebody put her bib on him. He didn't mind and walked round the house with it.
We have had a stormy few days here in London, at least we did not suffer any flooding.
Perry doesn't like going out, I think he doesn't like it when the wind ruffles his fur up. He has spend more time indoors and seems to like all the attention.

Growing body

2009-11-20T15:07:00.003Z

The body of my Lady February Sweater is coming along nice. (Sorry about the selfportrait photo).
I finished knitting up ball No. 13 and thought I'd give it a quick try, I am surprised I have reached my waistline. I'll knit about another inch of pattern and then the garter stitch border. I love the construction of this sweater. So far I am happy with the outcome of the sleeves. Only time will tell if it is practical.

Cat with Dishcloth and Dreams in Color Smooshy yarn.
Miss T has become aware of the concept of Princesses. I know she watches a lot of Disney channel, she loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Special Agent Oso. In between the shows, Disney has been advertising its Snow White and other DVD's. I did not think any of it, now she likes to drape stuff around herself and play Princess. It also took me a few days to figure that out, she calls it Prin-ten.

Every Princess also has a handbag! Oh and the Prince. Meet Prince Perry. He had to have bits of yarn and a new! dishcloth draped over him.
Miss T doesn't like wearing Jeans, she will change into leggings once we are back home, socks get ditched as well.
Perry likes to be fussed about, it takes a lot for him to get fed up and leave the house.
It looks like he was not happy having his photo taken as Prince and then plastered all over the internet!

February Sleeves

2009-11-13T14:20:00.003Z

Since my last post I have knitted about 1 1/2 sleeves on Lady February Sweater. My intention from the beginning was to lengthen the sleeves. I thought the nice warm yarn is better suited for winter wear and I prefer long sleeves.
My next thought was to decrease the sleeve width. I also wear a coat in winter and did not think it would be easy to squash a wide sleeve into the sleeves on my coat.
I surfed around on Ravelry and looked at different Lady February's and saw a few with shaped sleeves.
I did my own version of the decreases. In total I decreased two repeats. I am happy with the result so far.
Yes I will finish the body once both sleeves are done. The whole things twists around while I knit round after round on the sleeves.

Meanwhile Miss T is busy with her own thing.
Sitting in her downstairs toy basket is just one of the things.
It still amazes me how she can squeeze herself into tiny spaces.
Perry the cat, likes to nap in one of our beanbags.
Miss T makes sure he has some of his toys with him.
It is cold and wet today, not much fun outside.
Apparently the weather forecast predicts gale storms over the weekend. Oh what fun!
Hey, time to spend indoors and knit ;)

February in November

2009-11-09T13:41:00.003Z

This photo is for my Mum, she did not believe me that this would ever have flowers.
Proof, flowers in November. It is a Camellia.
I am not a very gardener, my Mum knows a lot more about plants than I do. She did not think it would survive being outdoors in the winter.
Apparently it does here in London. We had snow in February and a few frosty nights.
It has gone frosty around here. In our quest to save the planet and some money, we have turned down the heating by a degree. As if I needed more reasons to knit and wear handknits.
I love knitting on Lady February Sweater. I started a week ago and have knit myself through almost 6 balls of yarn. I am using Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in a lovely pinkish red called Dahlia. I bought the yarn a few years ago in the Liberty sale. I thought it was bright red. Only in daylight does it show its pink hue. So much for the murky lights in store.
The pattern is free on Ravelry but it is based on the Baby February Sweater in the Knitters Almanac. I have not been brave enough to knit the baby sweater, the pattern is only a few paragraphs long and I think it is hard to figure out. The lady version is much easier to follow.
It is knit from the neck down and is absolutely seamless.
I thought it may be easier to knit the sleeves before the body gets to long. I am using my new set of Knitpro needles. Easy to leave the body on the long cable and use the same needle tips for the sleeves. I can try on the garment and check my progress, it is fabulous.

Operation Christmas Child two

2009-11-04T14:35:00.005Z

The hat and gloves for the second shoe box are done.
The gloves gave me problems. I had to keep adding rows to make them longer. I am surprised how big the hands of my 11 year old daughter are. Her thumb is almost the same length as mine.
She choose the hat pattern, I searched free hat patterns for Aran yarn on Ravelry. She then picked this one, it is called short-row wavy hat. Because I used a tweed yarn there are no waves on the hat.
It has a very interesting construction and is knit back and forth.

I am not sure what the yarn is. I got the yarn from my friend Johanne a few years ago.
I do know it is 100% wool and looks slightly felted.
I used exactly one skein for the gloves and the hat.
We think the yarn could be Rowanspun Aran.
I have been looking on the internet to find a shadecard with a colour match but I have drawn a blank. The colour is also very hard to capture on camera. It is a beautiful deep purple.
Now I have to finish off both shoe boxes.
Next Monday I will take them to my daughters school and then they are on their way to make somebody happy, or I hope so.
It has been fun to knit a few small projects. I decided against a scarf, the shoebox would have been to full.
I started another knitting project, The Lady February Sweater. Again I came accross this pattern on Ravelry. I am using stash yarn, yeah, yeah. I have 17 balls of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in 552 Dahlia. The colour is a lovely reddish pink.
More about progress on that in a few days.

Operation Christmas Child

2009-10-28T15:21:00.002Z

Schools around here take part in the yearly Operation Christmas Child. Every year we have enjoyed picking little gifts to put in a shoebox and until this year we used to buy a hat, scarf, gloves combo from a supermarket.

This year I thought I should knit a set.
I certainly have enough yarn.
I had bought a ball of red chunky yarn in Switzerland.
I was testing it for Sylvi. It is a good yarn and deserves consideration. I bought it in the Manor department store it is their brand.

The blue yarn is Wendy Merino from my stash. I surfed Ravelry for some free pattern and based the hat on this pattern.
I checked the cast on for the mittens but did the rest by eye. I frogged the first mitten because I thought it was to small. I used my own personal toddler for size. Because she is small I knew I had to size them up. We are aiming at an age range for 2-4 years. I hope whoever gets this shoebox will be happy with all the contents. We had fun choosing sweets today. Our local high street has a new old fashioned sweets store.
Another store had the little finger puppets.
Both shopkeepers asked us if we were shopping for the shoeboxes!
I will now attempt to knit a hat and maybe scarf and fingerless mittens for a teenager.

Frou Frou

2009-10-23T13:17:00.003+01:00

The week has flown past again. Where did the days go?
I finished knitting the sleeves last weekend. I knitted them in the round and actually took them out and about with me.
Then Monday and Tuesday was spent with the neckline border and finishing touches.
I got the Frou Frou pattern with a magazine called The Knitter. It is a new magazine and has lovely pattern aimed at a more experienced knitter. Frou Frou has been taken from Sublime Pattern book tough.
I used Rowan Fine Milk Cotton yarn. It is a nice 4ply yarn that my local yarn store sells. No other reason really. I also wanted to try the yarn.
I needed four balls of yarn. I wish I had knitted the sleeves a few rows shorter and then I would have used only three balls. The colour I used is called Sherbert.
My LYS had a nice blingy button to go with it. Miss T loves a bit of bling.
Yesterday we went to see Debbie Bliss, Miss T did a photo shoot for her new book. Miss T wore a dress knit with a lovely organic yarn. Can't wait for the book and yarn to come out in spring.
Miss T was much better modeling for Debbie than she is for me.
I can barley get her to stand still for 2 seconds.
But I don't have an assistant and a baby groomer.
Not that she needed much grooming!

Frilled to bits

2009-10-16T13:32:00.004+01:00

After I finished Decimal I went and got Frou Frou out again. I was stuck somewhere on the right front.
I had increased the length on the back and had to incorporate the extra rows in the front and recalculate the slant decreases.
Forgetting the pattern at home while I went to Switzerland did not help. I abandoned Frou Frou and started Decimal.
I like knitting frills. I love the way knitting works. My oldest daughter used to love them to. There was a time when all her knitted clothes had to have frills.
I like the ones on Frou Frou, they look like little pleats.
I started the sleeves yesterday. I first knit them as it is stated in the pattern. But then I thought I should knit them in the round. I frogged them and started again. With a little luck I have two finished sleeves by the end of the weekend.
We are booked into a photo studio to have a photo done off all 18 grandchildren. Hope the photographer gets them all to look at the camera at the same time! We have so far not managed at family parties.

Decimal

2009-10-14T15:32:00.004+01:00

My Summer knitting for 2009 is done.
I finished Decimal last night. I am very happy with the result. It is a good fit. I knitted the Medium size, I used Rowan Cotton Glace in Excite. I knitted the pattern as stated. The same amount of rows etc. In the end I used about 10 3/4 balls of yarn.

I think the pattern is well written and had no problems with it. Only the neck button border took some thinking and ripping. I used my usual end of row technique. I always slip the first stitch of every row and I always knit the last no matter whether it the pattern tells me to purl. I learned to knit this way in school. I do it so automatic I don't think about it. Decimal uses a similar edge stitch. I was not sure how many stitches the designer wanted me to pick up along the edges.
I am happy with the result, I think I did it as was intended.
My yarn store had lovely matching buttons to go with my yarn.
I need to sort out my hand knits and store this one away until spring 2010.
Yes, in case you are wondering, I did have my hair done. My first ever high lights. I am still not sure if I like them?

We went to Ally Pally

2009-10-09T13:36:00.003+01:00

Yesterday we went to the Knitting and Stitching show in Alexandra Palace.
I had not been there the last three years.
Yesterday was a lovely sunny day. It had rained all day Wednesday and London looked bright. The view was amazing.
Tara did try and run from stall to stall. I forced her into her pushchair and she actually fell asleep.
I managed to walk around in peace and shop. I had taken a certain amount of cash with me and I stuck to my budget. I bought a Hanne Falkenberg kit, it is a for a jacket. Of course the jacket is for Miss T. She choose the colour. I got myself some square knitting needles. I have to test the needles first before I can say anything about them.
I got a magazine subscription for the Debbie Bliss magazine. That way I won't miss it.
We also spoke to the great Debbie Bliss.
All in all it was a very nice day out. I feel very lucky that Ally Pally is fairly close to home. Only problem is the traffic jams to get there.
We did make an effort and wore show piece hand knits!

Cat finds money!

2009-10-05T13:43:00.005+01:00

Autumn has truly started here in London this week. I know I am still knitting a cotton cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves. I am glad to report than I am making good progress. The body is done until the armholes and one sleeve has also reached the armhole. Once I finish the second sleeve it will all come together for the yoke, yeah, can't wait. I love trying out new techniques and knitting a yoke with all the pieces is new for me.
Of course I am already on the lookout for a new project. I keep dreaming of Sylvi. I am searching for the right yarn. It is knit in a Canadian chunky wool yarn. I have spend a lot of time on Ravelry looking at all the other Sylvi's.
I ordered a skein of Malabrigo chunky yarn. Now I am looking for a scarf or hat pattern to use the yarn. My other option is Lamb's Pride yarn.
Lucky the Knitting and Stitching show starts on Thursday. I am planning to go there this year.
I will have to take little Miss T with me. Hope she will cope.
Whilst I was ordering the Malabrigo yarn from Stash yarns, I came accross this lovely looking Smooshy yarn by Dream in Color.
I may use that to knit Boheme. A lovely free pattern. I have seen some knit in the Smooshy yarn on Ravelry.

In other news!
Perry the cat has found money. I must be the happiest cat owner. He came home with ONE penny stuck to the magnet on his collar.
I could not stop laughing and chanting: the cat has found money, the cat has found money. Wonder in which garden he has found the penny. The penny has not dropped yet. He has not found anymore. I think that is a very special lucky penny. I will keep it somewhere safe and not spend it - on yarn!

Where have I been?

2009-09-26T17:26:00.003+01:00

Summer is almost over and we were having fun.
We left London for almost the whole month of August. Traveled to Germany and stayed with friends for a few days. Visited family in the Netherlands and from there drove to Switzerland to stay 3 1/2 weeks with my Mum in Lucerne.
On our way home we had a 2 day stop over in Paris.
Paris is as beautiful as it has always been.
Switzerland was having a great heat wave and we really enjoyed our time, in the water, on water or on mountain tops.
The husband to go back home in between and work. While us ladies relaxed and had a great time.
Big Sister has now started a new school. I can't believe she is already in secondary school. So far she is enjoying her new school.

Knitting has been with me, but I have not done much. I took two projects with me. I was making good progress on the first but then discovered I had left the pattern at home.
Lucky I had more yarn and the pattern printout with me. I started knitting Decimal in Rowan Cotton Glace.
Progress has been very small. I seem to only manage a few rows a day.
I really wanted to see new winter yarns in Switzerland. But the yarn stores had no new ones instore. In Paris I did not even visit a yarn store.

Beatrice for Summer

2009-07-30T15:24:00.006+01:00

Even though I have not been blogging, I have been knitting.
Not much.
A friend of ours is pregnant and her daughter Summer is expected to arrive tomorrow.
I started this little cardigan mid June. Beatrice is by Jane Ellison and is published in the Mirasol book 4.
I used the suggested Mirasol Samp'a yarn.
The yarn is a 100% organic cotton DK yarn.
The yarn is lovely to knit with, but I did not think it was very different from other organic cotton yarns.
I knitted the smallest size, 0-1 years.
I actually think 6-12 months is a more accurate sizing.
Somehow blogger or our computer is not happy with the rotated photos today. I uploaded and deleted them a few times but still they won't behave.
Miss T is doing well. She has started to go to bed later and I get even less knitting time.
Now we are waiting for Summer to arrive. Miss T and I will go out soon and get a card and maybe even a balloon. She loves balloons.

PS: Summer arrived today 31. July at 11.54am weighing in at 8 pounds and 4 ounces.
Congratulations to Virginia, Geoff and big brother James.

Two years old

2009-07-09T15:01:00.005+01:00

Our little Miss has just turned two.
We feel very happy and blessed to have her.
She is a very girly girl and loves dresses and jewellery, oh and bags.
She is bubbly and chatters all day long.
Her favourite song is; Happy Birthday!
She sings: Happy to you, happy to you...
She loves Perry the cat, he is now called Hurry.
She makes sure we always get some cat food when we go to the supermarket. She loves going to the Hurry aisles.
She is still small for her age. If I ran everywhere like she does, I would be small and skinny as well.
It has been very busy two years, worth every second. I love being at home with her and I am very grateful that I can.

Parterre

2009-06-30T15:25:00.003+01:00

Summer has arrived here in London. If you are watching Wimbledon you may have noticed how hot it has gotten here.
We had a Christening to go to on Sunday and I wanted to wear my newly finished Parterre.
Well, it was way to hot to think about any type of knitwear.
A great little summer knit. I am sure I will get a lot of wear out of it, even though not in the near future. I knit the entire project without the help of a cable needle. Yeah!

Even better is the fact that there are only two very small balls of yarn left over.
Parterre has used 7 balls of Rowan Yarn Classic Pima Cotton DK yarn.
The pattern can be found in the Reminiscence book.
I knit this in a colour called Pampas to go with my new Boden maxi dress. I love that dress.

The Rainy Day Sweater

2009-06-09T19:25:00.004+01:00

The Rainy Day Sweater is finished. I took me about one month.
The pattern is from Louisa Harding 'Miss Bea's Rainy Day'.
I used five balls of Filatura di Crosa 'Lovely Baby' yarn in colour 'Hot Pink'. A lovely pure cotton yarn, the colour has a few natural specks. If you look closely you can spot one on the back. The yarn is very splitty, but a good substitute for the Rowan Handknit Cotton. Knitting the cable on the edge was a challenge it took me a while to get used to and I had to use a cable needle. Maybe also due to the splitty nature of the yarn.
I knitted size 1-2 years fro my now 23 month old daughter. I thought it was going to be on the small size and had it down as a present for a friends baby due in August.
But Miss T did not want to take the sweater off. The sleeves are still a little long. I think I will have to knit something else in a smaller size for my friends baby.

Perry the cat had to join us for the photos. Miss T calls him Hurry or Harry.
She loves her small boxes of raisins and the colour pink. With the weather we have been having this week, Rainy Day is the perfect sweater to have.

Not blogging but still knitting

2009-06-05T10:57:00.005+01:00

We have had a busy two weeks. My Mother has visited us from Switzerland. She has had a great time with fantastic weather.
She has gone back to Switzerland and the weather has gone back to rainy and cold.
The Rainy Day Sweater is almost finished. I will have to sit and and knit the neck border and sew the sleeves in and all the other little finishing touches. The bottom border needs some gentle blocking it looks uneven at the moment. I hope I can improve it.
My Mother has brought me my winnings.
I have a competition over at
knit kit. I came closest at judging the length of a ball of yarn.
I won a kit for a beret. I once knit a similar beret from knit kit for my Miss T. It is still to big for her. It must be true that babies with Asian heritage have smaller heads. It may also explain her dairy allergy.

I have put my St. Moritz on the back burner until September. It is to warm to wear it now. I am not to keen on the Swiss darning part either.
I felt in the mood for some summer knitting. I love wearing May, I knitted two years ago. I wanted something similar in a cotton yarn. I found the perfect pattern from Rowan Classic Yarn. It is called Parterre and is from the new Reminiscence book. I am using the RYC Pima Cotton yarn in pampas.

Pink Rain

2009-05-22T14:35:00.004+01:00

The Rainy Day Sweater is coming along nice.
I got a new iron and have blocked all the pieces.
The new Tefal iron is a dream. It made the weekly ironing a little more enjoyable. I would not normally use the term enjoyable in the same sentence as ironing.
The blocking of pure cotton pieces was very easy.
Both sleeves have the interesting cable edging and I am half way on the body.
I have knitted this sweater in size 1-2 years. I think it would just about fit Miss T, she is 22 1/2 half month old.
I am keeping it for a friend who is expecting a girl in August.
I would have knit a bigger size but I only had five balls of yarn.
There are other lovely pattern in the book.
I got the book with Knitting magazine as a free gift.

Iron bites the dust

2009-05-15T13:09:00.005+01:00

After nine long years of excellent service, my trusty Swiss iron has given up on producing steam. The whole point of this iron is the steam generator.
We will go over the weekend and look at a new iron.
I think that the pump has gone, it won't suck in water anymore.
This week the whole ironing was done with just heat, I kept hoping it would fix itself. I gave up with the linen shirt.
My knitting was the next casualty.
I have started on the Rainy Day Sweater from the Louisa Harding 'Miss Bea's Rainy Day' booklet.
I would need to block the body before I start on the bottom border. I am using Filatura di crosa 'baby lovely' yarn.
There is a similar Rowan adult pattern I always wanted to knit, I think this child's version is better.

Talking about the child, sometimes we put her hair in little pony tails. Funny what happens to her hair when we take out the hair bands, her hair stays up.
Baby got big hair.

Twist and Shout

2009-05-09T14:38:00.006+01:00

So sorry for not blogging an entire month.
I totally lost any will to knit. Silly really, after all I only had to knit about one sleeve.
We had a very warm April and knitting with Merino Cashmere yarn seemed pointless.
About a week ago we went back to normal spring weather.
Yesterday Miss T and I went to our local yarn store and we bought one button.
I have been wearing Twist and Shout all day today.

Now to the knitty gritty:
Pattern, Twist and Shout from Knitty.com issue Fall 2008.
I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I had a cone worth about 19 balls of yarn. I don't know how much I used up, but there seems to be about a quarter left.
The pattern is well written and there are a few erratas, but they are all incorporated directly in the pattern online. The only thing that got to me was the difference between US and English knitting jargon.
I did start something else yesterday. A jumper for our little Miss T. Something that knits up quickly whilst I think what I should knit myself for Summer.

Endless sleeves

2009-04-08T19:12:00.004+01:00

The sleeves for Twist & Shout are giving me problems. They are not behaving.
First I made an error at the start, I knit the wrong rib pattern and only noticed after 30 rows.
Then I knit the main sleeve part to long, the pattern is for bracelet length sleeves and I added to much. Of course I only noticed after I knit almost the whole sleeve cap.

I am hoping this one is OK. I will ignore the wrong cable and call it my ID. I just have to make sure the second sleeve is perfect.
Tara is as busy as ever, I had forgotten to put the child look back on the cupboard which has my knitting needles in it.
Clever girl grabbed the fat long ones.
See how fast she is 'knitting'. She is no match for the iphone camera, hence the blurry photo.
I better go back to my sleeve, hopefully I can finally finish the first sleeve and the second one will be much easier.

Disappointed

2009-04-01T13:46:00.009+01:00

Rather than raving about the new Debbie Bliss baby and toddler knits book, I am greatly disappointed.
The book is a reprint of the 2002 Cotton knits for all Seasons book.
The big difference is the 2002 book includes some adult patterns and two patterns for knitted bags. The 2009 book has 20 of the baby and toddler pattern.
Every thing else is the same, same garments with same instruction and photos.

On the left is the 2009 book and on the right the 2002. The big difference is the yarn, the 2002 garment is knitted with Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton yarn. It is discontinued. It know tells us to use Baby Cashmerino, with the same quantity and stitches.
I had been really looking forward to a new book, I guess I am lucky I did not have the 2002 book in my library. I got the 2002 book from my local library. Now I am just disappointed. I'd rather have the 2002 book, it has more patterns for the same price.
I had ordered the book through Amazon before it was published. I don't think I will pre-order Debbie Bliss book in future.
At least I am making steady progress on Twist & Shout, the back and two fronts are finished. I have started the collar. I was thrown by the differences in American and English knitting instructions. I kept reading BO = Bind off, and CO = as cast off, but CO stands for Cast On.
I don't know how many times I read the instructions and could not figure out what to do.
In the end I read a whole thread on Ravelry and the penny or should that be the cent finally dropped.
I hope the sleeves are more straight forward.
I also had some fun with worlde.

Digital Knitting Gadgets

2009-03-18T13:53:00.004Z

About four weeks ago I got the iphone. Mostly thanks to my husband. My cell phone contract was up for renewal and he has been talking about the iphone for a while.
After I got it I typed in 'knitting' in the search engine of the itunes store.
I could not believe that there are knitting related applications.
I first got myself the stitch minder.
I don't often use a stitch counter, I usually count rows or pattern repeats. Yes and sometimes I count them over and over again.
The stitch minder lets me track four different things. At the moment I am counting: rows, pattern repeats and increase rows. It lets me change the settings, on offer are: rows completed, pattern row. pattern repeats. increase row, increase repeat, decrease row and decrease repeat.
Next I bought myself the Knit Gauge for 59 pence.
This is great to check tension without having to look for a tape measure. It calculates the tension directly for 2, 5 or 10cm.
I am right on track with Twist & Shout.
Since I printed out the pattern when it first came out there have been a few erratas. I can check them directly on the phone as well. The differences are highlighted in red and are easy to spot. A little bit of paper saved. OK, I could mark it all out on my copy.
There are more knitting related applications available for the iphone, I have just found a yarn calculator and a needle sizer.
I am off to go and look at them.

Gone Twisting and Shouting

2009-03-16T11:41:00.003Z

In one of her books the Yarn Harlot talks about the different levels of yarn stash.
Since 2009 is the year where I want to use up a lot of my stash, I have started to look at what she calls 'Core Stash'. Yarn that we love a lot and have had for some time and maybe have no intention of ever using.
I have a cone of dark green Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I bought it a few years ago. Since I then I have been looking for the perfect pattern.
Last September I found it in the shape of Twist & Shout.
I have wanted to cast on a few times, but I wanted to finish all other projects first.
I love knitting this, the back took me only a week. The pattern is easy to follow, but I have seen that there are some erratas. I printed my copy the day the pattern came out.
Lucky I can check up on the pattern on my new gadget - the Iphone, no matter where I am.

Busy looking what kind of mischief these two get up to.

Fontaine

2009-03-10T12:06:00.003Z

My Fontaine is finished.
The pattern can be found in the Rowan magazine number 44.
I used Rowan Classic Yarn Cashsoft 4ply. No other reason than that my local yarn stores sells this 4ply yarn and not the Rowan 4ply.
I started to knit this on 15. November. It has taken me almost 4 month to finish this garment.

The cardigan has some very nice features. One of them is the back. It has a little pretend belt. There was a lot of shaping.
Knitting was never boring.
I am very happy with the finished result and I am sure I will wear this a lot.
But knitting with 4ply has been hard, at times it felt like I was not getting ahead at all.
I have now started another jacket for myself.
The twist and shout from Knitty. I am using up more of my stash, my cone of Cashmerino aran.

Adam and Eve Unisex Jacket

2009-03-06T14:33:00.004Z

Progress on any projects has been slow this week.
I am happy to report that one has hit the finishing line.
It is the Adam and Eve unisex jacket.
I got the pattern in her ravelry shop.
The yarn I used is Wendy Merino DK in the colour called blue sky.
The size is 12-18 months.
Lucky I have the perfect sized model at home.
This jacket is intended as a gift for a little baby boy called Dylan.
Sadly my local yarn store is closed on a Thursday otherwise I would have finished yesterday.
The buttons are wooden turtles.
The jacket is knitted without any seam sewing. The body is knitted in one piece and the sleeves are done from the shoulders on DP's. The instructions are well written but do require a good understanding of knitting techniques. The sleeve caps are done using short row shaping and so are the shoulders.
It's a perfect baby patterns and I am sure I will knit more.
Speaking about my model. She is used to wearing hand knits.
She loves reading books, I just can't understand why they all have to come off the shelve.
I also thought I had put them high enough. I had not thought about the little step stool, it can be taken from the bathroom and be used to get higher in other rooms.

Cookies n' knit

2009-02-26T10:31:00.004Z

The winter school holiday is over. We are back to our normal routine but with less stress. Our clever older daughter has gotten a earned herself a place at a good private school. We still have to wait one more week to hear from the state schools.
But it means she can relax a little and have less homework.
Yesterday she wanted to make cookies. We made our favorite: Chocolate Chip.
Years ago when we lived in the US I got Mrs. Field cookery book. The blue ribbon recipe has been made lots of times.
It was the first time that she got all the ingredients out and started. She did a good job, and yes I was left with the cleaning.
Miss T has been up to her usual tricks, emptying out draws.
There has been some knitting as well.
I finished the body on the Adam&Eve baby jacket.
Fontaine has nearly got two sleeves. Hopefully I will be wearing her next week!

Baby blue

2009-02-17T16:08:00.003Z

Knitting with 2.5mm needles and 4ply yarn was getting to me. I was very worried to have run out of yarn. My LYS had none left, but lucky a trip to John Lewis solved my problem. I got another ball of yarn in the same dye lot as well.
I finished the first sleeve and started on the second. Sadly I left it in the car and my family went out.
What to do with all the peace? Start another project of course.
I started the Adam and Eve unisex jacket (ravelry link) and I am using stash yarn. It is Wendy Merino yarn.
The pattern involves no sewing of any seams.
A few friends have had baby boys and one boy is on its way. I may knit this more than once. I also have the same yarn in Orange. I got the yarn from my friend Johanne when she was having a clear out a few years ago.

Bushfire Appeal

2009-02-12T15:56:00.004Z

I am sure you have all heard about the terrible bushfires in Australia.
Jacqueline is running an appeal on her blog, there are knitterly prizes.
Instead of giving each other cards on Valentines Day we have given a donation.
On one side of the world there are bushfires and here in the UK we are having the coldest winter since we moved here in 2000. I leave you with a photo from last week.
Hope you all like my new layout.

Knitting with 4ply

2009-02-11T17:13:00.002Z

Knitting with 4ply is slow doing. It has taken me days or rather evenings to knit the collar. It doesn't look like there are over 50 rows of garter stitch with over 200 stitches in every row.
I am glad it is out of the way and done. I wanted to knit both sleeves at the same time and use the magic loop to do it.
I tried it, I managed to cast on but somehow I did not get the hang and figure out how to knit the first row.
Maybe it being late in the evening had something to do with it.
Here is the first sleeve, I am using a short circular needle, I did use a set of double pointed until I had enough stitches to switch.

After the little Miss has gone to bed, I knit for about 2 hours unless I am to tired.
I think last night I knit three blocks while we watched an old James Bond movie.

School is out...

2009-02-02T10:34:00.004Z

not for summer but for today, because of snow.
I love how the UK can't cope with any snow.
All the kids are out and about playing in the street.
I grew up in Switzerland and we never missed a day of school because of snow. We did have a skiing day - a day trip to the slopes. It was always great fun. Sometimes we had bad weather and were the only idiots on skis.
My kids are well kited out besides the foot wear. Finding shoes for Miss T tiny feet is still a problem. She was outside until her feet got to cold. Big sister is outside wearing wellington boots with handknit socks.
It is a day to wear hand knits.
So far most of this winter has seen me wear almost all my woolen hand knits.
I have made some good progress on Fontaine. The back, two fronts, pocket tops and the button band are finished. I want to knit the button hole band and the collar next. I may then knit the sleeves in the round. I am thinking if I should try the magic sock loop and knit both sleeves at the same time.
Weather update: It is still snowing and it has started heavy again at 11am.

A meme, apple pies and sock knitting

2009-01-27T13:37:00.004Z

Sue has tagged me for this meme!
Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules.
Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that let's them know they've been tagged.
So what six quirky and boring things can I think off:
1. I hate to speak on the phone to people I don't know.
2. I am a vegetarian.
3. I have long hair since I am 14 years old and I don't like going to the hairdresser.
4. I hate getting dirt on my hands, hence don't really like gardening.
5. I love snow, shame we don't get much here in London.
6. I miss the mountains.
I would like to read about Johanne, Jacqueline, Allison, Sue, Heather and Dawn.
When I really miss Switzerland it is time to make Apfel Waehe (Apple pie). I made one with dairy and one without. It is something that is made for Friday lunch time. But of course it tastes good any day of the week.
Miss T and the husband have a dairy intolerance, lucky both can now have lactose free milk. It has made cooking a little easier. I tend to cook two things every day - something with meat and something without but with dairy.

Friday I had a bit of a panic, I had no knitting that I could take out with me. But I had just bought a new magazine Knit.1 winter issue. I came accross a sock pattern by Wendy from Wendy Knits. I have never knitted a toe up sock. She explains every thing well. The pattern has a faux cable, it is hard to tell in this photo. I am using Regia 4ply - from my stash. The socks are for Noor.
I have been busy with my stash, thinking of patterns I want to knit and using ravelry to keep track of everything.
We have also sorted out Miss T's clothes, she has grown and is now able to wear the things I knitted for her earlier.

My first finished project for 2009

2009-01-21T13:55:00.004Z

The scarf is finished and ready for a new home.
I used up about 2 1/3 balls of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk.
The pattern was easy enough, just a two row repeat. Interesting enough to keep my mind occupied.
A little less yarn in my stash!

But my other knitting is growing very slow. 4ply yarn and 2.5mm needles will do that.
I think it is a great pattern, plenty going on without feeling bored.
The back is finished and I have started on the left front, it has a small pocket. I am using a double pointed needle as a stitch holder.
Miss T was feeling naughty this morning and unraveled a ball of the 4ply yarn.
She is asleep right now, time for me to go and knit a few row.
PS: Perry has had the stitches and the staple removed - time for him to go out again. I think he was counting the minutes to his vet appointment yesterday. It has all healed well. Now his fur has to grow back.

Five feet of knitting

2009-01-16T13:37:00.004Z

After our big clean out and declutter of the middle floor I have started on a small project using the three balls of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk.
I am knitting a scarf and I am using the pattern from her Silk book but I have added two more repeats to the pattern to make the scarf wider. I also want to use more yarn, the scarf in the book uses two skeins.

The two row pattern is now flying off the needles.
Maybe even Perry is impressed.
He still has another three days of house arrest ahead of him.
The wound is healing nicely and all his other scratches are disappearing as well. I am sure he just wants to go out and show off his stitches and the staple to all his buddies. Yet he is stuck at home, we can't even open a window and have to be careful opening the front door. The trick is to get into the porch, close the door and then open the next one.

Bad Kitty

2009-01-08T14:19:00.002Z

Perry the cat has been in big fight yesterday.
After three trips to the vet - this is what he looks like today.
A stitched and stapled up cat with a lampshade on.
He came home with a nasty big cut on his shoulder blade.
My friend, Miss T, the cat and I drove to the vet and he stapled the wound back together.
Back home Perry went for a nap, or at least it looked like he did, but he pulled out one or two staples.
Back to the vet again. He did not want to use staples again and send us home until the morning.
Perry was dropped of this morning and got about 7 stitches and one staple, the vet had to sedate him for that. Yesterday for the staples he did not have to.
To save us from more trips to the vet Perry was given a very stylish 'lampshade'.
He hates it, he keeps walking into walls and furniture.
Well if he did not fight he would not have these problems now.
Miss T thinks it is very funny, she has been laughing and screaming at him.
I think the next ten days are going to be hard. Not only does he have to wear the lampshade but he has to stay indoors.
I do have to take the shade off, otherwise he can't eat.
The vet has also just moved and yesterday they had no front door and workmen walking in and out, hammering and drilling.
It used to be next door from our local yarn shop but are now a little further down the road.

2009 knitting goals

2009-01-05T16:47:00.003Z

My clever husband has decided that it is time to clean up the house. We started in Noor's room, not only has she got the most clutter, her room also has most of my yarn stash. On two shelves in her toy wardrobe. I am not taking over clothes space!
I have taken photos of all the yarn in there and put them back in a nice order.
Some will go to charity, other will go on to e-bay.
Husband was a bit amazed that I dared to look at a yarn sale.
What does he know?
His only comment was: Knit with the yarn you got. At that moment I had just two projects on the go, Fontaine - who has almost got a back and St. Moritz. St. Moritz has neared the steeking stage. I am hoping to have an afternoon to myself without the kids - I don't see it happening with Miss T around.
I have since started on a scarf with the three balls of Debbie Bliss silk. It is going to be a present for someone.
My goals for 2009:
Finish St. Moritz and Fontaine
Knit the Zebra Striper in Dale of Norway for Miss T (ravelry link)
Knit Twist and Shout for myself in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
Knit Madeleine in Debbie Bliss Rialto
Knit socks for Noor using stash sock yarn.
Organize all my books and magazines, use Ravelry more to catalogue them and keep track of the stash.
Not a bad list to start with.

My girl is 11

2008-12-30T17:18:00.003Z

Noor turned 11 yesterday. We had a big never ending party for her.
The party started the day before with the arrival of 7 girls for a sleep over party.
It was a busy night.
We relaxed during the day and in the evening with had family come over. It is never a small affair.
Today we are recovering and cleaning up.

Christmas Cheer

2008-12-22T11:19:00.003Z

The other day a big box was delivered to our house. Only the grown ups cared about the content (a gift basket) but the kids loved the cardboard box.
Knitting wise there is not much news. I knit yet another pair of Fetching and forgot to take a photo before wrapping them.
I had some black yarn left over and started to knit another pair of Dashing. I have about two days left to finish them....

I leave you with my two girls while I go and knit a few more rounds whilst Christmas Cookies bake in the oven.

Hat and Mitten Set

2008-12-18T15:15:00.003Z

Just in time for Christmas, the hat and the fingerless mittens are finished.
I used the free Dashing pattern for the mittens and the Cabled Beret pattern for the hat. I found both pattern on Ravelry.
I knit both in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, I only used 3 1/2 balls of yarn for them.
I love Ravelry, the hat has been knitted 8 other times in the same yarn and the mittens have been knitted 54 times.
I asked Miss N to model the hat this morning before school.
She is turning into a teenager. No pretty frock to wear on her non uniform day, skinny jeans and a hooded top are much trendier.

I am very tempted to knit myself a pair of these. I think they would be perfect while I push Miss T in her buggy. Even though she doesn't like sitting in it anymore.
I better go and wrap some presents while the little Miss has a nap.

Christmas Knitting

2008-12-16T15:07:00.002Z

This is the first year I am knitting Christmas gifts on a grand scale.
I have finished knitting the Dashing mittens and have decided to knit a hat to go with them.
I had about half a ball of yarn left over. I made the decision late on Saturday afternoon. I should have braved the rain and gone to my local yarn store straight away - but I didn't.
I went Monday afternoon and I was lucky, they had more black yarn in the same dye lot.
The pattern is in the Debbie Bliss Magazine. I am knitting the hat in the round. There is no way I would knit a hat om straight needles. I love going round in circles.

Somebody else loves running around in circles until she is dizzy and falls over.
She loves climbing onto her toy buggy and then gets stuck.
Can you see her: Help, get me out of here.

Done with Fetching

2008-12-12T13:34:00.003Z

Our whole family has come down with a bad cold. Big sister was home from school for four days last week. It was lucky for me, because I spend two of those days in bed. She did a great job looking after little Miss T and Perry the cat.
Even the cat started to cough.
The husband has lost his voice and can only whisper.
I have only managed to knit a few rows, but I have finished 6 pairs of Fetching and even got them to the post office. I am now busy tracking them online with the various post offices across the planet.
I have started to knit a pair of Dashing, also a Christmas present. But I can finish them last minute, they don't need to be posted. I am knitting them in black Cashmerino Aran yarn. Black doesn't photograph well.
My other knitting projects have been abandoned and are waiting to be picked up again.

Alternate Knitting

2008-11-28T11:56:00.005Z

This is the first time I am actually knitting Christmas presents.
I came across the Fetching pattern on Ravelry.
The first pair was knit early October for my friend because she was complaining about having cold hands at work. I forgot to take a finished photo of them, she keeps them at work and loves them.

I then knit this pair slightly smaller for my oldest daughter, in school approved colour. She loves hers as well. I am lucky she forgot them at home this morning. They already look well worn. I did the picot etching for the first pair and didn't like it. Now I am busing knitting a few more pairs to send to friends. I won't tell how many and for whom. Lucky my local yarn store has a lot of nice Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.

At the moment I am knitting one day on Fontaine and the next day I knit Fetching.
Now I have seen some more fingerless mitten patterns and I am thinking of knitting a different hand thingies.
Really the possibilities are endless.

Candy

2008-11-26T16:16:00.002Z

My Florida project can now be worn. I had finished all the knitting over two weeks ago, but somehow I was very lazy in finishing it.

All the Rowan Wool Cotton yarn was left over from the Mystery Blanket.
The pattern called Candy is from Rowan Magazine 31. It took me a while to decide on the stripe sequence with the yarns I had available. I nearly run out of the purple.
If I had, I would have asked my fellow Mystery knitter. I made it with about a yard remaining.
The cardigan is perfect for now, I have always loved this yarn and I think it is perfect for busy toddlers.
I do put socks and slippers on her, she likes to take them off. Once she gets cold, she wants them back on.

Nostalgia

2008-11-20T14:31:00.003Z

The past week has flown past. Miss T had two photo shoots. It involved a lot of travelling across London.
After I got home on Saturday from the first shoot I thought it was time to start a new project.
I fell in love with Fontaine when I first flicked through the Rowan Anniversary edition. I am using RYC Cashsoft 4 ply. The colour is called bluebottle. I must be mad to knit something for myself with 4ply yarn.

Not as mad as Perry the cat, he has been bringing mice home again. Once he has them home he doesn't care. Lucky my friend came over today and together we managed to corner the mouse and take it back outside. While Mr. Lazy was locked inside.
That mouse has a great tale to tell.

Betty

2008-11-13T12:06:00.004Z

The project I started and bought in Oklahoma City is finished. I bought the yarn and the pattern book from Gourmet Yarn. A great yarn store with a great name.
Betty is from Wee Knits 3 by Mission Falls. I used their 1824 Cotton yarn.

I don't know why I started a fairisle knit whilst on holiday. It really was not a good project to take around with me.
I left in a corner at home until beginning of October. At least once I started again it was a fast knit.
I almost finished it before going to Florida. I was to tired in the end to finish the second sleeve.
It was Monday evening before I knit my first stitch since arriving home on Friday.
I steamed all the pieces Tuesday morning and spend a long time darning in all the ends.
I knit the sleeves in the round and carried the blue yarn along on the sleeves. I knitted the collar Tuesday evening and assembled it all yesterday.
I knit size 24 months. I am amazed at how well it looks on her, I thought Betty was going to be miles to big on her.
I liked knitting with the 1824 Cotton yarn. I hope it wears and washes well. If that is the case I can see myself using more of this yarn in future knits.

Knitting in Orlando

2008-11-10T10:18:00.002Z

It is always a hard question to decide what knitting to take on holiday.
How much time will there really be for knitting?
Can I knit on the plane?
Remember to pack all the little bits needed for knitting, needles, tape measure, yarn, pattern and other small things.
I wanted to use up some of the left over yarn from the Mystery Blanket.
Most of the yarn is Rowan Wool Cotton. I randomly picked up an old Rowan Magazine and I came across the pattern for Candy in Rowan 31.
The perfect pattern to use 7 balls of the different coloured Wool Cotton.
It took me a while to decide on the stripe sequence. I also changed to pattern slightly. I knit the fronts and back in one piece.

To save myself from to many ends of yarn to sew in.
I actually did that in between. I knew I have another project at home that needs to have a ton of ends sewn in.
I am happy with the progress I made, I knit the fronts, back and almost one sleeve.
Not bad - I only knit in the evenings after our Miss T had gone to bed.
At the moment she refuses to go to bed, I have to stay in her room until she is asleep. I hope she will get used to sleeping in her own bed in her own room soon again.
It means I have not knitted since we got home on Friday.

Back from Orlando

2008-11-09T16:48:00.005Z

We are back in London since Friday morning and are still getting used to the time difference and the wintry weather.
All of us love Orlando Florida.
The first five days our party included the four of us plus 14 members of my husbands family - his parents, his sister with her husband and her four children and his brother with his wife and their four children.
We all visited Animal Kingdom together. Miss N. did the not so scary Halloween at Magic Kingdom with her cousins.
It was fun being part of a large family. The family got to Orlando ten days before we did. We booked our holiday on short notice and could not get there earlier.

I enjoyed turning 40 on Halloween.
The four of us spent the day at my favourite park - Sea World.
I got wet on Atlantis, the poncho did not help a lot.
In the evening we visited Disney's Boardwalk. Our two girls loved running around and watching some fireworks.
I had a great birthday and a fantastic holiday.
Every day was busy. The weather improved and we still got to go to the pool and visit Aquatica.

Out in the Sunshine

2008-10-30T15:27:00.003Z

A quick update: We are all enjoying the Sunshine in Orlando Florida.
We have been very busy visting different parks.
Tuesday and Wednesday we have had to try and keep ourselves warm. But at least we had wonderful Sunshine the whole time.
I did wish I had brought some warm woolies with me.
The husband is hoovering over me, telling me to get of this hotel PC.

Keeping warm

2008-10-23T13:39:00.000+01:00

Here in London there is a chill in the air.
Little Miss T is all set now that I have knitted her a hat, scarf and fingerless mittens combo.
I used Mirasol Hacho yarn.
The colour is called: Double Fuchsia.
The yarn is similar to Koigu KPPPM, I really loved knitting with the Hacho.
I used two skeins, one for the hat and the mittens and the other one for the scarf.
I loosely based it on a pattern I found in a Zoe Mellor book. I had to reknit the hat, it was to small the first time. The second time I changed the pattern and made up my own using double pointed needles and knit in the round.

The mittens are my own creation so is the scarf. I knit the scarf until I ran out of yarn.
Perry loves it when we hang out in the garden and he gets chased around.

Feather, Fan and Leaves

2008-10-21T11:20:00.004+01:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah.! I got a new cardigan and a little scarf.
My plan did work, I finished knitting the cardigan on Friday and managed to find nice buttons at my local yarn store.
I was wearing the cardigan on Sunday, even though I did not have time to steam the lower part.
The iron only comes out once a week, today on a Tuesday.
I used just over 10 balls of Classic Elite Soft Linen yarn. Lucky I had bought one more ball than the pattern stated. I knitted size large or 38 inches for the finished top.
I had enough left over to knit myself the little leaf scarf from the front cover of the pattern book.

Here is the scarf in a little in more detail. I used up over half a ball of yarn for this. Now I have almost none left over.
The linen content of the yarn shows up in the plain lower part of the cardigan, I think it actually wrinkles.
I love the feel of the finished garment, it feels very light and airy yet it is also very good at keeping me warm.
I can wear it under a coat once it gets colder.
But first we are all of to warmers climes on Thursday.
I will start a stripey cardigan for Miss T using up left over yarn from the In the Country (Mystery) Blanket. It will be my two week holiday project.

Carry on stocking stitch

2008-10-17T14:40:00.006+01:00

The last three days I have just been knitting plain old stocking stitch. You can see my progress in the photos.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
I think last night I was driving my husband up the wall with constantly putting my knitting down and measuring my progress or more likely lack of it.
This project was very nice to knit on the upper bodice but pretty boring on this endless lower part.
The only good thing is, once I cast of there are no side seams to sew.
I hope to finish all the knitting tonight and then go out tomorrow to buy the buttons.
Ready to wear a new cardigan on Sunday.
Well that's the plan.
Usually plans don't work out around here.
Miss T is 15 months old and very strong willed.
We went for a small walk today - she refuses to hold my hand.
That is not such a problem in our quiet road but not a good idea on the main road.
She did not want to be carried either, lucky she enjoyed her ride on my shoulders.

Perry the cat was waiting on the garden wall for our return.
I don't know why, she sometimes drives him out of the house with her screaming and constant running around.
The husband has started to call her Duracell bunny - after the batteries that keep on going and going.

Light as a Feather

2008-10-14T11:57:00.005+01:00

There is good progress going on all my unfinished projects.
I have done all the feather and fan pattern on my Feather and Fan cardigan. Looking at the two halves, they look strange. It is both sleeves and the upper bodice.
Miss T. had to run over and throw herself onto it. I have transferred the stitches on the two fronts for the front borders onto some yarn. I was getting worried about my stitches being dropped.
Now I face the long trip of plain stocking stitch for the complete lower bodice.
I steamed the top part and have sewn the sleeves and the short side seams. I even managed to try it on.
I now have to carry on and on with the over 250 stitches per row.
The pattern is written well and I have had no problem with it so far. I am pleased to see how it all came together.
The Soft Linen yarn is OK to knit with.
I have been knitting on a hat, fingerless mittens and scarf combo for Miss T while we have been out and about.

In the country

2008-10-08T15:35:00.004+01:00

The Mystery Blanket is completed. I can now call it by it's real name: In the country.
The name is something I have known since about March.
I am very pleased with the result, even though I don't really like all of the squares, the center square being one of them.
Miss T. loves the sheep, she has been trying to grab it's 'fur'.
Oh, and I cheated - I did not embroider the rest of the daisy flowers. I don't think it matters with the overall effect.
In total all the club members received 28 balls of Wool Cotton, 5 balls of Pure Wool DK and one ball of Kidsilk Aura, all yarns by Rowan.

I believe the club with the amount of yarn, the postage and all the instructions was good value for money.
The designer Debbie Abrahams will be running another club in 2009.
I also have a lot of yarn left over, I must decide which colours go well together and maybe knit something for Miss T.
The blanket is now on Miss N.'s bed, waiting for her to return on Friday.
She had some Archery and an Obstacle course yesterday morning. I am sure she is having a great time. I found yesterday was a very long afternoon/evening with the little Miss and the husband out at work and dinner.

Waving Goodbye

2008-10-06T12:55:00.003+01:00

This morning my big girl went on her week long school trip.
I can't believe she is already in Year 6.
The weekend was taken up with packing and last minute shopping.
It takes me less time to pack for a family holiday than it has taken me to get my child ready for this trip.
She is off to the Isle of Wight for a week (5 days) of fun.
Hopefully on her return she will have a new blanket on her bed and maybe a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves.

Honeysuckle

2008-10-01T10:54:00.004+01:00

Another one of my WIP's is finished.
I started this shrug early May. Lucky then I knitted this in size 12-18 months.
Miss T is nearly 15 months young.

Honeysuckle is from the Rowan Yarn Classic Mother & Baby book 19.
I used three balls of Jaeger Baby Merino 4ply and Rowan beads.
The beads didn't show up on the photos like they do in real life.
I found the lace border a real pain, I am glad it is finished.
The postie has just been and delivered the last installment for the Mystery Blanket.
The borders on that blanket are going to take a while to do.
Hopefully I can post about a finished blanket soon.

The best laid plans....

2008-09-27T07:53:00.002+01:00

... come to nothing when you put in the toddler factor.
I was going to write a blog piece about getting my St. Moritz ready for steeking.
There are a ton of ends ready for darning in.
Three Alpine Roses need to be finished with Duplicate Stitch (Swiss Darning).
Most of the knitting is done on St. Moritz, I have to finish knitting the collar. I was going to go hunting for a nice matching zip.

But my little toddler had other ides.
She can now climb. I have been lucky, so far she has been to short to get onto things.
Well not anymore.
Her next step is probably moving stuff to use as step stools.
Hopefully I will have to time to work on St. Moritz during nap times.

Only a few more days until October 1. and the last installment for the Mystery Blanket should be started here.

The Moss Stitch Jacket aka Mossy

2008-09-24T16:19:00.004+01:00

Just in time for the start of autumn. My Mossy is finished.
It is super soft and very heavy.
The pattern is from Debbie Bliss 'The Cashmere Collection' book.
I knitted size small and used up 15 balls of Cashmerino Superchunky.
There are two nice sized pockets on the jacket, they cannot be seen in the photo on the book and were a surprise for me.

Miss T is so fast I could not even take a photo without her.

I have dug out my St. Moritz and it took me only two evenings to finish the second sleeve. I hope I can knit the collar just as fast and then comes the big home stretch with the steeking.....

The Mystery is nearly solved

2008-09-17T14:52:00.006+01:00

My August and September squares for the Mystery Blanket are all knit. I am glad I managed to knit the 10 squares in about 12 days and I have been busy with all the finishing touches.
There are still 18 little daisy flowers left to embroider onto the stripey squares.
Hmm, two more weeks until the whole Mystery will be solved and I can finish the blanket.

Finishing stuff has been the order of the day here.
I have been looking at new patterns and projects to knit. With a big but, because I have a lot of projects on the go at the moment. The last few days have seen me working hard on Mossy. Johanne has finished hers and I want mine to follow soon.
Then there is only a little left to do on Honeysuckle, a back is knit on Betty and there is a certain St. Moritz hidden away in my cupboard.
I have told myself I am not allowed to start another project until at least two are done.