The One with all the Knitting

Amongst all of the sewing I've got some knitting and finishing done. Thanks to the Scrubs box set. I stuck a disk on every morning and started working through the projects in my knitting basket.

Boat Necked Jumper

This is a Debbie Bliss pattern that I've made a couple of times, for this version I substituted Cashmerino Astrakhan for the Cashmerino Aran that the pattern calls for. I've used the Astrakhan for a couple of things and it looks really cute for baby clothes.




This one just needed seaming as I finished all of the knitting last year. I was a little worried that after a years hiatus this little jumper and the jacket below would be too small for their intended recipients. I delivered them this weekend and thankfully they both fit. I usually plan projects the next size up from the child's age at the birthday/Christmas that I intend to gift a project. This gives me a chance to get finished before they are too big as I have a habit of getting so far and stalling, usually on the seaming. I will spend weeks knitting only to let the pieces sit in my knitting basket for the sake of a couple of afternoons sat seaming! Daft I know.

Ribbon Tied Hoodie

This is another Debbie Bliss pattern that I've made a few times and is written for the Astrakhan. I made a few mods to this version, I only knit the first 5 rows of the hood before knitting a row and casting off in the contract colour. Instead of a ribbon tie at the neck I opted for 3 buttons with crocheted button holes to give it more of a feeling of a little jacket.




This knitting on this was complete last year, but has been hibernating as the first version of the collar sucked. It rolled back on itself and I was too frustrated with it to pull it out and work out an alternative. Once I started on it again it came together pretty quickly. I like the mods I've made to this and am planning a couple more. The knitting is pretty quick and now I've got the mods sorted that won't slow me down. I've had to do a bit of searching to find the yarn though as it seems to have been discontinued. However, between Ebay, Ravelry and Jimmy Beans Wool I've got my sticky mitts on enough yarn to make 3 more of these so that all the little girls I know will have one.

Pi Shawl

I was introduced to Elizabeth Zimmerman through Brooklyntweed's blog. It was the February Baby Sweater that first caught my eye, quickly followed by the Baby Suprise Jacket. As a result I purchased Knitters Almanac and Knitters Workshop, the books that featured the two patterns. It was only then that I realised that EZ writes guides more than patterns and at that time it was beyond my skills to pick out the instructions from the text. Fast forward a while and I was sorting my stash out and came across some hanks of Rowanspun DK that I'd been given by a friend a few years ago. It's been lurking in the stash as I didn't have a clue what to use it for. I had a thumb through EZ looking for some inspiration and came across the instructions for Pi. Brooklyntweed had made a blanket version and his pictures help to inspire and push me over the edge into action. I swatched in a couple of needle sizes to see what it would look like, I like how my swatches have come out and think that I would use a shawl in this tweedy grey colour. It will be great over my shoulders in a draughty prompt corner.



I swatched in 3 needle sizes 5mm, 5.5mm and 6mm. I like the look of the swatch below. However, I'm going to have to swatch again as I didn't mark the 3 swatches and can't tell for certain which size it is that I like! I think it is the 5mm as the plain stockinette section is the tightest but if I'm going to put that amount of knitting hours into something I'd rather knit a second set of swatches and double check. It would be a bummer if I fudge it and get it wrong.



Mr Vanilla

The knitting on Mr Vanilla has been ticking along nicely. I've finished the first sock, I just need to graft the toe and weave in the ends, and have just started the heel flap on the second sock.

Pomatomus

Pomatomus has also had a bit of time spent on it. It hasn't progressed very much though. Some how I managed to loose 2 stitches in one of my pattern sections and didn't realise for about 20 rows. As it is lots yarn overs and K2togs and twisted stitches I had to unknit the offending rows and work out my mistake before continuing. I'm back on track now thankfully but still haven't made it to the first heel yet.

The one with all the sewing

I've been having a productive couple of weeks around here. The end of my holiday is getting ever closer and I've finally found my focus. Knitting has been finished, swatching has been done and the sewing machine has had a good work out. More about the knitting later this post is all about the cloth.

Needle Roll #1


I wanted to get my needles organised as they get into a big mess in my knitting bag and take ages to sort through when I need to find a pair! This is made from two Asda tea towels and a piece of scrap fabric from a work project.

One tea towel and the scrap fabric were cut into a rectangle. The second tea towel was cut into three strips, each seamed along one of the long edges . The fabric was then arranged with the right sides together, stitched around and bagged out. Then a quick press before sewing the hole closed and stitching channels for the needles to live in. The last job was to sew on a piece of cotton webbing to tie the roll closed with.



As you can see I like a bamboo needle!


Baby Bag


This little bag is for Missy who is three. Like her mum she had a bag to carry all the things her baby needs. It had a bottle, a nappy, a dummy, a toy, some baby wipes and sun lotion. Unlike her mum's it was an old gift bag and so got a little soggy this summer. We watched her push her baby across the lawn in her stroller leaving a trail of belongings behind as the paper bag finally gave up the ghost! So this little bag is a replacement. I made it out of some left over furnishing fabric. It is reversible and has 2 pockets on each side, ideal for tucking your baby's bottle in. I hope she likes it.

Needle Roll #2

When I first started knitting in earnest it was with chunky Rowan yarns like Big Wool and Biggy Print. I made hats and scarves, a couple of jumpers and a poncho. I moved on to finer yarns when my knitting speed picked up and when I realised that a chunky jumper on a chunky frame really isn't very flattering!

I made this second needle case from the scraps left over from the baby bag, I've made it differently to the first one for this reason. It is as wide as my scraps allowed and there wasn't enough fabric to make a flap at the top to hold the needles in so I put a band across instead. Again I used a piece of webbing as the tie.

TV Cover

The last piece of sewing was a cover for the flat screen in the kitchen. I used a piece of plasticised fabric and some flannel to create a sleeve to slide over the TV. The plastic fabric stops the screen getting splashed and the flannel stops any scratches. Now Dad is happy that his TV is protected from haphazard washer uppers and I only have to worry about not splashing the window!

That's it for the sewing round up, next time it will be the turn of the sticks and string.

Fastnet

At 1pm today my little brother will be setting off on a jolly big adventure. He is competing in the Fastnet race aboard Jaguar Logic. They will leave Cowes today, sail around the Fastnet Rock and head to the finish line in Plymouth, a total of around 600 miles. This should take between 3 and 5 days depending upon the conditions. I'll be keeping an eye on their progress here. He has competed in a number of races this season to prepare for this and is quite understandably excited. So fingers crossed Mr, I hope you have a great time and have some good sailing weather. See you for Dark and Stormies and some sea stories when you get back!

Decorating

Things have been topsy-turvey here for a while as my bedroom has been decorated. I was just about trusted to choose the colour for the walls and carpet which are very pale to try and give the room a light and airy feel. There were a few 'discussions' over the curtains and in the end I just bought them. I think they're a nice splash of colour, I don't think Grumps is convinced though! I had to shorten the curtains a little and used the off cut to make a runner for the chest of drawers. I decided to make a little quilted runner and pulled some of my hand dyes that work with the deep purple.

I then pieced them and came up with this.

This is the back of the runner, the curtain fabric will normally be on top, I think this many colours in one place would be a step too far for Grumps!

I now have a lovely bright room and with this old armchair I have a place that I can sit to knit or read in peace and quiet. Lovely.