On a roll

It's like it says in the title, I'm on a roll!
2 posts in a row, I've FOs to show.



I've finished Alice's socks. She loves them.



Pattern: Double Lace Ribbing Socks by Charlene Schurch from More Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash, half a skein.
Needles: 2.5mm wooden dpns

They fit great. I know I always say I'm not a fan of toe up socks, but it's a great technique for using up yarn ends and also for fitting to feet that are always changing in size. Kids feet grow too fast for a slow knitter!

I have to say, I love Charlene Schurch's sock books. They must be the books I've made the most patterns from.
In fact, I cast on today for another pair from the same book as above, the Baby Fern Socks (Ravlink)
I'm using the Wollmeise in Pffeferminz Prinz that I tried unsuccessfully to make the Pomatomus socks with. I'm not expecting these to be done any time soon, they're my on the road, knit night socks. Not my knitting at home project.

Last night I decided to start my organization of all things knitty in the house by going through my magazines and queueing anything I liked, so when I came to start a new project I could peruse the queue without having to take the bookshelf apart. My magazine pile is fairly substantial!



That's just the magazines, mind you. It doesn't include my books. That's for another day.
Anyway, I spent a very pleasant few hours going through them all, and managed to queue quite few new things! the queue feature on Ravelry was something I hadn't really used before, and if I stay disciplined about it and not add loads of stuff then it should be a useful tool to help me stay library organised.
So, I'm now brimming full of lovely things I want to make!
Of course, that means I have to get my WIPs out of the way. I'm doing well on that front I think. I've been knitting away on the Summit Shawl too, I've got about another two repeats done. I think I might stop it at just the one ball of Malabrigo Lace and save the other ball for something else. I'll decide for definite when I'm coming towards the end of the skein. It's looking nice though, and once you get into the rhythm of the pattern it's really not that difficult.

In other news, I went to a yarn party today. The Constant Knitter invited me & a few other knitters along to her place to knit, drink tea & eat cake. Of course I couldn't refuse such a kind offer, what kind of knitter would that make me?
So, off I went and after getting completely lost and almost driving the wrong way up a one way street, I finally made it. You'd never know I've lived in Dublin all my life, I was so lost.

Anyway, there were plenty of other knitters there, such as chicwithstix, bunnyt, gerryberry, whirl123, Bríd, Helen1 & Helen2 and loads more whose names sadly escape me.
There was tea, cake, meringues and lots of chat. We had a great laugh.
Of course while I was there I had a tragic accident. I fell into the room that is used to store the yarn and fell back out with 4 skeins in my hand. I swear, I don't know what happened.
The apple cake must have been drugged...

Anyway, denials out of the way, let's get on to what I bought.
Just coz I absolutely love this yarn and the colour is fab, two more skeins of Drops Alpaca:

No uses for it as yet, but something will come to me.

This one, however has a destiny. Two skeins of Drops Delight:

This yarn is going to be a Baby Surprise Jacket when it grows up. I think it'll be lovely, and gender neutral too.

So there you have it, projects finished, projects begun, yarny adventures & stash enhancement.

What more could you ask for from a blog post?

Good knitting!

Drifting

I feel like I'm drifting at the moment, knitty wise. I'm doing lots, finishing little. Do you ever feel like that?
I took out my not inconsiderable pile of wips this evening for further inspection.

Exhibit 1:



My Seamless Colourwork Yoke Sweater.
According to Ravelry I started this in November 2009. *gasp* That's shocking. I should be ashamed of myself. I know I haven't been super motivated to knit it because I deliberately made it too small hoping to lose enough weight to fit into it, and also because I'm scared of the colourwork. Not as scared as I used to be, since I made my Norwegian Snail Mittens, but still pretty scared.

Exhibit 2:



My Myrtle Leaf Shawl. According to Ravelry I started this one in February. Funnily enough, I had entered this into a Ravelympics event! Ha. Delusional. I must have been on medication.

Exhibit 3:



Summit Shawl. According to Ravelry I started this one in April, so not so bad. Still bad, but not in the crime area yet. I remember dashing out to This is Knit to buy Malabrigo Lace to make this one, full sure I'd have it knit while on holidays with Mam & Dad for a week over Easter. Yeah.


Exhibit 4:



This one is really only guilty of a minor infraction. I did only start these last month, and have been knitting them at least once a week at knit night. But, I would love to finish them in time for Alice to wear for the World Cup final on Sunday as The Netherlands are through! I'll be wearing my orange socks for sure.

Of course I am plodding away steadily with Dads sooper seekrit vest. I have one more pattern repeat before I'm at the bottom of the armholes & v neck, which is where it all gets interesting. Maybe that's why I think I'm getting nowhere, because the project I am progressing on is one I can't talk about?

So, cast your votes now. Which project do you think I should finish first. "The Sweater of Ages", "The Shawl of No Border" or "The Shawl with no Summit"? Cast your votes now, members of the jury. Whichever gets douze points (Eurovision reference there) will be the one I attempt to finish first.

In delivery news, I placed an order from Ravelry the other day. I have to say, their delivery is absolutely brilliant. I think it took 3 or 4 days to wing its way to Ireland. Why can't everything else I order from the States come that quick?
Alas, it was not to be a happy delivery.
I ordered this:



I really loved the look of this shirt. I was thinking I'd rock Knit Nation wearing this and my Daily Dose of Fiber shirt. But, sadface, it doesn't fit. No ones fault but my own. Although, it is the same size as my other tshirt. Why cant shirts have the one sizing? Grr.
Anyway, I'm now left with the shirt that does not fit. I don't really want to send it back, between postage etc it'd be a waste of money. Plus, it's not Ravelry's fault it doesn't fit.
I think it shall just be consigned to the pile of clothes that do not fit. Maybe I can put it in the bag with my unfinished "Sweater of Ages?

BUT, to make up for the sad tshirt, I did get a happy sheepy project bag too.



Cute! This shall be my sock project bag. I love it.

Ooh, The Yarn Room have a sale starting this Saturday. I've never been to the shop, so I figure now is the time. I've asked Mam & Dad if I can go round to them on Sunday instead and I'm off on a road trip. They have Icelandic Unspun, baby! I've been dying to try this stuff for ages. I really hope it's included in the sale :)
So, road trip! I can't wait. I'm hoping to meet up with a few other knitters, especially NicKnits. It's going to be fun.

Good knitting!

Wall Street Crash

So remember last post I said I was starting Wall Street Cables with the Drops Karisma I bought on WWKIP day? Yeah. Not so much.
I took Dads measurements and checked the pattern. No size for him. XS is 36" and S is 41 1/2". 41 1/2" for a Small? Dad is a 38" chest.
Ok, I said, I can up size from the XS. So I do a gauge swatch. Gauge in the pattern is 9sts to 1"
For DK weight yarn? On 4mm needles? Couldn't do it. I was getting 7sts to 1".
That was just too much math for me. I decided it was out.

So what now? Well I decided to get all EZ over it. I took out my Barbara Walker Stitch Treasury Vol 2 and decided on the Rib & Braid stitch. I looked through my EZ books, and decided on a Kangaroo Pouch sweater. Righty ho, let's go!

It involves steeking. Ooer. I did a steeking class with Jared Flood, aka BrooklynTweed last year so I kind of understand it. He used the crochet version, EZ used the machine sewn version. I'm terrified of doing it, but I'm going to be fearless and all that.
So I've done the math, I've converted the stitch pattern to the round and charted it out, and have cast on. I'm on the ribbing and contemplating the pattern. I'm really hoping this goes well, if it does, it'll be my first proper pattern. And in the round. Go me!

I've finished Alice's first Double Lace Ribbing Sock:





It's turned out well, I think. It fits her perfectly and she loves it. So all I need to do is cast on for the second one! I don't know when I'll get to it, as I'm feeling the Dad vest mojo at the moment, so we'll see. Maybe at the weekend.

In other news, it's my birthday today.
Here's my pressie haul:



A fab coaster that looks to be a reproduction from a war message. The caption says "Mend & make do to save buying new". Isn't it great?



This one is adorable, a reproduction of a Jaeger knitting ad. Cute cartoon kiddies knitting.



I don't know what children's show this guy is from, but squeeze his tummy & he makes the most adorable baa sounds! Aww.



This has to be my fave. Sheepie Lego! Lego! That's a sheep! Brilliant.
Hubby also said he'll give me money to spend at Knit Nation next month. Result!

Alice made me this card:



I love it. She's so good, she took ages to make sure it was right. Bless.

Dad bought me a huge Chocolate Fudge cake and a bottle of champagne. He walked down to the shops and ordered the cake and carried the champagne home. Then rang me & got me to collect the cake on my way home! I couldn't believe he carried the champagne home, I was delighted and mad at the same time.

He's doing quite well, obviously, after his excursion! I'm pleased with his progress.

And the weather has been amazing here recently. Things are looking up.

More Bebeh Goodness

I'm on quite the baby knitting kick. Although, I did think I would have this finished sooner.
I started this last Saturday night when I got home from WWKIP, thinking I could squeeze this in quite nicely before Dads vest.



Pattern: Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater by Carole Barenys Ravlink AlternateLink
Yarn: King Cole Smooth DK a smidge over 1 skein
Needles: 3.75mm circs & 3.5mm dpns

An enjoyable knit, particularly due to the lack of seams. We all know how I feel about seams!
The only problem I had was one of my own making. It was driving me nuts doing the sleeves on magic loop as they were so small, so I went looking for some dpns. All I had were wooden in 3.5mm. Now this yarn is acrylic. Have you ever tried knitting with acrylic yarn on wooden needles? You may as well use needles wrapped in sticky tape with the sticky part facing outwards. Nightmare. I'd say the sleeves took me nearly as long as the rest of the sweater to do. Amid much swearing & general arrgh moments.
But, that's my fault, not the sweaters. It's the innocent bystander caught in the crossfire between me, acrylic yarn & wooden needles.

This sweater is for my friends baby, as I'm sure I've already mentioned. I don't know the sex, so I'm having to make everything neutral.
The thing is, I think maybe these buttons are a bit girly for a neutral cardi? What if it's a boy? Still suitable?



I'm not sure. But, twitter friends suggested holding on to it until Sept (due date) & if it's a boy change them then. Thing is, my friend lives in Galway, so I'm probably not going to get to see her. I was planning on leaving these baby things with her mother during the summer. I might see what else I can find. I really don't want to go to a yarn store for buttons though, temptation & all that. (See last post).

Still, definitely a pattern I'll make again, a nice effective baby garment with no seams (yay)

In other news, I found my copy of One Skein! Woo!
Don't ask, it was buried under a pile of IK magazines. I found it while emptying a bookcase, as we hope to switch Alices room to the bigger room in the house over the next few weeks. I think it's time she had more space.
Aaaaanyway, One Skein! More petal baby bibs!
I think I'm losing it a bit though.

I have this yarn, Araucania Nature Cotton that I bought on sale a while back specifically to make these bibs with. Problem? It's bulky weight, abd the pattern asks for sport weight. Too much of a leap methinks. I'd love to use this cotton as it's orange (a perfect neutral baby colour) and cotton = great for bibs. I must search bib patterns for bulky yarn.
In the meantime I'll whip up a couple of bibs using my trusty other cotton yarn that never lets me down. :)

Progress continues in Alices socks. I'm almost at the ribbing of the first one. The pattern is really simple & lovely to do, I'm just doing it when in between other things, or frustrated by a pattern (or sticky tape acrylic yarn needles grr)

For my next trick, I'm gauge swatching today for Dads vest, the Wall Street Cables Ravlink AlternateLink. I can't wait to get started on this!

BTW, just a couple of small things. I hope you still like the blog template, I changed some text colours etc to make it more easily readable.

I'm also going to try to provide more than just a Ravelry link to things if I can. Someone asked me to provide sources other than Ravelry.
Only if I can, though, I'm not going to spend all day looking for an alternate link! :)

Lastly, I'm going to moderate comments on this blog just for a short while. I seem to have become the target of a chinese porn/illegal tv peddler who creates new blogs & spams me with comments in chinese with links to the sites. This kind of thing drives me nuts. I'd hate someone to visit my blog & see this kind of comment and think I'd left it there. I've been deleting them & reporting them as spam as soon as I can, but I couldn't guarantee that I'd always notice quickly enough.
It's only for a short while, until they get bored with me & f*** off, and don't worry, I'll publish every other comment!

Toe up Progress

So progress continues on Alice's toe up socks:

It took me two attempts on the heel, but I think I've got it now.

They fit her perfectly, and she loves them so far!

I have to say this is a really easy stitch pattern, only a four row repeat, and two of them are just ribbing. If it weren't for the messy short row toes & heels, I'd be truly happy. Although now I've done the heel on the first one, it's plain sailing now until the toe of the second one.

I'd love to have these done asap.

My book for Dads vest arrived today, I've a note from the postman to collect it. Hopefully I'll get there tomorrow, I'm really keen to start this vest for him!

It's World Wide Knit In Public Day on Saturday. I've organised a meet up in St Stephens Green from 2 - 5pm. If anyone is around, it'd be great to see you!

Here's a link to a flier I made : Flier

Although after my work to organise it, I'm not sure I'll be able to make it.

Every saturday I go round to Mam & Dad, give Mam a shower, make the dinner, clean the house & bring Mam to the hairdresser at 2.30 & collect her at 3.30.

It's also my friends little boys 3rd birthday and she's asked me & Alice to a party in her house.

So, I'm hoping I can go round to Mams, make the dinner etc, and maybe John will bring her & collect her from the hairdresser for me. Then I could go into town for an hour or so, drive back home, get Alice & go to the party.

Sounds exhausting just typing it!

Good Knitting!

Bootie-licious

So my title names are getting worse. I know. I need a book of "Good Blog Titles" as I'm running short.
I decided Instant Gratification was working for me, and decided to continue the theme.

I went with the ever popular Saartjes Booties:

Pattern: Saartjes Booties (Ravlink)
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Alpaca from The Constant Knitter
Needles: 3mm circs
Supposedly an easy pattern. I sometimes struggle with easy patterns. It's like I subconsciously think these are too easy and therefore there must be some hidden difficulty somewhere. Which usually results in a mess. As is proven by this time. It took me 4 booties to get this result, and I still think one of them looks wonky.
Well, I'm not doing it again, so this is as good as it gets.
It's being added to the ever increasing pile of baby stuff for my friend. This makes it now a hemlock ring blanket, a cutie bonnet & some booties. I reckon a cardigan and that's it.

In the meantime, I gave up on the Pomatomus socks. It's another one of those patterns that's just not going to work for me, so I've finally consigned it to the "never to be knit again" bin.
I was spending some happy time yesterday looking for a different pattern for my yummy peacock coloured Wollmeise, when in comes Alice.
She demands some socks.
Ok, I say, well here's your choice of yarn. (I pull out all my leftover skeins of sock yarn).
She spends about a half hour looking through my sock pattern books and decides on Double Lace Ribbing Socks (ravlink) using the last of my Clementine Wollmeise.
How can I refuse? It's so great that she loves hand knit items that I feel great every time she asks for some.
Progress so far:



I would have been farther along if it weren't for the pesky booties, and for the fact that I messed up.
I decided to do these socks toe up to make sure I had enough yarn.
I measured her feet, and even did a gauge swatch! Go me!
So I knit them up, and was unsure when to start the heel. I consulted the book the pattern is from, "More Sensational Knitted Socks" and it says knit until socks are desired length. Huh?
So I checked Wendy Johnsons "Socks from the Toe Up" and it said knit until 2 1/2" from the desired length before starting the short row heel. Ok, Wendy, I said, and did as she instructed. Oh no. Socks were WAY too short on the foot. So now I'm trying Charlene's instructions and knitting the socks until they're the full foot length before starting the short row heel.
I think the reason they went so wrong is that they're kids socks, and their feet are so much smaller. Alice's feet are 8" round and 8" long.

So, we'll see how the new attempt goes.

Good knitting!