Interesting Things & Epiphanies

These days I have time to browse Pinterest and see what interesting creations people have made. One of my favourite things about it is how people share their experiences and ideas about making knitting/crochet easier.

One such way is Ysolda’s method for counting stitches. The idea of lacing a piece of contrasting yarn through every ten stitches is so simple and yet so efficient. I really struggle with counting rows of stockinette and have no use for row counters when I doubt every time I’ve clicked it so this will be something I’ll be taking up.

There are other kinds of inspiration to be found. I love the idea of mixed media lately and have been thinking about it a lot, including a transatlantic collaboration that’s in its infancy with my good friend Sophie. Some of that is brought about by things I’m seeing on pinterest, like these artists who stitch over photographs. Such a lovely idea.

At the moment I really struggle with the idea of creating things that cannot be useful. It’s one of the reasons I knit so many hats and socks. However, things like this make me realise how effective art can be for its own sake and makes me want to create for no reason at all.

If you want to see more of what I discover on Pinterest, you can go follow me here.

Preparing for Nanowrimo

It’s been more than a decade since someone suggested I try out NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. Every year since then I have sat down with my laptop on my knees and poured out a fifty thousand word story from somewhere inside my soul.

The last few years have been different. I have been growing in confidence and though I always win (minus one year), now I really feel as thought I’m writing something with substance. Usually I shut the novel on December 1st without finishing the story and never look at it again, pleased to have written so many words in so little time. I don’t think about the content.

The last two years I have basically written the same story but from scratch each time. This year I’m going to do the same; it’s a story that is itching to get out of me and I am going to have to go to drastic measures to ensure I follow it to its conclusion this time.

Yes, that’s right. I’m going to outline it.

I’m not much of a planner. I pick up projects, knitting included, and don’t think about the consequences. It has given me oceans of false starts but also worked out well on occasion. This year I need to change the way I face it or I will end up writing the same fifty thousand words over and over with no resolution and no chance of it turning into a book rather than a large and ignored Word file.

Writing is a lot like knitting. It is satisfying to watch a project grow, whether written or knitted, stitch by stitch and word by word. Unfortunately I am not great at getting to the equivalent of the cast-off edge in my writing. Somehow I am going to change that this year.

Is anyone else writing a speed novel this November?

An Unexpected Hiatus

It turns out that changing my work schedule completely for the first time in months messed with my head. In the last week I have been unable to do anything useful whilst at home beyond walking the dog. I don’t even spend as much time knitting at home as I usually do due to the fact my job has become so quiet all of a sudden that I can get entire hats done in my shifts. I’ve knitted two in the last week plus most of a pair of socks.

The Brandywine Shawl I started a couple of weeks back has been quietly put aside. The mix of the pretty pattern plus the yarn with alpaca content just didn’t mix. It needs a yarn with some stitch definition so when I worked a couple of hours at Kniterary this Saturday I got some Cascade 220 in a lovely autumn orange. Sure, an orange shawl in an odd shape isn’t the most wearable of items but it’s not as though I’m averse to bright colours or weird clothes. I’m about to cast it on.

There’s a lot going on with my sticks and string lately but not much time to blog about it. This week I intend to get the hang of my new shifts and get back to normal service.

In penance (and in the spirit of the month), here’s a picture of some evil alpacas.

They’re watching you.

Guardians of the Galaxy Knitting Patterns Part 2: We Are Groot

This weekend my girlfriend and I made another trip to the cinema to see Guardians of the Galaxy. We saw it a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it but we both agreed that it’s much better the second time around.

So is this Guardians-inspired pattern post.

The first time around there were basically no Guardians of the Galaxy themed patterns on Ravelry. Not even a Groot! Can you imagine? Life was bleak, times were hard. Then some fabulous and industrious souls began working their obsession into useful patterns for us lowly addicts. Lo, a bunch of patterns are now readily accessible. Well… a bunch of Groot patterns anyway!

Here are a few of the cutest.

As ever, these aren’t my patterns. They’re ones I have collected for fellow fans in my bored browsing of geeky patterns. Enjoy.

Pattern and photo by Twinkie Chan.

Baby Groot

Download for free on Ravelry.

Look at him. LOOK. I challenge anyone not to be thoroughly in love with that last scene where baby Groot is dancing along to the Jackson Five. The only thing that would make this cute little tribute better is a soundtrack.

Pic and pattern by Mirella Designs.

Dancing Groot Chart

Download for free on Ravelry.

Looking to make your own thing and need a Groot chart to finish it up? Here you go! This would look great on a bag, wouldn’t it? Or even a blanket if you’re feeling adventurous.

Pic and Pattern by Kamila Krawka Krawczyk.

Baby Groot 2

Download for free on Ravelry.

This last one is a tad more complicated than the other but it’s just as doable and potentially even more adorable. Just look at all the lovely details on this. I would love to stuff wire into his arms to make him pose.

Linen Stitch Meadow Bag

There is something soothing about linen stitch. When I started knitting I hated anything where you had to switch quickly between knit and purl. I didn’t like moss/seed stitch and I didn’t want to do 1×1 ribbing. Somehow that has changed and now I enjoy the rhythmic movements involved in most of these stitches.

I still hate 1×1 ribbing but that’s more of an aesthetic thing than anything. Give me 2×2 ribbing or give me death!

Linen stitch goes surprisingly quickly once you are used to it. Knit one, hold yarn in front, slip one, knit one, hold yarn in front, slip one. The stitches appear in no time at all despite the fact it’s like knitting half a row at a time.

The fabric you end up with looks almost woven. It doesn’t stretch vertically which makes it perfect for a bag. Knitted in the round (on an odd number of stitches) you don’t even have to pay attention to where you are in the row as it continues on indefinitely. It’s mindless and perfect for the absent-minded knitting you do when reading or watching a movie (or, if you’re me, working at a call centre).

Thanks to being at work during 90% of daylight hours I couldn’t get a very good photo.

This bag is going to be a gift. I didn’t use a pattern. I might write up how I made it for anyone else trying to figure out how to use that yarn that’s not suitable for next-to-the-skin usage. It would look just as good in a gaudy colourway as it does in this gorgeous green tonal yarn.

Don’t you think it looks like a meadow? I could stitch some sheep on it. Some little flowers. It would be extra adorable.

First I’ll find myself a funky button to sew on the front. What’s a bag without a button?

The Coffee Fiasco

Normally I am one of those obnoxious morning people. I wake up perky and ready to go. Last Friday I didn’t find it quite so easy thanks to the cold weather making bed seem like a much better choice than anything ever so by the time I got to work I was barely alert.

When I’m tired I get clumsy. I really should have known better than to put my (large) coffee next to my handknit fingerless gloves.

You can see where this is going.

Thankfully the impressive amount of milky, sweet caffeine avoided my kindle and my work computer but it soaked my headset and the gloves. I spent the first ten minutes of my day mopping it up. Because I was at work I couldn’t dump the gloves in water so by the time I had the chance to clean them they had been stewing in coffee for hours and hours.

Best thing is I don’t usually take much milk in my coffee and very rarely take sugar. Of course I had to spill it that day.

It has taken three separate washes in Soak scentless to get rid of the smell. Fortunately the Manos Del Uruguay I used for the gloves was already a deep brown/red/purple so if there’s a stain it looks deliberate. I can’t tell the difference. Imagine if it had been my pale blue shawl or my sparkly pink cardigan!

Please tell me I’m not the only one this happens to – share your spillage/ruined knits disasters with me below. We can commiserate in our clumsiness together.

Exploring Romney Fibre

Lately every time I admire the texture of a knitted item it seems to be either linen stitch or herringbone. There’s something about them that is almost non-knitted, as though they are some other kind of fancy magical craft like weaving or suchlike. I thought I had better give one of them a go.

I used a fairly simple tutorial which you can find here. Linen stitch is almost as basic as you can get but the dense fabric it creates is very pleasing. Perfect, thought I, for a bag. And lo, I happen to have some yarn that almost immediately made me want to make a bag with it.

This yarn was a birthday gift from Tamara, my girlfriend’s sister. It’s Romney and it’s hand-dyed/spun. It’s as close as I could get to the real colour which is a rich and slightly tonal grass-green. Very classy. I love the dramatic plying.

Of course since I’ve never heard of a Romney sheep I had to go look one up.

Credit: Wikipedia

Just look how happy this dude is. I would be too if I had legs as woolly as that (I’ve shaved mine recently). I have to admit that this guy looks like the little puffy clouds with legs we all drew as kids when asked to draw sheep – at least in the UK, even though I grew up on an island with much more unusual looking breeds.

The Romney yarn is scratchy so it’s not suitable for right next to the skin unless you’re into that sort of thing, and I’m told some people are. It talks all sorts I suppose. It’s super squishy though and I do like a good crunch to my yarn so I’m happy with it.

The main downside is that this was not well-cleaned before spinning. Half the goddamn field is in this yarn. I’ve picked out as much as I can but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it would be a lot less scratchy if it hadn’t been plied with a haystack. I know it comes from an independent dyer/spinner but I’ve used plenty of indie yarns and never found it to be this much of a problem before.

After casting on a random bag (no pattern) to see what happens, I’d say I quite enjoy knitting with this yarn. It’s not well-made. It’s uneven to the point of being bizarre and there’s too much straw in it but I like a good scratchy wool because I’m a weirdo.

I’m changing my posting schedule slightly – Monday/Wednesday/Saturday. Stay tuned for Saturday’s images of how this yarn looks knitted up.

Have you worked with Romney before? Am I alone in my love for scratchy natural fibres?

Pink and Glittery

Sometimes it is possible to be drawn to a complete anomaly. Say you are the type of person (like me) who is drawn to silky textures and rich dark colours. One day you will happen across some pale pink glittery and slightly fluffy yarn and it will demand to come home with you.

I have had this yarn (by Hambley, a dyer local to where I bought it) for a year or more. It has tried to be a few different things. It was originally going to be a jumper for my little sister actually, though it decided that was not what it wished to be. In the end I pulled out a crochet hook and started a Chevron Lace Cardigan, one of the first patterns I ever tried back in the days when I didn’t even like knitting all that much. 2011 was a strange time. Especially since my bedroom ate that cardigan and I have never ever found it again, not even when I packed up the whole room and donated half of it.

Hopefully this cardigan doesn’t go missing so easily.

I stopped at waist length because I have a very thin middle bit compared to the rest of me and always appreciate an item of clothing that shows that off. I kept the sleeves at cap length because I crocheted a sleeve on one of the sides and put it to the vote with my coworkers; cap sleeves won by a long shot.

And because I very rarely post photos of myself of this blog, why not have a front shot? Even if you can’t really see much of the cardigan, you get the idea of it. It’s subtle and cute and way more glittery than the photo suggests.

 

Apparently everything I’m wearing today has to be wonky. I don’t even know. I swear I know how to dress myself.

This isn’t my usual sort of project. It was something mindless to crochet at work and honestly, it doesn’t look all that great on me. Not as great as it would look on some people I know so I think I’ll be finding a new home for it at some point soon.

Despite that I am still pleased with it and even more pleased that not making the sleeves left me enough yarn to make some super classy fingerless gloves at some point. Gloves that glitter. Who wouldn’t want that?

 

 

Another Swap Adventure

Despite always telling myself I won’t get involved in another knitting swap, I once again plunged myself into the mystery depths of knitting for a stranger that always stresses me out. It was good fun once I got past the intense fear of being generally rubbish. It always is; there’s a pleasure in knitting for someone you’re 99% sure will appreciate it due to the context.

My package went out on Monday. The one sent to me in return arrived a couple of days ago and it is splendorous.

The theme was Lord of the Rings. It was a mini-swap meaning it was much quicker and lower-budget than the big ones. It was also a secret swap which meant you don’t find out who is your gifter until the parcel arrives. It adds an element of intrigue and mystery to an already fraught exchange that actually makes it even more fun for me.

My partner was Azpidistra (I have no link). Here’s what I received:

The shawl is adorable. It’s very hobbit-y and drapes nicely around my shoulders. She also knitted me a little beard (because even female dwarves have them). Then there’s the yarn which is in a beautiful pale denim colour; I’ve already started knitting a snuggly shawl with it for the cold office at work. Also included was a cute card and some simply delicious chocolate.

This is not the first swap I’ve been involved in. They’re almost always fun and this was no exception. I just can’t wait for my giftee to receive her package!

Have you ever been involved in a knitting swap?

Thursday Follow pt 4

Follow Thursday is an offering to anyone looking for good knitting and craft-related blogs to peruse. Check out the tag on the post to see previous ones.

First up today we have The Twisted Yarn who has been MIA for a while so I’m pleased to see her posting again. Quite aside from having the most awesome blog banner ever (seriously I love it) she’s super sweet and very talented.

The Weekend Knitter is one of those blogs always filled with such pretty pictures. Scrolling through the posts is always a joy. It makes me want to reach through and pet the pretty things that are posted.

A blog I recently discovered is D’Nali: The Diary. I have a supreme soft spot for people who share not only their crafting prowess but also their real lives and opinions. Especially when they’re witty and entertaining!

Aaaah, guys. There are so many awesome blogs out there I get a little overwhelmed. Why are there so many interesting and talented people out there?

Not that I’m complaining. It would make this post a lot harder if there weren’t.