Thursday Follow pt 3

Here I am again offering up some blogs for you to peruse at your leisure, hand-picked from the embarrassingly large amount I read. I mean, looking at my search history you might think I’m some kind of knitting fanatic or something. Ahem.

Of course ‘fanatic’ doesn’t quite cover it in reality. I spend a lot of time reading and writing about knitting. As it stands I’m fairly certain I spend more time actually knitting, especially since I knit while I read knitting blogs half the time.

Please tell me I’m not the only one.

Okay. Onto this week’s blogs.

First there’s Hard Knit Life. This is a recent discovery of mine but I’m enjoying the posts. Amongst pictures showing some real talent there are also posts with some lovely technique tips. What more could you want?

Then we have So Knit Some. I think the word best suited to this blog is elegant. I truly enjoy scrolling through her well-put-together posts and reading snippets of her life among her creations. Absolutely lovely.

The final blog today is one most of you will know and if you don’t, you need to. That’s right: Yarn Harlot. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is pretty much the patron saint of knitting. Her blog is made of sheer delight. I’ve been reading it for years and she never bores me.

Compiling these links makes me realise how lucky us knitters and crocheters are to have such a wonderful community around us. So many people with so much passion pouring out onto the page. It really makes me proud to have carved out my own little piece of this niche and it’s no wonder I spend so much time reading knitting blogs when there are so many good folk out there writing them!

Who is Romoe?

Wandering through the creekside trial with the dog every day is a good way to unwind. I’ve been listening to Welcome to Night Vale on our walks lately so it’s rather apt to see bizarre and slightly surreal images like a dragonfly eating a littler fly:

Or even better, the epic love story and disaster that is this chunk of dead wood:

 

Who is Romoe? Was he Romeo’s cousin, the first to get a look in at Juliet? I love to imagine the kid who wrote this realising they’d butchered the name of one of Shakespeare’s most notable characters. Look how fervently they have scribbled it out.

I also enjoy how the knot in the wood dots the i.

In knitting news, I have… well. I made a grave mistake on the sock. I was halfway down the foot when I realised that I had been doing the pattern stitches on the sole as well as the arch which, as any sock-wearer will know, is a recipe for discomfort and badly-wearing socks. So I huffed and I puffed and I tinked that sock back. That’s roughly three to five hours of work completely wasted.

Needless to say the sock and I are on a temporary break.

To get over my anger I’ve started crocheting the Chevron Lace cardigan pattern out of some gorgeous pink laceweight with a 5.5mm hook, size small. It will be light pink and glittery so heaven knows if I’ll keep it for myself. Maybe. They say it gets cold at work and this merino blend will certainly warm me up.

 

Picture from the Ravelry page.

I made it once before years ago back when I didn’t even know how to knit. It was for a friend and somehow I promptly lost it. Still to this day I have no idea where it went.

Since a couple of days of work has already brought me past the armpits I doubt it’s going to take me long to finish and then I’ll go back to my socks.

Promise.

The Uses of Knitting

Knitting doesn’t always need to be pragmatic. We love a good soft toy shaped like a hobbit or a keyring shaped like a cat butt. Oh, and all those lacy shawls. The majority of my life was spent not knowing shawls made it out of the Nineteenth Century alive so I’m fairly certain we could do without those if pushed. Part of the joy of knitting in modern times is that we can indulge these faintly ridiculous urges to create superfluous things and it’s a part I love.

Sometimes, however… sometimes you just want to make something simple and useful.

On that note I knitted a couple of dishcloths last week as a way to avoid knitting my socks, despite the fact I am greatly enjoying my socks. Logic! It’s fine though because after a brief fling with this dishcloth cotton the alpaca blend sock yarn in the ugly colourway has squirmed its way back into my Moomin bag to be hauled around with me as much as possible.

Anyway. Dishcloths.

You see that big dollop of something on one? That is a sign of a well-used object. Well, it’s the sign of an alien invasion at best since I have no idea what we were eating that could cling to a dishcloth so tightly it survives a hot wash in the communal laundry room, but there you go. These dishcloths are happy knitting. They are knitting with purpose. They are also a very cheerful colour and satisfyingly crunchy.

God, I love cotton.

Also, assuming I’m not the only knitter who is late to the podcast party, I thought I would say a bit more about my recent fixation. Knitting podcasts are totally useful and a brilliant idea. Reading whilst knitting is possible but not easy so being able to listen to the audible version of a blog post is a perfect way to sit and spend some quality time on your current WIP.

There are times when you cannot knit, shocking as it may sound. It’s completely impossible to knit with an in-training dog’s leash in one hand, so knitting podcasts can feel like you’re indulging your fibre craft hobby (read: obsession) when actually you’re walking down a path that smells slightly of sun-baked dog poo.

Never Not Knitting is sweet enough and I enjoyed the gentle tones. It was just the thing for an evening walk and the theme tune is funny. However I’m going to try a few older ones because the newer seem to be primarily advertising patterns with the only real content being stories from other people so I’ll check out if that’s true further back too.

The Knitmore Girls is a mother and daughter chatting about knitting. These two fabulous ladies are the ones who made me realise just how interesting and fun a knitting podcast could be. They’re charming and clearly talented. I just love their passion that bleeds all the way through their discussions. I’ll be listening to more of them. Thankfully there are extensive archives!

And since I made my way out of the knitting podcast world and got totally sucked in, there’s one more podcast I should mention as my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE.

Welcome to Night Vale. Stay away from the dog park.

On a more charitable non-knitting note my friend Ruth linked to this wonderful fundraiser. Now thanks to a mix up at work I have 48 cents left in my account so I’m not much use at the moment but if you want to fund an interesting and innovative way to detect malaria, click on through and check it out.

Thursday Follow

This week has been slow on the knitting front so instead of WIPs I’ll share a couple of my favourite fellow knitting bloggers.

First up there’s Peacefully Knitting, one of two bloggers I enjoy enough to always read their new posts as they arrive in my email inbox no matter where I am at the time. Tina posts beautiful pictures (she’s into Zentangling right now which is fun) and always seems to have something interesting to say.

She’s one of those knitters that inspires me to keep going and get better since her knitting is absolutely gorgeous. Look at her most recent creation here which is simple yet stunning.

The second I’m sharing today is Knit the Hell Out, another seriously talented knitter who always inspires me. I read her posts with excitement every time to see what gorgeous creations she’s going to show off today. Cassy is one of those interesting and varied people who grabs your attention, just what you need in a blogger!

Have a gander at this adorable top she knitted recently. Absolutely lovely.

I’m very lucky to be in a community of people with some very talented individuals. All you have to do is take a look at all the skilled knitters who blog and there’s inspiration right there!

Thursday WIPs (Part 2)

This week has been intense. Starting a new job is always a stretch for the mind so I have spent most of my free time trying to chillax enough to manage the next day. It’s not a difficult position but it’s a lot of information to take in all at once.

All that means is that I haven’t had nearly as much time to knit as I would like.

Still, I’ve been inspired by talking about knitting with the people I work with who are all totally fascinated that two of us (my friend Ashley is a knitter) both knit and crochet when it’s clearly a thing only the Olds do. I brought in my sock to prove them wrong today.

 

These are my projects right now.

1. The sock is going well – I’ve just successfully turned the heel. I’ve been writing the pattern out as I go but didn’t write instructions for the gusset so I’ll have to do that on my next sock. I hate how the yarn is playing out on the sole but since the stitch pattern would be uncomfortable underneath I’m just not looking too hard at it.

2. I bought some cotton from The Little Green House which was my first ever LYS and now will be once more. I’m knitting some dishcloths in moss stitch despite hating knitting moss stitch because logic! *jazz hands* Still, moss stitch is pretty once it’s done I suppose.

Hopefully next week I’ll have at least one of the socks done. I don’t work the weekend at the moment – although I have enough plans that it won’t make much difference in the long run. 

A dishcloth or two should be manageable at least.

What’s on your needles/hook this week?

A Late Post! Socks etc

Yesterday I started my new job. All that training apparently got to me since when I finally made it home I ended up falling asleep on the sofa whilst listening to Gregory and the Hawk‘s original demo album and after a nap I am useless.

In other words… I forgot to write a blog entry. Sorry! I am doing my best to stick to a posting schedule which is actually really difficult for me. Hopefully this is a minor glitch in the system.

Tomorrow is my girlfriend’s birthday. She has developed a startling tendency to wear pink a LOT. Thankfully she also looks really good in it so I have knitted her some socks to go with the general attire.

The yarn is Lang Jawoll, that fancy stuff with the little spool of thread tucked away in the inside to reinforce the heel and toe. I had to rip one of them back – the first one – since I made it too big and she has tiny feet. Hopefully these will be a good fit. They fit me but uncomfortably tight which is a good sign.

As for the pattern, anyone on Ravelry is likely to recognise that one. It’s the gloriously simple yet beautiful Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder. This pattern is perfect for when you want to watch some TV or talk while you’re knitting since it requires minimal thought and is lovely and intuitive. The only thing I changed is the cuff because I don’t like the look of 1×1 ribbing. I made 2×2 instead. I like how bold it looks.

These are not socks I would wear myself. Usually I don’t even like knitting with pink. Of course anyone who read my recent post will know why I made these. There were some really interesting comments on that – weirdly they didn’t get emailed to me to approve so they all went up a few days late, sorry about that! I was really interested in what everyone had to say.

That’s one of the great things about the knitting world. All you sparkly interesting knitters/crocheters/spinners out there with unique thoughts on topics!

Thursday WIP

The last few weeks have given me a chance to be a lady of leisure. I have got a job now but I don’t start until Monday so I’ve been taking the chance to knit as much as possible.

I’m one of those knitters who needs to be watching something while they knit. As a result I’ve managed to watch in the last three weeks (just in knitting time, not including movie visits):

• All of Wonderfalls. I love Caroline Dhavernas.
• The recent remake of Carrie. It didn’t suck.
• The Little Mermaid!
• Three eps (and counting) of True Detective.
• Jaws which apparently I’d never seen.
• Children of Men which I’ve seen many times and love.

Lately I’ve finished a pair of pink socks that I’ll be posting about on Monday, but since then I’ve started knitting a new pair from some alpaca sock yarn given to me in a swap. I wasn’t sure how to manage the colours since I don’t often knit with high contrast variegated yarn but it turns out it set my muse aflame.

It’s really, really busy. Look at it.

As a result I’ve started writing my own pattern for them. I had to figure out a way to break down the business of the yarn a little and I couldn’t find a pattern that suited me so I made one up. I’m pleased with it so far.

The pattern is simple but not boring to knit.

I could tell as soon as I got through the ribbing that I wasn’t going to like it in stockinette. I had to think quickly about what to do. I looked on Knitting Fool which is my go-to thing for stitch patterns but none of them really did much for me. In the end I took inspiration from Ant’s Nest and did something similar but less likely to make me associate it with ants.

Because I really hate ants.

 

With the contrasting yarn for the heel.

The yarn is Paca Peds, an alpaca-based fingering weight (sock) yarn that comes with a 25g mini-skein of yarn for the heel and toe which I didn’t notice at first. I’m about to start the heel so I’m excited to see how it turns out. I think it will help to break up the irregular colours of the yarn too.

Now to watch episode  four of True Detective and get some more of these socks done before I have to start life as a working person again on Monday.

The House of Geeks

Say you put two geeks in a house and tell them to make it their own. What do you think will happen?

My girlfriend and I have been living together for over a week now, but we cohabited for the entirety of 2012 too so we’ve had some practice. The most stressful transition by far has been trying to figure out which comics to keep and which to ditch for now on our budget. I instantly said I wanted to keep:

1. Black Widow
2. She-Hulk
3. Ms. Marvel
4. Captain Marvel

They are my favourite comics apparently, or at least the ones that mean the most to me. Because if pressed I would say Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye is my favourite. We’re keeping that too, along with Young Avengers and Iron Man. But it’s the female-fronted comics that mean the most to me because not only do they have good stories (at least these ones do, especially Ms. Marvel) they also stand for increased diversity in Marvel comics and I’m a feminist as much as I’m a nerd.

Aside from masses of comics, there are a few other signs around the house that we might be of a geek persuasion.

Hawkeye and Cyclops are hanging out there happily. If we had a little more cash during our trip to Toronto on our 4 year anniversary, I’m sure my girlfriend would have brought home the Daryl (from Walking Dead) bust we saw at the Silver Snail.

In terms of knitting, I’m currently job-hunting (read: unemployed) so I’ve had a little extra time. I’m most of the way through a bright pink sock for my girlfriend which really just shows how much I love her since I really, really don’t like knitting with pink. The only one who has been granted such an honour before was my little sister who is awesome.

The pattern is Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder. If you’ve been on Ravelry you’ve seen them; they’re the most popular sock pattern, at least in the free category which is all I can look at until I get a job. It’s such a simple pattern but very satisfying.

As for the yarn, it was my last purchase from The Knit Studio in Newcastle. It’s Lang Jawoll Superwash in brain-searing pink which will go quite nicely with most of my girlfriend’s clothes, including her work uniform. And I’m the feminine one.

In a final bout of exciting news, I finished the Avengers blanket of doom. It took me a year but I did it. I also realised I spent about three months knitting the thing and then, in an absolutely nonsensical chain of events, took nine bloody months to sew it together and weave in the ends. I never thought of myself as one of those knitters but apparently I am.

I’ll be posting pictures of that next week when I can talk someone into helping me. It’s almost as tall as me.

Pattern Gathering: Bookmarks

As often happens when you’re in the middle of something big that should be taking up all your time, I spent a lot of time reading as a good escape from worrying about going through immigration in Canada. There are so many things I want to read at the moment that I can’t swallow books quickly enough.

In case you’re wondering, immigration was surprisingly easy.

In honour of reading, my first and most long-running love, I’ve collected a few awesome patterns to show you guys. Go check them out and all the others, too, since Ravelry is full of amazing ones.

Squashed Rat Knitted Bookmark

I have a sick sense of humour. This has tickled me greatly even though I love rats.

It is by Amalia Samios and is a $3.50 USD over here.

And it’s not even the only one of its ilk.

Flat Rat Knitted Bookmark

This one is by the designer Susan Glinert Stevens.

This one’s free! I love the little pokey noses.

If you’re not such a fan of the rodents, how are you with snakes? Look at the face on this mister and tell me that you can resist him. Go on, I dare you.

Crochet Snake Bookmark

By Little Owl’s Hut on Ravelry, $3.75 USD. You can try the first page free.

I think that’s a really lovely idea if you’re not sure on a pattern. It will reel people in.

This designer has all sorts of fabulous patterns. I’d recommend looking them up.

Crocheted Granny Bookmark

Now here’s something a little more traditional. Granny squares are classy (in moderation) and they’re easy, too.

Look how cute this one is in a variegated yarn. AND it’s free!

That should get you started. I’d recommend having a look at all the cute bookmarks you can find on the Ravelry pages; just think how perfect they would be for quick gifts. Most of these I plan on making for myself, though. Selfish knitting and all that.

Of course 90% of the time I try knitting something for myself and it ends up being for someone…

Last Post from the UK

 

The next time I write a blog post here I’ll be in Canada starting the rest of my life with the woman I love. It’s exciting and it also means I haven’t had much time to think about much else.

Three weeks of saying goodbye to people with one party after another is getting pretty tiring. I’ve loved every second of it and it’s been a wonderful chance to realise how many brilliant people I know.

That’s one pocket of my family: my mum (up front), then from left to right: little sister Megan, my nephew Jayden, big sister Sandi, my niece Rubi, and me. We had a party with much ridiculous dancing to terrible music. There was also quiche. I ate a lot of quiche.

Honestly, I haven’t had much drive to knit lately. However I’m halfway down the cuff on a bright pink pair of socks to go with my girlfriend’s work scrubs which she’s pleased about (or humouring me).

I also visited Woolabullo in Hexham when I was there with a friend and that was an amazing yarn store. They had a purple hoody that said ‘Knit Happens’ that I was half a breath from buying before I remembered that I don’t even have room for all my yarn in my suitcases and another hoody would mean I’d have to abandon my skein of Wollmeise or something. Bad times. No hoody for me.

In geekier news, I spent about £75 sending a bunch of comics over ahead of my arrival in Canada because they wouldn’t fit anywhere and I couldn’t bear to part with them.

Even though my girlfriend has most of the same ones anyway.

I’ll conclude this rambling post with a promise of actual pictures of knitting next Monday. Promise.