The good news: I've done half of the frost flowers and leaves!
The bad news: I still have half of it to go.
It's almost tragic. I'm so happy that I've reached this milestone, but oooh sooo defeated that it's only halfway. So many stitches, so many hours, so much work...and only 50%.
But it is becoming easier. I've done the second chart five times already and so it's well and truly memorised (although I still check some tricky bits at the corners just to make sure - I'm not risking anything), which makes the knitting faster. I'm still up with my completion programme and have hit the mark for February, which makes me now 55% of the way through, or about 75 000 stitches into it. Are you kidding me? Seventy-five thousand stitches? Really, if I had had any idea what I was getting myself in for when I started this, I'm not sure I would have been up to the task. Can't turn back now though!
No picture this time, as it looks pretty much the same as it did at the end of January: a big crumpled pile of green yarn with some holes in it.
Now all I need is the strength to stop myself from skipping the remaining repeats of chart 2 and heading right for the finishing line...
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Progress Report - Candle Flame Shawl
Woops! A whole week without a post! Kinda had other things on my mind this week, I suppose. But I've still been busy working on all of those WIPs, of course.
This is the current status of the Candle Flame Shawl:
I was starting to get a bit tired of it, but then I changed needles from some unidentified metal ones to the inimitable Addi Turbos - and that sped things up! It's amazing what a big difference good needles can make. Now it's just flying along smoothly and I've been choosing to work on this project over others because it feels so nice to knit!
And here's another picture of it a week or so ago. I like the light in this picture and the colour is quite true-to-life.
I'm now considering finishing it soon. It's definitely long enough already, but I'm not sure how much it's going to stretch width-wise with blocking. I would like it to be quite large.
I've also been working on the two-socks-at-the-same-time. I'll have some progess pictures of those coming soon!
This is the current status of the Candle Flame Shawl:
I was starting to get a bit tired of it, but then I changed needles from some unidentified metal ones to the inimitable Addi Turbos - and that sped things up! It's amazing what a big difference good needles can make. Now it's just flying along smoothly and I've been choosing to work on this project over others because it feels so nice to knit!
And here's another picture of it a week or so ago. I like the light in this picture and the colour is quite true-to-life.
I'm now considering finishing it soon. It's definitely long enough already, but I'm not sure how much it's going to stretch width-wise with blocking. I would like it to be quite large.I've also been working on the two-socks-at-the-same-time. I'll have some progess pictures of those coming soon!
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Dishcloth Collection
Some of you might have read a post I did last month about some 'alternative' uses for the humble dishcloth. If you haven't had the pleasure, refresh your memory.
I found it perfectly natural to use Sarah's handmade cloth as a toilet accessory, but some others, who shall remain nameless, thought it was perhaps a little inconsiderate to use a handmade gift in such a way.
Guilt ensued. I worried. Was Sarah offended? Will I never receive another handmade gift again for fear of it being used as a wiper? Have I broken some sacred rule that means I can never again be an accepted part of society?
In order to make up for my apparent misdeed, I whipped up some cloths and sent them off (express) to the old Stitch and Bitch group in Vienna (where some of the criticism came from) in just a few days, hoping that they would be distributed amongst the girls and all would be happy and they would forgive me.
And so now, finally, they all have their wipes and I can share them with you!
Lacy Butterfly Dishcloth by Rachel van Schie
A Christmas Dishcloth Story by Kristen Patay
Diagonal Knit Dishcloth by eLoomanator (Ravelry link)
Knitted Lacy Round Dishcloth by Rhonda White
And my favourite, the Yarn Ho Cloth by Rebecca Mercier
Plus there was one more which I completely neglected to take a foto of.
Here they are, all ready and wrapped up to go.
Hope you're taking care of yourselves, SnB Vienna! I miss you!
I found it perfectly natural to use Sarah's handmade cloth as a toilet accessory, but some others, who shall remain nameless, thought it was perhaps a little inconsiderate to use a handmade gift in such a way.
Guilt ensued. I worried. Was Sarah offended? Will I never receive another handmade gift again for fear of it being used as a wiper? Have I broken some sacred rule that means I can never again be an accepted part of society?
In order to make up for my apparent misdeed, I whipped up some cloths and sent them off (express) to the old Stitch and Bitch group in Vienna (where some of the criticism came from) in just a few days, hoping that they would be distributed amongst the girls and all would be happy and they would forgive me.
And so now, finally, they all have their wipes and I can share them with you!
Lacy Butterfly Dishcloth by Rachel van Schie
A Christmas Dishcloth Story by Kristen Patay
Diagonal Knit Dishcloth by eLoomanator (Ravelry link)
Knitted Lacy Round Dishcloth by Rhonda White
And my favourite, the Yarn Ho Cloth by Rebecca Mercier
Plus there was one more which I completely neglected to take a foto of.Here they are, all ready and wrapped up to go.
Hope you're taking care of yourselves, SnB Vienna! I miss you!
Friday, 15 February 2008
The Anemoi Mittens
Finally, we had a brilliantly sunny day today - so shiny that I could well have used a pair of sunnies whilst outside. The sunshine allowed me to break out the most recent FO for some happy snaps.
May I present to you, the Anemoi Mittens.
Pattern: Anemoi Mittens by Eunny Jang
Yarn details:
So much to say about these, where do I start? Let's start with the good bits, shall we?
I would say the biggest victory was the change from dpns to ultra-short 30cm circulars and the resultant smoothness of tension all around the cuff. My dpn ladders disappeared completely! Yes!
I suppose I don't need to say too much about the yarn, as I seem to have used it for a large chunk of my projects recently. but it's really soft and lovely and warm and nice to wear and the pictures do no justice for the petrol colour which is a lovely deep blue with bits of green in it
Not so good things...I'm not entirely happy with the tips. They look a bit messy and that blasted three-needle cast off from the inside out was a bugger and a half; an experience I do not wish to reproduce. Hence, if and when I ever make these mittens again, a kitchener cast off will be the order of the day. Much less fuss. What else not so good? Well, they're just...too big.
There, I said it! Having stated defiantly at the beginning that ALL ladies' mittens and gloves are too small for my man hands and cat's claws (aka fingernails), I supersized these mittens even more than the pattern's largest size. That's where the 3mm needles come in. Plus my loose tension (which I'm starting to tighten up, btw), and we have mittens that fit my husband (oooh, husband, that has a nice sound to it!). The second mitten turned out almost perfectly, size-wise, but it still has the big brother partner. And no, I'm not doing a third one just to get two the same size.
They are wearable, albeit with a little extra room at the fingertips, but nonetheless they are cozy and soft and handmade and...and...beautiful. :-)
May I present to you, the Anemoi Mittens.
Pattern: Anemoi Mittens by Eunny JangYarn details:
- Garnstudio Drops Alpaca
- 100% alpaca
- 50gr = 180m
- colours #100 (cream) and #7240 (petrol)
- about 35ish grams of each colour used
So much to say about these, where do I start? Let's start with the good bits, shall we?
I would say the biggest victory was the change from dpns to ultra-short 30cm circulars and the resultant smoothness of tension all around the cuff. My dpn ladders disappeared completely! Yes!
I suppose I don't need to say too much about the yarn, as I seem to have used it for a large chunk of my projects recently. but it's really soft and lovely and warm and nice to wear and the pictures do no justice for the petrol colour which is a lovely deep blue with bits of green in it
Not so good things...I'm not entirely happy with the tips. They look a bit messy and that blasted three-needle cast off from the inside out was a bugger and a half; an experience I do not wish to reproduce. Hence, if and when I ever make these mittens again, a kitchener cast off will be the order of the day. Much less fuss. What else not so good? Well, they're just...too big.
There, I said it! Having stated defiantly at the beginning that ALL ladies' mittens and gloves are too small for my man hands and cat's claws (aka fingernails), I supersized these mittens even more than the pattern's largest size. That's where the 3mm needles come in. Plus my loose tension (which I'm starting to tighten up, btw), and we have mittens that fit my husband (oooh, husband, that has a nice sound to it!). The second mitten turned out almost perfectly, size-wise, but it still has the big brother partner. And no, I'm not doing a third one just to get two the same size.
They are wearable, albeit with a little extra room at the fingertips, but nonetheless they are cozy and soft and handmade and...and...beautiful. :-)
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Redless
Hello friends :-)
I was debating whether to put pictures of this project up...it's a gift for my mum. She chose the pattern herself, put in a direct request for me to make it and she even bought the wool! So I figure it's not going to be a surprise and I won't be ruining anything by letting her see these progress shots.
The pattern is called 'the big frill' and it's from sublime yarns. It's a cute little cardigan with great colours and frilly edgings. Here's link to a picture of the finished garment.
There are eight different colours involved, they were ordered online, the package arrived, all of the colours were there...except one. D'oh! The red colour was missing, out of stock. So I've done all I can on the sleeves before the red comes along, and am wondering whether or not to start the back in the meantime as well.
After I took these shots, I realised that the background wasn't the best choice. But you get the idea of how the stripes look and how much I've done so far.
I just have to mention something about this yarn. It's Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK, and it definitely lives up to its name. Sublime! It's soft, it's bouncy, it's luxurious...heaven to knit with. Nothing but the best for my mum. ;-)
I was debating whether to put pictures of this project up...it's a gift for my mum. She chose the pattern herself, put in a direct request for me to make it and she even bought the wool! So I figure it's not going to be a surprise and I won't be ruining anything by letting her see these progress shots.
The pattern is called 'the big frill' and it's from sublime yarns. It's a cute little cardigan with great colours and frilly edgings. Here's link to a picture of the finished garment.
There are eight different colours involved, they were ordered online, the package arrived, all of the colours were there...except one. D'oh! The red colour was missing, out of stock. So I've done all I can on the sleeves before the red comes along, and am wondering whether or not to start the back in the meantime as well.
After I took these shots, I realised that the background wasn't the best choice. But you get the idea of how the stripes look and how much I've done so far.I just have to mention something about this yarn. It's Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK, and it definitely lives up to its name. Sublime! It's soft, it's bouncy, it's luxurious...heaven to knit with. Nothing but the best for my mum. ;-)
Monday, 11 February 2008
Left-Handed Crochet - The Single Crochet Stitch
The Single Crochet Stitch - abbreviated as 'sc' - is another basic crochet stitch that you will meet often. The stitch itself is not difficult, but the terminology can be. In American English crochet terms, the stitch in the video below is called 'single crochet'. In British English, it is known as 'double crochet'. As for Australia, we always seem to have a mix of British and American (as well as our own home grown version), so it's best not to think about it and just have a nice cuppa tea instead.
One quick point about single crochet: generally, you will need to insert the hook so that there are two strands of yarn above the hook. Sometimes the pattern will state 'sc through front loop' or 'sc through back loop', in which cases the hook is inserted so that only one strand lies above it. We can deal with these later. For now, let's stick with two strands above the hook.
One quick point about single crochet: generally, you will need to insert the hook so that there are two strands of yarn above the hook. Sometimes the pattern will state 'sc through front loop' or 'sc through back loop', in which cases the hook is inserted so that only one strand lies above it. We can deal with these later. For now, let's stick with two strands above the hook.
Saturday, 9 February 2008
Double-Up Socks...beginnings
Dear me...what have I gotten myself into?
An innocent purchase of some self-striping wool this week (on sale. excellent.), a vague idea of making some socks with the aforementioned wool, and a conversation about knitting two socks at the same time - - - all of that led to this project:
Two socks, toe-up, at the same time, on the same set of dpns, one inside of the other, yarn in each hand, whatever other technique you can think of, it seems like this project incorporates it.
At first, it looks like one little innocent sock:
but one small tug inside and voila! another sock pops out!
I had to do the toes separately, as I have no idea how I would have made the increases, and I also am not working from a fixed pattern, so I had to just increase until I figured there were enough stitches to cover my foot.
I have been using this article in Knitty Autumn 2006 as a tutorial on the two-socks-in-one thing, and a knitpicks sock pattern as a guide for the toe-up thing. So far is it going well, with only one boo-boo that has required fixing. The good thing about the knitpicks pattern is that it includes an afterthought heel, so I won't have to try and figure out how the hell to do heel shaping in this fashion. Phew. Will just do them separately afterwards. [evil laugh]
Using this technique, I can hopefully use up as much of this wool as possible, will little or no useless leftovers.
I may or may not abandon these socks at some point for some other, less strenuous, form of making socks.
An innocent purchase of some self-striping wool this week (on sale. excellent.), a vague idea of making some socks with the aforementioned wool, and a conversation about knitting two socks at the same time - - - all of that led to this project:
Two socks, toe-up, at the same time, on the same set of dpns, one inside of the other, yarn in each hand, whatever other technique you can think of, it seems like this project incorporates it.
At first, it looks like one little innocent sock:
but one small tug inside and voila! another sock pops out!
I had to do the toes separately, as I have no idea how I would have made the increases, and I also am not working from a fixed pattern, so I had to just increase until I figured there were enough stitches to cover my foot.
I have been using this article in Knitty Autumn 2006 as a tutorial on the two-socks-in-one thing, and a knitpicks sock pattern as a guide for the toe-up thing. So far is it going well, with only one boo-boo that has required fixing. The good thing about the knitpicks pattern is that it includes an afterthought heel, so I won't have to try and figure out how the hell to do heel shaping in this fashion. Phew. Will just do them separately afterwards. [evil laugh]
Using this technique, I can hopefully use up as much of this wool as possible, will little or no useless leftovers.
I may or may not abandon these socks at some point for some other, less strenuous, form of making socks.
Friday, 8 February 2008
Left-Handed Crochet - The First Row
So, you've chained your beginning stitches and are ready to roll with your pattern. But now, a problem: where the beep do you insert your hook?
I admit it - the first row of crochet can be horrible. Fiddling around with little tiny loops, nothing substantial to hold onto...it's enough for any newbie to put down her hook forever. But this video will hopefully help clear up that all important first row, so you can get into the 'meat' of the project smoothly.
Your foundation is made up of chain stitches. The chain stitch has three loops, and somehow they form a smooth and bumpy side. You want to start your first proper row of crochet with the smooth side facing you, and insert your hook in between the two loops that form the smooth side and then underneath the 'bump' on the back. This means that there will be two loops above your hook and one below it.
(some people insert the hook so that there is only one loop above and two below, and that's fine if your first row of crochet works into every chain stitch. if your first row skips chain stitches, then it's best to work the method that i'm explaining here)
Once you've got your hook in the right place, then you can forge ahead with whatever stitch your pattern calls for. This video shows single crochet.
I admit it - the first row of crochet can be horrible. Fiddling around with little tiny loops, nothing substantial to hold onto...it's enough for any newbie to put down her hook forever. But this video will hopefully help clear up that all important first row, so you can get into the 'meat' of the project smoothly.
Your foundation is made up of chain stitches. The chain stitch has three loops, and somehow they form a smooth and bumpy side. You want to start your first proper row of crochet with the smooth side facing you, and insert your hook in between the two loops that form the smooth side and then underneath the 'bump' on the back. This means that there will be two loops above your hook and one below it.
(some people insert the hook so that there is only one loop above and two below, and that's fine if your first row of crochet works into every chain stitch. if your first row skips chain stitches, then it's best to work the method that i'm explaining here)
Once you've got your hook in the right place, then you can forge ahead with whatever stitch your pattern calls for. This video shows single crochet.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Left-Handed Crochet - The Chain Stitch
Here is a short video demonstration of the most basic crochet stitch of all: the chain stitch.
Why is the chain stitch the most basic stitch? It's the first thing that needs to be done to start crocheting. The chain stitch is crochet's 'cast on' method. But it doesn't end there...if you are working a flat piece of material, you will most likely need to use the chain stitch when turning your work. And very often the chain stitch is used in stitch patterns, too.
All in all, no crochet project is complete without it. A very important stitch to have under your crocheting belt. The good news is, it's easy as pie and you'll be able to master it in no time.
Why is the chain stitch the most basic stitch? It's the first thing that needs to be done to start crocheting. The chain stitch is crochet's 'cast on' method. But it doesn't end there...if you are working a flat piece of material, you will most likely need to use the chain stitch when turning your work. And very often the chain stitch is used in stitch patterns, too.
All in all, no crochet project is complete without it. A very important stitch to have under your crocheting belt. The good news is, it's easy as pie and you'll be able to master it in no time.
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Sunshine
Just five weeks ago, the length of the day here was a measly two and a bit hours...and now it's going strong at six and a half, and getting longer every day. So earlier this week, when I spotted some sunny-looking yarn in town, it inspired me into casting on a nice spring-like shawl.
The pattern is the Candle Flame Shawl, found right here. There is some errata for the pattern which I found on Ravelry. The yarn is from Finland - hooray! - it's called 'ohut pirkkalanka' from Pirkanmaan Kotityo.
Yes, yes, I know that there are already lots and lots of stitches on the needles at the moment...but, but, but, but...(there's always a but) all of them require much thought and concentration and looking at patterns and charts...and this project does not. So it's my 'no thinking required' project for the moment.
In other news, the Anemoi Mitts are almost finished, just the thumbs to go. Will be finished in a couple of days. Excellent.
In other other news, I've been busy making some new videos, this time for left-handed crochet. Nothing fancy, just the basic stitches. I'll post them one by one over the next week or so. Not exactly pandering to a majority audience, I realise, but hey, about 10% of the population is left-handed and some of them surely are crocheters in need of instructional videos...
The pattern is the Candle Flame Shawl, found right here. There is some errata for the pattern which I found on Ravelry. The yarn is from Finland - hooray! - it's called 'ohut pirkkalanka' from Pirkanmaan Kotityo.Yes, yes, I know that there are already lots and lots of stitches on the needles at the moment...but, but, but, but...(there's always a but) all of them require much thought and concentration and looking at patterns and charts...and this project does not. So it's my 'no thinking required' project for the moment.
In other news, the Anemoi Mitts are almost finished, just the thumbs to go. Will be finished in a couple of days. Excellent.
In other other news, I've been busy making some new videos, this time for left-handed crochet. Nothing fancy, just the basic stitches. I'll post them one by one over the next week or so. Not exactly pandering to a majority audience, I realise, but hey, about 10% of the population is left-handed and some of them surely are crocheters in need of instructional videos...
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