Blockbuster
Posted on: May 18, 2013
I am of a certain age where I remember a game show called Blockbusters. It used to be on tv in the afternoons and I’d watch it when I got home from school.
I was reminded of it when I was looking at m progress on my hexagon blanket. I was really struggling with the pattern for the blanket I mentioned in my last post so I sought the advice of one of my work colleagues who happens to be a pretty good crocheter. She pointed me towards a different hexagon pattern and I’m finding it much easier.. Look! Loads of hexagons!
I think they look good. Well, at least they look like hexagons!
It’s been pretty busy round here recently so I’ve not had a chance to do as much knitting and crocheting as I wanted to. Dad has another colonoscopy and CT scan on Monday so I’ve got to take Monday and Tuesday off work to mind him and Mam. Poor Dad hasn’t been so well recently so I hope this sorts it out. I’m worried the cancer is back as he’s lost more weight (if that’s possible) and he’s looking tired and gaunt. Fingers crossed it’s not.
Good knitting and crocheting!
Discoveries
Posted on: May 1, 2013
Discoveries can be good and bad things, depending on what it is that you discover. This last week brought me to both sides of discovery gorge, craft wise.
First of all, I picked up my bluebell rib socks again. I powered along with the foot and when I reached the toe, I got all excited. Yipee! I thought. Another pair of socks done for my Sensational Sock Project. I felt really good about myself.
When I cast off, I went looking for the other one so I could try them on and take a photo for this here blog. Emm. I couldn’t find it anywhere.
I had tidied up flung all my knitting stuff into a basket and dumped it into the craft room before the party for Alice’s confirmation last weekend. Maybe it was in there? Nope. I searched high and low for the damn sock to no avail. For some reason I decided to look in the little project bag that held the finished sock, just in case, even though I knew it wasn’t in there. Hmm, I thought. That leftover ball of yarn looks suspiciously big for one that has been used to knit two socks. *CLANG* The penny dropped. I discovered that the sock I had just finished was the first one. VanDammit.
In a fit of pique I decided I was going to tidy out the craft room, because it was clearly the rooms fault that I thought I had knit the first sock already. Well, well, well. What did I discover??
I only went & found a copy of the elusive Peapod Baby Set by Kate Gilbert! Woo! What a find! For some bizarre reason this pattern just vanished from the Interweave site and Kate never republished it. Very strange. But! I found my copy! What a discovery. I rummaged in the woolrobe and skipped downstairs, sock forgotten. I’m going to give this a go using this yarn I have leftover from a Phyllo Yoke Sweater I knit forever ago:
I have 3 balls of this ggh safari yarn in a lovely soft green. Just like peas. It’s a linen polyamide blend, so should be suited to machine washing. I just hope it turns out ok, I found it a bit stringy before. But, I shall soldier on, delighted with my discovery.
It’s not the only gem I discovered, oh no. I also found this:
This here is crochet guys. The Patchwork Throw by Erika Knight, to be precise. Mmm-hmm. I know. But look. Look at the colours and the hexagons that appeal to my inner laws of straightness. It’s gorgeous. And a super stashbusting project! Woo! Another fab discovery. I cast on (hooked on?) for this one too, only this one is a bit moody. Well, ok. I’m sure the pattern is fine, it’s just me that sucks at crochet. Fairly epically. See:
Not very hexagon-y, I think you’ll agree. Not to be defeated, I ploughed on. It didn’t get any better.
They remind me of a group of jellyfish, with their tentacles hanging down. But that’s another show. Still determined, I brought my “hexagons” and the pattern into work today & consulted a crochet guru. Armed with a harmony stitch guide and a charted (!) version of this hexagon I am about to re-enter the foray.
Cover me guys, I’m going in. This might get ugly.
Good knitting (or hooking)!
Surprise!
Posted on: April 21, 2013
I’m sure, like me, you have your go-to pattern when you feel the urge to knit something. For me it’s EZ’s Baby Surprise Jacket. I just love the puzzle and even after all this time I still never quite know how it’s going to turn out. This one gave me a bigger surprise than normal though. I had 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Cotton in a dark green shade. Lovely, I thought. Em. No. I ran out of yarn with just 9 rows left to go! Disaster!
I stash dove & found that the only other similarly weighted cotton I had was Sugar n Cream in really bright shades. Twitter to the rescue. The lovely Isobel suggested I use yellow. I trusted her, and I’m so glad I did. So much so that I decided to use the yellow to trim the cuffs with applied icord and to join the shoulders using three needle icord. Doesn’t it look great?
All it needs now is some cute buttons and it’s all set. Genius pattern. Genius.
In other amazing EZ news, her grandson Cully has designed a circular, stranded, steeked BSJ! OMG! The minute I heard about this I just had to order it. I got it direct from Schoolhouse Press (second pattern down). I can’t wait to get it and cast on! Woo!
I might have mentioned that I fell off the stashdown bandwagon a couple of weeks ago. Yes. My bad. I shouldn’t have done it, but I ended up on the Wollmeise website on update day, caved in and bought a mystery bag of yarn. This is what I got:
This one is a bit bright for me. I’m definitely more of a solids gal. If anyone wants to swap this for a solid coloured skein, get in touch!
This one is way more up my street. Mmm. Lovely shades of red. I love red. I’ll have to find a nice pattern for it.
Work on the bluebell rib socks had stalled while I fulfilled my baby knitting urge. I’ll get back to them now.
In other news, Alice made her confirmation on Wednesday. Bless. My little girl is definitely not little any more. She looked so grown up! We had a party in the house for the family yesterday and she looked just beautiful in her dress with her hair done in curls. She’s definitely blossoming at the moment. Sniff.
Good knitting!
Mosaic Knitting
Posted on: April 6, 2013
Sometimes knitting surprises me. In a good way, of course. When I started knitting the Double Spiral socks I thought these were going to be challenging. Not so. These were super easy socks. Not something I’ll be telling anyone else except you, of course! When asked were they hard I shall sigh dramatically and say “sometimes you have to put in a lot of effort to get good results” or something to that effect so that everyone will think my knitting skillz are off the charts.
But between you and me, these were ridiculously easy. Honest. You knit two rounds at a time with one colour and slip the required stitches of the other colour. Switch to the other colour and repeat. Another good thing is that it’s a great way of using up odds of yarn. Y’know, when you have one skein of something left that’s not enough to make anything on it’s own. This is perfect for those skeins. These socks used 1 skein of the main cocoa brown and about 3/4 of the pumpkin colour. Not bad I think!
Pattern: Double Spiral Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in Cocoa and Pumpkin, 1 skein of cocoa and about 3/4 of a skein of pumpkin.
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
I *love* them. Mosaic knitting is definitely something I’ll be doing again!
Last blog post I got lots of votes for the socks above, and also for the teal yarn. So, I cast on for a pair of Bluebell Rib socks as soon as I’d finished the mosaic ones. Why not, when I’m on a sock roll! This yarn is just scrummy. The silk blend makes it so soft, and the colour so vibrant. Every so often you see a bit of sparkle from the silk too. I absolutely adore this yarn. Good job I have several other skeins in my woolrobe!
They’re flying along, as you can see. I’m on the gusset decreases of the first sock already. I love speedy knitting.
In other news, I might have fallen off the stashdown wagon a little bit. I blame fatigue. I was tired and cranky and it was Friday. The little devil on my left shoulder drowned out the angel on my right shoulder and made me go to the Wollmeise site. Made me. 5 minutes later and my wallet €45 lighter, and I’ve ordered some yarn. I don’t even know what yarn it is, it’s a mystery grab bag of various complementary colours. Sheesh. That’s the sign of a true addict!
My two weeks off work have positively flown by in a haze of doing things for other people. Parents (honestly it’s something different EVERY freaking day) and Alice. Alice was good fun though. We went shopping – OMG she has become such a teenager trying infinite amounts of clothes on in infinite amounts of shops. We got our hair cut and she got her ears pierced. Total girly girl. Aww. She had fun, so that’s the main thing. I think I’m trying to make up for the fact that I won’t have my 7 weeks off this summer. She’s really putting the guilts on me over that. I guess I can’t blame her, I’d have done the same at her age. Anyway, Mammy daughter bonding was in full force.
Oh! One last thing – operation transformation has commenced here. We bought a treadmill last night. If it didn’t kill us to assemble then I reckon we’re safe to exercise. Those things are HEAVY y’all. Pushing it up the stairs and then trying to screw Part A into Receptacle Y with Screw X was no fun, let me tell you. BUT. It’s an amazeballs treadmill, you can connect it to Google maps and set your walking route anywhere in the world! It knows the terrain and sets the inclines etc. accordingly. Woot! I know where my first walk is going to be – all around the house in Florida. Now THAT’S motivation to lose weight!
Good knitting!
Sock it to me
Posted on: March 21, 2013
I’m on fire. Oh yes. My Sensational Sock Project is gathering pace. I started these socks on March 13, and have just grafted the toe closed. That’s 8 days, right? Booyah! I make this 8 pairs out of the 72 patterns in the books.
Pattern: Openwork Rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn, 2 skeins. I got nervous, I had only a scrap left from each ball when I finished!
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
I loved this pattern. Really easy and looks great. Because of the ribbing, they’re super snug. I think I’ll give these to my Dad to keep his feet warm.
Now, what to knit next? I have two choices that I want you, dear reader, to vote on.
Option 1: 
mmm. Cascade Heritage Silk (so squishy) in a delicious shade of teal. Pattern choices: Oblique Openwork, Ribbed Lace, Oriel or Bluebell Rib
Or option 2:
Sonething a bit more adventurous. Knitpicks Gloss in pumpkin and cocoa for a splash of colourwork. I’m thinking Double Spiral, Maze, Pahraoh’s Check or Caesar’s Check.
Vote now!
Good knitting!
Happy St. Patricks Day
Posted on: March 17, 2013
Today in Ireland it is St. Patricks Day, or St. Paddys Day, NOT St. Pattys Day. There is no begorrah and begosh, no Bing Crosby singing to little people called O’Flaherty and no shillelagh carrying leprechauns minding pots of gold.
And probably most importantly, THERE IS NO CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE. Irish people do not eat this stuff. I’ve never ever eaten it. If you want to cook a “national dish”, I would suggest lamb stew.
Today is our national holiday when we celebrate being the unique people that we are. I thought this post from a couple of years ago was well worth recycling for the occasion:
Today, there will be none of this:
Or this:
Or this:
That is what people other than Irish people do. Here, there will be lots of this:
I’m flying along with the Openwork Rib Socks. Getting very close to the end of the ball though, I really hope I have enough yarn!
Good knitting!
Long Weekend
Posted on: March 15, 2013
Yipee! It’s a long weekend here as it’s St. Patricks Day on Sunday. So far the plan is to do lots of precisely nothing. I think I can manage that.
It’s been crazy busy in work for the last 5 weeks, I’m just exhausted. I’ve been averaging 60 hours weeks and I’m frazzled. In FANTASTIC news though, I got promoted! WOOT! It’s only temporary until at least October, but I’m just over the moon. This was my 8th attempt at promotion to this level, so I’m just relieved I finally got it! Sadly, it’ll mean no term time this year, so I’ll be working through the summer. Apart from my holidays of course. August 1-21 I shall be generally melting in the Floridian sun and humidity. Can’t wait!
So, down to knitting news. I have a couple of FOs to show and a couple of Wips too. First up, I knocked up a Wingspan:
Pattern: Wingspan by Tri’Coterie Designs
Yarn: Lang Jawoll Magic, 1 skein in yummy autumn brown/gold shades
Needles: 3.5mm
This pattern was a bitch to knit. It’s mindless knitting to be sure, but I just had a dose of the brainfarts when I was making it. I continually forgot to cast on the additional stitches when I began a new triangle, which I often only discovered when I’d knit the whole triangle. Much ripping and swearing went on.
These socks were a long time coming:
Pattern: Elongated Corded Rib by Charlene Schurch from Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Lang Jawoll Sock, 1 and a quarter-or-so skeins
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
These socks took m 3 months. THREE MONTHS. I just kept putting them down and starting other things, such as the Wingspan above. I think I lost my sock mojo for a bit after Christmas. I’m slowly but surely trying to knit every sock pattern in the fantabuloso Sensational Knitted Socks and it’s wunder sister, More Sensational Knitted Socks. I just adore these books, and there’s a humungous number of patterns in them. I have a little spreadsheet done up and I’m marking each one off as I go. I wonder how long it’ll take me to knit them all??
I’m sure I’ve mentioned that it’s Alice’s confirmation next month. In fact, I know I did as I posted her Seascape Wrap, right? Well, I thought, she can’t be the only one wearing a super exclusive Knit, Inc pattern on the day. Oh no, I’m going to knit myself something equally show stopping. I was gifted the pattern for Jared Flood’s gorgeous Rock Island shawl by the most lovely R, and I thought this is the perfect occasion for it. So I cast on. And stagnated:
Not very impressive, I think you’ll agree. It’s only a couple of weeks away, and there’s no hope that I’ll get it done on time. Sigh. Bad Knitter!
I have cast on for another pair of socks for the Sensational Sock Project:
These are Openwork Rib socks. FLYING along, flying I tells ya. Dead easy and nice looking too. Although, as you can see from the picture, they seem to be twisting on the needles. I wonder why?
In EZ news, look what arrived this week:
Yep, Wool Gathering! Woot! And just look at the fair isle pillows! Sigh. I want to make them all, NOW. Especially the one in the top left. Mmm. A perfect stashdown project too, I think. I have tons of scraps that could be used. Sigh. Just gorgeous. Meg the marvel strikes again.
Good knitting!
