Happy New Year!

2008.. wow, how time flies. It's been very interesting to read other bloggers' aspirations for the new year, so now it's time to make a note of my own.

1) I MUST lose a few inches off my belly by the summertime - I do not want to be revealing tyres of excess flesh on the beach when the weather warms up. Some may be perfectly happy with that - I'm not.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the feast of food and drink that comes with the seasonal celebrations, but I don't need to carry it around with me all year.
I don't care what numbers come up on the weighing scales, as long as my belly looks acceptable to me! Plus I have a wetsuit to squeeze into.
BTW, do you like the 3 wise men I found in our local half-price xmas decoration sale? I couldn't resist them.

2) I WILL try to stay cool, calm, and collected this year. Our lives should be more settled after last year's big move, but we have big plans for extending and changing our bungalow this year.
That will mean an awful lot of mess, inconvenience, and cost, but hopefully it'll be well worth it. We'll see how far we've got by this time next year!
This should also help healthwise - 2007 was not a great year as it included tachycardia and shingles for me.
These new candle holders are encouraging me to be more relaxed in the evening at home. :-)

3) I HOPE to reduce my stash mountain which currently takes up an entire corner of our bedroom (almost to the ceiling) and some wardrobe space too.
I am finding it increasingly frustrating to go through my stash and remember how long ago I bought some of it. I still have specific patterns in mind for a lot of it, but as time goes on my preferences are changing.

Thankfully I still adore the merino yarn which I'm currently using to knit the chocolate orange twister sweater. The sleeve (in pattern version 2) is done, and the body is coming along nicely..

4) Finally I WILL knit or crochet baby items for the 2 new members of our family expected this April - both due to fairly close family members. The spring season will be an exciting time!

Before that I would like to knit DH a felted earflap hat to wear on the beach - he hasn't asked for one but did express an interest in wearing one! Anybody know of any felted earflap hat patterns?

Although maybe I should be knitting him some footwear atm - he managed to break a bone in his left foot whilst jumping his BMX at the local skate park on New Year's Eve. Yes he's a 40yo boy who loves his toys. ;-)

Merry Christmas from the seaside!

Here are the ingredients gathered together to make a gorgeous cranberry and chestnut stuffing roll to go with the Christmas dinner tomorrow.

I was amazed to find them all in nearby little Perranporth - even fresh cranberries and fresh chestnuts!

Here's something else we found at Perranporth - a christmas tree with working lights on the rock!

I don't think it'll last long, and goodness knows how they got the lights to work out there, but it looked great when we saw it.

That rock is actually huge; when the tide is on its way out you can climb up to the top. Usually the Perran flag flies on a pole where the tree currently is.


And here's our own little christmas tree, as decorated by my DDs.

Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Birthday DD!

My first-born daughter is 9 years old today - how the years have flown. Here she is way back in 1998, just a few minutes old - my beautiful little eskimo baby!


We are so proud of her - both of her achievements and more importantly of her kind, nurturing, and loving character. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Domestic bliss..

..is ensured with the arrival of a new oven. Am I sad? Maybe.. but I don't care.

Just look at how shiny it is! I really don't want to get it dirty - but then it is so lovely to use. The grill was christened with sausages this morning, and the main oven is shown here being christened with cottage pie.

Perhaps I should crochet some new hot pads in honour of it. ;-)

BTW, thanks for all your encouraging comments about my cable frogging madness. It makes me feel a little more sane.

Excuse me, did you say progress..?

The crazy cable sleeve is finished, and it has 13,006 stitches (including cast-on and cast-off). It looks amazing and feels wonderful.

And I'm going to frog it.

I used 86 grams of the merino for the sleeve so I do have enough for the whole sweater, but I've changed my mind about a few minor details. Only little things... like the gauge... the design... the size... :-)

I clipped the sleeve together and tried it on - a very illuminating thing to do.

Whilst it fitted, it was too snug for what I had envisaged. I like a good fit, but I don't want it to feel like a second skin. I had stretched the swatch slightly to measure the gauge, but obviously I couldn't tell what that would feel like in the finished garment - until now.

And that twisted rib; it looked great but when stretched taught it reminded me too much of the plastic-feel-acrylic throttlingly tight poloneck handknit sweaters I was encased in when I was a child. It had to go.

So I've changed both the pattern gauge and the design. I've taken away the twisted ribbing and replaced it with a minimal garter stitch edging. I've replaced the funnel neck with a v-neck. I've added more ease to the whole garment.

I've also swatched another stitch pattern. Whilst those all-over cables were gorgeous, the final look was rather too intense over a large piece of knitting.

DH questioned my sanity when I modelled the sleeve and announced that it was headed for the frog pond. He asked how long it had taken me to knit it (I don't get much knitting time atm) - and I suggested that it would be silly continuing to knit a garment that I knew wasn't what I wanted...

So here's version 2. There are some plain columns between the cables, no rib, and the fit is looser.

It's quite different to what I had initially imagined, and it may still change again. But that's the joy of designing your own garment isn't it?!

Cable heaven

That's where I seem to have gone. I adore this yarn and cable pattern so much, I have to make myself put it down. Of course whether that's still the case if I don't have enough yarn and need to start over remains to be seen.

Quite why I've become obsessed with cables is a mystery to me. I love the look of them (unlike bobbles) but rarely feel the need to knit them. It must be something to do with the cold weather I guess!

The plan is to finish this sleeve (not long to go!), then calculate exactly how much yarn is required for the whole garment based on how much I used for the sleeve.

Fingers crossed..

When all is not as it seems

Sometimes things seem that they will be perfect... and then they turn out to be not quite so good. As was that perfect pattern for the merino chocolate orange yarn.

As I worked the first sleeve, increasing slowly, I realised that all was not well. The stitch pattern covered 24 rows, but seemed to jump after the first half. Although the knitting looked pretty good, I couldn't get the flow - and had no idea how to bring those new side stitches into the pattern.

I measured the progress I had so far, and realised that if I followed the increase instructions, the finished sleeve would measure 24" from cuff to armhole - even my arms aren't that long!

The pattern gauge was given in stocking stitch, and I had matched it exactly, but the lace cable pattern for the actual design was turning out to be a different beast.

Things had to change. I frogged the 3" of sleeve I had worked, and decided to create my own pattern.

I thought about what I liked from this design, browsed through my stitch dictionaries for a while, and ended up with this:

I'm doing basically the same shape garment, but with a flowing cable design - twisted 2-stitch cables rotating anti-clockwise for the cuffs and collar, leading into wider 6-stitch cables turning clockwise in alternate columns as they climb the garment.

It flows - and I like it.

Serendipity - the Tale of a New Project

Yep, I've found another great new project.. I think I'm suffering from startitis at the moment. I had dug out the allotted yarn for the "Central Park Hoodie" but didn't like the swatch, so that's been shelved again for now in favour of this...

Almost 12 months ago, after spending the day manning a stall at a particularly uninspiring craft fair (i.e. virtually no sales), I agreed a great trade with Fiona of Yarnwise - 4 of my knitted collars for 500g of gorgeous chocolate orange merino wool.
Think clementines, conkers, and steaming hot chocolate all swirled up together in the dyebath...

The merino has sat patiently waiting in the stash since then, until last month when I heard it sweetly singing to me. I wound it into balls, and put it in my "Pending"* stash box whilst keeping an eye open for pattern inspiration.

Now that the weather is finally cooling down, I decided on a sweater - but not just any old sweater. I want to end up with one of those favourite comfy kinds of sweater that is a joy to throw on and wear; not too heavy, not too cool, just the right size. One I want to wear all the time - you know the sort. It also has to be a joy to knit - not so complex that I need silence to work on it, but not an endless sea of stocking stitch either.

Two nights ago night serendipity struck! Whilst chatting to my in-laws (who had stayed for dinner as thanks for babysitting our DDs whilst we attended the school parent's evening) I decided to browse through my file of patterns (mainly prints of free web patterns that I've come across on random surf sessions) and, quite by accident, found the perfect match for the merino!

The pattern is for a lacy cabled sweater, from the Canadian yarn manufacturer Kertzer - and I'm so glad I printed it as it doesn't seem to be on their site now. It uses about 475g-worth of the yardage that I have in the merino, with exactly the same gauge - even the finished measurements seem to be perfect for my height and arm length which is unusual.

I was so excited I swatched immediately (bang on target), then unravelled and set it aside and started it last night. I know I should be carrying on with the other WIPs but I needed to get a sleeve on the go to use up some of the initial New Project Enthusiasm. :-)


* My stash is held (mainly) in a tower of plastic boxes which fill one corner of our bedroom. The upper boxes are naturally easier to get into, so I tend to use the yarn from those first. The top one is for yarn that I'm hoping to use next - i.e. "Pending". The yarns I'm working with currently are held in the very useful storage stool that came with our cream leather suite, which of course stays close to my chair... ;-)

Bamboo Success!

The frilly bamboo cardigan is done, it fits, and I love it!

This yarn is so lovely - soft, warm, fantastic drape, with a subtle sheen. The finished cardigan fits me really well - even the sleeves are the length I like.

The details:
Yarn - Sirdar Just Bamboo
Pattern - Sirdar Just Bamboo 8878

No modifications. Easy to knit, and great to wear. Big hugs go to the members of the Beatties Knit Chat group who bought this yarn and pattern for me as my leaving present when we moved to Cornwall earlier this year. Thanks everyone!

Knitting extremes

I recently gave in to temptation and bought this skein of hand-dyed cashmere 4ply yarn in shade "Heather" from The Knitting Goddess.

It's an extreme opposite of my recent knitting projects, which have been some quick chunky collars and scarves on 10mm needles. This feels like I'm knitting with sewing thread in comparison, despite using 3.5mm needles!

I've chosen the simple Feather and Fan pattern as I wanted a simple lace project that would be reversible.

I am starting to love the way the colours are traversing as I work up the scarf, and the yarn is creamy soft although it feels more like laceweight to me than 4ply!

I haven't yet decided whether this will be a Christmas gift for somebody else - or maybe for myself as a special treat. :-)

The clock is ticking

WIP Check
Soft Pink Bamboo Cardigan - seamed and awaiting oversewing seams with sewing thread
Driftwood Bamboo Top - need to seam right shoulder and knit neck edging, then seam the rest
Christmas Gift #2 - 40% done
Aubergine Lacy Aran Cropped Cardigan - still awaiting sewing in the ends and sewing on the beads (but should I use different beads?)
Rose Pink Felted Crochet Bag Experiment - we have a small shape that can hold things but I'm not sure it's the shape I wanted..

Pics to follow!

Lined Up
Exciting news - I need to knit 2 family baby gifts! No, neither is for me. ;-) Two of my relatives are due with babies next April; only one is going to try to find out the sex beforehand (and even then there's no guarantee is there?!) so generic colours are required.

I'm not keen on knitting toys these days (too much sewing required afterwards) so I've decided to knit "Lucky" - a very cute moss stitch cardigan in the "Pipsqueaks" book. I may need to do a different pattern for the second one if the moss stitch gets too much, but we'll see.

I'll be using Rowan All Seasons Cotton in shade "Tapestry" - a sandy beige - from my stash again (woohoo!). I have a 500g pack of it which I was saving to knit myself the "Apricot" cardigan from Rebecca magazine, but I've changed my mind on that one. Great pattern, but I really need to lose weight before I'd do it justice.

In The Distance
I'm itching to start some socks using the Tofutsies yarn I bought recently, but I do need to finish some WIPs first. The "Central Park Hoodie" is calling to me from Knitscene (a stash of various aran yarns are marinating ready for that), as is the "Rogue" hoodie - I have some lovely Adriafil Point yarn reserved for that one. Why do future projects always seem so appealing..?

Holy Shaping!

Driftwood Bamboo Top

Would you take a look at this:

This is how the pattern instructions say to do the shaping increases - make 1 by picking up and knitting into the back loop into the next 2 stitches. Hmm, holy indeed.


This is how I normally do my shaping increases - make 1 by knitting into the loop of the stitch below. Much better.

Looks like the yarn manufacturers don't always kow best when it comes to pattern instructions.

I guess I'll be sticking to my usual way - thank goodness went to the Finishing Techniques day run by Jane Crowfoot where I learned it!

Early bird

Hey - a next-day post? What's going on?!

Well I'm stuck at home, and the postie very graciously delivered a parcel of great fabrics from Fiddlesticks Fabrics and Crafts this lunchtime. The parcel included this lovely piece, which I have literally just finished converting into this first Christmas 2007 present!







I'm so pleased with it - hence the large number of photos. :-)

This is a big carry-all type affair, reaching down to the hip.

I followed this free crochet hobo bag pattern and used 500g of Rowan Linen Drape from my stash, a large button from Truro Fabrics, and the lining fabric as before.

Thank goodness the yarn wasn't full price otherwise it would have cost almost £40 to make.

That's the first present crossed off the list for this year!

Toasty Buttered Marshmallow

Well what to say? Lots has been happening, and there are many WIPs at various stages - both knitting and crochet.

Here's one item - a knitted collar worked up in Colinette Silky Chic along with some Jaeger Matchmaker Merino and some hand-dyed superwash soft merino sock yarn.

It's as soft as butter, as squidgy as marshmallow, and as warm as toast - so I guess that's a Toasty Buttered Marshmallow!

The wristies to go with it are currently on the needles - they include some Regia sock yarn and Rowan Kid Silk Haze too. I'll probably put the set on Etsy when it's finished.

The hardest part of this was finding a button that I liked for it - why is that always the case? Any recommendations for really good button websites would be greatly appreciated!

The other news for today concerns my health again - the tachycardia has cleared up and I'm off the beta-blockers, but now I have shingles on my back. It's rather an extreme way of getting more knititng time don't you think?!

The C word

Watch out -Christmas Project Alert! All I can say is that it's crocheted and I'm using some (there's a lot - it was in the bargain bin at 50p per ball quite some time ago) of my Rowan Linen Drape stash yarn - yes, I said stash yarn. See the light shining on that pic? It's from my halo!

Now you know why all is quiet.. but WIPS are transforming into FOs.. more later.

Trinity shines!

Announcing Trinity - the little crochet bag with a big personality. :-)

See that lovely squishy padded strap? And the gorgeous texture? And the yummy cotton/viscose blend yarn which makes her shine?!

I am really pleased with this design. The size is perfect - just big enough to fit in those girly essentials, but snug enough to fit neatly under your arm out of the way.

And all that from some leftover yarn plus a little quilt wadding, a button, and some patchworking fabric.

I just hope her new owner doesn't read this blog as Trinity is destined to be a gift.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get the pattern up for sale real soon on my Etsy shop - see the panel on the right - so feel free to buy it!

What are you doing?

No I haven't given up on my WIPs.

I'm doing something I haven't done in a very long time and also finishing off Trinity.

Watch this space!

Legs Eleven

Yep, it's that day again - our wedding anniversary.

Eleven years today, and this time we're celebrating by strolling on our local beach together with out daughters, eating yummy locally-made ice-cream. :-)

We'd never have guessed that one in a million years.

While we're on the beach theme, here's my latest stash aquisition - a ball of Tofutsies!

It only seemed right, as it's made from 2.5% chitin which is fibre from crushed crab and shrimp shells.

I bought it from p2tog on ebay - thoroughly recommended.

This yarn feels so good (it also contain soy silk, superwash wool, and cotton) and the colours are really vibrant - I know I will be tempted to buy some of the other colourways too.

I feel a sock WIP coming on..

Here's Trinity in her current state. Can you tell what she's morphing in to?

Finally I have to admit to being VERY naughty and starting yet another new project. The "Just Bamboo" in Driftwood was calling to me and I couldn't resist. :-)

FO reveal

So here we are, the FO is revealed as being.. the blue chevron top, started way back in April.

It's come out better than I thought - I used an extremely minimal pattern from Rebecca magazine (issue no 27 in case you're wondering) and substituted the yarn with the cheapy cotton/viscose blend I bought from Lidl in March.

The viscose blend has given it a wonderful drape; I would definitely use that yarn blend again although not necessarily such a cheap one - it had plenty of knots in each ball. You get what you pay for.

I've started playing around with the leftover pale blue yarn and the lovely "Trinity Stitch" from my crochet stitch dictionary. We'll see what this transforms into as it grows..



I enhanced my stash too! I recently bought the spring issue of Interweave Crochet, and love it so much that I've subscribed via The Woolly Workshop.

Of course while I was ordering from them I thought I'd better try out some of their sale yarns too.

The drop spindle finally arrived from P&M Woolcraft after an unfortunate delay with minimal communication resulted in a wait of 6 weeks, although I've read from other customers that this isn't normal.

Now I can start to play with the llama fibre I bought from Llama Lland!

I'll finish off with a couple of sky-gazing shots I wanted to share:
The hot air balloon that flew over our house a couple of days ago (look at that sky!)..
..and a gorgeous moon pic that DH managed to get last week. Stunning!

Mystery WIP

Guess which WIP is nearly a FO...?