Stephanie's Boobholder

I needed a warm cardi or jacket to wear out last saturday night ... it was only saturday morning that I realised I didn't have anything in my wardrobe to match the rest of my outfit. I had some stash yarn that was the right colour and was thick enough to knit up fast, but even so, I thought it was abit much to think that I could complete it in an afternoon! (but of course, I had to give it a shot :D) ... so, armed with my 2 balls of Katia Himalaya, Stephanie Japel's Boobholder pattern, a cup of tea (several actually!), and some old Taggart re-runs on TV, I set about knitting :D

Ta-daa! ... five, non-stop knitting hours later, it was finished (I even had a perfect button in my stash!). I wore it on saturday night, over a black long sleeved skivvy ... it fits great and feels great, and kept me nice and toasty warm on a cold Adelaide night :)

(The only changes that I made to Stephanie's pattern were to eliminate the puffy sleeves, and to decide, by trying it on, when to divide for the body and sleeves)

Still de-stashing

...yes, the de-stashification process is still going strong :-) It has been hard to stop myself from adding to my supplies (I came very close to caving in at Spotlight this morning!)... buuut... so far, so good :-D
It took me a while to figure out what to make with my two lonely balls of Sean Sheep Armytage. It's too scratchy for baby things, and far too prone to accidentally felting for a teething, drooly bub (although it would have made an awesome looking earflap hat!), so in the end I settled on my old faithful,' go to when in a knitting funk pattern', the One Skein Wonder. I followed the pattern without modification, phew!!, and it pretty much saw all of my two balls :-)

I made a few pairs of toe-up socks. The white pair here were made with some old 'no label' acrylic, and the pink ones were Lincraft Cosy 8 ply wool. They're basically the same sock, 8 ply yarn with 4mm needles. Turkish cast on (12 sts) increasing to about 24 (or whenever the sock fits snuggly over your toes), work straight in any stitch (on my lace pair, I did plain stocking stitch on half the stitches, for the sole). I tried a Short row heel this time, instead of the Afterthought one, and really surprised myself with how easy it was, although I do need to practice it more to eliminate the little holes on either side. After the heel it was just ribbing on all stitches until I was happy with how they felt on :-) I found this elastic bind off, which made a heap of difference to getting the socks on and off!
....and finally, I attacked my fabric stash, and started making random quilt blocks...not sure what I'm making with them yet, but I'm pretty sure that a baby quilt will be following shortly ;-D

Op Shop Top

Finally....I have a knitting FO to show :-) (and just in time for Adelaide's cold snap!)
This was a jumper that I started in December after buying a bag of grey yarn from the Op Shop....it was just a mixed bag of assorted yarns in different weights and textures, that only cost a few dollars.
With knitting it top-down (thanks as always to Barbara Walker's 'Knitting from the Top'), I was able to knit each stripe until the yarn ran out. The first one I used was Patons Cottage Knit, which was a chunky, slubby mix - this determined the gauge (very roughly!), and the needle size. With the rest, I then just doubled or tripled them to give a similar gauge. I added some shaping through the waist, with 4 darts, and by using a slightly thinner yarn. The neckline had a 'roll' happening that would have been annoying to wear, so I just crocheted a row of htr's around the top to pull it flat...it still needs blocking to help it to sit better, but hey...that can wait until the jumper needs washing ;-D


....and of course, as ever!...for every one FO, there are one or two!!! UFO's waiting in the wings....;-D

Bad Penny

This is my slightly shortened version of Stephanie Japel's Bad Penny. In keeping with my stash down plans for this year (of course, this will only last until Lincraft or Spotlight have their next big yarn sale!!), I used 5 balls of Sean Sheep Armytage (yep, the reason for the shorter length is because I just knitted down until my yarn ran out...couldn't do that if it wasn't knit from the top :-)) I added a bit of waist shaping with the help of Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top and omitted the lacy increases and edgings....but other than that, I pretty much followed the pattern ;-D
I started knitting this top before Christmas, but it was just too hot and sticky to be knitting with a thick wool at that time of year (trying it on all the time to get the fit right was just the worst!!) ... we had a couple of cooler days last week, so I made the most of the change, and finished it off...all in all, it probably only took a few days to knit. I have another 5 balls of the same yarn in a different colour, so I think I may be starting another one soon :-)
I'm liking the layered look again for this winter...just perfect for Adelaide :-)

A better top for the tube

After trying on my Tube Top with every other top I own (!!), I finally found a combination that I'm happy with. I liked the shrug from my last post, but it is nowhere near as wearable as with my new Rowena...I still need to add straps to the Tube Top so that I don't have to keep 'adjusting' myself, but other than that, I'm now more than happy with it's fit and feel :-)








...like I don't have enough projects started already ;-D...a mindless knitting project was needed this weekend to fit in with some lazy TV watching... (how cool that Captain Jack Harkness was on Doctor Who, after Channel 10 axed Torchwood before the season end,...really, do you think that Channel 10 were even aware that they were buying Doctor Who?! :-D )
After googling to see if there was going to be a second series, I found this program description from the BBC website that really made me laugh: Torchwood will be a dark, clever, wild, sexy, British crime/sci-fi paranoid thriller cop show with a sense of humour - the X Files meets This Life Yep...I think that pretty much covers it!!!...and yes there is a second series with James Marsters guest starring...oh how we miss Spike!
ok...back to my knitting :-D I decided on a mitred square blanket made out of random creamy/beige yarns...they're all different weights and textures, but hopefully, that will be the 'appeal' of the finished blanket...I'm thinking of knitted appliqued flowers to finish it off (I got the Knitter's Bible from the library, which has a really nice leaf/petal pattern in it)...maybe in some pastel pinks, blues and greens...

Spring has sprung!

...at last, I've finished my Rowena cardi :-)
The actual knitting (done on my Bond) took no time at all... the borders, ribbing and button buying took heaps longer!!

...it's been a good week for finishing things off....this is my Coquette Lace Tube Top from Fitted knits. I'm guessing that my gauge was off, as it's not quite as fitted as I'd hoped...it still needs straps adding, so hopefully that will make it more wearable. The grey shrug was another Bond/Knitware creation...I knew that the tube top needed either something under or over it (just ignore the brown singlet :-D), so now that I'm happy with how the shrug looks, I'll make one in the same pink yarn as the tube.The yarn for Rowena was just a cheap Lincraft homebrand, for a couple of dollars a ball, the shrug was made from a few odd balls of 'no band' yarn from the Op Shop, and the Tube Top was 100% wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills.
I like that using the machine means I don't have to worry too much about yarn quality....with putting less hours into it than with a handknit, I'm not overly concerned about how well it will wash, or how long it will last me...(ok, I admit it!...I'm just a cheapskate ;-D)

Retro Knitting

This is the first time that I've used my Bond knitting machine in about 20 years... (can't believe that it's still in perfect working order!). I figured that an easy camisole/singlet would be a good way to ease back into using it...and so far, so good :-) It's probably a bit longer than I wanted, but once the i-cord straps on, it should be good. One of the problems I had with the Bond before, was trying to find good patterns to make on it, but now that I don't need specific patterns (thanks to my free Knitware program :-D), finding something to knit is as easy as! ... and it is so, so , SO quick :-)

That didn't stop me however, buying this hardback copy of Square Knits by Angela King and Caroline Baker, from the Op Shop!...I remember drooling over this book when it first came out in 1985 (!), but at ten pounds, it was way beyond my budget ... I was more than happy to pay a dollar fifty for it this week though... and with all of the retro fashions in the shops right now, it doesn't even look that out-dated :-)

My Tube Top from Fitted Knits is really easy, and nice to work on...the centre panel has a Rusted Root look about it, but the pattern is a whole lot easier to follow :-) I'm going to add straps to it, not only because I think it'll look better, but also to help keep it up...it's turning out bigger than I imagined, but as I was planning on wearing something underneath it anyway, it shouldn't really matter..(my fingers are crossed!)
*edit* I've just realised that the singlet picture is too dark to see...I'll try taking some better shots this afternoon, now that the sun is out :-)

Back in the real world

After spending a really enjoyable, quiet (but exciting) weekend with Harry, Ron and Hermione, I'm back and raring to knit :-) (How cool was it that whilst the rest of the world queued and queued through the night to get their copy at midnight, we were able to walk into Big W when they opened at 8.30 on saturday morning and be handed a copy upon entry...love living in australia :-D)
Anyways!....on to my knitting progress...
I started the Coquette Lace Tube Top from Fitted Knits...this is knitting up really nicely. I thought it would take more concentration than it does, but the centre lace panel is easy to remember, making it a good telly watching project :-) I'll probably make the Two-toned Ribbed Shrug from the same book, to wear over the top of it. The yarn is just THE best...I'm using Colonial 8 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills. This is the first time I've used it, and I am loving it...will definately buy more.
My winter top down cardi is kinda designing itself...The shape is just going to be a basic scoop neck, and I'm letting my stash of Sean Sheep wool determine the colours ... meaning I'm knitting blindly until it's all gone! :-D

Panic over!

Thanks to everybody for your dyelot comments :-) ... I had a hard time trying to decide what to do, so in the end, thought that I would try a few different options, until I found one that I was happy with. I wasn't convinced that it would work well with cap sleeves, but gave it a try anyway, as it was the easiest ... ok, I have to say that I'm really glad that I tried this, as I love the way it turned out (who'd of thought!?!) . It will work great in the summer for airconned buildings :-)
I had enough of the original colour to finish the body and sleeves, and only used the 'off colour' for the i-cord edging and leaf ties (where, I'm pleased to say, that it's no longer noticable). This was my first attempt at an i-cord border, and it is definately my fave part of the whole cardi ... I loved the process of knitting it, and loved the way it turned out :-) I changed the i-cord method from the one in the pattern, to the one in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop ... they are basically the same, but I found EZ's less fiddly.
Ok...on to more Fitted Knits!...(as soon as the postie brings me my parcel from Amazon :-D )

Dye-lot disaster

I was thinking how cute my cropped cardi was looking, until the sun shone through the window and highlighted my two-tone sleeve!!! **insert hammer horror-esque scream here!!**
You can see it pretty clear in the photo...a few centimetres up from the picot facing...shame it wasn't so clear when I was knitting it....
...soooo I guess that 2 lessons have been here
1. the obvious one of course..ALWAYS check dye lots before you buy (yeah, now it's obvious!)
and 2. never change to a new ball whilst sitting in a dimly lit room watching Spicks'n'Specks on tv!!
I don't have any more of the same yarn, so I'm thinking that my best option would be to rip the sleeve back to the underarm, and make them both into cap sleeves with a picot edge to match the bottom..the only different colour then, would be the applied i-cord edge and front ties.
Oh well, it wasn't quite what I had in mind, but at least it'll get a lot of wear in the summer months as a singlet topper :-)

A very Glampyre weekend

After reading the posts on the Fitted Knits Along
I decided that I HAD to order the Fitted Knits book from Amazon...I've been thinking about it for ages and really loved the stuff that I saw on the KAL, so I ordered it at the weekend ... I now have about 3 weeks to wait for the postie :-D
Whilst I was googling the book, I found this free patern from it on the Knitty site...I'm so glad that at least I can still be making something from it while I wait for it to arrive :-)

I also started this blue jumper... I wanted to see how it would turn out, if I started with a One Skein Wonder, and just extended it downwards..kinda like a OSW crossed with a Tubey..?
I'm not sure how (or if!) it'll turn out, but I figured it was worth a try.
...see, I said it was a Glampyre weekend :-)