Ta-da!

Well here it is - my first fairisle project. It's knitted in aran weight wool, which made it knit up fast and also made it easier with the fairisling as the stitches were nice and big and it was easy to spot a mistake.

Here is a dreadful picture of moi modelling it - sorry, the light is dreadful here today, so the flash went off and I don't know how to stop it. Anyhow, it's quite a snug fit, but that just makes it very warm - it's more like a jacket really because of it's hefty weight.

Here's the inside - I'm very proud of my neatness here, especially as it is my first attempt (did I mention that at all?).
I have a long, denimn dress which I think will go with this quite nicely. Bit prairie girl, you know.

Meanwhile, I forgot to show you my latest purchase. I spotted a version of this Keep Calm poster in a magazine recently and thought it was hilarious, so I had to have one. I searched high and low for one with the same wording on the net, but couldn't find it anywhere, until I came across a site called Zazzle, which has a Keep-Calm-o-matic poster generator (watch out Wallace and Gromit!). You can choose the wording, the colours, the size - all of that stuff. Admittedly, it was a bit pricely, but I had fallen in love with it by then. It makes me chuckle every time I put the kettle on (it's right next to the kettle, of course) :-)

And look what turned up yesterday, out of the blue. I had it on pre-order from Amazon and had pretty much forgotten about it. On a very rudimentary first glance, it is a lovely book - some fab images, but the projects are somewhat basic at the back. However, as I said, it's a lovely book to look through and gain inspiration and ideas from. I mean, you've just got to love Kirstie for all that she stands for in handmade crafts, haven't you? Keep the flag flying and all that ;)

Split Ends

Well, as you can see, I have a little work on my desk today. Mainly involving these little monkeys - ends ...

It's unavoidable really, if I ever want to finish this fairisle cardi. Can't say it's much fun this bit, but no pain, no gain, as they say.

Meanwhile, as there has been a distinct lack of sewing on this blog of late, I thought I'd show you my current work in progress. It's a table runner (obviously). I started out just joining up hexes into flowers, not really knowing what it was going to become. And then I thought perhaps a nice bit of patchwork in the kitchen would look good. But I couldn't really be bothered to hex them all together, so I just sewed each flower onto a square of fabric - tres lazy.

The girls at my sewing class like it, although it's a bit 'random'. I'm going to have to figure out how to put a long edge on each side with as few seams as possible - it's 7 foot long. Then I will have to find some backing fabric and sandwich in some wadding, then a binding for the edge. Bit like a very thin quilt really.

But at the moment, I am thinking about Wizard costumes. Of course it's Halloween soon and I suspect the 'dress-up' day at school next week will be pretty obvious. At least I hope so. I grabbed a witches hat in the supermarket last week, suspecting that it was better to get it early and avoid the last minute panic. So I'm thinking a very long cape with stars and moons on it. I may even go the whole hog and get some face paint. Then I shall just have to wave my magic wand and hey presto! A wizard will appear!

Good Moow-ning!

Good Mooooow-ning!

Sorry - what was that? Did somebody say something?

Another stunning morning today. So beautifully sunny and bright, a perfect blue sky, and yet that lovely chill in the air. A slight frost on the fields.

As I walked the boy up the hill to school, I told him that Autumn is my favourite time of year. He said winter was his favourite "because first it snows, then it's Christmas!".

Well it's my pattern cutting nightclass again tonight and I've just finished my homework, which was to make up the skirt block we drafted into a skirt, and then design a skirt to cut tonight. Am so loving this course. I have wanted to learn these skills for so long and I'm so excited at the thought of having a new wardrobe that fits ME.

On my to-do list this week is to sew up the fairisle cardigan. I finally finished it and blocked it out at the weekend. Can't say I'm looking forward to sewing in all those ends, up hey ho.

Of course, that left me with nothing on the needles - yikes - not with an X Factor marathon approaching! Luckily, I had enough left-over aran yarn from the fairisle cardi to actually make this jacket for the boy. Except the sleeves will be a combination of stripes to use up all my bits.

I started it on Friday night and by last night had already done the back and the left front! Don't you just love aran? I might even line this with a nice soft brushed cotton. Mmmm. Snuggly.

Good Times!

Stanley's back!!! I am happy! My house is warm! I can cook and bake again! The last 4 weeks have seemed like the heart of the house had been ripped out and we were forced to 'camp out' in our own kitchen on a make-shift hob and oven. Anyhow. Ordeal over. Breathe in. Breathe out. :-) Smile.

Yesterday turned out to be a great day, in fact, because as well as getting Stanley fixed, I started my new Pattern Cutting nightclass. Nothing like I expected. The first class was all measuring and calculating and drawing, which was a bit hard on the old - and dusty - brain cells. However, at the end of the evening I had cut out my first skirt 'block'. A block is a basic pattern using your own body measurements, so it will fit perfectly, and which you use as a starting point to design your own patterns. Our homework for next Monday is to design our own skirt, so that we can cut the pattern in the class! Am absolutely chuffed to bits with this as it's something I've always wanted to learn how to do, and of course it means that from now on, every item of clothing I make will fit perfectly. Imagine having a wardrobe which is tailormade! We will be moving onto trousers next which I am especially looking forward to because I honestly don't think I've ever had a pair of trousers that fit me properly.

Meanwhile, I have been progressing with the first fairisle project. Just got one arm to finish and then I think the fun will start as I will have all those ends to sew in :( However, it will need a good blocking session first as the fairisle tends to pull it out of shape somewhat.

But it's going to have to wait for now because I have cakes to bake and pies to cook today. Hurrah!!!

Still obsessed

Yep, as you can see, this is pretty addictive stuff. Once you get the hang of it, you just can't stop yourself seeing how the next colour is going to work out. I think the fact that I'm using aran wool has been a great help for my first Fair Isle project - you can clearly see where you are and there's less stitches to worry about.

The tricky bit is the weaving in of the wool as you go along. If a colour is not being used much in a particular line, then you have to keep catching it in with your working colour, so as not to leave a big loop at the back of the work. This can get a bit tricky when you're using 3 different colours! At the moment, I end up with a great bit tangle of wool at the end of each line, which I then have to untangle before I can carry on. I guess there must be a technique for dealing with this, but I have yet to figure it out.

Despite the fact that I'm loving the actual knitting, the whole cardigan has been slightly tainted by the fact that, when I proudly showed it off to husband last night, he said 'oh, a Christmas jumper'. Eeeuch.

Moving on, you may remember that I started making this felt book for one of the boy's teachers who was having a baby. Well, the baby has been born now (a boy) and the book is finished. Thought I might give you a little peek at it ...

Hope they like it :-)

Uh-oh here comes another obsession

Oh dear. You see this is what happens when I am let loose in a wool shop on my own for an entire Saturday afternoon. It all started last week really when I was sort of casting around for a new project. Once the cushions were finished and with the tapestry nearly finished, I got that slight cold sweat at the thought that I didn't actually have another project ready to go.

And then, as luck would have it, I found myself with an afternoon (child-free) to kill on Saturday and where else could I go, but the wool/sewing shop? I popped into Tesco first and my eyes clapped down upon this little number - have you seen it before? It's quite pricey (£5.99 - yikes!), but unfortunately, as soon as I saw the cardi on the cover I was smitten. A cable cardi, in aran weight, with fairisle - and I am a complete fairisle virgin. Not once have I ever attempted to fairisle. But I have been inspired lately by Vanessa over at Do You Mind if I Knit? and her wonderful fairisle dress.

And this is only my second attempt at cable but it is soooooo addictive! I doubt whether I will ever knit anything in stocking stitch again - this is much more fun! And so easy! It's only an 8 stitch repeat over 6 rows, so even I can remember that.

Of course, my first problemo was picking the colours. I had originally thought I'd go with the grey, as per the pattern, but that was knocked on the head when there was no grey available. Which is a tad annoying when you're itching to get going, so I went for the cream and these lovely colours for the fairisle bit.

There is also a mustard yellow to go in there too - that one I did have to order. I figured it would take me ages to cable my way up to the fairisle bit, but as you can see, I'm pretty much almost there. And I only started it on Saturday night in front of X Factor AND I did a tension square first. I am not using the Artesano wool specified - just a much cheaper wool/acrylic mix because I hope I will be wearing it - and washing it - quite a lot this winter.

Well, wish me luck on the fairisle. Luckily, I have a How to Knit book by Debblie Bliss which goes over the basics, so hopefully I should be okay.

P.S. Apologies for crap nature of pictures - all lights on today as it's hammering it down!

Still Knitting

Okay, so I've finally finished this. I made it shorter than the pattern - it should have been 10cm longer on the lacey bit, but I wanted it to sit just above the hips, on the waist, so I shortened it. And I'm glad I did because it's just right like this.

It looks much better on! Especially with a white T-shirt underneath, as you can really see the lacey bit then. In fact I like it so much that I decided to use that luscious blue yarn I got from Woolfest to make another.

Only problem is - I don't have quite enough - arrggghhhh! However, luckily - and in an extremely rare fit of organisation - I managed to write down which stalls I got all my yarns from at Woolfest (I know, stunning, eh), so I know that I got this from Woolfish and I've been in touch to order another skein.

Meanwhile, as I wait for more blue yarn to arrive, I thought I'd start on this fabulous number - from the Kim Hargreaves Misty book.

As you can see, the back is shaped rather interestingly, and it's this bit you start with.

I've never done anything like this before, but you use a technique called wrapping. This is where you knit, say, the first 3 stitches, then you turn and knit back - but - you don't just turn, you do a sort of convaluted wrap-over thing with the yarn, so that you don't get a hole in the knitting. Then you knit back to the beginning. Then, the next row, you knit past your 3 stitches again picking up the 'wrapped' stitch, then carry on to say the 6th stitch and then wrap and turn again. So really you're just doing some shorter rows at one end of your needles. For this (above) you had to wrap and turn until you got to the 31st stitch. then you carry on across the needle to the other end and reverse it all. Very effective though, eh? It was made slightly more complicated for me on this because it's moss stitch and the wrapping technique is all about taking the yarn to the opposite side of your work before you wrap - so I had to really think about which side I should be wrapping. I know - this probably makes no sense whatsoever, but if you look it up on utube (as I did) you'll (hopefully) see what I mean!

It's knitted in this gorgeous Rowan Lenpur Linen, by the way - you can probably see it has a sort of sheen on it so that it reflects the light - beautiful.

At one point last week I randomly decided to knit a teddy bear. God knows why because I think they're a bit naff really, but this one just sort of appealed to me. So - here he is - named Timmy (by the boy). As you can see, he is wearing a rather lovely pair of pygamas (made from an old pair of the boy's!!). He is now the new bedtime teddy. I'm still not sure about him but he certainly looks chuffed with himself.

Tank Top Love

You know it's a funny thing, but I have just realised that I am a bit obsessed with Tank Tops. For years now, I have been on the holy grail of finding the perfect Tank Top. You see, being the classic pear shape that I am, my thinking is that the bulk/extra layer of a tank top on your top half kind of helps to balance out the hips. And yet, somehow, so many tank tops do not look right. Some do - I have 2 in my wardrobe that I wear - but I also have lots of others that look catastophic. Actually, tank tops are pretty hard items to find in the shops (perhaps because they are about 30 years out of fashion? I don't know, it could be that:).


Anyhow, it suddenly occurred to me the other day that a tank top would be the most perfect item of clothing for a 5 year old boy! Hurrah! An excuse to create my (well, his) very own tank top creation!

I used up the rest of my Rowan Milk Cotton on this, imagining it as some sort of 'cricket' top (NOT that he plays crickets, of course not), or teamed with some navy shorts.

I think it's turned out okay. So I'm going to start another one in this glorious yarn that I got from Woolfest. A perfect colour to go with jeans, no? I do hope the boy likes it (he hasn't seen it yet). Me thinks he might just be in for a few more tank tops in the future ...

Woolfest 2010

Oooh what fun we had! It was my first time at Woolfest in Cockermouth and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went with some ladies from my sewing group - 5 of us - and we had a really great day, totally indulging ourselves in all things woolly, creative and crafty. We paced ourselves - regular breaks and a packed lunch - and took our time looking at each stall and gathering hundreds of ideas and inspirations along the way.

I have to admit that I didn't take any photos of the show - because I'm a bit shy when it comes to getting my camera out - but I can tell you about come things that really caught my eye. Firstly, there was the lady who was knitting with what appeared to be broom handles! Her needles were huge! She was knitting with huge balls of strips of fabric, about an inch or two wide and making rugs! Fabulous idea. One of the girls bought 4 balls and a set of needles - enough to make a sizeable rug. Perhaps I'll get a picture when she gets going with it.

Secondly, the whole place was ablaze with stalls selling the most beautifully coloured yarns. Mostly hand-dyed, fabulous mixes of natural fibres - angora, alpaca, mohair, etc. It was very hard to know where to begin with it all - I was thinking in terms of knitting scarves and hats as xmas pressies this year, but I ended up being seduced by the wonders of knitting a lacy shawl. Oh, they were as light as a feather and just so beautiful. I don't know if my photos are going to do the colours justice - this is a lace-weight yarn that is hand-dyed and has flashes of orange, pink, rust and 100 shades inbetween.

Here I have started my first ever shawl, and first ever project with lace-weight yarn - I can tell you it's a bit like knitting with something as thin and delicate as a spider's web! Also - bizarely - and it took me ages to get my head around this - instead of starting at the V part of the triangle you are creating, i.e. the pointy bit - you actually start at the longest straight edge, but only cast on 7 stitches. Eh? And they you increase with the lacy pattern in the middle so that it pushes the edges out and when it's off the needles it will be straight. Guess we'll have to wait until it's finished to get a grip on that.

Here is a yarn - oh - it's kidsilk! It's like candyfloss (only not so sticky!). And again, the most beautiful shade of tuquoise with hints of grey.

And another shawl yarn - this time in a rich plum and this time a sock weight. Lace weight or sock weight are fine for shawls, I discovered.

And here is a DK weight in a fabulous blue - about the same colour as the boy's eyes, so I'm going to make him a tank top with it.

Skeins seemed to be the order of the day, although there were regular balls for sale too. I guess it's because people are spinning and dying their own.

Ahh - now this one is another DK weight one which I simply could not resist - look at those colours! Makes you want to dive right in there, doesn't it? We thought perhaps a long, thin scarf for this one.
And finally a few notions - the above are little felt beads - there were some fabulous examples of necklaces and bracelets around, made from felt beads, large and small.

And some interesting buttons! I also got some patterns for the shawls and some bags. So all in all, we came home loaded down, happy, exhausted and eager to get knitting!!