Cardigan FO and a new WIP

I finished the baby cardigan last night! I'm quite proud of this and think it came out quite well, I hope my cousin is pleased with it.

Here is the cardigan all knit and ready to sew up (note change to plain white yarn on the collar...oops!)

And here it is sewn up, buttons on, ends woven in and ready to go! I love the little duck buttons, I'm such a sucker for a cute button. In my little button stash I have more white ducks, some little red ducks, some mint green teddy bears and some darker blue teddy bears. So cute! I have some little pale blue elephants somewhere but they're not in my button tin so who knows where they've gotten to. I may have to get some more when I get paid and expand my cute button stash! I have one of these tins from Cath Kidston (now in the sale excitingly!) but it is quite empty so I need to buy lots more buttons to fill it up.

After finishing the cardigan I cast on for the first of my Christmas projects, a lace scarf for my husband's mum. I'm using the Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf pattern (Ravelry link) from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. It's a fantastic book with lots of beautiful lace shawl and scarf patterns and a stitch library with advice on how to design your own shawl. I must admit I will not be knitting the nupps in this pattern, I don't think MiL would like them and they use so much yarn so I shall save my yarn, I don't think it will spoil the pattern to miss them out. The scarf is knit in two pieces, the bottom edge and body of the scarf is knit before knitting the top edge and grafting the pieces together so the top and bottom edge match. I decided to knit the top edge first and save that on a spare needle (got to love interchangeable needles, I just took the tips off and put the little holders on to stop it slipping off the cable!) until I've knit the rest. This way I can decide how much yarn to use before I graft the pieces together and I wont run out.

In non knitting news there was a beautiful butterfly in our garden today, I'm not necessarily a bit butterfly fan (they're pretty creepy looking close up!) but the colours on this one were just beautiful! A look on-line (because I know nothing about butterflies) told me it's a peacock butterfly. I managed to get a picture with my camera phone before it flew away.

I have been told off by my husband for starting his mother's present before finishing his socks so I'd better get those cast on and knit soon for him!

Karma

Karma has bitten me in the rear. Of course, why wouldn't it? I accept that this is all my fault and I apologise to the knitting gods, to karma and to my mother.

Remember my mocking of my mother for running out of yarn recently?

Remember the law of knitting that you only run out of yarn when you have exactly the right amount?

Remember how when making a yarn substitution from that recommended in the pattern you should check your yardage?

Yes...well perhaps I forgot.

The collar is supposed to be 5cm, that little loop of yarn is all I have left.

Blast.

And now, the end is near...

The end of my baby cardigan WIP of course!

Last night I finished the button band and almost (just need to cast off) finished the buttonhole band. I just need to add the collar and sew it up and I'm done. I'm pleased with the knitting, we'll see how the making up goes! I'm going to press it to make the edges lie as flat as possible before I attempt the seams and I'll take it slowly and do the neatest job I can. I like baby knits, they're just so quick! This wasn't even the first size, I did a 3-6 months so it lasts a little longer but even then it has only taken just over a week to do. Good stuff, can't complain about that!

My mum came over on Tuesday and I took the opportunity to get her to help me with a bit of ball winding! I'm rubbish at it, just as I knit far too tightly I wind balls too tightly. I'm far better at holding the yarn whilst she gently winds in a way that matches her loose knitting. I have repeatedly tried to tell the lovely Mr.Northernmonkey that I need a ball winder but he wont be convinced...drat! Never mind though, that's what mum's are for right?!

This is the lovely, pink, squishy ball of merino sock yarn (purchased in the sock sale at www.yarnaddict.co.uk) destined to become a scarf for my mother in law...I'm rather hoping I have enough yarn over to whip up a pair of socks or at least little footies if not full length ones for myself as I do think the colour is rather scrummy. It's called Pimms and is all shades of dusky, rosy pink gorgeousness. I'm rather envious really and desperately want to keep it for myself but I wont, I promise! She wanted red actually and it looked more red on the website but I'm not using that as an excuse to get red yarn for her and keep this for myself, that is very naughty indeed and I can't afford to and don't need any more yarn until I've knit some of what I've got.

I don't know how much knitting time I'll get this weekend, I've volunteered to be a white van woman tonight and tomorrow for my cousin who is moving house, Mr.Northernmonkey will be helping me but I get to drive the van which I am very excited about, I do love driving vans! I desperately wanted one when I got my last car but alas couldn't justify it and got a car that is about as far from a van (in terms of size) as was probably possible. I'm always quick to volunteer though where people need moving assistance and van driving duties!

Important knitting to-do list:

Finish baby cardigan
Finish circle socks (how are these still unfinished?!)
Cast on MiL's scarf
Cast on second sock in pair for Mr.Northernmonkey (also still unfinished, WHY?!)

I'm not looking beyond those four things as my knitting to do list is just too vast and terrifying!

The baby cardigan continues

I've been looking at pictures of Knit Nation and all the goodies people brought back...oh my...I'm not jealous...not at all...not even a teensy bit.

Well maybe a teensy bit!

I couldn't go this year, I didn't have enough money anyway but even if I had we were visiting the in-laws and Mr.Northernmonkey's grandparents. Not something to skirt away from! Next time though Mr.Northernmonkey has said we can go so I should probably start saving up now!

I don't need more yarn anyway, aside from buying some yarn for Christmas present knitting I've not bought any for a little while and my sock club has lapsed and I wont be renewing until I get through some of my stash. Oh the stash...it's rather overwhelming. I don't know exactly how much there is, this was my last photo of it:



I know it has grown by then, at least by 5 pairs of socks worth of yarn, a skein of laceweight and some more baby yarn plus 4 skeins to be made into Christmas pressies. Oh dear oh dear! I also bought yarn specially to knit my lime green socks which isn't in that picture but went into the stash and was knit up straight away.

Of all the yarn in that picture I have only knit 2 of the balls of Regia (well almost knit as my circle socks are coming along) one and a bit balls of baby yarn for a little cardigan, one of the balls of Opal (half of as I only have one sock of the pair so far) and I've started knitting with the green laceweight. It's not good. I know there are people who have a lot more yarn than this and as stashes go it's pretty manageable BUT I don't knit particularly quickly, I don't get as much time as I'd like to knit and I really don't have the storage space to keep any more than this.

I do have definite plans for some of it. The Paton's Pompero is for a cardigan in progress, I have lots of baby patterns and lots of babies in the family or on the way to knit for and that raspberry coloured Debbie Bliss is destined to be a February Lady Sweater when I get the knit to knit one.

I continue to work on my current baby cardigan and now have the back and the left front plus the ribbing of the right front (not shown) it's an easy enough knit and goes quickly when I actually sit down and work on it but that's the problem, time to sit and work on it. Fortunately I have just about caught up with the housework which I'd been behind on since we returned from our holiday so now I should be able to get good knitting time every evening. I'll need it if I want to knit for my mum and mother in law and still finish another 5 pairs of socks before the year is out. Oh my!



In frustrating news I appear to have actually lost my compact digital camera leaving me with only a 7 year old and rather bulky one, it takes good photos and still works just fine (though takes AA batteries in place of a little rechargeable one like my compact and oh my does it burn through them, frustrating even when using rechargeable AA batteries) but it doesn't fit in my pocket or my handbag and it takes XD not SD cards and well...I like having a little dinky camera which weighs very little and can just be grabbed and taken in a pocket or a small handbag. Bah!

Instant gratification is not soon enough!

Once again I am without my usual camera, I have not seen it since we returned from our holiday last week, bad times. I fear I may have left it at the in-laws where we went on our way home from Wales but I am not certain, if I have then it’s not an enormous issue as we’re visiting them again this weekend and I can retrieve it. If it’s not there I’m not sure where it might be and am a little worried. I must apologise that my photos are of the camera phone variety today but I didn’t want to go another week with no pictures of my knitting.

I don’t have any finished objects to show. The shawl is still in the naughty corner and I don’t know how long it will be there but I don’t feel like picking it up again at the moment. I am slowly plodding along with my circle socks, the first was finished whilst I was on holiday and I’m working my way down the second though mostly this is bus knitting and is knit at a slow pace of a few rounds as and when I can fit them in.



I was getting bored of my circle socks, angry with my shawl and fed up of always knitting with fine yarn on tiny needles where progress just crawls. I needed to change things up a bit. I decided on Saturday to start a new project, something completely different to give me a boost and make me feel more enthusiastic about my knitting, something on slightly bigger needles with slightly thicker yarn (I’m also ignoring the cardigan for me I’ve been working on which is still two unfinished sleeves and nothing more!) so I went to my stash and my knitting pattern collection.

My cousin is having a little boy (so the scans say) which is due in September though the midwife has said it’s measuring big at the moment so may come sooner. I got some DK baby yarn out, just an inexpensive acrylic which I believe is by James C. Brett but I have lost the ball band. My cousin already has two children as it is never mind a new baby, she needs something that can be thrown in the washing machine with everything else! I got out one of my baby cardigan/jacket patterns from Sirdar, I LOVE Sirdar patterns, particularly the ones that go with the “Snuggly” yarn for babies. They are clearly written, the garments are so cute and I find the designs are classic ones that can be knit over and over, they just don’t go out of style. The booklet is 1569 and includes a pattern for a jacket with a hood, a jacket with a little collar and a hat with the cable pattern from the jackets running up the front. I’m knitting the collared jacket and if I have yarn leftover may make the hat to match. I do think the colours are rather lovely for this little boy but would suit just as well if the ultrasound was wrong and it’s a little girl. The yarn is also just perfect for the baby’s Grandad, Great-Uncle and Great-Aunt who are all determined that the baby will be a Leeds United fan! I love knitting baby things because it’s just so quick, the back was knit in a couple of hours and now I’m on the left front and it’s storming along. It makes such a change from the endless tiny stitches of sock knitting which I do love but sometimes you just need some instant gratification knitting!



I do need to have a look at my knitting notebook and remind myself of my knitting plans as I fear I am way off track. I am sort of on track for the 12 pairs of socks in 2010 plan, I’ve knit 6 pairs, have one and a bit circle socks and one of a pair for Mr.Northernmonkey so getting there, I do think I can achieve this goal. I’m not entirely sure what else I was supposed to be doing without looking. I must check!

The yarn has arrived to knit gifts for my mum and mother in law (for that evil December event) so I must get that wound and get started as they both want lace…eek! The colour for my mother in law looked rather more red on the website I ordered from but arrived a dusky rose colour, not quite what she had asked for (dark red) but I can’t send it back or afford to replace it so she’ll have to have a dusky rose pink scarf and not a red one. I hope she still likes it! It is a colour I’ve seen her wear a lot and it will suit her colouring (more than red in my opinion) so here’s hoping it’s OK!

If you’ve made it this far through a long and rambling post I’d like to say hello to the new followers I have gained recently, I hope my blog doesn’t bore you to tears and thank you for joining me here!

I'm doing science and I'm still alive

OK so I'm not doing science but I am still alive. Yay for references for Portal also.

This is just a me dropping in to say I am back from my holiday, my unpacking still isn't quite finished and the whereabouts of my camera are unknown. Not a great deal of knitting was done whilst I was away but I did finish the first circles sock and start the second one. My shawl hasn't progressed at all, nor has the second sock for my husband or the never ending sleeves of my cardigan.

My knitting has been going so slowly as I have struggled to find the time to actually sit and knit, I aim to change that and fit in more knitting time even if it's just making sure I knit a round of sock or two whilst tea is in the oven. Everything has been so hectic over the last few weeks but aside from finishing unpacking I do feel like things are calming down a little.

We have got two busy weekends ahead but they don't concern me too much. Our house is in a maintainable state of tidyness and we're on top of the washing, the garden needs attention but it wont stop raining and as long as everything is wet it will continue to grow and we can't cut it back, this makes me sad.

Yesterday I ordered the yarn I need for the two Christmas gift knits I intend to complete, this is part of why I really need to get on track with knitting more frequently. Both my mother and my mother-in-law have requested lace (though I'll be using 4ply, not laceweight) so I'd better get started soon if I actually intend to complete these projects and finish some items for myself.

If only I had staff to do all the boring things like housework whilst I knit away happily...being a lady of leisure and not requiring a full time job OR having a full time job where I could knit at work would also help!

In an attempt to make up for the lack of pictures an amusing tale of yesterday when I went to see my mother:

Me: What are you knitting mum?

Mum: It's a cardigan for my niece but I don't think I'll have enough yarn, I've knit this much sleeve and still have one sleeve to go and the button/neckbands/making up but only this much yarn

Me: Get your scales out and weigh how much that is and how much your current sleeve weighs, maybe there'll be enough

>>>The 4 rows or so off finished sleeve and knitting needle were weighed, the empty needle was weighed and weight subtracted off sleeve in progress with needle and remaining yarn was weighed. What was done of the sleeve weighed about 20g and there were 45g of yarn remaining<<<

Me: You might just have enough but probably not, why don't you use a contrasting colour for the button bands? That could look nice if you then get buttons in the colour of the yarn you used for the rest of it. Alternatively you could pull back your sleeve and do short or 3/4 length sleeves, then there'd be enough yarn

Mum: I don't know how to do shorten the sleeves and wont different colours look stupid? It doesn't make sense, the pattern said 200g and I had two 100g balls of yarn so I should have enough

Me: Well how many yards of yarn are there in 100g? You're not using the same yarn as the pattern, it might not be the same length of yarn

Mum: What?

Me: Different yarns, even if they're both DK may have different yardages, you should check

Mum: Well they're both acrylic, I'm sure they're the same

Me: Did you check your tension?

Mum: My tension is always perfect, I don't need to check it

Me: Maybe your tension is out and that's why you don't have enough yarn

Mum: I've never checked my tension, I've been knitting for 50 years, how long have you been knitting? I've never run out of yarn, my tension is always right

Me: You never run out of yarn because you always get extra, give me a tape measure

>>>I measure to find my mum is knitting 18 stitches and 27 rows to 10cm instead of 22 stitches and 30 rows<<<

Me: Your tension is wrong, no wonder you're running out of yarn, also this is going to be bigger than it's supposed to be across the chest

Mum: My tension is perfect though

Me: Well maybe life is teaching you a lesson, you had to go wrong once at some point. You only have two balls of this yarn don't you? There is no extra in this colour is there? You've had it in your stash for ages haven't you?

Mum: Yes

Me: I believe you are experiencing what is commonly known as sod's law, it's all explained in my Yarn Harlot books, want to borrow them? They're good

Mum: ***things I will not repeat here because there may have been some swearing***

I believe the child's mother may be relieved that there is not enough of the shockingly bright yarn to finish this cardigan and I tried to sooth my mum by offering her some nice, subtle yarn from my stash in cream, lilac and pink with which she could knit a new cardigan with yarn left over and not in a violent shade of highlighter pen yellow.

I promise photos in the next post at least of the finished circle sock if nothing else.

This is where I throw a little strop...

Remember that pretty lacy thing I was working on? All green and merino/silk blend with such a lovely, delicate pattern...that thing I was almost done with the second repeat of the main pattern of? That thing I was so proud of?

Pride comes before a fall.

Here is my latest photo, you may notice that I have gone backwards since my previous photo.

Please excuse the blur, I suppose I was shaking with rage or too angry to check that I was in focus! Note I'm back on a proper digital camera and not my phone though it's not my usual, it's my bulky and old digital camera which annoyingly seems to take better pictures than my newer little one! ANYWAY. I messed up. I messed up badly. I noted my mistakes and tried to frog to my lifeline, I messed that up too. Then the yarn snapped. ARGH. So here I am, starting over, I'm not too angry. Honest.

There has also been progress on other, less frustrating, knitting projects. I am knitting my second pair of circle socks. I like this pattern, it is easy to memorise, looks really clever whilst being easy-peasy AND it looks good in self striping yarn which I have rather a lot of. This particular self-striping is Kaffe Fassett design line exotic colour in "zany" and I do rather like it.

I also finished (the toe isn't grafted in the picture but in reality it's done) the first of the socks I'm knitting for Mr Northernmonkey using the Opal yarn he bought for me whilst we were in Berlin. I don't know why I took so long on this (well I do as I was drawn away by exciting patterns and softer yarn but we wont talk about that!) as when I was focused on these they knit up quickly. I must get the second one done though in the current hot weather I'd say he isn't in such a rush for wool socks.

I have packed my knitting back for a little jaunt away next week, I have of course over packed in this area but the thought of not having enough knitting is just too terrible to contemplate! I've put in the circle sock (and the second ball of yarn to make it's friend) and my shawl as well as another 2 balls of Kaffe Fasset sock yarn (exotic colour pool this time, a bargain from Kemps of course!) should I finish the circle socks and want another mindless, sockish knitting project. We're going with 4 friends and two small children so I do wonder whether the shawl will be knit on at all, I fear it requires too much concentration for such a holiday! I am rather excited that for once I will not be doing all of the driving as we are sharing a car with two of the friends so I will get car sock knitting time, fantastic! I never usually get this.

I will be back with tales of our trip in just over a week, I shall try to hunt down yarn shops though technically I am stashing busting and not supposed to be buying more yarn. I am trying but I fear failing to convince my friends we should go to the wool museum!