Knitting again

It's been a while since I really knitted much of anything or even picked up the needles for a while there.
Lately the mojo seems to be coming back thanks to a visit to Tigers where I sat and knit and remembered how much I like it.
I have been working a little on Rogue.
I finished a pair of socks and a beanie.

Trekking Socks.

Usual 72st stocking stitch socks.

Turn a square beanie by Jared Flood.
Must bribe Miss B to model for more than 5 seconds.
I used Bendigo Rustic in Midnight Tweed gifted by Kate and leftover Noro. I don't like the brown so much but it was fun to make.


Which means it's also time to play with some new yarn and give in to startitis. I can't have the mojo running away again ;p

Jasmine by Kim Hargreaves.

Cotton.
Cotton in 4 ply.
Not may favourite thing to work with. It feels nice but kills my hands.

And Eastlake by Norah Gaughan.

Love. Love. Loving this.

So is Temperance.

I have kitty assistance everytime I pull this out.
I have never had a cat that liked yarn this much and it's very slow going.
Knit 3 stitches, save yarn from teeth, knit 3 stitches, save yarn from claws. Repeat.

The yarn is incredibly soft and squishy so I can hardly blame her for liking it so much.

A busy week

Last weekend Miss B and I went to the Spinners and Weavers open day at Little Hampton with Miss A and Tigers.

Dispite the yarn and ready made knitwear on offer, I found most of it just wasn't me. I did find myself fascinated with the bits and pieces in the stall offering shawlpins, tapemeasures and earing holders though.

What did others think of the offerings???

I finally got Miss B to stand still for 5 seconds and model Black Black Black.




She loves it.



The Bendigo Classic seems to pick up and hold every bit of fluff and fur possible. It probably would have looked better knitted at a tighter gauge and I really don't like the neck. It's what Miss B wants though so I guess for now it stays.




I finished my fetchings.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in Black - 1 and a bit balls leftover from making Tubey.

Needles: 4mm dpns.

I had a discussion on Stash with a class mate.

Hi Marcus :)

His mother is a quilter and therefore he totally understands the concept of stash.

There is no such thing as too much stash, there is only the question of having enough for a particular project.

Usually you don't have enough of a particular item and therefore purchasing more stash is entirely appropriate.

Marcus's Mum has taught him well!!!!

I started Elbac

and I received an Options Folder with I managed to snaffle in the Destash Thread on Ravelry.

Thanks Barb!!!

Settled now?

Between moving, classes starting up again, personal happenings and the ridiculous heat we have had lately, I just haven't felt settled.

Funnily enough my knitting seems to follow the pattern of my current classwork. Scattered and all over the place.
I start off all enthused and race along until something gets tricky/ I make a mistake/ I don't understand something. Then I skip ahead to the next section as best I can.
Ultimately I have to come back to that point and fix it to be able to finish it.

Guess what I am doing this afternoon...........and no it's not knitting :(.




Where does that leave me with my knitting?

Spotlight socks - Yarn needs major untangling.

Opal socks - I need to rip back a few rows, my feet aren't THAT long.

Black Black Black - I need to sew up the pieces.......... someone send seaming mood.

Mitts - I need to rip back......... I forgot to increase for the thumb duh.......... oh and what do I do with all those ends? Do I just leave them and sew them in later? Do I sew them in along the way? If so........ how and where?

Rogue - I love this. I have separated the front and back.
Working on the back and eeek, my tension seems to have changed.

I think I know how to fix this, I am just not in the mood to rip back just now.



That is one pile of uninspiring knitting staring at me. It all needs fixing of some sort.


What to do, what to do.......... ohhhhhhhhh I know cast on............

YAY!!! Cleckheaton Angora Supreme in grey. Cast on Gretel for me.

Knit, knit, knit.

What the ??? Broken yarn........

Join yarn.

Knit, knit, knit.

Broken yarn......... eeek moths have been munching.

Throw yarn down in disgust.

Get out other ball of yarn and wind it to check for damage.

Perfect ball, nothing wrong with it. Trust me to have started with the moth eaten ball.

Wonder why moths ate one ball and not the other. Decide it doesn't matter and just be grateful they left me something to knit with.

Decide it's time to work on the one thing that doesn't need fixing.

Cobblestone.

Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed raided from stash.

Happy Holidays

I am hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying your holidays as much as I am.

Christmas Day was spent at the beach with a picnic lunch.
Eat when you want, doze when you want.
Walk along the waters edge when you want and of course chatter and catch up.

My family is one of those which seems to be not only spread out all over the place, but also have family members who work during the holidays, so we have several smaller gatherings and it can take weeks to catch up with everyone.
The benefit......... Christmas lasts for weeks :)



Also benefitting from the holidays is my knitting.



Madder Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.
Yarn: Hot Socks Lincraft Brand
Needle: 2.5 mm
Notes:
I cast on 72 stitches and fudged the ribs a bit. There was no way the original stitch count was ever going to fit.
I also used my standard toe as by the time I got back to these I had forgotten I was supposed to be following a pattern.








A gifted Gretel and a very happy Nannna.

My Nero project has grown.

Rosedale United from Knitty.

The body is done, the sleeves are done. I just need to join them together and keep knitting.

Flitting all over the place

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time just staring off into space and wondering why we are here.

Why do some people die early and others seem to live forever?

Do each of us really have something we are meant to achieve in this lifetime?

If so, what is it?



Losing someone close also makes you look a little more closely at your own life.

Am I living in a way that makes me happy?

Am I really focusing on the goals that matter?

Do I still want what I previously wanted?

What do I want the most?


All of this in an attempt to deny the reality of just how little control we have in our lives and how much it scares me.

Luckily I can control yarn and needles.

The back of miss B's BlackBlackBlack Jumper

A Blue sock in Patonyle.

A Sleeve in Noro.

And Crochet.

Inspired by the dishclothes I saw over at Brainylady's I decided to give these a go.

Shush about the fact that mine came out as a long rectangle. I just kept going till the ball of cotton ran out.

And Thankyou to those of you who left messages or e mailed. It means a lot.

November, ribbing and yarn additions

It's November and there is a challenge I have seen floating about.
National Knit A Sweater Month.

Considering how I flit between projects I decided to give this a miss. I think I enjoy watching everyone else race to the finish line more than participating.

What I did decide to do was play with Noro in November after being inspired by all the Noro Knits I saw last November.






And just because I had nothing on the needles that wasn't at some point of needing concentration I started a beanie for Miss B's Uncle.

Miss B's Black yarn has arrived. Time for some craziness.

And as a reward for even considering to attempt black ribbed craziness 5 balls of Rustic Red Currant joined to order.

I did have plans for a wrap cardy but I think this yarn wants to be something else.

Now it's purple's turn

The Project Spectrum triad of purple, orange and brown has arrived and it feels like I have been waiting for this segment of project spectrum since the begining.

Purple is a colour that I really like and yet I don't seem to work with it very often. I am particular about the shades of purple that I like and often end up taking blue or pink yarn home instead.

Brown is pretty low in my preference list generally and often only makes it's way into my basket for the purpose of making C a beanie. Having said that there is a Noro combination with purples and brown in it that I'd like to play about with.

Orange. Miss B likes orange. I don't mind it on other people but I really don't like it for myself.
I think the only orange in my stash is a splash of orange in a multicoloured ball of sockyarn.
I seriously doubt orange will get a look in during the next two months.

Purple obviously has priority for me during this triad and so far my present list of projects to work on consists of:


Wicked.
I am loving this.












Sidar Eternity Pullover.






And for some brown I have the adore socks on the needles.







What's on your list???

Ribby Pullover

Here is the start of the Ribby Pullover.





Ok so it's half done and I am already thinking grey wasn't such a good idea colour wise.

It is nice after the brightness of the cleckheaton country silk, but depending on the lighting this looks grey/ muddy brown.



Remind me that it really wouldn't hurt to make myself a jumper in black.



I loved knitting the body in the round. The sleeves not so much.
Ribbing and DPN's is a combination that I can manipulate easily enough. I just don't like to, therefore sleeves progress very slowly.

I am considering buying a small circular to do the other sleeve on.

This is something I probably should avoid; I can envision the different sized sleeves already.

Holidays

I am loving this lot of holidays, just enjoying the break from deadlines and having to be places at certain times.

I have been spending a lot of time doing a lot of not much. Sitting in the sunshine, playing with the cats and guilt free knitting.

Catching up on blog lines and drinking way too many cups of tea.

Shopping for yarn with Tigers, and convincing ourselves that the yarn we bought in the first store doesn't resemble the yarn we bought in the second store in any way.
The fact that both of my purchases were of the same brand means nothing.
Actually it may mean that I end up with knitted items that I can wear together for once. Or not.



Miss B is happy, her cap is done.




Cabled Newsboy Cap from Stitch and Bitch Nation.
5mm and 6mm needles
Cleckheaton Country 12 ply in Black.

Now that hers is done I am thinking I'd like a black one too. Me who doesn't wear hats. I just want one, same as I want a beret that I wont wear either.



To make Chris happy and show that I do have arms, although most days I could do with a couple of extra ones.......




Cleckheaton Country Silk raglan sleeve roll neck jumper.

Cleckheaton Country Silk 13 balls
Colour Overly bright berry
4mm needles

I added 5cm extra to the length meaning I worked 40cm of the body before starting shaping for the arms.
I am still undecided about how this looks but I love how it feels.
It is comfortable and warm and I'd like another jumper that fits like this but in something not so bright. The sleeves could be about 1cm longer too.

It's Done...

The Cleckheaton Country Silk roll neck jumper is done.

Finally. All finished.

And I'm still not sure if I like it or not.

It is warm and comfortable, it's just bright. And bitsy.

I am happy to have it done and off the list of WIP's.

I forgot to get Tigers to take a picture for me, hence you only get to see part of it.

In other knitting news, I gave in, I started Miss B's Black Newboy Cap.

C has put in requests for black knits also.

I have put in a request for black yarn to be purchased by someone other than me.

Let's see what happens.

Sneaky little things

Just when I thought I had the WIP list under control a few sneaky little things jumped in front of the que.



First was C's Brown Beanie.



This is the second one of theese I have made for him and somehow I made this one a little too short. ( Avoiding ribbing......... no not me........)



So now it is fixed.



Next was another beanie, this time for Miss B.

I figured if she is going to run off with my scarf she may aswell have a beanie to go with it.

Only thing is, now thats it's done, it really doesn't go with the scarf. Ah well.
At least it will be warm.




Back to my knitting




The start of the roll neck jumper







using Cleckeaton Country Silk in the berry colour.

I can't decide if I like this or not. Some days I really like the brightness and other days I have no idea what I was thinking.
The bits throughout are bigger than I was envisioning and I tend to think it looks a bit worn out and 'bitsy' without even being finished.

On the upside it is really nice to knit with and I have someone waiting to claim it if I hate it when it's done.

Isn't mum nice? She is making a blanket just for meeeeeeeeee.