Mittens Schmittens.......

After finishing the Irish Hiking Scarf I wanted some mittens to go with it.
Sounds logical, even sounds pretty simple.

So why did I spend the weekend knitting a pair of ginormous mittens?

Something to do with ladies mittens not being big enough to not squash fingernails and me totally underestimating how much bigger mens mittens are.

No wonder I like Fetchings so much.........

Letting go

Sometimes a knit just isn't working, you know it but you keep trying anyway. You knit a couple of rows here and a couple of rows there. But the whole time you really aren't enjoying it.
You don't like the look of it, you don't like how it feels and working on it has become a chore.

Yet if you put it aside and work on things you enjoy, you feel guilt. You know it really wouldn't take long to finish if you just worked on it.

The knit has become more than a chore, it has become a burden.
Something that sits quietly in it's basket niggling at you and taking away the pleasure of knitting.

Realistically this is only my own expectations of what I should make, should finish and how long something should take me to do that is niggling at me.

Yes, I could work on that scarf, I could finish it and it probably wouldn't take that long.
But I am not enjoying it and knitting is meant to be fun.
I really don't know why I have so much trouble admitting when something isn't working, why I have to keep trying and trying.

Yarn can be un knitted.
It can be rewound.
It goes back in the stash all too easily. Once you start. Bye Bye lace scarf.


So winding and placing yarn back into the stash happened yesterday creating space for something I want to work on. Something I have wanted to make since I first discovered blogland.

The Irish Hiking Scarf.

UFO Update

I seem to have gotten over the sniffly cold just in time for C to share his viral thingy with me.

Blah, there are times when sharing is NOT a good thing.

To distract myself from feeling crappy I went through the knitting basket and had a look at the UFO's.

Mistake ridden shawl which I just don't want to knit anymore = May's Frogged Project

Next up is the lace scarf.
C keeps making comments about this looking like his Nanna's curtains.

I already have doubts about this scarf. It was gfoing to be for someone else but I am really not loving it and I don't know that they will.
This may become June's frogged project.
What do you think?

Back to where I started from.....

A few more little projects that snuck their way on to my list.

A grey beanie for C.
Odd decrease placement, but it fits.
This was knit in Liza Leo, which is an alpaca, linen, wool blend.
It sounds nice but is is horrible to work with and seems to go out of shape as you knit it.
I have some more of this yarn but I have a feeling it will be returned to the store.




Something I am much happier with is how well Miss B's Mittens turned out.
Made with Totem yarn that I snaffled for $1 a ball. Sometimes it pays to look under the clearance table.

And now, maybe I can pay some attention to the cleckheaton jumper.

Or maybe something else will jump out and distract me.............

Unravelling

Unravelling is what you spend your time doing once you go back and look at any knitting you did while you had a cold.

The cleckheaton counrty silk jumper was almost done. Front, back and both sleeves were knit.

I got ready to seam and looked at the pieces again. Something was wrong.
It looked a little........... short.

Yep, I had forgotten to add the extra length I normally add to anything I want to actually wear. With my head all clogged up I had blindly followed the pattern and was left with something that would probably even have been too short for Miss B.

So riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip it went, back to the armhole shaping.


Casting on isn't such a great idea when your head is all clogged up either. It involves counting........

So last night I cast on, yet again.
This time it is mittens for Miss B.

I had planned........

Last week

I had planned on having the Country Silk jumper all knitted, seamed and finished over the weekend.

I had planned on posting a project spectrum related post.

I had planned on answering Katie's tag for 7 random things.

I had planned on finishing that another sneaky beanie that made it to the list.

I had planned on starting a new project.

What happened instead was

I ended up with a lovely snotty cold type of thing with bonus nausea that makes you feel crappy and unable to think properly.

Miss B spent several days exhibiting teenage behaviour in ways that seemed to take enormous amounts of time and effort to work through. Just what you need when you are already feeling crappy.

I spent a crazy amount of time searching the internet for tafe related purposes, (I swear they hide these things on purpose). Knitting related activities are so much easier to find.

I did manage to cast on a new project. Yep that's it. Cast on is all I did.

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.

More FO's

My So Called scarf is done amd I love it. Unfortuantely so does Miss B.

The only good thing about her liking it is that I have an excuse to make another one for myself.
That would involve buying more yarn, what a pity.




Also done are Dashing.

These I'm not so sure about.
I think it's the extra length on the arms , it feels weird.



Slowly my WIP list is going down and it feels good to not have so many projects hanging over my head.
As much as it was fun to cast on the second I found something I wanted to make, having so many projects going at once became a burden.
I felt pressure to work on this, and then, no I should be working on that.
It just took all the fun out of knitting and I found that really hard to accept.
For me knitting has always been fun and when it wasn't....... I felt a bit lost.

So for now I will keep working on those WIP's and add a frogpond item to the rotation every now and again.

Although I really, really would like to cast on for the Ribby Pullover.................

Interview Meme

Last week I read Nat's Interview meme. I really liked meme as it's a chance to get to know a little bit more about the people on the other side of the screen. I never knew she chased her husband........ go Nat!

I asked her to interview me.....

1. How long have you been knitting?

My Mum taught me to knit when I was about 8.
Chunky plastic needles, red acrylic yarn, 2 garter stitch rectangles sewn together to become a vest.
I remember being disappointed that my knitting didn’t look anything like Mum’s knitting and it took me sooooooo much longer to do.
I don’t remember if I wore the vest once it was done or not, I just remember those never ending garter stitch rectangles.

I played about with knitting here and there while growing up but really didn’t focus on it, I was much happier to spend my time curled up with a book.
Then Feathers came along; and I made a few scarves. I got bored with that pretty quickly and went on to beanies.
It probably would have dropped off again there as I wasn’t ready to jump in and tackle anything bigger, but then I discovered knitting blogs.
I also discovered bloggers’ fascination with knitting socks.
Some loved it, some hated it and many said turning heels was really hard.
That was the bit that got me, how could so many bloggers love making socks if it was so hard? So I had to try it, to figure out what was so great about it and to see if it really was that hard.

I bought a pattern, some sock yarn and a set of dpn’s. I took forever making those socks, procrastinating to avoid the heel.
I gave up trying to read ahead in the pattern, it just didn’t make any sense to me.
I stuck to one step at a time and it worked, I had socks.Then I wore those socks, and I liked it. They were so warm. I also found I liked wool much, much more than acrylic.
Damn…. There began the addiction.

2. What is your ultimate project?

This one changes depending on my mood, but usually involves something that involves

(a)lots of concentration (Diamond Fantasy Shawl: I know this doesn’t require much effort for others, but I have a talent for losing yarn overs).

(b) being rather large(Cabled Afghan: if it requires more than a jumpers worth of yarn I will be attacked by startitis and never get back to it).

(c) being beyond my budget and so luxurious that I would never wear/use the item due to fear of ruining it.

3. What are your pet knitting/ blogging dislikes?

Knitting dislikes

: Ribbing
: Ribbing
: Ribbing (Mum, look at your socks: Yes, I really, really love you :)
: all the really nice yarn lives in another country
: all the really nice yarn costs a lot
: my child insists that yarn fumes are not food
: I knit faster in my head than I do in reality. Very disappointing when I want something finished.

Blogging dislikes

: Wanting to blog and remembering I haven’t taken a picture yet. Always happens when it’s dark and cold.
: Wanting to blog but having no knitting progress and nothing to say.
: Wanting an update on someone’s blog….. and they haven’t blogged yet. Yes I am impatient.

4. Favourite memory of your child

Hmmmmmmm, this one is hard. What to share? What to share?

Miss B draws a lot and I try and keep up with the constant supply of paper, pencils and pens she seems to go through.
At Mum’s she was given a workbench to create on and exterior paint to play with. She spent the day happily explaining to Mum what she was doing and what colours she wanted next.
I’m not sure what she loved more, Mum’s total trust in her abilities to create something appealing or the chance to express her creativity in a medium other than pencil and paper.
It could have been just the chance to get messy. Either way she was glowing.

Watching your Mum and your child get messy creating something together is definitely memorable. ( Mum managed to get much messier than Miss B)

It’s even better when you don’t have to clean up the mess.

5. Favourite comfort food/ item (can be yarn...)

Chocolate!!!

As much as I love yarn, if I am craving comfort I tend to gravitate to pattern books and magazines.
Deciding what I’d like to make next is much more comforting than untangling yarn or frogging.


DIRECTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW MEME
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explaination and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

A Meme

I did end up posting Mum's socks, Express Post, so hopefully she got them yesterday. I am hoping they dropped them off in her letterbox and didn't leave that annoying little red and white card that means you have to run to the post office. If that happened she may not get them until Monday or later.
I should have just held on to them.

Here's a meme, just because I was curious about what I have or haven't done.

Here's the key: Bold for stuff I've done, italics for stuff I plan to do one day, and normal for stuff I'm not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Top-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
KnitHousehold items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
KitchenerBO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
EntrelacKnitting
purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
IntarsiaKnitting
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Mum's socks are done!!!

I would love to say that these were finished and gifted on the weekend in time for Mum's birthday, but they weren't. I finished grafting the toes and sewing in ends just now.

Kit pretending she wasn't about to sit on the socks

Throw some ribbing into my knitting and it slows me down a lot.
3X1 rib in Cleckheaton Marino Bambino. Soft and machine washable.



Now the dilemma is do I post them and hope they get to her tomorrow?

Remember this is Australia Post we are talking about.



Or do I hold onto them so I can give them to her in person if we manage to catch up this weekend.



I have visions of her dropping in and me having nothing to give her because I posted it.



Blah!.

Another Finished Object!!!

Kneewarmers are done.

They are funny looking things, all bumpy and odd shaped.
I feel kind of weird sending these off to Great Grandma,



they look so odd, yet they are what she asked for.

Central Park Hoodie all done and dry

The sun came out after all today, so you finally get to see a finished and dry Central Park Hoodie.

Yay, something green for project spectrum.

I love this pattern.

Once again I used Bendigo Rustic yarn in 12 ply, this time in Elm.

5.5mm Addi Turbos for the cuffs and body. I only changed to 4.5mm Addi's for the sleeve cuffs.

I used just under 4 balls ( they are 200gm balls) so I have a ball left to play with.

I am taking the fact that Miss B doesn't want to take it off as a sign that she likes it.

As a bonus you get to see Miss B in her cow pj's.

I have no idea why she couldn't put some jeans on, but she is 13, there doesn't have to be a reason.

Kit and Lucy think Miss B should decide what to wear.

Central Park Hoodie is done and washed and is now taking it's time drying.



Miss B wants to wear it 'right now', so of course the weather has decided to help by being wet and gray the last few days.

I have been working on Great Grandma's Knee Warmers. I have figured out the short rows, but am having problems with gaps. I am fine when increasing, no gaps at all. The wraps do their job perfectly.

As soon as I started decreasing there were huge gaps.

I think it has something to do with the huge markers I was using to mark my place, I may have knit a bit looser to accomodate the marker. Although I used the same markers for the increases with no problem.

I probably just need more practice. Hopefully the second one will come out better.

Lucy had claimed CPH as her personal blanket and really isn't happy about it being finished. It's no fun sitting on throw rugs that you are allowed to sit on.

Almost done

Central Park Hoodie is soooooo close to being done, just the button band to do.

What do I decide to do instead?

No. I didn't cast on for something else. I did start rearranging furniture though.

So of course I am now in the middle of it all and have furniture blocking all the doorways and haven't quite decided what to move next to make room for moving the next thing.
I figured I was just too tired last night so I went to bed thinking I would be able to make more sense of it all once I had had some sleep.

I got up this morning only to find that I feel crappy, all achy and nauseuous. Blah.

Miss B then decided to tell me she has a sore throat and a runny nose.

All I want to do is curl up on the couch with my knitting.

I have a wardrobe, three bookshelves and some other bits of furniture in between me and my knitting.

Temptation

It is bad enough that my last shade card from this place went missing.
( I think someone hid it from me in an effort to prevent yarn purchases and just so they know, no it didn't prevent yarn from finding a new home here).

A new shade card was sent out and drooled over and so far I have been resisting.

But now they have done it.

Bendigo Woolen Mills have an online store.

I don't think I can resist anymore.

Knitterly guilt?

I was reading I heart knitting where Amanda mentioned wanting a scarf from a store, but not feeling that she should not buy it as she knits, she could make one. She probably wouldn't ever make it, but she could.

I do this too.

I walk around in stores and see jumpers/ sweaters/ scarves that I figure I could make better/ a little longer/ cheaper/ in a nicer colour. Wool instead of acrylik. For whatever reason, the item stays in the store and I go home dreaming of knitting yet another item for Miss B and my wardrobes.

Thats where it has become a problem as it mostly stays a dream.

There is only so much knitting time in a day and the WIP list insists on growing.
The store bought knitwear in this house is slowly wearing out or being grown out of and since I decided I was smart enough to knit something wearable, these things haven't been replaced as they once would have been.

During the last two weeks while Miss B has had school holidays and was able to wear her normal clothes instead of her uniform I discovered that she has grown. A lot.

Her jumper status , once I remove the ones that now imitate 3/4 sleeve tops, is down to
- 1 school jumper
- 1 other jumper

Eeeeeeeeeeek! Knit faster?? Go shopping??

Do other knitters experience this?

Do you feel that since you now knit, that you shouldn't be buying store bought knitwear?

Is there a place for store bought knits in a knitters home?

Do you suffer knitterly guilt?

Something we did in the holidays that wasn't knitting

We dig out an old picture frame.

Ditch the glass.

Drill a heap of holes in the backing.

You could probably just poke holes through with a hammer and nail, but I didn't have any nails and the drill was much more fun.

Glue some fabric over the ugly backing.

Get lazy and decide to paint the frame later.

Put the frame back together and stick earings through holes.







Decide a bigger frame would be better next time, but for now be happy with cheap holiday entertainment and cute earing storage.








Just to add to the knitterly chaos that my loungeroom has become, I decided there was someone else I wanted to make something for. My Mum.

The WIP list multiplied so quickly last week that I really don't think one more will hurt.


Here is kit with the start of some blue socks .


Now just remind me not to give the blog link to my Mum until these are done and gifted.

Funny things happen in school holidays. All the projects I have been thinking about casting on all term suddenly demand that I start them now. So of course I pick something. Something called "My So Called Scarf"

It feels really good to be working on something new.

Then something else happens. We have a few cooler nights and requests start sneaking in.

A brown beanie for one person. A beanie is a pretty small project, I can deal with that.

Miss B decides that if I can knit for that person, then it's about time I started her Central Park Hoodie. She is right, so Central Park Hoodie gets started.

Nanna looked like she would really like to run off with a pair of fetchings last time she was here, so she gets a pair made especially for her, colour chosen by Miss B.

We visit Nanna and drop off her Fetchings . Big grins and squishy hugs follow.

Nanna definately knows how to recieve a handknit and has ensured a place in the "people to knit for" list.

Later that night we speak to Great Grandma, recipitant of the Green Tree Frog Socks ( also on people to knit for list), and she explains that since having knee surgery her knees ache. The Doctor has recommended she keep her knees warm and could I please make her some knee warmers.

Of course I can.

Well, I could if I actually knew what they were.

Something like leg warmers I was imagining.

And this is where I love the internet so, so much.

http://www.sarahpeasley.com/freepatterns/philskneewarmer.pdf

A pattern. Already there. Exactly what I need. Perfect.

And that is how the WIP list grows.

Weekend happenings

Yesterday

Tigers and I attended Denise and Helen's commitment ceremony.

The weather was perfect, the waterfall was beautiful, the bubbles were fun and the couple are so obviously in love with each other.

It was an honour to be a part of it and to be reminded just how wonderful love is.

Today

I knit.

And Knit.

And Knit.

And then I cast off.

I am really, really happy with how Urban Aran has turned out.

I am a little worried about putting in a zipper.

Actually I think I am more worried about being able to find a zipper.