Amour-propre

I MADE A WHOLE THING!

I ordered a knitting kit from We Are Knitters as I liked the pattern so much, despite being somewhat against knitting kits. I align them with buying something off the hook that everyone else is buying, but I wanted that damn pattern so I found a discount code and got me one. I ordered the colour of wool that 90% of people seem to order so I can just about shut up about knitting kits and admit they are a great way into knitting garmets.

Here's the kit. The needles are divine to knit with, the pattern is patchy in translation from Spanish.

Started with an easy rib, the cotton has a lovely silk sheen.

Progress was slow to begin with but the moss stitch is really beautiful in the aquamarine. It's so much easier to knit something nice to look at.

This is the turning point. Ten rows off changing stitch..

..and when I got there, eyelet stitch defeated me around 7 times. It is a very very easy stitch but you have to concentrate to ensure the yarn forwards are all carried out. I learned that you can't rip back one row of eyelet stitch (well, I can 't!). Anything with K2tg seems impossible to go backwards with so I repeatedly ripped back to the foundation row and started again and again, sometimes I was ten rows in and the whole thing got hurled across the room. Regardless, perseverance and perfectionism pays off. A quiet room is a must.

One side finished and an exact copy to make next. It was a joy to lay out and touch.

After sewing both sides together, picking stitches up on the arms holes was fairly easy. Unfortunately, I misjudged the size/number of stitches the first time and had to start again. I repeated my mistake on the left arm 4 times. As you can see, it's still a little smaller than the right but nothing a bit of blocking can't sort out.

Oh, Pretty Yarn! AKA 'Add to Basket'

I've been on a yarn spree again. I chose 564 patterns I wanted to try out, including a couple of gifts I want to knit and yet again, I need just one more piece of equipment to make any of them. If you are in the UK, I'd recommended Wool Warehouse for your supplier if you are as impatient as me. I receive next day delivery service on a standard delivery charge every single time.

In the intermittent delivery period, while I wait for my 97 pence cable needle, I decided to try and knit another hat on the circular needles. As my head is huge and the last ski cap was a little like trying to squeeze ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag, I decided to base the pattern loosely on the Vermonter Hat pattern I tried last time and increase the amount of ribbing rows on the brim and increase the crown of the hat in length by a few more too. This is what happened this afternoon...

Now, I will go as far as to say I am neat. I am neat as fuck. This shit isn't even blocked yet and I can't stop looking at my neatness. However, it is still on the tight side and the wool is a little stiff when knit-up so the hat stands to attention when worn on the head and looks a lot like an acorn, or a pear. I'm sure it would look a lot better on a smaller head but there are no smaller heads here right now. 

So neat it sets my teeth on edge

Simple materials

Anyway, for a simple quick knit, try this very vague pattern loosely based on the Vermonter Hat pattern:

Materials

• 8mm 16 inch/40 cm circular needle
• Chunky or Super Chunky wool that is designed for 8mm needles. I used Sirdar Hayfield Super Chunky in Oats
• Set of four or five 8mm double pointed needles - five is easier
• Stitch marker
• Tapestry needle

Gauge

I don't know, I didn't measure. I'm not up to this stage in my knitting life yet.

Instructions

1. Cast on 44 stitches any god dam way you want. I did it using my regular thumb cast on.
2. Place your stitch marker on the right needle and join for working in the round - watch this if you don't know how.
3. For the brim, knit as many rows as you like in K1 P1 ribbing i.e Knit one then purl one without stopping until your brim is as wide as you want it to be. Don't drop any stitches or it will go horribly wrong.
4. For the main section of the crown (before you want to start decreasing and making it narrower, knit every row until you feel you'd like to start tapering down.
5. Start decreasing. You will need to change to your DPNs at some point here. If you don't know how, watch this - I used the Vermonter decreasing method without the purling, which is as follows:

Rounds 1: Knit
Round 2: *K2tog, knit 5* repeat all the way around
Rounds 3: Knit
Round 4: *K2tog, knit 4* repeat all the way around.
Round 5: Knit
Round 6: *K2tog, knit 3* repeat all the way around.
Round 7: Knit
Round 8: *K2tog, knit 2* repeat all the way around.
Round 9: Knit
Round 10: K2tog all the way around

Now there should be 6 stitches left on your needles. If not, it doesn't really matter. Take your needles out carefully and using the working yarn threaded through the tapestry needle (or using your fingers), thread the yarn through the open stitches then pull it tight like a drawstring. Neaten up/secure the loose thread as you like.

If you want, make a pom pom and sew it on top to conceal any hideous mistakes you might have made in the last minute. Done.

Now, i'm off to look at my impossibly beautiful garden rose that has bloomed twice the size of the picture below. Pure melancholy!

Rose from my garden

I've made a goddamn hat.

I've made a hat. It actually fits on my head. I'm making a noise only dogs can hear, I'm that delighted.

Proud of hat, ashamed of hair

I noticed someone on Tumblr (If it was you, thank you!) trying out The Vermonter Hat and had managed to finish it over night. I took a look at the free pattern on Ravelry made by Abi Gregorio, realised I could probably do it with a few small purchases, and it worked a treat. It took four hours, no tears and only some minor hesitation when changing from the circular needles onto the double points when closing up the top. I highly recommend the pattern for a first attempt at a hat.

What I did do wrong was fail to check the gauge/tension of the yarn I was using so it came up a bit small, which I expected after the first round as it seemed a bit child-sized . So, check your gauge, knit a square and measure it to make sure it matches the pattern gauge.

Now, what the hell next...oh yes, the sweater is on hold, not a quick enough knit :/

Cross Stitch Tales: Episode 1 - A Break From the Wool

It's so damn hot. So hot. Wool does not even get a look in. 

The lacklustre sense of blah following the last knitting project has led me to my first cross stitch project. I've purchased a pattern and the required equipment, which mainly comprises of another embroidery hoop, lots of needles, Aida cloth (14 ct) and lots of thread. I went for the higher quality fabric as this apparently keeps its shape better.

Ignore my veiny blue legs

Here's a little snippet of how far I've got with it..not very. The pattern is a great one, purchased from Etsy, and will not be what it appears to be right now. 

Taste da Rainbow

Tips for cross stitch so far :

1. Buy good quality fabric

2. Buy and load up a few needles to save time re-threading

3. Always do every cross the same way i.e \ then / for uniformity (that old shit bag again!)

It does take a lot of time to do a project of the size and amount of colours I have chosen, I realise that now. I don't think a smaller project would've inspired me to pick up the craft though so I'm keeping on with it.

That's all I've got for you right now but I have plenty brewing.

The Cassette Purse Disaster

Well, I tried it and it didn't work out, as expected, because I'm shit at everything!

New lovely wool

I bought some lovely wool, less fluffy than the practice pieces and set to work. It started well and everything was nice and neat. I started the colour changes and started to forget the last three moss stitching, then the tensions started to go from the where the colour changes. I'd gone too far not to finish but I am severely displeased with the result. It can just about function as a holder of something but I think i'll keep this one in the drawer.

                   

I have no tips on how to make this kind of result better, except practice. I'm quite annoyed.

Uniformity - Mega Stress (but temporary)

Spoiler Alert! Tip: You just have to knit and knit and knit..

So, following a few oblong/rhombus shaped practice samplers using the videos in my last post, I got the basics in from Abakhan. This included a random selection of yarn chosen purely by colour - a super chunky cream, a fine green, a very fine pink mohair and couple of shades of brown. I also picked up a variety of needles; some resin, some plastic, some bamboo, some circle needles, and made sure they were the correct sizes for the yarn I had chosen.

Hint - If you look at the label on the yarn, it will show you which gauge/size of needle would work with it.

I started by matching a brown yarn to some 5mm needles and cast on cocky as anything. I soon realised I was dropping stitches (missing them out), picking up several stitches (miraculously creating extra stitches), twisting stitches and splitting stitches (where you pierce the stitch rather than work around it). My samplers basically look like shit - as you can see.

Bad knitting

My problem was uniformity of the stitches and controlling the tension of the working yarn (attached to the ball). After a quick Google, it seemed all I had to do was practice and knit as much as possible. Great.

My next move was possibly the best I could've made to improve the quality of my kitting; I picked up the chunky yarn and size 10 circular needles I'd bought (needles connected with a 80cm wire) and I cast on as many stitches as I could fit on there, didn't count them, and knit every row. It was hard going as the wool was difficult to work with, the plastic needles weren't slippy enough for me and I'm pretty sure it gave me arthritis, but I kept going. When I'd hit the third ball of yarn I called it quits for a while, purely to give my knuckles a rest. It looked like this after one skein and three skeins:

One Skein

Three Skeins

It still looks like that. However, when I picked up the finer yarn and standard needles and started knitting in stockinette (One row of knit stitch, one row of purl stitch ad infinitum), it came out perfect, or as perfect as I can expect it to be. Tension sorted.

Yeah!

Tip 1: Knitting - The Shit Kind

My grandmother taught me to knit about 20 years ago. When I say knit, I mean I mastered casting on, knit stitch and casting off with absolutely no regard for the art nor any inclination to pursue it beyond the several multicoloured oblongs that littered my 'Knitting Bag' (aka a fabric teardrop with tortoiseshell handles of course). What brought me back was a combination of two things; the desire to become good at anything and watching a film called Sightseers, within which one of the characters just happens to knit in couple of scenes. Aha! She's acting and knitting! Of course! I should knit! Whatever.

Following my phenomenal self-realisation, my first instinct was to go out and buy books. Books are useful, books teach you things, books are pretty and look nice on the shelf. Being impatient and needing things NOW, I didn't buy online and get the best price, no, I went down to Waterstones during my lunch hour and bought the two books that stood out the brightest on the shelf and paid a premium.

Knit Step by Step - Vikki Haffenden & Frederica Patmore

Tech Knits - Sue Culligan

As a born again beginner, I found Knit Step by Step useful insofar as it offers tips on what type of yarn to use for what type of garments/objects. It also provides advice on needle gauge and knitting tools. However, to begin the knitting process, following a series of photographs is virtually impossible as you cannot see how the needles move nor how the yarn is worked without drowning in a sea of angry swooping arrows and blurring text. 

Tech Knits is wonderful. There are numerous kooky projects that appeal to someone like me, such as a graphic equalizer scarf or a pair of socks with an aerial intarsia on the side. The projects, although very well instructed and simplified, are way beyond my capabilities because I do not understand pattern-speak adequately enough yet to even begin.

So, tip number one for beginners? DO NOT BUY BOOKS. Purge the internet for instruction videos and try not to cry when the instructor knits and purls like a total boss. My favourite series of absolute beginner videos an be found here on the Very Pink website - try them. If you must buy a pretty book, buy one for aspirational purposes to keep you in the game.