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.

A New Hope

The knitting bug is back in full force. I am officially addicted to yarn. All it takes is a sweet DK or nice charcoal fleck and I'm ready again. This time, I'm serious as Rhythm is a Dancer.

To fill the bits of time between loading the oven and eating dinner, or those between not sleeping and pretending to sleep, I have taken to trying out test patches of stitch patterns. I've also managed a bit of crochet after a particularly frustrating video tutorial (that I won't link to) made by a woman not-so-naturally-gifted in the audio visual department. Anyway, all that led to this..

garter rib, pinstripe, honeycomb stitch

..and it's gone back in the bag to make way for, wait for it..The Jumper. That's right, I'm going to make a jumper. I have ludicrous visions of me wearing said jumper, pristine of knit, perfect of fit, reluctant to wash, batting away compliments as if it was as easy as lighting a cigarette. I know I'm in for a much harsher reality, even half a row into the knit, but let's try.

The pattern I'm using is one from the lionbrand website and I chose it because it's free, I could follow the instructions and it doesn't require circular needles or have any fancy cabling. The required basic skill set includes only knitting, purling, decreasing and sewing. I'll worry about my shocking edges when I get there.

I've bought my materials, an online order from Wool Warehouse that arrived on my doorstep within 36 hours via regular post and even came with some free pom pom making rings. What service! They also have a great selection and if they added Cascade yarn to their site, I'd never go anywhere else for yarn again.

So, no one talk to me, i'll probably be counting or knitting backwards for the foreseeable future.

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.

Serious Project No. 1 - The Cassette Purse

I'm getting cocky again. I can now knit, purl, cast on and off, I've sampled moss stitch, I've attempted a simple bootie that came out actual foot-shaped which means I've 'decreased' with some success. Now to try something I think looks cool.

The 'aspirational' Tech Knits book mentioned in my second post is calling me, probably in a mocking tone, but I'm going to give one of the easier projects a good go. I've chosen the cassette purse. I need a purse. Who doesn't need a purse?! I'm using, size 4 UK needles, DK yarn, a press stud and a sewing needle.

Tech Knits  - Cassette Purse

I've been through the pattern and all of a sudden seem to understand the pattern speak (there's that practice thing working again). Stockinette - can do! Change colour mid row- watched a video, can do! Follow a pattern chart - looks easy! Sew some shit up and install a press stud - we'll see!

Any way, to avoid tears and tantrums I decided to practice the pattern in some cheap wool I have..it started to look like the pattern and I was effing DELIGHTED.

What I learned from this bit of practice was that changing colours mid row leads to having floating threads at the back. As in this picture below.

These I discovered are called floats. I also discovered that if you change colours while your knitting is all bunched up on the needles, the floats are too tight because they only span the bunched work. Tip 1 for changing colours - ALWAYS STRETCH THE WORK OUT TO ACTUAL SIZE WHEN CHANGING A COLOUR. This allows the float at the back (wrong side) to span the work when flat and not bunch or pucker up the pattern into obscurity. I have no idea what else you can do about the floats to make the wrong side neater but maybe i'll find out eventually.

TIP 2. The second thing I discovered during the test sample, completely by Google-accident was that when you swap colours, you should bring the new colour working yarn (right hand) OVER THE TOP OF THE OLD COLOUR. In writing, this made no sense to me. If you don't get it, read this super blog for tips using multiple colours and avoid leaving holes where yarns are dropped for new colours.

With these lessons learned I decided I needed new yarn for my new project. To Abakhans!