princessdeia

August 30th 2007
Filed under Finished Projects 2007

Yarn:Knit Picks Andean Silk in Navy.
Pattern: Fetching from Knitty Summer 2006.
Needles: 3.75mm DPN.
Notes: The write up for this pattern on Knitty calls these gloves an “instant knitting gratification” and I have to agree, I sat down over the weekend to watch a few movies and my the credits of the second movie I had a pair of fingerless gloves.

After reading some comments on Ravelry, I discovered it is adviced to knit this mitts with 3.75 needles rather than the 4mm the pattern suggests. I also added an extra set of the 4×1 rib and cable row, just to make the wrist part longer. Because of the modification, I ended up using a little over one ball of yarn for these mitts.

August 28th 2007
Filed under General, Hats, Sweaters

Over the last week the weather in London has been very autumnal, it is not quite scarf and gloves weather – but we are getting there. As a quick project this I thought I would cast on some Fetching Gloves, I know last autumn these were all the rage in knitting blogland – but I am always late on the bandwagon (I still haven’t made any Monkey socks).

I had brought the Andean Silk with this project in mind, a quick check on Ravelry I found it is a popular yarn for these mitts, and I also discovered it is advised to going down a needle size.

As we had the three day weekend in the UK, why would I cast on one new project, when I could cast on two so I ordered the Gretel Beret from Ysolda, I am also making this in Andean Silk.

Of course, my knitting this weekend did include some work on the Central Park Hoodie, I have now finished the hood and all I need to do is the ribbed edging (what would be the button band without the buttons).

I am slightly concerned that all my knits are blue and feature cables – I have to admit I love the colour blue – but I think this might be a little excessive.

August 24th 2007
Filed under General, Sweaters

About once every six months, Jason has to work night shift, thiis means we get to spend the evening together and once he has gone to work I get to stay awake until the early hours of the morning knitting. This week I have managed to complete both sleeves, for my Central Park Hoodie.

Last night, I worked on and finished the hood. As part of the pattern you have to place the stitches for the cable onto a stitch holder, then cast off the stitches for the neckline. All these stitches are then picked up and worked into the hood, Rather than cast the stitches on the neckline off – I worked then in short rows and added them to the stitch holder.

The pattern suggests using a three needle bind off on the hood, but I opted to graft the stitches, as I think it will sit better and also leave a flat seam, I started the grafting at the cable edge to make use the two cables matched up perfectly – it took quite a bit of effort to make sure it looked like a continous cable – but I am really pleased with the results.

August 22nd 2007
Filed under General, Sweaters

The body of my Central Park Hoodie as complete. I used the short-row technique for the neck decreases (which will be picked up and used for the hood), as well as on the shoulders – these were then grafted together.

I have even managed to cast on the sleeves; I am knitting them both at once. The yarn just glades over the needles – which brings me to my letter…

Dear Knit Picks,
Please can you start selling Wool of the Andes in the UK?
Thank you!

Dee

When it comes to knitting larger garments, I tend to use a lot of vintage patterns and which mainly use 4 ply cotton and tiny needles. One of the reason I was first attracted to knitting the Central Park Hoodie was the thicker yarn and needles, as well as the piece being so amazingly wearable. I knew I wanted to knit this piece in a chunky dark blue yarn however I never seemed to find anything that fitted the bill.

When I was offered the chance to be part of the Knit Picks trail, I knew I wanted to buy some Wool of the Andes – but was unsure what to make with it – originally I was think about purchasing a few balls to make a hat or some gloves, when looking through the colours, as soon as I saw the Arctic Pool Heather – I knew this was the yarn for my Central Park Hoodie.

I have to admit I have found it very hard to find wool I like, Rowan makes some wonderful wool blends (Felted Tweed or Kid Classic) and Debbie Bliss’ Cashmerino, is a dream to knit with. But I have not found plain wool in such a range of colours in the UK – and certainly not one as cheap as Wool of the Andes (I think it comes in at £1.25 a ball including taxes), so here is hoping that we can have more of this lovely yarn in the UK.

August 18th 2007
Filed under General

I know I am extremely late to this party, but I have seen it on so many blogs, I thought it was my turn…

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birthday. Then post 3 events, 2 births, and a holiday.

31st October

Events
1892 – Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
1940 – World War II: Battle of Britain ends.
1984 – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated.

Birthdays*
1963 – Johnny Marr (The Smiths)
1966 – Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys)

Holiday/Observence Day
Halloween

* I went for the coolest people born on my birthday, and unfortunately I had to leave out Larry Mullen (U2) – However, I could have gone the cheesy route and added the Cheeky Girls and Vanilla Ice.

August 17th 2007
Filed under Project Spectrum v2.0, Sweaters

Inspired by the group on Ravelry, I have decided to try and knit from my stash again. With my knitting budget linked to Knit Wars (I have nearly 30 pounds saved up), a guilty feeling every time I see the two boxes of yarn in the corner and this bi-monthly colour triad for Project Spectrum (why do I collect purple yarn).

1. Texere Top Cotton, 2. Araucania Patagonia Nature Cotton (to make a v-neck sweater).
3. Natural Dye Studio, (Pomatomus Socks) 4. Knit Picks Palette – Brown -(top-up socks, maybe Baudelaire).

I have been working on my Central Park Hoodie most the week, following Lauren’s lead on at the KAL, I decided to knit this baby in one working on the back and sides at the same time.

I have adjusted the pattern slightly to accommodate knitting as one piece, eliminating a stitch at each edge for selvage, then adding an extra set of cables – which will be under the arms (where the seam should be).

Also, I have finished my Silk Shrug, I am just waiting for some sunshine to get outside and take some decent photos.

August 15th 2007
Filed under Finished Projects 2007

Yarn: Araucania Pomaire 6 (Blue) & 10 (Green).
Pattern: Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts .
Needles: 6 mm.
Notes: As I was using thicker yarn, I adjusted the pattern to make the scarf the same width, I had 36 stitches and not 48.

August 13th 2007
Filed under General, Sockapalooza, Swaps

As I mentioned, I recieved my sockapalooza socks last week. These pretty socks where made by Regina from Sweden, I checked on the the list of paloozers! and she doesn’t have a blog

I am doing my investigating as I would love to know what yarn she used, as I love the colour on the toes, heel and cuff.

EDIT: The yarn is Bambino (Baby) Ull from Norway, and the pattern is Old Shale Two Yarn Sock Pattern by Stitches of Violet.

August 10th 2007
Filed under Summer of Socks, Sweaters

This sock might not look very expensive to you but it is worth 16 gold pieces to me…

That sounds really geeky, but then I am a geek, read comics, love sci-fi movies and if I had the time I would probably have played RPG. When I read about Knit Wars on the Lime and Violet site I knew this was the challenge for me.

This is the perfect way for me to control my spending, I am going to treat my gold like Boots Advantage Points, for every 4 pieces of gold I earn, can be translated into one pound actual money to spend on yarn/knitting supplies.

Of course this comes at the perfect time because Get Knitted, have started selling Knit Pick needles, I have resisted temptation as I have spent a lot of money on yarn over the past few months, but I have been dying to get my hands on an Option Set for ages, then I saw the collection of DPN’s that they sell and I wanted them too.

So far this week, I have managed to earn nearly 10 pounds from a few hours knitting casting on my Central Park Hoodie and finishing one sock. However, I did encounter the Knitting Mojo Blockage monster – which I think translates to me not knitting much this weekend.

Edit: I have just realised even blogging can earn me gold!

August 8th 2007
Filed under General, Project Spectrum v2.0

1. Purple scarf, 2. Little Leaf Scarf, 3. Fish Tail Scarf,
4. Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf, 5. Minisweater, 6. Lucky Wrap

I haven’t really been taking part in Project Spectrum this year, I have been obsessed with knitting socks, trying to knit from my stash and having problems finding the time to knit… However, I have really been looking forward to this triad mainly as I have a queued project in purple and with autumn around the corner I love thinking of browns and caramels.