Huh!

After about 18 months of non-use, I have just remembered that this blog actually exists.  I'm going to try and remember to post at least once a week.  Whether or not I manage it is another thing.

Haven't been around much lately, life's been pretty hectic but the attempt at being knitty and crochety (and yes, I'm aware that neither of those are actually words) is going well.

I've joined in a couple of knit-a-long type things on the forum I belong to which is turning out to be very interesting, as well as forming a tiny little group with a couple of very lovely women that I met on Ravelry and we meet about once every 3 weeks for knitting and chatting which is hugely fun.

I'm also slowly picking up on the crochet thing but I'm still having trouble reading the patterns.  It's weird, knitting patterns and cross-stitch charts give me no problems at all but crochet patterns just confuse the hell out of me.

Speaking of crochet, me and mum are both doing blankets (just basic going round and round with the same stitch) but we have entirely different styles.  Mum holds the yarn in the same hand as her hook and sort of throws it round the hook as if she's knitting, whereas I hold the hook in one hand and the yarn in the other, picking the yarn up with the hook.  I don't know, maybe it's because I was taught to knit left-handed that I can actually do it that way because Mum says she's never seen anybody else pick up the yarn instead of throwing it around the hook.

*meeps*

Thanks to a certain dog who will remain un-named, my attempt at a lace shawl was dragged around the garden and had to be frogged.  I didn't have the heart to re-start the same one so I started on the Upstairs shawl from Ravelry which is going much better.  I do have photo's of it and will post them at a later date.

I've also signed up for my very first knit-a-long for a scarf.  It starts today and I've cast on already for it.  I only hope that I can do justice to the no doubt gorgeous scarves that are going to be sent to me to work on.

Hold my coat, I'm going in!

This morning I embarked on my biggest knitting adventure to date, a lace shawl.

It's called the Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl, I'm knitting it on 5mm needles (did try it on 3.75mm but the fabric was coming up too dense, the bigger needles are giving it a much better drape and it feels so much softer) and using Manos Silk Blend, colour #7338 (a variegated blue) and it seems to be coming out really well.  So far anyway.

Thanks to the lovely people at the Phoenix Knitting Forums I've discovered the wonder that is lifelines and am sorely tempted to use them for everything from now on because I have a nasty habit of dropping stitches if I don't concentrate fully on what I'm doing.

I've also been advised to use stitch markers but I don't actually have any.  I would really love some of those gorgeous beaded ones that you can get but I just can't afford them right now *sighs*

I know it's not the most complicated lace pattern in the world but seeing as it's my first time, that's great for me.  Especially as it's written out instead of charted.  Ill try a charted pattern next time when I (hopefully) have a little more confidence and experience and know what the lace stitches are supposed to look like.

Bitch without the Stitch

Things are being finished at an alarming rate in my house at the moment.

Since Christmas I've completed the following:
Dad's cardigan
My socks
Kate's socks
Kate's hand-warmers
Claire's hand-warmers
Mum's hat
and my very first crochet square (been teaching myself with the aid of a new magazine)

Went to my first London Stitch and Bitch meeting last week and loved every single second of it.  Was really looking forward to going to tonight's meeting but my knee went pop when I got out of the shower leaving me in too much pain to even think about walking.  The pain probably hasn't been helped by the fact that my foot slipped off the top step yesterday and I bounced down the stairs on my bum, leaving me with some quite impressive scrapes and bruises.

I'm working on a scarf at the moment and, even though it's on 12 mm needles in super-chunky with a slight cable pattern, it's driving me completely insane!

Yippee!!!

Dad's cardigan is finally finished and it looks pretty damn good if I do say so myself.  Unfortunately, for some reason, my stupid laptop won't let me transfer the picture from my SD card so I can't prove it *grumbles*

I'm so incredibly proud of it (which I know is vaguely daft).  It's the biggest, most complicated thing I've knitted so far with it's shawl-type collar and raglan sleeves.  Apart from sewing in the sleeves (thanks for that, btw, Mum) it's all my own work and it actually fits him which I was really worried about as he's quite a big man.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go figure out what's going to be next...

New Year Knitolutions

1. Conquer my fear of lace and have an actual lace shawl finished by Christmas next year.
2. Knit at least 1 pair of socks a month.
3. Finish 1 extra project per month.
4. Use up current stash before buying more (sock yarn is not counted as stash).
5. Learn how to knit using the Magic Loop method.
6. Learn how to knit toe-up socks.
7. Take photo's of finished projects and post them here, on Ravelry or at Phoenix Forums.
8. Save up for a Namaste knitting bag.

Dear Dad,

  The 5 balls of sock yarn that I purchased this morning really does not count as stash.  Neither does the ball I got to enable me to finish your cardigan or the 3 balls of wonderfully soft stuff that I bought to knit up as a Christmas present.

Stash would be the 17 balls of Rowan Cotton Glace that I bought back in April that is still sitting unopened in the bottom of my knitting basket...

Yippee!!!

The very first project I have ever completed for myself is done and it looks pretty damn good, if I do say so myself!

Mum sewed it up for me (still working on that part of things) and, while she was doing that, I managed to use up a couple of balls of stash to knit us both beany-type hats.

Now it's back to The Cardigan Of Doom (otherwise known as Dad's christmas present).

I have to admit that I've been procrastinating today on said cardigan by watching Starsky & Hutch and trying to figure out how to work Ravelry and the other knitting forum that I belong to (I'm not very good with technical stuff).

Jumper update

Back, front and 1 sleeve done.  Other sleeve, cowel neck and sewing up to go.

Doh!

Have just cast off the back of my new jumper, looked at the pattern and realised that not only have I been following the wrong pattern (apparently I've been knitting a tank polo) but I've also been knitting the wrong size!

Been knitting properly for about 8 months now and I'm finally knitting something for myself!  I've knit socks, gloves, capes, jumpers, blankets, hats and more baby stuff than I know what to do with but now, I've decided to be selfsih and knit myself a jumper.

I'm doing it in Sirdar Big Softie which is a beautifully soft chunky wool in an absolutely gorgeous shade of blue-grey.  I'm also using Rosewood needles for the frist time because Dad complains when I use metal/plastic in the large sizes (apparently they make too much noise...).  I'll attempt to post a picture of my progress so far (I love knitting in chunky, only started yesterday and I'm already up the armhole shaping on the back) but it depends on if I can remember how.

I just realised something.  I described myself earlier in this entry as being selfish for knitting myself something, but I'm not.  Everything I do is for other people and I deserve to have just one thing in my life that's mine and mine alone and right now this one thing is this jumper.

In other knitting news, during the massive sort-out we had at the weekend it was discovered Mum threw away an entire trash bag of wool.  Now, most of it was just baby wool and acrylic stuff but it also contained the vast majority of my Noro stash, all of my Zauberball and, and this is the really heart-breaking bit, 2 skeins of incrediblly expensive cashmere that I was saving for when I got the confidence to knit a lace shawl!

I'm ba-a-ack!

Been MIA lately thanks to a nasty bout of bronchitis for myself and Mum being ill (if you don't know, I'm a full time carer for my parents) but I've been using the time to get caught up with my knitting.

Various and sundry baby bits have been completed, Dad's cardigan has been worked on, finished a cape for Mum on 15mm needles which knitted up fabulously quickly, finished a pair of socks and started another pair and completed 4 hat and wrist-warmer sets for Christmas.

All in all it's been a most productive few weeks.  Of course, one of these days I'll actually remember to take photo's of stuff that I knit before I give it away.  I'll also eventually get around to actually knitting something for myself...

To-do for Christmas list

Half a sock (need to buy another ball of yarn)
Pair of socks - blue (yarn bought)
Wrist-warmers - purple (started)
Wrist-warmers - red
Wrist-warmers - yellow/black stripes
Wrist-warmers - black
Adult hat and glove set x 4
Child hat and glove set - red/blue stripes
Child hat and glove set - red/black stripes
Child hat and glove set - blue/black stripes

Well, what do you know?

I learnt something about myself today - knitting gives me confidence.  A year ago I would never have dreamed of striking up a conversation with a total stranger on a hour long bus journey like I did today.

Confidence has always been an issue for me and I was diagnosed years ago as having a social phobia which means it's very hard for me to talk to and interact with people I don't know (which is one of the reasons that I love the net so much, tbh) and yet, ask me to talk to someone about my knitting and I can.

Knitting is one of the few things in this world that I know I'm good at.  I'm not great at it, and I probably never will be, but I'm learning new things and getting better at it all the time and that's giving me confidence as well.  I know in my head that I'm not, but there's always been a part of me that's been convinced that I'm stupid and useless etc.

Now I know I'm not and that's done more for my self-esteem than any amount of therapy or what have you could have done.

So the person who invented knitting, whoever that may be, I thank you.  You have honestly changed my life in ways I would never have imagined (not to mention my bank balance which is at an all time low thanks to my habit of heading to my LYS when I'm down/bored/stressed).

*yawns*

Been a busy day knitwise today.  I finished off a teeny-tiny lace cardigan for Cheddar, grafted the toe on a sock that I actually finished knitting about 2 weeks ago, started the huge task of picking up the stitches around one of the armholes of Dad's pullover and started work on one of the 25 squares needed to make up a baby blanket (the blanket is actually supposed to be knit in one piece but there's a tiny mistake in the counting on the chart for one of the motifs and it was screwing me up).

I also sat down and made a list of all the stuff I've already started on and the bits and pieces that I promised people for Christmas in an effort to get a little more organised so I don't find myself getting to Christmas Day and having half of it not actually started yet alone finished!

Dearest Cheddar,

While I love you with every fibre of my being, your mother is driving me mad by not letting me know whether you're a boy or a girl!

It would be so much easier to knit stuff for you if I had an idea of what precisely to knit.  At the moment, you're going to have a wardobe full of multi-coloured (mostly made of self-patterning sock yarn) booties, mittens and hats with the ocassional white cardigan thrown in. 

It's only approx 10 weeks until you join us on this fair planet so please, instead of kicking your darling Dad in the ear, kick your wonderful Mum and tell her to get on with letting us know what you are!

Much Love,
Auntie Emma.

In other news, I discovered today that pattern designers are not Gods.  I've completely falled in love with an absolutely gorgeous baby blanket for the little one mentioned in the above sweater that's knit in Hummingbird Alpaca.  The slight problem is that I haven't attempted anything that big before so am naturally a little nervous about it.

The lovely lady who works in my not-so-local yarn shop (seriously, it's a 2hour round trip by bus and I live in London!) sat me down and talked me through the pattern and then informed that even the blanket is made up of one piece, it's actually made of blocks of different patterns and could therefore be knitted up in separate pieces and then sewn together.

This idea astounded me!  The thought of actually going against something that's written in a pattern had honestly never occured to me before.

*is thoroughly plastered*

The dream of every knitter has come true for me this weekend.  I chipped a bone in my ankle yesterday and have today been informed that I am to stay off it as much as possible for at least the next 2 weeks.

The chipping my ankle bit wasn't fun but I now have an officially sanctioned excuse for sitting on my arse in front of the tv for the next 2 weeks!

Grr Arrrgh!!

Dyspraxia has been playing up lately so not got much knitting done because I'm just not co-ordinated enough when I'm like this to manage the needles.  Tried working on one of the many pairs of socks that I'm working on as Christmas presents and had to rip it back so many times today that I ended up losing my temper and throwing it across the room.

I've given up on the Christening gown because there seems to be an error in the pattern somewhere.  Even my Mum tried it and she was going wrong on exactly the same row as me so I know it can't just be my ineptitude.

One thing I have managed to finish recently is my first pair of gloves!  They're not perfect but considering that I've only really been knitting for 5-6 months, I think they're pretty damn good!

Oops!

Spare a thought today, dear readers (if there are in fact any of you out there), for my darling Mother who spent 2 months knitting an absolutely beautiful circular lace Christening shawl only for one of our 19 year old cats to decide today that it would make the perfect place for a nap and in the process pulled all the stitches off the needle.

Suffice it to say that it will be a bloody miracle if said cat makes it to 20!