Does a badger knit in the woods?

Cake, yarn and goodbyes (but mostly cake)

2008-08-05T12:26:00.009Z

Last Wednesday was the final knitting meeting at the Wool Baa that I'm going to be able to go to, and as such there were photos and cake as well as knit. Not much to say about it all, except I am going to miss you lot.

Tis the season...

2008-07-24T14:03:00.004Z

...for woolly hats! I have no concentration these days, and so am only knitting small projects. First was a hat for me:

It's Woolly Wormhead's teacozy hat, knitted in some Natural Dye Studio yarn which may be called Saga, but may not (I lost the label ages ago). The pattern is nice and mindless, the yarn is fabulous and any hat with a hole for a ponytail is a grand hat if you ask me.

Next up is a hat for baby badger. I hated knitting the hat, but she likes it so I guess that should be good enough for me. I learned something from knitting the hat, and that is that knitting with beads is a hellish activity that I shan't be repeating. Behold the hated hat:

Odessa (Ravelry link), by Grumperina. Knitted in Rowan something or other with some mystery beady things.

That's your lot for now, am off to London for a bit where I may harass Mr Craig if I get a chance.

Hello

2008-07-19T18:34:00.002Z

Once upon a time there was a badger who got bored of blogging. After a long break she decided to start blogging again. The end.

Part two!

2007-10-17T20:55:00.000Z

So, after we had finished talking about vaginas with Woolly Wormhead at Ally Pally, we went and ate pancakes with Idoru. Yum!

Refreshed by sugar and lager we went to Stash, where we saw Diane, and a bit more yarn purchasing occurred. Next on the list was iknit, where I had great fun hanging out with Mr Craig.

Doesn't he look happy to meet me? At iknit we each bought a skein of cashmere for our peril snoods, and I think iknit is my favouritest yarn shop ever after the Wool Baa. If you find yourself wandering the streets of London you should definitely go there and take your shoes off and make yourself at home on their couch.

And the stash haul - I was going to take individual photos, but it seemed like too much hard work. Instead, this is the combined haul.

There is lace weight, sock weight and a teeny bit of sport weight. I was feeling a smidgen goth this year and the purchases do reflect that. I didn't spend over my budget and nothing was bought that I don't have a plan for, so i'm feeling smug.

Badger's next outing will be at the Stitch n Bitch day in London, and, as ever, if you see me come and say hi.

I am home, I have yarn - Part 1

2007-10-13T08:33:00.000Z

I'm not sure whether I can cope with all the excitement that my few days away contained. I'm a very tired and broke little badger, but I shall do my best to tell the exciting tale of buying yarn down south.

Thursday involved being collected by Spanner and Northern Monkey. I managed to lock my keys in my car just before they arrived, but luckily I found a local delinquent to rescue them for me. We set off and everything was fun and happy, so I took the executive decision to inform Stuart Maconie that we were quite impressed with his choice of tunes on Radio 2 that afternoon. NM then declared she needed a wee, and so it was only later that night we discovered that Stuart had said mentioned us. My big break on radio, and I missed it due to NM's bladder. (If you want to hear us mentioned - and let's face it, why wouldn't you - then clicky here and choose to listen to Thursday's episode. We're named about 15 minutes into the show).

Anyhoo, we arrived down south and went to the pub where I had some southern booze. It tasted ok, but the locals seemed an odd lot.

We retired to Super Monkey's treehouse and I had an enjoyable night's sleep where I wasn't threatened with a crowbar and also wasn't nearly crushed by a giant. Oh no, the treehouse is a marvelous place for a sleepover.

In the morning we were off! We got seats on the train and Spanner had a row with a man about her socks. She got quite angry and I got a bit scared, but then he ran away from us after Spanner yelled 'sock hater!' at him very loudly. The rest of the journey to London was fairly uneventful, but then we had to navigate the tube. I found a map and plotted our route, with only a little bit of help from everyone else.

And we arrived! I met up with old chums who have fat bellies.

I made new chums who have the softest imaginable black baby alpaca lace ever.

I found some very forward thinking ladies at Knitwitches who let me try on a badger sized shawl. Babooshka badger!

I found some squishy fibre at Fyberspates and I squeezed it good and proper before deciding it needed to come home with me.

I spent some pennies at Socktopus. Good yarn, good happy ladies.

And one final chum at the show was Phil from the Natural Dye Studio.

We then ate pancakes, did more shopping and all kinds of stuff, but I'm tired now and so will post part 2 later. Kthxbye.

Just a quickie

2007-10-08T16:42:00.000Z

I'll be at Ally Pally on Friday, so if you see someone waving a badger around then it's probably me. Come and say hello, I don't bite. Much.

Holiday

2007-09-18T18:05:00.001Z

Unfortunately not a real holibag, but a break from the blog. I'm still knitting, but not that much and it's nothing interesting anyway. I'm trying to sort out an awful lot of things in my life right now, and anything that distracts me from what I need to focus on has to go. I may come back to blogging, I might not.

Thanks for reading and commenting over the last year and a bit, it's been fun :)

Ravelry

2007-09-11T18:14:00.000Z

So big. So confusing. So time consuming. Happy badger :)

Why I haven't been knitting

2007-09-02T20:58:00.000Z

Because I have spent the week playing with this.

I am not the only one to have been having fun with the babe

I'm not the world's biggest baby fan, but my goddaughter is fantastic. And the fact that she lives in Switzerland, her mummy is a wonderful friend and her daddy has a swimming pool and a well stocked bar just makes things better. And also makes things like knitting a little less of a priority.

Summer shrug

2007-08-23T20:45:00.000Z

More thoughts on the tencel/merino sock yarn, especially now it's been washed. It is very smooth and shiny and seems to glide along the needles whilst knitting it without being slippery. It stood up to a bit of frogging, but I'm not sure how well it would withstand repeated ripping back. It also doesn't seem to have the 'cling' of some sock yarns, and after washing the socks didn't seem to spring back into shape the way some socks do. I think choosing a stretchy stitch pattern would probably help with this, although I do wonder about whether the heel would bag and sag over time. I'd use it again, but I wouldn't actively seek out sock yarns containing tencel.

And now crochet! I've been practicing, and last week I made a shrug for the pirate. It's just a rectangle of treble crochet sewn up to make a shrug type shape - easy, and a really good way for me to practice holding the yarn and hook properly. Small person likes it too.

The yarn was just some acrylic DK from stash, and took just a couple of hours to make. This one's made me a happy badger.

I rock

2007-08-20T20:36:00.001Z

Webbo reckons I rock. This pleases me greatly.

And now for more socks! I offered to knit the pirate some socks and she chose some Fybersaptes merino/tencel in pinks.

This was the best photo we could get, as she refused to stay still, but I'm again not totally happy. Basically, I cast on 48 stitches, did a 2x2 ribbed cuff for a bit, some leg and then a short row heel. The heels look ace with no holes at all, but they just don't seem to fit her properly. I have no idea whether this is because small people have funny shaped heels in general, or if it's just my small person that's odd. The yarn itself is lovely, and I'd definitely recommend it. It's smooth and shiny and just glides along the needles. I've got enough left for a pair of anklets for me, and am looking forward to seeing how it holds up to repeated washing and wearing.

And thanks for the shop recommendations - it seems that there are a few universally loved shops (like GK), and whilst everyone has been very restrained with naming names of not so good shops it's pretty clear who are to be avoided.

Return of the Camera

2007-08-19T20:28:00.000Z

The camera has been found! It is still unclear as to exactly where it was hiding, and a small person with sticky fingers was definitely involved somewhere, but as it has now come back I shall ask no further questions.

So, I have multi many things floating around my head and I have been doing muchos knitting too. I initially thought I'd do one huge blog post about everything, but have changed my mind. I'm too drunk to cope with that.

To begin with then, I have been doing sock knitting. Sock number one of this pair was knitted on the way home from Woolfest, and I made an almighty bodge of the heel, hence no heel close ups.

Despite this, I'm fairly happy with these. The yarn is from The Yarn Yard (bought at Woolfest, colourway unknown), and it is very nice to knit with. It has a smooshyness to it which I like, and I love the colours. The stripes match up pretty well, and this is totally coincidental - I made absolutely no effort to do this. The only complaint I have about these socks is entirely to do with my knitting of them. There is the naff heel, but I also think I knitted these too loosely. I used my 2.75mm Boyes needles and got 7.5 spi, and I think this yarn really needs to be knitted tighter than that. I'd happily use this yarn again, but next time would probably use a 2.25 needle to make a firmer fabric.

There are other FO's to share, but I'll be blogging regularly over the next few weeks so I'm not going to share them today. Instead, I'd like to ask for people's thoughts and reviews of online yarn shops. Just recently I've had some excellent customer service from some shops and some downright shocking service from others. I'm feeling quite magnanimous today and so shall not name names (yet), but wondered if other people had recommendations or lists of places to avoid like the plague?

Swallowtail

2007-08-02T13:51:00.000Z

All photos courtesy of my neighbour's camera - mine's still hiding.

AWOL

2007-08-01T21:37:00.000Z

I have sock yarn from Chrissy, fluffy fibre samples from Caroline and 3 FO's. Unfortunately my camera appears to have gone walkabout. It isn't by the phone, the bread machine or down the back of the couch (where it usually hides), so if anyone has advice on how to persuade a missing camera to come home, then I'd appreciate it.

Harry Potter

2007-07-22T23:26:00.000Z

S'crap. Don't bother reading the tripe unless you're forced to by a kiddy (or you're a school librarian). Nothing worthwhile really happens, and the epilogue made me nauseous.

I have been knitting, and I have been receiving pressies. Photos to follow when sober :)

Words and pictures

2007-07-01T13:00:00.000Z

Not too many words, but loads and loads of pictures. The usual gubbins applies, if you're on dial up then go and make a cup of tea whilst all the pictures load.

I arrived at the YH in Cockermouth

I had a few drinkies.

I went to bed, and the next day I went to Woolfest. I saw some pretty yarn.

Then I met some online friends, Artyfartykat and Acrylik.

Wormhead was there too.

And we also bumped into Aknita.

I also made friends with some stall holders. This is Natalie from the Yarn Yard, and I bought quite a few things here.

I had a very interesting conversation with Jeni from Fyberspates as you can see.

And the people from Pavi Yarns were delighted to have their photo taken with me.

Chrissy from Bright Dyes was there.

And I made very good friends with this lovely chappy from the Natural Dye Studio.

I was a bit tired after all this and so had a little snooze in a very comfy makeshift bed.

Refreshed after my nap, I found a fan! This is Helen, and she blogs here. (Hello to those of you who have come over from Helen's blog!)

After all that shopping and socialising we went to have look at the animals. My favourites were the alpacas.

I eventually had to say goodbye to all my new found friends, including blogless Helen and Kathy.

And I know you're all wondering what I bought, so here's the stash picture.

Finally, a very big thankyou to Alison for taking me there (and not leaving me when I was demanding a bacon butty), and Wye Sue for being such good fun :)

Woolfest

2007-06-29T14:37:00.000Z

I'm going to Woolfest. I fully intend to buy everything. If you see a drunk badger wandering round Cumbria, then it will be me. Feel free to say hello, I promise not to bite and give you TB.

And to those who asked, yes I was hit by the floods, and no, no permanent or particuarly nasty damage was done. The fleece in the cellar is definitely deaded, but the spinning wheel and all the yarn live upstairs, so all the important things are ok.

A finished sidewinder

2007-06-23T14:08:00.001Z

I finished my sidewinder!

I love the yarn. Despite my usual abhorrence of yellow, I actually like this sock. The toe looks a tad wonky in the above photo (and is in real life, actually), but that's nothing to do with the pattern, just me.

This is the sock showing off it's vertical stripe goodness.

And this is me putting the sock on and it getting stuck.

Arse. I want to make it clear that I did get gauge, I did measure my foot, I did check Nona's size chart. What I didn't do was count on my abnormally high insteps causing this problem. The toe fits perfectly (and it just looks a bit wonky because when I realised it didn't fit I just whipstitched it closed, rather than grafting it properly), and a bit of measuring of the finished sock and measuring of me reveal that it is perfectly sized for absolutely every part of my foot, and leg apart from the damned instep.

The good thing is that I genuinely enjoyed knitting the pattern, and I now I know how the whole thing fits together I shall definitely knit it again and make the necessary modifications for my freak feet. Whether I cast on right now for the new sidewinder or wait a few weeks/ months/ years is still to be decided, but there will be sidewinders in my future.

Things I have learnt today

2007-06-20T21:47:00.000Z

When you are driving in the fast lane at 30mph at 8:30 in the morning and refuse to get out of my way, I will overtake on the inside. Flashing your lights at me and shaking your head does not make me feel remorse, only greater rage.
Pork pie is the food of Jebus. Pork, jelly and pastry all combined in one easy to eat package. Mmmmmm.
The sidewinder toe looks weird. Really, really freakishly weird. Still, I have faith. For now at least.

The socks and the goodies

2007-06-17T20:07:00.000Z

First up, the progress shot of the sidewinder socks. The yarn is Hundertwasser in yellows - a most unusual colour for me, but I thought as it was just for socks I'd try and introduce the tiniest bit of yellow into my life.

So far everything seems to be going well with the socks, I just haven't had too much time to knit on them, hence the piddlingly little bit of sock you see there.

Now for the goodies! A few days ago, Clarabelle posted about why many young people don't want to knit. She invited comments on it, and so I weighed in with my thoughts. Apparently she liked what my brain churned out and so she sent me something yummy. Check this out!

This is two balls of Angel Yarns sock yarn, in chocolate plum. This is a very unusual colour with a lot of depth to it, and as soon as I saw it I immediately thought of socks for my Dad. He's a very fussy fella, but I just knew that this would be a perfect yarn for Dad socks. I'm thinking I'll probably go for a pattern with a fair bit of stretch to it, maybe some kind of waffle stitch. It's hard to tell from my crappy photography, but the yarn has flecks of purple in it, making it look almost tweedy and giving it real depth of colour.

And this is 3 skeins of kid mohair from the Natural Dye Studio, in the most beautiful dusky lavender shade. It's more like Colinette's Parisienne than Rowan's KSH (which is a good thing in my opinion), and I have a total of 600 yards. I have not the slightest clue what to make with this yet, so all suggestions welcome.

Clarabelle, thankyou so much - this was an amazingly generous thing to do, and you've really made my week :)

Falling in love

2007-06-12T20:36:00.000Z

Sometimes you can fall in love in an instant - the moment your eyes meet you just know that this is the man (or woman or badger or hoob or whatever floats your boat) that you will love and cherish for the rest of your life. Sometimes the love isn't there straight away and it grows slowly over time until it blossoms into full adoration. When I first saw Nona's sidewinders I felt nubbin. I admit there was appreciation for her skill in creating such a pattern, but the socks themselves barely scored a flicker on the badger loveometer. Now though, the adoration has begun. It was initially just a bit of admiration, but the more I see the socks the more I feel myself wanting to surrender to them. I can fight the passion no more, and the swatching will begin tonight. Sidewinders, I think I love you.

Opinions

2007-06-11T19:14:00.000Z

This post will most likely interest very few people and may confuse some. If that's the case, I apologise, the normal shit will be here tomorrow. This, however, is something that needs saying.

There are many knitters out there in the internet community, and it is inevitable that not everyone will get on. It is also inevitable that there will be squabbles, petty little arguments and differences of opinions. All this is the way of the world and I'm sure we all accept it as such. What is not acceptable is that an individual is jumped on for expressing their opinion. It is not acceptable to call people disgraceful and offensive names behind their backs where they will never see it. It is not acceptable to publicly try and humiliate others. It is not acceptable to threaten others and attempt to intimidate them.

I sincerely hope that nobody reading this has the least clue what I am talking about. If you do understand because you have suffered this type of attack recently then you have my support and my sympathy. If you know that this is the kind of behaviour that you have been engaging in then I hope you take a long hard look at yourself and seriously debate why you bother to engage with the knitting community if that is how you wish to treat others within it.

This is my blog and I will always state my honest opinions on it. These will never be personal unsubstantiated attacks and all readers are welcome to leave comments, no matter if they disagree with me. I will not, however, be cowed into only posting nicey nicey crap as I do believe that it is important to be able to post freely and without fear of the knitting mafia.

Rant over.

The full spec

2007-06-05T19:20:00.000Z

Full apologies for not blogging properly about the wheel and for leaving it so long between posts, but I have been playing with it most nights and have been a bit busy with other stuff too. The wheel is a Kromski Sonata, bought from Wingham Woolwork. The service from Wingham was fantastic, and they couldn't have been more helpful. The wheel had actually just been returned by another customer who had complained that it was 'very damaged'. Turned out that the only damage was a slight nick out of one of the treadles which didn't concern me. Because of this I got 10% off the price, which made me an even happier badger.

I spent last Sunday night having a play with the wheel, and I spun up around 100g of Jacobs wool and then made a vague attempt at plying. I wasn't attempting to produce any actual yarn, merely trying to get to understand exactly how the wheel worked. I was quite surprised to find that I'd actually produced something that looked vaguely like yarn.

Most surprising was that it turned out balanced - a spinner, Caroline, from my knitting group was very kind about it and declared it very good for a first go, so I'm quite chuffed.

Now, Monica is a not so happy experience. The alarm bells were making a little jangling noise when I first glanced at the pattern, but I ignored them. Foolish badger. If you read the pattern you'll see that the edging is just 3 rows of garter stitch. That's never enough to really stop stocking stitch from rolling, and despite knowing this I still only did 3 rows. The frill as well isn't that well designed either, it's far too bulky under the arms and, like the bottom of the tank, it only has 3 rows of garter stitch to prevent rolling. I'm also unhappy with the rigidity of the top, caused by knitting cotton at a fairly dense gauge. Needless to say, this one's going to be frogged.

And in other news, the Pie Princess has finally evacuated the baby pie from her oven, so I'm frantically knitting as much baby stuff as I can before I go over to see them on Thursday :)

New toy

2007-05-27T20:48:00.000Z

I succumbed.

And I've been playing with it already.

Bugger

2007-05-23T17:28:00.000Z

The combination of a very long day and a migraine coming on meant yesterday was the day I failed. Piglottie was spot on with her guess, and so will be getting something yummy very shortly (just as soon as I've scoured her blog to find out what kind of colours Mrs P goes for). Piglottie, email me at dangeroustbadger AT hotmail DOT co DOT uk please!

I've really enjyed blogging every day, and whilst I'm not going to keep it up I am definitely going to try and aim for around 3 posts a week from now on. This should mean I've got enough stuff to blog about but still have time for a life.

Anyway, must go as there is a Very Important Football Match happening shortly and I have to start getting drunk.

Monica

2007-05-21T19:56:00.001Z

I cast on for yet another project. Tee hee hee hee hee!

It's Monica from Knitty. Yarn is some cotton from stash, so me casting on something else is actually a good thing. Honest.

Oh, and I knit more miters.

Meme

2007-05-20T18:15:00.000Z

Ages and ages ago I got tagged by a couple of people for that '7 weird things about me' meme type thingummy. Now that I'm struggling for ideas for a post it seems like an ideal time to bother answering it, so here goes:

I cannot tolerate anyone touching my belly button.
I have a real fetish about picking at other people's bellybuttons to try and find fluff.
I have been tattooed 9 times and pierced 16 times.
I despise it when people refer to themselves as 'crazy!' or 'totally mad!'.
I get angry about pretty much everything. Library staff who shelve sloppily are currently the most likely targets for my ranting and foaming at the mouth.
For someone with a short temper and huge anger reserves, I have an awful lot of patience with teenagers.
I own over 40 pairs of shoes and boots, but only ever wear my beat up pair of Adidas.

There, that's another day of blogging managed. I'm really behind with reading other people's blogs, but I'll hopefully catch up during the week.

Still poorly

2007-05-19T20:17:00.000Z

Clarabelle is right. When you're ill you need a big knitted blankie. Unfortunately I haven't got one, so I made a new square for my blankie to be. The colours are accurate on this picture, but the pieces have yet to be steamed and seamed. What amazes me is the effect one colour has on its neighbour. The miter in the top right has a very dusky lilac as its contrast, and yet when it's teamed with the pink, it appears far more grey than it does on the ball.

I'm really enjoying knitting these, and it's so much fun choosing colour combinations. The more I look at the colours I have, I'm starting to see the obvious gaps that will require filling. I need a primrose yellow, bright red, a chartreuse green and a pale brown (for now at least). I'm off to Texere to see what they've got....

Ill

2007-05-18T20:41:00.000Z

I think I'm geting scarlet fever. Poor me.

(Now this really is the most lacklustre post - makes yesterday's offering look positively exciting)

It's not today

2007-05-17T20:14:00.000Z

Today will not be the day I don't post. It's not going to be a great post, but it'll have to do. I've done no knitting and have nothing of interest to say so I'm going to leave you with a picture of a baby tanktop I knitted during the great blog abandonment of early 2007.

This blogging every day thing is going to drive me insane :(

Pointy pointy

2007-05-16T20:34:00.000Z

For those who admired the delightful pointiness of my miters, I have words of advice.

Choose a good recipe. I'm using the Mason Dixon method of mitering and find it gives a pretty good point to begin with. I tried another recipe that I found on a random blog and found that the lines seemed less sharp.
Use cotton and knit it at a gauge you find comfy. Cotton is such an arse to knit with that if you're struggling with too loose or too tight stitches then you're going to have trubble maintaining consistent gauge. Ignore the recommended needle size and choose one you like.
Most importantly, my points are delightfully pointy because I fudged them to be that way. I'm sewing in ends as I go along, and that's the perfect opportunity to use the yarn end to tweak your points into pointiness.

So there you go.

I also managed to get pictures of the finished toddler dress.

Pattern: Dunno what it's called as I can't find the pattern book, but it's from Colinette's Jelly Allstars

Yarn: Colineet prism, 2 hanks in Turqoise; Colinette Giotto, 1 hank in Mardi Gras

Yarn Source: The Wool Baa

Modifications: Knitted in the round to avoid seaming and did a 3 needle bind off at the shoulders. Lost the pattern book after knitting the body and so made up a crochet edging for the neck and armholes rather than picking up stitches and knitting a neckband (also I'd run out of the prism yarn). Knitted the frill using a bit of common sense and lots of increasing which made it far frillier and rufflier than the pattern called for.

Thoughts: The sizing on this pattern is definitely on the small side with regard to length. The weight of the prism causes it to pull down a bit and lengthrn it, but it does seem to be on the short side to me. If I'd knitted the pattern as written I would definitely not have had enough yarn to seam the dress and pick up the stitches for the neck and armbands, and so it would mean having to break into a 3rd skein.

Competition reminder: Closing date is tomorrow at 23:59, so get your guess posted if you want to be in with a chance of winning some yarny goodness.

Scarlet Fever

2007-05-15T19:18:00.000Z

How I wish that the title of this post was some kind of witty word play, and that I was about to show you an amzing knitted thingummy in scarlet. Unfortunately, it isn't. It's because my favourite pirate has got a bad case of the poorlys.

The photo is a bit washed out, and she looks a lot worse now. The doctor said that it's the first case of scarlet fever she's seen in ages, and we're going to be stuck at home for a fair few days til she's better. I'd hoped this meant lots of knitting time (silver linings and all that), but having to be a slave and run for smoothies, cloths for fevered brows, change the DVD every 10 mins, find special cuddly toys and other equally vital tasks means that I've not got as much done as I wanted.

I finished a toddler dress, but my model declared herself too ill for the photoshoot, so the pictures will have to wait a bit. Instead, I shall leave you with a few more miters - they're massively fun to knit, although quite why I've no idea. Clearly simple things please simple people :)

Could it be?

2007-05-14T19:48:00.000Z

Why, it is! It's a finished object!

I can't get a decent photo, so that one of me waggling my feet in the air will have to do.

Pattern: Generic sock pattern.

Yarn: Curious yarns sock yarn in 'Forest Walker'

Needles: 2.5mm inox dpns

Why did they take so long?: Basically, I cast on for these with the intention of them being a birthday present for someone. All was going well until I went to Skip North back in March with a nearly finished pair of socks. I thought I'd turn the heel whilst listening to a talk from some interesting maths knitterly peeps. Unfortunately it turns out I can't turn heels in the dark whilst drunk and sniggering with other drunken knitters, and the resulting cockeyed heel caused the sock to get shoved in my bag where it languished unloved til last week.

One FO down, a gazillion to go.

Lessons I have learned

2007-05-13T19:51:00.000Z

Today's knitting lessons, brought to you by Badger:

Making an existing design your own is fun.
If you're not sure how to alter a design to make it unique, then start by losing the pattern book just before you finish the garment and then make the rest of it up as you go along.
Primary colours may look like fun on the skein but when you have a Eurovision hangover they can be painful to knit with.
Crocheted edgings on knitwear are easier than they seem, especially when you don't really know what you're doing and just let the hook guide you in a zen kind of way.
Crocheting a frill is better than knitting it.
Knitting the frill, despite thinking that crochet would be easiest, means casting off 4000 stitches.
Casting off 4000 fricking stitches takes 4 episodes of 24 to achieve. Thank God for Jack Bauer.

Here endeth the lessons.

And Clarabelle, you really are a cynic! I will not fail this early on in the challenge!

Eurovision!

2007-05-12T17:28:00.000Z

As tonight is Eurovision I am likely to be very drunk soon. I am therefore making a quick and early post which will allow me to get hammered along with Terry, free from worry about blogging whilst paralytic.

I have been knitting on the mitered blankie today, finished a pair of socks last night and did some tidying, but as the camera battery has died I have no proof and you'll just have to trust me. Instead, I leave you with a progress picture of the Swallowtail shawl. As soon as my pattern arrives it's next on the list to be finished :)

And a close up of the oh so pretty stitch pattern:

Competition News

I'm now slightly worried by the immense optimism shown by some competition entries - Christina in particular seems to have a touching, if slightly naive, faith in me. 5 more days to get your guess entered!

I have yarn!

2007-05-11T19:00:00.000Z

As I mentioned in the list of WIPs, there is a mitered blankie in the making. I'd been mulling over the idea of knitting some kind of blanket out of my leftovers, but somewhere along the line the idea of leftovers got abandoned. I wanted to knit this behemoth of a blankie out of cotton, and whilst all our American chums may be able to get hold of Tahki-Stacey Charles cotton in a gazillion different shades, over this side of the pond things are a bit trickier. Yarn Forward sell the takhi stuff, but the shipping is astronomical. Rowan handknit cotton comes in over 30 shades, but most of these are fairly muted and I want my blankie to be zingy. I spent several days pouring over various websites, trying to find exactly what I wanted, but nothing seemed to be right. Having depressed myself and just about given up, a wise monkey pointed me in the direction of Texere Double Top cotton.

Wow. This stuff is great value, comes in very vibrant shades and knits like a dream. I'm planning on mixing this with the Rowan cotton in order to maximise my colour combinations, but just look at the colours of this little lot!

Mmmm, purty yarn!

And remember, if you haven't yet entered yesterday's competition then there are still 6 days to go (and some of you are proper cynical b*stards!)

Compemetition time!

2007-05-10T18:38:00.000Z

It has been suggested by some doubting monkeys that my new resolution to update this blog every day won't last very long. As such, I have decided to have a compemetition! You have to guess the date that this resolution gets broked - basically, what date I will fail to blog. Leave your guess in the comments (one guess only, if you post more than one then I'm only going to accept your first answer) and the winner will get something fantastic when I finally do abandon the blog again.

Compy entries must be entered by 23:59 on 17/05/07, and even if you're not a regular reader/ commenter then please still play along :)

(And I promise not to be insulted if people think I won't last the week)

Spurious accusations

2007-05-09T18:56:00.000Z

I am shocked. I was accused earlier today of not updating this blog regularly, and quite frankly I see no reason to quietly accept this dreadful slur. I update every single time I have enough alcohol in my system, and if this isn't often enough for people then I suggest they send me margarita mix and remedy the problem themselves (and yes,that means you, Northern Monkey).

So anyway, I have thought about yesterday's list and pondered over the comments. I'll be making some decisions about the various projects in the next few weeks and no doubt several of them will be heading for the frog pond. Quite which ones is still to be decided, but there are several likely candidates. I also remembered another WIP, the space invader socks. They are really, really cool and I love knitting them, but there is a size issue that needs resolving. I'll be frogging these soon, but will defintely be redoing them at some point. Here's the sock before it's ripped back.

I thought I should also post pictures of my buffday booty. This is me with some Noro Iro that Helen sent me, and some natural coloured alpaca from Kai.

And I got another knitterly present today from Super Monkey. Here I am with the gift all wrapped up.

And when I opened it there were the coolest lace up gloves inside! it's very difficult to take photos of both arms at once, so I settled for just one modelled glove. Looky.

She's a clever monkey, is that one :)

(Thankyou for the various offers of the Swallowtail pattern - I've arranged to borrow one so I'm all sorted now. Knitters are the best.)

Yee Haw, Cowgirl!

2007-05-07T21:03:00.000Z

Today I decided to pretend to be a cowgirl, and as I have no steers in my small garden I had to round up my WIPs instead. It got a bit distressing after a while and I had to have a sit down with a nice cup of tea. Having become slightly overwhelmed by the projects I was finding I have now decided to simply see how many I can remember and blog about them here, in the hope this will shame me into doing something about them.

Forest walker socks - one complete, one more than half way through. This project got abandoned, as I attempted to turn the heel whilst hideously drunk at Skip North. It all went a bit wrong and they got shoved in the bottom of a knitting bag waiting for a sober badger and I promptly forgot about them.
Blue stripy socks - half a sock complete. Boring, but is my lunchtime knit for work.
Bright stripey sock - one done, second one not yet cast on for. This sock has a garter stitch short row heel and toe and I don't think I like them, hence the second sock not yet being in existence.
Pink toddlers sock -one done, one completed as far as the toe. I can find the completed sock, but have no idea where the in progress one is hiding. Maybe I should tidy up occasionally.
The icord jumper - no excuses with this one, I'm just slack and easily distracted by other pretty things.
Sage green bulky sweater - I knitted all the pieces but then discovered a gauge issue with the back. I frogged it, but never got round to redoing it. Considering I was modifying the pattern as I went along and didn't make any notes, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to get a succesful result with this one.
Colinette toddler dress - just needs seaming and a frill knitting. Hasn't been finished as I realised it won't fit baby badger and I don't have enough yarn to make it any bigger (or the inclination, quite frankly).
Colinette lasso crochet wrap - going to get frogged. I've lost interest and it's not going to come back.
Top down raglan in Wendy pure bamboo - loving this, and have no doubts it will get finished. It hasn't been on the needles very long, so this one is justified.
Hedera - I knitted one, got bored. I now feel the desire to knit the other, but have lost the original one (again, tidying is looking more and more like the right thing to do).
Swallowtail shawl - I put it down for a little break and then misplaced the pattern. Is anyone seeing a theme emerging for many of these UFOs yet?
A mitered blankie - I just cast on for this, and it shall be the last thing to be casted on until at this list of WIPs gets considerably less. Still, it's looking darned pretty so far.

It's all got a bit too much. I think I need some cocktails and a lie down.

My buffday

2007-04-27T21:16:00.000Z

Yesterday was my buffday, so I did what all good badgers do and took a day off work to go on safari. I got to Whipsnade nice and early and looked at the lemurs for a bit. I then sat down for a little rest and what do you know, but Super Monkey flew in and landed on my back!

Devious also came along to play

Idoru and 5150 also came along to play, but as they'd decided to wear their human suits we didn't take any pictures of them.

I saw lots of animals, but my favourites were the penguins.

I had scampi for my dinner.

And then we looked at more animals from the steam train!

You can see from this picture that the humans kept trying to grab at Super Monkey, what with her being the world's most favouritist superhero. Luckily she only had to drop two or three anvils on the humans to make them stop harassing her.

I then had to drive home, and it was all going well until I hit a traffic jam.

Still, at least I had pressies to unwrap when I got home, and I shall show pictures of them soon (honest!)

Yarrrrgh!

2007-03-06T21:52:00.000Z

Because you're never to young to learn how to be a pirate

And it's important to practice your blood curdling screams too

A pirate ensures she looks good from every angle

I wish I had a pirate costume too. I wonder how hard it would be to knit a me sized one?

A list

2007-03-03T15:53:00.000Z

Things that have happened since last I blogged:

I have had an operation on both my eyes
My laptop broked itself
My laptop eventually got fixed
I have knitted virtually nothing

However, these are the photos of nearly all of what I have knitted this year

And this is the bear suit I knitted last year but never got round to posting a picture of:

Incidentally, does anyone else ever feel as though there life is just racing away from them in a haze of commuting, dealing with stupid people and housework? I do hope it's not just me.

Great expectations

2007-01-31T21:05:00.000Z

Firstly, a big thanks for all the comments from the last post. I have now got over the maudlin period and am back to being my usual shouty argumentative self - hurray!

I have been knitting socks for the last few weeks and very little else - pictures will appear soon, but I've lost the thingummy doofus that links the camera to the laptop. So in the absence of pixtures I shall regale you with my thoughts on yarn shops. Yesterday I was on a training course in Beeston and so thought I should check out Yarn. This is a shop that I've read a great deal about on other blogs and in knitting magazines and it seems to be universally raved about, so my expectations were high. The shop itself was crammed with yarn and patterns and whilst it was too small to swing a cat in, you could have probably managed to whirl a guinea pig around your head without causing too much damage (to the shop at least - Mr Snuffles may well be traumatised by his impromptu fairground ride). On the face of it, there was a great deal of promise in the shop, and so I was a happy little critter.

However, I do feel that there were several areas that I felt the shop let itself down in. Firstly, not all the needles and notions are easily accessible, and you have to specifically ask for certain items as they are out of the customers reach. For shoppers like me, who enjoy picking things up, having a look and a think and then maybe putting them back again, this isn't a good thing. Secondly, the counter with the till has yarn stacked in front of it. It made it difficult to browse these if anyone was paying, and also felt as though you were being watched by the woman behind the till. Thirdly, and most crucially, the woman herself was courteous, but that was all. I didn't feel especially welcomed or as though I could ask for help or advice.

Overall, I just felt a bit let down. It's always a risk when you have your hopes raised that you may be let down, but I think my expectations were so high because of my LYS. When you're used to a shop where the kettle is always on, the owner keeps baby wipes to clean little people's sticky fingers and crayons to keep the newly cleaned fingers occupied, customers laugh and chat with each other, advice is plentiful and friendly and you're positively encouraged to squeeze and sniff yarn then most other places will pale by comparison.

I hope I just caught the lady in Yarn on a bad day, and that normally the atmosphere is far friendlier, but it did bring it home to me that I am damned lucky to have such a great LYS on my doorstep.

Oh, and a quick point - I seem to be getting more and more questions in the comments, so if you ask me anything then I'll answer you in the comments rather than in the next post :)

Sometimes

2007-01-03T12:33:00.000Z

Sometimes I wonder why people knit? To reduce stress, quit smoking, give themselves a creative outlet, ensure that they have clothes that fit perfectly, because they find it relaxing, because they enjoy a challenge, because they feel it connects them with knitters who have gone before them are all reasons that I've seen given on blogs and on knitting forums. There are bound to be many other reasons that I've missed, but the one reason that gets mentioned again and again is to do with clothing those we love.

I think this is primarily why I knit. There are plenty of other reasons, but the overriding reason for my knitting is as a way of expressing my love and affection for others. A friend of mine has just split up with her boyfriend, and so I'm knitting her some snuggly socks. It's a way of letting someone know that you're thinking of them, and that whilst you can't always physically be there to give them a hug, make endless cups of tea and just sit with them, when they pull on a pair of cashmere socks then you're there with them.

I knit for my children and get an immense sense of pride in seeing them wearing something I've made. It shows I want to spend my time keeping them warm and looking good. Those who knit for charity are also showing their love for others . By making clothes, blankets or toys for those who need them, they are demonstrating immense compassion for people who they will most likely never meet, and are doing so simply because they understand that any human being in need is deserving of warmth and comfort.

The one aspect of knitting that I feel most demonstrates a knitters love for another person is when they knit something that they themselves hate. To spend hours making something garish, unflattering, dull or in a hideous colour simply because it has been asked for is a sure sign of love.

When I was 15 I asked my mum to knit me a cardigan and, like all good knitters, she agreed. I wanted an oversized long grey baggy cardigan, with absolutely no frills, cables, lacey bits or anything that would make the knitting of it even remotely interesting - it had to be stocking stitch all the way. I was going for a Morrissey/Robert Smith/Kurt Cobain type of look (as is the way with teenagers), and my mum sighed and declared that she would knit it for me. A sidar pattern was found, the yarn bought and she cast on. At the time I was a very skinny wee thing, and so my mum suggested that I might want something that went just below my bum and was maybe 40" round the chest, as this was a good 8" of ease. Nope, that was not what I wanted. I wanted it to my knees and to be a 48" chest. Sighing, my mum agreed to knit exactly what I wanted. I should also point out that the yarn used was DK weight, mainly acrylic and a very drab grey, so it wasn't as though knitting with it was a pleasure. The cardigan took months to knit (understandably), but it was exactly what I wanted.

I'm wearing the massive cardigan right now, and nearly 15 years since it was knitted it's still going strong. The seams have been perfectly mattress stitched, and the button band was picked up and then knitted, rather than knitted on. The finishing on this cardi must have taken hours, and it is perfect. The acrylicy wool is starting to go a bit bobbly and it's wearing a bit thin in places, but I'll never throw it out. I've worn this to night clubs, I wore it when I was in labour with baby badger, I wear it now when I'm poorly.

It's 10 years today since my mum died, and no matter what people say, time doesn't make it easier. It still hurts like hell and I don't think I will ever get over it. What I do have though, is this cardigan, and it is incontravertable knitted proof of just how much my mum loved me.

Merry Crimbletide one and all!

2006-12-25T18:37:00.000Z

Happy Santa's buffday! I am alive, I will update my blog, and all is well with the world. Sort of. Merry Diwali/ Christmas/ Hannukah/random non denominational festival/ atheistic pressie giving. Ho ho ho!

What would you do?

2006-10-02T20:40:00.000Z

So, lets suppose that a small person has a hatred of handknits. He has declared he would rather die than wear something his mother had knitted. He rolls his eyes whenever yarn is mentioned (which happens a lot in his household). He basically behaves in the way that typifies many 9 year old males.

What would you do if this small badger asked you to knit him something? If he came to you with a very specific request for a pair of wrist warmers with a yin and yang symbol on them? I'm guessing most of you would probably leap for joy, rush to the LYS and shed a tear that finally your offspring is beginning to appreciate the beauty that is wool. Not me. I promised the boy around 6 months ago that I would make these wrist warmers for him and then promptly forgot. A knitting friend from Swizerland was staying with me this weekend and she asked the boy if he had ever had anything knitted for him (mainly as the badger girl is nearly always clad in knitted goods). The boy looked sad and said "No, I did ask for something, but she never knitted it for me". Oh the shame! What could I do but quickly create a pair of the requested wristies?

Apparently they are cool, so I am now approved of by the boy - at least for the next few days, anyway....

Freaking 4 ply

2006-09-26T09:15:00.000Z

It amazes me that kntting still surprises me. I have been knitting since I was a teeny badger, and have knitted all kinds of garments and toys. I've used all different weights of yarn and all different fibres (including one experiment with novelty yarn which was quite traumatic - we'll say no more about it), and so whilst a pattern or technique may cause me to give a surprised "ooh", the basic bare bones of knitting shouldn't cause mass anguish.

Baby knitting is the ultimate misleading knitting. I always think I like knitting for them because the clothes are so ickle, and so will be nice and speedy. WRONG WRONG WRONG! I mentioned a while ago about knitting a bear suit, and now is the time for me to acknowledge this garment and pay some attention to it. Basically, it goes from ankle to crown with wrist length sleeves and is by Debbie Bliss, so it's on the roomy side. And it is knitted almost totally in one colour stocking stitch in 4 ply. It is taking forever and slowly sapping my will to live. It is so dull and so slow that I can only knit on it for an hour or so at a time before I start wanting to gnaw my own knuckles to the bone to relieve the tedium. Anyway, I am going to go and see the young Mr James P Badger (for whom the suit is being made) on Sunday, and so now I have a deadline i'm hoping it will be spur me on. Maybe I'll finally remember for future baby knitting that a large garment in 4 ply is not a quick knit, but a serious commitment that requires fortitude, dedication, planning and copious amounts of red wine.

Busy busy busy

2006-09-19T22:16:00.000Z

So very busy :(

Still, I did manage to knit a few things in the last couple of weeks. First, another bib and pair of bootees.

And I finished my angora socks too.

Hopefully life will calm down soon and I'll be able to post properly (and regularly). In the mean time, apologies for not commenting on other people's blogs - I'll try and catch up with them all at the weekend :)

Public service anouncement

2006-09-08T19:39:00.000Z

Attention please. We interupt the feverish baby knitting session to bring important news. At some point in the week, a little furry woodland creature was spotted behaving in an unusual and worrying way. The creature, known to some as "Badger", was seen entering a yarn shop on Wednesday. Outside the shop, she looked around furtively, pulling a cap down over her eyes, as if she didn't wish to be recognised. Upon entering the shop she sat down and removed an unusual implement from her bag. This reporter was confused, as instead of producing the normal pointy sticks, she pulled out a solo stick from her bag. A stick with a hook on the end. Having brought the stick out, she than began using it in conjunction with yarn, muttering strange words to herself, such as "double" and "chain". She remained doing this activity for nearly 2 hours, and then left, looking mightily pleased with herself.

It was presumed that she would return to her sett and pick up the bear suit to resume knitting. Instead, she continued waving the solo hook stick thing around, and at one stage was even heard to declare this activity to be "fun" and "dead good". We have been able to take one picture of her strange yarn/hook combination, although it is our understanding that it has since grown substantially.

If seen, Badger should be treated with caution, as she is clearly unhinged. We can only hope that the knitting is returned to soon.

Thankyou for your cooperation.

Must. Knit. Faster.

2006-09-03T21:59:00.000Z

So many babies arriving and so fast! A friend has just texted to say she's gone into labour, another mate has dropped her sprog 2 days ago and a member of the Badger tribe has also just produced a baby badger boy (we badger's are a large and fecund tribe, so there will be even more coming soon). I've knitted plenty for the friend's baby but I'm feeling the urge to make more now that the little lady is actually on her way. The second friend's baby has also received knitterly goodies, but she's so dinky small I want to make something teeny tiny for her that will actually fit now. And the latest joinee to the tribe (currently known as James Patrick, but this may change apparently) needs a knitted token of love from his Aunty Badger. So no time to do a proper post as I need to get back to the booties, the hat, the all in one bear suit and the socks. I love babies!

Knitting? What knitting?

2006-08-30T21:00:00.000Z

I have barely touched the needles for a week now. So depressing, and so unlike me. However, there has been a good reason for the lack of anything knitterly - I've got a new job! I am now on a graduate trainee librarian programme for the next year at Mansfield library and am feeling like a jolly happy young badger. Hurray for me!

The little bit of knitting that has been happening is all sock based. I knitted one sock for myself on Saturday. The yarn is Angel Yarns DK angora and was incredibly quick to knit. I'm always amazed at the speed DK socks seem to knit at, at least 4 times as fast as 4 ply for some reason. I think it must be psychological, you see a sock progressing fast so you want to keep going. Maybe. Anyways, this is the solo bunny sock:

My foot feels like it is encased in clouds the yarn is so soft. These are a definate luxury and pure indulgence, but as a new librarian-to-be I feel I deserve them ;)

In other sock knitting news I got some new wool. My dad recently went to America with the badger boy and I requested American sock wool as a pressie. My dad has no knowledge or interest in knitting so I knew this was an optimistic request and when he told me he'd found wool I thought it would be nice but probably nothing special. How wrong could I have been?! I'd asked for specifically Yankee wool and Badger Dad did not disappoint! Check out the close up.

This is handspun from a farm somewhere in Michigan but more than that I know nothing. This is a really soft 3 ply unknown fibre. The weight is just above DK and will make a great pair of boot socks. I'm going to knit the socks toe up so I can use every last inch of yarn.

The other piece of sock news is the posh yarns socks have bitten the dust. They were looking like this

Excuse the crappyy photo, but as the sock is now defunct it's the best you're going to get. I decided the yarn and pattern were fighting each other too much and so I abandoned them and thought a simple stockinette sock with a picot hem would be nice instead. Unfortunately the yarn was pooling too much and so the yarn has now been ditched too. These were supposed to be for a friend so I'm now planning on knitting a straightforward pair of standard socks in opal flamingo as these shouldn't cause any problems (touch wood).

And finally thanks for all the comments on the hat. I have no idea what colour it is, but no doubt the Colinette aficionados out there will let me know. Several of you seemed to be wondering about upsizing it to fit adult heads, but there's no need. It fits!

Hat!

2006-08-23T20:16:00.000Z

Sometimes I get bored of big projects and need a little one to while away a rainy afternoon. So I knitted a hat.

It's from Colinette's Jelly Allstars book, knitted in some tagliatelle I bought from their bargain section when I went to the mill shop. Small person likes it so that's all good.

The i cord jumper has stalled for 2 reasons. Firstly, I missed a cable cross on a sleeve and so need to do some surgery. It's a wee bit more complicated than I'd like, but is still fixable without tinking, provided I have a bit of peace and quiet in which to do it. Unfortunately I haven't had any of this for days now, so the jumper will have to wait until the kids have been dosed with gin (or sent to ex badgers house for a few hours). The other reason the jumper is no longer being worked on is that I don't think I have enough wool. I checked the details of the recommended yarn (Mission falls 1824) and I have exactly the same amount of yarn as the pattern requires. I'm using DB cashmerino aran in teal that I bought from Pictish a few weeks ago (surprised you didn't recognise it, Ali!), but my basic maths skills lead me to believe I'm running out too fast.

I deliberately chose to knit the back and then a sleeve so I could see if this took less than half the yarn, but it's actually taken just over half. As there is a neckband to knit as well, there's no way I'm going to manage with just 13 balls. I'm going to have to buy 2 more balls to make sure I have enough, but they will be a different dye lot so I want to use them on the tops of the sleeves, working 2 rows with the major dyelot and then 2 rows with the new. I've ordered the wool and so hopefully it won't be too long before the knitting resumes.

There were some great ideas for the scarf type thingummy in the last lot of comments, but i've still not decided. If you've got any more ideas then keep 'em coming!

A pox be upon my home

2006-08-21T21:47:00.000Z

Euch, I'm sick. I am ill of the pox, and there is a red cross painted on my door and everything. Please excuse my coughing, spluttering, wheezing and general snuffling throughout this post.

So the gold star goes to Bronte for being the first person to correctly identofy the WIP as the i-cord jumper from Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis. It is proving to be an incredibly well written pattern and has enough interest to make it a fun knit. I finished the back within 2 days of starting and swiftly began a sleeve. The back looks like this:

This is a piccie of the finished jumper for those who haven't got the book - it's just sooooo pretty!

I've also started knitting a pair of socks for a friend. I'm using the latest posh sock club yarn and am following the PY free sock pattern. I'm really quite ploeased with this, as matching a variegated yarn to a pattern can be a problem for me as I'm a very fussy badger.

I have loads of pictures and loads to say today but unfortunately blogger is playing up, so I'll try again tomorrow and hope for better blog karma.

Oh, a final question: I have a friend who I would like to knit a gift for. It needs to be a fairly quick knit but something special as she is an exceptional knitter. Any suggestions? My thought are something like a drop stitch scarf in a luxury yarn, but any other suggestions would be gratefully received :)

Photos

2006-08-15T21:03:00.000Z

I finally finished the socks

And the kimono

I embelished the bib

And I started a new WIP. Can you tell what it is yet?!

Pressies!

2006-08-11T20:27:00.000Z

This has been a week of getting nice things from other knitters, and as I've been feeling a little bit low the past couple of weeks this has really cheered me up.

The first pressies were a fimo badger from Northern Monkey, and some stitch markers from Hector's House

And next was a prize I won from Lyonheart! 2 balls of Twilleys freedom spirit wool and a pair of absoluely beautiful earrings

And now the kimono - thankyou for all the suggestions, and like most of you I was going to follow Cherry's advice and add a little bit of contrast to the right front, and add some extra motifs to make a design statement. I went to rummage through the stash, but I didn't have any DK cotton. I went to JL to see what I could find, and then an amazing thing happened! I pulled down a ball of the red handknit cotton and found it was from the same dyelot - the reason why this was so amazing (to me, at least) was that the original yarn hadn't come from that shop but was part of my free subscription gift from Rowan and arrived about 5 months ago! Clearly the Knitting Gods are smiling on me. I have finished the kimono now and just need to find some contrast ribbon for the fastening and maybe add a crochet flower like Knityoga suggested. The kimono isn't actually for baby badger, but for a very teeny tiny person who's due to be born in a few weeks. This is a pattern, though, that's crying out to be upsized and so I will most definitely be making one for BB soon :)

And for all those of you who were concerned for the imaginary monkey, please don't be. I refused to go back and rescue him from the shop but he clearly can run fast, as he'd managed to get back in the car by the time we were back on the M1. Seems we're stuck with monkey for a whuile yet.....

Hearing voices

2006-08-09T20:29:00.000Z

I have a little voice in my head. It doesn't say much, but every now and again it passes a coment on what I'm doing or about to do. Some people may call this a conscience, but mine isn't concerned with right or wrong, just my rational behaviour (or lack of, mostly).

Today, for instance, the little voice has been shouting at me. I made an executive decision to overrule it (hey, it's my mind, I can do what I want) and these have been the consequences.

I went to IKEA, despite the voice's warning. I went with a toddler and her imaginary monkey to buy a mattress and a few bits and bobs. It wasn't pretty when I ended up smashing all 12 wine glasses I had bought immediately outside the exit, and nor was it pleasant to drag the matress across the carpark with the toddler hanging on to it and screaming that we had left the imaginary monkey in the shop.

I also ignored the voice when it questioned the wisdom of going out in the morning when I was waiting for my new camera to be delivered. Voice was ignored, I missed the postie and now have to collect it tomorrow.

The voice raised a slight concern over the fact I was ordering a large pizza and enough side orders to feed a family of 6 when it was only for me and a small person. The voice foresaw indigestion and was right.

I cast on for a sweet little baby kimono, again from Mason Dixon Knitting. I decided to use stash and chose 2 balls of Rowan handknit cotton. I checked the yardage of the called for yarn, compared it to my Rowan, noticed there was a discrepancy and yet still cast on. The voice murmered a complaint but at this stage knew it was being ignored so dodn't force the issue. The outcome was fairly predictable.

So now I have to decide which is the best course of action to take. Do I attempt to hunt down the dyelot, or frog a bit of the back and left front to make the kimono even ickler? I have a feeling frogging is the only way to go. Next time I really will try and pay attention to the voice.

I'm a follower, not a leader

2006-08-07T21:06:00.000Z

I'm so weak and easily led. All it takes is Nanatoo to just mention the idea of a KAL for Glampyre's new bodice and I start jumping up and down with my hand in the air shouting "Ooh me, me, me!", when I already have enough projects lined up to last me several years. And then Dreamcatcher shows off a pretty needle roll and without even waiting to catch my breath I order one too. Clearly I'm a born sheep.

I went to JL today and so thought I'd have a fondle of the new Rowan yarns. The one I was most interested in was tapestry, as I quite fancy knitting Sorrel from the new mag. I have to say that it doesn't really look like much on the ball. It's very hard to see how the colours will work as stripes and how they will look when knitted up. I asked if they had any knitted up samples but was told no, and that they had no intention of doing this either. It also didn't feel as soft as I was expecting - it's 30% soy bean, but this hasn't really softened the feel of the wool. I'm not sure that this is a yarn I could wear next to my skin so I'm putting any plans for Sorrel on hold for now.

Romance felt very soft, but was too sparkly for this grungy badger. Little Big Wool seemed nice enough, but the pattern support book, Arabesque, was very disappointing. The best yarn by far was RYC's baby alpaca DK which was so soft and snuggly I wanted to buy one just so I could keep petting it. It's a bit pricey though, so I can't see me indulging in any of this either. Sigh.

Nailing my colours to the mast

2006-08-04T21:20:00.000Z

Clearly I was too rash with my last post. Firstly, Dee put my mind at rest over the lace yarn and assured me I would be getting silk at some point - thanks Dee, I promise not to be a grumpster any more! Secondly, I didn't put enough thought into my ramblings when I declared Lancashire as part of the same country as Yorkshire. This was a massive oversight on my part and I feel I should now make amends.

I'm unsure as to when I was first aware of my neighbouring county - it was always spoken of in such derogatory terms that I had visions of a barren land, filled with godless heathens and inbred freaks of nature. Oh how we mocked them, their pitiful cities paling in comparison to our glorious epicentres of culture and technology. We laughed when we beat them at cricket, when our football teams showed up theirs to be the lily livered wusses that they were, when our rugby league clubs wiped the floor with theirs. I grew up happy in the knowledge that I lived in the chosen land, truly it was god's own country.

Then, one day Grandpa Badger came home and told us all the dreadful news. We were leaving my beloved Lancashire and going to live in Yorkshire. There was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth (which was quickly stopped when told I could have a pony), and I swore that I would return home as soon as possible. Alas, time had dulled these memories and I had forgotten just how unique Lancashire is. It should be an independant country and I shall never again make the mistake of believing Yorkshire to be its equal in any way. Please accept my sincere apologies, my fellow Lancastrians.

And now onto knitting! The baby cardi is almost done, it just needs some twiddly lacey bits adding and then I can knit something for me (at last). I also knitted this little garter stitch bib for the soon to be born babe:

There is absolutely nothing fancy about this bib. No cunning little clever techniques that make you go "ooh", no unique construction, nothing unusual at all. It is from Mason-Dixon Knitting, although really a pattern isn't needed, and is knitted in my leftover rowan denim. I have a real problem with keeping all my leftover yarn bits, irrespective of how small the ball may be. In this instance, it was maybe 3/4 of a ball, and I had no idea of what I could do with it and this proved a fantastic little stashbuster. So small, so quick and so useful!

Cackle cackle

2006-08-02T20:39:00.000Z

"When shall Badger knit again, in thunder lightenining or in rain?"

In all three actually! The weather has turned and the knitting mojo has returned at last. So much knitting, yet so few photos. There will be proper pics next post (honest!).

Anyway, it has been another mail filled week in the Badger sett, and first up was the new Rowan mag. I've been feeling less and less inspired by the Rowan mags over the last few years, so wasn't expecting great things from this one, but I was so wrong - it is excellent! There are ten different garments that I would love to make and only a few that have me reaching for the puke bucket (Murmansk braces anyone?!). I actually already have the kid classic needed to make Eva and so am thinking of making that my next me-sized project. However, the one that leaps out at me, grabbing me by the needles and whispering seductively "Knit me" is Lorelei.

This is the most beautiful sweater I've seen in a long time and I want it now! However, as my fairisle skills are currently non-existent and I don't have the yarn in stash this will not be being made in the immediate future. However, I have already formulated my Lorelei plan and strategies. Firstly I need to learn how to knit fairisle. I've found a pattern for a simple kiddies hat and will knit that as a practice piece. Then comes the money/wool issue. I'm going to demand that Father Christmas brings me the yarn for this for crimbo and so I shall start being a lot nicer and try to cut down on the naughtiness from now until December in the hope that I will get what I want. Sorted!

I also got my posh yarns sock yarn this week. The colour is confetti and very pale and girly. I think I like it, but as it's not 'my' colours, I'm not gushing over it. I think a simple lace pattern would work well with this, what do you think?

I also joined the posh yarns lace club and got the first skein

I love the colour, and it is a wonderfully soft blend of cashmere and angora. The only quibble I have, is that apparently members of the lace club are being sent different yarn blends of laceweight. I asked Dee, the owner of posh yarns, about this, and she said that it was because people from varying countries tended to order different yarn blends to each other. This seems reasonable, except that Dreamcatcher mentioned on the AY forum that she got pure silk. Now, last time I went to Lancashire I didn't think it was a different country! Dee has said that all members will receive the same value of yarns over the course of the membership, but she hasn't said that all members will receive the same yarns but just in a different order. There seems a big difference to my mind between the same yarns and same value of yarns - I'll wait and see what happens with the next shipment before deciding whether to be a grumpster about it ;)

Secret Summer Santa

2006-07-30T15:25:00.000Z

Well, of all the things you expect to happen on a boiling hot Sunday afternoon, getting a visit from the postman isn't top of my list! He claimed he was working overtime, which seemed odd to me, but hey - HE BROUGHT ME A PRESSIE!

I've been taking part in the Angel Yarns forum Secret Summer Santa swap, and I've been waiting not very patiently for my pressie for the past few weeks. I showed amazing restraint and managed to photo it before I demolished all the pretty paper:

And when I opened it I saw this:

The first pressie said "To add to your stash", and inside was 2 skeins of handpainted 100%lambswool. The colours are beautiful, absolutely my favourites and it smells really good too!

The next package said "Perfect for socks", and indeed it is perfect :)

Next was a little pack labelled "Perfect for adding a touch of colour". These are just brilliant, and sizes are 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm and 10mm, none of which I own and are great for a novice crocheter like me.

Next came two more pressies, one labelled for me and the other for the small badgers (I ate the muffin almost instantly - yum!)

I also got a lovely card (which I haven't taken a picture of), and there was a clue as to who my secret summer santa was.

A slow snail, hmmm I wonder who it could be ;) I want to say a very big THANKYOU to the lovely blogless Slowasasnail Kate!

Too hot to knit

2006-07-29T22:18:00.000Z

I can't stand this weather. I'm not one of those people who whines on about the British weather - I like wind and rain and sleet and general coldness so this is normally a great place to live, but right now I'm wilting badly. I had made up my mind that I was going to finish knitting the second regia sock today (whoosh - that was the sound of the deadline racing by) but I managed 8 rows of the heel flap this afternoon before having to give up.

I also tried to carry on with the baby cardigan which is the tulip cardigan from the Rowan Book of Ultimate Knits. It's a very sweet simple girls cardigan with just a lttle bit of lace to add interest, and I'm knitting it in Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino in a subtle duck egg blue. The pattern calls for Rowan handknit cotton, but it's knit at a very tight gauge for a DK yarn (7.25 spi on 3.25mm needles). I swatched for it using some Paton's cotton from the stash, and whilst I got gauge the fabric felt too stiff for a little person's cardi, so out came the baby cashmerino. This is thinner than a DK but slightly heavier than 4 ply and gives a beautiful drape so I'm happy with that. What I'm not so chuffed with is my complete inability to follow the most simple of charts. The pockets have a lace tulip motif on them which is worked over 19 stitches. The chart is correct, the placing of the chart within the pattern is correct but for some reason I keep ballsing it up. It's a present for a friend who's baby is due in the next few months, so I really want to just get it done and move onto something more exciting. Instead, I've spent 2 hours tonight repeating the same 4 rows over and over trying to work out what I'm doing wrong. Maybe it will make sense tomorrow. Maybe.

I have been sticking to the stashalong really well this week and haven't even felt tempted by any yarn. In fact, I even got rid of one ball from the stash! I swapped a ball of Opal Tiger for Socks Soar on 2 Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi. I've only flicked through the book, but I'm finding her writing style irritating so far. Hopefully I'll overcome that and use the book for my next pair of socks, I really do want to learn that technique.

Having felt very smug at having decreased the stash, I was surprised this morning to find myself the proud owner of a new ball of sock wool. The lovely Melody had offered to send me some windy hat thingummys for my ball winder and also put a bar of galaxy and a ball of sock wool in the pack! Thanks Debs :) The colours are so me, I can't wait to knit with it!

Apologies for the blurry photo - I really do need to buy a better camera - and the colours are paler pinky and purple than the photo appears. There's no information on the ballband as to what the fibre composition is, but it feels exactly like opal. There should easily be enough to get a pair for me and baby badger out of this ball, so we won't have to fight over who gets the pink goodness!

My birthday boys

2006-07-25T20:24:00.000Z

Happy birthday to the badger boy and ex Mr Badger!

Boy turned 9, ex turned 32. There was cake for the boy:

And cake for the hairy beast too:

I think I prefer the first cakey..... ;)

A confession

2006-07-24T20:34:00.000Z

Well, I haven't blogged for a few days because I've had nothing to blog about. Yes, dear readers, I have not knitted a single stitch since last Thursday! The socks are unfinished, the baby cardigan is languishing in a basket and whilst I have wound the yarn for my colinette throw into balls, I have done nothing else with it. Sigh.

I think it's mainly the weather that's got me feeling so totally meh, and we also had a very busy weekend. It's the badger boy's birthday tomorrow, and also ex badger's buffday too, so we went to the cinema on Saturday and Chester zoo on Sunday. I took loads of photos but using ex badger's camera, so I can't even post any pics of cute animals.

And thankyou for all the good wishes for the job interview - I didn't get it, but it has made me realise that I do want to work in libraries and get out of education, and I also have a much better idea of exactly what skills and knowledge I need to gain, so it was a good experience for me :)

The full story

2006-07-18T20:49:00.000Z

So after yesterday's pathetically brief post I shall now fill in the gaps. The job interview was for a post as a library assistant, which is something I have always wanted to do. The interview went well, but there was a literacy test afterwards and the heat had obviously addled my brain and I made a few mistakes. I should be hearing about it in a few days, so will let you all know if I get it.

The knitting injury is a problem with the ring finger on my left hand. When I knit socks I balance the needles on this finger (hard to describe, I may try and take a photo to explain what I mean) and I am getting achey pains in the finger, simiar to RSI style pain. I'm knitting a few rounds at a time rather than working on it solid for a few hours in one sitting and this seems to be helping, although my progress is slower than I want. The socks have to be ready by Friday, and I've only just got about a third of the way down the leg of the second sock. There may be some panicking about this as the week goes on.

The two books I got delivered were Mason Dixon Knitting and Knitting on the Edge. I absolutely love MD Knitting - it's not filled with truly unique, breathtaking patterns, but is a treasure trove of ideas, inspiration and fills you with confidence to find your own knitting style. I also like the fact that the majority of the patterns are for the home, an area of knitting that doesn't seem to always get the attention it deserves.

I already own Knitting over the Edge and so was expecting good things of its predecessor and I wasn't disappointed. This book has an entire section devoted to ruffles - how cool is that?! I think this is a better book than "over the edge" for me, as there are more edgings that I would want to incorporate into my knitting.

And I also got my posh sock club yarn today - the first lot never arrived and so Dee dyed some more for me. She also said she felt bad about it not arriving so sent me 100% cashmere instead of the usual sock yarn! This shop has amazing customer service, and I really can't recommend it enough. The colour is called carnival and is a lovely mix of purple, pinks and oranges. Very scrummy!

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been starting to think about breaking out from slavish pattern following and designing garments for myself. I have several ideas, but I figure I'll post more about them and ask for loads of advice once I've finished the current WIP's :)

A summary

2006-07-17T21:53:00.000Z

I woite a very long post, full of deep knitting thoughts and witty asides. Blogger then lost it. I didn't save it before trying to publish (yes, that particular lesson has now been learned), so here's a brief summary of what it contained:

I have a poorly knitting hand which is seriously impeding the progress on the stripey socks. They need to be done for Friday and I'm not reacting well to having this deadline. Yarn is Regia Canadian, colourway Manitoba for all those who have asked.
I have 2 new knitting books. They both rock.
I am knitting a baby cardigan.
I have been having design ideas for my 2 hanks of lasso (no slavish pattern following for me!)
I have a job interview tomorrow for the world's best ever job and I'm a bag of nerves.
I have too much yarn so am stashalonging (with much whinging and complaining).

Hopefully there'll be a proper post tomorrow!

Wool heaven

2006-07-15T20:54:00.000Z

Firstly I want to say thankyou for all your lovely comments about the Polly Pocket dress, I'm really pleased with how it's turned out and it's always good to free up the needles for a new WIP ;)

Today I went to the Colinette mill shop and had an amazing time. I met up with several knitters from the AY forum and it was a great experience buying yarn with like minded people to help with the choices. Anyway, without further ado, here are the pics of the newly acquired stash:

This is Parisienne mohair in velvet leaf with the pattern support booklet

This is giotto in Sunrise (I think - there was no label on this lot)

This is more giotto, this time in velvet damson

2 hanks of lasso in velvet leaf

5 hanks of wigwam in an unknown shade

A kit for a perugino throw, again colourway is a bit of a mystery.

With the exception of the parisienne mohair and the throw all the other skeins were from the sale room (hence the lack of info about colour), so it was a total bargain! Now I just have to choose what to knit first...

Pockets make all the difference!

2006-07-14T10:04:00.000Z

Whilst knitting the Polly Pocket dress I tried to persuade baby badger to try it on or let me hold it against her so I could check the fit. Every time I went near her with the dress she would run away, shouting "I don't like it!". I therefore had my doubts about whether the dress would ever get worn at all when finished. However, I needn't have worried. When I sewed the pockets on, her attitude magically changed, and she demanded to wear it. Result!!!

She even did the pretty dress pose:

Details:

Pattern: Polly Pocket dress from Miss Bea's Seaside

Needles: Inox aluminium straights 4mm

Yarn: Rowan Denim, Nashville and Ecru

Pre shrinkwash dimensions: length - 64cm, width - 24 cm

Post shrinkwash dimensions: length - 56cm, width 24 cm

Modifications/thoughts: I increased the length of the hem by 2 inches to ensure it would fit the small one for as long as possible. Other than that, I knitted it exactly as the pattern specified as it was well written and straightforward to follow. The yarn was supposed to shrink by 20% in length but it was closer to 15%. This didn't matter in a dress such as this for a growing badger, but it would make me cautious of using the yarn for a project for myself. I didn't particularly enjoy knitting with the denim cotton but the way it looks and feels after the shrinkwash is very nice, which makes me think I may use it again for projects for the offspring. Also, the fact that it can just be thrown in the washing machine means it scores bonus points in this household ;) Overall, I'd knit it again but this is one of those knits that's all about the product rather than the process.

Nearly finished

2006-07-12T19:56:00.000Z

The Polly Pocket dress is almost fnished. I stopped procrastinating a few nights ago and knitted the other pocket and did the edgings. I was feeling very pleased with myself until I noticed I hadn't used the 3.25mm needles called for the edging, but rather one 3.25 and one 3.75. Still, it doesn't appear to have made a big difference as the neck and armholes look fine despite with the mismatched needle sizes!

I've also decided that I need to stop sticking to what I know in knitting and start trying new things. I have only ever used backstitch for sewing up as this was the only way my mum taught me, and so the first thing I wanted to teach myself was mattress stitch. I had a quick look at the instructions in this book and then set off. It was sooo easy! I whizzed through the side seams of the dress and couldn't get over how simple and neat it was. It also seems that it would be a lot easier to rip out than backstitch if the seaming needed to be redone (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Clearly deciding to expand my knitting and finishing techniques is a good idea!

Based on the mattress stitch experiment working out so well I am going to hopefully attempt the following techniques in the near future:

Knitting continental style
Fair isle
Double knitting
Knitting socks on 2 circulars
Magic loop

I think that's enough new techniques for now ;)

In other knitting news I have begun knitting a pair of socks for a friend. Other than the baby badger I have never knitted socks for anyone else, so I'm concerned about ensuring a good fit, especially as her feet are considerably bigger than mine. I've held off knitting socks for others as gifts as they are a lot of effort for people who may not understand the amount of time that goes into them, but this is a friend who I used to work with and who witnessed the sock knitting I did every lunch time. She knows how long they take and has always expressed a desire for handknitted socks, so when she told me she was getting a new job it seemed a perfect reason to make her some socks. These are knitting up remarkably quickly, and I'm sure it's the yarn that's making me want to work on them. Watching the colours and stripes develop is holding my interest remarkably well (I'm clearly easily amused).

And here is the sock in all it's stripey glory

I can sing a rainbow

2006-07-07T21:08:00.000Z

I can. I had to sing that wretched rainbow song at a class assembly when I was about 6 and it has stuck with me ever since. It wasn't the highlight of my musical life (that was performing a solo at the festival hall), but I have been humming it all week. The reason for this was because of a few comments left after my last post. Helen commented on the fact that the granny square was yellow (knowing my abhorence of all things yellow), and then Pictish admired the colour of it and this got me thinking.

Firstly, the actual colour of the granny square is very difficult to describe. It's a cross of yellow and green, similar to poorly baby poo. Personally I find the colour nauseous and only used it as it was the nearest cotton to hand. It always surprises me that people can view the same colour so differently, describing it as yellow or green or mustard or whatever else, even allowing for monitor differences. This interest may have something to do with my philosophy background, where the idea of colour perception is a major area of study. This is a little introduction to the theories surrounding perception, if you're interested.

I should now say that I'm mostly quite easy going about my knitting. I will knit for myself, for family, for friends, for charity. I like knitting with laceweight and 4 ply but also have a soft spot for some of the chunky yarns. I have no problem on embarking upon a pattern that requires maximum concentration and will take months to finish but likewise I enjoy a quick FO every now and then. I like silk, cotton, cashmere, angora, wool, alpaca, hemp - basically all natural yarns are a Good Thing as far as I'm concerned. But colour? Colour is a totally different bag of frogs.

I have an irrational hatred of yellow. I find it the most nauseating colour, from the brightest egg yolk to the palest primrose, there is not a single shade that I would contemplate wearing. Orange and peach are also vomit inducing in my eyes. This violent hatred of a range of colours seems odd to me. There are colours that don't really suit me, such as pink, but I still like them. Then there are those colours that look great on me but I feel are not that inspiring (cream, beige and biscuity colours for example). But to despise a colour so much just seems irrational. There are then the colours that I love. Greens, blues, purples and browns in all their hues really float my boat. I'm sure that this is partly to do with my having typical celt colouring and knowing that these are colours I can wear with confidence, but I'm not sure this can totally account for just how inspiring and uplifting I find these shades. I also love blood reds even though I'm sure they clash with my hair. Since I started knitting again I have become so much more aware of colour and the effect it has on me. I'd be really interested to know what any of you feel about cololur and whether you feel the same level of passion about it.

And finally, DianeM asked if I was ok as I haven't posted for a while. Unfortunately real grown up life has been placing demands on me and severely curtailing knitting time. Normal knitting and blogging service will hopefully be returned soon!

Late night hooker

2006-07-01T19:03:00.000Z

I went to a crochet class on Wednesday and learnt how to wield a hook for the first time. I have to say I was totally incompetant and couldn't get the hang of it. However, I had a bout of insomnia last night and so thought I'd have another go. I made a few practice swatches of different stitches and then decided I'd make a granny square. I got the instructions from "The Happy Hooker" and it was so easy! Granny squares are now my favouritist thing in the world - they're dead quick and use stash, what more could you want?!

Here is my precious first ever proper piece of crochet

I also got a parcel this morning which contained two skeins of Fyberspates laceweight in colourway foxglove. This was a swap with a friend from the AY forum and is such a beautiful colour.

My mind isn't made up yet about what to make with it, although I'm currently leaning towards Ene's Scarf from "Scarf Style". If you can think of any other shawls that take no more than 900 metres of laceweight then let me know!

One skein + 2 hours = a F.O!

2006-06-30T20:23:00.000Z

I had a new fireplace fitted today, and as I live in a tiny house I thought I'd better go and sit in my garden whilst the guys were working. Unfortunately my garden offers little in the way of entertainment so I had to find a way to amuse myself. I thought about doing the other pocket for the dress, but I need to concentrate for intarsia so I thought I'd better do something simple. I bought a skein of Colinette tagliatelle from my LYS on Wednesday (no comments about yarn diets, please!) and decided I'd make a start on Aurora from Jelly Allstars. I didn't bother with a swatch, and just cast on, laughing at my recklessness (I know how to live dangerously!). Amazingly enough, after a couple of hours it was totally finished and despite my gauge nonchalence it fits the little badger perfectly. Looky:

And check the smile - she actually likes it!

In sock knitting news I got an e-mail from Dee today, saying that the next posh yarns sock club wool has been sent - I can't wait!

And to answer Lyonheart's question, the polly pocket dress is from this book. It's a lovely and easy pattern but head bangingly dull to knit ;)

Polly pocket dress

2006-06-29T21:53:00.000Z

I've finished knitting the front and back of this dress and despite numerous attempts to photo it, it merely looks like a dark blob. Still, I have done one of the pockets and it proved to be much more willing to strike a pose. See?

I haven't done any intarsia for a very long time - I think the last time was when I was a teenager, and so this was effectively a new experience. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but I think the biggest problem has been the yarn. It's Rowan Denim, and so there is no give at all. It's fairly neat, but I'm hoping that when it has it's shrink wash it will tighten enough to improve the appearence of any slightly dodgy bits.

And as I know someone will ask, I have also taken a picture of the back. Clearly I haven't weaved (woven?) the ends in, but you get the idea of how it looks.

There's another pocket and the edgings to do on the dress and then it will be done. I'm hoping to try and get it finished this weekend, although there will be football watching and beer drinking too, so the dress may get slightly neglected if there's cause to celebrate!

Knitters Graveyard

2006-06-27T22:37:00.000Z

You know the place that DPN's crawl off to so they can die in peace? The place where stitch markers huddle together for warmth? The place where, on a dark and stormy night, you can hear the wailing of lost row counters? The place that you know exists but you can never actually quite find it?

Well, I have discovered its location, and it is on this astral plane, not the parallel universe I had previously presumed they were falling into. I have been tidying today (a most un-badger like activity), and have discovered 12 dpn's, 2 row counters, 1 tape measure, countless stitch markers, 4 beading needles and 9 sewing needles, all of them between my side table and the wall ,which is a gap of mere millimetres. Those pesky knitting implements will try anything to escape and so I now have them safely confined in my knitting bag. I wonder how long they'll stay there before they make their next bid for freedom....

Have you seen this duck?

2006-06-24T15:58:00.000Z

He was last seen running down the road, shouting about starting a new life in Surrey.

The mug shot:

He should be considered armed with DPN's and dangerous....

Get thee behind me, Colinette

2006-06-23T18:22:00.000Z

Just as I decide to stop buying yarn, Colinette announce an open day. I can feel my willpower disappearing at a rate of knots....

No sex please, I'm dieting

2006-06-22T20:45:00.000Z

Well, I went to the open day at Angel Yarns on Sunday and bought a couple of goodies.

There are two balls of DB alpaca silk (the colour is lighter than on the photo, a nice teal shade), a ball of Lana Grossa sock yarn, AY hand dyed sock yarn, Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino (colourway sugar maple), AY 4 ply angora, 3 balls of KSH (again, the colour is not really accurate, it's a very pale greeny grey), Rebecca baby and Kids, "Cool socks, Warm Feet" by Lucy Neatby and a crochet hook!

I'm now on a yarn diet until the Knitting and Stitching show at Ally Pally (stop sniggering, Pictish) and so am going to be knitting from stash.

The first stash project is the Polly Pocket dress from "Miss Bea's Seaside" book. It's knitted in Rowan Denim, whichI've never used before. I got gauge straight away, which is nice, but am not really enjoying it so far. The denim is rough and splitty and the dye that comes off on to my hands is irritating me, even though it washes off easily. The pattern is dull as dishwater and if it weren't for the fact that Baby Badger has expressed an interest in having the dress (I want it, mummy. Knit it me!), I'd have probably abandoned it before now. Sigh.

And those little baby knits I mentioned in a previous post can now be revealed, as they have both been gifted.

The pair on the left are made from the leftovers of the posh sock yarn, hothouse colourway and the other pair are knitted from Regia but I've lost the ballband and can't remember the what the colour's called (muppet that I am)!

Baby boom

2006-06-16T14:16:00.000Z

For some reason, my life currently seems to involve a lot of babies. Friends left, right and centre are dropping sprogs and several aquaintances are also reproducing at a frightening rate. As a result of this I have been knitting baby things over the past few days. I can't show any pics, as several of the recipients read this blog, but after the knitty bits have been gifted I'll post photos.

However, all good blogs need photos, and so these are my new shoes I bought today

A Next clearence shop has opened up just over the road from my house, and so I went and fought all the natives to get to the bargains - these babies were a fiver! I love new shoes :)

I should have been a Blue Peter presenter

2006-06-14T21:41:00.000Z

I made me a swift!

I started by using these instructions, but as I went on it mutated into my own design - it's a great deal sturdier than the original and is easy to dismantle and store. I've been winding skeins all day and giggling about how much fun it is, sad but true!

I also finished the other posh sock

Pattern: My own one size fits Badger pattern (1x1 rib for 1", short row heel, flat toe)

Needles: Inox grey dpn's 2.5mm

Yarn: Posh Yarns sock yarn, colour "Hothouse" (exclusive to sock club members)

Next time I get a package from posh yarns, I think I'll try their free pattern. It's such lovely yarn to knit with that I'm really glad I joined and can't wait to see what the next colours are going to be!

Another sock

2006-06-12T20:40:00.000Z

This is the first Hedera

And I have been buying more sock yarn too. This little lot is from Curious Yarns, and the colours are (from left to right) Ocean, Forest Walker and Sanctuary. Ocean is a lot more green than I was expecting, I thought it was going to have more blue in it. I do still like it, but Sanctuary is my absolute favourite. The colours are so dusky and subtle, absolutely stunning.

And I have a new toy to play with too - there will be pics of that little baby next time...

Modelling pose!

2006-06-11T22:20:00.000Z

Metis modelled:

And a piccy of the flarey sleeve too

There has been a lot of knitting going on here over the last few days, and a lot of sock based trauma. I'm presuming that most (all?) of you who read this blog have got here from Angel Yarns forum, and so will know what happened to my posh sock and hedera. If you don't, then you can read the story here. I would rewrite it, but I don't think my nerves could cope with yet another retelling of the saga. I have finished the first Hedera sock now, but it's too dark for photos, so I'll try and post one tomorrow. I've also cast on for the second posh sock, as I hate having single socks hanging around the place. So far I've never fallen victim to second sock syndrome, and I'm hoping it stays that way!

It's a posh sock!

2006-06-07T21:31:00.000Z

Looky what I made

And from another angle so you can see the short row heel

Now, I know this isn't Hedera, but I do have a good reason (honest) for knitting this sock. when my laptop died the pattern for Hedera was on it, and so I had to stop. The same day the laptop broke my first package from the posh yarns sock club arrived. I wasn't too keen on the colur, and truth be told I'm still not that fussed about it, but it is sooo soft. It's a blend of 70% merino and 30% cashmere and is very nice to knit with. It glides along the needles without being too slippy and knits up very evenly. my only gripe is that it isn't spun tightly enough for my liking, and so it splits quite easily. It's fine if you kep an eye on it, but I like knitting socks whilst watching TV and so there were a few points that I had to stop and fix split stitches. Still, it's a small gripe about an otherwise fantastic yarn.

Metis is finally blocking, and I'm hoping it will stretch in length just a teeny bit more than I originally planned for as my belly really shouldn't be exposed to the public ever. It covers me well enough, but when I stretch it rides up to show the wobble gut and it aint a pretty sight!

B%$&#$dy computers!

2006-06-04T19:12:00.000Z

I've not posted for ages because my laptop died. It needed a new hard drive and so I was without the internet for nearly a week. When you're used to having the web at your fingertips it's so frustrating to suddenly be without. Anyway, the good news is that it meant I had more knitting time. I finished this:

I think I want to fiddle around with the neck band a bit more before I class this as an FO, as I knitted the band the way it was written in the pattern but didn't like the way it looked. At first I thought it was my knitting, but after I had ripped it and redone it a few times I decided that it was the pattern that was at fault not me. Ideally it needs a crocheted edge, but as my crochet skills are virtually non-existent I don't think I'll manage this. To be perfectly honest, the neck looks quite nice as it is, apart from one tiny little blip which I've highlighted in this picture (click on the photo to make it easier to see):

it's not very noticable, but it would bug me just knowing it was there. It's from when I rejoined the yarn to the centre stitches having knitted one of the shoulders and I pulled the yarn a bit too tight. I'm thinking I might knit a corsage type thingummy to cover it.

Anyway, I'll get on with blocking it so there should hopefully be modelled pics next post!

And now for a sock picture

2006-05-28T19:06:00.000Z

Hedera is starting to take shape

They're taking a while, but hopefully I'll be able to get them finished over half term.

I've nearly finished the second sleeve of Metis, so there should be FO piccies soon!

Oh, and I also got a lovely pressie from Helen. If I was a good blogger, I would have an artisitic and tasteful picture of it, but as it was chocolate I ate it before I could find my camera. Thanks Helen :)

Finally! Progress Pics

2006-05-25T21:22:00.000Z

This is Metis so far. It's turning out to be incredibly simple and fast (when I get the chance to atually knit), and I think this is a top that I will wear a lot.

The colour disparity on the first piece is because I was too lazy to work with two yarns, alternating them every few rows. In real life, the difference isn't quite so noticable, and as that's the back and I have very long hair I'm not overly concerned by it.

The Hedera socks are also coming on nicely, now I've finally managed to commit the pattern to memory. There are a few mistakes in the first few pattern repeats, but nothing major. There'll be a progress piccie of them soon, once they're a teeny bit bigger.

A friend of mine is visiting from Swizerland, and she's a knitter too, so tomorrow we're going to go and check out the Wool Baa. Claire is my only "real life" knitting friend, so I'm really looking forward to going yarn shopping with someone!

Sock wool!

2006-05-21T22:02:00.000Z

This is the sock wool I bought last week

The colours are a little darker than they appear on this picture but I appear to be going through a reddy pink phase. It's funny, as I don't normally wear these colours and didn't conciously set out to choose sock yarn all from the same colour palate but I'm feeling really inspired by them.

The two balls at the front are the Regia Silk which began their transformation into Hedera earlier today. The two behind that are Regia Bamboo which is the softest sock yarn I've ever felt. The ball on the far left at the back is Regia Havannah, but I'm not sure what the name of the colour is. There is a picture on the ball band of the yarn knitted up and it looks very similar to Opal Rainforest Flamingo, just a little lighter. The yarn in the middle of the back row is Regia Uni and I've got two 100g balls of this which I'm planning on using for knee high cabled socks. and finally, the one on the left is Regia Canada in Manitoba. This is a nice stripy one that is screaming "jaywalkers" at me.

I bought all of these from this seller on ebay, who is fantastic. She's really helpful and very speedy.

Metis continues, albeit slower than expected. This is partly due to a demanding baby badger, but a horrendous hangover that lasted all Saturday might also have had a tiny role to play in this!

Posh socks

2006-05-20T17:25:00.000Z

Not much knitting progress to report. I had hoped to nearly finished with Metis, but I've been feeling shattered the last few days and so have barely picked up the needles. What I have done, though, is joined the posh yarns sock club. I can't wait to start getting those little packages of cashmere goodness each month!

Speaking of socks, I don't actually have any OTN at the moment, most unlike me. I shall have to try and remedy that as soon as possible. I've got some lovely burgundy regia silk that I think might look good as Hedera, so will have to dig out the DPN's :)

Meh

2006-05-16T19:47:00.000Z

I'm not feeling happy. I've been knitting like a posessed Badger on Metis and have finished the back and most of the front. I've been purchasing sock wool too, including a very soft bamboo sock wool that I've never seen before. I went to watch the FA Cup on saturday and Liverpool won. I should be bouncing off the walls with happiness but I'm not, and that's all because of my camera.

I have spent hours today trying to take a decent photo of the sock wool and Metis, but the camera does not want to cooperate. I accept that I live in a slightly darker than average house, but it's far from being a cave, so the fact that all the pictures look like they've been taken under a blanket at midnight on a moonless night has made me irritated. There is also the fact that it keeps turning itself off after 1 minute. And that it eats batteries at a ridiculous rate.

So, instead of the most recent pics, I shall have to show you this one I took last week instead

This is the cotton angora I bought from Pictish a few weeks ago. The colour is very accurate in this photo and it feels incredibly soft. I'm still not sure whether it will get turned into something for me or for the baby Badger. I've always been a bit wary of pink, as I always thought it clashed with red hair, but now I'm not so sure it does. I shall have to think on this one.

I've also realised that I've been blathering on about Metis without actually posting a picture of the finished article. Now this could be a good thing, as if mine looks very different from the one in the pattern book people might not realise, but in the interests of good blogging I feel I should post the picture.

We shall just have to wait and see if mine ends up looking even remotely similar...

The start of a beautiful love affair

2006-05-10T20:26:00.000Z

How can anyone not love this yarn?

This picture shows the colour much better than yesterday's snap. Every time I look at it I see new shades in it and a fresh new feeling of yarnlove overcomes me. I love this yarn so much I decided that I would treat it properly, with the respect it deserved (no quick fumble and squeeze, then being shoved to the back of the cupboard for this baby!).

Firstly, I wound it by hand into balls. This caused the first few feelings of irritation in our relationship but together we overcame them. Yes, the skeins were a bit tangled with a few more knots than I would have liked, but the yarn is so slippy that the untangling wasn't too arduous. We were back on track and looking forward to taking our friendship to the next stage.

Next, I knitted a swatch. I measured my gauge and had a little moment of doubt - it was waaaay off. I decided to pop my precious little swatch in a nice relaxing bath and then let it relax in the sun (I'll gloss over the fact I had stuck pins in it - that's only done in 'special' types of love stories, and mine is not like that). After the swatch was dry I re-measured and was heartened to find that the yarn does stretch massively when wet and so my gauge was nearly spot on.

I cast on for Metis, full of happy thoughts about our future. We could go to nice country pubs, the theatre, not so nice inner city pubs and even school together. Metis would be perfect for all occassions.

I still don't know what it was that made me look at my swatch again. A sixth sense, maybe, that it couldn't really be this easy. When I looked at it, it seemed to be smaller than after I had measured it. I measured again and it had shrunk back down to it's pre-blocked dimensions. I could have felt downhearted here but I chose instead to see the good. This was clearly a yarn that could be treated quite harshly (I'm a vigorous blocker) and yet would slowly return to it's original size. This means no matter how poor my laundering skills I am unlikely to end up with a jumper down to my knees with sleeves to match.

I swatched again on 4.5mm needles and still no gauge. 5mm, gauge still off. 5.5mm, got gauge! Except that now I didn't like the drape of the fabric. It seemed too holey and the stitch definition just looked wrong. This was the point where love was truly demonstrated. I did maths. Real maths, with sums and everything! I decided I liked the effect best on 4mm needles (my original swatch) and also this had nice easy numbers to work with. I sat with pencil in hand and worked out what size to knit based on my gauge, their sizings, my measurements and I think I'm sorted. Instead of knitting the 34" size I'm going to knit the 38" and if my sums are right then I should end up with a sweater the right size. In fact I'm sure I will, cause when I'd done my sums I got my Dad to check them for me and he corrected them and gave me the right numbers to use!

So I've cast on, and now we've overcome our first relationship glitch the rest should be smooth sailing (and if you believe that you're even more gullible than me!).

Oh, and thankyou for all your comments yesterday. It's nice to know that people are actually reading this blog and sharing their opinions and stories :)

Pinch me!

2006-05-09T12:30:00.000Z

I must be dreaming. You know when you imagine your perfect yarn shop? You picture a light and airy shop, staffed by knowledgable people who are passionate about knitting, places to sit and knit, magazines to flick through and shelving stocked high with beautiful and unusual yarns. Well I have found a shop that is all this and more.

Yesterday I was driving to my Dad's in the evening when I something caught my eye. It looked for all the world like a sign saying 'Bergere de France', but I thought I must be imagining it. On the way home I drove as slowly as I could (much to the consternation of the car behind me) and there it was! An honest to goodness yarn shop! I tried not to get my hopes up - there is nothing worse than having expectations of beautiful yarn and then them being crushed by an avalanche of fun fur. So, when I decided to take a little trip there this lunchtime I was cautious in my optimism. Yes, they had Bergere de France but maybe that was it. Maybe it would be acrylic central, novelty yarn being crammed into every nook and cranny. There might even be Loopas.

They do indeed have a little bit of acrlic. I think I saw some fun fur too. But these were at the back of the shop and in a definite minority. What the wonderful and lovely Jill did have was Noro, Louisa Harding, Laines du Nord, Collinette and more! There was a small amount of Debbie Bliss, masses of Bergere de France, the cutest buttons, fantastic books and patterns, samples knitted up and tables and chairs to sit at and knit. There were knittng magazines to browse through and a table and chairs for little people to sit at and play (there was a toybox too).

Jill, the owner, has said she will be running some classes and maybe a knittng group too. She's welcoming suggestions of what to stock and when I asked about sock wool said that she would be getting some Opal in soon.

Obviously I couldn't leave this Aladdin's cave of woolly treasure without a purchase or two (hey, local small shops need our support!) and so this is what I got

I got two Collinette books, Muse and Jelly Allstars, a Bergere de France pattern, some ladybird buttons and 4 hanks of Collinette Lassoo in 'Summer Berries' colourway. I'm planning on knitting 'Metis' from Muse, and all plans on finising off current WIP's have vanished. I love Collinette so much!

The postman always rings twice

2006-05-06T20:36:00.000Z

Well actually that's not true. He knocks once, with extreme force and volume. When he does this when you are trying to get a small person to have their afternoon nap it is incredibly irritating and makes me want to scream obscenities at him. However, today he redemmed himself, as he came bearing packages of goodies!

First up was a book I had bought from Bronte

I've only had a quick look through this, but there are several patterns that look as though they'd good to knit, and as a self-confessed cableaholic I will no doubt find something to help satisfy those cabley urges :)

The second parcel contained 10 balls of Debbie Bliss cotton angora in a beautiful dusky pink. No photo unfortunately, as my new camera hasn't yet arrived, but as soon as it does I'll post one. I've already got 10 balls of this, so am thinking I should have enough to make a nice long cabled cardi for autumn. I bought this yarn from the lovely Pictish, who really should get her own blog (go on Ali, you know you want to!).

When the camera finally gets here there will be photos of all my WIP's - I've started rounding them up in preparation for their mugshots and am slightly alarmed at just how many there are. Hopefully by making them public I'll shame myself into doing something about them!

And so it begins

2006-05-04T19:48:00.000Z

I have never been the kind of person to resist peer pressure and so decided to produce my own blog. I freely admit to being a knitter who cannot resist jumping on bandwagons, and as this whole knit blog malarkey has got so prolific I just had to get me one.

Having looked at the first ever posts on other blogs, it seems that the standard way to begin is to introduce myself and summarise my knitting life. Seems a tad dull, but here we go: I'm 28, a teacher, a single parent, messy, a hoarder, prone to spells of depression and addicted to tea. That's me, and I think the knitting history is far more interesting. I began knitting when I was 6, having been taught by a lovely dinner lady at school. Recently I have come to realise that any naive conception I had about knitting being "a quaint little hobby" have disappeared over the last 2 years and I am now sucked into knitting in a way I never thought possible. I love knitting cables, socks and lace. Fair isle scares me, but not as much as steeking does.

So there we go, this is me and my knitting. The next post will relate to current knitting projects and suchlike, and there may even be pictures! Try to contain your excitement til then...