Knit Night

On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I go to knitting groups. The Wednesday group is really just three of us sitting in a pub having a chat and knitting. It is quite fun and has helped me feel like I belong somewhere!

Last Thursday, I needed to make a baby hat for a mate's baby. I knew that I could get a baby hat done in one evening so I bought the yarn that night (great thing about having knit nights in a yarn shop), wound it, and started knitting. The ladies commented on how quickly the hat was knitting up and helped me problem solve when I made a mistake with the hat. Yvonne then crocheted a chain for me to use instead of having to knit one or try to find some ribbon to use. On the way home, I continued to knit on the train and then finished up the hat when I got home.

Yesterday, I was out with Aileen and Laura and working on a friend's hat and my dad's socks. At one point, Aileen reached over for Laura's knitting and just started working on it! Aileen had run out of knitting and Laura was eating so she just worked on it. I then jokingly asked if Aileen wanted to do the heel of my dad's sock since it appeared to not be working out and she did! I went to the bathroom and she ripped out the mistakes and within what felt like 5 minutes, she had the heel turned and now I just need to pick up the stitches and work on the foot!

Knitting update

I haven't posted much knitting lately even though I have been doing a lot of it. Right now, I have a lot projects on my sticks. I am working on a shawl/wrap for the wedding, a pair of socks for my dad, a blanket for a baby, and a hat for a friend. I also took a class at This is Knit to learn a new way of knitting sweaters and have a "pattern" to make myself a sweater but it has to wait!

So far this year, I have made:

• one baby blanket
• three baby hats
• one adult hat
• one children's hat
• finished one of my dad's socks (and am about 1/3 way done with the second)
• a head warmer thing for myself

Wow, that's a lot of knitting and probably explains why the wedding project is only 1/3 of the way done!

Socks!

Since I have a cold and don't have the energy for knitting, I thought that I should blog about knitting. :) A while back, I took a class on how to knit socks from this is knit. The class was on two Saturday mornings. It was hard to get up but I have been very well rewarded. I finished my socks and they are nice and toasty warm. Since it has gotten cold outside, it is nice to have warm socks to put on when I get home. And even better, although the socks are made from thicker yarn than usual for socks, I have two pairs of shoes that I can wear them with. Now, I just have to start more socks since I seem to have a large stash of sock yarn...

Hurray!

This has been a productive weekend. This morning, I learned about making jumpers/sweaters (and other things, too) from the top down. It was interesting and we started a baby cardigan which I am going to give to a mate who is due late December. After getting home, I showed John the progress I made on the mistake rib scarf I started when we were in Berlin (yes, the beginning of August). I had put it aside for a while because I wasn't sure of how I wanted the colors to work in the design. Once I figured that out, and it got cold, I started working on it and have been knitting it in knitting groups and on the train. Anyway, I showed him the progress and he asked why I didn't finish it since I only had a couple rows left. I explained I stopped knitting because it was my stop. I then finished it. :) This evening, I wove in the ends and have my first scarf for me! John is teasing me that it is his, but it is mine. All mine. I will show pictures after I get the "set" done as there is going to be a fingerless gloves, hat, and scarf set. I am excited to start on the gloves as they will get used as soon as they are off the needles.

Anyway, after getting back from going to the food festival in Marlay Park, I worked on the scarf/wrap that I started back in May. It was supposed to be a going away present for a friend. She left in July. Anyway, I finished it! I am really excited about it it and people who have seen it have said it is really pretty. I still have to weave in the ends but I am really happy with the design (I designed it myself). It is my first real design and I haven't even finished an item with following a pattern without modifications! I already have plans to make more of the wrap/scarf and have made notes of how to change it to make it into a wrap. Lisa said that she would help me write up the pattern/chart as I don't know how to make a chart (and have never read one).

Now, I only have two things on my needles! One is the sock that I started this week (and just learned how to make in the last couple weeks) and the other is the cardigan from today's class. I need to cast on a "mindless" project for the knitting groups...

Another F.O.

Much to my happiness, knitting needles are allowed on planes. In Berlin, I brought a couple things with me since I didn't know what I would want to work on. However, I didn't do much knitting except on the plane so I ended up having too much yarn and too many needles with me. I didn't want to repeat this on our trip home so I planned one project with the thought that I would knit on the plane over there but not on the way back. This turned out to be true but I still ended up at a yarn shop buying yarn and needles for a going back project...

So, I looked through my stash and the patterns that I had printed off as "to do" projects. The baby alpaca that I got in Berlin was calling to me. I wanted to work with it. And I had found a pattern for a hat in a similar weight yarn with the same meterage as my alpaca so I decided that this would be the project for the trip. It would be my first attempt at a lace pattern and seemed pretty simple.

On the plane, after take-off, I cast on and worked the first couple rows. I then got into the lace part and had a mental blank on what a yarn over was. See, I thought that it had a knit stitch with it. After a couple rows and doing mental math, I realized that it was just the position of the yarn. So, I ripped the whole thing out And then John started asking questions about how I was knitting the hat. He asked why I couldn't knit it from the top down since I wasn't sure that I would have enough yarn and a different color would look better on the "brim" than on the top. In an attempt to explain why it wouldn't work, I realized that it just might work and I wanted to try it. So, I cast on a few stitches and then worked the pattern backwards, increasing with yarn overs instead of decreasing on the crown. I got it figured out (improvised really) and quite like the way I did the increases because I think it works well with the rest of the hat.

I got most of the hat done on the plane journey home but not quite. Since we had a delay going back to Dublin, I decided that I would finish it off at the airport. I knit until it was the length that I wanted and then cast off as loosely as I could. However it didn't fit anymore!! The cast off was too tight. I was disappointed but looked at the way the cast off stitches looked and realized that I could take them out since I hadn't woven the ends in yet. I put it away until we got back to Dublin and then took out the cast off, knit another row and cast off again with MUCH bigger needles. And now I love it. And a friend likes it so much she asked me to make her one and I am going to try it in silk even though I've been told sick hats don't have "structure." Since I don't know what that means and the alpaca doesn't really have structure either, I'm going to try it...

The poncho

Before posting more on Berlin, I am going to post pictures of the finished poncho. I am really impressed with how it drapes and it is fun to play with. Lisa took pictures of me modeling it and playing with the bottom of the poncho and I really hope that K likes it. It got mailed some time last week so hopefully she got it before going to camp this week. If not, she'll get it when she gets back from her week at summer camp.

I am also really proud of this project because it is my biggest and first "real" garment. OK, I made the hat but that is an accessory. :) This project, I modified from the beginning and had to rip a few times and then modified again. Finally, I got a finished project...

Happy Friday

Today is a Friday before a bank holiday weekend. That is the August Bank holiday and the vast majority of people in Ireland have Monday off. Hurray! Today was a good day indeed. I had an OK day at work. The sun is shining right now and it feels warm. After work, I went down to This is Knit to get a bit of advice on how to fix some mistakes (that I don't know how I made) on K's poncho and got some knitting needles. But the wonderful thing is that the poncho is finished! I actually took it off the needles last Friday and then blocked it earlier this week. I still need to fix the mistakes but essentially, it is done! I will post pictures of it another day. I also did a bit of shopping for my step-niece's birthday present. I found something at Boots when I went in to get pain medicine. I also found Diet Cherry Coke in the boots near my apartment. Now, I love Diet Cherry Coke and I had never seen it before in Ireland. It tastes a bit different than it does at home but it is still yummy. And now I have to clean the apartment...

WIPs and FOs

When I started knitting a mere 6 months ago, I told myself that I would have one work in progress (WIP) at a time. I did that for the first project. Well, the first few anyway. This weekend, I had 4 WIPs on my sticks! John teased me about that. I know that is a pretty average number of WIPs for a knitter, but I also kind of like having different projects going.

See, my wrist still hurts a bit even though I went to physio therapy and got some exercises for it. The physio said it was nerve and repetitive strain. So, I have to strengthen my back muscles, relax my neck muscles, and stretch the nerves in my arms/wrist. I am also supposed to "sit better" and "improve my posture." I don't know what that means. Overall the exercises are working wonders. I can knit about an hour a day on larger needles with no problems. It does depend a bit on what I have done at work, but I can knit! Since I am trying to sit well and not strain myself, I decided that working on the wonderful cable scarf/wrap would be a bit much for now (but see how far I've gotten?). Therefore, I have been working on K's poncho and have it about half done, I think. It is nice and relaxing to just knit, knit, knit on the larger needles.

One of my mates is going on maternity leave soon. So, I looked through some patterns on Friday and through my stash and found a little hat to make her. I finished it last night. I am quite happy with it and think it is really cute. I will definitely make it again for other people having babies. I was informed by someone I showed the hat to that it is definitely a boy's hat. Other people have said a girl could wear it also. I think it looks really cute on the doll but if she has a girl, she can certainly embellish it if she wants to.

More finished objects

Since I can't knit right now because I hurt my wrist from typing 15 reports within 24 hours I thought that I would post pictures of my latest finished objects. Well, other than the hairbands I make. They are great quick projects and functional as well.

Anyway, the finished objects. They are two purses for one of my nieces. They were done on time for her birthday present but I didn't get to mail them so now they are late. :(

The larger one was adapted from a book by Sasha Kagan but made in Louisa Harding yarn with two strands knit together instead of one for added strength since the yarn was quite delicate.

For the smaller purse, which is for an 18-inch doll, I also modified the pattern from Sasha Kagan but here is the actual pattern. The width was 3 1/8 inches and the rectangle was 6 1/4 before I made the flap


Yarn: Louisa harding varigated (not sure of the name of the color)
Needles: 3.5 mm straights
gauge: 1"x1": 8x8

I made the strap first:
Cast On 118 stitches
Knit 3 rows
Cast off 96 stitches (so you still have 22 on the needle)

Then I just knit the bag:
Knit every row until it measures 6 1/4 inches (or desired size when you fold the rectangle in half)
When you have the bag the length you want it when you fold it in half, decrease by 4 stitches per row until 3 stitches are left.
Cast off.

If you want a button hole, when I had one stitch left, I then cast back on enough stitches to make a button hole loop, knit 2 rows and cast off. I didn't put a button hole

You could also make an i-cord for the strap and button holes but I don't know how (and didn't feel like learning that day) and I like the frilly/delicate strap.

Projects

Since I finished the baby blanket, I have focussed on learning new stitches and combinations. So, I have made some simple, little projects such as hairbands and potholders/hotpads (for taking things out of the oven/moving hot things). Both Tiffin and Darshin sit on my lap while I knit. They also enjoy sitting on any knitting or yarn that I may have left out. And yes, that is a Darshin paw attacking the red hotpad!

Blankie

On Saturday, I completed my second knitting project: a baby blanket. One of my mates is pregnant and due soon so I decided to make her a blanket. She is really sweet and I figured that it would be a good way to practice my knitting. For the project, I learned how to purl (the second type of stitch). I also learned how to make moss/seed stitch. The moss/seed stitch is difficult and I made mistakes in it but people have assured me that they look intentional. Either way, I am quite proud of the blanket.

Yesterday, I went to my favorite yarn shop (this is knit) and got some new stash. I also made a list of projects that I want to complete. Right now, I am making some swatches, playing with color, and learning new stitches. I have a bit of a stash as well. I also got enough yarn for a friend to make her sister-in-law a baby blanket. Since she felt the yarn I used for the baby blanket, she fell in love with it and is going to start using the "yummy" yarn (merino, cashmere, microfiber).

Today, I took the blankie to work, showed it off. I also gave my mate the blanket today. She loved it! It turns out that purple is one of her favorite colors. I knew there was a reason I liked her. :) When she saw it, she was in awe with it and said that it would be the blanket that she brought the baby home in! That was what I was hoping for: this would become a treasured gift. I hope it becomes the security blanket even though that means it will get worn out to bits. The three weeks it took to make it were well worth it (even though now I want my own blanket like it).

Addicted

I took a knitting class at This is Knit in Blackrock on the 20th of January. During the class, we learned how to cast on and do one stitch: the garter stitch. Our first project was a scarf. Last night I learned how to cast off and then weaved the tail ends of the yarn into the scarf. Hence, I have my first finished project! I am quite proud of it even though there are some mistakes in it. I gave the scarf to John because he wanted my first project.

On Monday, I cast on a new project: a baby blanket. It is going to be purple, cream and turquoise. I am knitting a purple section right now. I'm not using a pattern, I just have an idea in my head of how I want it to look and how big it will be. I also have about a month to get it done since my friend is going on maternity leave then.

Since I learned, I have been knitting almost every day. I didn't take it with me to London but I thought about the scarf. Apparently I also dreamt about the scarf some nights because I talked about it in my sleep! When I am on my way home from work, my hands start "itching" for lack of a better word. They long for the feel of the yarn and needles! The cats do pretty well with the yarn, also. Tiffin frequently sits on my lap (and yarn) while I knit. Both attack the needles a bit but then stop and just watch me knit.