Too hot!

It's too hot around here to knit at the moment. It was 43 today and probably the same tomorrow! So I've been cross-stitching instead. 
I bought some plastic coaster kits from the newsagents/convenience store. I hated the motif they wanted me to sew so I found my own. I only had three so I decided to do a monogram for my parents-in-laws and our daughter. So a B, a J and a M.
The design I found was lovely but the finished product doesn't adequately illustrate just how fiddly it was! But it was worth it for the end result.
I orientated the B a little different just for variety.  But I'm very pleased.
Cross stitch is nearly as fun as knitting :-)

Two Jumpers for Two Brothers!

Ha ha!! I have prevailed!
A bit dramatic but there you go.
I have made my two sons...each!...a jumper!

Ben wearing his jumper in Holden racing colours

And Jordan's Jacket in Arty-versus-Incognito colours

And don't they look dapper in them?
To be honest I had difficulties of different sorts with each of the jumpers, the big difference being Jordan's I fixed and gave to him and it fit great. Ben's, I fixed and gave it to him and found I'd actually made the sleeves that I thought were too long, too short. Spewing!!!
When I picked up the stitches for around the hood and the jacket edging for Jordan's I picked up like twice the number of stitches and desperately tried to convince myself that I hadn't. When it became patently obvious that I was never going to find a zip long enough to sew beside this amazing frill of an edge I finally admitted the bleedingly obvious and regretfully unravelled the whole edge and redid it properly. Which of course turned out excellent!
Ben's sleeves on the other hand were not such a success. So those I'm going to have to remedy for him when he comes to visit soon. I'm sure I have the yarn I took out of the sleeves when I originally thought they were too long...sigh!
The pattern was excellent...until I got to the hood. Neither jumper's hood is anything like functional. Jordan's is closest because I'd already done Ben's and been worried about the slight dimensions of it but even so it could be a lot deeper and as for Ben's it's like a skullcap attached to a flap attached to a jumper! They both look their best when pushed back like an elongated collar!
But fortunately, despite the vagaries of things gone wrong they both like them a lot. Which is sweet of them :)
I'll just be happier when I get to fix Ben's sleeves!
Not that I'm obsessed or anything...
...Keep Knitting!

Brain Wave!! Why not knit something for my Family??

It's kind of sad how long it's taken me to think of this but I had to recently re-order my wool room (it had begun to infest my sewing room! Gah!!) and realize that I had quite a bit of yarn...
...yeah, I know! Shocker, huh?
Anyway I figured since I had two practically adult sons I could ask them if they'd like me to knit them a jumper and If. They. Would. Wear. It! It really doesn't count if I go to all that effort and they don't wear the article I've made!
After much assurance that Yes, they'd love that and Yes, they would wear it I went ahead and began looking for a nice men's jumper with hoodie pattern.
Do You Have Any Idea How Hard That Is To Find Such A Thing!!!
I could not believe how difficult it was to find just what I was looking for! I wanted a jumper with multiple sizes, My eldest son is average height and of extremely slender build while his little brother is nearly 6 feet (and at 19, still likely to grow more!) and is built much more solidly that his bantam-weight brother!  Also I wanted a jumper with pockets. Both boys carry their phones everywhere and it was a special request from the oldest that the pockets be big enough to put a phone and a wallet in.
Ookay...
It had to be a hoodie because both boys think a knitted jumper would look too much like an article from grandpa if it didn't have a little cool added to it and I had to be able to convert the one for the youngest into a zip front because he "doesn't DO jumpers".
Great, I mean, how hard could that be to find??
I absolutely CRAWLED through everything I could find on Ravelry on men's patterns, both free and buy-able. Every time I found something it was never quite right and I soon began to get desperate! Then I found it! On the Knitty site there was a jumper called the Donut Hoodie

. While it didn't have instructions for a zip front other knitters had been able to convert the pattern to accommodate a zip. That's all I needed! It had a kangaroo pouch pocket at the front and looked just the ticket.
At first I kind of tried to wing it. I had a heap of beige acrylic and lovely charcoal acrylic that was beautifully soft so I just followed the instructions without doing any test swatch or anything on the needle sizes suggested. About a week later when I'd finished the bottom up and past the kangaroo pockets (another bonus, the pattern is knit in the round! No seams!!) I had an opportunity to visit my boys so I took the pattern and what I'd knit so far and decided I should take some measurements of them both just to make sure that what I knit actually fits them.
I'd already begun to have some doubts about the gauge I was knitting at but they were soon confirmed as soon as I showed eldest son the process so far. The gauge made it look like thick mesh bagging all over him and I could tell he wasn't hugely happy about the subdued colour tone. Afterwards I had a good hard look at all my work, swallowed hard and pulled it all out. EVERY LAST STITCH!!
Then I started going through the measurements I'd taken and looked at the range of acrylic yarns I had.
It had to be acrylic because I'm not knitting anything that can't take the cavalier treatment of bachelor wash days in their stride. I couldn't bear to get a phone call telling me that the jumper I spent ages on now fits their dashboard's bobble-head figure!
Anyway, that said, eldest son is a mad Holden fan so using the same grey I'd used before for the stripes I now used for the body of the whole jumper. I also chose a grey and a red for the stripes. Okay...here we go!
I knit a small swatch (I'm an absolute baby when it comes to swatching. I just want to start my project!) But it showed that the fabric looked better on 4.5mm needles which meant I'd be knitting the medium size even though measurement wise on the original pattern he's actually the small. But no matter! Tally-ho!!!

Body finished. Kangaroo Pocket at front.

I was very happy with the colours I chose, it was much easier to imagine my eldest actually wearing this and the knitting of the pocket was easy and the stripes lined up nicely. Once the body was done I progressed to the sleeves. I did not like them nearly as much! Knitting them in the round was a pain and I probably made it worse by doing them both on the same circular needle. Actually they broke that needle as I neared the end and I had to swap them over to another one to finish them. Because my stripe pattern relied on a colour pattern between the the two colours I ended up having to knit the sleeves longer than I intended but by then I was past caring and figured I could fix them at the end. Next part!
It was really cool when I got to knit the sleeves onto the body stitches and even more exciting when I had to graft the live stitches from the armholes of the sleeves and body together. That actually worked out much easier than I'd thought it would which was nice. As I neared the yoke decreases I began to realize that I was about to run out of the charcoal body colour. Damn!Since there was going to be no other option I had to find another colour to work in. There was no way I was doing a grey neck since the grey was so pale it would look like dirty white and the red would just be like a beacon screaming "Look at me! Look at me!!" so I used black in the same brand as the charcoal and worked it in by alternating a row of charcoal and a row of black until the charcoal ran out. It worked a treat!
So this is a pic of the newly completed jumper, nothing's sewn in yet but you can see the black going up the neck and the hood being done entirely in it (with stripes, of course!).
What you can't see is how long the sleeves are!

And there we have it!

 In the end I couldn't convince myself that it wouldn't matter since I'd measured Eldest sons arms from his shoulder to his wrist and it came to 21 inches. The sleeves were about 26 inches. Clearly that was going to be a problem. In the end I chopped off three stripes and the cuffs and re-knit the cuffs at the new length. 23 inches. That should be more manageable!
And now for the final reveal!!

Front

Back

Too cool for words!

I am so chuffed with how this has turned out! It looks...wearable!! I swear when I give it to him I am SO getting photos!
Sigh...
Oh, yeah...now onto Youngest Sons Zip-Fronted one. Oooo. This could be interesting!
Let the Adventure continue!!

Finishing Achieved!

Finally!Finallyfinallyfinally! I have TOTALLY finished all the detailing for the cardigans for the twins!
I am so STOKED!!
I've mentioned before that intarsia is not really a technique that I'm comfortable with but I can do it, with a bit of apprehension and gritted teeth. So I am really proud I managed to complete the knitting portion of these cardigans as well as I did.(I might wish they were better but I did my best!)

Two cardigans, knitting all completed and seamed up!

Now for the secondary stage. Detail and finishing! They needed zips for the front but I wanted apple green ones and preferably plastic. After hunting high and low (admittedly mostly on the Internet. Our small town doesn't offer much by way of range.) I ordered 5 apple green plastic zippers from Zipit on etsy www.etsy.com/shop/zipit but that meant they were coming from the U.S. Bit of a bummer but it gave me time to finish the second cardigan because I hadn't started it at that point.

When they came they were much longer than I'd previously thought because I'm a ninny and forgotten that the U.S. is inches and we're cms. 24 inches is quite a bit more than 24 cms. But it all worked out for the best. I just pulled the zip down to where I needed and chopped off the extra length.

Anyway, I hand sewed the zippers in and then hand sewed over the edges (cause I hate the scratchy edges of zipper tape) with cotton bias binding and then as a final touch I sewed two squares of felt of appropriate colour to the top of the zippers so the zipper head can't escape regardless of how hard it's pulled up.

Hand sewn bias binding (I bought that. I'm not that much of a perfectionist!)

And little felt squares at the top so no scratchy teeth against skin and little fingers can't rip the zipper head off!

So all have been duly shown off to recipient Grandmother to ooh! and aah! over (all done exceedingly well!) and have since been posted off to said Grandchildren probably in time to be just the ticket for freezing inland temperatures at night. 

Very pleased with myself :) Not only did I do something for someone else but I also expanded my technical abilities in knitting. Win-win situation!
Have a great day!!

Huzzah! I've done it!!

They are finished, oh happy day, they are done! Well, as far as the knitting is concerned any way. I love how they look! These cardigans were a real trial for me since I am very uncomfortable with intarsia. But look how nice they look! And they're both the same size!
The only bit I really was disappointed with was running out of the original blue and green. Since they yarn had been gifted there was no way I could just buy more. In the end I had to plunder the stash for the closest contender. The blue was almost right but you can definitely tell where the change over is an the top of the arms. The green...wasn't even close but was the best I could do. All my other acrylic greens were too dark. So I changed the edging to orange because I wasn't having the lime green instead. Now all I'm waiting for are the green zippers I ordered to arrive and the whole project will be 100% finished! Oh joy!!

I will Prevail!!

I'm really happy with the first cardigan. It was SUCH a relief to have one finished! So when I started the second one I thought I'd try to do it in a slightly different construction in an attempt to get around having to do intarsia on a purl row.
I decided to do the whole thing in the round with an extra 8sts for a steek at the front. Seemed a good idea. So off I went.
But I began to have doubts as the number of strands having to be held at the back increased from the 2 that I'm used to to sometimes 4! As I struggled on however, I began to look at the nearly completed chart section quietly mulling over how thick the fabric of the knitted garment felt and then a horrible realization came to me. I was still knitting on 3.25mm needles. I'd forgotten to change to 4mm needles. The two cardigan's would be different sizes and since they're for a set of twins this is a bit of an issue.
Oh. My. G....
There was only one thing to do. Only one thing that could be done to rectify this problem...
I was going to have to rip it all out.
Yep!
RIP. IT. ALL. OUT!
So, after accepting that, I reduced my work of a day and a half into a collection of yarn balls. Sigh.
I started again and this time I didn't do it in the round but I did knit the two sides and the back all at the same time since it seemed silly to knit them each seperately only to then seaming them together later. I did the intarsia like you're supposed to.
So now I finally finished the bottom of the cardigan. I'm still not that in love with intarsia but I think we've reached an amicable truse :-)
Sleeves are coming!

I should have thought this through...

I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew. I'm knitting 2 cardigans for my friend Kay for her twin grandkids. I'd forgotten how fiddly intarsia can be! The cardigan isn't difficult so I'm just going to push on. It really does look good :-)

Dyeing (as in making things other colours!) is FUN!!

I am so enjoying playing with these fabric dyes I've got that I thought I'd get creative and dye some bought yarn that I wasn't keen on the colour of. Dyeing in the microwave is much tidier than any other technique I've tried!

90% Wool, 10% Silk

This yarn feels beautiful but I find the beige SOOoo boring! I wanted to liven it up so I used a combination of Cerise (red) and Old Gold (yellow) and I mixed a blend of the two for a rich orange. I am so happy with the result I can't even begin to tell you!

After the dyeing process, just off the niddy-noddy.

All balled up...and so pretty!!

Closer view of the many gradients and variants of colour. Yummy!

This is so much better than the dull beige. Now it really stands out, so warm and lovely, almost flame-like colours! Now I'm racking my brains to think of something knit-worthy to knit in it. Definitely a shawl of some kind, with lace I think. No?

I've really enjoyed dyeing but I think I'll give it a rest for a little while. Second of which, I'm almost out of dye. Might have to get more. We'll see.

Happy Knitting!

Flying pig...away!

I thought I'd have a break from the endless skirt and do something cute and fun. And it being ANZAC day all the shops are shut. Except the pubs :-)
Anyway, this was even quicker that my easter bunny! Very sweet and it naturally sits on it's bum once you've stuffed it which I thought looked really good too.
I decided to give it felt wings since I thought if I gave it wings in the same yarn as it's body that they wouldn't stand out as much and I think these are MUCH cuter!
So cute! I'm so impressed with myself :-D

Test Knitting...

Seems the best idea to try and do something useful with the enormous amount of stuff I seem to churn out. On Ravelry there is a group called Free Pattern Testers. On their forum you can chose a pattern that's kind of advertised on their board and you can get (potentially) a new pattern for free which you knit up and then provide concise feedback and good photos. Seems like a good deal to me. So far I've signed up for a baby poncho for a 3 mth old and an adult beanie. I have till May 3rd.
So far I've done one practise poncho because it's the only way I can figure out how much yardage I use.

It is a very unusual shape but rather appealing.. The pattern is very well written. The one I'm doing proper is a much nicer colour, I swear!

Haven't got any pics of the hat yet. I've only just started that. Another excellent and interesting pattern :)

Okay, Pattern Completed!

I said I'd make up a sheet with a photo for the ridiculously-named knitted undies...
...And I have!

Cotton Undies

Notions:

1 - 2 Cotton Yarn 50g

3.75mm circular needles

Yarn needle

Gauge:

6 stitches x 8 rows = 1”

Sizes:

S (M, L, XL)

CO 68 (80, 92, 104)

Purl first row.

Work in Stockinette for 16 rows (measures 2 inches)

BO 23 (26, 29, 32) stitches at the beginning of each row twice.

16 (20, 24, 28) stitches remain.

BO 1 stitch at each end of the needle every 4 rows, 4 times.

8 (12, 16, 20) stitches remain.

Work even for 12 rows.

CO 1 stitch at each end of the needle every other row, 40 (48, 56, 64) times.

Until you have 48 (60, 72, 84) stitches.

CO 2 stitches at end of the needle every other row 5 times.

Until you have 68 (80, 92, 104) stitches.

Work even for 16 rows (measures 2 inches)

BO

Pick up and bind of 96 (136, 150, 164) stitches along each leg edge.

Stitch together hip band.

Pick up and bind off 136 (160, 184, 208) stitches from the waist.

Optional Crotch Insert:

CO 16 (20, 24, 28) stitches.

Work in stockinette stitch.

BO 1 stitch at each end of needle 4 times, leaving 8 (12,16,20) stitches.

Work even for 12 rows.

CO 1 stitch at each end of the needle every 4 rows, 4 times.

BO

Stitch insert into crotch of the undies.

This is a copy of saltonyourwound.tripod.com/basic_panda_food_panty.html pattern. Just to present the pattern with an example of the knitted item for all of us who are visually orientated J

Isn't that better? Now I can see how it's supposed to look (these are knit in XL) but I can tell you the picking up of stitches and then binding them off next really stabilizes the legs and waist. Sadly to the point that I can't get my fat topped legs into them :(But now I have somewhere to go from. Other modifications I made from the original patter was to knit the waist 10 rows longer both back and front. So 26 rows instead of 16. And when the bind off for the legs begin instead of casting off the 32 stitches I halved it and bound them off over 4 rows at 16 stitches each row. That's about all. I like the way they turned out even though I can't wear them. It at least gives me a point to work out how to knit undies with a bit more give in the legs and waist. But it's a well written pattern. Excellent :)

Here's a thought!

I've been leafing through my OBSENE pile of knitting magazines since it really seems criminal to have so many resourses and not use them more effectively, when I had a thought!
Quite often I look through them all and think "Oh, I like that! Oh! And that!" but when I go to find the darn thing later on I can't remember what the pattern's called or the magazine it's in! So frustrating!!!
So I think I'll take a pic of the pattern when I see one I like and put it here and that way I'll at least have a visual starting point to go from if I ever decide at a later date to give it a go!!
Maybe a picture of the cover too :)

I hate patterns with no picture!

I do! I want a picture with a pattern that the designer has made or had made so I know what they think it should look like! Otherwise how am I supposed to know I'm doing it right??

I mean, really? There's nothing here! Even the name seems oddly random! Anyway I'm going to knit this and make up a pattern sheet myself WITH a photo! If nothing else it'll help me document the changes I've done so far and be a guide should I want to do it again but different. Quite pleased with what I have so far though :-)

New Directions, new ideas...

On a trip to Spotlight I found these wonderful clear key tags designed, I think to put photos in. Since anything that can fit a photo can almost certainly fit a small tatted motif I instantly bought them and brought them home to experiment!

The results were actually really pleasing. This is the perfect vehicle to display my slightly bigger motifs in a way anyone can enjoy them without the pieces getting soiled. The only difficulty I have is finding a cutter or punch that will accommodation the 5cm diameter disc I need to give the motifs adequate backing. This 4cm cutter does for the minute but I think it would look so much better if it actually fit the recess. What do you think? A key tag with a unique piece of hand tatted lace preserved for your continued enjoyment with no fear of soiling or damage to fibres? Would you buy such an item? I hope so :)

  

Easter!!

The other night I knitted up another bunny from the original pattern but in a much chunkier yarn just to see how well it would turn out, especially since I actually knit the arms and legs the way I was supposed to instead of making it up as I went because I wouldn't take the trouble to read the instructions (duh!) All in all I think it turned out pretty good.

The hardest part was attaching the arms, legs and ears properly. Even being as careful as I could they are by no means even in placement, which drives me a little nuts. But I can live with it. It's still better than my first so every gain is an improvement.

As it was anyway, it was fortunate that I had the bitty bunny. I wanted to give a gift to my non-religious friend that she would like and that my conscience could put up with as a born-again Christian. I thought of my first bunny and imagined with a few alterations, it would fit the bill! My friend and I have been knitting together and enjoying it very much lately so I thought she would love the cuteness of this wee little bunny while I could also share (without being a killjoy)my beliefs in the Easter celebration. I hope you like it and enjoy your own celebrations. 

Happy Easter!

Now for some Cute Instant Gratification

After I finished the vest I needed something fun and QUICK. The vest had been heavy and although a simple knit it had been a lot of stitches. So I decided to do one of the few toys I have in my queue. I'm really glad I did. It uses a tiny amount of yarn too, so great for scraps!

Little Baby Bunny

 It was a little fiddly and in an attempt to do as few repeats as possible I messed up some of the instructions along the way but the finished result exceeded my expectations. She is so cute!!

I will definitely be repeating this pattern. Very basic and very enjoyable. So much scope for adding personality to the little cutie!

Another Stash Busting Project...done!

I actually quite enjoyed this. The pattern was very well written and easy to follow. I had the yarn on hand to give it a try and that also would use up some of my massive stash instead of buying more!! And more importantly, once knit up it actually fits and looks really nice. And so simple! What's not to like?

See? About the only thing negative I have to say about it at all is how extremely fluffy the yarn is I used. I'm hoping it will settle down after I've washed it because at the moment it sheds like a golden retriever at the onset of summer!

Sigh...I wish it was winter already :)