Markers again

Look! I did this!

Went on a workshop on Saturday with Anna Tillman, of Web of Wool, as tutor. Of course I've made socks before - great grim things in lovat for grandfather-in-law, who wouldn't wear 'bought' socks. But this is something much different, socks for fun, for design, for skills. I really love colour, but I'm so bad at putting colours together. This sock yarn does it for me.

It was a really good day. Inspired by what Anna showed us, I tried out different cast-ons (feeling decidedly cack-handed at times!) that I knew about but had never been bothered with. And my almost-sock uses one of them. I also learnt to avoid ladders. Not that I really had much trouble with them, but I don't really like yanking the yarn, and Anna's way is much better.

The almost-sock is in Regia silk, which feels gorgeous. When I've made this pair, I want to experiment with patterning them. I like the effect Anna showed us when you change stitch every time there's a significant colour change: it gives a great concertina effect. But for that, you have to watch all the time, and I know I'll get distracted by Horatio. Think I'll try out some cables.

Of course the stash increased. It's mostly bright: if you're going to make socks to wear, you want them to be seen. The red is for me! I haven't put all of the Bamboo in the photo; I got enough (I hope) for a jacket with floppy lapels, but when I do a swatch I might think shawl thoughts. The Bamboo is SOOOOOO soft. Perhaps I'll be the shawl and sock lady.

Need also to experiment with wrist warmers.

Oh, the markers? I'm persevering because they do make it easier to follow a pattern. Anna uses small ones - less squirt, but then they go missing deep in the recesses of the chair just when you most need them. Sue had great ones with socks dangling - would they catch in the knitting, though? So I'm using loops of wool: no pleasure to look at, but more controllable.

Tonight should be the knitting group at Borders. Visited yesterday but no poster: shall phone the store later. They can't start up something and just let it drop. There are, I guess, about 15 of us on any given evening, enough potential trade one would have thought.

Can't knit fast enough for all I want to do!

Wednesday's child

Is it Wednesday's child who was full of woe? Certainly that was me yesterday. The day got off to a good start - 3 DVD's through the post, good session at the gym, nice vegetables going cheap at Sainsbury's - and then it started to rain.

OK, so the dogs wouldn't get their walk (and neither would I) but what better excuse for a day of wall-to-wall knitting? On goes a dvd and out come the needles. It was the tv version of 'Gaudy Night' which I'd seen the first episode of. It began well, and I was revelling in the period Oxford and fashion stuff when: DISC ERROR. And so it went on until I gave up.

Did some rows of Kiri - they are getting quite long now. And then discovered I had made a mistake so had to unpick all but 2 rows that I'd done.

Started a new jacket. The pattern is from Rowan's Classic silk and wool, and I thought it looked interesting, apart from the pastel turquoise yarn it was made in. French navy, I thought - much more stylish. Several hours later it was clear that the fabric was a lot of trouble to do and I really didn't like the effect. So that came off the needles. I've kept the welt, which I DID like - but have no idea at all what to put on top.

Back to the stash, and swatches. I hope these may be more productive, but really: a wall-to wall knitting day when I complete 2 rows and a welt?

Consolation image: the photo is Hesta, Gareth and Salli's dog, who comes to the park with me when it isn't pouring down.

Good thing it's Thursday.

The boot

When I was teaching, on a bad day I would fantasise about what I would like to do to the kids: stick a leg out and trip up the ones racing through corridors and completely ignoring instructions; let a door slam back into the faces of those who regularly did the same to me. And I'd imagine the blood spurting out.

On a really bad day I'd fantasise about torture, including the boot. I can't remember the name of my favourite, where you whip someone with a whip made of silk so that it's pleasurable at first, but keep going and keep going until the skin begin to peel off in strips ...

This picture is of the most modern torture implement known to woman. I decided to get used to using one to save wasting time unpicking. Huh! Every time I slipped it on a needle (Lantern Moon circular), it slipped off again, diving to hide under my legs, or rolling around the floor pursued by a cat. If I tried to be firm, it positively squirted onto the floor. Then, sufficiently subdued to stay in place, it stretched the stitch after it to brobdignagian proportions. More practice? Yeah. Now it tangled itself up in the wool.

So I took it and put it on the table in disgrace and went on without it: after all, I've managed all these years. Guess what? The first row I lost my place in the pattern and was well into unpicking when I realised it was just the centre stitch.

Maybe I just need one of a different design?

This picture is of the Parisienne shawl which is resting while my eyes discover, and the Kiri shawl in Jamieson and Smith's 2-ply which I have begun in the interim. I don't know how far the yarn will go - haven't been able to discover the yardage - so I wanted to knit something where I could just stop when the yarn was used up. The lace books are out again as I plan my first 'own' shawl.

I clearly need to buy some more non-mohair lace yarn. Son Gareth has set me up with an e-bay account (he's a fanatic) and tells me I have to check every day. I did find some last night, but didn't know the brand - the writing on the bands looked either Russsian or Greek. And therefore, of course, I couldn't look up the yardage. Come the end of the month I'll have to have an experiment.

Yesterday's visit to the gym reminded me how nice it is to feel all sort of loose inside your clothes, so I'm keen about today. Dog-walking might be affected by the weather: we had downpours during the night, so everywhere is going to be very wet. I keep forgetting, too, that it's half term, so there are more people about. Fancy forgetting half term!

Monday woes

After a happy Sunday making progress on the shawl, I've got sore eyes, and remember that mohair often has that effect on me. Thinking back over the stash, I've got at least seven shawls worth of mohair. I know the trick of keeping the balls in the fridge - but I'm not sure about putting the wip in the fridge between days. I'm going to try having alternate days knitting mohair. There is no way I'm giving up the shawls I have already planned out!

So it's back to the stash (gloating grunt noises). This is the lovely silk/cashmere from Soup Dragon; I've also got the cashmere from Hipknits, which took me an HOUR AND A HALF to wind, and a cone of rather pretty grey lambswool from Uppingham wools. I'm having a play with the grey - no winding required! - it would make a lovely soft cloud of shawl, but need to block a bit first, I think, to see if the springy naure can be tamed.

I nearly bought a winder in the summer but talked myself out of it. The puritanical bit of me thinks it's good for me to do boring stuff like that, as a way of paying for the pleasure ofknitting it.

Today I need to get back to the gym, as all this sitting still knitting goes hastily to the mid section. Even the strenuous walks with the dogs don't seem to do enough in protecting me from fat. So my shopping trip was rigorous - NO TREATS, just good GI food. Now, of course, I'm worrying that the noodles, which I like a lot, are not GI. My problem is, I like carbs. I can do without cake and biscuits, but bread and potatoes ... yum. Perhaps it's the influence of having a grandmother born in Ireland. OK, her family came from Devon, but she always claimed to be Irish.

I remember her photo in the local press when she was in her 80s - crocheting a blanket for some cause. My aunt was amazingly skilled at crafts; I can remember watching her reproduce a fancy cushion she'd seen in a shop without any sort of pattern. My father actually taught me to knit; he'd spent some time in hospital and had been occupational therapied extensively. My mother's family always had some form of work in their hands, mainly crochet. That was the age of the doily! How much time did I spend as a child lifting ornaments and doilies up and dusting? As soon as I had a place of my own I declared a doily-free environment.

Yes, I'm wittering because I'm putting off going to treadmill and cross train myself. After that - weather permitting - it's dogwalking time, and then - oh, then - I can at last get back to the needles.

I've talked myself out of the Monday woes, though.

Floppy fronts

Looking through stores window-shopping yesterday, I saw lots of jackets with extended fronts which were just allowed to drape; they looked really appealing to me. Then today, in the supermarket, more of them. I am going to have to make at least one, but how does this fit in with my resolve to make shawls? I have bought two patterns by Evelyn Clark:

they really appeal to me. As does the silk/cashmere lace yarn from Soupdragon which I also bought. Discipline!

At least this week I finished two pieces: the top from 'Knitting Nature' and the tank top in Lassoo. No photos because it was dark when I finished them and I'm still experimenting with lighting.

We had our knitting group at Borders on Monday evening - all arrived to discover that the member of staff responsible had left and, although they had advertised the group, nothing had been done to set up an area for us. We are determined to continue, however. I also looked in vain for the discounts on knitting books advertised in one of the magazines to celebrate National Knitting week. But apart from pinpricks like that, we are getting to know each other.

I'm working on a shawl in Parisienne, a simple pattern given to me last weekend by the lady in The Knitting Hut. It's going quite well. I'm learning a lot: the real Shetland 'lace' wool is rather thicker than I like; they spin another quality which I need to track down. It certainly gives a lovely crisp finish to the holes, but it feels much less appealing than the non-specialist lace yarns. I also learned that if you have dark-ish yarn, a complicated pattern is wasted - should have known that from bobbin lace days. So I'm thinking about a simple-ish pattern for the black Kidsilk Haze in the stash. At the same time, I really want to make up one of the Evelyn Clark patterns: perhaps it would look good in the Soup Dragon space-dyed yarn?

Thanks to Yarn Harlot I have bought 8 plumbing rod things, so I'm ready (ish) to block the shawl when knitted. I keep trying to picture how it works. Will put up a picture when I get there ...

I am watching with interest for some news of Colinette's sock wool, Jitterbug. I found a blog yesterday from, I think, Wye Sue - she'd been to Llanfair Caereinion and had bought some there. I'm due for a sock-knitting workshop next Saturday - wouldn't it be nice if I could get some for that? I did see stuff about their new double knitting, Cadenza. It's good that finer yarns are beginning to be popular.

Meanwhile, my fine yarn in bright charcoal is waiting, along with a DVD of CSI Vegas. On a rainy Sunday afternoon, I expect to feel good.

New (to me) yarn source ...

Rhiannon moved safely on Friday. I went over on Saturday to see new place and help with shopping. The bribe was to go to a wool shop in exchange for a visit to Ikea. No problem!

We went to The Yarn Hut, which is in Woburn Sands, a village close to Milton Keynes. I actually went looking for Blue Sky Alpacas, having seen a pattern on another blog. In real, the pattern was disappointing, but the yarn is sumptuous. The proprietors of the shop have decided not to go down the usual stockists route, but to look for different yarns - which is why I went there, of course! They have large ranges of Lana Grossa and Filatu, but they also have smaller companies like one of my favourites, Hipknits. I was in the shop for ages - with so much yarn I'd never laid hands on before, it was very hard to choose, though I did, of course: some Lana Grossa for a coat thing for me. Rhiannon found a pattern she liked in Vogue 1, and we had a lot of help finding a substitute yarn with the right tension. It's a real wool shop, with someone sitting on a sofa being taught techniques - even on a Saturday - and informed and welcoming conversation. I really wished I could have followed their convoy to Ally Pally on the Sunday. Thank goodness Rhiannon has moved to Bicester, because I shall be able to visit often, and their monthly newsletter will keep me informed about new courses, stock etc. This is knitters' heaven! Thinking over all the chat helped me through that visit to Ikea!

So, am I doing any knitting at all? Yes! The Turbulence sweater from 'Knitting Nature' is now part blocked - I wish I could think of a way to do it all at once without using the bed, where I have to fight off Gilbert. I've got layers of blocked bits on the table, but I don't really like using a towel. I get much better results from foam sheet, but that takes up so much room.

What to knit next? Can't decide. Will keep on with domino top, but the cables on the Turbulence one have got me hooked. There's a new Nora Gaughan design in the latest Vogue: perhaps I'll make that. But look what Rhiannon bought me!



How am I ever meant to choose? but never mind, I'll go and gloat a bit more!

Tweakings

I set out to finish two tanks before Rhiannon moved house today: FAILED! Not sure why. Here is one, in Colinette Lasso, with the hole-y design adapted from a Rowan pattern. I had intended to lace something through the holes, but she likes the holes naked. The whole thing now needs edgings - drat! I had hoped to get away without them.

Think I might have a play today with some yarn from the stash - a hank of lace-weight cashmere yarn from Hipknits which I got from the Knhitting and Stitching show at the NEC. Think I'll make it with a wide scarf in mind, to see how far the yarn goes. If I'm lucky, it might be a stole.

I've also discovered, through links from someone's blog, that we have a stockist for Jamieson's Shetland yarn about 20 miles from here. I might be tempted to go and see!



Yesterday was quite a good day. This is Gilbert, my cat. A few weeks ago he sprouted a lump on his head, which the vet diagnosed as a tumour. So she sent me home to watch for symptoms of his decline and I've been watching him anxiously ever since. He's been snaffling the dog's food and having mad moments racing all round the house and garden! So yesterday afternoon we went off to the vet, with me prepared to have her say he needed to be put to sleep. Instead, he's actually put on weight, and she doesn't want to see him for 3 months. Obviously, the dog food suits him!

Time to go and wind some yarn.

Just to prove ...

...that I do finish some projects.
This one is embarrassingly simple, a basic shape adapted to Noro Silk Blossom, but it is finished! The yarn is horrible to sew up - I had to keep putting a twist on it to stop it simply coming apart.

The day is dark and gloomy, so I've voted myself a knitting day. Even now I'm retired, I still feel guily spending the day as I want. Later I'll take the dogs up to the park. It's beautiful at the moment, with acorns everywhere underfoot, the leaves turning, and the stags roaring (it's the rut).

My little dog is Fig (after a fig roll biscuit!) and although small, she has a huge attitude. I 'rescued' her from the RSPCA just over a year ago. Each day we take my son's dog, Hesta, walking with us. She's a pedigree cocker spaniel and very sweet, though somewhat timid. Yesterday a nice man wanted to feed them biscuits (human kind). Fig snaffled as many as she could, but Hesta ran away crying. I love it when she has a bossy moment and runs ahead up the path, then turns round as if to say, 'What's keeping you?' Wonder if I can upload another photo?

Time to go back to two projects I'm trying to finish for Friday, when my daughter Rhiannon moves to Oxford to take up a new job. Got my work cut out!

Attitude

I've chosen this name for my blog in memory of primary school. Every afternoon we girls did some craft work (the boys did art). My family always had some form of work on hand at home, so I learned to knit and sew early. I do remember the day they produced the knitting needles and a ball of knitting cotton. One over-anxious little girl felt totally secure and knitted away happily until the ball was all used up. I took the knitting to the desk to ask what to do next and yes, that's right: was told to undo it and knit it again.

I've been knitting since I was about three so have some proficiency, but until recently have preferred to say nothing about it: it's not cool to knit, people tend to despise you, to think you are dull and boring. For years and years I have been a secret knitter. I have hidden my yarn and tried to pretend I don't really have it. Now, however, I knit when and where I wish. I've learned to refer to my stash with some pride.

What's changed? partly the upsurge in interest in knitting - new shops, new yarns, new magazines; partly the blogs which tell of the things I do and have done, so I know I'm not a total freak. (If you haven't read Yarn harlot, do!) Partly also being retired. Jenny Joseph's poem has the old woman wearing a purple dress and sitting on people's doorsteps if she wants to. Me, I just knit.

My knitting interests are multiple. I love to knit lace, but at the moment I'm also fascinated by Domino knitting. The photo is of my first experiment. I began with a ball of sock wool and picked out some of the colours from it. Now I'm thinking my way towards shaping a tank top. Of course, there is always the practical knitting - garments for family. I'm also being exhorted to knit coats for the family dogs. I think this is a joke.

For the moment I'm trying to discipline myself to finish stuff rather than dashing off to find (or buy) yarn for some new enthusiasm. Surely I've got enough for now!