Garterstitch100 seeks to celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day - and you as a knitter can help. The artists are hoping to make a blanket consisting of 100 million stitches. They need you to knit them a square or set up a public knitting station where knitters can come and knit. There are a myriad other ways that you can help out. I'll be lending a hand - will you?
Song to the Siren
Many people have covered this - This Mortal Coil's version is probably the best known these days (in no small part thanks to perfume adverts, sadly). This is my absolute favourite version of this Tim Buckley classic.
John Grant's voice is stunning.
The Start of Something
This is an experiment.
Last year I knitted a fair-isle beret which turned out to be really warm and I had been meaning to knit matching mitts. Sadly the beret was not just super-warm, it was also super-itchy, and so I never made the mitts.
I decided I was going to re-knit the beret (and knit the mitts) this winter, and I uncovered yarn in my stash. Some aran-weight yarn from Blacker Designs (Norfolk Horn - not currently available) and some Noro Kureyon to go with it.
I don't think the experiment is working. The two yarns are beautiful but they are not beautiful together. The Norfolk Horn yarn is too marled to show off the Kureyon and the Kureyon is too strong to show off the Norfolk Horn.The colourwork gets lost.
Rip, rip, rip.. or what do you think?
It is currently snowing outside and I'm about to start decorating for Christmas, so it feels wrong to say this .. but the first summer collections are beginning to show up around the interwebs.
First up, Rowan. They have gone more lacy with this collection which is nice for a lacehead like me. My favourite is probably Daydream from the main magazine's Illusion story - it looks almost Victorian with its high lace collar and long sleeves. Knitted in my beloved Kidsilk Haze I'm currently trying to persuade myself that I need a Victorian-esque lace jumper in my wardrobe. Fancy, another KSH jumper, looks a bit more practical. Summers in Scotland can be quite cool, I'm telling myself..
I'm really starting catching the sewing bug too. I've discovered a couple of great sewing blogs - my current favourite is probably The Snug Bug because Patty sews up Colette patterns, models them, and looks amazing. She makes me feel like I too could look great in a Colette garment although I am not a stick-insect-thin twenty-something living in an impossibly trendy New York apartment (not to slight Colette patterns at all but some of the sewing bloggers modelling them makes me feel woefully inadequate and lumpy - it is odd that I never feel that way about knitters?).
Another cup of hot chocolate beckons me, then it's time to put on some music (Sam Cooke? Voxtrot?) and then start uncovering Christmas decorations. Happy first of December..
FOs: Nev & Intuitive
I have been on a crazy knitting spree lately. This week I finished three things and am well on my way on finishing another two. Strange, but lovely.
The first finished object is Nev, a huge shawl - the biggest I have ever made, I think. The pattern is Bex Hopkins' Dew Drops Shawl, a free pattern and I used Navia Uno, a Faroese yarn. I had a few issues with both pattern and yarn, but as I really like the finished object it was worth the effort.
You can find my modifications/shortcuts on the project's Rav entry so suffice to say that I thought the pattern had been written in an overly-complicated manner and that there are easier ways of getting the same result. The yarn was very odd: it had a core of lovely wool but also had a cotton-like thread wrapped around the core. It made for an odd knitting experience - a yarn which was partly pliable and partly very inelastic. The thread occasionally bundled up and the two plies frequently caught on my needles. As I said, I really like Nev and I am inordinately fond of the actual fabric, so I would probably use the yarn again, but it does makes for an odd knitting experience. Snældan remains my favourite North Atlantic lace yarn, in other words.
I took Nev out for a trial run this afternoon. It blocked out huge (2.2m across and 80 cm deep, fact fans) which made for a very cosy shawl on a snowy afternoon. Today is my Other Half's birthday so despite heavy snowfall we made the effort to go out for the best cake in the West End (which included sparkles today!) and a lovely meal. Pardon the chubbiness - I wore five layers underneath my coat!
(Incidentally, I felt totally Parisian as we were frolicking in the snow round Merchant City's fab late 19th C architecture and I wore super-cool knitwear. Eat your heart out, fashionistas everywhere)
I also wore the other finished object: my brand-new winter hat. Remember when knitting was a totally utilitarian exercise? Remember when you whipped up a hat because you were cold - and not because you had stashed a handdyed yarn from Ireland or found this totally must-knit pattern on Ravelry? Yeah, I went Old Skool this week. I knitted a hat because winter was upon us.
I found the perfect quick, warm knit in seconds. Danish knit blogger, Julia Zahle, published a hat pattern about a year ago and I had sort-of always kind-of meant to knit it. Intiutive was a practical, quick, easy, and warm hat. I knitted it in less than a day and have worn it ever since.
I used less than a skein of Cascade 220. C220 is heavier than the recommended yarn, so I CO 100 stitches and then followed the pattern from there. The lace pattern is an easy 2-row repeat and although it is a lacy pattern, the fabric becomes so dense that it actually allows for extra warmth. Black is quite a boring colour, but it is also a practical colour.. For the very same reason I am now knitting a pair of black fingerless gloves.
Ah, and as yarn leaves the stash more enters the stash: my gran has a big heart and delights in giving presents to birthday celebrants' partners. This meant that I got a huge bag of assorted yarn - all very nice stuff - today. I'm slightly overwhelmed - as is my yarn 'closet' (a small walk-in closet just off the living room, to be precise. We also store a double bed in there.). One of my to-do things for the week ahead? Sorting out my yarn stash, so I can actually shut the door. Ulp.
Finally, one of my favourite blog posts of the week month: Wearable foods. The bubblegum outfits are achingly beautiful.
ADDENDUM:
It's Only November
Checking In
Thank you all for your valuable advice on sewing machines. I have asked many knowledgeable people and perused the net in search of good advice. (Admittedly I gave up on the net bit after finding a blog which detailed how the blogger spent $1200 on a sewing machine that would give her slightly more perfect straight 1/4" seams when quilting than her old $1000 machine. I am not that much of a perfectionist. Although I admit to being tempted by jelly rolls, so I might cave in to quilting some day soon)
I am now considering a mechanical Elna machine (hopefully getting to do a trial run soon) which is roughly the same price as the electronic Janome I had previously been eyeing. I am a bit cautious about getting a machine I cannot quite poke around in with a screwdriver (which is also why I prefer my computers to be desktops built from various spare parts rather than going out to buy a fully-formed laptop) and I think the Elna might fit the bill better than the Janome. I have a few more months before I need to make a decision. I am also planning on doing a few intermediate sewing classes at The Life Craft which will hopefully give me enough confidence to do a Colette pattern (I want to do both a Crepe and a Ceylon).
Knitting-wise.. phew, I have a slew of finished objects lately. I have been listening to a lot of dreadful audiobooks and these have helped me focus on my knitting rather than anything else. I have finished a self-designed garment (I will need to write this out as a pattern - let me know if you want to test-knit something for me 'soonish'), a big shawl, and a hat. Weather permitting, I will get some photos on this blog this week. Now I only have the sleeves for my red alpaca cardigan to do and I have a complete blank slate*
* obvious lie: I have so much I should be knitting that I feel faint just thinking about it
Finally, hey, a public service announcement for friends and family trying to think of a present for me. This year I've been a tad more organised! I know, I know .. wonders never cease..