Finished Projects for 2009!

I have managed to knit 29 things this year!
OK, some of them were started in 2008 but i think it's pretty good going seeing as i knitted two and a half shawls, one blanket and finished off the crochet blocks blanket too. I am disappointed that the only pair of socks i actually finished were for a swap but i shall put that right in 2010!

I'm not sure what my favourite thing is, i love the Moonlight Sonata Shawl purely because it was my first laceweight project and the finished shawl is stunning but i love both the Bamboo blankies that i made for the twins...
Of all the hats i have knitted this year my favourite is by far my turquoise Dulcie with the Spring Cap coming in a close second.

It's only since i put the collage together that i've realised i apparantly like blue a lot more than i thought i did!!

Quick knits

Set made for the gorgeous Jackson as part of Terri's Sock Swap parcel
Yarn used is Yarn Yard Hug in the Grubby Tiger colourway - i am finally "Paying it Forward"!

Set made for a friend's little girl who needs some warmth
Yarn used is Sirdar Click DK, it's actually more like a 4ply though and i knit it on the same size needles as the first set!
The hat is 14" across unstretched and the mittens are about 5¼" long including the rib.

The hats are one of Woolly Wormhead's patterns - Baby Tri-peak and the mittens are both made with Malin's fab pattern
I used 2.75mm needles for everything and my gauge came out at 7½ stitches per inch.

Some knitting progress

This is a Ten Stitch Blanket and i'm using James Brett Marble Chunky that i bought at Ally Pally this year.
Actually it's a 15 stitch blanket cos i was worried that the strips would look too thin worked in the chunky wool.
It's destined to live in the T4 campervan as the Granny Square blankie i made for Roj is the wrong colour and a new blanket was requested ;o)

This will be a long term project and it's already too big to be a transportable project so it will live at home for TV knitting.

Actually that's all a lie and that's not Bloke's blankie at all!!
That is in fact a Ten Stitch Blankie done in Marble DK and it does have ten stitches!
I did get confused, so sorry :oD

Aurantium Shawl - Finished!

Aurantium Shawl - Finished!
Originally uploaded by franneyk

Oh yes! After a slight delay the first of the SMSKAL shawls is finished and blocked and is currently draped around my shoulders :oD

I'd managed to get to the end of the last row of the last chart and then discovered that i'd lost both the .jpg and my printout of the last set of instructions, all i had was the chart!! It was very annoying and it stressed me out big time! All i wanted to do was finish the shawl and i didn't know if i had another repeat to do or if i was casting off! Luckily the lovely ladies in the Socktopods group came to my rescue and not only was i informed that now was the time to cast off i was also sent the complete set of charts for the shawl!! They are now safely saved on my hard drive :oD

The orange version is coming along, i have one chart repeat for the middle section to do and then it's just the final 30 rows of the leaf section, a wash and a block and that's done too! I can't decide whether to cast on my Ishbel now or if i should wait until the orange shawl is done ;o)
I probably should wait but i do have an ITCH!! ::lol::

In other news, Ladybird Linz sent me her leftover Fabel in the same colourway as the unfinished Baktus so that is now completed too - YaY!

Another finished sock...

Just the one though!
That makes three single socks i now need partners for and i've made myself prmoise not to cast on any new ones until at least two of them are done! Sometimes i can be harsh :oP

This is Kiila, knit in Natural Dye Studio merino.
I think i'm getting the hang of twisted stitches, travelling stitches and cabling without a needle and i have also had a go at the EZ sewn bind-off but i prefer the other stretchy cast-off i know which involves k2togtbl but it was nice to try it ;o)

My next plan is to finish one of the SMSKAL shawls - must NOT cast on anything new!!

more yokey goodness

I've been knitting exclusively on the cardigan for the past few days and i am now halfway across the back!!I rewrote the third cable so that it "curves" at the same rate as cable 1, it's slighly smaller but i don't think it looks too bad, it certainly looks better than if i'd let them get away from each other, this just adds another nail in the coffin of the "do i like symmetry" argument ::lol::

SMSKAL - Ready for Clue #3!

Well, the second proper clue will be sent tonight at 10pm and here are my two Aurantium Shawls waiting oh-so-patiently for the next installment!

I've been looking at them both off and on over the last week and do you know, i still can't decide which i like more!
The lilac shows off the stitch pattern better so far but the orange is just so HAPPY! I could probably knit anything with the orange and get the same result but as the theme for the pattern is a poem about an orange that makes you happy it somehow seems appropriate ;o)

There's been a bit of a stir on Twitter and in the knitting blogland the last couple of days based around events unfolding chez Yarn Harlot and to be honest i'm not sure where i stand. While i totally sympathise with her and think that it's a sorry state of affairs i don't think it's my place to hunt down the "perpetrator" and give them what for, and i shan't be jumping on the "i support YarnHarlot" bandwagon either - other than this little post here ;o)
It's not that i don't support her, i do and i'm pretty sure that the hundreds of Twitter posts declaring the same have reassured her that we aren't all of the same ilk. With any luck the person who is making Steph's life so stressful right now will soon get bored and find someone else to target, or better still get some professional help!
Anyway, i've said more than i wanted to and as it's not my battle i shall be staying here in my corner taking the occasional peek out into the big wide world, unless reinforcements are needed of course and then i shall be happy to don my knitted chainmail and pointy sticks!
;o)

New Hat!

Sloochie - finished! 14th July 09
Originally uploaded by franneyk

Oh yes, another new hat hot off the needles!

This is the July vertical KAL at Wormhead's Hats. The pattern is Sloochie and i used the Lett-Lopi that Terri sent me in the Santa Swap last November.

I love my new hat :oD

I added 6 rows of stocking stitch after the cabled brim as i know that a flat brim doesn't suit me and the resulting little roll is just perfect! I found the wool quite uneven in places it was as thin (if not thinner) than a 4ply but it's classed as an aran and i got gauge of 18sts to 4" on 4.5mm dpns. When i hit a thin bit i either tore it out and spit spliced the two ends or i just doubled the wool over and spit on it LOL

I used a little over one ball, if i hadn't added the extra 6 rows it would have been less than one ball by a couple of yards ;o)

Summer of socks...

Not part of a KAL or anything but i currently have three different socks on the needles!
This is Zopfwanderung and although the yarn i've chosen is a little dark i do like how it's coming out so i stuck with it.

I'm using one of the bargainous balls of Schoppel Wolle Admiral Degradé that i bought in the recent sale at Knit'n'Caboodle, this is shade 1353 ;o)

I have a little niggle with the heel but i'm sure i'll work out where the extra stich has gone to, at the moment if i slip one my knits and purls don't line up and i'm pretty sure they are supposed to!

WIP roundup

There's been lots going on chez Franney lately so i thought i'd do a round up!
I started the Caesar's Check socks (black and multi) last week while i was babysitting, my 10 year old niece was helping choose a pattern and she said she really liked that one, and she liked the colours in the wool so i decided to knit her a pair of socks for her birthday which is the begininning of August. Hopefully i will be able to get them finished in time! The wool is a random ball i bought from someone on the forum, it either came in alucky dip or i just liked the colours :o? It's a Russian company, Pehorka and the colours are really pretty. I was knitting on this on Saturday at knit club and there was a new lady there, i pulled the label out after someone asked what wool it was and said "no idea, it's foreign" and she read the label!! How cool is that, she speaks Russian!! The black is some Sirdar Town & Country. I like both yarns, the T&C is quite hairy though, something i hadn't noticed in the ball but it's fluffing out as i knit it. Nice though, and the slip stitch pattern makes a nice warm fabric. Oh, the pattern! It's from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I forget how much i like this book!
I managed to sneakily measure Niece's foot last week by getting her to help me do mine ;o) so hopefuly i should be able to get it the right size! The cuff is 3" long so far and she says she likes her socks at about 5" so not long before i start the heel :oD
The Kiila sock (green) is coming along nicely too, i have just started the gusset chart so the cabling will be expanding soon, i am really looking forward to it! I am enjoying the travelling stitches, and cabling without a needle but it is quite fiddly and time consuming and i haven't quite got the hang of it yet. I'm sure i'll get the hang of it with a bit more practise though ;o)
Baktus is also coming alnog nicely. I am up to 71 stitches and have just 7g of my first ball left! I've had some travelling time to knit on this, i had a tram and a bus ride on Saturday to get to and from knit club and then yesterday was a hospital appt for Bloke so i had an hour or so knitting time while we waited (patiently) to be called.
Speaking of my bus ride...
As i got on and flashed the driver a smile and my ticket he said "i like your hat" so i replied with another smile and a "thankyou" and he then asked if i knit it myself! What a sweetie! It's reassuring to know that there are some nice people left, and that some of them are bus drivers!! lol
Finally we have the pinkness. That's another Dulcie hat (my third) in Aracunia Aysen (again lol), this one is for Amy who fell in love with my Dulcie last time we camped together. It's her birthday today but i'm not seeing her until Thursday, which won't be a problem as i only have two more sections to do and then it's Kitchener time. I lurve to Kitchener :oD

WW June KAL...

DONE!
:oD

I started yesterday afternoon and this was my progress by 7pm. I'd got 4 repeats done, when i went to bed last night i had 6 repeats done and i've been picking it up throughout the day today and it's finished!
What a speedy knit! I actually love the hat too, although i wasn't sure at first cos it's quite long but it's really comfy and i love the colour and the pattern.

For those that don't know, the pattern is Marina by Woolly Wormhead and i used 96g of Patons Vintage in colour "Scorched" that was bargainous from Kemps. This was June's vertical KAL in the Wormhead's Hats Ravelry group. The other KAL was for Trellis but i'm not so keen on that pattern so i'm going to knit another Dulcie instead as my second hat of the month seeing as i've finished Becky's now! I have a friend with a birthday coming up and she fell in love with my Dulcie while we were camping so i thought it'd be a nice surprise for her to have one of her own.

Windward KAL

DONE!



:oD

Knitted as part of the KAL at the Woolly Wormhead group on Ravelry, i used some King Cole 4seasons cotton which was a gmable but has paid off!
The hat is lovely and comfy, it's not too hot during the day and is toasty warm at night. I finished it while we were camping on Friday and wore it non stop after that, in fact i must remember to cut the (sewn in) ends off soon!
I loved the pattern, it was really easy to follow - as all of WW's patterns are in fact, and it took just enough concentration to keep me interested and still able to hold a conversation ;o)

I'm really pleased with myself, i have managed to finish four hats in two months, there'll be another Dulcie coming off the needles in a day or so and then there's another two KALs in June. I don't know if i'll be doing both of them again though, it depends if they are summer hats or not i think ;o)

Ribba Hat

This week's finished object is the Ribba Hat by Woolly Wormhead
I used my oddd skein of Noro Iro that Lisa gave me and it used 87g and i think it looks FAB!

I seem to be doing OK with starting and finishing hats lately, maybe because i am knitting them as part of a knitalong? Who knows, but at least i am actually finishing stuff!
I have Windward and Dulcie on the needles too and would like a sock to cast on next, possibly something in two colours?I'm itching to cast on this ball:

I think it'll look great as a two colour pattern with a ball of black T&C, i have several contenders, mostly from Sensational Knitted Socks ;o)

I haz newness!

New hat!
Woolly Wormhead's "Pleated Beret" pattern, knit as part of the vertical KAL in her Ravelry group - i used a ball of Elle Pure Gold i picked up in a bargain bin at Bodkins, it might be acrylic but it feels really velvetty and nice :oD
(Rav link, but everyone's signed up now haven't they? Surely? If you haven't then why not?? Go do it!)

New Hair!
Rock Chick Mullet courtesy of Jorge at Rush ;o)
More to the hair story but i am still too traumatised to talk about it just yet :o(

Alien Landscape

It's actually tiny fungus growing on one of those bench seat table thingies that you get in pub gardens, i found it fascinating :oD
We'd gone for a lovely drive out the afternoon before we went to the fairground and ended up in a pub in the country next to a big park where we took the dog for a lovely walk :o)

gusset!

Hemp Mitts - WIP
Originally uploaded by franneyk

A very rubbish photo of my thumb gusset :oD

Hemp Mitts - WIP

Hemp Mitts - WIP
Originally uploaded by franneyk

I keep forgetting to take progress photos of my Fern Lace mitts, but i eventually remembered this morning!
I started the one on the right first, but when i got to the thumb part of the instructions i decided i didn't want to do it as they said which was to knit onto waste yarn then slip the stitches back and reknit in the project yarn which means you have to go back later and unpick and pick up and the thumb it creates isn't as nice (in my very humble opinion!) so i decided i wanted to knit a thumb with a gusset but as i didn't have any instructions to hand i decided to cast on the second mitt and crack on with that! I fudged together some gusset increases from a couple of other patterns and cast off the main part at Knit Club on Saturday :oD
Now i've just half a mitt to go, plus two thumbs and they'll be finished! YAY!

My weekends...

Have mostly been taken up with this...



This is the inside of our new T4 van that we are currently converting, it started out as a mini-bus with a row of three seats along the tailgate and a two seat unit in the middle, they've been ripped out and Bloke (with a little of my help) has designed and built this custom interior...
I've still got some more staining and varnishing to do (all the light wood needs to be black) and once the foam and fabric arrive i can start sewing the cushion covers too but we are running pretty much to schedule with two weekends and three weeks of build time left before our first camping trip this year :oD

*bounce bounce*

Moonlight Sonata Progress

Progress as of last Friday when i put half of it on a lifeline to see how big it was. The answer to which was - not big enough!
I really love this pattern, i think it suits the wool so well and i really love the colours and how they are distributing themsleves too.
I'm just struggling with the actual knitting of it a bit as it's quite "concentration intensive" which isn't the right word i know, in fact it's probably not even proper English but that's what it's doing to my brain!! LOL

It was MiL's birthday yesterday and i had to explain that i hadn't finished her present which felt horrible, but hopefully if i can at least two pattern repeats done a day it will be finished by the end of the week.

In future i must allow myself longer to make presents instead of giving myself such short deadlines and then feeling like shit because i've failed... yet again!

I have the Clap!

Clapotis that is! :o)

This is me concentrating on taking a photo in the mirror but using the mirror as a guide to see the LCD screen of the camera... does that even make sense?? LOL
I love my Clapotis, i mostly hated knitting it as the cotton silk was like knitting with garden twine only thinner and harder but the resulting fabric is just gorgeous, it is JUST the right size too, both length and width and i just adore the colours <3

Here's what it looks like when you compare the two ends. My tension was definitely affected!!
The smaller end is the starting end when i was using a metal needle, then i changed to bamboo and obviously as i became more comfortable with the pattern it loosened up quite a LOT!!