Hats done!

Four hats done and that's the lot! There is a limit to motherly love and I feel I have reached it.
However, I have also promised a pair of gloves but I can't face them just yet.

So. it's back to my purple shawl I think, although I may check out the stash today and see what's sitting there. I've lost two stones in weight over the last few months and there are patterns which I like but have previously avoided - now may be the time!

Knit group was a lively affair this week. It amazes me that men are still slightly intimidated by a group of women knitting in a pub - however, they will have to get over it as we are an accepted part of the local scene now. Several group members purchase pub food so I would say we make a good financial contribution to the business.

Back to work next week and to sorting out my notes from the course I went on. Happy days!?

Hat factory and a bit of history

This is hat number 2 which I finished yesterday. It's in Rowan aran tweed which I've had for ages. I adapted the hat pattern in the Noro mini knits book which I bought recently - more stitches and slightly different shaping to take account of the different yarn weight and head size.

The miracle is that it fits!

I'm now on a mission to finish the others and a pair of gloves too as the boy is going to be skiing in Australia from the beginning of June.

Some of you will know that I am very interested in researching my family history and today I bought the latest copy of Family History Monthly; primarily this was because it has an article on the Dam Busters of World War 2 and my father served in that squadron. However, there is a very interesting article on the history of frame knitting and the working conditions endured by the knitters. There's a museum in Nottingham which can be investigated at http://www.rfkm.org/ . While I'm churning out my ski hats, I feel fortunate to be working in the comfort of my own home!

Ski hats for big heads and a new book!

Number 2 son has placed an order for several ski hats ( apparently you can never have too many! ).

So I am looking for aran weight wool in my stash. How is it that it cannot be found? There must be some lurking somewhere.I have discovered one ball of burgundy Rowan tweed that I will use and have sacrificed my Noro cashmere mix which was destined for long gloves. I'm sure there is more but I fear it's not very manly. Therefore I've ordered some Yorkshire tweed in blokey colours ( grey, murky green and rust ).

I'm adapting a pattern I already had by casting on more stitches and making the hat longer so it will cover ears;apparently this is vital to avoid frostbite. Son has a large head like his mother so the resulting hat looks massive but fits perfectly - more by luck than judgement. Photos will be posted but hat is being worn at the moment.

The Lerwick Lace Shawl book is the latest offering from Sharon Miller. This is a fascinating read and contains a charted shawl pattern which she has constructed from an old shawl in her possession. The level and quality of work which has gone into this is truly amazing and something I can only aspire to. The book also contains extracts from Shetland social histories and information on sheep shearing techniques.Is there anything this lady doesn't know about Shetland lace knitting? What also interests me is her discussion on the merits of knitting shawl borders inwards or outwards. I'm an outwards girl myself; it's not the traditional way but is a lot less complex to my mind. This technique was pioneered by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

The book can be purchased direct from Sharon's Heirloom Knitting website and, while it's not cheap at £17.95 for 42 pages, the level of scholarship and amount of information make it a very worthwhile purchase. Link to the site is on the left of this page.

Next week I'm off on a course for a couple of days but will be taking knitting with me for spare moments!

Smooshy shawl

This is my latest wheeze made from Smooshy Dream in Colour sock yarn. It's a complex tale as the yarn was bought to match a top to be worn at Number 1 son's wedding. However, I've ditched that idea and decided to make it into a lace shawl which featured in Winter 2007 / 08 Vogue Knitting ( pattern number 5 ). Yes folks, I'm following someone else's pattern again!

This pattern is a Lily Chin one classed as intermediate. It's described as an allover lace shawl with mitered corners and worked from the neck down. If you are a lace knitter it's not remotely difficult but what does take a little work is fitting the pattern in to the increases.Only 16 rows of the pattern are charted and then it says to work all increase stitches into the pattern ( there are 8 increases on every right side row. I feel this is letting the knitter down in the worst way as there are no further specific instructions until the last 2 rows of the shawl. Yes, I can knit this pattern, but then I'm a confident lace knitter who has designed her own patterns. I'm sure there will be many knitters who might like to make this, purchase the yarn, start knitting and then realise they can't cope with the project. NAUGHTY! - anyway rant 1 over.

Rant 2 : why do executives of major companies lie? Viz : BA chaos at Terminal 5 but "no long haul flights have been affected." I beg to differ - Number 2 son due to return from Calgary to Terminal 4 yesterday but there was no plane! The plane was in the wrong place! So he is flying, as I blog , via Houston in Texas ( don't ask! ) and hopefully arriving today but of course not on BA ( thanks, Continental ). His companions are flying via other North American airports - chaos on the ground and in the skies. Do you wonder why I am not planning to fly anywhere this year?

Is it any wonder that we knit to avoid stress?

Argosy finito!

I am very pleased with this. Readers who saw my earlier postings will know this pattern is from the In a Happy Camper site ( link left ). It's warm, which is very necessary at the moment and I will probably make another in a lighter weight yarn. I will make the next one a little wider, but had this one been wider, and therefore heavier, I think it would have been too much.

The pattern quotes 8 balls of Noro Kureyon with very little left over, but I was into the 9th by the time I'd finished. This is no hardship as I can use the remaining yarn in freeform projects. I blocked the wrap by steaming it over a dry cloth and it has worked a treat. There is no bed in the house long enough to take this without folding and I could not block it on the carpet in case furry friends decided to take up residence on it.

Back to work tmrw after the Easter break - a busy week with a follow up visit to hospital and the return of the prodigal son from Canada. Happy days!

Noro fest

These gloves were made last weekend using a pattern from the book above - Noro designer mini knits. It contains small achievable items such as mittens, gloves, scarves, hats, socks and shrugs made from various Noro yarns. Just the sort of things I like to make! The gloves took 1 ball of Cashmere Island which I can recommend for softness. Clearly, if you wanted matching gloves you would need 2 balls; this doesn't worry me as I like the quirkiness of toning, but not matching, items. The gloves are made on 2 needles and sewn up the side. I have never done this before but they worked out fine.I bought the book from Get Knitted and the yarn from John Lewis who have now broadened their scope from the usual Rowan / Jaeger axis. I also got 2 balls of the same yarn to make elbow length gloves - woo hoo! Pattern is in the book.

To knitting group last night where Dani showed us a Cash Iroha shrug cape she has just finished - very lovely in a fab purple shade. Most people are still doing socks - is there a more useful travel project out there?

I'm grateful to Tracey for the tip off for another website http://www.astridsdutchobsessions.com/ ; this sounded vaguely obscene until I realised it was a yarn website with lots of lovely lace and sock yarns. Tracey knows my taste very well!

Happy Easter to all my readers.

Resurrected in time for Easter!

Apologies to those who are offended by my play on words above. I've been missing because my laptop died but it has been repaired courtesy of John Lewis and is now working. Something to do with the motherboard ( Motherf...... - I called it ).
It made me aware how reliant I am on my computer. I can use my work one for lots of things but not for blogging or Facebook ( understandable! )
Anyway - back soon with more knitting related stuff!