Knitting in the Dark

NO PONCHOS

2005-04-10T21:48:00.000+10:00

The Manolo No-Poncho Pledge

I, Miss Sonia, swear on the head and/or the grave of my sainted granny to never wear, buy, knit, crochet, or fashion from the old throw rug, the poncho. And if the poncho it is given to me as the gift, I will graciously thank the giver and then, when she has left, put the poncho into the dog's bed and/or the trash as the case she may be. Only by doing these things faithfully can I help end for the good of the humanity the scourge that is the poncho. So help me Manolo.

Skull Argyle

2005-03-11T18:19:00.000+11:00

An update's been a long time coming, as usual. But here we are:

An argyle and skulls design. Do it intarsia or Fair Isle style. Knit yourself something punk rock!

Futurama - Leela Intarsia

2004-12-07T03:00:00.000+11:00

Digging through some older image files I had, I came across this intarsia chart I made of Leela from Futurama. It's a bit low-res but it could probably go on the end of a scarf or on a hat or something like that.

And I remembered that there are a couple of episodes where Dr Zoidberg is knitting.

LIKE OMG PICTURES!!!!!!!

2004-12-06T01:45:00.000+11:00

And...here they are!

The orange hat. It is a cylinder (knitted int he round) sewn closed at the top, with pretendy Fair Isle pattern and a fuzzy brim made of silky fake fur yarn. (It's really soft.) The brim is held up with a stitch in top and then flops down over the ears and neck.

The pink hat. It's a tam o'shanter style, the bright pink yarn is knitted in the round first with a band of double ribbing then stocking stitch increasing every second stitch, every second row, until it looked right. The top is a square knitted of double row stripes of Feathers yarn, alternating mid pink with variegated pastels yarn. I just marked four even points around the circle of the band/base, and sewed the square to it matching marks and square corners.

Extra Slack

2004-12-04T01:18:00.000+11:00

Meep. My apologies to anyone who came here actually hoping to see something about recent knitting attempts. Certain stuff has been happening and most of my creative energy has had to go elsewhere (yep, my eBay jewellery stuff). But! I now have a shiny new 5 megapixel digital camera and I can FINALLY take photos of the hats I've made and the child's cardigan. (Which was quite well received - it was a little big overall but this means she might actually still fit into it next winter.) So I'll get those out tomorrow and post pictures. So at least the hats, the cardigan lives with its owner.

Currently on the needles: Fuzzy purple hat, dark green hat, and hat I haven't quite designed yet.

Slack

2004-10-19T01:31:00.000+10:00

I have been slacking off on the knitting.

But I think tomorrow I will at least cast on for a purple hat.

And next time I get paid I will look for interesting yarn for a hat for another person. I still haven't found nicedark green wool for the other hat. And I need cotton for a summer knitting project. Cotton is so damn expensive though. Stupid cotton.

Buy stuff!

2004-10-09T15:00:00.000+10:00

Knitting's not the only thing I do in the dark, oh no. I sometimes make jewellery as well, and attempt to sell it off on eBay. So, here:

some shiny necklaces and shiny earrings.

end: shameless self-promotion

Fits

2004-10-03T23:09:00.000+10:00

It fits. The cardigan fits. Well, it's a little long, but that's ok, because it's spring now and she'll be able to wear it next autumn/winter.

I still haven't started anything new.

FINALLY

2004-09-21T14:57:00.000+10:00

The cardigan is finished. Well, except for the buttons that need sewing on. But picking up stitches for the front bands and collar wasn't nearly as scary as I'd imagined (like most things) - it was easy, in the end.

I think the finished product looks pretty cute, and oh boy do I need some kind of digital camera.

Next project: the short-sleeved off-the-shoulder 50s top, for me. It will have to wait until i have the dough to buy more yarn, however. In the meantime I will use up the rest of the hot pink acrylic and knit a handbag to go with the tam o'shanter.

Ta-da

2004-09-19T02:17:00.000+10:00

I'm mostly finished the cardigan. Whew. I just have to do the front bands and collar, and then sew up all the seams. The problem with the two front pieces seeming like they were different sizes was indeed a blocking problem - no frogging required!

A Lot of Knitting

2004-09-15T02:36:00.000+10:00

And now I've finished the back, two front pieces, and nearly half of both sleeves (I'm knitting them at the same time) of the cardigan. It looks like I may have missed a row on one of the front pieces, but I can block that away.

Seeing how long a cardigan for a nearly-5 year old takes to knit (and I even knit pretty fast, English though) I am going to assume that knitting a sweater for myself will take approximately fourteen years.

My next big project will likely be another mostly-stocking stitch thing, but I'll do it in Continental from the start, as my guage is different in C. Hmm, probably a short-sleeved wide-neck 1950s style sweater that I can wear as it's well and truly spring now. (I saw the First Blowfly Of The Season today.)

Progress

2004-09-10T01:04:00.000+10:00

I have knitted all of the back and half of one front side of the cardigan. I think the colours look pretty good together and hope the intended recipient likes it too. (I've stated she's under no obligation to like/take/wear said cardigan, heh.)

Gothic lace

2004-09-02T14:11:00.000+10:00

I am going to attempt to design a lace stole, with Gothic styled patterns. This will require much experimentation, I predict. The basics seem pretty apparent, using a chart to design. I was thinking a variation on horseshoe lace or similar could make nice Gothic arched window shapes. Perhaps one pattern that takes up the entire shawl, hmmm.

Further Cardigan Decisions

2004-09-02T13:35:00.000+10:00

I have a medium purple wool for the main part, some dark purple for the main contrast, and for the other contrast bits: Cleckheaton 'Tapestry' in the purple/green jewel colours, assorted 'Feathers' type yarns in purple and a complementary rose pink, and Sirdar 'Valentino' in a greeny colour. It looks like the Valentino has been discontinued - I can't find any on the web anywhere. I'll have to go back to The Shearing Shed and buy up the rest, I rather like it.

I even did a guage swatch. Several, in fact. I'm going to have to knit on 3.75mm needles instead of 4mms. On the 4s I came out with a 10x10 swatch that was the correct 22 stitches, but 27 rows instead of 30. Gah. 3.75mm needles seem kind of poky to me for some reason.

Hooray etc

2004-08-28T14:58:00.000+10:00

I have finished the hot pink and fuzzy Tam O' Shanter and the hot orange and fuzzy Hat thingy. Rejoice!

Pictures when I get batteries for the camera.

Next to start: A purrrrrple hat of unusual style, and a child's cardigan. It's pretty much Spring here now so I shall make the cardigan a bit large so it can be worn next year if she likes. Or maybe I could do a short-sleeved sweater. Hmm. That would also take slightly less time to knit, muahah.

Nearly finished TWO things

2004-08-23T02:35:00.000+10:00

The orange hat just needs to have the top sewn together and the fuzzy brim attached. The main part of the hat turned out to be a few little Fair Isle type patterns. I think it looks spiffy.

The pink hat has turned out to be a kind of tam o'shanter: starting with hot pink 8-ply acrylic, I knitted about 5cm of double ribbing, then in stocking stich, increased about 350% over 4 rows. The top part of it is nearly done, made from Feathers yarn in pinks, just a plain square with each side equal to 1/4 of the circumference of the hat. It should look like a strange combination of graduate's mortar board, tam o'shanter, and something very pink.

Whoops

2004-08-10T14:20:00.000+10:00

Knitting updates lacking!

I've done about half of the hat part for the Fluffy Orange Hat, and the top part will be a faux Norweigan/Fair Isle kind of pattern. The background is a deep rich orange and the foreground is cream.

I've decided on what cardigan to make for the young girl - a round neck raglan, a light (but not pastel) purple background, and an intarsia Leela from Futurama on one side of the front. I'll add small collars and cuffs in a darker purple "Feathers" type yarn, seeing as how she got rather excited about it when she saw me knitting with it once. I'll use Cleckheaton "Fireside" and Paton's equivalent for the main yarns. I'll get the Cleckheaton basic children's cardigans and sweaters book for the pattern.

I should just go knit, but I've got some things to sew to put up on eBay so I can feed my knitting habit some more.

Moving away from the computer would also help.

Another hat done

2004-07-31T12:18:00.000+10:00

I finished the Black Hat With Argyle-ish Bits. My Swiss darning is kind of pathetic so I just left the black and white diamonds for now, and will one day add them in when I'm better at embroidering on knitted fabric. Hat is now in the possession of A Certain Someone. ;) I did a band of ribbing on 5mm straight needles then changed to 6mm circulars to do the rest of the hat. Alas, I've neglected to take a picture of it yet, but I'll get around to it.

Next: Finish orange hat, start pink hat and purple hat.

And find a cool cardigan/jacket pattern for a cool 4.5 year old.

And knit me some kind of shawl or capelet.

And just knit.

I got an envelope full of vintage knitting patterns (that I'd won on eBay) - there are some cool things in there to knit, like "sports" sweaters - I'd like to knit a cricket jumper in black with a red and white stripe on the v-neck.

DPNs: A revelation

2004-07-27T02:03:00.000+10:00

Rejoice, for I think I have somewhat mastered DPNs. They are like broken circulars. And pointy. Once I worked out which direction things should be facing (thanks to help from my mum), it all became clear.

After I've done this round of hats, I'll start on socks. I fear the heel.

The Argyle Hat Saga continues

2004-07-27T01:54:00.000+10:00

I frogged the black argyle hat I'd started because I didn't like the garter stitch band I'd used and also because I charted out a better argyle pattern.

Now it has ribbing worked on 5mm needles for about 8cm, then I transferred it to 6mm circulars and started on the argyle pattern using mock Fair Isle/jacquard. This is easier on circulars for me because damn, I hate doing the purl row changing colours.

The hat looks rather small, but I carefully tried on the ribbing band and it stretches nicely to a comfortable fit. I hope the jacquard strings are loose enough this time.

Hat. And a WIP.

2004-07-20T01:02:00.000+10:00

Here's the hat I made:

It has a 2x2 ribbing band and then some cables running up the rest of the hat. I made it up as I went along, and I don't think it looks too bad for it. It only took an evening to knit up, but dealing with cables in the chunky yarn was harder than I thought. Knitted on ordinary needles too, as I haven't been able to find circulars or DPNs larger than 6mm here so far. Damn.

Here is the orange fluffy stuff I'm working on for the Fluffy Orange Hat. It's very silky and soft and I keep having to stop knitting to pat it.

Spotlight = Evil

2004-07-17T22:59:00.000+10:00

Stuck in Spotlight at Queanbeyan for about an hour and a half. Hot. Sweaty. Queues everywhere, and not many staff. [shudder]

So...much....yarn...

Bought more today, and finished one hat out of Cleckheaton Gusto 10 in a steel blue-grey colour . Picture tomorrow!

The Cleckheaton printed silky faux fur is HARD TO KNIT. It's making a kind of butotn-up brim for another hat for a friend.

And this is rather cool - I'll have to add it to my queue o' hats: Celtic Cabled Hat.

Ebay insanity

2004-07-12T02:26:00.000+10:00

Holy crud - someone just paid US$81 for a Bouton D'Or pattern magazine on eBay. .... You can get it (and more!) at the Bouton D'Or website for less than US$20 including postage.

Hmmm.

Today I went to a couple of secondhand bookshops to sort through their knitting book sections. I got a 1970s era book which is in theory a "learn to knit" book, but really it's more like "here's a new stitch, now knit this not uncomplicated thingy with it". It has a cool pattern for lacy tights though, which I shall be knitting once I buy some 3mm short circulars. (Well, they'll go into the queue of Things To Knit.) The second book I got was a 1980s Vogue Knitting book, but thankfully it wasn't full of those huge floppy 80s knits, it was a collection of classics from the 30s to 80s. Into the queue goes a 1950s off-the-shoulder top. And I also got a late 60s booklet of skiing knits - featuring more cool Mod chicks.

Cleanup in Fair Isle Number 4...

2004-07-10T00:23:00.000+10:00

I tried out a little Fair Isle type pattern, but based on the Argyle repeating diamond shape, just using the dodgy acyrlic "practice" yarn I have. It turned out quite well, overall, once I figured out how to make the tension of the jacquard strings even.

Lazy Knitter Tip #18732518: If you make a few little mistakes in Fair Isle, don't frog it. Just Swiss darn over the mistakes. :D

Here's that lace

2004-07-05T22:44:00.000+10:00

It's a little bit wonky, but I tend to lose the plot a bit when just making swatches, no actual goal in sight.

Satan's Little Knitter

2004-07-04T18:04:00.000+10:00

Turns out my late grandmother had a nice little stash of knitting patterns from the past.

This is one with Manly Men posting with yachts and pipes and chessboards, and also one model supposed to be an Olympic athlete with a javelin, lighting up a cigarette. Heh. It's Patons #666! I have the Knitting Pattern of the Beast!

Others include:

Women's Weekly "Fashion Knits for Spring" from 1973

Patons "Favourite Designs for Toddlers" (late 50s, by the looks)

Patons Classic Series (cardies and jumpers for kids) #6 featuring children who look like they are made to eat a lot of bran and cod liver oil

Patons "Boys and Girls Come Out to Play" from the late 70s - I think the look they were going for was windswept and interesting wholesome children, but instead it comes off as Freakish Children up to Evil Tricks on the Moors.

Patons 587 "Caressa" which features some men with chin dents wearing Fair Isle vests...but best of all:

Patons 767: "Patons Goes to the Grampians"! Check out the extremely cool Mod chick on the front carrying her rather dorky "boyfriend"'s fishing rods across a stream.

Photos soon

2004-07-02T21:49:00.000+10:00

I managed to borrow a digital camera for the weekend, so I can take some pictures of bits I've done, woohoo.

I knitted 1 1/2 repeats of Moira Square Lace in the baby yarn and it turned out quite well, I only messed up one row which was easily fixed by an M1 in the next row. With an extra row between repeats and some blocking to flare the bottom edge, it would make a nice sleeve edge.

The black hat with an argyle stripe I'm knitting is on hold until I either work out or get hold of a decent argyle pattern, I'm doing something wrong and don't know what it is.

Millie (Border Collie "puppy") has now discovered that balls of yarn are good to play with. Mmm, drooly wool.

Lace practice

2004-07-01T18:42:00.000+10:00

I bought a big ball of Patons "Big Baby" to practice knitting laces with. I will try 3mm needles first and see if it works. Plans for after I feel confident with laces: some kind of shoulder cape.

The hats so far...

2004-06-29T23:33:00.000+10:00

So far, I have made two hats.

The first: Made from Paton's "Zhivago", a tencel/acrylic mix which is super soft. I based it on the Pink Lady pattern from Knitty. Mostly a nice medium purple with a couple of cream stripes and some details in royal purple "Flutter", which is Lincraft's version of Feathers. I embroidered some stars and an initial on the purple bit with some of the cream wool. Hat now belongs to a delightful 4 year old. :)

The second: A plain old beanie made from Cleckheaton "Gusto 10", a chunky wool/mohair/acrylic mix, colour of black. Knitted on two needles (9mm), and then sewn up the back, as I had neither a circular needle or DPNs handy. Hat now belongs to one of my brothers.

HATS!

Pointy

2004-06-29T19:39:00.000+10:00

I was very pleased to find instructions for 'yarn over' that actually made sense. It was so simple, of course, but I have Issues with most knitting diagrams. But hooray, now I can do all those funky textured stitches and laces without making a noise like a Four-Assed Monkey.