WIP Wednesday: Slow and steady edition

As I started to check what photos I had for today's WIP Wednesday post, I realised I had taken photos of my Patonyle Tempest-inspired scarf, always on Wednesdays, but just never posted them.

Really, it was that kind of project - row after row of the knit stitch, changing colour(s) every 7.5 inches, then continuing to knit.

It was actually a bit of a surprise yesterday when I realised it was actually done! I flipped it inside out...

..and wove in all of the ends...

Grafted the two ends of the scarf together, and popped it in a wool wash bath.

 It was like time-lapse knitting photography. I liked it! I think I need to do it more often on these long projects because sometimes, when you're working on them, it does feel like you're slogging away and not getting much done, even though you actually are. 

Next time: two hats and some booties. Booties!

Poncho!

As the days get longer and warmer, the planning for my trip is progressing slowly. There's always that anticlimax that occurs the moment after the massive rush of excitement that occurs when you press 'book' on the airline ticket when you realise that there are at least seven million boring administrative things that need to be done before stepping onto the plane. At the moment I am using up all the food from the fridge, freezer and pantry that needs to be eaten in the next month (boring), looking for sensible walking shoes (both boring and expensive) and trying to work out if I need 16 pairs of underwear for the 16 days or if I will have a chance to wash somewhere (urgh the most boring decision ever!). Amidst all the boringness, there is one preparation I am enjoying very much...

..I'm making a poncho! A poncho is basically a blanket with a hole in it. What better travel accessory could there be? I'm making up the pattern as I go along - so basically 50ish stitches of 2x2 ribbing until I felt the neck was long enough, then increasing by eight every second row with a yarn over until it is long enough to cover my arms. I'm using Cleckheaton Vintage Hues from my stash, which means this perfect travel accessory is effectively free (unlike just about every other thing that needs to be done to prepare for this holiday. So. Many. Fees. And. Charges!).

Words cannot describe how much Sam hates this poncho. He groans every time I pull it out of its knitting bag and threatens to not be seen with me in public while I'm wearing it. I know he's only joking - once he sees how warm and cuddly it is, I'm sure he'll want one for himself.

Well, maybe not...

My Sisyphusian spiralling scrapbusting baby hat (2013 FO# 6)

Yesterday I told you that even after finishing my very cute Blue Baby Surprise Jacket, I still had a pile of crepe yarn left. It was only 35 grams, but I was not going to put that back in the stash again! But what pattern uses odd bits of yarn that only weigh 5 - 8 grams?  I knew I had to put my thinking hat on ... Then inspiration struck! A hat was the perfect project and I knew exactly what I had to do to make it work.

I took three colours and cast on 24 stitches in each colour. 

Let's call them A, B and C, going from the left.

I then divided the stitches up for magic loop 

(all of A plus 12 of B on needle 1, 12 of B and all of C on needle 2)

Then started to knit as follows.

Round 1: Knit the A stitches with C. Knit the B stitches with A. Knit the C stitches with B.

The stitches are now are divided as follows:

all of C plus 12 of A on needle 1, 12 of A and all of B on needle 2.

Round 2: Knit the A stitches with B. Knit the C stitches with B. Knit the B stitches with A.

Every time one of the colours ran out, I closed my eyes and grabbed another ball at random out of the bag.

I continued with the spiralling pattern until the hat was as long as I thought it should be, then I cast off by decreasing every second row - I decreased every eighth stitch then every seventh then every sixth etc until I had nine stitches left, then I knitted an icord for a few centimetres.

I wish I was a better photographer because this shot does not reflect the total squee-ness of this hat! It's tiny and the rolled brim is so cute. It's pretty teeny so it should fit the same baby as the BSJ.

I suck so bad at photography! You'll have to trust me - it's very cute. It also took me about two hours to knit and used up annoying odds and ends out of my stash - I will definitely be making this hat again! The question is, can an adult get away with a fetching icord finish? Maybe not...

Oh, the cuteness!

Not WIP Wednesday: Blue Baby Surprise Jacket (2013 FO# 5)

Is it Wednesday again already? This week has just flown by in a blur of reading, writing and procrastinating. I honestly feel if all I have done in the last week is chip away rather ineffectively at the endless pile of work I need to do. Such is the nature of research but still! I understand now why postgraduate study is considered so difficult - it's not the work that's hard but rather finding the mental strength to remain motivated and focused at a really long-term goal with few short-term payoffs that people struggle with.

So, in that vein, instead of sharing with you another bunch of unfinished projects, I thought I'd vary my routine and show something that's actually finished.

The Yarn Harlot once said the unseamed Baby Surprise Jacket looked like a knitted manta ray, and it really does! It's crazy to think that with a few short shoulder seams...

..it becomes an actual piece of usable clothing!

I know it's a bit twee but I love using novelty buttons on baby knits. It's not like they're going to complain and it makes me smile.

Of course I remembered to sew a spare button on the inside. 

There's not much that I can say about this jacket that hasn't been said before. One thing I did do (by chance) that looked absolutely fabulous was to use the same colour to cast on and do the first three rows and then the last few rows of the sleeve and the cast-off. When I seamed using that colour, it created a very professional-looking finish to the whole garment.

I'm pretty pleased at using up all of that crepe stash (some of it is over eight years old!). However, once I finished I still had all of this left over:

Argh! Will it never be done? Maybe this crepe is my yarny Sisyphusian task - every time I finish a garment, the wool regenerates and I need to start all over again.

Or maybe not and I've been spending just a bit too much time in the library. Till next time :)

WIP Wednesday: My cat is the boss of me edition

Another Wednesday, another round-up of all of the things I've been working on. I am actually blogging this from my bed because, in the epic power struggle that is sitting my desk chair (it's Lucy's bed at night, she doesn't like it when I use it during the day), Lucy is currently on top. My aunt said to me this morning "You know you're the alpha cat of the household, right?"

Sure I know it, but does Lucy? I am starting to think not.

I was really hoping to get my blue fluffy mitts done this week (not least because it's been bloody freezing the last few days!) but catastrophe struck:

I broke my 3.5mm KnitPicks needle. Again. This is no exaggeration the fifth of these needles that I have broken! It's ridiculous. I never have a problem with any other size except for this one and my yarn store doesn't stock the nickel-plated tips. Grrr!! 

However, I quickly replaced one blue project with another and the Baby Surprise Jacket and I have been spending some quality time together:

As you can see, I'm not great at random striping. I should definitely have this one finished by next week and I'm looking forward to going shopping for some very cute buttons this weekend!

Finally, I've been working on my sister's Endpaper Mitts. I'm up to the thumb increase, so over 50% done. I'm a bit worried because it's really clear in the knitting where my tension has changed - what looks like a line in brown is just me knitting one row a whole lot tighter than the previous row. I'm hoping it'll block out - blocking fits everything, right? Right.

Now I should be leaving my nice warm house to go to uni but, well, I don't want to. It's cold and wet and dreary outside :( Sometimes being a grown-up sucks. 

WIP Wednesday: Mitt Madness

I am really struggling with daylight saving, and my struggling I mean I think I might be incapable of ever remembering that it exists. I got home from lunch, settled down to work and then, when I looked up a few hours later, the sky had darkened to such an extent I had to put on the light. It wasn't even 5 o'clock yet!

It's been mitt madness at Chez HereIKnit over the last week. The Endpaper Mitts are coming along nicely - I'd forgotten how addictive stranded colour work is ("Just one more row..."). The Bilby Yarn is perfect for this type of project because it's very 'sticky' - you know the inside of the gloves will slowly felt with wear, making them even more warm. I am struggling to maintain my tension with two-handed knitting, though (which you can see a little bit here with the white diamonds on the right glove) but I'm hoping blocking will fix everything.

In the time it took me to move these gloves and put the second gloves down, all of the light had gone!

So I fiddled with the settings on my camera software to make it brighter so you could see how much I've done. My skills with photography are truly a gift.

I'm pretty chuffed with these! Plain mittens are just as easy to make without a pattern as plain socks are (like durr, I can hear every experienced knitter everywhere saying). I'd have done more but it's really hard to work on dark navy mohair yarn at night, so these only get worked on during the day.

Now, back to work - deadlines care nothing for daylight savings.

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

1. Camouflage socks, 2. Sam's Christmas Socks, 3. Frozen Widdershins, 4. Graduating Green Socks, 5. Baktus Kerchief, 6. Selbu Modern, 7. Alpaca Endpaper Mitts, 8. Grainy Gray Scarf, 9. Stripy Baby Socks, 10. Booties, 11. Baby Mitts, 12. Baby Chalice Blanket, 13. Ishbel the Second, 14. Railroad Socks, 15. Saintly Semptember Socks, 16. Mum's Christmas Socks, 17. Baby Booties, 18. Tiger Paws19. Not available20. Not available


I know it's traditional to reflect on the year that has past, you know, when the year actually ends, but today is the first day I have had Internet access at home (not counting the iPhone) for almost four weeks, and I am giddy with excitement.  Hello Internet!  Welcome back!  Never leave again!

So, reflections on 2010.  I was a year of great change for me.  I changed jobs from a relatively well-paying but stressful position with long hours to work for myself from home.  I have less money and (unfortunately)  a less secure income, but I am so much happier and more rested.  I have lost weight and regained the energy to actually do stuff like socialise, clean and cook, not just collapse on the couch as soon as I get home.  It was a hard decision but I am certain that I made the right one.

I also had some knitterly goals.

In 2010 I will:
1. Finish at least 20 knitted objects, and blog about every single one!
2. Knit six pairs of socks.
3. Knit 100 balls of wool.
4. Finish at least one of my blankets currently on the go.
5. Finish at least one of my jumpers currently on the go.
6. Knit at least three things for me, and only me.
7. Lose 8.5kg.


I finished 18 knitted objects, which is not bad.  I did blog about them all. I did knit six pairs of socks, but I only knit 20-ish balls of wool.  It doesn't seem much, but it amounted to 2kg worth of wool - I consider that a lot!  I didn't finish any existing blankets, but I did start and finish a ginormous baby blanket. I knitted many things for me, all of which I wore heaps and improved my quality of life by keeping me warm.  I didn't lose 8.5kg, but I lost 1.7kg, which is not great but better than nothing. Those were the good things.  For the bad things - ,\ I bought 2.65kg of yarn, increasing my total stash size by 650g! And, at the moment the new year flicked over I had 11 projects on the go.  I have since cast on for two more.  So, my resolutions for the follow year are as below.

In 2011, I will:
1. Finish at least 20 knitted objects, and blog about every single one.
2. Decrease stash from 62 (eek!) to 40, by either using the yarn or destashing it.
3. Finish at least two of my blankets on the go.
4. Finish at least one of my jumbers on the go.
5. Knit at least four things for me and only me.
6. Lose 7kg.
7. Decrease total WIPs to no more than five in total.

I'm feeling very positive about the year ahead, and I just can't wait to sink my teeth into it :)