Waddya Mean 'Not Knitting'?

I expect this post is sort of that 'tree falling in the forest' type of post -- we'll answer that age old question if a blogger suddenly blogs after a long and unexplained absence does anyone read?

When last I blogged I was on a bit of a strange scarf in summer thing. I had just completed the very colourful drop knit scarf (good news - there is now an errata on the Vogue site!). A couple of other scarf projects were waiting in the wings (until today) for blogdom and since then -- I haven't knit a stitch.

Not a stitch. None. Zero.

Crazy.

The new job and learning the vagaries of HMRC (taxes!) has kept me occupied I guess....but I'm keen to start something soon. It was my best friend's birthday today and I took her out on Thursday for some yummy cocktails (cocktail bar near London Bridge called The Old School Yard)(comfy sofas, nice staff and amazing drinks - heaven!) and dinner and she turned up wearing some skinny white jeans, a black t-shirt and the wrap I made for gorgeous goddaughter Genevieve at Christmas. (We won't depress ourselves too much by dwelling on a woman who can fit into her 15 year old daughter's clothes.) The point was that she looked fabulous and it inspired me to make something for Gen's birthday.

But I'm still in inspired rather than 'doing' mode so I'll finish up this post with a bit more about last month's scarf mania.

Around the time I finished the colourful scarf I also tackled Victorian Ruby from Victorian Lace Today in a pale peach linen yarn. I decided to take the lazy approach to blocking this scarf, I just washed it and then laid it out flat to dry - no wires, no pins. I shaped it so that the ends flare out which I quite like.

It's a useful summer scarf - the linen means it's light and mostly decorative.

I also tackled a wrap in the most luscious sea foam Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend yarn - a single 100 gr skein was enough for this project. I decided it was time to tackle a mobius wrap and discovered that like most things in knitting it's pretty straightforward.

There are a few methods out there (Google is your friend) here's what I did.

I cast on 130 stitches using backward loop method onto some very long and very flexible circular needles. To get the famous 'half twist' on the first row you don't knit into the stitches. Put a marker on your right needles and then you turn all the stitches upside down and knit into the little piece of yarn between the stitches. (This is muchharder to describe than do!)(Probably easier if you have knitting in front of you.) You knit all these 'between stitches' loops until you are back at the beginning -- and NOW you start to knit the stitches you cast on originally. When you are back at your marker you have completed your first round.

I alternated 5 rounds knitting, 5 rounds purling to get the wide bands of stocking and reverse stocking stitch. I just knit until I was almost out of yarn. I cast off and heh presto - there it was.

It's modelled here by gorgeous goddaughter Genevieve, worn fetchingly over her school shirt.

My final scarf project (and perhaps it was this one that caused my mini knitting hiatus) was an attempt to make my mother a pink Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style. My mom likes pink and I found some mystery pink yarn in my stash (unknown brand) and decided it was about the right amount for a scarf.

My mistake was choosing a scarf design that started at the long edge. Scarves that start at the long edge do not give you the option of deciding that the scarf is big enough if you run out of yarn. You can't just decide to do the border in another colour.

Nope - when you run out of yarn on a scarf that starts at the long edge the scarf just taunts you with the gaping hole in the centre of your scarf. It mocks you for deciding to make a scarf that starts at the long edge with a yarn with unknown yardage that you can't even identify a brand, colour or (ha!) a dye lot for.

You can almost hear the scarf laughing in this picture.

It sits on the needles still - waiting for some knitting miracle to deliver another skein of the mystery unbranded yarn. A knitter can dream.

In May A Knitter's Thoughts Turn to....

...scarves?

I don't get it either. The sun is shining and temperatures are up -- but scarves it is.


The first is this super dooper colourful scarf knit with Noro Sock Yarn. The pattern, the imaginatively titled Drop Stitch Scarf, is in the summer 2009 Vogue Kniting (aka Designer Knitting) magazine.

It's a pattern I expect I wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been pointed out to me by the very friendly shop assistant at iKnit when I bought the magazine. She suggested it would look fab knit in a yarn with long stripes of colour -- and I agreed.

It was a straightforward project to knit - although I think there were a few errors in the pattern. I just did what I thought made sense and ignored what I decided didn't. There isn't an errata posted yet - so if you decide to make it and want to know what changes I made just let me know.



The horiontal stripes of dropped stitches are made by wrapping the yarn round the needle 3 times for each stitch, and then in the next row knitting into one of the wraps and dropping the other two.

The long vertical strips of dropped stitches are made by dropping a stitch off the needle during the cast off. Of course all knitters know that if you drop a stitch accidentally it will unravel at an alarming speed - particularly if the knitting is complicated. I can confirm though that if you drop a stitch on purpose it will unravel only through brute force. It took over an hour to drop the 6 stitches from the cast off edge back to the cast on!

I used almost all of the skein of yarn - these few yards are my leftovers.

The finished scarf is 15 inches by 72 inches.

More scarf action in the next post!




Now that the lovely weather appears to be settling in I've returned to work. Well, part time work so I can't complain too much! I'm doing some consultancy in the City which I'm actually enjoying.

I've set myself up a little company and I'm currently in the throes of sorting out logos and business cards, registering with Revenue and Customs, and just figuring out what it means to be a limited company in the UK!

I think I'd like to continue as a consultant - it suits my skill set and personality EXCEPT I'm such a rubbish networker/sales person. I'm going to have to work on that.....

CUPCAKES!!
Unrelated to knitting or my attempts at a career change I would like to draw the attention of any readers in London (or surrounding area) to the first ever Iron Cupcake:London Competition! Hosted by the Caked Crusader (who else?) which is due to be held June 1st in central London.

You can attend as a competitor or just to gobble up the lovely cupcakes - either way I expect it's going to be a fab evening!!!

You can find more details on the Caked Crusader's blog or at the Iron Cupcake:London website.

Joy in the Morning

I've called this post Joy in the Morning for a few reasons.

First, it is indeed morning as I compose this blog entry. (And heh -- given my recent posting activity - just posting should be a cause for joy!)

Second, it is a Bank Holiday here in London and it is NOT raining.

Finally, and most importantly (at least as far as this blog is concerned) I present Joy, a summer cardigan from Kim Hargreaves Nectar collection.


This cardigan was the latest project in my 'working through the stash' drive. I bought the yarn (Rowan Luxury Cotton DK - now discontinued) last summer at the Liberty sale and decided it was time to get it worked up into....something.

The usual aimless flicking through books and magazines followed until I stumbled across this pattern. I decided to make it for my younger sister (surprise!)(I'll find out now if she actually reads the blog or just looks at the pictures) which is of course always a bit of a knitting risk. But I figured I could probably find another pair of shoulders if she decides it isn't quite right for her.

I love Kim Hargreaves style details and the attention she gives to things like lining up the pattern in the sleeves with the body of the cardigan and the scalloped cast on edges.

The pattern is clear although the text for the 'Eyelet Ridge Pattern' could put beginning knitters off - it shouldn't. I think a chart would have been a lot clearer but for some reason they don't appear a lot in Hargreaves' books.

The pattern calls for Rowan Denim yarn - which shrinks (lengthwise) when washed so you may have to do some adjusting to the pattern if you are using something else. Miraculously (more joy!) I just knit and managed to get the right row and stitch gauge without any changes. (I still don't quite believe it myself.)

PS - Apart from being a convenient blog post title Joy in the Morning is a very funny book by PG Wodehouse. If you haven't read any of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories do try one. I can't really pick one out over the others as to be honest the plots are all pretty similar -- but that is in no way a criticism. I've read them all more than once and expect to read them all again.

And if you are a fan of Hugh Laurie in House - but haven't experienced the delights of the British series of Jeeves and Wooster from the 90's check out this clip for a bit of House like you've never seen him before!




PPS - In the interest in Truth in Blogging I should confess it is now well past noon (got a bit distracted) and it is now raining. But there's no way I'm changing that title now.