Forge by Martin Storey

I have mentioned that I am knitting a jumper – actually I have almost finished it now.  It is called Forge and is another design by Martin Storey – I seem to have done a lot of his recently.

It is knitted in Rowan Moordale which is 70% wool and 30% alpaca.  It is very soft! This shade is called Gooseberry. The design is supposed to be knitted by casting on with a different colour.  You can forget that – I am not spending almost £16 for a different colour even if I liked the effect, which I don't.  So far I do like the basic design.  It is stocking stitch and then garter stitch at the top.  I have done the front and back and am now working on the sleeves.

All 3 photos are knitted using the same yarn - I say this because the colour looks different in each one.  I think the last one is the closest to the actual colour.  I am not completely sure that the jumper is going to fit me but I have been measuring the knitting against a jumper that does fit me and it is similar – so fingers crossed.

Adventures with I-cord

I had meant to write about the regional day last Saturday – as soon as I got back but I was quite tired as it was a long day!  I did enjoy myself – particularly the 2 visits to Oxford Yarn Store.  I met up with some people that I haven’t seen for years as knitters from around the country converged on Oxford.  As I was early – I went to the Yarn Store to waste some time and to look at what yarn I could choose for my next project.

The morning speaker was Debbie Abrahams who is a Knitting and Crochet Guild patron.  She gave a very interesting talk about how she used a house in Barcelona which had been designed by Gaudi as inspiration for her the blanket which she designed last year.  She showed us lots of samples of how the ideas developed.  She is much more organized than I am.  I also usually differ in another way in that I prefer to design from ideas rather than images.  My next throw will contradict what I have just said as I am going to take my inspiration from a watercolour.

After lunch we looked at some of the Guild’s collection of knitting and crochet and then we spilt up for workshops.  I attended the one called Adventures with I-cord which was taught by Sue Winn from the Lincoln branch of the Guild.

I have knitted I-cord before but I had forgotten how to do it and I am attracted by some of those shawls with I-cord cast-ons or cast-offs.  We started with cast offs – this sample shows casting off in I-cord.  On the right I knit as usual and on the left – I knit into the back of the stitches which produced a neater effect.

We then tried adding an I-cord edge.

We made a leaf starting with I-cord.

We used I-cord to make a flower.

Lastly we threaded wire through to make bendy I-cord.

It was great fun and I will definitely use I-cord on something soon.

After tea and biscuits most of us went to the Yarn Store.  It was packed.  I was in there for more than an hour.  I waited until everyone else had been served until I decided what to buy.  I won’t show you now – that can be for another day.  At the moment I am still knitting a jumper and I must concentrate on finishing that before getting side-tracked by anything else.

Creative Cables Throw by Martin Storey

A few weeks ago – I finally finished the Creative Cables throw using my choice of colours.  Karen Draisey of Oxford Yarn Store took some pictures of the finished throw.

I feel a bit guilty because it cost me nothing.  I did not buy any yarn – I used yarn from my stash.  I made myself feel better by thinking that once I had knitted it there would be a space for some new yarn!

This throw is featured on the cover of the book Afghan Knits.  When I saw it – I was not keen on the colour choice and thought it was a shame that such a good design was spoilt by the colours.  The don’t seem to go together.  If I was buying yarn for this project – I probably would have used a snooker table green for the end strip instead of the dull green that I had.

The printed pattern has a few mistakes and Rowan have issued some corrections for it.  However I am not the most experienced cable knitter and I managed to work out what ought to be done.  Basically all the charts should be symmetrical  - the left and right side should be the same – which in the copy I had – they aren’t.   A good tip is – follow the photograph – and once you have established the pattern correctly follow that rather than the chart.

Tomorrow I am going to Oxford for our Knitting and Crochet Guild Regional Day.  I have never been to one before and to be honest – I am not sure what one is – it sounds like a conference that I used to go to for work – although about knitting instead of work!  I will use this as an excuse to visit Oxford Yarn Store and make up for not buying yarn for the Creative Cables throw.   I am working on a jumper and have 2 shawls that I want to knit but I can’t stop thinking about the next throw I want to make and trying to work out how much yarn I need.   

I keep saying to myself – I must clear up some of the bags of yarn in my lounge but instead of that – I keep adding to them!

Denim Baby Jacket

Although this is a little jacket that I have knitted recently for a relatively new baby – it fits well with the theme of retro knitting.  I have knitted lots of little jackets over the years.

This jacket is knitted using some old yarn from my stash.  It is Sirdar Denim Tweed DK.  It is 60% acrylic, 25% cotton and 15% wool.  It feels like soft cotton.  It is not stiff like yarn which is only made of cotton.

I have used it before for babies’ jackets but normally I use a blue shade.  I have also used it in the past with blue and cream to make Denim Union Jack tea cosies.  

It was quite hard to find buttons which looked right.  Many were the wrong shade of red.  It is amazing how many shades of red that there are.

While I was watching the snooker I finally finished the Creative Cables Throw – I will show you a photo of that next week.  I have also started knitting a jumper using Rowan Moordale.  It is my third Martin Storey project in a row.