A Belated Happy New Year

 

I expect that anyone who reads this blog regularly will think that I have given up.  I haven’t – I have just had some personal problems which have taken up all of my time. 

On Christmas Day I opened the parcel of yarn which I had ordered from Oxford Yarn Store in November.

It was full of Rowan Felted Tweed in a range of colours.  I hope to use this for 3 projects – a fair-isle scarf, a Shetland shawl and a second version of the Jacqueline Van Dillen shawl that I knitted in the autumn during the lockdown.  I still haven’t blocked the first one – it is sitting waiting to be done.  

In theory I should have plenty of time again now as the UK is currently locked down – but unfortunately I have too many other things to do.  I don’t think I will get back to regular knitting until February.  However – I have lots of ideas for things that I would like to knit.  I have already mentioned some of them, but many years ago I sorted out a large bag of odd bits of blue and white yarn to knit a throw based on one of Kaffe Fassett’s fabric quilt designs.  I had mislaid the bag – but this week I found it again – maybe this is an omen that I should knit this throw next. 

I am still knitting the very easy garter stitch shawl.  I am sure that there isn’t much left to do.  It is knitted from point to point and I have now got to a part where I am completing rows very quickly (as they are so short) – so it won’t be much longer.  I may even finish it today if I sit and knit rather than find something else that I should be doing.

Purple Fade by Brian Smith

This week I have been knitting another shawl.  

It is called Purple Fade because the original design was knitted using purple yarns, but there is no reason why it should be.  I used the colours that I had.

This is one of the projects that I have been meaning to knit for over a year.  The pattern was published in a little booklet which accompanied Knitting magazine Issue 191 and is dated March 2019.  As soon as I saw the design – I thought – I would like to knit that - I wonder if I have got any suitable yarn.

I collected together several balls and skeins of yarn which were left over from the Knit the Sky project that I worked on in 2017.  This includes two different Isager yarns – Highland Silk and Alpaca 2, 3 different shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift and a Mirasol yarn which is a mix of wool, silk and alpaca. 

I arranged the yarns on the floor in my lounge ready to knit the shawl.  That was in March 2019!  When I realised that I wasn’t going to get on to it – I carefully moved them to the bed in the spare room – and they stayed there until February 2020.  They had gradually been buried under piles of other things that were put on the bed -  but in February I cleared out the spare room and picked them up and put them back in the lounge!  I have been looking at them while I was knitting my Brick Wall bag.

I love the pattern – it is very easy to follow.  I changed it a bit!  I always do.  I was supposed to only use 5 shades of yarn and the first and last sections were supposed to be knitted using 2 strands of the same colour.  However I wanted to use 6 colours and I was worried that I would not have enough yarn if I didn’t use another shade.  While I was knitting I also changed my mind about the order in which I would use the yarns.

I think it only took about 4 or 5 days to knit the shawl.  I was only knitting as normal – not all day.  It is knitted from the top down – so every row takes longer to knit  but because it is mainly stocking stitch – it was easier to remember when to do the increases.  I like garter stitch shawls but I often get confused about whether I am on the Right or Wrong side.  Even if I mark the sides – I still manage to get confused.  Anyway – there were no such problems with this shawl.  

I did change the last section.  I worked two rows in the last combination of colours before I started the rib effect and then I made the section a bit shorter because I was running out of yarn.

As is typical of me – I was thinking about knitting other things while was knitting this shawl – not least having another go at the shawl – maybe using 1 strand of double knitting yarn for each section.  I was wondering if I could make it look right and whether I have enough of the yarn that I was thinking of using as it was discontinued years ago.  I have written a “Things to Knit” list and this shawl is not on it – but that has never stopped me before!

Another Favourite Knitting Pattern

At the moment I am knitting another shawl using a favourite Brian Smith pattern called Gossington.  

I first knit this shawl a couple of years ago using 2 different shades of Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock Yarn.  Unlike a lot of other shawls – I have worn this one a lot.  It is the right weight and seems to go with lots of things.

I hope the same will be said about the latest shawl that I am knitting.  This one is made from one shade of The Fibre Fox Merino Sock yarn.   I have bought 2 x 100g skeins of a shade called Embers.   It is 75% Superwash Merino and 25% Nylon.  There are 425 metres in each skein which will probably be more than enough.  It is such a lovely colour.  I didn’t intend to buy it but it was impossible to resist.  

The shawl should go well with the bag that I am hoping to get knitted this year.  I would like to start it this month – but I think that is a bit ambitious.

Back to Square One

I have heard this phrase a lot recently.  It is quite appropriate to use to refer to my knitting.  For many years – since I first saw the book – I have wanted to knit the cardigan on the front cover of Patricia Werner’s – Dazzling Knits.  It is called Dream Coat.

I have tried it before and unravelled it because my version looked too dull.  I think there is a need to strike a balance between knitting something interesting and knitting something that is too garish to wear.  I am attracted to using pinks and oranges but they are too bright for this and I tried to just use Noro Silk Garden but that looked too bitty.  Unusually – I have taken a photo of some of the squares (or more accurately diamonds) which I have rejected.

I decided that things would go better if I had a main colour and so I combined some yarns that my sister bought me a couple of years ago with a few skeins of Silk Garden.

I think things are now going better.  I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked but I am happier with how things look so far.

I had wanted to get this cardigan finished to wear in the next week or so – but that is not going to happen.  I might have managed it if I had not had to knit 14 more tea cosies which were not in my original schedule.  I  have also been knitting a present  which is almost finished now and which I will show you next time.

Other Plans

The title of this post comes from the saying: Life is what happens while you are making other plans.  This is what has happened to me recently – I had intended to get so much knitted last week.  I had started the Noro Kureyon jumper and it was going well.  The back was knitted and then somehow I wasn’t concentrating very well when I cast on the front and it ended up 6 stitches wider.  I decided that the best way to fix this was accept I had made a mistake and unravel it immediately.  I then made sure I cast on the right number of stitches.

The problem could have been worse because at least with too many stitches I now had more yarn than I needed – if I hadn’t done enough stitches that would have been a worse problem as I would have had a struggle getting the colours to match and would run out of yarn in the middle of a row.

At this moment I have almost finished reknitting the front of the jumper.  I am hoping that the sleeves will not be too difficult but I want to make them longer and I will probably knit them both at the same time – so they end up the same.  I think I will knit them according to the pattern for the smallest size – I am knitting the body of the medium size and then make them longer afterwards.  I will do more stripes and then possibly add a cuff.

I had some great news on Friday – Oxford Yarn Store I are going to stock Kureyon again.  This could be expensive for me but I do love it.  I had forgotten how much until I started knitting the Noro Kureyon jumper.  

Whilst knitting, I have been thinking about a shawl I would like to knit and have sorted out some Kureyon to use.  I wanted it to be colourful but to include black – so it will go with my black hats.

The following ball is a more accurate colour - the light was funny when I was taking photos and it was hard not to get the yarn looking too orange.

I hope my next post will include at least one finished project – maybe the jumper - but you never know if the shawl goes well I may manage that too.

But is it Art?

The title for this post comes from the name of a shop in Reading which I used to visit when I was a student in the 1980s but was still trading the last time I was there.  It sums up the thoughts I have been having about knitting this week.  I think some knitting should be considered to be art.

Last weekend I finally cast off the simple shawl that I had been knitting.  In the end I did not go back to the original pattern – I just did 4 rows of garter stitch and cast off.  I am very happy with the end result and have been wearing it today.

This morning I delivered my World War 1 Memorial quilt to Oxford Yarn Store.  It will be on display there shortly and can be seen until the end of November.  I expect I will visit it a few times but I will officially be there on Armistice weekend – on Saturday 10 November.

As I knew I was going to be visiting the yarn store I had thought about what I am going to knit next and what extra yarn I might need.    While I was clearing out – I found several balls of Noro Kureyon in autumnal shades.   It is officially called Shade 263.   I thought I would use it to knit a jumper from the Noro book – 30^th Anniversary Collection.  

I needed a main colour to go with the Kureyon and I decided to go for West Yorkshire Spinners Chunky Roving Re: treat in a light brown shade.  I did give some consideration to using blue so the jumper would go with my jeans or some whacky colour like mauve for a major contrast – but I decided on an unexciting colour to show off the Kureyon.  

It is interesting that although Kureyon is supposed to be Aran weight yarn – I have chosen a chunky yarn to go with it and in fact the chunky is actually thinner.  Something I have learned from many years of knitting – is that it is a good thing to be flexible. 

I am definitely going to cast on this jumper later on today.  I know I said I was going to make a bag – and I have got the yarn out and roughed out a pattern – but I want to think about it a bit more before I start on that.  Maybe next week…

Yarn Fever

Last week I had a severe case of Yarn Fever!  I became obsessed with buying yarn and could not think of anything else.  It started when I just called into Oxford Yarn Store to buy some boring black yarn to make myself a little waistcoat to wear for work during the summer.  I chose some Rowan pure wool superwash worsted.

I also bought a skein of Manos Del Uruguay’s Allegria in a spring-like shade – to make myself another shawl.

I have finished the little shawl I have been knitting using one ball of Louisa Harding’s Pittura. 

The design is called Hitchhiker Beyond by Martina Behm.  It is an excellent design – very clear and easy to follow.  I liked it so much – I have cast on another one using the Allegria that I have just bought.

Whilst I was in the Yarn Store – James told me that they were no longer going to sell Noro yarn.  I had noticed an interesting basket of Noro and could not stop thinking about it – so on Friday afternoon (before the snow returned) – I made another flying visit to Oxford Yarn Store to buy some more Noro.  I had thought of a couple of patterns that I could use it for.

So far I have resisted the temptation to cast it on.  I have been working on the latest piece of my WW1 Memorial Quilt and as I have mentioned above – I am making another shawl.  Both of these projects will be better for carrying around than large amounts of Noro, but I have a few days off work after Easter – so may be I will be tempted then.

More Knitting Yarn

I haven’t done much knitting this month – hardly any at all in fact – but I have acquired some more yarn.  I say acquired because I didn’t buy it all -  I did have some of it for Christmas.

My sister bought me this Rowan Felted Tweed DK yarn to use when I get back to my WW 1 Memorial Quilt project – and my mother bought me some more Debbie Bliss yarn to use to make another shawl.

On the first weekend of the month I went to Oxford for the branch meeting of the Knitting & Crochet Guild.  It was the last one we are holding at St Giles' Church.  Next time we are meeting in the newly refurbished library. 

Oxford Yarn Store has a sale on and it would be silly not to take the opportunity to buy some more yarn.  Actually I didn’t buy much.  I bought some orange Rowan Felted Tweed and this ball of Louisa Harding Pittura – which is 75% wool and 25% viscose.  It is called Kandinsky.  I assume that is the shade – although it also says 606.

I have tried several times to take a photo of it that looks like the actual colour.  It is red and orange but also grey and green which doesn’t come over in the photos.  It looks blue and it isn’t blue at all.  There is 400 metres of yarn – so hopefully it is enough for a shawlette.

I am still knitting the little pink cardigan and will hopefully be able to show you a photo of it next week, but one of my bosses is pregnant and I thought it would be nice to knit her baby a little coat.  I usually knit little coats for babies.  With this idea in mind I bought this yarn in Banbury Sewing Centre.

It is Hayfield Double Knitting with wool – it is quite soft and is machine washable which is the most important thing.  We know the baby is a boy – so I have chosen this blue.  I have been looking through my patterns trying to decide which one to use.   

Rowan Felted Tweed

I think I will add Rowan Felted Tweed to my list of all-time favourite yarns.  It is 50% merino wool, 25% alpaca and 25% viscose which means it feels lovely but is quite hard-wearing.  I am intending to use it for my next big project and so a couple of weeks ago I bought one ball of several different colours.

I already had about 7 balls of a brown shade known as Treacle and I think I will use this for the main colour. 

What I particularly like about this yarn – is that the shades are tastefully subtle – not my usual brash colours.

I have been thinking about this project for several months now – I want to do something to remember my relatives who died during the First World War.  I had originally intended to make some kind of picture – something relatively small – but I think I would like to make something bigger – eg a throw or knitted patchwork quilt.  That would be more me.

I sort of know what I want it to look like in general terms.  I think I will start knitting before I have finished the design – and I don’t want to plan everything carefully and then start knitting – that would take the excitement out of the idea.  There will need to be some planning – so that the spread of colours looks balanced.  I have considered using the main colour in every patch – that might work.

I think I will have to knit the patches separately and join them afterwards.  In theory this would mean that I could move things about to make them look right – but at the moment I intend to knit different sized patches which will only fit together one way.  I could just do squares – but again that would be a bit boring.

Hopefully next time I write a post – I will have some actual knitting to show you.

Knitting Shawls from Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock Yarn

A few weeks ago I started knitting another shawl using Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock yarn.  It is a lovely yarn and I am adding it to my list of all time favourites.    It is 75% wool and 25% polyamide.  It is very soft and lovely colours.  I understand that Debbie Bliss does not like knitting socks.  They do not appeal to me either.  I have dubbed this yarn – a sock yarn for those who don’t like knitting socks!

Last weekend – I picked up the shawl and intended to take it away with me for the weekend, but instead I have decided to unravel it!

This photo shows how much I have done.  The pattern is annoying me.  I have definitely followed the instructions correctly but the holes do not come out where I would like them to.  I could alter the pattern so it looks right but I think I will start from scratch and make up my own pattern.  I must stop being lazy.

When I received the latest issue of Knitting magazine (July 2017 Issue 169) – I was very pleased to see that it includes a design by Brian Smith which uses Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock yarn.  I bought the yarn that has been used – that is Shade 01 and Shade 07.

When I was looking at the different shades – I also fell in love with 2 others – so I bought them as well.  If I am happy with this Brian Smith design – I may knit a second one.

Anyway – so I took the new pattern and yarn away with me for the weekend – and this is what I have done so far.

I ought to be doing something else but I keep picking up the shawl and doing a few more rows.

Another Noro Shawl

I have finally finished knitting tea cosies for the moment and have started knitting another shawl.  The last time I visited Oxford Yarn Store I bought 4 more balls of Noro Silk Garden 4ply.  They were half-price in the sale.

I have been looking around for a garter stitch based pattern.  I wanted something easy to knit while I was travelling about last weekend.

The original pattern is by Brian Smith – I ripped it out of Knitting magazine last year.  It is supposed to be knitted in double knitting weight yarn – so I have had to increase the second garter stitch section so that it will be a bit longer.  If I had just followed the pattern using 4ply – it would have turned out more like a head-scarf than a shawl. 

I haven’t finished it yet and because every alternate row has 4 more stitches – a row takes longer and longer to do.  I hope to finish it in the next few days because I want to get back to the 10 stitch blanket that I started in January.

Resisting the Temptation to Knit Another Shawl

On Saturday I went to Oxford for the Knitting and Crochet Guild Oxford branch meeting.  I took some more yarn to Oxford Yarn Store – which is collecting yarn for the refugees in Northern Greece.  I sorted out 2 carrier bags of chunky yarn.  Some of it was quite old – about 30 years old – but it can still be knitted into something warm.

I took 2 bags into the Yarn Store and managed to leave with only one.  I bought some more of their sale yarn including some more Noro Silk Garden 4ply.   I also bought some more Noro Kureyon.  I tend to buy this regularly then I don’t notice how much it costs!

I have been knitting tea cosies for most of the week – but I have been thinking about knitting another shawl.  I have found 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden 4ply that I bought last year. 

I have been looking around for a pattern to use it for.  I think I have found one in an old Noro magazine.  I will say more on this when I have started it – and I mustn’t start it because I have several more tea cosies to knit.  

This month’s topic for the Knitting and Crochet Guild meeting was the 10 Stitch blanket by Frankie Brown.   As I have said before – I am not a very technical knitter – but I had a go.

I used some Kureyon and large needles.  When I took it out to photograph – I noticed I had gone wrong – so I unravelled a bit.  I would like to finish this – if I can master the technique – it could be useful for using up odd balls of yarn.  I will add it to the ever growing list of Things to Knit this year!

Cable Edge Garter Stitch Shawl from Knitting Magazine

This week I have been knitting another shawl – this time from the latest Knitting magazine (Issue 164 February 2017). 

It is a Stylecraft pattern and you are supposed to use Stylecraft Head Over Heels yarn.  I haven’t got any of that but I have got some Debbie Bliss Rialto luxury sock yarn – and so I have use that.   I think I may run out before I finish – but I don’t think that will matter – I will just stop. 

I quite like Knitting magazine – in fact I subscribe to it – but sometimes there is nothing in there that I would like to knit.  The latest issue is a good one.  There are several attractive patterns including 2 cardigans that I would knit if I had the time.  Even the shawl on the cover is growing on me.

Knitting magazine seems to have more serious patterns and less little quirky items.  This issue has the second part of an article about the technique of double knitting.  I have kept last month's issue and when I have got time I will have to study the technique (look at the pictures) - to see if I can get better at it than my attempts last September.

There is a "my yarn shop" feature - and this issue it is one of my local yarn stores - Oxford Yarn Store.  I am not the only one who likes it!

I seem to be into shawls at the moment – and I saw an advert in the magazine for Stephen West’s book.  I have ordered it and spent some time looking at the pictures.

I may knit one of the shawls one day – there are several that I like – but I must now spend some more time on tea cosies for my friend who owns All the Fun of the Fair.

Seafoam Shawl from Knit Now Magazine

I have had a week off work and so I ought to have got a lot of knitting done.  I haven’t done as much as I would have liked – but then I never do.  I decided that I wanted to knit something easy.  Last year I had bought some Noro Silk Garden 4 ply yarn – and I decided to make a shawl using that.  This shade is number 389 and I used just over 3 balls.

I found an easy pattern called a Seafoam Shawl in the latest Knit Now magazine (issue 69). The pattern was designed by Katie Martin as part of The Challenge feature of the magazine.  The designers are challenged to design something using 100g of yarn.  You are supposed to use a ball of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply yarn which is 400 metres long. I had to use more Noro Silk Garden 4 ply in terms of weight because each ball is only 150 metres long.  This means that 3 balls should have been enough – but I expect my tension was a bit suspect.  I didn’t check it – it doesn’t really matter in this case.

As I knitted the shawl – it curled up – and now even after I have blocked it – it does not stay flat – but I am really pleased with it.  The pattern was easy to follow and only contained one minor mistake. It said you needed 28 stitch markers whereas you need 29 – but I used odd bits of yarn because I only have about 8 actual stitch markers – so it was no problem to cut another one.

When I was thinking about what to write about this year – I thought I would have a look at the different knitting magazines which are currently available in the UK.  Knit Now is a magazine that I have bought a few times recently.

I might have bought it more often but it tends to have free gifts in bags around the magazine – so you can’t look at it or even properly look at the cover.  I hate free gifts!  I never know what to do with them and if I give them to someone else – I have probably left the associated pattern in the magazine.  Knit Now is better in this respect – there is a free gift but the pattern is separate and I have taped the two together – ready to give them to charity.

Knit Now does seem to be an interesting magazine with a cross-section of patterns.  If I had unlimited time - I would knit some more of them.  As well as the patterns which seem to follow a theme - there are interesting articles, the usual yarn analysis and news.  The main distinctive features are – the promotion of local yarn stores and the range of sizes included in the patterns.  I will be buying it next month.