the knitterati

Au revoir!

2005-12-20T13:02:00.000Z

I have decided to move blogs, you can now find me here.

:)

Yay Rowan

2005-12-01T11:47:00.000Z

I got some Big Wool last week and there were three knots in close succession, so I sent an email to Rowan and they have sent me a copy of magazine #38! How very nice of them :)

Clapotis Fun

2005-11-28T10:58:00.000Z

I made a mini-Clapotis.

Here is a picture of it on my face at 10pm last night.

Yarn is Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran, colour 'Peacock'. It doesn't feel so soft when you're working with it, but once knitted up it's fine. I am going to make some more (but longer; the kpixie pattern ends up too short. Good for practice though).

Anyway. I have a tutorial to go to now. Yay.

Labels

2005-11-21T11:45:00.000Z

I ordered some labels to sew into stuff from able-labels.co.uk (when I ordered, the website was playing up a bit), they were pretty cheap. And they arrived quickly too, the expected delivery was up to 28 days and I think it's been like a week and a half.

So, here they are:

I have also been knitting more of the Phildar yarn/Katia pattern wrap, this is a shot of it draped along our two-seater sofa *:

A close up of the back of it (which I think looks good too):

And the front:

* I put one of our spare duvets on the sofa because the cushions tend to move apart and it the uncomfiest thing in the world, especially when you're knitting. The little pink things are pigs, if they are too small to make out. Oh and the picture is blurry because I forgot to take the macro function off, and it is actually quite a bit longer than that, I just couldn't fit the whole thing in the picture, I'm not tall enough, haha.

Not Knitting At All

2005-11-16T23:09:00.000Z

Okay so I have an assignment due in tomorrow (three minute news bulletin complete with two 1 min 15 inserts and me being a newsreader). Having had a stressful few weeks I wasn't where I wanted to be in regards to having my work done, so today I find myself having to finish off most of well, everything. So once it's all recorded I sit down and get ready to edit. I know, I think. I'll edit the newsreader bit first so I know how long I have left for the inserts (the max was 1.15 so I could have made them shorter). I have a specific tape called "TV Journalism" (the name of the module) but I'm not exactly the most organised people so it is entirely possible I didn't film the studio bit on there (although I did film the insert bits on it). So when I don't find it on that tape, I'm not so worried. I pick up another tape and have a look through. Not on there either.

My mum rings me and asks "Are you watching the Take That thing? Where have Jason's cheekbones gone and why is he talking funny?" Yes. I am watching it, and I don't know why he sounds weird.

I have a look through the next tape. Not there. Last tape. Please be on here. Of course it isn't. Although there is some nice footage of us on the London Eye.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH.

Huh?

2005-11-16T18:30:00.000Z

I ordered some Brittany Birch 5mm needles from Get Knitted (I've not used them yet, but they look nice), and in the package was the usual GK pen - but also a heart shaped lolly. There was no explanation for the lolly. I am very confused.

Yes It's Me Again

2005-11-15T22:05:00.000Z

So now I have a new camera I will probably update all the time. Sorry about that. Anyway, I did a swap on Knitty with Urraca, and here is what I got:

Two balls of pinky-purple Katia Mexico:

Three balls of grey (with coloured speckles) Phildar Legende (there are only two here because I've started knitting something):

And a Katia magazine. One of the balls of Legende is becoming the green shawl on the front cover (and it's going really fast, and it's really easy, yay)

I did try taking a picture of the shawl I started making but it's quite dark outside so it just looked like a big grey mess. Which I assure you it is not. It's lovely and soft thanks to the 9% alpaca content.

Oh! I got a voucher for the department store that sells yarn, so I got a ball of pinky-purple Rowan Big Wool. I can't believe they put the price up. Also I don't understand why Big Wool is 100% Merino, but Big Wool Fusion is 100% Wool, which I assume to be plain old sheep wool. How can it be part of the same range if it's a different fibre? It's just the same weight, that's all. Silly Rowan. Anyway, I want to carry on knitting now.

Birthday Yarn is Good Yarn

2005-11-14T20:07:00.000Z

So. I've not done much knitting really, recently. The other girls over at Knitty went to the Get Knitted open day on the 5th November, I was very jealous.

My birthday was on the 11th, and for that weekend (well actually Thursday - Sunday) I went on holiday to Keswick with Simon and his mum and stepdad. We visited Whitehaven, where I used my knit-fu to locate a yarn shop. I got £20 of stuff (kindly paid for by Simon's stepdad as a birthday present), and because all of the yarn was reduced, I got quite a lot!

Here we are. First up is some lovely mohair boucle and matching ribbon yarn.

I got two balls of each. I haven't used the ribbon yarn yet but I have started making a hat with the boucle. It's very lovely and soft.

Next is a ribbon AND mohair yarn. Yes, I said ribbon and mohair. Anyway, it's lovely and soft. And very autumny coloured. I'll probably make a drop stitch shawl or something from this. I got two balls of this as well.

They had quite a lot of Patons yarn. This here is 'Funky Chunky'. Again, I got two balls of each. One and a half balls of the green has already become a beanie hat for Simon (which came in very handy on the chilly Derwentwater boat trip. It's an acrylic/wool blend, £1.50 a ball.

I was going to get more Patons, but then I decided that I could probably get that online easier than I could the other stuff. They had loads of it, even some Beehive stuff that I thought was discontinued ages ago.

You may notice that my photos look better than my previous pictures. This is because I have a new camera, (5 megapixel as compared to my old 2 megapixel camera). It's a Samsung Digimax A502, if that means anything to anyone. In Jessops they had a deal where if you bought the camera and standalone printer you could get it for £129.99 (which is a great bargain because the camera was originally £79.99 and the printer £99.99). I got some more rechargable batteries too, but that's quite boring actually.

Anyway, my fingers are getting cold now so I am going to stop.

Oh Dear, Allergy Alert!

2005-10-20T11:45:00.000+01:00

I can't find the cable for my camera. When I find it, you can look at fortymillion different knitting pictures.

The Rowanspun Aran felted bag has been deemed a failure. I think I will finish off the felting and then cut it up and use it for embellishments. Oh well!

I'm currently knitting Ella from Fall Knitty, in the lovely merino wool my SP5 sent me. I started a hat in the lime green alpaca from my SP4 but I don't think it would have done the yarn justice. I'm going to use the Shine to make a Picovoli, I just need to save up some money and beg a US Knittyhead to buy me some white Shine (arr, piratey Picovoli!). Also I'm making a Harry Potter scarf to wear for work, when Goblet of Fire finally comes out (nearly killed myself building the display).

I think I'm allergic to wool. I swapped a copy of Simply Knitting with Hellahelen from the Knittyboard, she sent me a ball of BrownSheep NatureSpun in a lovely purple colour. I made a hat from it and wore it on the way to work (takes 45mins to an hour to get in) and my head was reaaaallllllly itchy. I seem to knit with it okay (most knitting dries out my fingers I think). My head is very sensitive anyway (my hair keeps falling out, hello alopecia) so maybe I should just wear......cashmere hats. Haha.

When there's more Neptune laceweight up on HipKnits I'm going to make the same shawl/capelet as Purlpower.

It's nearly my birthday (11th Nov). If I go to Get Knitted (5th Nov) I might buy myself a few birthday presents, after all you're not 21 every year!

Professor Lord Sir King Prince Robert Winston

2005-09-29T13:11:00.000+01:00

So I finished my top that I designed, and it doesn't look very good. So it's going to sit in the naughty pile for a bit until I decide what to do with it.

Today I have food poisoning so I'm just being lazy. I want to knit but I don't know what to do. I finished another hat yesterday. And taught my friend Judy to knit! And had the food poisoning pizza.

Tonight I might be going to see Professor Lord Sir King Prince Robert Winston (okay so it's only the first two and the last two), he's doing a talk at my university. I can't remember what it's actually about but I think it's basically a "Yay, science!" type of thing.

I might go and do another repeat of Cozy. Then again I might not. I think a cup of tea might help me decide.

Chicken!

2005-09-19T20:07:00.000+01:00

I'm not submitting my pattern to Knitty or MagKnits. It's too basic. I haven't finished. I think it'll look good when it's finished, but I'm not sure anyone else would want to make it.

I'm playing online Scrabble. The person I'm playing is winning, but they're such a loser. They just keep adding one letter to words, so it's not expanding the words on the board, so it's now really difficult to get anything. Argh!

I've started Birch. Because I can. And I was in a lacey mood. Pictures soon, I promise.

Dare Me?

2005-09-11T15:43:00.000+01:00

The top I'm designing - I like it. I love it. So far anyway - I've done the front and the back is exactly the same. I think it'll look really good finished.

I was going to write the pattern up and sell it or offer it free. But, I've just checked the Knitty submission guidelines. They're looking for patterns for the Winter issue, which they want to be gifts, garments and accessories.

I think the top would be great for a work party. It's a pretty quick knit (8mm!), and easy (I'm making it!). I'm envisioning it would look great with a skirt or trousers, or whatever you fancy (kilt, shorts, swimming trunks, etc). I reckon most of the patterns submitted will be cold-weather clothes. But it's not cold everywhere in December! And everyone likes dressing nice for parties.

So.... do you dare me to submit my top to Knitty?

Blue Cake and Pirates

2005-09-08T21:20:00.000+01:00

I made a cake today. I put blue food colouring in. It's really bright, it looks really funny! It tastes nice too.

I've also starting designing my first... design. I've finally found something to do with the Rowan River Tape I bought from Get Knitted about a million years ago. It's going quite fast so I'll be posting an FO sooner or later!

I got my last SP4 package this week too. My SP for that round was Azuredrake! In this package I got 4 skeins of 'Cherry' Knitpicks Shine. I'm still deciding what to do with it, but it's a lovely bright red. I might see how/if I can get hold of 4 (or 5, and maybe another Cherry) in white, and I'll make a piratey Picovoli. Yay pirates!

There was also a skein of 50% alpaca/50% wool lime green hand-dyed yarn, some lovely goat's milk soap (it smells really nice!), a book about things to put in your bath (and massage oils, basically a recipe book for bubble bath!) and some lip balm which also smells heavenly.

Crikey

2005-08-28T21:48:00.000+01:00

I do apologise for not updating sooner.

I went to the Knitty Mini-Meet on the 20th. Despite nearly falling sound asleep on the train there (and the one back too), I had a really great time. We went to VV Rouleux (I can't remember how to spell it), which turned out to be a lot smaller than we had anticipated; Peter Jones, which was just really John Lewis with a different name (I wish I'd bought some R2 now, oh well!); and of course Loop. I bought some Knit One Crochet Too '2nd Time Cotton' in a lovely rich pinky-red colour. We also saw about eleventy billion weddings at the registry office/town hall opposite the pub we had lunch at.

On the 22nd-25th I went back to London for a short holiday with my boyfriend. We went to Loop again (of course!), I bought a pair of Ivore needles. He offered to buy me some Colinette Giotto, but he was paying for the whole trip so I didn't think it was fair!

I'm going to the Creative Stitching show, or whatever it's called, at the NEC on either the 16th or 17th September, so that should be fun :)

Lots of Hats!

2005-08-06T19:54:00.000+01:00

Okay, so yesterday my cat Lucky died. She lived at my mum's house, but she was still my cat and she was very pretty indeed (half tabby, half Siamese).

I was upset, so I knit two hats today.

The grey hat:

And the pink hat:

I also added earflaps to the brown hat I knitted on Thursday:

Here is a rubbish blurry picture of all three hats together:

Ignore the fact I can't actually pose for photographs. I usually try to take my own, but I enlisted The Boyfriend to take them.

Imminent Photos!

2005-07-30T12:40:00.000+01:00

I've made a hat from the Manos I got, it's lovely. And I've nearly finished the Greensleeves shrug, which is quite exciting. So hopefully I'll post some pictures later, if I can be bothered!

I Got Tagged

2005-07-26T20:49:00.000+01:00

id·i·o·syn·cra·sy
n. pl. id·i·o·syn·cra·sies
A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.

Write down five of your own personal idiosyncracies. Then, if you wish, tag five people from your live gerbil or friendslist to do the same.

I got tagged by Purlpower, so I yoinked the explanation thing from her blog.

I have a Shop Bought Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich chart. For many months now, the one I ate in Starbucks has been top of the list, it was lovely and full, and I think it might even have had a little bit of lettuce in it. And just the right amount of black pepper. The worst, if you're wondering, is the M&S low-fat range Egg Mayonnaise sandwich, not just because it's on WHITE BREAD (everyone knows egg mayonnaise = brown, or at least wheatgerm), the main reason it will forever remain bottom of the list is because how can something taste worse than something that TASTES LIKE NOTHING.
Whenever I go back up to the Homeland (Lancashire) without my fiancé, I come back with more of a northern accent (kind of a Preston/Blackburn hybrid - this will probably mean nothing to you, so imagine a Manchester accent just not as harsh sounding). When he comes with me, his non-accent balances out the influence of my family. I think at the moment I have a kind of muted northern accent.
I have a favourite newsreader. He is BILL TURNBULL! For the uninitiated, he sometimes presents BBC Breakfast News. He's lovely and funny, plus he has bees and hens and stuff in his garden and he always talks about them.
I have a favourite cup. We have about a million cups in our flat, but tea always tastes nicer when it's out of my 'kitten cup'. It's from Whittard(of Chelsea)'s Christmas 2004 range, it's got a little kitten opening a present on it (a fish, aww), plus I got it in the sale for half-price. And I also have smaller version that I got for a pound out of the clearance bin, haha. I don't really use it at all, the bigger one is just the right size for a nice brew.
I love sales. Things become nicer in sales. Today I bought a pair of black trousers (from Tesco, haha, but it's right opposite my work, shut up) for £4, they were meant to be £15. The material is nice and thick so it's a good investment, and they are nice and long and flared a bit at the bottom, and comfy.

I know I am supposed to tag people to do this, but I don't know who read my blog, so if you see it and want to do it, go ahead - just let me know!

Not Knitting, But Still Important

2005-07-24T14:48:00.000+01:00

I just bought one of these from Selfridges in Birmingham. It was going to be a birthday present for someone but in the time I'd got from Selfridges to Boots, I had decided I wanted it for myself and so I bought the intended recipient something else equally as nice. Just not a Cath Kidston purse.

Actual Knitting Content

2005-07-22T18:01:00.000+01:00

Well, long time no knit. Or long time, not very much knit, would be more appropriate. At the moment I am working on a shrug - I never thought I'd like these or even wear one, but I appear to have changed my opinion.

I have decided to call this shrug "Greensleeves" (do you see what I did there?):

And whilst I'm on a digital camera kick, here's a few pictures of some Kendal Mint Cake:

And yesterday, I went for a picnic, and when I was waiting for a bus, I took this picture of Edgbaston Cricket Ground, because it looks pretty, and the sky was nice and blue:

Speaking of Birmingham, I write for this, mine are the funny posts.

Toodlepip!

Pity Me

2005-07-18T12:16:00.000+01:00

I have a big stupid spot on my big stupid chin. Well it's not actually on my chin, it's on my jawbone, which is also BIG and STUPID. It itches, and I can't pop it, and I don't like it. And I should be ready by now. And I don't want to go to work today, it'll be quiet and boring and my feet will hurt. Especially because I pulled a bit of skin off the bottom, because it was dry and breaking off already. Cry cry cry.

So, onto knitting and less self pity. I am making a shrug out of green (bright green oh how I love you) acrylic and it's going okay. I would probably have finished it this weekend but then JK Rowling had to go and write a new Harry Potter book, so I had to read that instead.

So I should probably now get on with the getting ready thing, and also stop starting sentences and paragraphs with the word "So". I need to stop typing like I talk. And when I do that, I can start talking like I type, and then I'll sound ever so refined and posh. Darling.

Spoke Too Soon

2005-07-12T09:25:00.000+01:00

...because my swap parcel arrived today!

The pink is the Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca/Silk, and the blue is hand-dyed merino/silk. I was only expecting the pink, but the person I swapped with (Lauren) felt bad that the post office over there delayed the package, so she included it as a surprise. It's fantastic yarn, so thank you!

Long Time No Update

2005-07-12T08:05:00.000+01:00

Well, well, well. How could I not buy a yarn called "Blackpool"? I mean, Preston or Blackburn would have been more relevant to me, but Blackpool's only up the road! Whoever linked me to Hip Knits in the first place will have a lot of explaining to do to my bank balance! I bought two skeins.

I'm also waiting for Teva Durham's book to arrive from amazon.co.uk (ordered it at the same time as the new Harry Potter, hehehehe). Also waiting on some Blue Sky Alpacas yarn from a Knittyboard swap, I've heard such good things about it, I just want to touch it! I know they got my end of the swap, and that when they sent it the first time the Post Office returned it to them. Oh well!

I've been working, not much knitting going on really. I went back to Preston at the weekend, my mum had bought me lots of knitting parephenalia from her favourite charity shop, including "Simple Knits for Easy Living" by Erika Knight - for 10p!

Anyway, things to do, people to see, and all that nonsense x

Domestic Goddess-ness

2005-06-28T19:43:00.000+01:00

A few days ago I bought a butternut squash at Somerfield, because it was reduced. And then it lived in the fridge until today, when I made the most delicious meal. Roasted butternut squash (cut in quarters, drizzle with olive oil, then liberally sprinkle with salt, pepper and 'mixed seasoning', cook for 40ish mins at 350 degrees), and Caesar salad. And for dessert, strawberries and strawberry yoghurt. Yummy yummy. I was so impressed with my squash (first time I'd eaten it, never mind cooking it!), I took a picture of it. It needs uploading and resizing and stuff, so you'll have to wait. I just wanted to share my culinary skillz.

PS. I know I changed the layout again, I promise I'll keep it longer than the last. But the other one was a bit annoying to customise.

Post! Presents! Nice Things!

2005-06-23T12:33:00.000+01:00

Today I got two things in the post. My drop spindle kit from eBay (which reminds me - must find clearer instructions on how to spin - the instructions given make no sense!) and another SP4 package. The package is fantastic - I'll take pictures later. Some tea, a gummy crocodile, some stitch markers and, the piecé de resistance: Manos del Uruguay. Yummy. I've decided I will just stroke it, it's so soft and lovely. And whatever it becomes will be solely for me, and me only!

Spinny Goodness

2005-06-18T21:00:00.000+01:00

Well. Young Ms Knitterati here has acquired herself a drop spindle thanks to the wonderous being that is eBay. The seller was in Blackburn (hometown of yours truly) so it was taken to be a good omen. And that it was.

I hope I'm good at it! There's no room (and no money!) for a spinning wheel. I'll just remind myself, I was absolutely terrible at knitting when I picked up sticks again.

[I'd printed basic knit and purl instructions from the internet at uni, and during the holidays (can't remember which ones) I sat on my bed with a pair of 4mm needles and some purple acrylic yarn and set to work. After battling with casting on, I had a go at garter. So far, so good. I started to get a little cocky - I moved on to purling. And ended up with a big mess. And just knit things for the time being. Then, I was reading something, which said "I'm sure I don't need to tell you, oh clever knitterly folk, that you need to bring the yarn round your needle to purl. Purling with the yarn in the knit position will result in a big mess." And then I was sat there, open mouthed, smacking myself on the head with my hand, thinking I HAVE TO PUT THE YARN ROUND THE NEEDLE? WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME? I blame my original instructions. Thank God I can't remember where I found them, they'd be in big trouble now!]

Anyhoo. Today I went to my knitting group, but I didn't knit for very long because:

The silk yarn from HipKnits was shedding all over my lovely black cropped trousers.
It was hot, and my hands were getting sweaty.
We were all having more fun talking about knitting than actually doing it.

I borrowed a book, called "It's my party and I'll knit if I want to", or something like that. It's doing the rounds of our group, like a mini one-book mobile library. Which is apt, because we meet in the library and their most recent knitting book was published in 1985 (and that's just reference, the books you can take out are even older). Well, I tell a lie, they have "Folk Bags", but I'm annoyed with it because I spent forever copying out the instructions for the Monk's Travel Satchel, and then got home and found it for free download on the Interweave site.

Also, I whipped up a little purse thingy out of Rowan Chunky Print (with a bit of Rowan Kid Classic knit together) and felted, only took an hour and a half total. Now it just needs to dry, and I'll take a picture of it, if you're lucky (and maybe one of my HipKnits shawl too).

And with that, I bid you goodnight x

Hip Knits Makes Me Happy

2005-06-09T12:19:00.000+01:00

Not only does the lovely Trudie at Hip Knits make beautiful yarn:

She packages it up beautifully too!

I shall get started on that soon!

Yesterday I went to a barbeque at my friend's house. It was really, really hot. I managed to catch a bit of the sun, but only on the top of my cheek, near my eye. And only on one side. I can't even tan properly! I think I ate too many (vegetarian) sausages though.

Naughty Naughty

2005-06-07T12:16:00.000+01:00

I just bought 200g of pure silk from hipknits, in 'Surf'. It's so pretty, I couldn't help it! If I like it lots (from the pictures, the colour looks amazing) then I might order another 100g, if I need it, to make a wrap-type-thing, possibly for the wedding. Depends how it turns out. I'm not sure I want to wear a cardigan any more. Might still make bridesmaid's cardis. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though!

Anyhoo. Must iron my extremely fashionable and flattering work uniform now.

Sock-In-Progress

2005-06-05T21:12:00.000+01:00

I know I said they were all the pictures I'd be posting, but purlpower asked for sock pics, so sock pics is what purlpower shall get:

Still sock 1. Have been too busy dropstitching today (but there's always tomorrow!)

Drop Stitch Scarf

2005-06-05T20:54:00.000+01:00

I finished the drop stitch scarf in like, 2.5 hours.

Lookie:

I hope you enjoy my lovely pretty face, well-styled hair and tidy abode.

These are all the pictures you are getting today!

Stashbusting!

2005-06-05T16:59:00.000+01:00

So, I bought like, a gazillion balls of Cotton Tape to make my sister's birthday present bag thing in February, to make the Karee pattern from 'It's a Tape Thing'. That was before I realised that star stitch actually DOES take FOREVER. So I made it a third of the size, and did the back in stockinette.

Anyway, so I was thinking about making stuff to sell, (with my brand new lovely Clover 8mms), and I was going to experiment with the River Tape, but then I had a genius moment (lightbulb, *ping*) and decided to make a summery scarf from the leftover Cotton Tape. Because drop stitch takes like, no time at all, I've nearly finished it. It's light green and teal and dark blue. I like it. I will sell it for £400 haha. No, just kidding. Maybe £25 or so, p&p included.

I know I promised pictures, but that takes effort and yesterday I did an 11.5 hour shift I AM NOT KIDDING YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST.

My First Sock!

2005-06-01T20:48:00.000+01:00

Well, well, well. Here's a post I never thought I'd do. What with DPNs being so horribly daunting. But 'Simply Knitting' magazine came to my rescue, with a pattern on straight needles (3.75mm and 4mm) and aran weight wool. So this means that 1. I have a use for the Red Heart (worsted/aran weight) and 2. I can make some socks without having a DPN-induced breakdown. I don't think Second Sock Syndrome will affect me this time, I'm actually quite excited about making the second one and I haven't even finished the first!

They are for slouchy socks, like bed socks or socks to doss around the house in. If I make a half-decent job of it, I'll make them for Xmas presents.

Simon's jacket is coming along slowly but surely. I mean, 114 stitches is never going to go fast! I'm trying to do 4 rows a day, or as much as I can. In another early-morning stint I think I did 6 rows before falling asleep again. Stockinette is more boring than 2x2 rib, but it sure is faster.

Anyway, I'm sure I have an assignment due in tomorrow that I should be finishing.

(P.S. I'll post pics in the next post - I promise)

Curse Schmurse

2005-05-25T12:08:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I got a lovely delivery of lovely yarn. 20 balls of Rowan All Season's Cotton in a dark grey/charcoal colourway called "Slick". I got it from Cucumberpatch on ebay - for £35 including p+p. That's crazy money, I was amazed at the price. I'm going to make Debbie Bliss's "Casual Comfort" jacket for Simon. We're engaged so I don't think the curse applies, haha. I cast on this morning (you won't believe me if I tell you it was at 6.45am)* and started the ribbing. It's very nice and soft.

I also got some Rowan River Tape from Get Knitted. They seem to get a lot of limited edition yarn there, so I'm very impressed. They also emailed me to let me know they have shipped the backordered GGH Aspen I ordered a few months ago. Yay! Oh, and I got some Rowan Harris DK, in green and brown. I think I know what I will make with this.

I have to go to the post office when I've washed my hair, I sold some knitting patterns on ebay and one of them has been purchased already. Very exciting.

* Simon starts work at 8am. This means he needs to leave at 7am. This in turn means, the alarm on the TV means the news comes on at 6am, and he gets up at 6.30ish. It wakes me up as well, but sometimes I can't get straight back to sleep. Usually I watch a bit of the news and then drift off again after he's gone, but today I was itching to get started on the jacket. So I cast on 114, and did 2x2 ribbing for 8 rows. Then fell asleep again.

First SP Package!

2005-05-10T10:26:00.002+01:00

Clay to use for tops for my handmade needles!

First SP Package!

2005-05-10T10:26:00.001+01:00

Homespun! Yay!

LionBrand Homespun. We can't get this over in the UK so I'm quite excited. I know in the US it's everywhere so I think a lot of people won't understand why I'm happy I've got some. I suppose it applies to the Red Heart I got too.

First SP Package!

2005-05-10T10:26:00.000+01:00

Patons Divine

I've still not worked out how to use Hello and put more than one picture in a post. So all the pics are in different posts! This is some purple Patons Divine. It's a lovely colour but I don't know what I'm going to do with it!

First SP Package!

2005-05-10T10:25:00.000+01:00

Here's the whole box

I got a copy of Vogue Knitting too. I had a quick flick through it once I had ripped open the box and the patterns are all really nice!

Still the First SP Package!

2005-05-10T10:23:00.000+01:00

Yay. New yarn!

Red Heart. Lovely Red Heart. I haven't decided what to make with this or the Homespun (or the Divine) yet but pics will be forthcoming when I do!

Thank you SP :)

Garden Related Knitting

2005-05-09T07:43:00.000+01:00

No, I'm not knitting a tree. Or some grass. I am, however, making a jumper called "Flower Power" and a scarf called "Branching Out". Very appropriate for spring, I think! (I'll post photos soon).

I've finished the back of the jumper, and I've started making the sleeves. I'm doing them both at the same time so they'll be the same length. The pattern is quite vague though, unless you really understand knitting you can't tell if you are starting from the bottom or the top with the sleeves. (As it happens, you start with the cuffs. So I had to rip out 4 inches of stockinette ALL THE WAY because I need to add a garter stitch border - I'm knitting with a wool/acrylic mix so I can't block).

Anyway, I really should be getting ready for university now. I anticipate a lot of downtime between rehearsing and filming, so I'll take my Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy in four parts" that Simon got me yesterday :)

Sparkly Things and Flower Power

2005-04-28T22:14:00.000+01:00

I went to Beatties on the way home from uni and I bought some pink Rowan Lurex Shimmer (I think that's what it's called anyway). It had already been used for one of the display pieces so it was reduced. That's why I bought it.

I also got 3 skeins of Rowan Handknit Cotton for Branching Out. The one I'm making now has quite a few mistakes and they will probably look really obvious once it's been blocked. The original was a darkish green, but the yarn I got today is a lighter green, more springy. And it's a little bit thicker so it'll go faster! I did look for more of the same darker green yarn but I think the colour has been discontinued, or they just didn't have anyway.

I'm also making the Flower Power jumper from SnB Nation. I got some darkish blue Stylecraft Aran (wool/acrylic mix) from the snooty shop down the road (I know, I know - I can't get huge 400g skeins anywhere else though!). I started last night and I have almost finished the back. I've made a few alterations - because of the acrylic content I can't block it to get rid of the stockinette curling at the bottom and on the sleeves, so I've put a 10-row garter stitch border. I was a bit unsure if it would look right at first. I was thinking of doing seed stitch instead but now I'm glad I just did garter. Instead of 4mm needles I'm using 5mm. And I'm not sewing a big flower on it!

Post!

2005-04-26T14:00:00.000+01:00

SP, I got your card today. It is indeed very nice!

And now I shall hop along to work (or just catch the train, whatever.)

2005-04-21T10:18:00.000+01:00

This is GGH Aspen, colour 14. It's near enough to the actual colour, it's slightly darker though. I got one of these, and am waiting on a skein of colour 39 as well.

2005-04-21T10:17:00.000+01:00

This is Skye again, colourway "Blue Saturn". I got two skeins of this. This is closer to the actual colour than the "Summerberries" picture.

2005-04-21T10:16:00.000+01:00

This is Colinette Skye "Summerberries". It's a lot brighter than it looks here, I got 1 skein of it.

Branching Out

2005-04-20T20:49:00.000+01:00

So. I frogged the Rowan Kid Classic zigzag eyelet scarf. I don't know what I'm going to do with the yarn. Instead, for my auntie, I'm going to make "Branching Out" in green Rowan cotton yarn. The pattern is nicer, if a little more difficult.

And now I should really be getting on with my work that's due in tomorrow! (SP, I'll update my 100 things list once all my university work is out of the way).

First Time Lace

2005-04-19T21:21:00.000+01:00

Well. It's my auntie's birthday on the 8th of May. So, like any knitter, I've decided to make something. Before I even knew what I was going to make, I knew I'd have to make it in Rowan Kid Classic. I bought one ball of 841 "Lavender Ice" and one ball of 840 "Crystal".

I am making a zigzag eyelet scarf from the "Lavender Ice". I'll post a picture tomorrow maybe, it's a bit dark. If I do it in natural light then I can use my phone - the flash on my digital camera is really bright, so there's no point in using that! I've done two repeats of the stitch pattern, then I'm going to do stockinette for a bit, another two repeats, the same length of stockinette, and then two final repeats to finish it off. It's going quite quickly.

With the "Crystal" - which I'm keeping for myself - I think I might make "Branching Out" from Knitty. But I shall cross that bridge when I come to it!

I have a Business Management report due in on Thursday, so I think I should really get on with it!

Non-knitting content: I'm not Catholic, so I shouldn't care, but I'm really annoyed they made Ratzinger the Pope. I did an A-Level in Religious Studies, so we learnt that even as a Cardinal, he was really horrible and nasty, and bigoted and ultra-super-conservative. And this was at a Catholic college, hahaha!

100 Things About Me (only 40 for now, but I'll add more later!)

2005-04-15T19:46:00.000+01:00

I am 20 years old, my birthday is in November.
I can't drive, so I usually catch the bus (or the train, if I'm going to work).
I like Pink Lady apples, grapes (but not too squishy), strawberries and pineapple.
I don't like bananas, or even the smell of them.
I drank coffee for the first time in years today. I went into Starbucks and said "I don't think I like coffee, but what should I have if I'm trying to convince myself that I do?"
I got a medium latte, I only drank half though. This is because I couldn't get over the weirdness of the fact I was drinking coffee.
I had two cups of tea when I got home.
When I discovered Rowan, my bank balance cried.
I'd like to try any US yarn. When I mean any, I mean from Red Heart to Lamb's Pride to Lionbrand to basically, anything I can't get over here in sunny England.
I love watching the news. If there is no programme we want to watch, we watch BBC News 24. We also like Channel 4 News.
I have a favourite newsreader. Bill Turnbull (BBC Breakfast).
We = me and my fiancé Simon. We live together. We were friends for a while, started going out with each other the day before my 18th birthday and got engaged last February.
I proposed.
I have a diamond ring.
I go to a SnB nearly every week. If I miss, it's usually because I'm tired. I am considered one of the hardcore regulars.
I don't have a passport.
I don't like hot weather.
I'm really pale, and I like it.
I'm growing my hair so I can have a nice hairdo for the wedding pictures.
I will vote Liberal Democrat in our General Election.
I like watching history programmes and documentaries.
Programmes about gardening make me sleepy.
I get cold hands and feet (feet more so) quite a lot, the rest of my body can be quite warm. I have bad circulation. Go me!
I like Edinburgh, and would like to live there one day.
I am going to knit my wedding cardigan ("Honey", from the Rowan Summer Tweed Collection).
I am also going to make "Spring Fling" from the Spring Knitty for my bridesmaids (this is subject to change, but I have till next summer, so you never know).
I work in a cinema. I get free popcorn.
I can't believe I'm only up to 28.
I like long words, they make me sound clever.
I think I'm pretty good at spelling.
I can't really do maths, but I live with a human calculator so it's okay.
I was born in Blackburn, Lancashire.
I moved to Preston, Lancashire when I was 9.
I moved to Birmingham, West Midlands when I was 18.
I go to the University of Central England.
I'm on the second year of my degree: BSc Television Technology and Production.
I do not want to go into the television industry when I graduate.
I want to be a librarian.
I like watching a soap called "Hollyoaks". My favourite character is Tom Cunningham. When he ran away, it was so sad :'(
I have two tattoos - a butterfly on my wrist and a star on my back.

Summer Tweed and the R2 Blues

2005-04-15T19:33:00.000+01:00

So. I've spotted that on the yarn shop/angel yarns, they are having a clearance sale on the Rowan R2 collection. There's a jumper I want to make out of the R2 Magazine (issue 2), which I'd get free with a purchase of over £25. I don't want to guess at the yarn requirements and not have enough (although it is an option). I emailed them (twice now), after the second email the person who runs it (Tess) said that the warehouse should have got back to me near enough immediately, and she will try and get it sorted for me today. It's not going to be the end of the world if I don't make this jumper, but it does look really cute.

I ordered 2 Clover Chibi's (they looked cute, I reasoned that if I lost one I could have a spare, or I could SP it or something). They should arrive soon, hopefully.

Earlier this week I bought 3 skeins of Rowan Summer Tweed, in "Brilliant". I balled one of the skeins in my TV Scripting lecture (hey, it's three hours, you'd do the same) - I don't think I'd do it again because I had to do it sneakily, and I got the yarn all tangled up. Once I'd got home, I placed the loop of yarn over the backs of two chairs, and did the remaining two skeins in a smidgeon of the time!

And today, I went to Beatties and got two pairs of purple 4mm straights, and a pair of red 3.75mm straights. They were obscenely cheap, the 4mm were 95p and the 3.75 were 75p. It's a shame they were the only two colours. I also got four balls of Sirdar Snuggly, two in a dusty kind of pink colour, and two muted green. I started making a dropstich scarf with the green on the bus home (it was stuck in traffic FOREVER), but I made a mistake when I carried on with it at home, so I cried and frogged it. I hadn't done that much, only two inches or so, and it went quite quickly. I think it's going to be a Christmas present for someone, it's a good idea I think to start early - it spreads the cost nicely, and then I'm not rushing with carpal tunnel syndrome, or repetitive strain injury or something!

So, that's all the yarn-related content you're getting for now. I'm going to fill out the "100 things about me" thing for my SP. Or as many as I can think of, anyway!

Box of Yarn

2005-03-31T10:39:00.000+01:00

Box of yarn
Originally uploaded by rachydarling.

This is the box of yarn that I recieved, and everything that was in it. Except for a postcard, but I've stuck that up already. I don't think I've captured the colour of the mohair properly in either photo, but it is lovely, I promise.

Red Mohair

2005-03-31T10:35:00.000+01:00

Red mohair
Originally uploaded by rachydarling.

Today I recieved a lovely RAOK all the way from Japan! I got two and a half balls of this reddy/brown mohair, and a couple of balls of blue wool. I'm uploading these from Flickr, so I'm not sure how to upload two photos in one entry, so I'll post a photo of the box of yarn in the next entry.

Felting, and Cardigan Decisions

2005-03-25T19:32:00.000Z

So. Rowan emailed me to say there'd be a problem with my order, blah blah blah, email within seven days or they'd cancel my order blah blah. When I placed the order, the Rowan 37 'Martha' beaded cardigan was still the one I was going to make for the wedding.

But, we went to Beatties in Wolverhampton on the way to Simon's mum's house, and I had a look through "Summer Tweed Collection" and spotted 'Honey'. It looks a lot easier (and no beads!), plus the book was cheaper and nowhere has 37 anyway. Plus, Summer Tweed comes in nicer colours than 4-ply Cotton.

Yesterday we went to Solihull (interminable journey of death, let's not talk about that bit), the main reason was to go to John Lewis. I got six balls of dark grey Rowan Chunky Print and two balls of Jaeger Natural Fleece in a dark pink colour. The Rowan was £3.10 each (from something like £6.45) and the Jaeger was £3.50. I felted a bit of the Jaeger and it turned out great, I think I might make a bag. I've started a jumper with the Rowan but I'm having second thoughts - I won't be able to wash it and by the time it's finished it'll be too warm to wear it. And I want to design my own bag and felt it. Felting is fun :)

My little toe is very sore, I'm not sure what I've done. It must have been a pair of bad shoes, I hate having wide feet. I wouldn't normally mind but they even hurt in my Converse, and I'm going to a wedding party tomorrow, and I wanted to wear my silver sequin shoes (that I'd bought especially!) I might go shoeless on the train to give them a rest.

Anyhoo, I have tidying to do, so I should maybe think about doing it in a bit!

Knitty Secret Pals

2005-03-21T12:00:00.000Z

So I've jumped into this knitting lark good and proper, I decided to take part in the Knitty Secret Pal project. Hopefully I'll get packages from abroad, I really fancy trying some new yarn. America seems to have loads of different brands. They even sell it at WalMart I think. Oh if only Tesco sold stuff like that, my breaktimes at work would be less boring. But more expensive haha.

The signup's not closed yet so I don't know who I'll get, but I have to admit I'm rather looking forward to it!

Well. I really should do something about getting ready. And I need to buy some bread and margarine, and other essential foodstuffs.

Toodlepip.

Naughty Me

2005-03-20T17:16:00.000Z

I just bought a year subscription to Rowan. However, I will justify myself through the medium of bulletpoints:

I get two (lovely, full of very nice patterns) Rowan magazines a year
I'll get four skeins of Rowan Cork - I just hope I get a nice colour like "Pleasure" or "Very Berry". Knowing my luck I'll end up with "Mouse" or "Sour".
It is costing me £19.95 for the subscription
Bought seperately, it would cost me £31.70. This is going from kangaroo.uk.com's sale prices. Because that's my default knitting site, I love it and I wouldn't consider shopping anywhere else. Unless they were cheaper haha.

Hmm. It appears that Cork has been discontinued, I can't find it on other sites. Although they're still selling it full price in Beatties, shock horror.

I finished chopping and cutting, and I sharpened the dowels using a pencil sharpener. I now have two sets of DPNs (sets of 5) and three pairs of straights, all around 6mm :)

Go me!

Handles Schmandles

2005-03-20T15:14:00.000Z

I've come to realise that I actually like knitting bags more than anything else. This is mainly due to the fact that I made SO MANY scarves, and as much as I like hats, I've come to get a bit bored of seaming and am yet too afraid to master DPNs.

However, my first step towards embracing the double-pointed weapons of death is to make some. I just cannot find any 6mm DPNs anywhere, except for the shop down the road. I refuse to buy there because:

She overcharged me on at least two seperate occassions
She's a bit snooty
It closes really early anyway, so it's never open when I'm in the area. Or out of my pyjamas.

So, with Wickes being handily located just over the road (and this isn't a figure of speech here, I look out of my front window and I can see it), I went over and bought some 6mm and 9mm dowelling rods, plus a "junior hacksaw" and some wood glue.

I've already hacked up most of the 9mm dowels. I'm going to make these into bag handles. This might be obvious due to the title of the post and "I like knitting bags" comment above.

The 6mm dowels are currently languishing by the sofa, but are in the company of my laptop, telephone and oddly placed coffee machine (there's no room for it in the kitchen).

The last photo for you today is the beginning of my practice Clapotis.

The blue is Rowan Handknit Cotton (I think that's what it's called anyway), the pink is Rowan Wool Cotton. I'm not actually too sure, because when I bought them they were without labels in the discount bin in Beatties (I love you Beatties!), but from my investigations they appear to be what I think they are. Anyway, it doesn't really matter because I'll probably never wear it out of the house, I'm doing it to practice the pattern and actually make something out of the stash of cotton I bought. The colours I have left are mostly pinky/purples, with the exception of a lovely bright lime green. I'm not sure if I want to put that in, we'll see how it pans out.

Anyhoo, that's it for now, as I've got to chop up the rest of the dowels before Simon gets home!

First Post

2005-03-16T20:08:00.000Z

This isn't going to be a fancy, long descriptive post.

This is basically just a test to see exactly what blogger does.

I will leave you with the fact i am currently knitting a practice Clapotis. Once it's done, I'll fork out for some fancy yarn - I don't want to waste money if it turns out terrible!