Haven't knat a stitch!

I have to admit that I haven't knitted a stitch all week!
Have been doing some card crafting and some Facebooking though.
Off to Hobbycrafts now because my "card stock" is all a bit pastel at the mo.
Fancy some rainbow brights, and yes, some black.
Hope you're having a good week. x K

Knitting Freak!

I've been organising my photos and uploading a few to Facebook today and I've come across this photo of me walking into the "Secret Garden" at Threave Gardens a few times.

Every time I see it I think that the big blue patch of sky with the trees pointing towards vanishing point looks like a big blue triangular shawl sitting on a hedge!!!

I have a picture of my Shetland Triangle from three years ago affixed to show you what I mean. I am such a knitting freak, it's unreal. x K

Latest offering!

This is a birthday card for J's uncle Peter.
I used some bits from the Father's Day edition of Card Making and added "Birthday Wishes" and "Just for You" from another kit I had in the stash.

Oh, you didn't know I had a card-making stash?
Oh yes, and a quilting stash, and a dress-making stash and THE BIG ONE!

More card-making fun

Fun for me, not much fun for the recipient.

Unfortunately my mother-in-law fell and broke her hip about a fortnight ago while watering her plants.
She's out of hospital now and making a good recovery but I decided to make her a wee card so she knows we're thinking of her as she gradually gets back on her feet again.

Again the materials were from Making Cards.

All the best for a speedy recovery Pam aka
Bionic Woman! x K

WWKIP Day

Worldwide Knit in Public weekend is upon us again, and although I couldn't join my Glasgow friends at their knitters' picnic in Kelvingrove Park, I was able to join in from a distance at Designs Castle Douglas.

I did a few rows on the edging of Girasole. Not the most portable of items but my commuting "knitting" at the moment is actually a crochet project (Merry-Go-Round blanket by Mary Jane Protus) so Girasole it had to be.

And I had yummy Salade Nicoise (cedilla on the c) although it's meant to be black olives, not green, you Philistines!
x K

Card-making fun

Last night I spent a pleasant half-hour making a Father's Day card for J's dad.
It's nothing compared to the work of card-making expert
Patti who crafts the ingredients herself...
I got the bits and pieces from an issue of Making Cards but I still enjoyed it and think it looks quite effective.

Happy Father's Day when it comes, Miles. x K

Summer daze

Summer daze

What a beautiful day-out we had at Threave Gardens last Saturday. Scorching weather and beautiful scenes.
I was even in swimming in the Solway Firth! Was lovely and was very tempted to go in again the next day but the hot weather had brought out tons of jellyfish; spawn and fully fledged.
Have been busily knitting and crocheting this week- results soon to follow. x K

Beautiful summer's day, need woolly socks

What a gorgeous day to be at the seaside exploring rock pools and photographing socks!











Here are my finished toe-up socks made according to Silver's Sock Class using Fyberspates Echo Self-Striping sock yarn in shade Funfair.

Enjoyed making my first toe-ups and will definitely try the technique again, although I know I will have to improve my short-row heel because something weird and not-too-wonderful happened with my "wrap and turns".

They were a very quick knit but I know that's partly because I'd never done it before and was keen to press on to see what each new section would be like.

They seem awfully long in the foot when you look at them, but they are actually a very good fit. I'll be wearing them with the ribbed cuff turned down like in some of these pix.

What a beautiful summer's evening it is now turning out to be. x K

The beginning of the end...

...or at least the end of the beginning.


After having only knitted one rep of chart E (instead of three), one of F as normal and one of chart G (instead of two), all because of yarn availability, I'm at the edging stage of Fat Girasole. Wow!
I have gleaned some invaluable advice about this from Ravelry. The last line of the chart would have you
Bind off three, knit three, knit one edging stitch together with one live shawl stitch.

Now here's the thing, you know when you cast off (three or whatever) there's a stitch left on your right needle which has just been leapfrogged by a cast-off stitch?
This counts as one of your knit three.
Reread this again if you even decide to embark on a Girasole.

I have decided to time myself doing the edging, just for the science, and for info for my knitalong.
Well, the first ten reps took 52 minutes.
I'm sure subsequent reps will be quicker and by the time I've done all 160 reps I'll be zooming along. Only 150 to go. (I can laugh about this now, see if I'm laughing by the end of the week.

The edging is nice and easy now I now the tip above and it feels **great** to offload some of my 640 stitches from the needle.

Onwards and upwards! ;-) x K

Yum Yum Strawberry Fondant Socks

Last September I broke my own golden rule, which is to make sure sock two is well underway before finishing sock one.

As such, sock two was just a figment of my imagination for months on end.

Well, it's a reality now, even if I had to just had to try to remember how I had made sock one as I didn't take any notes. No major hassles, just a lot of holding the socks side by side to compare.

In the first sock I used 2.5 needles on the ribbing and 2.25 on the main sock. I decided that second time round I'd go up to 2.75 on the ribbing just to give a little more ease round the ankle because of the corrugated rib pulling in quite a lot. This is based on the cuff of a Sanquhar glove.

I really like them and the only slight disappointment is that one of the main purposes of making them was to use up the pink yarn, which didn't happen! They're made from Opal Uni sock yarn from getknitted.com.

My next plan for the scraps is to learn how to do stashbuster spiral stripes in the style of Janine Hempy.

By the way, you know me, I'm always going back to similar colour combos- do these socks remind you of my fingerless gloves from a couple of years ago?

Funfair, or my first toe-ups

First of all, thank-you very much for the anniversary wishes; it seems more like five months than five years since we got married, time flies when you're having fun as they say.

My poor niece had to spend her twenty-first birthday preparing for her Uni finals, but she's still standing now they are finished, so that's a start :-)

I've been doing some sock knitting this week. I've been trying my first toe-ups using the remainder of the Fyberspates Echo Self-Striping left over from my wee shawl.
Learning lots of new stuff, figure eight cast on (excellent), short row heels (very ham-fisted and thoroughly inexpert) and I have the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off ahead of me. I'm following Silver's sock class for one sock on two circs.

I'm enjoying the process and so far the fit is very good. My short row heel looks rubbish but fits well, and I think I'll be able to get a pair of proper socks, not just footies from my 70g.

LOVING my Knit-Pro (Knitpicks) Symphonie needles, can't shut up about them!!

It's fun to see the different way the yarn colours behave in small circles as compared to the long rows on the shawl, pretty cool.

I've also included a picture of the socks sitting on everyone's favourite serape Siesta Blanket Ravelry link to Siesta because I noticed how the beautiful stripes in the sock were echoed in the blanket which I had wrapped over my legs while I was snuggled up on the couch.

Hopefully these socks will be finished by next weekend, along with some other socks I only have to graft the toe of.

All the best x K

Five years ago today...

Five years ago today I was dressed in ivory and my beautiful niece was dressed in lilac.
I haven't asked for permission so I can't show you a real picture, but
don't let the teddies fool you, she's been taller than me for years!

Happy 21st to the lovely Jane who was our Marriage Witness.



And of course happy anniversary to the lovely Jonathan. x x K

This week I have been mostly wearing.....

...my "Weaver's Wool Mini Shawl", made from Echo self-striping sock yarn from Fyberspates.


I took Peggy Pignato's pattern, made it not quite so mini (mine is 22" neck to tip instead of 17" in the pattern) added some beads on each row 5 and gave it a picot cast off. Mine was in sock weight, not DK as in the original, so was more of a knitting investment than some versions you can see out there.

You can see the shape of it in the blocking shot, all the wedges are not created equal and you increase at the beginning and end of every right side row, which means your two front sections are a little bigger, sit better and give you more coverage.

Special thanks go to Ravelry member Kermitina for selling me some extra yarn in my hour of need.

It feels like a shawl for Barbie compared to my last garter stitch project (The Hap Shawl) but it's pretty and I like it! x K

Visit to Sanquhar

Well, I guess it's a thumbs up for the Hap Shawl then?! Thanks very much for all the compliments on the blog, on Ravelry and in person.
I am really thrilled with it and its snuggerific ways.

To round off our Easter holidays last week we drove home via the scenic route and stopped off in
Sanquhar, to visit its Tolbooth Museum with its exhibits on Sanquhar knitting, particularly the Sanquhar glove tradition. There were a few web-pages about the Tolbooth, but I chose that one because it links to a detailed article about the Sanquhar knitting tradtion.
The exhibit was not that big, but it was well worth it because there were plenty of good examples and the curator Rab (I'm lovin' it) was very knowledgeable and keen to assist. He had plenty of other local stories above and beyond the formal information.
In the first picture you see me standing beside some of the explanations and the following gloves left to right:
Pheasant's Eye; Prince of Wales; Plaid; Duke (THE Sanquhar Pattern); Fleur-de-lys; Un-named; Rose; Rose and Trellis; Drum; Drum and Trellis; Cornet and Drum; Glen.
Pic 2: Closer views of some of the single gloves.


Pic 3: A cabinet with some more glove styles, some old samplers of traditional and made-up designs, knitting needles and sheaths, hand-written and typed notes from various past dignitaries who had commisioned or been gifted some Sanquhar gloves, most notably various Dukes of Buccleuch from the nearby Drumlanrig Castle.




Pic 4: The People's Friend Magazine did some features on Sanquhar designs in the fifties, showing how you can make the gloves or incorporate the motifs into other garments. This series renewed interest in Sanquhar patterns.

I bought the patterns for four styles of glove from the little stall. I may not make any of them but I'll enjoy reading them and having them.

Apparently they were originally knitted from "drugget" but are now made in 3-ply wool. Any definitions I've seen for drugget are a 'course woven fabric' or something you put on your gym hall floor to protect the surface during exams???

Gotta love Sanquhar knitting.

The rest of the wee museum is interesting as well x K

Book give-away # 1

I'm having a clear-out and am about to give these books away to the Oxfam book branch near Glasgow Uni.
I wanted to give you first refusal on them, I know you've been dying to read these books for ages ;-)
This is shelf one.

If you would like any of them free of charge let me know at my email address kedkrafty@hotmail.co.uk (Please note the UK suffix.)
I will take Paypal for postage where appropriate.

I don't imagine there will be a major run on these books (!!) but just in case I'll generally go with the 'first come first served' routine, although being honest if more than one person wants the same book and I see one of you every Tuesday and the other lives in Bangkok.....

Of love and shadows An English translation by Margaret Sayers Peden of
De amor y de sombra Isabel Allende Alden Press; Hardback VGC

The Stories of Eva Luna An English translation by Margaret Sayers Peden of
Las cuentas de Eva Luna Isabel Allende Penguin; Paperback VGC

A Year in Provence Peter Mayle Penguin; Paperback VGC

Torquemada in the Fire An English translation by Nicholas Round of
Torquemada en la hoguera Benito Perez Galdos Glasgow University; Pamphlet GC

The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Penguin Popular Classics; Paperback VGC

The Divine Comedy An English translation by Mark Musa of
La divina Commedia Dante Alighieri Penguin Classics; Paperback VGC

Junior Su Doku Wayne Gould The Times; Paperback VGC

Poemes Pierre de Ronsard Blackwell; Paperback VGC

Les mains sales Jean Paul Sartre Folio; Paperback GC

La grande muraille Claude Michelet Editions Robert LaFont; Hardback VGC

Candide Voltaire OUP; Paperback VGC

Atonement Ian McEwan Random House; Paperback GC

Andromaque Racine Classiques Larousse; Paperback GC

Horace Corneille Classiques Larousse; Paperback GC

Cinna Corneille Classiques Larousse; Paperback VGC

Le bourgeois gentilhomme Moliere Classiques Larousse; Paperback VGC

L'avare Moliere Classiques Larousse; Paperback GC

Phedre Racine Classiques Larousse; Paperback GC

L'ecole des femmes Moliere Classiques Larousse; Paperback GC

Le Misanthrope Moliere Classiques Larousse; Paperback GC

Paroles Jacques Prevert Folio Edition; Paperback VGC

Hap-py Easter everyone

Happy Hap-py Easter to everyone. xxxxxxx K

Firstly, go and check out if you would, what I was doing exactly two years ago to the day



Blogger is playing me up terribly and eats my pix every time I try to re-order them or adjust the spacing so for now I'll have to leave the photos to do the talking, in a somewhat random order at that.

In brief-
Various views of me wearing my experimental Shetland Hap-like shawl made from Shilasdair Luxury DK yarn from the stash.
Unblocked size: Small village.
Location: Cliffs
Mood: Euphoric "I believe I can fly!"
Photographer: Thank-you Birthday Boy.

xxxxx K

The Four Cees

Circular Crochet Cushion Cover

I'm delighted to have finished this cushion cover which has been my knitting meetup and commuter "knitting" of choice lately.

In February we had a special Crochet night at our stitching group and this is what I chose to start. I knew all along from whenever I bought this Cascade 220 Paints yarn that I wanted to crochet with it because I wanted like colours to cluster together in splodges rather than the general hazy impressionist look I'd get when knitting with the yarn.
I bought this yarn from Eileen at mchattie@happyhills one evening last winter.

I'm happy enough with the way it turned out although I will have to learn that way of looping the yarn round your finger for your crochet start rather than doing a chain of six as I did here. I've been left with a visible tummy button as seen in picture four, but I'm thinking of hiding it with a crocheted button. I'm not taking it all apart again though just to fix on a button!

Now that it's finished it reminds me of those Flying Saucer sherbety sweets you get and it goes nicely with the Blue Monday Patchwork cushion I made a couple of years ago.

I took two attempts at side two because I had miscounted and ended up with a flouncy flary effect which I was trying to convince myself I could live with. In retrospect I am so glad I bit the bullet and frogged because how on earth could I have joined the two sides if one had all these superfluous stitches?

Although the yarn was not the softest to work with, it is absolutely fine for a household item and I must say it softened up a good bit in the wash.

Quarterly Progress

At the turn of the year I had this notion to keep a better handle on my Works in Progress and to prevent startitis getting out of hand.

It's the 20-40-60-80 Challenge, and I had thought to do it monthly, ha ha, but quarterly seems to be the option on the table at the moment!

The idea is I assess how far along a project is, then use the wee table as motivation to keep my projects afloat. A bit of motivation to stop me feeling bogged down, without taking away all the fun.

And knitting is spose to be fun. Who said that, Mason-Dixon?

So, log for 2009 (although the cast-on dates of some of these projects goes way back when) -

0%
Doomed Girasole. Attempt at Girasole in OMA laceweight- frogged. Good yarn, good pattern, Kathleen is the dodgy element.
(Next time, newly cast-ons can go here too.)

20%
Lacy Waves Top
Boatman Jumper
Brier Cardigan

40%
Baby Jumper
Chocolate Strawberry Fondant Socks
Green and Lilac bamboo top

60%
Mohair Shawl with Eyelet Spines (was Icarus)
Fat Girasole
Shaped Shoulder Shawl

80%
Crochet Cushion Cover 3 rounds, plus assembly to go
Eva Jumper Surface embroidery, plus assembly to go
Shetland Hap Shawl Blue section, Oatmeal Section, Edging to go; edging may be the killer

100%
Fan Neckwarmer
Camo Loom Hat


In theory, when I update this at the end of June, loads of the items will have moved up a category or two. There you are, I've said all my WIPs aloud, now all I have to do is play with them. :-)