Yarn Along – Swatching

November 26, 2014November 25, 2014 | Sonia Knits

Welcome to another week of Yarn Along! Check out Ginny’s blog to see what everyone else is up to this week.

After completing my Istanbul socks this week, I was officially left with just one thing on the needles err… hook. That is my/our Noro hexagon blanket.

So I started looking around, as you do. Come-on you don’t expect me to finish an entire blanket before starting a new project do you?!

I looked at my projects page and more specifically my Use It, Or Lose It projects. Officially they’re on my projects page, but technically they have not been cast-on. They’re there to be more of a forceful reminder of the unloved yarn lurking in my stash.

I thought perhaps doing a little bit of swatching, might get me in the mood to take things further. That’s the nice thing about swatching, there’s no commitment and you can still walk away.

I thought about combining 2 of my UIOLI entries by combining the yarn, genius right? …

Well that was short lived. Whilst it’s pretty combining the two yarns, it made it thick like iron. If I went up a needle size I wouldn’t get the gauge close to any of my intended cardigans. I might just use the Louisa Harding yarn on it’s own as a little cropped summer cardigan to wear over dresses. And the hand-dyed Shiloh optim/silk… is still up in the air…

Then I thought I would have a crack at my Habu silk tape that I’ve had in my stash for quite some time. Every time I see Steven from Dairing yarns, he asks me if I’ve used it, and I’ve had to say ‘no’. I kind of would like to go back and visit and say that I have!

I got gauge for what I wanted. And I’ve cast-on Julie Hoover’s Garance. The texture and feel of the Habu tape is unlike anything I’ve ever knit with. ‘Frightened’, only begins to describe how I feel about making a sweater out of something that feels so foreign to wool. I hope it’s a success and not a disaster, I think the only way to find out is to knit the whole thing. Oh fun.

Meanwhile, I’ve decided to whip up a pair of fingerless gloves for Damian. They’ve been on my to-do pile since winter. At least I’ll be taking all the pressure off myself next winter…

I’m making them out of my hand-spun. It’s a merino/silk blend. The fibre was blended up on Sharon’s drum carder and spun long ago. Knitting with my hand-spun is wonderful, there should be more of it.

There’s not much to report on the reading front I’m afraid, I’ve been frantically knitting/crocheting in my down time and unsuccessfully shopping for Christmas gifts in my lunchtimes. There’s been more Outlander listening… but my reading has been almost non-existent. Am I still allowed to participate in Yarn-along?!

Peek-a-boo: It’s a Chickadee!

November 24, 2014 | Sonia Knits

If you recall a few weeks ago, I gave you a snippet of a photo which showed some secret knitting?

Well I’ve presented Louisa with my surprise knitting gift so now I can do the big reveal, I’ve made her a Chickadee!

It was pretty fun to make. The pattern comes from Ysolda’s Wee ones collection. It has so many cute patterns in it, they are miniature versions of some of her adult garments.

Louisa was surprised! and I was thrilled, aren’t knitters the best people to make for?

Yarn Along – The things we tell ourselves

November 19, 2014November 18, 2014 | Sonia Knits

I became an aunty again last week for the eighth time. And it’s still exciting.

I told myself before she was born, I wouldn’t knit any sweaters or such for her ‘right away’, she is a Summer baby after all. There’s no need, it would be silly. I don’t want to lose my head and knit all the things for a baby that grows rather quickly.

And then ‘she’ was born and she was given my name as a second name. All I can say is, that was very well-played. I didn’t see that coming. And now all I want to do is to knit for this baby.

I want to make her a ‘wee Cria’, very sweet and very girly (I had no idea if she was to be a boy or girl, but knitting-wise gosh, I’m glad she’s a girl!).

I think I even know the yarn I want to use.

Then I get this photo from my sister…

My new niece fits into the snug I made for her sister. And it fits now. And how amazing does it look? How happy am I about hand-me-downs? How this would not have worked had she been a boy!

I think I can give myself a week’s reprieve. Finish my Istanbul socks which I’m loving to bits and catch-up on some other knitting… before I lose my head and knit for this baby… but then again I might need to make something for her sister at the same time, that’s fair right?

Much to Damian’s disgust I’ve been openly listening to Outlander for hours and hours. I think I’m almost ready to start watching the TV series as I’m nearing the end of the first book.

Go see what everyone else is knitting and crafting this week by visiting Ginny’s blog.

Yarn Along – Crafty weekend away

November 12, 2014November 10, 2014 | Sonia Knits

Last weekend I attended a crafty weekend away with girlfriends who like to quilt:

Friends who like to knit and crochet:

Sew:

and Spin (well that was just me):

The house was very accommodating, with a new quilt on the wall and a quilt on my bed…

It’s quite amazing I haven’t caught ‘quilting’ yet.

I can’t wait to do it all again with knitting friends next year 🙂

Yarn Along – Yellow

October 29, 2014October 27, 2014 | Sonia Knits

For the longest time, I’ve never been a big fan of the colour yellow. I’ve always been afraid of it, I couldn’t imagine wearing it. I always thought that it was because I have yellow (blonde) hair.

But then something happened. It’s been a slow and gradual process, but I’ve started moving toward yellow. Not all yellows though, lets take it one step at a time. Below is my first acquisition of yellow, delicious and buttery.

~~I finally gave in and~~ I dropped into Sunspun on the weekend. A well-placed picnic across the road was all the reason I needed for a visit. Wow it’s changed, quite a bit. It’s fabulous!

There were so many new yarns I felt it took some time to get my bearings. It’s a totally new store, what a treat!

I picked up some naturally dyed yarn, (the yellow) and this deep orange… another unusual colour for me, what’s going on?!

All I know is, there is a puffy yellow jacket at Uniqlo that is calling my name.

Whilst at Sunsoun, I also picked up the Stashbot publication by Hannah Fettig. I thought it would be quite useful to take with me to Stitches.

In the mail this week, I received my Stranded in Oz club instalment. It’s truly stunning to look at, yum.

This week I completed my secret project…

And I began reading Amy Tan’s ‘The Valley of Amazement‘.

I’m also on Aunty watch, and getting a little bit excited.

See what everyone else is knitting and reading this week by checking out Ginny’s blog.

Yarn Along – Not one but two FOs!

October 1, 2014September 30, 2014 | Sonia Knits

So last week I promised to present some Finished Objects this week, easier said than done when you have a mountain of newly casted-on projects.

But being a Knitter, is about being a planner, an organiser and a strategiser! Taking a look at my Ravelry projects page (oh what joy it gives me to look at my WIPs all day long and I’m not joking), I took stock of all my projects and what stage everything was at.

Due to my Use It or Lose It strategy I have a number of WIPs on my page that are in actual fact not started, they’re there to remind me of my obligations to my ‘deep’ stash. I removed a UILI single skein project, because what harm would ‘returning’ a single skein of hand painted yarn to stash theoretically do? Not exactly an FO, but it was one less UFO.

Then, I cast-off my Honey Cowl and wore it for exactly one day before it got hot last week, and now I’m dreaming of a time when I can wear this for reals, please note I’m wearing a t-shirt in this picture. As expected my patience gave up before I ran out of yarn for this project, it was the never-ending cowl with a never-ending ball of alpaca yarn. I have exactly 50 grams left, I think it would be enough for mitts if I could be bothered.

Then, I turned my attentions to Ysolda’s Bronntanas Hat, the first ‘Knitworthy’ project i cast on a couple of weeks ago. It’s another small project, and I wasn’t going to let some twisted stitches get in my way of delivering on my promise. After beginning with a cable needle to cross the stitches, I switched to twisting the stitches and turning them over on the needles as I went. Success! This hat flew off my needles. Except, rightly or wrongly, I went from knitting the largest sized hat to the smallest, so my once slouchy hat is now snug… I still think the hat is adorable, and I’m contemplating whether this Knitworthy project will indeed reside in my gift box for the appropriate recipient (someone with a smaller head than mine). If I made it again for myself, I think I’d knit the medium size and hope for the best.

There it is, 2 FOs for you. All the while I’ve been working on my sisters crochet blanket, I think I’ve really outdone myself this time, it’s going to be hard to top with the next baby in the family. Oh the expectation, this is turning out just like Easters at home where my siblings and I decorated eggs, with improvements each year to design and techniques, who knows where this will end up? For the record I never got into egg craft/sculpting, that’s just crazy.

I’m still listening to Outlander (it’s the best) and reading ‘My Life in Stitches’ during some lunchtimes. I’m still to pick out my next serious kindle book to read, at this stage I’m considering Haruki Murakami’s new book. I think I’m ready.

You should go check out what everyone else is reading and crafting at Ginny’s blog this week.

Yarn Along – Hooray! Week

August 27, 2014August 26, 2014 | Sonia Knits

Cough, splutter, cough… Welcome to another week of Yarn Along with Ginny and Friends. Go and check out the blog here to see what everyone is knitting and reading this week.

If you haven’t picked up on it already, I’ve had a dreadful cold this week. Well it actually began last week and then took a few days to take hold.

When I was well enough, I finally got down to finishing off my sleeves on the Hooray cardigan and now it’s all finished, hooray! I’d like to give special thanks to Louisa from the Richmond Knitters for suggesting that I knit the reverse stocking stitch sleeves, inside-out, so that I could just knit the sleeves rather than purling the whole way. Brilliant! I love my knitting group and the people in it. More often than not, I get excellent tips from these guys that I would not have come up with on my own.

These photos were taken when I was still a tad unwell, so please forgive the non-smiles and non-head shots, I find it hard to smile in photos at the best of times! My kind photographer said it was him, but I know it was me, and I asked ‘Do I really look like this, how can you be married to me?!’

I am very happy with the outcome. I did end up sewing up the last extra buttonhole I added, then to make it a little less obvious, I transferred that button to the other side of the band to cover said hole. I think the deception works.

My only reservation, and there’s always one; is the shaping around the cables at the bottom of the fronts. It doesn’t sit flat, and I wasn’t really sure why. I popped over to Ravelry to see a whole lot of other people encountered the same thing, so it’s not just me. I saw that one knitter dealt with it, by re-knitting and re-shaping somehow. I didn’t recognise or find this fault in other people’s projects, until I saw it in mine, then I could see it everywhere. I’m a touch disappointed, but not devastated. I still think it’s extremely wearable despite an odd lumpy part around the waist, the cables kind of disguise it. I would like to point out the lumpiness wasn’t visible until after the 8cm of knitted on band was complete. There was no way I was pulling out all my knitting for a slight glitch, that I have no hope of actually fixing anyway (let’s be honest). I haven’t blocked this garment yet, and if this, by some miracle fixes the problem, then I take it all back Veera and your record is intact.

My Hooray Cardigan has been my very first successful ‘Use It Or Lose It’ project. Of the 20 balls of Anny Blatt I had, I’ve used 15. I guess I’ll be losing the last 5 balls to a charity knitter, my job is done here.

I did finish reading Stephanie Pearl McPhee’s book, you know the one with the really long title. I didn’t mind it. I felt like I could relate to parts of it (not that you need to relate to a book to enjoy it, but it helps); funnily enough, one of the last chapters was about how she felt she looked in photos, compared to her ‘prettiness’ in real life, oh the irony. The departure from telling knitting tales, led to a number of parenting stories or stories about her family life. I guess most people are parents right?

I started reading a sample on my Kindle for Rachel Herron’s ‘Pack up the Moon’. I was at the second last page of the sample and was just about to dismiss it as my next read, when, all of a sudden, the author made geographical references to San Francisco, so I’m a little torn as to whether or not to give it a try. The author is a knitter after all, perhaps her character and newly re-acquainted given-up-for-adoption-daughter head down to Imaginknit for some bonding over a bit of yarn shopping? You never know right?

Yarn Along: Looks can be deceiving

August 20, 2014August 19, 2014 | Sonia Knits

Hello there and welcome to another week of ‘Yarn Along’ with Ginny and friends.

By looking at this photo you may be led to believe that my Hooray Cardigan is finished… I’m rather sorry to say that I still have the sleeves to go.

As I was nearing the end of the wide band around the body of the cardigan, I thought it would be a good idea to pop in to Buttonmania. Kate did her usual marvellous job of finding the perfect buttons for my project. Do you know how some people are just born to do the job that they do? I was rather charmed by the addition of her business card with this purchase (sorry about the dodgy photo):

I’ve added more buttons and buttonholes than what was prescribed in the pattern. I wanted the option to be able to button up the cardigan past my belly, but in all honesty after trying the cardigan on now, it probably wasn’t necessary.

I’m still listening to Game of Thrones and I’m finishing off reading Stephanie Pearl Mc-Phee’s latest book (hey, I don’t have a lot of time left to read!). Her chapter titled ‘Dirt and Swiss Cheese’, resonated with me particularly well. I’ve been hearing a lot about Rachel Herron’s novels, so I might give that a try next.

See you all next week after I travel through Sleeve-land.