Pattern Consumption

September 1, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Apart from yarn consumption, there’s another consumption I indulge in and it doesn’t take up any room in my house whatsoever. The digital knitting pattern.

It’s been a little while since the last ‘Knit-along e-book’ has popped up on Ravelry, or at least knit-along e-books by my favourite designers. The thing that I love most about them as compared to just a single digital knitting pattern, is the slow release of a pattern or set of patterns. It’s the surprise element, and if you know the designer well-enough, you know you are not going to be disappointed by what comes after the initial pattern release. That’s always good. The anticipation and the joy!

So I was fairly excited to see Ysolda has just released the first pattern in Knitworthy 2. I signed up for Knitworthy 1 last year and all the patterns were wonderful… even though I’ve only made the first pattern thus far…

I’m sort of on hiatus from buying yarn for a little while, but buying a pattern e-book is not going to hurt anyone!

What I love most about a knit-along e-book collection is the dreaming… of a new pattern, or pattern clue (in the case of a mystery knit-along), every week or fortnight. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Whilst its fair to say I have not knit most of these patterns, I certainly have dreamed about them, have thought about what yarn I would use from my stash, and who I possibly would be making the item for. I always have the intention of joining in and keeping up with the knit-along, but stuff just happens. Babies are born, birthdays arrive and before you know it, it’s Christmas.

So who’s with me, who’s casting on for Liebevoll? Mental cast-ons begin now.

Wednesday WIPs – Now the Slog

August 26, 2015August 25, 2015 | Sonia Knits

It’s great to have a goal, a long-wished for colourful blanket for our bed, hexagons no less.

But ‘the getting down to it’ is the hard part. No veering off and doing something else. I have to stay focussed. Blankets take a long time, even the chunky ones.

8 more balls to go, not including the border yarn…

I finished listening to The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt last week. 32 hours, it was a slog, but well worth it, every minute of it. It was such an engrossing book, so well written, so well read.

I’ve begun listening to A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler. She is one of my favourite authors, but so far I must say this book is not really grabbing me. It’s the first Anne Tyler I’ve ‘listened’ to, so I don’t know whether it’s the reader or the narrative that’s making me wonder, did Anne Tyler really write this? I get that it’s a totally different book to The Goldfinch, so perhaps the reader is just not doing it for me? I’ll let you know next week.

Gung ho

August 23, 2015 | Sonia Knits

There is no other way to describe my enthusiasm for wanting to complete my hexagon crochet blanket.

After knitting with the Richmond Knitters on Monday night (and inspired by my conversation with Blanket Queen Extra-ordinnaire, Katie), I felt inclined to work out just how much I had left to do.

Hexagons are not squares, so the only way I could figure things out was by drawing a schematic. I had 24 balls of the Noro Taiyo to begin with, each ball makes 10 hexagons roughly. And each rosette is made from 7 hexagons. I’d also decided I was going to ‘finish’ the edges, so that they will be straight and I would also be needing a bunch of half-hexagons. Clearly I needed a drawing to work all this out.

I began by drawing a 4 x 6 rosette blanket (with the edges filled in), that wasn’t working, too narrow. Then I drew a 4 x 5 rosette blanket… it seems like it will be big enough… then I thought, why not go for a 5 x 5 rosette blanket? I’ll have just enough for all the rosettes, the filling-in hexagons and the half hexagons. Then (at my leisure) I can pick up another ball or 2 to do the finishing border… I’m super inspired by Dover and Madden’s blanket. Whilst my blanket will have a completely different look to it, hers is so pretty and I appreciate her explanation of making square edges.

So I’ll need:

25 rosettes (7 hexagons each)

50 single hexagons (as filling in the gaps hexagons)

15 half hexagons.

So far I have:

15 rosettes (10 to go)

42 single hexagons (8 to go) and

12 half hexagons (3 to go).

I love goals.

Wednesday WIPs – New beginnings

August 12, 2015August 9, 2015 | Sonia Knits

This week, I taught a friend how to spin!

I was so inspired and excited by how well she took to it, I had to go home and jump on my wheel right after.

I’m currently spinning up some Thylacine BFL mixed with camel. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered I had 2 similar colour ways of 200 grams each; so I thought perhaps I could ply the 2 colour ways together, in something of a 4 or 5 ply and have enough to knit myself a vest of some description. Stay tuned for that.

The baby blanket was completed and blocked last week. It is a relief to get it done before the baby arrives. I’m pretty pleased with the result too! The yarn was stash yarn, mainly made up of Jo Sharp classic DK wool, with a bit of this and that thrown in. The pattern: Honeycomb Stroller Blanket is free and is pretty nifty if you ask me. The slip stitch pattern forms the hexagons therefore there are no patches to sew together (just lots of ends). If I were to make it again, (and that’s a possibility if more babies arrive in my family), I would do a provisional cast on at the start, to make the border easier to pick up and knit. The other alt that I made was to make the border a garter stitch one, and rather than picking up all the way around, I did each side individually, increasing at the edges each right side row to make the mitred corners. There will be some better ‘glamour’ photos taken when the cute baby arrives.

I’ve cast on a new project, this is Cookie A’s June sock club. I’m making the Apollonia socks. I’m enjoying knitting from the sock lace chart, and knit a fair bit of the leg in one evening. I find knitting from lace charts so soothing and fun.I’m also itching to begin a garment for me, but I thought I should look at one of my Use It Or Lose It projects first.

I picked up my Safire cardigan, which had only been literally cast on. In theory I’m liking how this is working, but I am wondering whether this yarn is more appropriate for niece M, due to it’s ‘blingy’ nature. Only time will tell.

I’m still listening to The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, I can’t recommend it enough. I only have 10 hours left to go!

Wednesday WIPs – Hibernation

August 5, 2015August 3, 2015 | Sonia Knits

I stayed at home this weekend, all weekend.

I began reading Anna Zilboorg’s ‘Knitting for Anarchists’ and I knew I’d like it from the very first page (see brackets).

I listened to podcasts. I’ve begun listening to Craftlit, and it’s fabulous.

My Cookie A sock club instalment arrived last week, coincidently it matched one of Damian’s birthday gifts (yes I can buy him cookware for his birthday and he loves it).

I knitted full-time on my sister’s forthcoming baby blanket.

And I did nothing else (apart from a spot of housework).

I expect the blanket to be blocking by the end of this week. Deadlines, shmedlines, that baby can arrive early if it wants, but not until the end of the week.

Wednesday WIPs

July 29, 2015July 26, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Hi there! I was visited by this cheeky monkey on the weekend…

She was wearing the dress I made for her. The pattern warns to make the dress from wool, but I went ahead and made it in cotton anyway, it was the right colour from my stash!So I wasn’t super surprised to see that there were problems with the bodice. But I was surprised by just how much it was stretching, and how easy it was for her to ‘get out of her dress’ from the top down.

Easily fixed I pronounced, if I could just borrow the dress back. Niece M went home in her stockings!

Two goes at the attached i-cord to the neckline (the first attempt made the head hole too small to get over her head). And hopefully this has now solved the issue. Niece M only likes wearing dresses, I know where she’s coming from. I’m thinking maybe a rainbow dress for Christmas perhaps?

I’ve also been working on the next baby blanket…

There’s still a long way to go.

And I’ve got the wheel out and I’ve been doing some overdue plying of some Southern Cross Fibre club fibre.

And this little bit are the odds and sods to empty the little bits off my bobbins…

Because I have so much to get through. How about you?

Wednesday WIPs – Pre-Sheep Show, Bendigo

July 8, 2015July 5, 2015 | Sonia Knits

With a title like that, I guess you’re assuming I’m ‘stashing-down’ and bracing myself for the biggest show of the year. Well, you’d be half wrong.

The Australian Sheep and Wool Show, held in Bendigo each year is just two weeks away. And yet on Friday night I found myself on a train to Bendigo to rendezvous with my lovely husband for a weekend away. The concept of going to Bendigo without a Sheep Show was a little foreign to me, but I went with it.

This helped sweeten the deal…

Then finding a breakfast place that had granny square blankets for the diners outside, totally charmed me. Needless to say it was too cold for any diners to take up this offer, granny square or not. But I still thought it was great.

And I figured a trip to this place, two weeks before all the ‘crazy’ knitters descended, could work in my favour.

And it did. My rainbow projects can now come to fruition. I can ‘shop the stash’ whenever the mood takes me to knit a rainbow dress or cardigan for niece M … plus another half dozen baby blankets, some mitts for a colleague, stuff for me, but I digress.

Don’t these balls look small?! Until you put them into a bag… then some crazy optical illusion thing happens…Whilst spending a few quality hours with Damian in a wine bar and knitting by the fire, I returned from the bathroom only to find a knitter chatting to my husband. What a lovely occurrence! She pulled out her latest knitting project and we both sang the praises of self-patterning knitting yarn. She may have also left with the name of my yarn supplier to get some for herself…

And did I mention it was freezing in Bendigo?

Now that I’ve done some scouting of Bendigo, I feel super prepared for anything! Pack ALL the woollens.

Wednesday WIPs (and a FO)

July 1, 2015June 28, 2015 | Sonia Knits

I finally have an FO!

These are my Xeriscape socks (Cookie A’s April Club). I really enjoyed knitting these. They were simple to knit and, the easy-to-memorise patterning, was enough not to get too boring. I would make these again as my ‘go-to mindless socks’.

And my June club yarn has arrived and it’s gorgeous! I’m hoping to make the next deadline for the competition, but as per usual there are a few other things I need to get done and cast on first.

This stunning fibre also arrived for the Southern Cross Fibre club, I got the colour way ‘Peacock’. It was a lovely mail week.

I’ve been working on my Grace cardigan and with any luck, there will be some modelled photos next week.

I’m listening to The Goldfinch as mentioned last week, and I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying it. I’m only about six hours into listening for a total of 32 hours, I still have a ways to go.

Wednesday WIPs – Purple

June 24, 2015June 21, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Hi there, it’s been another busy week around here. But being busy is good. I popped my head up and realised we’re half-way through the year already.

Despite this there has been time for knitting. I’m still working on my Cookie April socks, I’m onto the second one and loving the basketweave pattern. It’s so simple and squishy, I love it. At the time of writing this, my next shipment of Cookie A sock club has not arrived, so in my mind I’m not behind!

I’ve also done some more spinning this week…

Whilst watching Susan B Anderson’s latest video cast.

It is IxChels Cashmere Fling. So lovely…

I received ‘thank you’ eggs from the chooks for my knitted vest this week. A whole dozen!

I’ve finished listening to Colourless by Haruki Murakami. I really enjoyed it. I’m now listening to The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. So far, it’s great! Do you have any audio book recommendations?

Sonia Knits

The adventures of a Melbourne Knitter

Work in Progress