Yarn Along – False starts and decisions

September 17, 2014September 16, 2014 | Sonia Knits

This week has been a bit rough, with so many new projects and each of them requiring consideration, I’ve cast-on and ripped 3 of the projects a number of times until it was right.

The Polka Dot baby blanket caused me the most concern. Before I even completed the first patch, I was ready to throw in the towel. I wasn’t reading the pattern properly, rounds 4 and 5 were a doozy. But I got there after 3 days, and then the second patch went so much faster. But that wasn’t before I attempted a granny square as an alternative to the polka dot patches. I asked Twitter ‘What should I do?’ The suggestion that I shouldn’t make something ‘too good’ to give away, spurred me on. I only want to give away things that I love, because if I don’t love it, then it’s not good enough.

I decided I loved the Polka Dot design most, unfortunately or fortunately it also meant I needed a few more colours to make it a success. A quick little lunchtime trip down to Yarn & Co. sorted this out for me. I have 13 centre colours now, I’ll make 3 of each and 4 of one colour to make 40 patches and a blanket similar in size to Willam’s after finishing it off with a large border. So much for using yarn stash yarn! I anticipate I’ll have enough left-over for another baby blanket, ha ha ha.

I’m still listening to Outlander (the first book) and enjoying that very much, as well as dipping in and out of Rachel Herron’s A life in Stitches.

To see what everyone else is crafting and reading this week, visit Ginny’s blog here. See you next week.

Yarn along – Cast-on-a-plooza

September 10, 2014September 7, 2014 | Sonia Knits

Here’s to another week of Yarn Along with Ginny and Friends. You can see Ginny’s blog here to catch-up on what everyone is knitting and reading this week.

It’s been an interesting week, with lots of new starts! I’m always pining to knit new things and this week I just didn’t say no. My projects page is about to explode with many new WIPs.

Ysolda Teague has launched a new knit along called ‘Knitworthy’, each fortnight releasing a new pattern to total 8. I gave in to peer pressure within 24 hours of finding out about it. The first pattern ‘Bronntanas’ which is a slouchy hat with an interesting honey-comb pattern looked pretty awesome to me, so how could I turn a blind eye? I’ve cast-on using my last instalment of Stranded in Oz yarn, to make this hat for myself; if the remaining patterns are half as good as the first, I think it will be $20 well spent. This is it below, the colour is not right, but you get the gist.

And I’ve cast-on some plain toe-up socks from the Stranded in Oz clubs latest instalment. It’s very pretty. It uses 2 strands of lace weight Alpacamer : 60% baby alpaca, 25% merino, 15% nylon. You can see the toe pictured.

And I’ve begun my sisters next baby blanket (not pictured). After ‘workshopping’ my baby blanket predicament, Deb was the-voice-of-reason and a good idea. Why not used the 4ply Patons wool I have and make the polka dot crochet blanket from that, requiring only to purchase the frame colour? In hindsight, an 8 ply cotton blanket is going to be heavier than a 4 ply wool one so what ever was I thinking? I’m pretty excited about this new incarnation of the baby blanket, I’m able to use what I have, and I’m doing a different pattern (with less ends!).

I’ve also been working on my Istanbul socks by Cookie A, which I’m totally loving (with so many projects on the needles it’s been hard to focus the admiration).

And this week I’ve downloaded and have begun listening to a new audiobook, drum roll please…

I’m listening to Outlander by Diana Gabaldon! I do feel that I’m the last person on earth to read this series. Now with the TV show beginning on Foxtel, I thought it was time to give it a go. I do intend to ‘listen’ to the book/s before watching the series. I think I’m ruined on Game of Thrones, but I’m still persisting with the audio books for now. I am enjoying the narration of Outlander and because I don’t know what’s going to happen (unlike GoT), there is a reason to listen to 32 hours for the first book alone.

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.

Yarn Along: The one where nothing much changes

August 13, 2014 | Sonia Knits

Welcome to another week of Yarn Along with Ginny! Go and take a look at what everyone else is knitting and reading this week over on her blog.

I’m still reading Stephanie Pearl Mc-Phee’s latest book: ‘The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes: Stories of Tidiness, Self-Esteem and Other Things I gave Up On’. I’m about half-way through and I’m beginning to think there is no knitting content within these pages! It is a departure from her other books where between the stories of life, there is always knitting. Perhaps all the knitting stories have been told, for now? Nevertheless, I’m still enjoying it and the tales or truths she tells. As she reflects about stories of her own life, it makes me think of mine. I could never jump hurdles myself either.

I am still listening to the first half of the first book of Game of Thrones, it sure as hell beats reading it myself. I am enjoying it, but I somehow want it to move a bit faster, I already know what’s happening and what will be happening for probably the next 100 hours of listening time…

I have been knitting feverishly on my Hooray Cardigan. I’m up to the rather large button bands, and then still have the sleeves to do. The good news is, I can throw the cable needle away because that part of the project is complete.

In other knitting news, my 7 year old niece Mary has taken to knitting with great gusto, and without my involvement! I was so excited to hear about her keenness, that I took over a ‘few’ supplies to nurture her enthusiasm. A friend at work has also taken up knitting recently, and this week I helped her complete her first cowl by stitching it together for her. Hooray for new knitters!

I hope to have a picture heavy post next week, sorry about that.

Shibui Knits Mix Party

August 5, 2014 | Sonia Knits

On Tuesday evening I attended a very bespoke party at Woolarium, it was their very first Shibui Mix Party! Let me explain. Shibui make very fine luxurious yarns of all kinds of fibres. Most of the yarns are fine, so putting 2 of them together not only can create a unique luxury fabric, you also get about an 8 ply or greater gauge, it’s WIN/WIN.

The evening had the added bonus of having Kirsten Johnstone attend and take us through the process of swatching (read: playing) with the yarn. I had a total fan girl moment, admitting to her that we were Ravelry friends and that in fact she friended me first, you know, before she was famous! And boy is she famous! I am now kicking myself for not purchasing a pattern leaflet and getting her to autograph it, but you know, I only think of these things whilst I’m in the car travelling AWAY from the store… but I digress.

It was a lot of fun. Sharron the store owner did an amazing job in the organisation of it. Down to coding all of our little samples of yarn to the hand-out with all the formulas for putting the yarns together. Genius! I am in awe of it all. I didn’t make a rash buying decision, although I did come pretty close, hello Aperture. Just now, I’m enjoying doing the swatching of it all and pondering the possibilities. I see a lot of Shibui in my future.

I think this may the first of many events Sharron does at Woolarium, so you should totally get in touch. But if you find out about an event before I do, can you please put my name down too? This one was a sell-out.

Photos or it didn’t happen

July 27, 2014 | Sonia Knits

I’ve picked up my second ‘Use it or lose it’ project this week. I had cast-on ages ago but got side-tracked with other projects. So I’m knitting away on it on Friday night, when I look down and see this:

Really? I thought, Really? I forgot to do the cable on the front right side, about 5 rows down.

I then remembered a little blog tutorial the Yarn Harlot did, turns out I have a good memory because it was 8 years ago on how to correct a wrongly crossed cable, or in my case, no crossing at all!

And so…

Out came 5 rows of uncrossed cable…

And in came 5 newly knit rows of cable. Abet a little wonky, but with a bit more fiddling and blocking, it won’t show at all.

I’m rather pleased with myself.

This is a ‘Lose it or Lose it’ project, inspired by the Stash and Burn group. The yarn is Anny Blatt Riviere D in colour ‘Baroque’. I bought it on sale at Clegs a million years ago. 53% wool, 41% Viscose (bugger just noticed that) and 6% Polyamide (the gold thread).

Damian was with me when I was pondering the purchase at $2 a ball I thought it was a bargain (and if this works out it still is) and I remember saying back then, I like it, but I don’t know when I’ll knit with it! And here we are. It is a bit scratchy to knit with, and the gold thread certainly makes it a ‘heavy’ knit, I’m going through balls pretty quickly. It’s just as well I got 20. I think it is a good pattern / yarn match, so far so good.

Methods for stashing down: UILI

March 2, 2014 | Sonia Knits

I’ve been following the Stash and Burn podcast rav forum thread ‘Use it or lose it’ on Ravelry for a little while now. I think the premise for the scheme is to cast on one thing from ‘deep stash’ each month, the yarn then either becomes a project that you’re happy with, or you realise that the yarn has no potential anymore and you move it along.

There is a lot in my stash that I consider as deep-stash. Putting all your yarn up on Ravelry is a wonderful thing. It makes organising so much easier! I’ve identified 8 amounts of wool that I need to move through my yarn collection, one way or another (at least to begin with, there’s more). To force the issue, I’ve created project pages for each of the yarns. I’ve assigned most of the yarn a project for what the yarn was originally intended for or in some cases a new pattern idea.

Today I’ve cast-on my Cleckheaton Angora Supreme, Cathy may recall me buying this. It was because of her high praise of this yarn, that I felt it was necessary to buy the last ever 10 balls of it from Wool Baa a million, billion years ago. I think at the time, I may have had this pattern in mind, I’m not sure. Either way, not long after it’s arrival in my stash I found what I thought was the perfect pattern for it. Then I forgot to knit it. But I didn’t forget, in my head it was sorted.

So I’ve cast on ‘Candy Stripes Kerchief’ by Kat Coyle today, maybe 5 or more years after it’s originally inception. I’ve changed the pattern so that I’m working in a tube rather than flat stocking stitch that curls. I have double the yardage to do this. I loved the design when I first saw it, quite Dr. Seuss like. And stripes are in.

I think this project is a keeper.

SPOILER: Arrow: Clue 2B

January 25, 2014 | Sonia Knits

I didn’t get to sit down to knit on my next clue for Ysolda’s shawl until Thursday this week. It’s just been one of those weeks. Less time to knit on my other projects, but a public holiday on Monday should even things out a little, yippee!

This is the second time (of a possible 2 times) so far, I’ve cheated and looked at the spoiler thread to help me decide which clue I should knit. I don’t really regret doing that. I would regret knitting one direction and realising I’d much prefer to do the other; clearly I’m not embracing the ‘mystery’ fully.

I’m glad there was this ‘short row’ clue. It’s made the shawl less semi circular, which was beginning to be a slight concern. Oh the twists and the turns! 3 more clues to go…

How’s your shawl going?

A change of mindset

April 7, 2013April 7, 2013 | Sonia Knits

Now going on a yarn and fibre buying hiatus is not going to be a great hardship for me. In fact it’s going to be a pleasure. On the odd occasion that I swear off yarn buying, my mind switches over from needing/wanting all the beautiful things to seeing/playing/using delicious yarn. It’s a good feeling. It’s winter and this little squirrel is going to be feasting on the acorns she’s been collecting.

I’m pressing forward with my Still light, despite hearing the news of Louisa’s woes with hers. I’m fairly sure I won’t have the same issues. I haven’t made anything too large for myself for a long while, only things on the small side…

Here’s where I’m at with it, only 3/4 to go!

And because I love sharing photos of Purl, here she is in her tunnel. Yes, our house is a kitten wonderland.

Sonia Knits

The adventures of a Melbourne Knitter

Work in Progress