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 – Slow progress

September 24, 2014September 23, 2014 | Sonia Knits

Welcome to another week of Yarn Along, you can see what everyone else is making and reading by heading over to Ginny’s blog here.

This week I wish my progress wasn’t so slow. Why am I not surprised?! That’s what happens when you’re working on more than one thing at a time.

I’m loving the Polka Dot rug that I’m making for my sister’s baby E.T.A. 7-10 weeks away, but probably just 7 weeks away. So far I’ve made a patch of each of the 13 coloured centres.

I think if I aim for 35 squares in total (5 x 7 grid) that would be sensible. There’s so much to do and so little time.

I’ve also been spinning, I have to keep up and perhaps try to get ahead of my fibre stash before my next Southern Cross Fibre club instalment arrives on my doorstep…

Ooops too late.

Well perhaps I can make some more spinning time this week… some how. I have to say David’s fibre is every bit delicious that his reputation suggests. I have not been disappointed with his colour choices for me.

I also popped along to Woolarium’s birthday celebration this weekend and picked up some Malabrigo for a future project. How could I resist?

I’m very passionate about the yarn stores we have in Melbourne, and I like to support them when I can. After all they run by people who are passionate about yarn and have taken the huge leap of faith that lovely knitters will patronise them. I love buying yarn, so I do what I can…

Don’t be fooled by the one skein pictured, I have way more for a jumper.

I’m still listening to Outlander and avoiding watching the shows; I am loving it!

Hopefully I’ll have an FO next week, somehow.

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 – Hexagons and In the mail

September 3, 2014September 2, 2014 | Sonia Knits

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.

This week I did a bit of work on my crochet blanket project. Many of you wouldn’t know it as a project, as I had only made 6 hexagons in the first year… Oh but don’t worry, this won’t be like my patchwork hexagon quilt or my hexipuffs (what hexipuffs), this time will be different.

I’m making it out of Noro Taiyo, which is a chunky yarn. After a little design consultation from Deb, I’m planning on adding a ‘natural’ or neutral colour to the final round of the hexagons. There are some amazing looking projects on Ravelry that do this, and it gives the ‘full on’ colour of the Noro a bit of a break. My next problem is finding the perfect yarn for it. Can I use stash? Can I spin for it? Decisions, decisions…

It’s also been a good mail week this week. Due to the enabling of one Susan B Anderson, these arrived at my desk on Friday…

Although the blame can’t lay solely on Susan’s shoulders. I was sufficiently enabled by The Knitmore Girls, and Simply Socks Yarn co. #operationsockdrawer

Happiness is a self-striping sock yarn x 5.

With fixed flat-rate shipping, I needed to make it worth my while… I have a self-striping sock yarn fetish, didn’t you know?

Up next I’m reading Rachel Herron’s ‘A life in Stitches’. It’s a sure thing, knitting, short-stories about knitting, I know I’m going to enjoy it. Then after that, maybe something serious?

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?

Project Planning

August 24, 2014August 23, 2014 | Sonia Knits

There is a new baby on it’s way in my family. Gosh no, not mine. It will be my sister’s second, a brother or sister for Marilyn. As Marilyn arrived 3 weeks early, I figure I’d better get into action in case the second arrives early too.

Originally my sister had said she would find out the sex of the second child, but now she has decided against that, so I can’t make a gender specific blanket. Oh yes of course, I should say we are talking about baby blankets here. Each of my siblings who have children, gets a blanket per baby. It’s a good system.

I happen to think my sister was quite keen on the blanket I made for Baby William, here:

And for all intents and purposes, this would have been a great option to just make another one, maybe switch the frame colour a little, so it was a little different. I have half the yarn left-over from all the contrast colours and I would only need to purchase the border colour. It would also mean that I would be using stash that is waiting for another baby to arrive in the winter months…

But no, this next baby is arriving right before summer really begins. And because I’m a show off and I like seeing my baby blankets put to use, I’m opting for a cotton version, and something a little different.

Patons put out a great book last year(?) called Modern Crochet: Book 1316 and I bought it. I think I’ll make the ‘Polka Dot Rug’ (picture at the top), but modify the amount of squares so that it is pram size. If their cotton wasn’t a cotton ‘blend’, I would have also used their yarn. But alas I think it’s only 50% cotton. So a Bendigo purchase is on the horizon.

What are you planning to make?

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.

Exciting new things

August 17, 2014 | Sonia Knits

The last few weeks I’ve been checking out a few ‘new to me’ knitting video-casts; which are podcasts with pictures!

I can’t emphasise how much I’m enjoying this new development. When I thought listening to podcasts was pretty awesome, having actual footage of the podcaster presenting is even better. The funnest part is the ‘show and tell’. Whether it’s WIP’s of FO’s that are being discussed to ‘in the mail’ segments. Yes, even fabulous hand-dyers and designers get excited about woolly packages, just like me. Best of all, it’s wonderful to see, watch and understand how ‘down-to-earth’, generous, and ‘normal’ these knitting heroes are. I think when you record yourself on video, there is no where to hide!

You should give it a try!

Check out Skein Yarns and the Susan B Anderson video casts on iTunes. There’s a couple of others I’m still to try, if you have any recommendations please let me know.

Warning: Watching knitting video-casts could lead to more project queueing, etsy purchasing, book purchasing and project dreaming, you have been warned.

My Honey Cowl is moving along, it’s my social knitting project so it’s not getting a lot of attention. It’s about halfway through and I’m loving how smooshy it feels. I’m still hoping to have it done for this cold weather.