Year Totals

I'm not sure if the Knit Meter will change on 1st Jan, so in case it does, I'd just like to record that I've knitted/crocheted 14,277 metres during 2010.

It's more than that, as with the commissions, I don't count them until they're published, but I'm still quite happy with that as a total.

However - I suspect that there has still been a net gain for the year, which is not so good. Must try harder. But it's hard to burn the stash when I'm making things for the magazines, as the yarn gets sent to me.

Hopefully, with willpower, time and organisation, I'll get quite a bit used up. Hope springs eternal, eh?


And here's the list of completed projects:

2010 09 Cardigan in Wendy Fusion
2010 09 Chunky Black Jacket
2010 07 Baby things
2010 06 Handwarmers
2010 06 Cakes
2010 06 Gift Bags
2010 04 Crochet Bag
2010 03 Opera Gloves
2010 03 Tiara
2010 02 Forever Scarf
2010 02 Tunisian Crochet Gift Bag
2010 02 Andrea's Hat
2010 02 Crochet Handwarmers
2010 01 Crochet Wave Hat
2010 01 Black Flapper Hat


Is that it?

A Christmas Greeting

A happy Christmas to all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q

Have fun, stay dry warm and upright.

Sirdar must wonder what the hell's going on....

Being November, in magazine world, next summer's patterns are being knitted and submitted.

I have two commissions at the moment, completely different designs, but both suitable for a cotton mix yarn.

When putting the pattern ideas to editors, most designers gives suggestions for yarns but the ultimate choice is theirs.

So, last week, I had some Sirdar Calico yarn through, for one of the commissions. This is a two colour design, but the contrast is really just for highlights.

This morning, I had some more Sirdar Calico through, for the other commision, in the same colour!

The compliment slip was signed by the same person, so I do wonder if she noticed my name crop up again.

To make matters worse, there's another commission on the way (completely different item and yarn), which is also from Sirdar.

I have no connections with this company, whatsoever, but I'm wondering if I should get in contact, to become one of their designers.......


Although I am going to be heartily sick of that colour by the time I've finished!

Crochet Slippers

Here is the latest pattern - crochet slippers for Inside Crochet.

The yarn (Louisa Harding, Kashmir Baby) is gorgeous. I think I have something similar/diff name in the stash from my last trip to the USA - I really should use it!

Serious thanks go to Zoe, the technical editor for getting this pattern into publishable shape. I was obviously having a very dizzy moment when I typed it up. And when I sent her my spreadsheet (showing how the increases worked), to show where I'd got my numbers from, I swear she must have thought that I was mad as well as daft. I had the pleasure of meeting Zoe at Ally Pally and so I was able to give my thanks and apologies in person. She's much kinder than I deserve!

Anyway, enough self-flagellation - here's the pattern.

Trend Spotting at Ally Pally October 2010

(The Rowan Stand)

I wasn't going to go, but in the end, I couldn't resist Ally Pally.

This year, there seemed to be a lot more companies selling undyed yarns (although not many companies selling dyes). And the Rowan Stand was full of their "purelife" etc yarns.

Still plenty of colour, though, which is always good to see.

(Habu)

The place seemed to be more about "stitch" than "knit" this year - if I see another patchwork quilt, I may weep.

The best/prettiest yarns were from The Knitting Academy. Their stuff is on the pricey side but looks and feels absolutely fab.

The black sheep jumble sale was there (but I resisted) as well as all of the usual spinners (large Colinette stall, Rowan, Sirdar etc).

Some obvious folks were missing (Get Knitted for example), and there weren't as many book sellers as previous years, but generally, it was a good show.

And it was absolutely packed with people - I think it was the busiest I've seen it. Which, of course, means that it was incredibly hot, as many were there in their best knitted items!

The student shows were inspiring, as ever - here are a couple of my faves.

Time for a lie down in a darkened room, now.

Stuff for chaps

The lastest Patterns in Let's Knit

Bias knit for a bit of interest and to show the fab (if muted in this case) colours of the Zauberball.

Editorial control

This is what the item looked like when it left me:

And this is what it looked like in the magazine.

In 38 years of knitting, this is a first

Those who know me, know that I never have enough yarn to make a sweater. This is why my creations for myself have blocks, strips and stripes.





And so, for the first time in nearly 40 years of knitting I have made, for myself, a sweater all from the same yarn!





(Pause for fanfare).

It's still pretty colourful, but it is all the same yarn. This usually only happens for design commissions.





It's an Ann Budd raglan design. I made the sleeves, then did a provisional cast on for the front/back and worked the yoke (similar process to the black sweater in an early post).





Then I picked up the prov cast on and worked down until I ran out.





I think that I could have done the neck a little better (bit of a funnel there), but winters a-coming in, and it will keep me warm in my chilly little office.





The yarn is Wendy Fusion, bought a couple of years ago when a local shop closed down (all yarn has to be in the stash for at least 2 years until it's used - that's the law...).





Generally happy with it - the yarn was nice to work with and should be fairly warm and cosy.

Two Patterns in Let's Knit

I can now reveal two of the "teasers" from an earlier post.

The first is a pair of gloves with the top of the first finger and thumb missing. I call them "commuter gloves" with the idea being that the wearer can keep their hands warm while reading a book or operating an MP3 player while on a draughty train. It was actually my Dad's suggestion, so he should take the credit for the idea - it's just that he doesn't knit.

I have a pair of these in dark colours, sombre for work.

In the same issue, there's a circular yoke crochet cardigan with a swirl pattern. My initial suggestion was for a plain yarn with a variegated swirl. The good folks at the magazine came up with this colour option instead. The yarn is a teal colour, but looks more blue in the mag. Happy with the way it's been styled, though (so much better than simply being laid out on the top of my chest freezer!

Set in Sleeves Chunky Jacket

When dressing, I tend to go for simply shaped loose fitting items.

When designing, I tend to do the same and these have the added advantage that they are relatively straightforward to put together.

But it was time to bite the bullet, to put my big brave pants on and to have a go at.....set in sleeves!

I have a jacket which I use for work, but it is getting a bit "well used". However, I really like the fit and length of it, so I decided to replicate it in knit.

Although it's not perfect (perfect things and people tend to be very boring), I'm pleased with the results.

The original jacket has a V-neck with lapels, but I decided on a crew with collar. Other details include shoulder pads and knitted in pockets. I didn't bother doing any rib at the top of the pockets as the knitted fabric holds its pattern fairly well and I didn't want to add even more bulk.

Ages ago I bought some King Cole Magnum Chunky, which I used for this. Of course (as suggested in a previous post), I didn't have enough. To get around this (luckily, I realised fairly early on). I worked the sleeves, and then did the fronts on a provisional cast on , starting very close to the armholes. I then finished these pieces, put the whole thing together and then worked down from the prov cast on. The pattern was one row knit, one row single rib, so I did a stripe of stocking stitch (and matched it, in the sleeves), to allow for the change of knitting direction.

Wendy DK, doubled, gave me the same tension as the Magnum, and so when I actually ran out of the yarn, I did four rows of doubled DK in a contrast colour, and then continued until I got the length I wanted.

To avoid any jumps in colour on the button bands, I did 2 rows of the contrast on that, too.

In general, I'm happy with it. Some of the shaping for the hips was unnecessary and there is a danger that it will look a bit like a peplum, but I'll see how it feels and drapes once it's been washed. In my experience, acrylic seems to go a bit saggy, so it should drape relatively softly, rather than looking too strange.

It's taken me a while to finish this, due to interruptions of other projects in the meantime, but I'm pleased with the finished result and hope to get a lot of use from it this winter.

Okay, I can finally reveal my true identity.

Yes, it's me.

Things I discovered this week.

1) Double knit, doubled, gives me the same tension as King Cole Magnum Chunky, so I can finish my jacket (yes, Jo, I didn't have enough yarn.....)





2) Texere Yarns are brilliant! Not only did they have the two balls that I wanted, they even matched the dye lots!





3) Tucking a needle behind my ear only really works when it's not a circular!

Great Auntie!

Having found out that I'm going to become a great-aunt (not sure how I feel about the name...), it was time to get cracking.

The booties are from a Bernat pattern, the mitts and hat are my own. The yarn is Wendy Peter Pan, which is a nylon/acrylic mix and beautifully soft. I asbolutely love working with it (forgive me, purists). The white is just some acrylic DK from the stash.

The blanket is another made using Rico Pompon yarn.

I'm not sure why, but I found this less annoying to use than last time (just as well, as I used 2 balls for this blanket). The red edge is due to the footballing allegiance of the prospective father (I'm surrounded by gooners!)

I have been working, honest!

The lack of posting may make it seem as though I haven't made anything for ages.

Truth is, I've been busy with commissions, which is great, but means that I can't put my work "out there" until those who are kind enough to pay for it have published it.

So, here are a few cropped snaps to show some of the lovely yarns I've been working with, but without giving any spoilers on the designs.

Zauberball

Alpaca

Merino

More Merino

Georgeous cashmere mix

It's a tough life.......

Hand dyed handwarmers

Been meaning to post these for ages, just never got around to taking the piccie.

This was the yarn dyed at the workshop organised by Jo. I'm delighted with the way that it has pooled.

Bits of silliness

Cakes made to show to a couple of friends how easy crochet can be.
Designed and made in an evening. Two other friends (yes, I have four friends - who knew?) were having a combined birthday party. These are re-usable gift bags.

(using up some more of the Adriafil Matisse as well as some Just Bamboo)

E viva Espana

Ola!



Yes, I've just returned from sunny Germany, oh, okay, Andalucia where the sun shone and the wind blew (but if you build a golf course on the top of a hill, then it's likely to get a bit blowy).



This was a time of R&R as the long suffering one played golf, and I sat by the pool, drinking enough agua con gas to float a battleship.

I took some knitting with me, but this is as much a picture as you're going to get, as it may become a pattern idea, and I don't want to jinx anything.

I also caught up with about half a dozen writing magazines that I hadn't got around to reading. This turned into a very good thing, as I feel quite fired up to crack on with the grand opus and, more importantly, I have discovered a significant flaw in DTD.

As I lay back on my sun lounger, proving that I really can knit (and purl) with my eyes closed, I realised that there was a problem with the characterisation of the protagonist. However, as I'm only one chapter in (still!) I can fix it before it happens. I just need to revise my synopsis and we're away.

To be honest, by the end of the week, I was getting a bit bored on my hols, but boredom is good for us, as it frees up bits of the brain and makes us creative...allegedly. Let's hope I can be even more creative as I plough through the resulting ironing!

Crochet Entrelac

Well, there's been another slight flurry of activity as "Cleo" a little bag made from crochet entrelac is published this month.

Quite proud of it. I have since perfected the technique (kinda), but the method given in the pattern is absolutely fine for this yarn.

Hoping to see another pattern using the stitch, but in a different way. Fingers crossed and watch this space.

While I'm waiting in the car.....

....and I often am, I've started making crochet hexagon medallions out of the DK acrylic that's creating a fire hazard in the cupboard.

I've done quite a few, so it was time to start sewing them up.

I have a feeling that it will turn into a blanket without end, but at least it's busting a little stash. Each hexagon takes approx 30m (which in acrylic is about 10g). If anyone would like the pattern, it's here.

Love and peace to all.

A night at the opera, a day in a draught and playtime!

A Night at the Opera


My opera gloves appeared in this month's Let's Knit.

They were made using a provisional cast on, like a "toe up" sock. This allowed for regular knitting problems of getting fed up with the pattern and/or running out of yarn!

The yarn in this case is absolutely wonderful to work with (Fyberspates Scrumptious). Highly recommended.

Perhaps these gloves would go with the tiara that I made for Andrea. She's going to have a party at some point, and wanted suitable headgear. I've left it fairly plain, as she's an artist, so I thought that she might want to embellish it herself.

A Day in a Draught

It took me a year, but I finally finished the scarf for the long-suffering one.

I used Arequipa, and realised that I wouldn't have enough (he wanted it long enough to tie into a New York knot) and so I put a ball of sock yarn in the middle.

(Modelled by Bert)

The pattern uses the mitre/domino/modular technique (pattern to follow).

Playtime!

Many thanks to the lovely Jo and the ladies of the local spinners' group, for a day of dyeing (note the "e" in the middle).

Having never dyed anything before (assuming a dylon in the washing machine doesn't count), then this was a great experience.

My second batch (the darker of the two) wasn't at all as I had planned, and shows what happens when you slosh too much dye in, but it also proves the joy of a happy accident, as I'm really pleased with both of them.

Not sure what to use them for, but I feel that I am desperately short of waistcoats at the moment, and so there may be some stranded work in the offing.

Also working on an Adult Surprise Jacket, but photos to follow when I'm further along.

Gift bags and....writing!

I have decided that it may be more sensible to use up my stash with small items (which I'm more likely to finish, being more of a project, than a process, crafter) rather than large blankets which will never be made.



So, I've made a gift bag. Not sure what gift will go in it yet, but it is re-usuable and has used up some yarn from the stash that I liked but didn't know what to do with. The yarn is Matisse by Adriafil. I got it ages ago and it's pretty, but odd - it's an aran weight, but because it's made of 51% viscose (along with cotton and acrylic), it's got quite a soft drape - not sure that's what I want in an aran weight yarn. Naturally, I didn't buy enough to make a garment (quel surprise), but I've managed to use 2 skeins in my gift bag, so I'm happy.






It's a tunisian crochet rectangle, which I then joined into a tube, and used regular crochet to make the base, and the top.









Writing
I haven't mentioned writing for a while, but I've actually done some!

I had been putting off writing "Scattering" because I had been busy. But, rather more crucially, I'm still not sure where that's going, and if there's enough there for a 100,000 word novel.

However, a new idea has come to me. The working title would be too much of a giveaway of the subject matter, so it will just be called "DTD" for the time being, and I feel very enthusiastic about it.

Hopefully, this will be more of a goer.

Well, I can't have any of my own....

It worries me sometimes how some things can make me ridiculously happy or excited.



Why, for example, would the arrival of an ebay purchase from "Mr Polystyrene" (do you think that's his real name?) make me so happy?



But it has.



Maybe it's because I can't have any of my own.



Maybe it's because I feel like a proper designer if I have some kind of model.



Maybe it's because I'm a sad old woman who really should know better.



Whatever the reason, may I introduce to you....



The Kids!



Ladies and gentleman, these two fine individuals are Bert and Ethel (she was going to be Annie, but saying "Bert and Annie" sounded like Hootenanny, and frankly, once a year's enough for that").

Bert is wearing a flapper hat, adapted from a vintage pattern, whereas Ethel is modelling my latest creation, a "disappearing rib hat" made from my own pattern. (Does that make me vain? Apologies if it does). This is for my hairdresser and friend, Andrea.


The hat actually looks very small when it's just sitting on the needles, due to the ribbing, but it does also go around Bert's head, so I'm hopefully that it will be warm and cosy on Andrea.

Prepare yourself for a hat knitting frenzy (I bought a block, too!!)

Ah, those two - they make me so proud.......

The easiest hand warmers

This is a pair of ridiculously easy crochet handwarmers.

They used just under a skein (approx 200m) of DK weight yarn and a 4mm crochet hook.

Instructions (make 2 the same):

Make 46 chain.

Base Row: Starting in the second chain from the hook, work 1 double crochet (US term: Single crochet) into each chain (45 sts)

Row 1: 1ch, work 1 dc (US term sc) into the back loop of each stitch.

Repeat row 1 until 34 rows have been worked in total.

Sew up, leaving a gap for the thumb.

Told you it was easy!

Second published pattern for KAL Media

Super excited!



This period of activity is a fluke, and after this there will be a gap before anything else is in print, but I'm in another publication this week!




The entrelac edge idea came to me during the first half of last year (also looks great in two colours) but I wasn't sure what to do with it.


My non-knitting husband is actually surprisingly good, when I ask him "what shall I do with this stitch pattern?"


I think that this one was my idea, however, and I'm really pleased how it looks on. Because I am bigger than the average bear, I can never make mag pieces for my size. Plus, to be honest, by the time this little beauty went into the post, I was glad to see that back of it.


Delighted with how it looks, however, so just searching for inspiration now, for the next project.

Muse, where art thou?

First published pattern for KAL Media

Very excited.

I love Let's Knit, as we all know. But it's nice to think that more than one editor likes my designs.

I've been rejected this morning by Inside Crochet for a second proposal (it happens, I may be able to improve it and suggest it elsewhere), but that doesn't mean that I wasn't really excited to see this - my first design for them.

Of course, since the preview's been up, I've been obsessively watching the comments on Ravelry, to see what folks think. Generally the response has been positive. Some ladies like it, but showed it to their men, who didn't. Some ladies wanted a female version (perhaps.....). One person didn't like it, thinking it was a bit 70s. Well, it is a tank top.

However, in the end, we can't pander to our audience. I liked the stitch pattern, and I feel that it's come out okay as a finished garment. Now I've just got to keep coming up with ideas that the editors like, too!

Further publications

Considering my last post was about buying new yarn, it amuses me that my most recent publications are about using up the scraps and burning the stash.

The wonderful people at Let's Knit even had me on their "designer profile" page at the front this time!

The designs stem from ideas I had a while ago about putting brights against black for a stained glass effect. I've tried this in tapestry crochet, which works okay, but the pattern turned out to be a knitted hat and mitts set.

It's about scraps, Russian joins and magic balls and although the end result would look great in wool (and would be fab in felted pattern) my scraps are all nasty from the stash, so that's what we used.

I liked the name "Tracery", but I know nothing about magazines or marketing, so figure that those who do are best placed to chose the names.

May I introduce Amelie.....

....and Isabelle

My Bad

After a year of considerable restraint,

I went mad,

Well, it was half price, and I know that I shouldn't have but

PRETTY!

Forgive me all for I have sinned.