Eleven and a half

Note to self.


7th Feb, and 11.5 FOs in the last 38 days. You may want to slow down a bit. Or aim for larger Os to F.


In fairness, not all of the things that have been finished this year were started this year. A case in point are these hats. These were made in Norfolk over New Years when I was away with Rachel, Ferg & the wonder dog Ness. I made one for each of us humans to protect us from the ravages of the Siberian wind that then singularly failed to show up (I expressed my disapointment at the time to Rachel, who's neck of the woods this is).

The hats all started out using the basic hat recipe from LMKGs. All knit in Manos. I got 5 different colours that all sort of went with each other, and we all chose the brim style and colours we wanted, and then I just went for it.

From the top, clockwise; Ferg's, mine & Rachel's.

Of the 3 I am most pleased with Rachel's. She wanted the colours to be used totally randomly, and I had a lot of fun with that, carrying colours along rows, changing the colour order. The results worked out well. Mine is fine, but I had a regimented order, each colour did 1.3 rounds and the yarns were switched at the same point all the way though the hat. I can see the change and it annoys my that it wasn't smoother. I am quite pleased with the goofiness of Ferg's hat. He loved the strong colours, and really wanted a deep brim to keep his ears warm when he is out surveying on boats in the middle of the Irish or North Seas, my only beef with it was that I don't like the way the ribbing shows the colour change, and I think there is a better way of doing it. It was a fun project and a good way to start the new knitting year.

I seem to be living in the land of pregnant people at the moment. Thinking about it logically as a 34 year old woman with lots of married friends I can hardly be surprised about this. This has lead to the next 4 FOs of the year which are a little group of 4 bibs. These are another idea from Mason Dixon Knitting.

They are all for the bump of my mate Sarah. She is due to give birth a week today. For the purposes of these bibs there are 2 things you need to know about Sarah; 1) she is married to a lovely cricket playing, lager drinking, rugby watching Australian called Shane, and 2) she is mad for lilac. Mad for it. Every day of her life she has something lilac on, even if it isn't apparent to the rest of the world, be it socks, hair bobble, whatever. She has already made it clear to Shane that even if she has a boy she will be dressing him in lilac. I can't help it but I have pandered to the madness and knit her 3 little bibs in lilac and 1 bib for Shane in green and gold, or at least what passed for green and gold in my cotton collection.

All the yarn is peaches and creme. What I love about the yarn is that not only is it machine washable, but you can tumble it too. What I love about these bibs are the buttons and the neckbands. I wanted each of the bibs to have its own little identity, so I made all the neckbands different. The buttons all came from my Auntie Vera's button box which I inherited a couple of weeks ago. I somehow think that my 92 year old aunt would have approved of hand made bibs and saved buttons as a baby gift.

The final FO is a pair of tiger feet. This is the 3rd pair of slippers I have made from the Rowan Felted Collection but the first I have kept for myself, the other 2 pairs being gifted to Jenn for Christmas and Fiona for her birthday. I love this pattern. It is so quick but really satisfying to make.

Knitted in Big Wool Ginger Snap and Camouflage. I had enough for a pair in each colour way but decided to mix them, which means that when these die, and given the fact they pretty much haven't left my feet in a week now they will die, I have enough to make another pair.
Yay for cosy toes!

Now the astute amongst you will be saying "3 hats, 4 bibs and a pair of slippers do not 11.5 FOs make" or words to that effect. And you are right. Even my maths isn't that poor.

So where the other 3.5? Well, they are still waiting to be phtographed. The 3 are 3 kitchen cloths for the van. I have 1 more ballband to knit before the 'set' is complete and will reveal when it is done - probably this weekend.

The .5 is, depending on how you look at these things, either a finished sock which is waiting for me to get on with its mate, also unphotographed, but more because it is a plain stockinette sock in a frankly lurid makes-your-eyes-hurt-but-somehow-attractive yellowish yarn than because it is only half a thing, or my Scrumptious Calpotis which I am exactly half way through, and I am hoping that by thinking of it as half an FO it will encourage me to F the rest of the O. Hoping. By the way I offer a round of applause to anyone who actually followed that last sentance. For the rest of you a recap; 2 half finished objects trying to earn the .5 FO status, first is a nasty yellow sock and the second a half finished clapotis. I hope that helped.

It feels like a lot to have finished in 6 weeks.

TWO MORE SLEEPS

That's all!

Now I just have to decide what knitting to take with (other than Sarah's fingerless mitts and the foot of the 2nd Space Dust Monkey) as I'll have plenty of knitting time on the flight and the train from Munich. Especially as I finished SGIII last night - photos will have to wait for a couple of weeks.

Hello, radio silence is over.

How can it be nearly a month since I last posted. It isn't like nothing has happened. I can only put it down to year end at work. It is a horrible time to be there. My job involves keeping salespeople safe from themselves and helping the company do sensible, profitable business. This means that I get to spend the last 6 - 8 weeks of the year chasing other people's tails running after every conceivable sale so that people make their targets and bonuses. It totally sucks the spirit out of the time of year for me. You would think after 13 years of it I'd be resigned to it by now, but it still sneaks up and slaps me each time. Sigh.

Anyhoo, enough moaning and excuses. I have FOs. Including a Christmas FO at that.

I have finished, and worn the Soho Cowl and Mitts. They were a lovely quick knit. I used 4 balls of Debbie Bliss Soho, 2 on the cowl, and 1 each for the mitts, with very little left over. I have been surprised at just how warm the fingerless gloves have kept my hands. The cowl is based on the fpea Quickie Cowl again, and the mitts were taken from LMKGs.

Excuse the picture of me looking barely raised from the dead, and needing an indecent amount of moisturiser... The colours are great because my good winter coat is charcoal grey with a fuchsia lining, and my winter jacket is a lovely olive-y green.

I have also finished, sewn up, felted and created the inner for (i.e. totally done) the hot wheatie bottle for Ma for Christmas. More accurately speaking it is a hot pearl barley bottle, but as we are amongst friends I am sure you will let it pass. It has turned out ok. Better than hoped for. I had to put it through the machine twice to get it to felt much. I used the yarn specified and it hasn't felted as completely as other wools I have used. The flap has spread a little too. But, it was begun when I knew nothing about anything, and it will be toasty and cosy, which is the point of it all.

The knitted bit is from the Rowan Felted Collection. The inner is from my head; some left over linen from a skirt I made, doubled up to give the lining some body and made into a little envelope, with a bit of bias along the top to keep it all good and closed, and a little felt heart rustically (being the politest term for my hand sewing) sewn to the front.

This leaves Fred's jumper outstanding, and even that is making good progress. I have completed the front and am 2/3s done with the back. SG III is on the home stretch too (thank goodness). It has been a real test in the ability to go through the stocking stitch pain barrier, but is going to look fine and dandy when it is done. I have also added one more project to the list, which was to make something for my sis, so that everyone in the family gets to open a hand knit at Christmas. I wish to make myself universally unpopular with everyone sharing the need to be polite in the face of their handcrafted offerings :-D. The project added is a simple hat and fingerless glove set. I am looking forward to getting Christmas gifts done though. I have a bunch of things on the back burner that I want to do, in particular getting some more socks knitted so that I can wear handmade all the time.

Satisfaction

This has been a really good weekend.

I have officially, at 34, joined the ranks of the middle aged, and I am absolutely delighted to have done so. Ihave joined said ranks as I have bought a caravan.

Most people I know will either laugh at me, or sit there shaking their heads in disbelief. The caravan is desperately uncool, but I really don't care. We got our first van when I was 3, and we had one until after my sister & I had both left home. They make for the best holidays; having your home on your back, being able to go where ever you want, and I decided it was time to get a little of that action for myself. So, come March, I shall be the completely overexcited owner of a caravan. Between now and the we have the small matter of finding somewhere for it to live, as I don't have a drive, oh, and getting a car which can tow it, as the current one doesn't have a tow bar, but these are details, and small ones at that. The point is. I. Have. A. Caravan. Yay for me! :-)

The other part of making this weekend lovely is that I have some FOs too. Having said, in the last post, that I love nearly finished things. I also really love finished things too.

May I present Baby Kimono II, with a little bonus hat which I whipped up on Thursday night. They are knit in Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, col. Tomato. The hat is pattern-less. Using some 5mm DPNs, I just consulted the oracle for diameter, making the rim in moss stitch to match the cardi, and One Skein for the depth (3.5 inches before decreases), and then just divided the number of stitches into 8, and started decreasing from there. Voila, a baby hat.

The kimono is after the pattern in Mason Dixon Knitting knit on a 5mm Addi circ. I cast on the same number of stitches knowing that it would come up a little larger than the Baby Kimono pattern, included in which is the 6 stitch moss stitch border. The sleeves have been made a little deeper to compensate, 13cm rather than the called for 10cm. None of the seams are sewn at the borders to allow for a little wriggle room.

Baby Lyne is due any day now, so I may soon have update shots to show off.

C's Christmas jumper is also finished. I am pleased with how this has turned out. It is the first jumper I have knitted, and even though it is a very simple pattern, from the Debbie Bliss book Home it is satisfying to have completed. I am particularly pleased with how the neckline turned out too. Now I just need to make Fred's jumper and at least I know the boys will be getting their Christmas pressies. The curse of an aunt who likes to make stuff. If Sarah & Jonathan don't send those boys into therapy when they are older their aunt certainly will.



Next up is something that didn't even make the WIP list. I was completely inspired by Brainylady Alison on Wednesday, when I got to her post and instantly decided that I neeeeeeeeeded to make the fpea quickie cowl, so after a little stash-dive I came up with 50 metres of one zero in what I think is Ischia, a pair of 12 mm needles and went for it. I reduced the number of stitches by half, given I was using a super chunky and needles twice the size asked for, and after sewing it up I was left with 6 inches or so of yarn. Even while knitting it I realised I wasn't making it for me, but for my mate Sara. She is a green-aholic, and it will go with her eyes just brilliantly, also with 2 small children it means that she won't be trailing scarf everywhere.

I have started another one for me, this time in some Debbie Bliss Soho that I had originally bought to make a pair of felted slippers in, but I think I am going to have enough to make the cowl and a matching pair of mitts, and I have decided that I am ahead enough of the Christmas present curve that I can afford a couple of illegal knits for myself. Fiona has also commissioned one, so you'll be seeing more of this pattern.

One last peek at this week's FOs.

All in all a very satisfying weekend. I am off to knit more cowl and figure out what I am going to have for dinner.

Little bits

I have a couple of FOs to show you today. Bits of FOs anyway.

The first is part of a Christmas for a friend who made the dangerous mistake of saying how nice she thought a dishcloth was that I had made, so I have made her a pair using the colour of her kitchen as the starting point. May I present Ballband I and Ballband II from MDK.

BBI was knit as per recipe. BBII was knit on 4mm needles, rather than the required 4.5mm, and has 1 fewer bands, as I was a bit concerned that I would run out of the variegated cotton. I needn't have worried, I would have had enough for the full sized on the 4.5s, but actually, I think I prefer the fabric the 4s make.

The second is also a gift, but as it is SGII this is all you are getting...

Well, ok, this little bit as well...

Smuggy McSmugpants

2 weeks finished, and I still feel like that.



This is my first quilt. And I am that proud of it with all its imperfections.

I will now go and do the very British, and very female thing of telling you about all the imperfections in the thing. Like there isn't a straight line in it. Anywhere. Not by design, but by the fact that I am pathologically incapable of sewing in one. And like, if I were to really be pernickety about it I would rip out all the yellow quilting and redo it, because the bottom spool tension was off, but I was being such a quilting demon I didn't notice 'til it was all done. Oh, and while we are at it, the point where the edging meets... a bit clumpy...




Despite all that? Still Smuggy McSmugpants. I even made up a song about it. Unoriginal lyrics, simple tune, and you will have to get me stone drunk to hear it.




I have also come to the conclusion that quilting is a drug. I know pushers, dealers and pimps of fabric, pattern books and cutting mats. These are ruthless women who will stop at nothing to get you to join the club. Make you one of them. Give you the disease. My mother is one of them, and in retrospect real drug dealers could learn a LOT by her stealth tactics. I have been worn down by the creativity of the finished object and the beauty of the fabric, and I love it. Not enough to become a full time quilter (probably denial), or to do anything that requires too steady a hand, but enough to have already planned the next 2 quilts!

Help!




Quilty details. It turned out twin-sized-ish. The top is a Moda Jelly Roll that I fell in love because of the evil temptation laid down by another quilt-pusher. The bottom is make up largely of fabric I had lying around; bits of Amy Butler fabric left over from a top I am making, and bits of batik my Mum decided she didn't want, so it is pretty much a thrifted back. The back piece is made up of 4 inch strips and the top 2 inch (finished width) with 1 at 90 degrees to the other, and is loosely based on a feed sack quilt from Quick Quilts (the one hanging over the armoire door, in fact). I quilted in waves along the length of the 4 inch strips with alternating colours on the top, and to finish it was all bound in a lovely warm brown.





I'm Smuggy McSmugpants, tra-la-la-la-laaaaaaa...

Have a great weekend.

FOs

Yesterday I finished this little cotton kimono (Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono, MDK, as written in Peaches & Creme Col. Celery). It is a gift for my colleague Sarah who is leaving to have her first baby on Tuesday (leaving that is, baby makes its own mind up when it comes). Obviously it is for the baby, Sarah is thin, but not that petite.

I did some figuring out today, and this is the 40-something F knitted O of the year. That is over FOUR TY knitted things I have made this year. I couldn't knit this time 12 months ago, and I am sat here typing in sunshine yellow Monkeys (ies?) that I made. And that says nothing of the clothes I have sewn, or the fact that I may also be turning into a quilter. It is hardly any wonder that I am facing major angst on how I can work for a living and still fit in all the things that are important in life. This is an evolving story though.

In separate news... Jenn has suggested that I have a monthly haiku competition. Bloody good idea. This month's theme is pie. There are no prizes, just the kudos of a haiku well written. Plaudits will be published on the first of the next month, along with the new theme. Should I remember.

One last shot before this goes to have formula and mushed banana ground into it.