Hitchhiker

I've started something new.  It's the Hitchhiker scarf by Martina Behm who has several patterns listed on Ravelry.  All other WIPs have been put to one side.  The reason?  The scarf is destined to be my mother-in-law's birthday present and her birthday's 2 January.  The yarn I'm using is Unicorn from Fyberspates, which I've mentioned before as it was a yarn produced for a joint-venture competition/yarn club between Jeni at Fyberspates and Amanda at The Natural Dye Studio.  A fingering-weight yarn, the fibre blend isn't specific on Ravelry, but if memory serves, it's 70% baby llama, 20% cashmere and 10% silk (or something like that).  Whatever, it's soft and I hope my mother-in-law will like it as I've never knitted anything for her before.  I spent a few hours looking for a suitable pattern and then saw Hitchhiker on Wendy Johnson's blog, so investigated further on Ravelry and decided that it would work.  One of the difficulties I find with knitting for other people is the after care.  I know that whilst my mother-in-law will be happy to hand-wash a scarf, blocking would be a different matter and if you're giving something as a gift to a non-knitter, it's a bit cheeky to include a sheet of blocking instructions in the package!  So, although I'll probably block Hitchhiker, it won't matter if it's not blocked after further washes.

The yarn's variegated in a subtle way and is knitting up nicely.  A bit of pooling here and there, but that seems to be coming out as stripes that move around the scarf rather than glaring blobs or flashes, so I hope it continues.  The scarf construction is interesting as well.   It starts with 2 stitches and for each 'tooth', 9 stitches are increased and 5 cast off, which means a stitch increase of 4 stitches per 'tooth' (it's an 8-row pattern repeat).  By the end of the knitting and it's time to cast off (determined by the amount of yarn available), the teeth form one side of the scarf and the cast off edge the other side.  Here's a photo of progress to date:

It curves nicely at the top edge and is easy knitting (garter stitch) but with some detail to retain interest.  I started off with 90g of yarn (I used 10g in a ripple blanket for my older daughter) and I've just weighed the ball on my digital kitchen scales and I've got 67g left, so I should get a decent-sized scarf.  I started it on 2 Dec, so if I continue at the same rate, that's averaging just under 6g of yarn a day, so it should be finished in a couple of weeks.

The weather here's bright and sunny, but the temperature has dropped considerably this week and there's been frost on the ground and cars when DD1 and I leave the house at 7.20am to walk to the station so she can get the train to school.  I'm trying to resist putting on the heating during the day if it's just me at home, so I've been washing winter jumpers and layering up.  If it's still cold at the weekend, I'll even be breaking out my vests when I go to work as last weekend every time the door opened, a cold draught wafted across the shop straight at me!  I buy small-sized men's vests from Marks & Spencer as they're longer than the ones in the women's department, even though they're not the most attractive item of clothing I own!  Hubby laughs, but if I'm cold, I'm grumpy!

I'm off now to hopefully get another few repeats of Hitchhiker done before lunch, at which time I'll probably have another laundry load to iron and the dishwasher to empty (I forgot to put it on last night - whoops!).

What were they thinking?

The yarn colourway design team at Rico that is.

They came up with what I think is quite possibly the most ugly yarn I've ever seen.  It's Rico Creative Micro DK in the 001 (Rainbow iirc) colourway.  100% microfibre, which is what made me buy it as I'd never used microfibre before.  I bought 3 balls, in different colourways to make dishcloths.  The yarn is smooth, soft and makes great dishcloths - being microfibre, they do their job well and are much quicker to dry than cotton.

However........

Do I need to say more?  The first, smaller, square is crocheted doing 1 row of trebles then 2 rows of double crochet.  The circular cloth is made using Lucy at Attic24's circle pattern (with treble crochets) and the second, bigger, square is made using the Vintage Vertical Stripe blanket pattern (basically trebles, but you insert the hook between the stitches of the previous row rather than just in the chain bit right at the top of the previous row trebles).  This last cloth was made as a test piece to a blanket I'm planning on making at some time in the (not too distant, hopefully) future.

I did wonder if this yarn would look better knitted, but having looked at the project page for it on Ravelry, I don't think so.  In fact, one Raveller who used this colourway for an Ishbel shawl named it 'Catsick Ishbel' which I think is quite a good one.

Oh well, I'm sure the worktops won't object and if we really can't bear the sight of them in the kitchen, I'll relegate them to bathroom duties!!

The other colours I bought were a brown, purple, green and orange which striped up not too badly (but I still wouldn't want a garment from it) and one that I think is similar to this one, but has dark blue, pink and grey in it.  If it turns out to be another howler, I'll probably share it with you..... but if I'm feeling extra-kind, I might spare your eyes the torture!

Rainbow Ripple - something new

Well, when I say new, I actually started it on 1 November, but have only worked on it every now and again since then.  I've finished the first colour repeat though, so thought I'd blog about it.

The pattern is the Neat Ripple from Lucy at Attic24 .  I made a relaxed chain that I thought would be wide enough for a single bed-sized blanket and did the first row, just leaving a tail of unworked chains once I didn't have enough for a full pattern repeat (I'll unpick them later).  I could have used a size or two larger hook for the chain, but was upstairs and my hook case was downstairs - and I'm a bit lazy at times.  It worked out that the blanket is 210 stitches wide - so 15 ripples.

I've got 11 colours and cream and am doing one row cream, followed by two rows of a colour.  It's for DD2, my 'special' little one, who is 9 and autistic.  She chose the colours and is calling it her Rainbow blanket, bless her.

Oops - just realised I photographed it upside down - the raspberry pink was the first colour I used!  I'm not sure about the orange, but it was one of the colours she chose and I know her well enough to know that it should stay in the blanket.

I'm really enjoying making this.  It's been a while since I made a ripple out of sock yarn for DD1 (which could do with a few extra rows as she's grown taller since I 'finished' it).

I've also been using the leftovers from the first Stylecraft 'Lucy Pack' to make a circular cushion cover, but that's a very new thing and isn't worth photographing at the moment.  I'm using the colours in the same order that I did with my Granny Stripe blanket and it's destined to be a bed cushion!

There's not much else going on here really.  The weather was rather chilly yesterday morning at 7.30 when we left to walk to the train station and when I went there a second time a couple of hours later (this time in the car) to drop off hubby and then do a bit of shopping, the car's display was telling me it was 5C outside.  It's a bit warmer today, but still gloomy enough to warrant me getting out the slow cooker and putting inside some sliced red onions, a browned brisket of beef, some red wine and water, ready for this evening.  I reckon 8 hours of cooking should be fine for it and the slow cooker's excellent for nights when hubby's not sure what time he'll be home, which is what's happening a lot at the moment as he's working with colleagues based in his firm's New York office, so there are quite a few evening conference calls going on.

I popped into the shop where I work yesterday (I work there Sat evening and Sun afternoon - 10 hours a week) and got waylaid by our assistant manager to go over the Christmas rota and confirmed when I was working.  He'd been trying to phone me, but the Internet hub needed re-setting - Internet connection was fine, but the phone line had dropped out - so he couldn't get through.  I'll be working Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, but have said that as I've gone in on Boxing Day for the last two years I'd prefer to not work that day.  Haven't broken the news to hubby yet though!

Until next time, take care.

Ivor Biggun!

Well, I finished my Granny Stripe blanket yesterday.  It was popped into the washing machine and then the tumble dryer and was on the bed by early evening and then I took some photos this morning.

Stretched out on the bed

Folded into four

Folded into eight

The edging at the corner

Some details.

Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK bought from Masons .  It's the 'Lucy' pack of 17 colourways, plus a light yellow from King Cole (Baby Comfort DK iirc).

Hook: 4mm

Yarn used: a total of 2025g, which is 6147.7 metres, according to Ravelry.

Told you it was big!  It got to the point where it was making my lap really hot when I was doing the edging as it was all bundled up on me.  The dog didn't mind though - as soon as I got out the blanket to work on it some more, there she was, pressed up close to me and slowly edging her way onto the blanket.

It seemed rather odd last night, trying to knit the triangular scarf I've got on the needles at the moment - it felt so light in comparison to the blanket.  I also tried to do a few rows on the laceweight cashmere scarf I'm crocheting, but I just couldn't get to grips with it - maybe today now my hands have had the night to forget about the way the blanket felt to work on!

I've Got 'The Wanties'

For this. 

The colour palette is gorgeous and the yarn seems lofty, light and yummily woolly.

However, now that the import threshold has been reduced from £18 to £15 (including P&P iirc), that would mean that at $14.50 a 50g skein, buying 3 skeins would be approx £27.50.  Add on something like £8.20 for shipping and that's £35.70.  VAT would be £7.14 and then the post office handling fee of £8 would bring the total up to £50.84 - for 150g of yarn (753 metres).  Or, to put it another way, 6.75p per metre of yarn.  A 100g/400m skein of Natural Dye Studio Angel Sock works out at 5p per metre.

Oh well.  Maybe one day!  Or maybe hubby will have to go to the US on business and I can get him to bring me some back with him :D  In the meantime, I'll have to make do with one or two of the patterns that have been written for the yarn instead.

Not much else to show you really.  I've been mostly plodding away on my Granny Stripe blanket as I want to get it finished by Christmas.  It's turning into a bit of a biggie, this one.  I ended up ordering a second 'Lucy pack' of Stylecraft yarn from Masons last week and will keep striping until I've done 5 x 18-colour repeats, plus another 12 colour rows, then do a border of six rounds using the last 6 colours of the colour sequence I've been using.  With the way acrylic yarns relax after washing and drying, that should give me a blanket that's more of a bedspread which will cover the bed from headboard to footboard!  I'll put it on the bed once I've done 5 and a half repeats to see if my calculations are correct or not.

I've put St Brigid on the back burner for the moment.  I had a dreadful cold last week which really knocked me sideways and without the ability to concentrate on something so full of cables.

I have started something new in the last week.  I asked DD2 if she wanted a new blanket and she said yes.  We decided on a Neat Ripple and I'm doing stripes of one row cream, two rows colour, one row cream, etc.  I've done 4 colour rows so far and it's looking rather nice, if I do say so myself.  DD2 also likes it, which is the main thing.  More about that when I've done enough to warrant taking a photo!

I had DD1's first parent-teacher meeting at her new school last night.  13 miles in the car each way for a five-minute meeting with her form teacher and then a few minutes with her head of lower school (to check that if we buy DD1 a Kindle for her birthday that she'll be able to take it into school - at her own risk, obviously).  DD1 is apparently doing very well, has settled in to life at a senior school, has made new friends and reports from her teachers all seem to be of the "no issues, conscientious worker and polite" type which makes me a Happy Mummy :)

I'm off to do some Granny Striping now.

Not really my kind of thing......

.... but DD1 likes it and as I knitted it for her, that's what's important!

'It' is this:

A garter stitch scarf knitted in King Cole Galaxy.  It's a yarn that's 65% acrylic and 31% wool and has a fine thread that has sparkly sequins running along it (which must account for the other 4%).  The shade is Neptune and I used 2 x 50g balls.

I cast on 39 stitches and just knitted away, slipping the last stitch of every row with the yarn at the front of the work to give a selvedge (I find I get a neater result if I slip the last rather than the first stitch).

I do have to have a bit of grumble at King Cole though.  Look here:

Can you see that little row of white ridges at the top of the black section?  That's where there was a knot in the ball of yarn where two lengths must have been joined.

And then this one:

See how that stripe isn't the same as the one below it (and all of the other ones)?  Again, another knot/join in the ball.  When I joined in the second ball, I chopped out a bit of yarn so that the colour sequence ran on.  I was going to frog a bit of the scarf, but DD said she didn't mind and not to worry about it as she didn't and she'd been wearing it, so I left it, but if I'd been making a garment from this yarn and it kept happening, I wouldn't 'be a happy bunny.

The scarf's long enough that she can wear it either draped around her neck in the traditional manner, or folded in half and the ends drawn through the fold.

I've been St Brigiding this morning and managed six whole rounds (WooHoo!), so still not enough progress to take a photo!

I've also been playing with my bag of acrylic DK yarns over the last day or so and will show you what I've been up to when I'm happy with it :)

In the last week I have.....

Finished knitting a BSJ, but haven't got round to sewing in the ends or putting on the buttons.

Finished knitting the garter stitch scarf in King Cole Galaxy, but haven't sewn in the ends, never mind blocked it/given it a light press.

Not done any knitting whatsoever on my St Brigid sweater.

Knitting approx 10 rows of my green Malabrigo socks.

Crocheted 5-and-a-half rows of my Granny Stripe blanket.

So, no point in getting the camera out really.

It's all hubby's fault as he took last week as holiday so has been getting under my feet and he's between assignments/projects at work at the moment, so is working at home doing admin and chatting on his BlackBerry to colleagues until such time as he needs to go into London.

I have been keeping up to date with my blog reading though and have been admiring lots of your projects and photos.

I've also been trying to get on top of what I think is a low-grade virus, which is really annoying because a couple of days of feeling rubbish and with a tissue permanently attached to my nose and then getting it over with would be preferable to feeling a bit under par and tired all the time, but not ill enough to take to my bed and demand that everyone runs around after me for a change!

Hopefully next time I'll have some proper FO and progress stuff to show you.