Thursday 28 June 2012

Would you like to see my NUPPS!

Well there's not many people you can say that to!
I'm proud, actually, of my nupps! even though they aren't completely even and not all facing the right way they are getting better! with practice!

This is clue A and two rows of clue B on the lovely mystery shawl KAL that I'm taking part in over the summer.
The yarn is lovely to knit with and the pattern is very easy to follow too.

As well as knitting this shawl, progress is coming along nicely with the strawberry socks!  I've completed the left, and am now decreasing the gusset and working the foot on the right - this is currenly my FAVE sock pattern! I love it!

Last week we fetched our son home from Uni for the summer holiday and as I didn't have anything suitable for car knitting, I CO and knit a dish cloth!


My stripe cardigan is coming along nicely, just started the shaping for the left front slope.

The weather has been atrocious so far! today we had a huge thunder storm and torrential downpour!
Poor Bertie got caught out and left in the garden until I called him in - soaking wet! and VERY cross!

This photo was taken before the downpour! so no laundry spoiled during the shot!

theres a cat in my basket!

Knit-Night tonight - need to bake some rock cakes to take and choose a project easy enough to do while chatting ..
Hope your weather is better your way than ours is!
Happy knitting.

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Wendy Knits Summer Mystery Shawl 2012

hurrah! part one gave instructions on yarn and sizing and clue one has arrived today!
I have decided upon the lovely 4ply from Knitting Goddess in semi solid, Coral, and plan to knit the "nupps" (apparently its "nupp" as in "soup" and not "cup"! must remember!)
Thanks to the lovely ladies in the ravelry group there is a super video tutorial showing how to "knit" a nupp using a crochet hook which makes it easy peasy!
I did do a trial of 5st nupps on my swatch using the knitting needles but think this will make the job easier - I have a feeling there are a LOT of nupps!

I knit a sample in 3.75mm and 4mm needles, washed it, dried it and left it over night before measuring - how good am I!?

Tonight I plan to CO and commence part/clue one!


I finished, too, the left sock that I am knitting for no.1.son's friend who has a birthday next month - the pattern is lovely! and I can't wait to finish so I can CO for me!!

This is one view of the lovely pattern for the left sock in size small


Monday 18 June 2012

New knitting OTN

My lovely socks are coming along nicely, I'm waiting now for confirmation of size foot before continuing as these are not for me - the pattern is lovely to knit and I'm enjoying it!


My knit-pal-Sally gave me two lovely books!  I love all the patterns and want to knit several!
I found a lovely pattern - "Nan" - from Jaeger JB31 and have started it using the rooster amerino dk in beige, pink and purple I'd purchased ages ago with another (4ply) pattern in mind ..

The stripe version of the cardigan - "Nan" is the project I've chosen and because I'm not certain how much I'll have left of what colour/s I'm knitting the fronts first and will then reassess.
This is the left front, I've just commenced the increases.  I've had to make the purple the "main" colour with beige no.2 and pink no.3 but I think it will look nice when its knitted - it does look very like the colours in the original design doesn't it?

Elsewhere I'm waiting for the summer shawl KAL to start - this week! and have to swatch ahead to keep up or I shall be starting behind!!


Thursday 14 June 2012

Wearing Tintaglia shawl

front view!

back view!
ME! wearing my latest shawl - Tintaglia x

Rachel's "Strawbs" socks

I'm LOVING this pattern!
I CO and knit the cuff down to the heel flap which I've just started in a couple of days the pattern is so easy and memorable that I found myself knitting just one more round/repeat ... I couldn't put it down!
These are for no.1.son's friend's birthday - she will be 18 in July and requested a "pretty" pattern to accompany the lovely PINK sock yarn she'd picked out - I'm glad I waited and knit the pair of mice before diving in to a lace styled pattern I'd eyed up from my Vogue knitting book of socks because THIS pattern just is so "pretty" its perfect!
I'm confident that I will love the pair I shall knit for myself using the lovely semi-solid RED picked out from the choices that accompany this pattern+yarn combination.

The cuff is lovely and I enjoyed knitting it - its prettier on that lying flat but I couldn't persuade either of my sons to model the sock to highlight the pattern even WITH a promise to crop closely to avoid identification!!  I don't want to stretch it on my great big legs but I did manage to persuade no.1.son to let me slip it on HIS foot for size checking purposes and NO camera in sight! it fits perfectly, I'm knitting size small on 2.5mm circ, ML.

RED is my new fave. colour!  Aside from the sock yarn I purchased, I've had my eye on one or two things in red and yesterday my no.2.brother turned up on his new bike - RED!
I'm afraid I have forgotten what type of bike it is! to me its just a lovely RED posh bike! HUGE and VERY LOUD!
We have waited a good week to see it, the weather has been so wet he's taken to using his car to get to work and yesterday was the first day bright enough for him to come over to show it off.
We didn't know he was coming, but as we sat in the lounge watching the football .. zzzz .. all of a sudden we heard this ROAR!  dh immediately leapt up and rushed to investigate! fearing some sort of heavy vehicle was coming our way he dashed back to say it was DAVID! on his new BIKE!

As well as being very RED its also very LOUD!
You might recall his last bike was written off after a woman turned out of a road and ploughed right into poor David on his way in to work early one morning some months ago - he sustained a broken shoulder and a hip injury and was very poorly for some time so it was good news for him when the claim was settled in his favour and to his advantage recently just in time to order one of these bikes!
(when I find out/remember what it IS I'll edit the post and put the detail in!).

The bike is much bigger in real life! and very LOUD!

Tuesday 12 June 2012

New Projects!

OK. so I've not completed projects on the go .. sigh .. you know how it is .. when I saw the lovely scrummy pattern being offered up as a deal with yarn purchase I just had to buy it!
And of course some yarn and a shawl pin managed to slip their way into my basket!
The pattern was delivered by email and has gone to Ravelry library - and I've sent it to my brother for printing on his posh laser printer with nice thick quality paper just because such pattern deserves a decent print out! and I plan to knit it twice!  twice!? yes! 
The pattern is ideal for the sock-knit that no.1.son requested for his pal's 18th birthday next month and she selected "pink" as colour and I've been looking for something suitable and THIS is THE pattern for her/it!
I'm not sure about the coral.  I might keep it for socks, or I might use it for Wendy's summer KAL.  decisions decisions.
SO. I ordered the parcel from Joy, The Knitting Goddess, on Friday evening, and this morning it was delivered!  beautifully packaged in purple tissue paper, little postcard and stickers and a copy of the order all packaged up more like a "gift" from a "friend" rather than a delivery to a customer!  this is what I like about knowing from whom to buy from!  I have as it happens bought yarn and badges on 2 or 3 occasions now in person but this is the first time I've placed an online order and I would definitely do it again and recommend her/them too!

goodness! I'm almost looking forward to tonights football ...  cough

some finished knits! Tintaglia and Mice

FINISHED. at last! the Tintaglia shawl!   I like it, don't get me wrong but I didn't enjoy the knitting quite as much as I have other projects.  The border was tedious .. zz .. BUT I love the yarn, and I love the finished shawl!
I struggled with the TINY charts but even magnified, I still would have found them hard to follow, instead I worked from the written instructions.  The actual pattern rows for the body and the border were very EASY to memorise and knit it was just rather a lot of yo's and purling and slipping that did for me!

I bought the yarn and pattern as a "kit" at last years Fibre Flurry off the lovely Jon and the colour is excellent, I'm well pleased with it!

ALSO finished: two lovely little mice!  from the May Day Mice booklet in a recent edition of Simply Knitting magazine.  I don't normally knit for others, particularly novelty knits like these, but when my eldest son requested some knitted things for a friend's 18th birthday in July I couldn't say no!
The patterns are lovely!  Alan Dart writes excellent instructions and his patterns are easy to knit and follow and I managed to knit and assemble one mouse in an evening over two nights of "football" on the tv!  TWO matches per day .. and they want to watch them all! bah!


I've just got to knit a pair of socks now and thats my commitment finished!
The yarnie bits of wool came from a pal who had a clear out and bought a large bag FILLED with balls of "wool" and I was very restrained and picked out a few mousie colours!  It makes my mice nice and "posh" as I'd never had justified buying "good wool" "just" for a novelty/toy!