To Blog Or Not To Blog

Recently I have lost the inspiration to blog. I just feel that I have nothing to share except FOs and I am sure it's must be boring just to read about FOs. In addition, there's Ravelry and all my projects are listed there and nowadays, most people are on Ravelry, so why am I blogging???

Anyway, here is a recent FO. Actually, it's not 100% knitted by me. Lydia (my younger daughter) knitted most of it.



I started the toe, Lydia knitted the foot, I turned the heel and she finished the leg. The socks were done in a week as she was on her Uni holidays and now she has a new pair of socks!

I also have another sock on the needles - the Rainbow Socks, a sock pattern with short rows to prevent pooling of colors in variegated yarn. Knitting short rows in a sock takes a little more time with all the turns and purling but it looks nice .....



I love how the colors looked and although I am not a fan of short rows, I managed it with Cat Bordhi's short row technique used in the Tomato Heel. It's a really simple technique and I also incorporated the Tomato Heel in this sock and it looked great together .......



I am also working on a top down raglan sweater for my daughter and I am using these tiny circular needles for the sleeves .....






These are Hiya Hiya 9" which I just bought from Purlwise. They are great for knitting sleeves in the round but it takes a while to be comfortable with the tiny tips. I love them now!

My dear blogging friends, this may be my last post but we will keep in touch on Ravelry..... see you there and thank you for your support all these years!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So Much Knitting

Sorry for the lack of blogging as I have been so busy ...... with knitting. I was given some commission work and in the last 5 weeks, I managed to finish 3 shawls.

I knitted 2 of these .......



....... Brown Eyed Susan from the book "Juju's Loops". It's a simple pattern but lots of stocking stitch. By the time I finished the lace edging, I had more than 700 stitches on the needles for casting off. Thank goodness, it was a crochet cast off and it went quickly.

I also finish one of this ......



....... Prairie Shawl, also from the same book. It's also a simple shawl but the numerous nupps slowed me down. I love the lace pattern on this shawl as it's really pretty .....



All 3 shawls were knitted with Malabrigo Lace yarn and it's such a lovely yarn to knit with - so soft on the hands and the yarn blooms so nicely after a good soak. I would love to knit a cardigan with this yarn as I am sure it will be so soft and light to wear.

As you are aware that I am now living in an apartment and space is limited. Before the move, I had a huge destash and got rid of almost half of my stash. Even with a smaller stash, I still have to find the space and I am so glad that I found these under the bed "boxes" from IKEA .....



..... they are fantastic as I can squeeze a lot into one box and then just slide it under the bed. They are like giant suitcases and only cost $20 each.






I have now organised my stash by weight of yarn and tie a label on the box so that I can find what I need.

I am off to more knitting as I have more commission work to be done.

R & R ......

..... that's my 2 recent FOs !

First R - Ravi which I finally finished after 4 months since joining the KAL. It took so long as it was sitting in the basket for 2 months - I finished the body but had a problem with the sleeves.

The sleeves are knitted in garter stitch in the round and I just realised that I have not done that before. I thought I can speed it up by knitting both sleeves together using magic loop ..... but it was not working for me as the tension became very loose. I searched for a different way of knitting garter stitch in the round but none of the techniques worked. So in the end, I was back to my dpns and knitting one sleeve at a time. It went fast and within a few days, the sleeves were done.

The next hurdle was sewing on the 8 buttons and that took me 1.5 hours. I never enjoy sewing and this clearly reinforced the fact that I should not have any buttons on my next cardigan.

Anyway, here's Ravi ......

It fits perfectly and the yarn is so soft and nice to wear. It's Zen Yarn Garden Serenity (merino/cashmere). Unfortunately, it's too warm to wear it now and will have to wait till next winter.

The 2nd R - Rikke ! I was inspired when I read this post as I have been thinking of knitting a beanie for myself. I know that I look horrible with hats/beanies/berets, etc but I know that I will need one when I go to Seoul in January next year. It will be winter there and snowing and I am all prepared with my knitwear but don't have a beanie. 

Rikke is a quick project and again it is knitted in garter stitch in the round. After my experience with Ravi, I was all prepared and just picked up my dpns and cast on. I used the 2 skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino which I had in my stash for years and have been looking for the right project. The yarn is gorgeous to knit with and also feels so good on the head. 

The only change that I made to the pattern is to create a seam at the start of the round. When knitting garter stitch in the round, the stitches do not align properly, so by knitting the 1st and last stitch of every round, a well defined seam is created .....

..... and it looks good. This is not my creation but from a good and clever friend, Melita who used it on the sleeves of her Ravi.

Well, I love the hat as it looks great, but not on me. I do not care how I look as long as I am warm !

Where are my FOs?

 I knit every day but for the last few weeks, I have not been able to finish off any projects. I think I just have too many wips & should just work on one & finish one at a time. But there are just too many distractions. Since I have no FOs to show, I will show Lydia's.

Lydia just had 2 weeks of school holidays & she loves to knit during this period for relaxation & she finished 2 projects .......

..... a cowl as she wanted something soft & thick & warm around the neck as the mornings have been very cold. She picked Zen Yarn Garden cashmere/merino sock yarn & with 4.5mm, cast on 200+ stitches, join in the round, knit 1 round, purl 1 round until she ran out of yarn.

I think she did a great job as the cowl is so warm & soft. It's long enough (46") to go round the neck twice.

Then she decided that she wanted to try lace & asked for a simple lace pattern. I did a search on ravelry & found this pattern.

This is an amazing pattern & a great introduction to lace as it's only 1 row of pattern & you just keep repeating it. Lydia used a 3.5mm needle as she was knitting with lace weight - Yarn & Kisses Blue Club.

I love the look of this lace & I think I may be stealing this scarf when she's not using it.

I think I better put a lock on my stash as at the rate that she is knitting, I will be running out of stash. Thank goodness, she is back to school now !

I Crochet A Flower

This is a big crochet achievement for me & I was really pleased with the result !

Of course, I had a lot of help from a crochet guru, my dear friend Lisa. 

For many of you who can crochet, this little flower is simple but for me who knows just the basic chain & sc, it is a big deal & I am so proud of this ......

........ it's a knitted headband with a crochet flower. 

A friend's daughter asked me to knit her a headband with a flower & I agreed. But when I started searching through ravelry for a suitable pattern, I found that most of the flowers on the headbands are crocheted.

I decided on this headband but I did not like the look of the flower & found another pattern with a nicer flower.

Knitting the headband was a breeze but the flower ..... thank goodness for Lisa & everything went well. I finished this project in a day & when my friend popped in with her daughter the next day, I handed her the headband .......

....... it looks so good on her & she was so pleased with it that she gave me an extra big hug.

I am glad that I had the opportunity to try out this project especially the crochet flower as I really enjoyed doing it. I will happily make another one any time !

By the way, I used Bendigo Luxury 8ply with 4.25mm needles.

Another 2011 KIP Done !

I am so happy to finish off this pair of socks which have been sitting around for more than a year. It's an enjoyable & fast knit but I guess I was distracted with other projects & so did not spend time on it.

Here they are ......

I used the Hedera stitch pattern which I had to re-work as I knitted my socks from the toe-up. It's an easy to remember 4 rows pattern.

The yarn is one of my own first handspun Australian Melanian wool in it's natural color which is a mix of light & dark brown. Although this was spun when I first started spinning a year ago, I enjoyed the spinning & was able to spin quite finely. But the plying was not well done & the twist is not tight. I hope this will not affect the durability of the socks. Anyway, I will be the one wearing these socks & I do take care of my socks, so it should last.

On another matter - I have knitting journals where I keep notes of all of my projects. These journals have been very helpful as reminders of what changes I made to a project & I also refer to them when I knit similar projects. The most important are my notes when I am designing a project & there many designs in there that I am not 100% happy with & need more work in the future.

These are my journals from the last 6 years & I used whatever notebooks that I can find. But as the years go on, I started to keep an eye out for pretty notebooks & have a small collection to use.

Today, the scenario is different - ever since I had the iPad (May 2011), it has been my essential knitting tool. I carry it everywhere I go & it's always at my side when I knit. All my patterns are in the iPad & I made notes directly on the pattern when I am knitting. I am not using my journal now but I miss writing on the journal. I am also concerned that if something happen to my iPad, then all my notes are gone.

So what do I do? Do I still carry on using my journal or stay with the iPad?

Carrying On the Tradition

I have always wanted to knit when I was young. I love cross stitching and beading & also did a bit of crochet but knitting was always on my mind. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone or a class to go to when I lived in Singapore.

When I moved to Perth, I knew that I will be able to fulfill my wish of learning knitting but it took me 2 years (I was busy with settling down) to find a class at a LYS. That was 8 years ago & now knitting is a passion. Sometimes, I think I started knitting too late as I could have done lots more if I know how to knit when I was young. I have heard many stories of knitting being a tradition that was passed down from generations & I do think that it's a great tradition.

Now I have the ability to pass on this tradition to my 2 girls & I am glad that both of them can knit.

Lynette only knits if she wants a particular item like a scarf but I am sure it's a skill that she has for the rest of her life & maybe she will be knitting more in the future.

Lydia knits frequently but only during school holidays when there is no pressure of school work & exams. She has been knitting squares for charity for the last 4 years & during the December school holidays, I had her working on blankets from my leftover sock yarn. She managed to knit 4 blankets .....

.... these are only 2 of them as I gave the other 2 away.

She also knitted this rainbow square blanket in the round from a Rowan handspun yarn kit that I had in my stash.

Recently, she wanted to knit toys & she made up her own design ....

.... she has more patience than I have as she sewed all the pieces together & stuff it.

Well, I am happy that I have passed on this tradition & I hope my girls will carry it on to the next generation.

This is really MAGIC !

The magic loop technique is very well known & is a favorite among knitters. Although it's a great technique, I have not been very fond of it. I find the pulling & pushing of the cord & needles cumbersome & time consuming. In addition, I sometimes have a ladder at the sides which I don't have when I am using dpns. So for small projects & sleeves, I always rely on my favorite dpns until yesterday .....

.... I found this & this ! Watch the youtube video as it's much easier to understand.

It's really MAGIC & I love it. There's only 1 loop & there is a little pulling of the cable but no ladder at the start of the round. I just can't believe my eyes as I knit round & round. Maybe some of you have already discovered this technique but if not, give it a try. It's definitely better than the magic loop !

This is a hat that I cast on last night & I am knitting away on the travelling loop. It's so much easier than the magic loop. I was so excited last night that I could not put the knitting down & I knew that I had to spread the word around.

Happy travel looping !

Contagious Cowl

I wanted an easy project to bring along to the knitting retreat & decided to start this as I have not made one before.

At the retreat, another knitter was also knitting the same cowl in her own handspun & it was looking great. Both of us were highly motivated & wanted to finish the cowl before the end of the retreat I finished mine on the 2nd day of the retreat & it was gorgeous .....

.... I love it & it feels so soft & warm around the neck. I was glad that I use one of my favorite yarn for this cowl - Socks That Rock Silkie. The slip stitch pattern of the cowl really brings out the colors of the yarn.

My finished cowl triggered off a knitting frenzy as several knitters wanted one. Gosia cast on immediately & in 8 hours (around 11pm), she had a cowl.

Since the retreat, I have seen a few more finished cowls in the knitting groups!

Leftovers

I am sure many of you have leftovers ... of sock yarn. From my years of knitting socks, I have accumulated a big stash of leftovers & have been wanting to use them. Unfortunately, there are always too many projects going on & so the leftovers are put aside until one day .... Lydia (daughter #2) asked for some yarn to knit a blanket.

Lydia loves knitting squares (in garter stitch) & she has done lots for charity blankets during the past few years. In fact, she has 2 big shopping bags of squares ready to be taken to Anglicare. She wants more yarn to knit more squares but I convinced her to knit a blanket with my leftovers.

So I cast on 200 sts for her & off she went with a bag of leftovers ......

..... 2 months later (she only knits during weekends & school holidays), we had a blanket. It's hugh (8 ft x 7ft) & it's gorgeous. So soft & warm & just in time for winter.

I crochet a border around the blanket just to make it pretty. All of us in the family love the blanket & can't wait to use it.

There are more leftovers & Lydia just started on another blanket ....