Not so boring

My Mission (for the Harry Potter knitting game) was to "knit something boring, like lots of stocking stitch, so you can concentrate on eavesdropping on potential baddies", so I chose a long, grey stocking stitch top. I used 5 skeins of Madelinetosh Chunky, which is one of my favorites, in a color they called "Kitten". It has increases down the sides to make it flare out, which I like, and I finished it off with some moss stitch around the edges. It's done!

And I didn't find it the least bit boring. All those grey stitches have subtle color changes, and the stuff is so soft and nice to knit that I could have kept going... except I have no more yarn. I literally finished with less than a meter. I had to cut off the ends of some of the joins to finish off the cast off.

I really do love grey; I don't know why I don't knit it and wear it more often. It will go with everything this Winter.

The OWL projects are going along well. This month I have to spin two fibres, one for Ravenclaw and one for Gryffindor. This one is on the wheel at the moment:

This is "Twelve". David (at Southern Cross Fibre) was doing a Doctor Who theme for his club colors that month (the other colorway was "Dalek"). I've split my two bags of Twelve in such a way that the stripes should stay roughly the same thickness while the rows get longer and longer. I'm planning to knit it into "Hitch Hiker" for my Mission next term, which will neatly cover three fandoms in one project and make me a Proper Nerd. hehe.

Last month I used up about 1200g of yarn and fibre (although spinning just gets added back to the stash, but still...) and gave a bit away to Byron, and received 200g from SCF. This month is not doing so well for destashing. I used up FlyBuys points to get a bunch of extras of February's fibre club, and then I decided to get a few skeins from Jimmy Beans Wool as b'day present to myself. We're only about a week into the month, and I've already gotten about a kilo of fibre in the post :)

Never mind. Still ahead. LOL.

Also...

Finally used my set of Strickwear Merging Colors that I bought in a destash ages ago. They're a set of 8x 30g skeins of laceweight, slowly changing from pale green to reddish brown. I had to count the strands in a skein to work out the yardage, and then ball them all up. Only one had been balled up when I bought it: the green. And that one had been chewed by something in its previous house.

This is some of it. Sigh. But I managed to warp the loom, using two strands held together and doing ten 'slots' per color.

I put a texta mark on the left side at every 10 inches (making 8 sections) and then started weaving, changing color whenever I got to a texta mark, holding two strands together as well. So there is a rectangle of "green crossing green" on one corner and "brown crossing brown" at the opposite corner, and a diagonal line between them of "solid" rectangles.

Also this month, I used up all my "Esmerelda" N4ply to make a hat and some handwarmers. The gloves are the simple ones like I made the kids this year, except I did a few extra rounds, and did 3x2 ribbing throughout.

And spun up some green Eider

and some very nice Polwarth

I separated out most of the purple first, so I could have a handful of coordinating color. Seems to have worked out well. Pepper did "play" with a bit of the purple, but it's almost all there!

And now onto March, which is just a little longer. I have 10 things planned! Not sure there are quite enough days for that, but I'll try. Must get points! lol...

So far

So far this month I've finished another hat, two pairs of socks and a gigantic cowl. It sounds better than it is; I've used a machine for most of those, and the only completely handknit thing was started at the beginning of the year. Hehe.

Socks:

I set up Bach again when the kids finally went back to school, and knit these four legs. The tops are a bit fiddly. I'm not in the mood to try and figure out the 'ribber' attachment when I can't even do a heel, so these are my current sock tops. I like them. You start with waste yarn, change to the sock yarn, crank 15 rounds, transfer every second stitch to it's neighbor (to make a neat round of eyelets), crank another 15 rounds, pick up the beginning of the sock yarn and lift it up the middle and hook it (untwisted) onto the hooks. The yarn folds neatly at the eyelets, creating a picot-edge on a hemmed cuff.


I have a lot of trouble with doing short row heels on the machine. Stitches drop, things get jammed, I go the wrong way… and I have to cut the sock in the middle. I’ve got lots of skein pieces now. So, since I planned 2-color socks anyway, I thought I’d do the hem, crank enough rounds for the leg and foot (130), change to a new color, and try a toe.

A toe, on the CSM, is the same as a heel. You do a short row heel on half the stitches (leaving the other half “live”) and then Kitchener your heel to the half you left “live”. I figured, if I stuffed it up as usual, that at least it wouldn’t make me cut a skein in bits; I could just handknit a toe on, and then do an afterthought heel. I only actually got down to the heel twice, and both times I stuffed them up somehow…

I nearly finished one. It only had a few holes along the sides, which I could have fixed (hidden). Only a few rows from being done it dropped off some stitches and I couldn’t pick them back up. Sigh.

Two more pairs, anyway. And I am finding that, even though the gauge is a bit loose, it tightens up to normal after a couple of trips through the dryer.

On the old AKE I knit a long tube, made from 400g of Bendigo Woolen Mills yarn, and kitchener stitched the ends together to make a loop.

I can loop it three times around my neck, and it's the Warmest Cowl Ever!

So warm! I'm going to have to get some more of that Stellar 12ply (the grey), because the wool/bamboo mix is soft and it runs through the AKE very well. The black is Luxury 10ply, which works just as well, but isn't quite as soft as bamboo. Stellar in Emerald or Greenstone, perhaps.

As for the hat, it's my second project (of 4) for my History of Magic OWL, so I'm half-way done. Doesn't it look funny blocking on a balloon and a glass? It's a fingering weight, long, slouchy hat called "SockHead Hat". Lots of time, and only about 60g.

You can see that Zac has become my happy little knitting model lately :)

As for partial things, I have a skein of yarn from the January Club (it went straight to the wheel, it was so nice and soft). It's a finished skein, but not, sort of. I pulled out all the dark purple bits, and plan to spin them separately, and that part isn't done yet. Not sure I'll have time this month. I have most of my grey "Rosa" done. It's just a singlet with a flare, basically, but I'm a slow knitter, even with chunky yarn and 8mm needles! And I have half the Eider spun up, so I should be able to finish that soonish.

We are having a friendly points competition among some of the Slytherins in my small group. I'm coming about last, I think. Hehe.

Zachary 6

Look at how much this teeny chub

has stretched out :)

Can't believe he's already six, and simultaneously, can't believe he's only been around for such a short time; it seems like he's always been here. :) This year he got a green Milo of handspun merino, as usual, too hot to wear much in the middle of Summer. He's a most gratifying kid to knit for; no sooner have you finished one thing than he's asking for another thing. He does wear them, too, unlike his big brother...

Happy Birthday, Zachary!

I've made a few things from handspun so far. I wove a nice wide scarf from the "Moss" and "Autumn" yarn from a few months back. Polwarth is a fairly soft wool, and bamboo is soft and shiny like silk.

And I added this handspun hat to the charity box, and a few thick ones, too, made from Madelinetosh Chunky. I cranked up tubes with the AKE and then frogged a bit and knit hat tops on both ends. I can't tighten the tension on this machine, and the hats wouldn't be very warm, but two layers makes a difference. I also knit a proper ribbed brim onto some of them.

Having used up a bit of handspun, I thought I should spin some more. This one's the "Esmerelda" I mentioned last time, Navajo-4plied.

Probably another hat, that one. And then I spun a bit of blue "Ink" to match an upcoming colorful one

The destashing resolution is going well so far. I sent away about 200g to some Ravellers who asked, and spun, knit or wove another 1300g or so. I didn't buy any, nor did I get any fibre from Southern Cross Fibres this month, as the dyer, David, has been on a  holiday. There's still a fair way to go... lol... but at least my boxes aren't quite as overflowing as they were.

I didn't get any socks knit in January, since the kids were on school holidays until the 1st of Feb, but now that it's Feb I'm making up for it by having two pairs on the needles (so to speak). I'm still failing to make heels or toes with Bach, and the socks are a bit loose in gauge, but I'm planning to finish my second pair in 7 days tomorrow, which is something.

Next spin is going to be a big fat skein of Eider from my first SCF club month. I'm going to 3ply these together. It's not the babysoft sort of yarn, but it should be good for outer things, hats and gloves, perhaps.

Resolutions and stuff

Hi all! Happy New Year! :)

This last year, 2015, knitmeter.com tells me I 

knit 12745m, 

spun 29737m, 

woven 2419m.

(More knitting and spinning, less weaving than last year)

I did get a few projects in before the end of the year, but the motivation really drops when you're not earning imaginary points with your crazy internet friends. hehe. I did a little spinning, and cranked/knit another pair of socks.

I think it's Shetland in the "Bitter Chocolate" color, but I'm not sure. It was a prize, and the label said "International Yarn of Mystery." That guy from SCF is pretty funny ;)

Dyed the self-striping yarn a while ago, and cranked a tube. (Bach was misbehaving just doing that this time!) and handknit the toes, heels and cuffs again.

 So far this year I've only finished one thing: a bit fat cowl knit on 20mm needles and using 3 strands of wool. It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it is soft and warm.

But I've started a few things. This term, in the Harry Potter game, I'm doing a 3-month OWL in the subject History of Magic. For that, I'm doing a project for each of the four Hogwarts houses. Zachary's birthday top, being green, is the Slytherin one. So I have started that, and the Hufflepuff charity hat (in sock yarn). I've also started a thick, handspun hat I can walk and knit at the same time, a bunch of double-thick cranky hats, and I'm spinning "Esmerelda" (which is so lovely I kind of hope I never get to the end of it). 

This year I decided to have 5 new year's resolutions. It doesn't matter if I fail, as long as I do some trying. Two are health related (weight loss and pedometer steps) and three are crafty. 

1. Knit 24 pairs of socks. (Must master CSM a bit better to achieve this, but haven't actually unpacked it since the kids have been on holidays)

2. Knit 50 charity hats. (They're going to the local Soup Bus, to whom I promised a bag of hats in April)

3. Destash some of the yarn! I will keep getting my 200g of Southern Cross Fibres to spin each month, but I will resist buying lots of new yarn. (Maybe just a bit, and some at Bendigo)

Today our thermometer says it's 44°C (111°F) outside, overcast and muggy, with a strong, hot wind that smells very faintly of smoke. Summer! So my Steps resolution is not going very well today :) but I haven't bought any new yarn so far, in almost two weeks!!! lol. I did buy a book or two, though, and when it's cooled down I'll drive to the post office. Been meaning to get "Knit Red" for a while.

 

Playing Bach

My new circular sock machine is made by Erlbacher Gearhart. I called him "Bach" (mainly because so many people call their machine "Erl"- hehe) but I really should have known better. I learned a bit of Bach, way back when I had piano lessons, and that's about as far as I got. I think I've jinxed my CSM, because Bach won't play nice, at least, not for me.

We've been arguing for the last two weeks.

Can I make a tube? Yes! Tubes are generally nice and easy. I got the kids to dye up their own yarn and whipped up some little presents for their teachers.

Zac made the first on the left, Jasmine made the second and Byron the last two.

And you can turn tubes into socks by adding toes, cuffs and afterthought heels

But as for using the machine to make a heel, I can't seem to do it without stitches dropping off or forgetting one of twenty things, or cranking the wrong way...

Half a dodgy, holey heel. Then I had to cut it off the machine because it jammed.

Two nice neat picot hems! Pity I had to cut them both off just after starting the heels...

A heel and a toe! Pity I didn't start at the top...

There are bits of socks everywhere. I thought I was good at the hems, at least, having started them off so many times. But so many factors (eg a different brand of yarn) make a difference, that today I couldn't even do that much. Felt very much like throwing Bach out the window.

The videos on You Tube make it look so easy. So a big part of my frustration is how ridiculously stupid I feel that I can't do it yet.

Anyway. I cranked another tube. I'm going to take it to work tonight and knit on the toes. :)

By hand.

NEWT 8

This NEWT (for the Harry Potter knitting game on Ravelry) is finally done! I really struggled to get this one finished; socks are a lot of work!

Purple! This is yarn I got from "Fiberific!" at Bendigo last year. Loved the knitting and the color and the pattern.

and it's got hugs and kisses cables all over it :)

And then I used all the bits of leftovers to make these colorwork socks out of all the rainbow bits, and the black and white :)

The next 8 socks are going to fly by! I've gotten my Circular Sock Machine (it's an Erlbacher Gearhart Speedster) and (as recommended) put a few skeins through it as just plain tubes. Tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can do a picot hem and a heel and a toe.

It's a sharp learning curve but I'm starting to figure out all the parts and pieces. There's a sock thing called a bonnet. You hook it up to all the hooks, thread some yarn down from the top and through the yarn carrier on the side, and just crank the handle around and around. That makes it sound easy. There are lots of things to keep an eye on, like hanging weights from the bottom, keeping the tension right, fixing problems with the hooks, etc.

Did these three skeins in the three days after getting the machine (I call him Bach) and today made the second one into armwarmers and a little bag for Jasmine. Took me far longer to knit the little bit of ribbing at each end than it did to crank the whole tube of sock yarn :)

It's December. No new NEWT for me; I'm having a month "off" (even though I start work again on Friday with 6 nights in a row!) I'm going to figure out how to knit socks properly, and fix a few things that need repairs :)