Knitting

I am still without camera. The insurance company did, amazingly, come through but unfortunately my particular camera is out of stock and I am waiting on the next delivery. After pestering perhaps a few too many times last week I've been told that I will be "first to know" when they arrive. I'm resisting the urge to call again. In the meantine my phone will have to suffice.

Cool winter days and an open fire and I've got my knitting mojo back. I've finally finished a hat for me and I've been trying to quickly knit up a few baby friendly gifts as there seems to be another little baby-boom going on amongst our friends.  All the knitting and crafting goodness has been duely noted by E. Lastnight she insisted on doing a bit herself. Curious to see what exactly she had in mind I loaned her a "to be frogged" jumper. With the exception of not having a piece of wool in her hands, her technique couldn't be faulted. Lots of click-clacking with her eyes firmly fixed on the documentary playing on the Mac.  After a few minutes she was off being busy doing something else although it did get me thinking about crafty, woolly things that she might be able to do herself.

Does anyone have any ideas?  Woolly, crafty things for toddlers. I'm all ears.

hats

In amongst all the celebrations last weekend there was also quite a bit of gift giving to be done.  I think I've mentioned before that I've been having fun playing with all the patterns in Bambeanies.  It really is a wonderful book.  Twenty hats for toddlers and kids.  Rowan's wearing Beamish and Otto has Tipper.  Beamish is more-or-less a bog-standard beanie with a bit of i-cord fun at the top.  It was a quick and simple pattern which was great, as I ended up casting on a few times before I was happy with the size.  (Rowan has an adult-sized head and I needed to do a bit of fiddling to made sure it'd fit).

Tipper is a rectangle, knit on the bias, folded in half and sewn up to create a large square-shaped hat.  It doesn't look like much without a head inside it.  Truthfully, I was a little dubious it'd look any good at all, but I think the horns look pretty cute on a toddler.  It looks even cuter worn "sailor style" as Otto prefers although unfortunately I didn't manage to get any photos of that. They'll be more of these made, I'm sure.

And of course E ended up with her own. This one is Damsel. And yes, I photographed it before I'd properly sewn on the buttons and cut the ends.  But it is such a lovely hat that I couldn't resist.  It's still a little bit big for her and I'm hoping it'll fit through the winter.  Such a cute design and it manages to keep ears and neck warm without the necessity of ear flaps or pesky ties.  The pattern was also one of the best introductions to short-row knitting that I've found.  I've struggled and given up with short rows in the past but the instructions in Bambeanies were perfectly easy to understand and left me wondering why I'd previously had so much difficulty.  

I imagine that they'll be more knitting from this lovely little e-book in the months to come.  Hats, I've decided, especially kid-let hats are my favourite kind of knitting.

Navy

The weather has turned decidedly towards winter around here. A week of constant rain.  It's all a bit glum really as we really were hoping for a few more summer days and a final trip to the beach before we packed away the bathers and towel for the year. Through the rain I've been knitting.  Knitting, knitting, knitting.  Nothing like rain, a cosy couch and some good quality knitting time to sooth the soul into winter.  A quick wander through my house today and I found five knits in various stages of "finished".  Yes, that's two hats sitting on the flour jar (it's the perfect shape for wet blocking), and that rather tiny ribbed square is supposed to be a beanie.  It's not finished, but I'm still not convinced.  I'm still working on Dad's jumper, but in the inbetween times I've been having fun with the hats in Bambeanies - finished photos to come soon - and perhaps, a proper review of the book (but just quietly, I love it.)

Round Here

The move, from Berlin to my parents in Melbourne and then up to Canberra has been gruelling. Turns out that babies don't "do" change very well and my sweet, sweet girl has been giving us the round around.  I've had a few people ask me where I am. I'm here but at the moment all my physical and emotional energy is going into E. In amongst the nursing, rocking, feeding, shh-ing and playing (yes, there's a bit of that too) I've been etching out some time to work on a jumper that I'm knitting for my Dad. A line here, a line there it's slow going but with worsted weight wool it knits up relatively quickly making me feel like at least I'm achieving something.

We're still without furniture but I have plans for a few simple Christmas decorations that I might share here if I get the time. Oh, and I also recently won a knitting book, Bambeanies from Wooly Wormhead, which even contains a hat named Emilia. Yep, I plan to share that one with you here too. When I get the time.

Off the Needles

Off the needles... well, mostly anyway.

This little hat, the Organic Beanie by Mel Clark was initially destined to be a 'welcome baby' gift. It travelled down to Burgenland with me and was quickly finished and ready to be wrapped up and given away but fate had other plans. It somehow never made it to the present wrapping stage, morphing instead into Emilia's go-to hat to keep the chilly winds at bay. The pattern is a great little, quick knit. Simple and the options are endless once you start playing around with the accent colours, as it's Ravelry page shows.

I also managed to finish this Garter stitch Kimono on the train back to Berlin from Burgenland. I was a little worried that the self-striping sock yarn wouldn't look very good on the v-neck and I'm still not sure that it was really that great a choice of yarns.  It's old sock yarn from my stash that I was keen to use up and, really, at this end of the year it's warmth that counts. Right?  The buttons also came from my Op-shop button stash so all-in-all a very cheap baby gift for little Baby G.

And finally, mittens for me. The first one has been finished for a few weeks now, but it took a chilly evening playing backgammon outside at our favourite Arabic Cafe before I realised that the time for gloves will be quickly upon us and really, it'd be a shame not to give the left mitten a mate.  Plus the pattern is quite addictive. The rounds are quick and the patter materialises before your eyes. Yup, happy knitting days are upon us now that the days are shorter and just a little bit chillier.

Little Sister Dress

Tora Froseth's Little Sister Dress. I started this back in June, put it down and then picked it up again last week. The mindless, but oh so meditative, stockingette stitch was perfect for the nights, and lets be honest, days spent with my feet up on the couch listening to Podcasts and watching my fill of True Blood.

I think it'll fit for Christmas... If, that is, the Bean is a girl, and we're in Europe, and, and, and... There's a lot of 'ands' and possibilities in the mix before this knit can be safely worn on Christmas Eve. But sometimes it's best not to think about these things and just to knit. 

More details can be found on my ravelry page.

Leonardo's Elephant

This is possibly the cutest thing that I've made in a little while. It's Susan B. Anderson's Elefant. A link to the pattern is here, ravelry page here.  Yes, it was a little fiddlie at times, but so worth it once it's all sewn up and sitting on a little pile of books... or your bump, as the case may be.

As the name of the post says, this little one is destined for a Leonardo in Turino, Italy where it's a little too hot in the summer to be dressing babies in anything other than nappies and a singlet. Some other handmade goodie was in order and this little softie seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The only problem is that now that he's all sewn up and looking so dandy I'm a little reluctant to give him away.  It's quite possible they'll be another one of these made in the not so distant future - one which will be only too happy to stay at play with my bump in Berlin.

Oh, and I know these pictures are perhaps a little riskque. Lacy underwear! Bare bump! Dear me!?! But honestly, an elephant climbing a bump is also pretty cute and I couldn't resist. More info and pictures (of the elephant, not the bump) can be found on my ravelry page.

little stitches

Teeny, tiny stitches is where I am at the moment. The weather hasn't been that inspirational, photo-taking wise, and if I'm being perfectly honest, even when the sun is shining after a day at work I'm more than  happy to sit on the couch with my magical meditation sticks (knitting needles to some) and knit a few more rows of this or that. Clickity-clack go my needles and thumb, thumb goes the bump. Both make me smile and with legs the size of elephants and a head full of hayfever this is pretty much as good as it gets. 

The end result of all of this sitting, meditating and cosmic nourishing has been a lovely little 'take home' outfit. I've knit the jacket pattern a few times before - it's Twinkle, Vintage Cardigan if anyone is interested in that kind of thing. And the little hat is the Lotus Hat. It's a pain to start but the teeny tiny stitches blossom (no pun intended) beautifully after blocking, so much so that I'm thinking of knitting up another one in white.

Edit: And in a spot of internet organisation that has been missing around these parts of late, I'm linking up to Lisa's Creative Exchange today. Yippee!

Finished!

Yes! I finally finished the Vest. This has been a labour of love and I'll admit, a bit of a battle (see here, here or here for proof).  Indeed, the idea for this project was conceived when I was in Botswana and now almost 18 months later and worlds away it is finally, finally finished.

Finishing this project, sewing in the ends, blocking and fitting has made me think a lot about this knitting love of mine. I first started knitting while I was workng night-shifts.  It was an activity that kept my hands busy and my eyes awake and yet was an easy enough 'thing' to put down and pick-up if and when I was needed. As I knitted through the night I was also surprised to discover that knitting was incredibly relaxing.  Now, several years on, I find that it is still my go-to activity when I need to de-stress.  The rhythmic clicking of the needles, the repetitive stitches amd the concentration required to follow a complex pattern, all of these things allow me to relax and almost meditate away from life's ills. It is very much a craft where the process is as much a part of the reason "I knit" as the end product.

But I do love an end result!  And I'm very happy that this project is off the needles and being happily worn by it's recipient.  The details, if you're interested, are on my Ravelry page... and before I go, a few pictures that I managed to take of my favourite model - as always, modelling under sufferance but I believe, happy to be wearing his new knitted gift. 

Cowls keep your neck warm

I first arrived in Berlin in November.  It was cold and despite Matthias picking me up from the airport with my winter coat, I was woefully unprepared for the biting wind and damp.  I can remember looking at all these uber cool Berlin women walking around with oversized cowls that looked so toasty warm and knew that this is what I wanted, perhaps even needed, to keep away the  monotonous grey.  But despite my initial convictions, I never got around to buying or making one.  This year it's on the top of my list of "things to make for me".  Yesterday I went looking for a pattern, and although I didn't find exactly what I wanted, I reckon I'll be able to improvise using bits and pieces of these three;

Burberry Inspired Cowl - The Garter Girl

Mobius Cowl - Bernat Design Studio

Nelly Knits - Chucky Seeded Cowl

I also did some Etsy window shopping (who can resist).  I love colour of the first cowl and think the pockets in the second one are so clever; perfect while waiting for the train or bus when it's not quite cold enough for gloves, but your hands still get cold. 

 

  Little Birdie Design Studio - Etsy shop here

Antika Moda - Etsy shop here

Swak Designs - Etsy Shop here

I guess if I don't get around to knitting mine, I can always buy one on Etsy - the only problem would be choosing which one to buy.

So about that vest

A rainy and quite lazy weekend in Berlin meant that I made a lot of progress on the infamous vest. Many hours later, many episodes of True Blood later, the first front panel is done.  

I pinned the back and the front together and we had a little "fitting session".  And you know what?  It doesn't fit.  It fits width-wise and length-wise but Matthias' arm is in the wrong position.  Or more accurately, the armhole I knitted is too small.  It sits too high under his underarm making it impossible to wear anything underneath. Gah!

Both the front and back panels are going to need to be re-worked with some alterations to the pattern which at the current point in time is doing my head in just thinking about.  So for now I'm officially retiring the project until I can stomach unraveling work that took a season of True Blood episdoes  to knit and  restarting the armholes again. 

Oh, and if anyone can recommend a good TV series, that'd be appreciated too.

what I've been making

Remember how I lost that knitting book a little while ago?  Well, I gave up trying to find it and bought another.  I was too far in and had made too many promises to frog the whole thing and start over with another project.  With the cooler weather I've got my knitting mojo back and have made considerable progress.  The back is done (huzzah!) and over the weekend I finished the colour work on the right front panel.

Yep, pretty pleased with that!  My first attempt at proper fair isle knitting.  And to prove that I am an absolute and total knitting geek I will proudly tell you all that I knit this double handed - yep, one hand was doing continental and one was doing "regular" knitting.  First time I've done that too.  Felt like I was riding a bike for the first time (look, Mum, two hands).  That fact that my mum doesn't knit and will likely roll her eyes when reading this matters little.  I am exceedingly proud that I can now knit with both hands.

I even showed Matthias - he wasn't very impressed either. 

conundrum of the knitting type

Edit: I'm in Brighton, UK for the next few days and I decided to be a bit sneaky and use a previous post for my 'Arts 'n Craft' entry over at Ramblings and Photos.  Oh, and I'm serious about needing the knitting pattern!

Back in January I promised Matthias a knitted vest.  He chose the pattern from Rowan Knitting for Him, a fairly poorly named book in my opinion, but it happens to have some lovely knitted jumpers and vests, one of them being a simple fair isle vest that I thought I'd be able to completely without a problem. On first inspection it did seem easy.  I wasn't even put off by a few faint whispers on Ravelry saying "so glad I've finished the back" and "on to the front - yippee!". I dived in. We chose the colours, ordered the wool and I got to work. 

It has been incredibly slow going. The back has a twisted rib pattern that takes ages to knit-up.  Interspersed with other knitting project it's taken me 6 months to knit up the back to the underarms.  But last week I made it to the "35cm from cast on edge" point and was ready to read the pattern again.  Now, six months on, do you think I can find the book?  At some point in the last year I have put "Knits for Men" down and now have no idea where it is.  I've looked everywhere, and it's not to be found.  It's gone and the chances of finding this book in a German public library are probably slim to none.

So... I have no idea how many knitters read this blog.  But, if there is anyone out there who happens to own this book, please, please, please, I would love a copy of the fair isle vest pattern so that I can finally say good-bye to the twisted rib and get stuck into the front.

KJ's Baby Cardigan

This cute little cardigan has been a very, long time in the making.  I was hoping to finish it before Easter so that I could give it to Kylie in person, but well, I was still knitting it in the car on the way up to Leeds, and also in the car on the way back, and then a little more at home.  And then I stopped.  Lost my mojo and it lay patiently waiting for blocking, weaving in the ends and sending.  But now it's done, and hopefully will be in the mail this week.  I have such a soft spot for baby knitting.  Mostly it's pretty quick to knit and so, so, cute.  Luckily there's a few more people I know having babies this year so I'll have an excuse to knit a few more and send them off in the mail.

PS.  Debbie Bliss Cashmerino is as lovely to knit with as everyone says and feels so delicious.  The best bit is, it's machine washable - perfect for new mums and bubs!

Casting-on

It rained all weekend here.  Lots of eating and drinking was done, including visiting a lovely Brunch spot on Saturday called Anna Blumen.  I'd been meaning to get there for ages and now that it's a little warmer we were able to sit outside and enjoy delicious crepes.  So yummy they were eaten before there was any photographic evidence.  And today it's a quiet day listening to the rain on the roof, knitting, movies and sushi for dinner.  I've just cast-on for a baby cardigan for a friend.  It's such lovely, soft, squishy wool and a rich beautiful colour I almost wish I'd bought enough for something for myself.

potholder challenge

A quiet weekend around here.  Lots of cooking (a semi-successful risotto - tasted great, but the look, well, not so much), plus Chill Con Carne today.  Good soul-food to chase away the snow (more!) and lots and lots of time to finish my Potholders.  I need to send the Potholders to the States this week if I'm not make the deadline (27th March).  Time is slowly getting away from me, but I am now only 1/2 a potholder away from completion.  Here are some things that I've learned along the way; 

• The jury is still out about whether I like crochet or not
• I have trouble combining colours in more creative ways than shades of blue, shades of yellow/red, rainbow etc
• I'm definitely holding the hook wrong - my middle finger has permanent pins and needles on one side.  This is annoying and with the nerve growing back at 1mm a day I have about a month until it's better - Boo!
• I've seen some pictures of other people's and I'm really hoping there's a "beginner" section to the swap because mine seem woefully inadequate
• Cotton is awful to work with, especially in winter when you're hands are already dry

I have a whole collection of odds and ends of cotton now - perfect for a granny square pillow, or seomthin', but it's going to have to wait until I'm feeling the crochet mo-jo again!

potholder swap 2010

Perhaps against my better judgement I have joined up for the 2010 Potholder Swap.  I haven't really done much crochet before and I'm a little worried that my finished 'potholders' won't be good enough.  But I'm going to give it a try.

I've already had to change patterns as my first attempt at something that I thought was 'simple' resulted in a disaster.  I'm doing much better on my second attempt.  A simpler pattern with step-by-step tutorials from the wonderful Meet Me at Mikes' blog have really helped me get into the swing of 'hooking'.  Meet Me at Mikes' has a fantastic set of how to make a Granny Square videos which are so self-explanatory you can follow them without listening to the sound, which means I can keep listening to my Podcast's as a I follow along. 

I need to have made five (5!) potholders by the 27th March.  Soon!

Image from Mieke found via Homemade Romance

 

If you're interested in getting involved or checking out what's being made, there's a Raverly page or Flickr group for the swap.  The best part is you don't need to be on either site to join - just have your potholders delivered by 27th March.  

Wish me luck!

woollen accessories

Campbells Scarf in Rowan Felted Tweed

Sideways Grande Clouch by Linda Irwin

Latvian Fingerless Mittens by Veronik Avery

 

 #28 Green-gable Hoodie by Mari Muinonen

This morning I'm lusting after the perfect woollen accessories.  I'm ready to cast-on a new project and my eyes keep being drawn to aumtumnal golds, muted orange and tweedy blues.  Perfect colours to keep me warm and brighten up a wintery morning.

the postie brings great things to those that wait

Told you that I'd have it done by the weekend... here is it blocking this morning, ready for it's debut outing.


And...

Look what arrived... my wine boxes!