Knitty love and Crochet hell

I can't believe it's been a fortnight since my last post.Various things have kept me away; Blogger, the camera, lack of writerly mood, the lack of excitement in photographing Icarus - stunning, and so exciting, but at the moment it's really just a clump of lace knitting on circs.

But mainly my hand has been giving me trouble. It's been tingling, and 'nerve-jumping' for a while, causing me problems with knitting [gah!], keeping in touch with friends [email & texts] and gaming. All of which has made me blue. Honestly, I don't know how people can just veg out in front of the TV and do nothing - tried it, and turned into a crabby person within 2 hours.

I mentioned my plan to restrict my knitting/gaming at work. My colleague said 'yeah, don't knit for a week or so, that should help'. I meant I wasn't going to knit for 24 hours. A week! A full entire endless week with no knitting *shudder* Not possible.

So I did everything else. Swapped my mouse over, adjusted seat, monitor etc. a-la University workplace guidelines, stopped slouching and sat up in my seat. I've walked lots [over 12000 steps the day I walked to K1 Yarns after work] in attempt to 'fix' the twinge in my back which is probably causing the hand strain.

Everything is feeling a bit better now - I haven't felt the tingling for a few days. Clearly my sedentry hobbies are not helping. The fear of being unable to knit or game appears to have motivated me to take exercise where every other motivational tool has failed. I don't care about floppy muscles or an inability to run to catch the bus.

I DO care VERY MUCH about being unable to knit though...



Thought I'd try my hand at crochet ... the top attempt began as a rectangle and ended up 'freeform' to get used to the crochet actions.

My second rectangle - a pair of lips! ... I started using stripes in a vain attempt to ensure I was using the correct 'v's with my hook. My 'v's are drunken and slope off to one side - I have no idea why this is so. Trying to work it out caused me to flip a bit though... I tried to demonstrate to the boy how knitting is the art of giving one pointy stick a stitch with another pointy stick, whereas crochet seems to be jamming the bluntest part of a hook directly into the fabric causing much yarn splittage and expletives.

The inability of the boy to understand and help led to further rage and a call to my mum; who offered to show me next time I visit [I'm sure she can't wait!] When I can't grasp something I tend to get all rage-ful, stressed and cross, which doesn't help. I learned knitting via the medium of rage, and it seems to have worked though ...

The thing that makes me cross is that this is my great-granny's hobby. And she was brilliant at it. So I feel like it should be built into my genes somehow in the way that knitting is. Hopefully soon I will be able to present an actual rectangle, that I can read and see the rows and stitches in, rather than a wooly mess.

I have been in the land of pattern-reading of late, since I wasn't able to actually knit much. So I bought a few mags, browsed the web and found some lovely patterns to add to the catalogue of Works in the Queue.

Toe-up sock pattern from Interweave Knits...

Summertime Tunic, also from Interweave Knits. You know the patterns you look at and just 'know' - like Central Park Hoodie? Well this is one of those - and there's even a KAL. Whoop! Love it. Love the simplicity of the pattern - this is a meetup pattern for sure.

Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's funky Colinette jumper from Vogue Knitting - I adore this so much. Priced it at Colinette - £74!! Perhaps this will just stay as a picture then ...

In Oxfam I found this total gem of a Patons pattern book from the seventies;

I really want to make the jumper in Christmas green with white and red reindeer. I'm thinking Home Alone - the American Christmas with everything festive and themed - I need a Christmas jumper. The hat and mittens are a bit overkill though - esp. on a beach in summer....

This intarsia pattern is delicious - it was a man's jumper that was so vile Blogger probably would have rejected the image so I cropped it so that it wouldn't detract from the beauty of the pattern.

I love this librarian-type 3-quarter sleeve top - too cute!

Look at her retro serene-ness - the sleeves are fabulous!

And a final shot of the area where I live [next to Hampden Park, Glasgow] during the UEFA cup final. Both Spanish teams had to come to Glasgow to this weather, poor things.

Busy old week ...

It's been a busy week, what with Scottish election going on. It was busy for me as I work in an official publications library, so there was displays to put up and continuous updating required as the results trickled in. I was really pleased to see crowds of interested students around the displays reading the latest news on spoiled ballots, results etc. It made it all worthwhile.

On the other hand some of the students have been getting up to high jinks relieving exam stresses in the library - I came in this morning to find books wrapped in pairs of boys underpants [!] stuffed into the roof of the lift ...


And the Uni has put on a Pedometer Challenge - all staff signing up get a pedometer and those that show the most improvement could win a prize - it's all very compulsive, this step counting. There's all kinds of fancy technologies attached to this gizmo - for example, I've burned 1933 calories walking and walked 2.46 km - the life of a library assistant is quite active it would seem. The challenge begins next week.

Onto knitty content - does anyone know how many calories knitting burns *thinking of Excel spreadsheets and how much chocolate I could have if I exercise-knit*

Icarus is coming on well -although it's kinda 'saggy'-looking when photographed. The safety pin is where I have an extra yarn-over and absolutely no inclination to drop down and try to fix this. A darning needle and some yarn at the end will sort this out.

I read this blog and her happy accident helped me to see how 2 colours would work with Icarus. I have decided to do the same with mine- with this 'just burst into flames' scorching hot yellow colour.

Whaddya think? I may even add some amber-coloured Swarovski bicones to the ends as the designer Miriam demonstrates so clearly how to add them, and I think it might add a bit of weight [and sparkle] to Icarus.

Summery Icarus

It has been lovely these last few days in Glasgow - perfect sunny Icarus weather! I finally knat back the 4 rows to fix the problem above by 6pm on Friday. After dinner on Friday I sat back to resume when ... [click to enlarge the pic] if you look closely you will be able to see that I have knit 2 together on either side on the central line for two more lace knit rows below ...

What had taken 2 days of painstaking fixing has been done twice as much below. The boy saw me staring closely at Icarus and remarked that I looked as if I had been punched in the stomach...

... and so I decided that there were 2 options. Frog the whole thing [given the yarns' fusion capabilities this was not appealing] or try to fix it. I added an after-thought lifeline [yes I can hear how ridiculous and unlikely this is to work - but I was desperate!] and frogged back 5-ish rows.

Of course navigating the lifeline row amongst k2togs, yos and ssks was bound to be troublesome - especially as this is my first shawl. I learned ALOT about lace yarn fabric - including; how to rectify stitches picked up from the row above and the row below, how to k2tog, ssk using a crochet hook, how to add/remove yarn overs and so on.

Of course it shouldn't have worked - Karma should have punished me good for even trying such a thing as an 'after-thought' lifeline. But I was determined and - after many, many, many hours - it was fixed.

A lifeline has been added, and I will not knit Icarus at knitting meeting again - I have learned my lesson.

Such was the lovely sunniness yesterday that I took Icarus all to a grassy bit next to the Uni ...

... set up a wee area with iPod, strawberries, water and spent a happy hour lace knitting in the sun. Taking pictures of my own lap did draw a few curious looks ...



A final pretty shot of the tenements in Glasgow.

Central Park Hoodie Complete!

Central Park Hoodie is complete! I'm just squinting in the sun by the way - I am happy. It was a lovely day in Glasgow today, and we found this fabulous tree hidden away in Shawlands which looked like a great place for a CPH photoshoot.

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie from Knitscene Fall 2006.
Yarn: Cascade 220 in colour 9430.
Started: August 2006 - finished April 2007
Skeins used - about 5 and a bit for size 36.

Modifications - grafted the hood rather than 3-needle bind-off for neatness.
I found the front side panels to narrow so knat an extra inch of ribbing on either side.

If I did it again - I would knit wider front panels, and probably the sleeves for the size up. It was a bit snug but blocking helped. I'm a 32-34 inch bust and I knit the 36. I think I might knit another in the next size up for 'fat' days.

Skills learned - buttonholes and picking up stitches [thanks Granny :0) ]

A shot of CPH with my newly arrived Gamerchix t-shirt. Personalised with my gamertag 'Vyol8' [violate - get it?] It's a gamer 'club' [2000 members at the moment] for the girls of the Xbox - sometimes it's tough being a girl in a largely male-dominated community, so we have our own online hang-out.

I'm quite pleased with the shoulder seams - I didn't do a 3-needle bind of because it would have required short rows [haven't done yet] so I was a bit worried it would be messy. I think it's OK though.

Icarus has begun!

The yarn has arrived and Icarus has begun! 100% wool hand-dyed laceweight from handpaintedyarn.com in colourway Bombon. I love all the beautiful colours - exactly what I was trying to create - hot, burnt, golden, sun, Icarus.

But see below ... this is what happens when I think the following;
I've never tried a lace shawl before, but hey - this bit of the chart is easy - I don't need a life-line... Even as I thought this I could see Lilith's expression. I tempted Karma further by thinking; Och I'm on the 2nd repeat - I can do this at the Knit n' Stitch meet up without problems - there is a rest row after all...

And then the final carefree thought that brought Karma stampeding my way; I don't need the central stitch markers, I'm not an idiot - anyone can see where the centre line is.

I discovered what I had done this morning before work. Every line of yarn overs has the following pattern: k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk except the central line of yarn overs, which [in order to make the triangle shape] is only yo, k1, yo.

I have learned that if I don't have stitch markers in the central line then I will do 2 extra decreases and lose a couple of yarn overs and ... well a bloody mess i what I have learned! I can't even begin to describe it. I know exactly what I've done though.

And if I hadn't seen it [pre-caffine] this morning before work [and before rational thought] I probably would've been OK. As it turned out I thought that I could fix this without knitting back 3 rows. I thought that I was 'cleverer' that Karma.

I have been slapped down.

At tea break I realised that going back stitch by stitch was inevitable. Resigned, I set to it.

Continued through lunch ... [and renamed the lovely laceweight 'Fusion; never-gonna-separate']

And late tea ...

Now: I get to the bit where I tried to fix the tangle of this morning's bright spark ideas. Hmm ... the tangle was such that the only way to continue was to force a ball of yarn through a hole the size of a stitch. Now how the [expletive] did I manage to do this!? I mean how! There would have been a photo but I was busy crying and growling.

Rage took over - I yanked about 20 stitches off the needle and pulled the yarn to try and release it. I thought I could 'scare' both the yarn and Karma. But [as with the students at the academic library where I work] once you show that you've lost control the battle is lost.

And the photo is where I'm at. It's not a lost cause - I'm still in the 'I can fix this' bubble. Watch this space.

Restless knitter

It's been a while since I blogged - I can't seem to settle and just 'get on' and 'focus'. Above - I received the yarn for Rogue - Texere Yarns Aran weight Blue-faced Leicester in Petrol Blue. It is SO soft and delicious!! I'm in love with Blue-faced Leicester! So I immediately set down to start tension squares [for all the good they'll do...] Got one done before I realised that I didn't have enough Addi Turbo straights in any useful sizes. So I ordered some from Angel Yarns - I received an email a week later saying that they were out of stock. This is not the first time I've ordered from Angel Yarns only for the item to be out of stock - they clearly don't understand my impulsive spirit! So the project has stalled for now ...

And so I cast on for another Branching Out in a sockweight yarn that I bought last year from Ysolda at the Miso Funky markets. She dyed it herself - the colours are so spring-like and natural - perfect for a leafy lace scarf.


I finished the back, and started the front of Earnshaw for a bit of mindless knitting. I thought straight garter stitch would be great, but I haven't done it since I learned to knit - it hurts! Maybe I'll take this opportunity to learn the other way [I think I'm continental but I don't know - I'm a 'thrower' with the yarn]


And this is my next big project - Icarus. I felt it was fate - the boy and I went to see Sunshine at the pics last week and that ship was called Icarus. Perhaps not the best name for a ship flying to the sun as it's mission ... After the film [good until the last third, then pants til the end] I was blog-browsing and found myself at the designer's blog.

I am in love - the pattern illustrates the frame of Icarus' wings with the feathers all gathered at the ends, having slid there due to the melting wax. So I've bought some 'hot' coloured yarn from handpaintedyarn.com - only $8.20 shipping with tracking to the UK for 5 skeins of laceweight [I couldn't pick a colour - so I have enough for about 4 Icarus shawls should I feel so inclined... I love tracking - at the moment my yarn is in Argentina.

A pic of the kitty - he has been all sad lately and I think this pic shows his mood well. After a visit to the vet he is on a diet ... my poor little fat cat. I didn't realise how big he was getting. I wish someone could restrict my food like this so I could shift a couple of pounds. He doesn't seem to appreciate how lucky he is ...


A trip to the Miffy Birthday exhibition at the National Library, Edinburgh. Too cool - drop in if you're about. Also the Pixar exhibition is definately not to be missed!


And finally ... some blueberry cookies from Cookies Galore. Delicious and totally easy to make! Oh yes, and Central Park Hoodie is complete!! I'll take photos probably this weekend if the weather is good.

Easter Holidays

On holiday for a week, so plenty of knitty content. We went up north to visit my folks - the obligatory mountain shot at Badenoch & Strathspey above, and below a lovely sunlight tree shot from Brodie Countryfare. I popped in for some inspiration for my latest Craftster swap "My Country Doesn't Have That" - my swapee is looking for traditional Scottish paper, ribbon, buttons, tins, old postcards and so on.

My granny gave me a lesson in picking up stitches and I have it cracked at last! I tried to take action shots, but I'm not sure how successful they are... The main tips are - right-side facing you, much smaller needles for the pick-up. When picking up from a knit edge there is a 'bobbly' bit, a 'long' bit another 'bobbly' bit and so on. If you pull the long thread it will open a hole in the 'bobbly' bit that you put the needle straight through to the back of the fabric. Wrap new yarn around the needle and knit ...

And look below - much neater! Beautiful - thank you granny! :0)

And the buttons to go with it, from John Lewis. It's as close to the ringed wood buttons that I was after as I can get.

Earnshaw is getting on well too - only another couple of rows and the back is finished - easy-peasy with no shaping. I'm a little concerned that it's going to be a knitted mini-dress, but I suppose they are 'in' at the moment. I'm not sure that they're quite as 'in' for nearly 30 year-old librarian types ...

And I also suffered a minor lapse in the knitting from the stash resolution and bought the yarn and pattern for Rogue. The yarn is Airedale Aran made with Blue-faced Leicester in Petrol Blue from Texere Yarns.

Right! I'm off to watch nature programs and try to finish the edge ribbing on Central Park Hoodie for this evening's Knit n' Stitch meetup