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

Central Park and Apple Meringue

Central Park Hoodie ... the sleeves are blocking ...

... the hood is finished... [not cast off, rather left for grafting later once the ribbing is finished]

... everything I can seam and weave in at this stage has been done ...

...only picking up the stitches along the edge of the right & left fronts and the hood and knitting rib for a few inches to go ...

Can you see my problem? Click and enlarge if not ... oh yes. The picking up stitches knitty skill is sadly lacking here. I've been able to wing it with socks, but clearly winging it is just not going to cut it any longer.

So I must frog *sigh* You have no idea how long it took me to pick up the exact 150 stitches needed. Frog and consult the knitting tomes in my craft room for help in this area cos I suck at it!

I'm not quite ready to frog, and so I have put Central Park Hoodie down and continued with Earnshaw and Xboxing until I can face it.

In the meanwhile - Apple Meringue with ginger and brandy. There was not enough meringue, too much brandy, and I didn't cook the apples quite long enough. But it is utterly delish nevertheless and makes me feel all warm inside - just like my mum's

sherry trifle.

CPH, Earnshaw and illness

Meagre CPH progress - I'm getting there. I was felled by a cold, during which time I had a migraine. Then I got better from the cold. And had another migraine, then another one *sigh* Most of the time I can be OK with it - I have a strictly controlled diet and daily medication. This means that, although it doesn't rid me of migraines completely, when they do hit me I can usually drag myself through the day with numerous 4head [menthol stick] applications and trips to the bathroom to sit on the toilet with my eyes closed.

I remain mostly positive with thoughts such as; it's not terminal, it's generally predictable in it's length and severity of pain, it would be worse without medication and diet control, at least I'm not taking mountains of sick leave like I once did. And sometimes the magic lolly trick actually works! [holding chunks of ice lolly as far back in your throat as possible to open restricted blood vessels.]

But sometimes [like this week] I fall into; it's not fair!! I'm sick of this! I've had it for years and I get at least 2 a month. I'm so angry that I have to be on constant medication and diet control and I still getting these bloody migraines. I want a [insert expletive here] pizza!!

Of course stressing myself out just makes them worse ... but sometimes I just need to have a tantrum.

So as I was feeling quite low in the past week I started on Earnshaw from the "Simply Noro" pattern book by Jane Ellison. I'm using the 1p a gram yarn from the SECC venture a couple of weeks ago. I knat [and washed and blocked] 2 tension squares - one with 5mm needles, and one with 6mm.

The tension I knit with has a life force of it's own...

The 6mm tension square worked out at 14 sts and the 5mm was 18 sts. Which was lovely and easy, since I need 16 sts. Obviously then I need the needle in the middle which is 5.5mm.

Where it all fell to pants was with the rows. The pattern specifies 21 rows. With 6mm needles I got 23 rows. Less stitches than needed, but more rows. *sigh*

It's all good because the pattern is all 'knit until piece measures x inches' so it doesn't really matter that the row tension is off that much. But I can see that that this confidence is going to bite me in the arse and I'm going to end up with a bloody skirt! So I'm monitoring closely.

This blog seems quite angry - but I'm really not!


I got my first meme from India ; what flavour of knitter are you?

This has truely stumped me! I think I'm going for 'Cherries Jubilee'. A 'Cherry ice cream with cherry halves and a hint of rum flavor'. Cherry because - well all my websites have 'cherry' in them somewhere! It's not your run-of-the-mill fruit, which I feel goes quite well with my yarn choices. I don't go for the cheap and cheerful that's for sure!

At the same time it's quite a 'quiet' flavour with not many frills, which definately matches the kind of pattern I go for. I don't tend to go for frilly bits, or crocheted additions. I'm more of a colour knitter I think.

And the rum, because ... well sometimes I go for a crazy bright yarn that shocks even me!

Central Park Hoodie

I can't believe it's Friday already. I've been trying to blog this since Monday, but Blogger and a cold have combined forces to make sure that it didn't happen until today.

Thanks for comments and emails re; oiled yarn. Sorry I didn't hear you at the SECC Heather - I may have been a little delirious after having bought all that yarn! See this is why I do the SECC alone - I'm utterly unsociable when there are crafty delights all around begging to be purchased.

Cheers Heather - I would love to get any help that anyone can give me on yarn goodies to be had in Tokyo, and also to see steeking 'live'.

I have finally finished the back, 2 sides and 2 sleeves for Central Park Hoodie. Blocking was required in order to seam the shoulders and join front and back pieces for the hood.

Now you all saw that I did a tension square right? It fit perfectly with the specified tension with no effort on my part. And I remained all calm and zen-like whilst knitting it - trying not to knit it with a rushed 'this is a waste of my time' attitude ...

Well - the hoodie is about 4 inches too long and had to be stretched as wide as it would go - in fact the sides were practically transparent they were stretched so wide. So I figured screw it - I'll block the life out of it so that it will go to the diagram size for seaming and then reblock it.

Some gratuitous 'arty' blocking cable shots because my thumbs were so sore from pinning in 8 million pins that I couldn't knit for a bit.

See the diagram above? I blocked the 2 front sides 91/2 inches wide, and then I wondered whether the diagram includes the rib stitches that I'm supposed to pick up around the hood and both sides of the cardie? I had already pinned a gazillion pins at this stage and so was beyond caring whether this no longer fit anything except a pencil. I decided to soldier on.

Picking up stitches for the hood - top pic was perfect. Bottom pic not so much *sigh* you might have to enlarge it to see that it doesn't glide seamlessly into the hood. I took the decision to leave it this way because the hood is going to cover this, and it'll be rare that the hood will be up after the obiglitory blog shot.

Shot of all stitches picked up and hoodie beginning to take shape.

And pretty shot of my kitty lying with his head on the arm of the sofa dozing. It's a bit yellow since I discovered he objects to extreme macro close-ups with the flash on ... and his rapidly closing eyes go red - which isn't cute.

SECC Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft

I went to the SECC Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft event today - the boy dropped me off at 10am - I was all spent up by 12! From New Lanark World Heritage Site's stall - a penny a gram for this aran wool in utterly sumptious colours! 2211 grams later ... I think it is still oiled but I'm not sure. Do you wash the yarn before or after knitting it?

I got even more excited when I thought of all the lovely Noro jumper patterns that I haven't been able to knit cos I just can't afford to spend £100 on the yarn. At £21 [I got more weight than the skeins said - score!] I can make 2 jumpers out of this! Yay!

'Weren't you supposed to be knitting from your stash?' I hear you ask. Yes, yes - but my excuse is this - I can't go to Woolfest. Also - at £21 for 2211 grams it would have been criminal not to have bought this yarn. Two Noro jumpers would have cost me over £200 pounds in yarn.

On the way home we had to stop at Toys R' Us to get another part for the Xbox controller [I broke it trying to get the batteries out for the camera.] I decided to stay in the car since 2 hours of crazed bargain-hunting hobbyists had taken it's toll and Toys R' Us is generally not a relaxing shopping experience.

Spotted in the car, all my yarn spread over my lap, sniffing one skein deeply trying to work out whether it was oil, or sheep that I could smell. This was Ibrox Toys R' Us you understand ... perhaps not the best place to let one's guard down and indulge in knittery habits.

Swift and ballwinder hard at work - my swift has developed a squeak though. A bit of Olive Oil helped a bit, but only if I can keep up a certain speed - tired arms but determined to finish.

Ta-daa! Lovely colours - the one next to the sunset yellow is a very dark brown - I think they look fantastically retro together.

In Borders at the weekend to get some more survival guides for Tokyo - the restaurants one in particular is fantastic for someone with food issues - the language course really helps, so that pronunciation will be no problem. Well... I guess I should wait until we're back to gauge that. The trip has been booked on Expedia. Very scary to spend that amount of cash and get nought but an email for all our months of saving.

Central Park hoodie continues. The second sleeve is almost at the cap shaping - since I already posted the last sleeve at this stage I'm not going to bother this time. And that's me - except I have Monday off so I expect I'll be knitting and gaming for most of the day.