How not to not Knit.

So the dress pattern writing is taking a lot longer than I (naively) anticipated.

It appears that customising a knit to fit my body is fairly straightforward.
Making said design fit the 'standard' is frankly turning out to be a pain in the rump! (who'd have thought!) :)

There will have to be changes. However I'm striving to keep it's original simplicity.

In order to get this done I enforced upon myself a 'knitting ban' while I try to work this out.

When I say 'knitting ban' I mean no more new projects.
Nope!
Not even swatching for that jumper that's knocking around in my head
(always at 3.45am why? why?)

So how does a Knitting addict cope in times of drought?
(especially when casting on the yoke for the 5th time just isn't particularly alluring)

Wellllll....
I sort of bent/broke my own rules and had the knitting equivalent of a marathon!
Like when I decide to cut out sugars and spend the next week living on Galaxy bars!

I don't know how it happened (maybe I blacked out) but I made these 3 neckwarmers
It appears I also managed to bend the space/time continuum to spin the yarn for this one...



Which was actually how the full blown knit-gorge began.
I was window shopping some online yarn shops and saw some felted yarn.
You've probably seen it, used it, got the jumper etc... but it was all new to me.

So I figured that making my own felted yarn was within the rules. (right,right!)
I had dyed up this merino...


...a while ago, and I decided it would be perfect for my little experiment.

I spun it thick and thin on my drop spindle.
Which even with a roman spindle weight attached (a gift from a metal detector/treasure hunting friend) was too light to 'drop spin' so I just rolled it down my thigh to get the twist.
At times I did feel like I was wrestling an anaconda, but can you really think of a better way to spend a few hours? :)

When It was spun I soaked it in a bowl of hot water (as I would to set the twist) then I plopped it into a sink of cold water (giving it a bit of rough treatment while it was submerged)
I did this repeatedly and unsurprisingly It worked! (surprisingly It was nice too)

Here it is before I knitted it...


And that was the catalyst.
I mean, how could I not knit it?
As punishment it turns out the colours do not suit me at all (hence Poppy doing the modelling) so I decided to pop it in my etsy shop...
....but hang on, I can't put just one in there...that would look erm, unprofessional?
(and of course If I don't sell them I can keep them! Guilt free!)

So cough cough these two somehow appeared...





I don't think I have ever been so productive.

It's just a shame it wasn't my dress I was ploughing away at.
But hey ho...I did at least have a new idea for the increases while I was sewing on a ribbon.

Three cheers for not knitting!

Glad of Cake

Today was great!

I decided to cast on for my 2nd Glad mini dress and start getting the pattern written up.

Of course for such a venture one needs cake.
Chocolate cake.
Luckily Henry got right to it for me :)



Can you guess what the secret ingredient is?...:D



Voila!
I actually iced it myself as Henry was still running laps around the living room...



So with cake at the ready, and gallons of tea I'm ready to tackle writing out my first pattern!

Here's my first pic of the new project...



I love the colour and I'm so excited to be getting on with this.
It's the same yarn as the original was knitted in. Twilleys Freedom Gorgeous, a bamboo/nylon blend.

As well as the cake, I'm also getting help and support from the wonderful Christine, a truly generous, enthusiastic all round good egg!
Her blog is here where you can see her fab new designs in progress.

Time for tea...

Journeys End

Well,
It's done.

I've finally finished the Fickle cardi-ma-bob, and the Spur shawl.
The Fickle finale was way overdue, we were both 1x1 rib weary by the end.

Spur on the other hand, could've gone on...
Should have in fact!
But the road ahead turned sharply from burnt ginger into sickly peach followed by intense turquoise.

I'm usually a fan of a twist in the road and seek them out.
But this knit was supposed to be all about comfort and ease. From the purchase of the yarns (done by other people) to the initial cast on of 5 stitches (did I mention I hate casting on?)
Then it was all garter stitch...simple & soothing, with pretty shifts in colour to keep me from attempting to knit it with my eyes closed.

But Peach!!! Really!!!

So it's a shawlette :) A lovely itchy thick one at that.
Paul said it 'looks like something from the 70's'
As far as I'm aware there are lots of things from the 70's...so I choose to take that as a compliment.

I don't have a modeled shot of it yet so here's a ridiculous close up instead :)



The Fickle thing is in part a triumph. I love the finished item and when I asked Paul he said '...yeah...Oh actually that's nice!' *cue a huge eyeroll from me* Good job I'm used to him :)

If I was to knit it again, (ha ha) there are changes that would have to be made. but nothing major.

Here it is...


Such a shame this colourway is now discontinued. I like it a lot.

I'm amazed it's not a laceweight rag considering how much this yarn got ripped out! I re knitted the bottom border 4 times! and the button band twice, not to mention it's earlier incarnations.

Tough, beautiful yarn.
Now what next?...