oops

I'm not sure what I did, but when updating the sidebar earlier, I managed to mess up the formatting of this blog and it looked all weird. I think I've now recreated it as it was, but if you come across anything odd, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

sock yarn stash

Woo, a camera! To celebrate, here's my small but growing sock yarn stash.

From the left: Purple and yellow Fyberspates: I used to love purple and yellow together. I still love purple, but yellow doesn't really suit me. But on my feet, I can get away with any colour.

Orangey brown and green Fyberspates for my sock pal. This was exactly what I wanted to make autumn-leaf-like Elfine socks.

More Fyberspates in 'Valentine'. This is going to be Pomatomus socks for me. These are my favourite colours, purple, pink, dark red.

A small skein of Hip Knits cashmere sock yarn. Lovely vibrant colours and so soft and strokable. Socks for me, probably.

pink is growing

See the Olympic blog.

not gonna happen

Some common sense and mental maths tells me that I've not got enough pink yarn for the whole of the body and the arms of my hoodie. Bother. I think I shall have to use up all the pink to finish the body. I do have two other purple yarns of the same gaage to complete it with. One is a heathery colour, the other a gorgeous bluey purple called Blackberry. Trouble is, they don't really go with each other and I don't think there's enough of either to do both arms and the hood. Do I knit the arms in one and the hood in the other or just the arms and leave the hood off altogther? Oh the decisions.

I think I'll see how far the pink yarn takes me and then decide.

Olympic progress

Progress report on the Team Cambridge blog.

Olympic knitting here we go

Well I've cast on and knit one row. Being at work, that was all I had time for, but I wanted to get the tricky counting bit out of the way in daylight and quiet rather than in the pub. I ought to do the maths and work out how much I need to knit per day to stay on target, but I'm too nervous. I always have more time to knit at weekends than during the week, so progress will be uneven.

Project detail

Pattern: Bpt

Yarn: Vintage Jaeger spiral-spun from my Grandma's stash, in a very bright pink and a heathery purple. I'm not entirely sure how much of the garment the pink will do. I'm hoping it'll do all the body and I'll do the applied i-cord trim and hood in purple. We'll see.

aha

I had a sock pal moment of inspiration. I want to make something very English since my sock pal lives somewhere else. And what could be more English than Anna/Amelia's Elfine sock pattern, inspired by Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons.

So, the yarn. I want something autumn leaf-ish. And preferably UK-made. Fyberspates aren't English, but they are Welsh. (And they've got a sale on at the moment.) And they make a colourway called October. I think that might be the one.

But first, I need to practice my lacey sock knitting skills. I've got some more Fyberspates in the colourway Valentine, which I plan to use for Pomatomus.

And I might soon have access to a camera again so I can bring an end to picture-less blogging.

Knitting olympics - Team Cambridge

Ooh look, a button made by the lovely Liz. That's exciting. And an Olympic knitting blog. Although it does feel like treachery to be joining the light blues, when I'm a dark blue at heart. Ah well, when in Rome.

ready, steady, go!

Quick off the mark as usual, I'm joining the Knitting Olympics. I'm going to be knitting BPT. This time last week, I'd never cabled. Last Friday night I did my first cabled swatch and it turned out OK. Cabling seems to look weird and messy when you'd doing it, but when it's finished, it sort of magically transforms.

I think I might end up making a few cabled garments over the course of this year. I've just bought the pattern for Glampyre's Bulky cabled cardigan and ordered some Debbie Bliss Maya to make it in and there's that tree hoodie I'm thinking about.

Must stop planning new projects when the old ones aren't finished.

Oh, I cast on for the second jaywalker last night. So that's something.

sock it to me

Sockapaloooza began yesterday and I've now got my sockpal's details. I've just been to look at her blog and wow, she's a great sock knitter! Feels like I've got a lot to live up to in knitting socks for her. Time to learn a few new techniques I think.

I'm thinking of something lacey, which will be a new thing for me. I'd better get some practice in. I've got a couple of sock yarns coming my way soon, neither of which is quite right for my sock pal, but I like them, so I can practice for sock pal socks and make socks for me. I'm thinking of trying Pomatomus which is a challenge to say and will be a challenge to knit. I've a feeling it might need resizing and I've no idea how to do that. Changing the needle size might do. Cross that bridge when we come to it. But first I really REALLY must get the other jaywalker sock done. And buy a camera!

look, look! a picture

Daddy's socks 2
Originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

My Dad's birthday socks. Not too bad a picture of his own feet. I'll see if I can get him or someone else to take a better one though.

Pattern: made up by me. Toe-up, 72 stitches, using the seed stitch rib pattern from Thuja, eye of partridge heel stitch and 1x1 ribbing.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Camouflage.

Needles: 2.5mm and 2.25mm dpns

They fit and he likes them. A successful knit, I'd say.

silk purse into sow's ear

So, despite what I said, I spent lots of this weekend knitting the silk top.
And the more I knit, the less I like it. It's really unflattering and fits oddly. The neck is too high, the bust shaping looks weird, I'm not sure I'd actually wear it. I'm not sure whether to rip it up and start something else or persevere. Thing is, the silk's really delicate and gets more delicate every time it's ripped. I've frogged some of it about three times already and there are loads of places where it's just broken mid row and I've had to leave dangling ends. I like the colours, but I'm not really convinced I like the way variegated yarns look over a large area. Close up, they're lovely, but from a distance all you see are little clumps of colour.

I don't know what to do, so I'm going to shove it all in a bag and leave it in the corner of my room until inspiration strikes.

knitting in the dark

On Tuesday night, I was knitting in a pub, which was great fun, if a bit noisy. I think we must have puzzled the doormen with our large bags of yarn. Hello to Mary, Anne, Liz, Rosie and Claire!

Still no pics, sorry.
I thought I'd record some of my knitting goals for the year.

Currently on the needles:

Angelica in a vintage Jaeger lambswool/cashmere navy yarn. It's very dark, but it feels yummy.

Silk top based on Ubernatural. I might actually rip this out and make another Angelica, or something else entirely, or I might keep going as it is. It's going to be a while before it's warm enough to wear this, so I'm in no hurry.

Currently waiting to be started:

Sock two of a pair of Jaywalkers. Getting the first one done was an epic, but sock two should be straightforward, when I get round to it.

Future projects:

Over Christmas, I acquired some of my Grandma's monster stash. She had bags and bags. I pulled out everything I liked the look of, basically anything purple or pink, plus the navy Jaeger stuff and a large bag of cream aran wool. I have plans for some of it. I'd really like to knit something along the lines of Leaves in Relief with the aran, maybe a cardigan, with or without hood, with the trees on the back cos I don't think trees across the bust would look good on me. I've never cabled before, so I think I need to work up to it. Maybe I'll start with a simpler cable pattern and learn how to read charts.

Another technique I'd like to try is entrelac. Another Knitty pattern, Danica, looks like a good place to start. I've seen some lovely entrelac scarves and stoles in Noro and other long repeat variegated yarns, which might be fun.

This year, I'd like to design and make myself something from scratch, from idea to finished garment. It doesn't have to be too complicated, but something a little more challenging than a scarf. Mind you, there are so many patterns around, that generally it's as easy to adapt someone else's as come up with your own. Still, I'd like to try it.

There will also be socks, baby garments of some sort, perhaps another Clapotis. Who knows what I'll end up knitting?

you're it

I've been tagged for a meme by Mary deB. She's tagged lots of Cambridgeshire knitters, so this can go on my knit blog.

Four Jobs You Have Had In Your Life:
1. Stuffing envelopes and making databases for science teachers (at least 2 jobs I've had fit this description)
2. Being office dogsbody for a firm of solicitors (brief but memorable for its dullness)
3. Organising courses on creativity for scientists (I liked this one, but it ended)
4. Telling the world about computing for particle physics. (I didn't like this one much.)

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
1. Delicatessen
2. Breakfast at Tiffany's
3. Garden State
4. Amelie

Four Places You Have Lived:
1. Walthamstow, NE London (my birthplace)
2. Bath (During my Masters course. Beautiful)
3. Oxford (When I was an undergraduate. Nowhere else is quite like it)
4. Cambridge (except perhaps here, my new place of residence. Not yet home, perhaps it will grow to be soon)

Four TV Shows You Love To Watch:
1. Doctor Who (Unmissable under any circumstances)
2. Dramatisations of classic novels. Bleak House was particularly good last year.
3. I've seen a couple of episodes of My Name is Earl and I rather like it.
4. At the moment, Celebrity Big Brother seems to be on rather a lot in our house. Not sure I LOVE to watch it, but if it's on...

Four Places You Have Been On Vacation:
1. Newtown, Powys, Wales (Twice with my family and several times since)
2. Docking, Norfolk (With my parents, sisters and grandparens in nearby cottages)
3. The Isle of Skye, Scotland (the most beautiful place I have ever been)
4. Dartmoor, Devon (Where my grandparents used to live)

4 Websites You Visit Daily:
1. Google
2. Guardian Unlimited
3. Blogger
4. Thinklings

Four Of Your Favorite Foods:
1. Chocolate (especially dark chocolate. Divine is particularly good.)
2. Bananas
3. Chicken Dopiaza
4. Turkey Mole. This isn't the recipe I'd use though.

Four Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. Asleep in a punt in the summer sunshine in Oxford or Cambridge
2. Stomping across Dartmoor
3. Paddling up a Norweigan fjord
4. In bed

I'll tag you, you, you and YOU.

still no pictures

But I couldn't not record that this Saturday I went to me first meet-up with other knitters. Yay! I met some lovely knitters, including the Crafty Otter, which is the first time I'm read someone's blog and then met them in real life. There was a yarn swap, to which I took various purple fluffy bits and came home with some Rowan Big Wool Tuft and some unnamed lilac dk.

I'm a bit frustrated by not being able to put up pictures. I've joined the Angelica knitalong and I have some progress to report, but there's no much point without a picture. All the more motivation to find a solution.

temporary blip

I think I shall have to declare a temporary hiatus here at pigwotknits. I have moved to Cambridge, away from my parents' house and have changed jobs and therefore no longer have access to my dad's digital camera or the one I borrowed from work. Since I think there's little point in a knitting blog with no images, I'll put things on hold until such time as I have the means of illustrating my posts. This may involve buying a computer and a camera. Or I might figure something out with my camera phone. We'll see.

ttfn

nearly a pair of jaywalkers

nearly a pair
Originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I'm hoping these will get finished today. I feel like I've been knitting them forever, but it's only since the beginning of December. I think I need about 8 more rows before I switch to ribbing and then the knitting is done. Some tidying up and a bath and they'll be done.

second sock syndrome

I didn't think this would be a problem. I like knitting socks. The first of my toe-up jaywalkers is finally finished to my satisfaction (no pictures yet, it's a Christmas present, anyway, you know what Jaywalker looks like) and now I've started the second. The thing is, it's boring knitting the same sock again. The first time through I had lots of problems to solve on the way, getting it to fit right. Now I've solved all my problems and I know exactly what I have to do to make it the same. And it's boring! I managed to avoid this problem with my first pair of socks by knitting one toe-up and one cuff down. Perhaps I should have done that with these, but then the zigzags would point in opposite directions would would just be too unmatchy. I am pressing on and resisting the temptation to start something else. (Mostly because I'm at work and these socks are the only knitting I have with me.) I'll just have to get through it quickly so I can start solving the puzzles of something else. And soon I'll have a finished pair of socks to be happy about.

woolly gorgeousness

This week I went for the first time to the Handweavers Studio. It's stuffed with stuff for fibre based creating - rug wool, handlooms, fleece from just about animal you can get wool from, silk, nettle yarn, weaving threads, handspun wool... I had to buy something, so I bought this.



It's handspun, dipdyed wool. Each skein is 100g and measures about 88m. I'm now wondering what to do with it. It feels quite rustic, but the colours are gorgeous. I could felt it, but my felting is always a bit experimental and I think this stuff's too beautiful to risk ruining. I want to knit something that will show off all the colour gradations. Maybe a sort of mini Clapotis? Or something similar with a simple stitch pattern and some structure to it. I tried knitting some last night. On 6mm needles I liked how the stitches looked, but it's quite stiff. On 8mm needles it's too loose. The answer is probably somewhere in between, 6.5mm or 7mm, whch means I need to buy some more needles. There's no hurry, I've got plenty more urgent things to knit, but I'm hoping musing over this will be a good distraction when I'm sick of knitting on tiny needles.

stashbusters

Remember the slubby purply wool blend from Stepney Green post office? I made a long skinny scarf from it.



Pattern: cast on 12 (I think), knit 8 rows, switch to stocking stitch until you're nearly out of yarn, knit 8 rows.

Yarn: Mardi Gras, about 75% wool, the rest is acrylic and nylon. I think. I've lost the ball band.

Needles: 5mm bamboo

The interesting side is the reverse side of stocking stitch, so I think this scarf might need blocking quite often. It seems to lie down quite readily when I blast it with steam, so that's not too much of a chore.

This one's still drying.



It was going to be a hat, but it's not deep enough, so I'm calling it a bowl.

Pattern: Felted hat pattern by Arlene Williams, but not followed very closely since my wool was much thicker. I just stopped when I ran out of my main colour and cast off in the small amount of purple I found.

Yarn: Freedom wool by Twileys of Stamford in Moorland (main colour) and a small amount of Heather (border).

Needles: 5.5mm dpns (the biggest I have) and 9mm circulars.

Sorry, I forgot to take photos in its unfelted state. It was going to be a hat for my mum if it worked, but it's not deep enough. (It looks like the hats worn by Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple). I started felting it by hand, but didn't feel like spending all afternoon playing with it, so shoved it in the washing machine with a couple of pairs of jeans and forgot about it. When it came out, it was too small to be a hat and needed some pummelling into shape. Perhaps it might have been a good hat if I'd persisted with the hand-felting. Anyway, it was an experiment and I like the swirly patterns on the inside which you wouldn't see if it was a hat.