FO: Magrathea

Pattern: Magrathea by Martina Behm

Yarn: Stratus, by Sparkleduck. (70% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% silk, 10% cashmere)

Mods: Used 3.25 mm needle instead of 3.0 mm because that's what I had around. Otherwise no mods.



The shawlette has a wingspan of 140 cm. I didn't measure it before blocking, but I'm sure it grew a little. The garter stitch is really stretchy, and if I'd blocked it aggressively, I expect it would have grown even more. It is a great length and depth for satisfactory for bandit-style wearing. I want it around my neck at all times!

The yarn is gorgeous and squooshy. The picture below is slightly more colour-accurate than the others - there are subtle green and blue shifts all the way through. If I could only knit with semi-solids, I'd be a happy knitter. This is my first time knitting with BFL - and in combination with silk it is pleasingly shiny. I would like to try something in 100% BFL to better judge the fibre itself, but that will come.



I really enjoyed knitting this. The construction is interesting and not something I had tried before: one of the lace edges is knitted at the edge of ever-increasing garter rows, and the other lace edge is knitted across the entire length at the end. That doesn't make much sense, but I swear the pattern itself describes it very clearly! On my version, my stitch count must have been slightly off (despite my attempts to check it), so there is a bit of a wobble where the two lace edges combine. It's hard to see if you don't know what you are looking for, though.



Not as smug as I appear, though I am rather pleased with this FO.

Swag

I promised to show off my Yarn Fest loot, so here it is.



Three skeins of Old Maiden Aunt Merino 4ply in Dreich, Jaded, and Bramble. I usually don't mind winding my own skeins, but I took advantage of a yarn-winding-for-charity service providing by enthusiastic volunteers at the festival because I wanted to cast on for Colour Affection as soon as possible. Not going to lie - seeing the OMA stuff in person blew my mind. After taking quite a while to work through the crowd to the OMA stall, I settled in crouching by a trunk of yarn, and was dazzled by all the potential colour combinations. I eventually settled on the above three. However, Lilith of OMA was wearing a Colour Affection when I went up to purchase the yarn, and I almost had to rethink my yarn choice yet again.

Yet another Old Maiden Aunt Merino 4ply - this time still in skein form, since I have no immediate plans for it. Colourway: Emerald City. I picked this one up and couldn't put it down, so it came home with me too.


Hint: it's way more luminous in real life.

And finally, a fabulous semi-solid red from Lioness Arts.



The yarn is King of the Jungle Sock (80% merino, 20% nylon) in the colourway Seeing Other People. Again, no concrete plans for this one yet, but it can just sit in my stash looking gorgeous for a while.

I know this might count as restrained shopping in some circumstances, but since I rarely buy more than one skein at a time of luxury yarn, this was a splurge for me. An exciting splurge, though - I don't feel at all bad about it, and you can't make me! :P

Edinburgh Yarn Festival!

This past Saturday was the first Edinburgh Yarn Festival. It was fabulous, and I really hope they do it again next year! I'll definitely sign up to volunteer. Having a fibre event like this so close to home was great. It really took the pressure off - I didn't feel like I had to see everything all at once, since I knew I could wander back home and come back again if necessary. I didn't take too many pictures, but hopefully these give a feel for the atmosphere.

When I arrived, I was greeted by this bizarre creature.



It was incredibly crowded on my first circuit of the stalls, but by the time I made it around for a second look, it had calmed down a little. Still, the place was heaving.



I dropped most of my loosely-determined budget at Old Maiden Aunt. The stall was placed in a sort of bottle neck / dead-end, which exacerbated the crowds... It is easy to see why everyone was heading there, though. So much beautiful stuff.



Giant creepy clown face watched over the proceedings...



And here's Ysolda's big rack-o-samples. The fangirl in me did squeal inwardly at handling these original, beautiful pieces. I declined the offer to try some on, mostly because I was wearing a soggy raincoat and didn't want to fling moisture everywhere. (The weather that day was pretty awful - all the more reason to frolic inside with the wool).



All in all a great time. It was pretty overwhelming to see all this gorgeous stuff in person - most of my yarn-ogling happens on the internet, which just isn't the same. I always feel a bit awkward chatting with people who do things I admire - but everyone I spoke to was lovely. I picked up so many cards to facilitate future internet purchases, in addition to the yarn I bought on the day. Swag pictures coming up!

Lemon poppy seed cookies

I made some cookies, and managed to get photos when they were only mostly gone.



The recipe I sort-of followed is here. These are a bit of a departure for me, since I mostly bake brownish things - the result of subbing in brown sugar and whole-wheat flour, and using lots of spices. I do love some cinnamon... but in this case, these were lovely as is, without too many substitutions.



I say without too many because I tinkered with the fats. The recipe calls for butter, but I can never resist reducing and substituting when butter is involved. In this case, I reduced the total fat to about 6 tblspoons (from 8), and used roughly equal amounts of butter, vegetable oil, and virgin coconut oil. In actual fact, the butter measurement was very rough - basically two vaguely tablespoon sized chunks. But anyway. The subtle coconut smell while the cookies were baking was delightful, but there isn't a strong flavour of it once baked, at least not in the small amount I used. This was my first time baking with coconut oil, and I'll probably experiment with it some more. It's mostly saturated fat, so despite all the hype, I doubt it is that much healthier than other saturated fats, but whatever.

Oh, and I left off the glaze mostly out of laziness. They are delicious without it, anyway.



Mmmm cookies. Will make again.

FO: stripey stripes

Just dropping in to say I did finish that Noro scarf. I finished it a while ago, took some long-arm photos, scowled and said I'd get some better ones.... and never did. I got fed up with not posting about it, so here are the somewhat awkward self-portraits. Also I need a hair cut. Meh.



I love it and really enjoyed knitting it. It's cozy and warm - I happen to like the feel of Noro around my neck, though I realize that I'm in the minority. I had to intervene several times when the colours became too similar - the kind of intervention that involves scissors. Still, good times.



Details: Three different skeins of Noro Kureyon. I split one of the skeins in half, used the first half striped with one of the other skeins, subbed in the next skein when that half ran out, continued along until running out, and I used the last half for the last part of the skein. Does that make any sense? I am having difficulty explaining it, but it is simple, really.

I CO 29 stitches, and knit two rows of each colour in 1x1 rib, slipping first and last stitch of the second row of each stripe, as Brooklyn Tweed describes.

Win!

WIP: Magrathea

I received the pattern for Magrathea in a swap last summer. Many months later, I have finally started it.



Aside from its awesome, inspired name, it's a lovely shawl/scarf with an interesting construction. I debated with myself over using this particular yarn - a BFL / Cashmere / Silk blend - on a piece with so much garter stitch, wondering if it would be better suited for something with more smooth areas of knitting to bring out the lustre. I think it is a good fit so far, though. Squooshy squooshy. The subtle colour changes that are almost entirely not visible in my photos are really pretty. (Lovely blues and greens. You'll just have to take my word for it, for now).



See more WIPS at Tami's blog.

FO: Pomatomus

My Pomatomus socks are finally finished! They have been on the needles since April last year, and I'm so pleased to be done with them. I love them. They are my most impressive socks - as in, the ones I'm most impressed with myself for knitting.



The pattern, of course, is Pomatomus by Cookie A. The yarn is Project B from the now-defunct Ariadne Knits in Montreal. It's 80% wool, 20% nylon, and rather smooshy. I bought it on a visit soon before moving to Edinburgh, and it was one of the lucky stashed items that made it into my one suitcase. The colour is golden yellow-orange and fabulous. (And more luminous than my camera could handle). In the skein it shone like its own light source even buried in my stash box. Heh.



As for the pattern, it's not that difficult. It just takes persistence. They took me so long to complete because of the concentration required. Whenever I thought I had internalised the pattern enough to be able to read my knitting, I'd mess it up. I learned that I had to keep a careful eye on the chart at all times, and that really slowed me down. I also put the knitting aside for long stretches while I worked on other more immediately satisfying things.



But I do love them now that they are finished. The yarn and pattern are a perfect match - if I could only knit with semi-solids I'd been a contented knitter. The only real mod I made was to end the toes and graft them together having only decreased to 20 stitches, rather than 12. They would have been far too pointy for my feet otherwise.

Finishing these is extremely satisfying. Now I can start something new, guilt-free!

WIP: noro scarf

I'm not the first to do a stripy Noro scarf, and probably not the last. The ubiquity of this scarf suggests that sometimes simple is best. I am kind of addicted to watching the colours change, so it will probably be finished soon.



I started out using Brooklyn Tweed's recipe, but it was turning out too wide, so I ripped it out and started again with 29 stitches instead of 39. I only have 3 skeins of Noro, so hopefully the reduction in CO stitches will yield a long enough scarf.



I had two skeins of similar but different bluey-green-purple Noro Kureyon that I bought on impulse years ago, and I've added the spring-coloured Noro I got for Christmas. It has worked out really well so far, since the Christmas yarn has lots of light colour - it contrasts really well with the deeper / darker shades in the other skeins. I have done some strategic cutting in places when things got a little muddy and low-contrast, but mostly I'm letting it do what it will.

Noro divides opinions. I love it, but I wouldn't use it for many types of projects; however, it really lives up to its potential in simple things like this.

Last of the loot

We stopped in Liverpool on our way down south for the holidays, and I had to check out Purlesque. It's an exceedingly cute shop on top of a vintage clothing boutique - not much in the way of yarn, but oh my the buttons! Buttons are quickly become my most-stashed item.


No idea what I'm going to do with 3 kettle buttons, but I'll figure something out. Possibly as decoration on some sort of hat.


I bought these little things with the intent to make more button earrings. As I was leaving the shop, my DH pointed out that Purlesque actually sells these exact buttons made into earrings already. Great minds thing alike?

Anyway, that's the last of the "Look what I got!" posts for now. I'll have some more WIPs and maybe even an FO to show soon.

holiday yarn

I was given some yarn over the holidays this year.


Fyberspates Sheila's Sock in mixed purples - photo is colour accurate for once! This is meant for some kind of lush shawl to be determined. Possibly Magrathea, since I've wanted to get started ever since receiving the pattern in a summer swap. Or maybe Pear Drop from Saturday Treat, since I received the book for Christmas as well. Or any one of the many awesome shawl patterns out there that I have admired. I need some more scarf/shawls, definitely.


Fyberspates Scrumptious Aran in Midnight - darker blue than appears in the photo. No immediate project in mind for this one, though I might go with Almond Comfit from Saturday Treat, since this is the recommended yarn. It's a bit dark, though - I can't get that bright red out of my head. We shall see.


Noro Kureyon in colours I would never have picked for myself - I'm really enjoying it knit up, though, so stay tuned for the WIP.

Two hats

Now is the time I talk about the other 2012 FOs that I forgot to mention before. I made two hats - one for each of my grandmothers. Both from patterns I'd used before, and both in Cascade 220 - I'm not usually so consistent. Once I finish a project, I often think that I would like to make the same thing again at some point, but I rarely get around to doing it.

The first is a Coronet. I previously made my grandmother one in blue, and she requested another in red.



I used Cascade 220 in an awesome brilliant red and I kind of wanted to keep it. I never used to like bright red, but it is definitely growing on me.

For my other grandmother I made Gretel by Ysolda Teague. A few years ago, I made a Gretel for myself, but it turned out way too slouchy for me, so I hardly wore it. This time, I made the "fitted" size, and it turned out a little small-seeming, but I think it will be okay.



It went really quickly, in contrast to my memories of previous Gretel. That one was a larger hat and I was inexperienced at cabling. This time cables are my favourite, and I can cable without a needle. What a difference that makes.



I don't think the distinct tam is the right shape/style for my head, but I hope Grandma likes it. Having made it twice, I almost want to make another, perhaps in the "regular" size, for myself.

2012 in knitting

Hello! I hope you have all had a fun and relaxing whatevermass holiday time. I basically ignored the internet for two weeks and it was delightful. (And now I'm having a hard time catching up.) I even finished some more knitting projects. As is traditional, I've done a mosaic of everything I finished in 2012... and I thought it would be bigger, to be honest. Oh well.



From left to right and top to bottom (links are to my rav projects):

Devon, by Cookie A.
High Seas, by Kieran Foley
Sweet Bunting, by Laura Chau
Mr Pitt's Socks, by Kaitlyn Wong (I did actually finish them, just didn't get a proper picture)
Gavotte, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald
Coronet, by Alexandra Virgiel
Ladies' Classic Raglan Pullover, by Jane Richmond
Gretel, by Ysolda Teague

A few of these haven't had a proper blog post yet, but those will come soon.

As for knitting resolutions, I think I half succeeded this year. Here is what I wrote last year:

In 2012, I would like to focus my knitting on filling in my knitwear gaps. For example, most of my handknit sweaters are 3/4 sleeved because I skimp on yarn and am afraid of running out. 3/4 sleeves are fine sometimes, but my wardrobe needs some long-sleeved things. So: goal for 2012 is to make sweaters with long sleeves, even if I need to buy more yarn to accomplish it! Likewise, I only have one handknitted pullover, so I'd like to add one or two more pullovers to the mix this year.

Indeed, I did make two pullovers - hurray! However, only one of them is long-sleeved. Ah well. I spent several months working on my wedding shawl exclusively, which probably accounts for having fewer FOs than last year. That's cool - it's not about the counting, is it? In any case, the last few months have been rather productive. Half of my total FOs were finished in November and December, including my two sweaters.

My knitting goals for next year aren't very focused, and are subject to change. I'd like to do some more lace, and make a few cardigans. I'd also like to make some gifts for my immediate family, since I haven't made them anything for the last two years. Other than that, who knows what 2013 will bring.

How was your year in knitting / fibre?

FO: Classic Raglan (FINALLY)

Look what I finally finished!



Needless to say, I didn't finish it while it was still November. However, I'm proud that it only took about a week longer than it was supposed to. Full length sleeves take forever. Perhaps I subconsciously knew that when I skimped on yarn on my last few sweaters and ended up with 3/4 or half sleeves.

Pattern: Ladies' Classic Raglan Pullover, by Jane Richmond.

Yarn: New Lanark Aran



Mods: I added about 3 inches of length in the body and 1 inch on the sleeves. Adding sleeve length was an accident, but it seems I have long arms because they fit fine. I also used twisted rib instead of normal 1x1 rib for the cuffs, neckband, and hem. The pattern is easy to follow and infinitely customizable.



I think I put the waist shaping in slightly the wrong place for me. (That is down to laziness on my part). If I make another one, I might go down a size for a closer fit, but this size will be very useful to me as well. As it is, the sweater is super comfy and very warm. I'm actually surprised by how comfortable it is. Since the yarn isn't the softest, I thought it might be a bit itchy next to the skin, but it isn't! In the photos I'm wearing a t-shirt underneath, and I continued to wear it that way for the rest of the day with no complaints. I suspect my skin is kind of tough, though - take what I say about yarn scratchiness with that in mind. I bet it wouldn't be so awesome against my neck.



The yarn is amazing. The depth and complexity of colour is gorgeous. It is sturdy, so I have high hopes that it will be very durable. At first it was a bit hard on my hands - it isn't as elastic as some wool yarns - but I soon got used to it. I am already planning to make my next sweater with it. So far this sweater is a win!

FO: Gavotte

Whether or not I finish my November sweater before December 1, at least I can say I completed one sweater this month. So I started it in September - minor details.



Formerly known as the Green Blob, here is my Gavotte. The pattern is by Cecily Glowik MacDonald, who probably needs no introduction. This is the second pattern of hers I've knitted, the first being Idlewood. Once I wrapped my head around (again) the weird wording for the k1-r/b increase, the pattern was easy to follow. It's probably just me, but I really have a hard time understanding that particular explanation. And I forgot how to interpret it between finishing Idlewood and starting Gavotte, so I had to go on a google expedition to figure it out again. Ah well, maybe now I will remember it! It is a really tidy increase.



Mods:
I added lots of length. I lost track, but I think it was almost 6 inches. Even for me with my long torso, that is quite a lot. I'm tired of things coming out cropped accidentally, so I may have overdone it. It blocked to a comfortably long-enough length. I intended to lengthen the sleeves as well, but ran out of yarn due to adding so much length in the body. It's fine.

The neckline rolls at the front, which is par for the course with stockinette. It was looking massively huge, so I didn't block the edge aggressively to attempt to combat rolling. The pick-up / bind-off edging did help pull the neck in so it isn't massive, but it doesn't help with the rolling. Too bad. I don't really mind.



Yarn:
I used MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino in a lovely forest-green colour. The yarn was lovely to knit with. It is very soft and sproingy, with excellent stitch definition. Thus, my uneven stockinette shows up very well. Blocking helped with that, though.

Unfortunately, I don't think it will be very hard-wearing at this drapey gauge. After wearing the sweater for one whole day, I noticed some pilling under the arms. I will likely use this yarn again, but maybe for items that don't experience much friction, and definitely at tighter gauges.

Oh well. I will wear this happily and with careful de-pilling maintenance.

See more FOs at Tami's blog.

Sweater update

We are over halfway through November, and supposedly I'm going to finish a sweater by the end of it. Let's see how I'm doing.



I currently have a purple blob of stockinette. If you look closely you may be able to tell that it has arm holes. (Necessary things in a sweater). As of this writing, I've finished the waist decreases, and am chugging away towards the hip increases. I suppose I'm not quite halfway through the sweater, but now that I don't have all those sleeve stitches to deal with, rounds go fairly quickly. Hurray!

Both the yarn and pattern are enjoyable so far. New Lanark seems like a hardwearing yarn - it is very sturdy. Since the last thing I knit was with very sproingy merino, it took a little while for my hands to get used to the sturdy, strong feel of this yarn. That kind of slowed my progress a bit at first, since I had to take lots of breaks to let me hands recover. It's not actually that scratchy (though it's no malabrigo), but it does seem much less elastic than some wool yarns I've used. I'm still enamoured with the subtle shifting colours, which don't look anything like that completely unsubtle photograph. Even though I adjusted the white balance. Haha.

So. How are your November projects going?

What's this? Not a sweater?

A few years ago my grandmother asked me to knit her a hat, and so I made her a Coronet. She loved it and apparently all her friends complimented her on her lovely hat. I do like a successful gift knit! Anyway, the hat is starting to wear out, and she has asked me for another one. This time in red. Bright red. I thought about changing up the cable pattern, but it turns out she wants the same thing. Who am I to ignore a specific request?



It is indeed BRIGHT red. The yarn is Cascade 220, ordered off the internet, so I wasn't quite sure what colour I was getting... but there it is. It is brighter than it looks on my screen, and not at all pink. I think it is perfect, but hopefully Grandma agrees.



I'm not knitting this as quickly as I'd like, because I am also working hard on my November sweater - more on that later. The cable band is the most time-consuming part, though, so once I get that done it should proceed quickly.

BlaDiBlaMo?

It's November - have you enthusiastically committed to an unpronounceable, inappropriately abbreviated month-long activity yet? I've done NaNoWriMo once, NaBloPoMo a few times, but never the sweater one before. So this year, my challenge is to knit a sweater in the month of November.

Because I'm a slow sweater-knitter, for me to have any chance of success I knew I had to choose something fairly simple and use moderately heavy yarn. I've decided to knit the Ladies' Classic Raglan Pullover by Jane Richmond. If I manage it, maybe next year I'll try something more complicated, but for now Worsted/Aran weight stockinette seems like the best plan!



The yarn I bought is New Lanark Aran, in the delightful Blueberry colourway. New Lanark is a historic cotton mill village and world heritage site, whose mill now produces wool yarns. Shamefully, I've never been to visit, even though it's not that far from Edinburgh - maybe next year! This particular colourway is tweedy and deep - there are so many different colours there that combine to make a purpley-blue. Really, there's green and yellow, and all manner of blues, purples, and teals in there. I'm really looking forward to seeing it knit up.



Now I've got to swatch! What are you up to this November?

Things. Big things.

So remember how last month I claimed nothing was happening? As was perhaps inevitable, suddenly EVERYTHING HAPPENED.

Thing 1: I had three job interviews in a span of two weeks, and got one job. A permanent job! This is possibly the second time in my life I've ever had a job with no contractual end-date.

Thing 2: I got my residence permit, so I'm legal to stay in this country for another two years. Huzzah! Other than the overwhelming sense of relief and joy, the best part is I have my passport back, so I can travel beyond these borders.



And as of today, we've been married for 6 months. Whahey! 2012 is coming together nicely.

WIP: Green Gavotte

I have a sweater on the needles! This is exciting, since I finished my last sweater (the Honeybee Cardigan) almost exactly a year before starting this one. A whole year without making a sweater for myself? Never again.

Here's Gavotte, so far.



Green blob FTW! Miles and miles of stockinette is going pretty quickly, and is actually really fun right now. I'm in a stockinette frame of mind, and everything I want to make lately is really smooth, simple, and unpatterned. For example, Ladies' Classic Raglan Pullover by Jane Richmond is on my list for this winter, as is the Mediumweight Pullover by Hannah Fettig. Stockinette pullovers: I need them in my life! Given that I bought the yarn for Gavotte in January/February and have only started knitting it in September, I may not get to either of these other sweaters before 2013 (or 2014!). Ah well. Those are my current plans, subject to change on my whim.

See more WIPs at Tami's blog.

checking out

Lately, I've just been getting on with it. Not in a negative or unhappy way, just... not in a very interesting way. I've been living, working, knitting, reading, doing things, but not as an active participant in the world. This isn't that unusual, and were I to define my life I could probably classify much of it as "just getting on with it." I just don't feel like I have much to share these days, even if I've actually been doing a lot.

But to reassure myself that I've actually been doing things, here are some things I have been doing:

Working almost full-time
This is excellent because it means getting paid in real money. Bonus points for being good experience for my supposed eventual career path. However, that particular assignment is over and I'm taking a bit of holiday this week, which is lovely.

Getting used to my new hair cut
It's been about a month since I had a large portion of my hair cut off and donated to Little Princess Trust to make wigs. This is the first time in years I've had bangs, and also the first time in years I've been to a hair dresser. Here's the before and after, dirty-mirror-style.





Watching many movies
This past weekend we went on a movie binge and rented The Artist, Cabin in the Woods, Iron Sky, and War Horse (which we had already seen in the cinema). The Cabin in the Woods was surprisingly enjoyable - I don't generally like horror films, but it's Joss Whedon and despite outward appearances it's not a standard horror film. Iron Sky is about moon Nazis. Enough said? Quite entertaining, as long as you're only expecting a B-movie. We also went to see Dredd 3D in the cinema. Neither of us are 3D fans so far, so we usually choose the regular 2d version, but this one has only been released in 3D. It was entertaining, but I still wasn't impressed with the use of 3D, to be honest.

Reading many books
At this last work assignment, there wasn't much for me to do a lot of the time, so I spent a lot of time checking the BBC website and reading books. I'm up to Volume 7 of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic series, which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

Knitting
Finished some socks for my dear that I started on our honeymoon, took lots of photos that all turned out blurry, lost enthusiasm for blogging about the FO because it requires a second photo-shoot for some frankly boring manly ribbed socks. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to it. Just imagine some 4x1 ribbed forest-green socks in the mean time.

Working out
DH and I got gym memberships at the beginning of August, and I've been aiming for two or three times a week at the gym. I've never been that fitness-motivated, but it's good to get some exercise other than walking. We also bought some badminton racquets, so every few weeks we go whack birdies at each other and laugh hysterically at our own terrible badminton skills. Good fun.

Waiting for my visa to come through and trying not to freak out
Still. It's been 3 months. This whole thing is getting old, especially since I can't go anywhere since the UKBA has my passport (and my husband's). Unfortunately, it looks like people on the internet who applied for their visas months before I did still haven't got theirs... so I may be in for an even longer wait. If you ever need a UK spouse visa / leave to remain and are applying from within the UK, may I suggest coughing up the hideous fee for premium service and getting it done in person? I should have done that, but it's such a cash grab to begin with that I couldn't stomach paying even more, and I'd never had to wait long to visas when I applied from Canada, so I didn't think it was going to be an issue.

Applying for jobs
I've got an interview for a permanent job next week that I'm pretty excited about, other than the whole "I still don't have a visa" awkwardness. All I can do is tell the truth, but if it disqualifies me I'm going to be rather peeved.

That's about it... I hope you've all been having fun and doing more interesting things than I have!