I don't have much knitting information to blog about, since I'm in the middle of a multi-work-in-progress slough. So, instead, here is a photo taken by Tekla that she has kindly allowed me to share with you because it's so gorgeous :-)

Finally an FO

Photo 145
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

This is the first thing I've finished in a while, partly because it's taken me a long time to knit. It's looooooooooooong.
It took up a whole 500g skein of aran.
Now I'm trying to make an angel for my great aunt for next Thursday. Wish me luck.

ribbed shrug

ribbed shrug
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I've been knitting Erika Knight's Ribbed Shrug for what seems like ages. However, the end is in sight. It's nearly reached the point where I'll change to the different ribbing for the second cuff.
It's quite a fun knit and requires no mental energy!

baby shrug

baby shrug
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

The baby shrug is finished at last. It doesn't really fit Pudsey bear but that's irrelevant because he won't be the one who has to wear it! The shrug will shortly be united with its new owner, a baby named Georgina.

wrist warmers gone wrong

wrist warmers gone wrong
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I'd based this pattern on one from the new Vogue Holiday knits for 2008. My tension/gauge was correct. But I think these fingerless gloves were designed for people with bigger bones than me. I think I'll have to frog back. again. sigh.

Wol

Photo 124
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

This funny looking Owl (whose name, of course, is Wol) was my second attempt at a crocheted animal/bird, and a bit of a disaster. However, MummyB was very happy to receive it yesterday when she called in on the way to Norwich.

Finished!

Photo 122
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I've even worn it twice as a shrug. The ribbon version is beyond me at the moment. I need some brain power first.

Blocking versatility

PA180037
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

As a fully paid-up member of the lazy knitters club, I'm a stranger to blocking. For some reason I decided that I should have a go with my versatility: the effort spent on those cables needed to be rewarded with some extra care. The trouble is... that the versatility is taller than me, and I don't have a piece of towel long enough to pin it onto, and nor do I have sufficient pins to get it properly rectangular. It also made my house smell of wet wool. Ughety ugh.

I hope that the result in the morning will be worth all this effort!

In the meantime, I've started a baby shrug for a family friend's new arrival.

Versatility again!

Photo 107
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

all it needs now is the buttons and ribbons but having spent several weeks on this, I must admit to being simultaneously delighted with the finished project and with the prospect of casting on a new, different pattern!

Two and a half repeats in

Two and a half repeats in
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

and I think it's still looking nice :-)

LeTonBeau (the Ravelry name of the pattern's designer) has invited me to join the Versatility KAL on Rav. There are about 4 shared projects on there, including one which is not only complete but completed in crochet!

blobs

Versatility
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

Versatility update: I had to pull a few rows back because the original pattern omitted the bobbles in the written instructions for row 23. But I've redone it and completed row 10 of the repeat.
My worries about this pattern being too complicated for my concentration span have been mostly unfounded; I'm enjoying it.

versatility

P9160038
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

It's growing. And I've even been ploughing on with the cable section. So far, no disasters.
fingers crossed....

Proving my versatility?

P9130037
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

Someone on Ravelry posted to say that the new Knitty has been launched for "fall 2008". Unable to resist the lure of free patterns but very conscious of my limited budget, I decided to see if there was something I could knit using existing stash. MummyB recently bought me some huge skeins (400g) of Aran and even though the pattern 'versatility' calls for 'bulky' (the equivalent of chunky in English), my tension square worked out perfectly with aran and 7mm needles.

It's not a tricky pattern in terms of technique but it does require concentration because each line is different. I'm using the written instructions rather than the chart because writing makes far more sense to me than diagrams.

Who knows whether I'll have the perseverance to keep going when I reach the cable stage?

Crocheting

Photo 56
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

My first crochet animal is nearly finished (all done apart from one or two loose threads that need to be tucked away). I used Monica Rodriguez' Small Bob pattern but with different yarn, different eyes, and many many attempts at the sewing up because it took a long time before I was happy with him. He looked like an Alsatian to start with, then a Jack Russell and only now do I think that he is starting to resemble a Boston :-)

Bit of post-Ravelympics silliness

post-felting
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I improvised a bag in crochet... quite cool for me to do because a) I don't crochet and b) I don't improvise!

Well my Junie B project also involved some impro so maybe my horizons are expanding :-)
With the scrap of the Anchor Filz It wool, I made a little felted headband for Junie B. It's in a nice floppy bow on her head now.

Junie B having a sleep

Junie B having a sleep
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

Junie B definitely needed a nap after the exertions to get the blanket finished for the Ravelympic deadline of the Beijing closing ceremony. We managed it (actually, I managed it; she sat nearby, looking helpful).

The blanket really pushed me to the edge of my knitting tolerance because there was such a lot of it. And it seemed to go on forever and ever.

Today, as a complete change, I've been freeform creating a crochet bag, which I hope to felt eventually.

Hmmm. I'm going to have to post Junie B off to her new Mommy soon. Or I'll be too attached to say goodbye!

Junie B Jones...

P8200031_2
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

... needs a beauty shop guy. I think that before I post her to her new Mommy, I'll have to get the scissors out to try to curb the wild excesses of her mane. I'm fairly pleased with the way she looks overall and am glad that I had a go at experimenting with creating her clothes to be taken on and off.

That's my first Ravelympics project completed (for Team Cambridge). The blanket for Team Bob is going OK but I had to admit to finding it rather dull because it's a lot of the same, round and round, just making it big enough to be blanket shaped.

the end is nigh

Photo 32
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I've finally reached the decrease section. Am now hoping that a) I have enough yarn to complete without needing to buy a 5th (£7.95) skein and b) that I can cast off before the Ravelympics start tomorrow at 1pm BST!

another skein

clapotis
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I decided that to make this worth knitting, I wanted it to be as long as my favourite pashmina and my lovely Eritrean scarf. So I went to Sew Creative yesterday for a fourth skein of the Noro. Afterwards, as I was knitting and then winding my new skein onto the existing ball, a fellow twenty-something stopped by my table in Borders to find out where I'd bought the yarn. I felt rather chuffed to be an advert for my favourite LYS !!

The dropped stitch part of this pattern is rather addictive; I love reaching each row 8 of the 12 row repeat just so I can pull some more stitches out and add to the wavey texture.

getting longer

clapotis
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

look it's still growing. I must admit that having to repeat the same pattern over and over is testing my limited attention span. It's a very easy knit and possibly not challenging enough to keep me as interested in it as I was when I started.

love at first knit

clapotis day 3
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I <3 Noro. I <3 clapotis.

In fact, perhaps in future, I'll only ever knit clapotises in Noro ;-)

Clapotis day 2

Clapotis day 2
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

OK. I see now why everyone loves Noro !

This is silk garden lite and I have to decide whether I'm going to need another skein to complete this clapotis. I've tried applying the 'rule of 5' but still feel unsure.

at LAST

P7210023
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

considering how much fun the actual circle part of this was to knit, the arms have taken me a disproportionate amount of time to complete. I'm blaming it partly on the fact I've actually got some work done in the past week or two, partly on attempting to be sociable while having visitors to stay and partly to being under the weather and not feeling more in the mood for a nap than a knit.
But I do love it. The yarn is so soft (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Rowan Aran) that the whole cardi seems almost shiny with cuddliness.

Pinwheel sleeve number one

Pinwheel and big wool
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

Picking up the stitches to knit the sleeve was remarkably easy. I have cheated a bit though because the instructions for the icord cast off unravelled my brain. if I'm feeling brave when the sleeves are done, I *may* unpick the existing cast off and have a go at the icord.

bloggety blog

A friend of mine set up a blog yesterday. You can find it at mirror of fools

She's planning a serious nerdy blog. So when she asked about putting me on her blogroll, I pointed out that this is a very dull knitting blog which isn't going to add any intellectual interest to her readers ;-)

On the knitting front, pinwheel is coming along nicely but I didn't get a chance to knit for over 24 hours yesterday because of a trip to Leeds for the Medieval Congress. I gave my paper, my powerpoint worked properly and got to speak to some of the historians from Cambridge. Quite why we only ever have chance to chat when we're in Leeds is one of those perennial questions, probably doomed never to be answered.

Pinwheel

Pinwheel
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

Yesterday I started a Pinwheel sweater in aran. It's a chance to try out my new Knit Picks Harmony needles. I'm using 3x5mm circular needles for this ; I don't own any DPNs but happen to have three 5mm circs so it made sense to use all three. I love the pattern so far; it's like instant gratification because it looks pretty so quickly!!

BSJ

with buttons
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I participated in a BSJ knit-along this month with the lovely lady from socktopus.co.uk and various members of Ravelry. This is my finished BSJ made in Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino. The colourway is Country Garden and I picked some buttons at Sew Creative yesterday (while there for the World Wide Knitting in Public day!) that hopefully bring out the turquoise hints in the yarn. I've enjoyed this so much that I've now begun another in DK :-)

nearly finished

knitting
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

Joyce's tea pot is smaller than the one that's modelling the cosy in this picture so it should fit a bit more convincingly.
I'm now back on the preemie knits until my BSJ pattern and wool arrive (or do I have to wait for 1st June to begin that because of the knit-along? I've not participated in a KAL before so I don't know how it works)...

meme from Rosie

The Rules

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:

Having a year out before university. It was a little longer than a year in the end (two hospital admissions and some time working for the British Society for Human Genetics) but I did get there eventually.

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
To do: mark the practice essay that I've been sent; go shopping with my mother (coming for a visit); sew up the tea cosy; read through my 12000 words of primary material for the shepherds; go on Newton to find catalogue references for the books/articles I gleaned from an MLA search yesterday.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Pass

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:
buy a flat; secure my parents' retirement; buy my brother a house; buy him a new car; go back to Eritrea and secure the future of the libraries in Agordat plus sort out the water.

5. Places I have lived:
Eccles, Patchway (Bristol), Harpenden (Herts), Solihull and Great Cambourne

Well, that was the easy bit. Now I've got to think of people to tag but I don't have any readers for this blog so I'll just leave it open!!

tea cosy

tea cosy
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I haven't posted in ages and ages. The past month's knitting has mostly been premature baby clothes. I have a bag full and decided I needed a change so went to Sew Creative in hope of inspiration. I bought a ball of Twilley's Freedom Spirit, browsed Ravelry for patterns and decided to make a tea cosy for my great aunt's birthday. She taught me to knit when I was small so she likes seeing my finished work. This knits up incredibly quickly. I cast on last night and have already nearly finished.

Oh and I've ordered wool and a pattern to make my first Baby Surprise Jacket with the BSJ knit-along...

Frogged!

Photo 112
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

The calorimetry is finished, the size of a tea towel and therefore frogged.

Back to knitting for preemies I think ...

starting Calorimetry

starting Calorimetry in WWMDfK T shirt
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I'm not a creative knitter... well that may not be 100% true. My many poodle creations ended up having very little to do with the original patterns, each one with varied colours and yarns making different textures and "fur"-length.
But for garments, I'm terrified of straying off pattern. I don't really understand gauge and stitch ratios, etc. So imagine my surprise to find myself choosing to use up the end of my Rowan Holiday yarn with a pattern that calls for a completely different kind of wool. I think I've worked out a ratio from the gauge (there are 5 stitches of the pattern wool per inch versus 3 for Holiday). And I've tried to scale down the pattern accordingly.

We shall see if it works...

wraparound cardi

wraparound cardi
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

A weekend crash course in crochet (requiring lots of help from Ravelry fora) and the pieces of the cardi finally got sewn together with the edging around the top.

The knitting was by far the easiest part of this project. I nearly gave up after my third botched attempt at crochet, and again when I was struggling to set in the sleeves. I'm glad I persevered though.

crochet attempt

crochet attempt
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

Hmmmm. I'm not one of nature's crochet-ers. but surely the fringe for Rosa shouldn't be quite this... well... big! I'm following the pattern and it's been keeping me out of mischief tonight but I'll reserve judgement on the frilly bit until I've gone all the way round.

bootees from Bliss website

bootees from Bliss website
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

These are an incredibly quick knit. Just need to tuck in yarn ends and work out where I am supposed to send them. I've now started the hat from the Bliss pattern leaflet

teeny tiny vent hat

april
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

it's finished apart from stray bits of yarn and apparently it needs a button somewhere.
I have no idea whether it looks right because I've never seen a vent bonnnet....

Vent bonnet in progress

Vent bonnet in progress
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I do hate knitting with 4-ply but the pattern is so simple that i've no excuse for not completing this. You can see the little vent flap thing in the work in progress on this photo.

Premature baby knitting

vent bonnet
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

I haven't quite sewn up the cardigan yet but my pattern leaflet from the bonnie babies special care baby appeal arrived today so I cast on the vent bonnet with some 4-ply I happened to have. I *hate* knitting with 4-ply so this will be an endurance test for me...

cardi....

cardi
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

... is nearly finished. But despite five completed pieces, I haven't quite got around to sewing it together yet.

Present given

and a positive response received!

I've completed the back of the wraparound cardigan. It's quite a short style: more like a bolero

one finished; another started.

The birthday project was completed the other day.

I've now started a wraparound cardigan from Rowan's Tuscan Retreat book. It uses their now discontinued yarn: Holiday. This was in the sale bin at Sew Creative on Saturday when I went in to get the pale blue ribbon you can see in the photo of the completed jumper above. 

I was afraid the lace pattern would prove too fiddly for me (I knit while reading so get frustrated if I actually have to concentrate on the knitting!) but it's remarkably simple.

This is what I have managed so far:

getting there

back
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

the back is now complete and one sleeve is in progress. I had to visit John Lewis at the weekend because I was a bit worried that I was using more yarn than I'd anticipated. So their clearance bucket was emptied by me of pale blue Cashmerino Astrakhan.

Just to prove I can

Ribbon twist
Originally uploaded by LindyB28

After yesterday's post, I thought I should actually try wearing the only cardigan I've knitted for myself! I made it at the end of 2004 and like it. Trouble is a) it's too bulky to wear under a coat and b) it doesn't fasten up. There's a cord that ties with pom poms but that doesn't keep the two sides together.
Still it's OK for wearing in the house.

knitting jumpers

My current project. It seems, finally, to be working!


Considering the amount of time I've spent knitting, one would expect me to be on more than my second jumper. However, the awful result of an ill-conceived plan with Sirdar Wow! a few years ago completely put me off. The expense of buying so many balls of wool to produce an item more suitable for a weebly doll or a teletubby was a steep learning curve and encouraged me to stick to my favourite comfort knitting items: Jean Greenhowe toys, delicate baby knits and (of course) the poodles.
I knitted myself a cardigan in Rowan Ribbon Twist. I love it... but never wear it.




So maybe these experiences have contributed to the nightmare of beginning MummyB's birthday present. The pattern isn't difficult; it's well within my capabilities, but I've struggled with it ridiculously.
I think the worst is over now. The size looks about right. The lace pattern seems to look accurate and I'm on to a nice chunk of straight stocking stitch.

Present

Making something for my mother's birthday seemed like a good idea when I was in John Lewis yesterday. The Debbie Bliss cashmerino astrakhan in the sale basket was in her colour (she's a summer) and half price. I found a Rowan pattern that looked like a style she might actually wear.

But the first 10-15 cm of knitting have been hard work. Thankfully I've progressed beyond the photo above and have now completed the rather tricksy edging and lace section at the bottom.

one down...

.... one to go. These Saartjes bootees are reminding me just how much I hate knitting with 4-ply. I think they are going to be a nice present for a newborn though. They barely take any time at all; and I learnt a new technique today having never before come across longtail cast-on.
Once my registration pieces have been submitted on Tuesday, I think I'll go over to John Lewis to find some buttons for these bootees and (I hope) some nice wool for a birthday present for MummyB. I've seen some possible patterns on Ravelry...

Exciting

My photo on Ravelry of the Jean Greenhowe nativity is now the photo set for that pattern. I feel rather honoured by this, even though the photo is a bit rubbish: taken on the stairs of our old house, it's hard to see the detail of the figures.

Knitting

Have decided to make this into a knitting blog since I don't really use it much for anything else and Ravelry has a space for linking to a blog.
2008 didn't get off to a good start knitting-wise: I'd nearly finished part of my current project (sleeping bag for a teddy that's knitting in one piece) when I realised a stitch had been knitted instead of slipped (or vice versa) about a third of the way in. So I had to unravel it all again!
Still onwards and upwards