Beelzebub Knits

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T10:16:00.000Z

HNY yarn crafters!

Knitting took rather a back seat in 2011 because I was busy with dozens of new hobbies including learning Chinese, taking up running, learning to sew, going out and socialising more, etc etc. Now I have all these new activities in my life I shall have to be very organised about making time to do everything as knitting is really important to me, especially when I think about my lovely yarn stash that I might as get rid of if I'm not going to use it, otherwise it will just be a huge sanctuary for my pet moths.

Let's have a quick review of how 2011 ended. I wove in the ends on the Embossed Leaves Socks, I am wearing them right now and they are my favourite pair of hand knit socks ever.

I finished Joe's Autumn Hat and Scarf and gave them to him at Xmas. I think he really liked the scarf and so he should, it is huge and has cashmere in it. He talked about wearing it in bed and I would be fine with that, if he gets some use out of it and it keeps him warm then I don't mind where he wears it.

The Sunshine Sweater has moved into the Finishing Basket as I am now sewing it up. I could do with losing a few pounds if I want to wear it this summer.

The Emergency Baby Blanket is about 40% done but I don't like it very much and I feel as though I might have to knit something else for my business associate's baby.

Finally, 2011 ended with the news that another baby is expected this year by someone close to me - it's not public knowledge yet so I can't say who it is but the occasion demands a lovely baby blanket that's on a par with the very best baby blankets I've ever knitted so look out for that over the coming months.

Have a great knitting and crocheting year ahead, readers!

A bit of panicky pre-Xmas knitting

2011-12-07T19:03:00.001Z

Hello dearies!

I am alive and knitting. Because we are well into December I have realised that I need to get my shit together ahead of Xmas. I did nearly all my Xmas shopping online I think it was yesterday, and I just have a few knitting and sewing projects that need to be finished - and in some cases, begun - in time to put things in the post. Should be no problem, right? HA HA HA HA HA.

The one I'm panicking about the most is as follows. A business associate of mine had a baby girl, ages ago actually, and I promised I would knit something for her. Naturally I came over all ambitious and the first thing I tried to knit was an extremely fiddly intarsia dress from one of those hellish Vogue knitting books. Here is how far I got. Excuse the horrible photos. I have no longer got time to mess about taking nice ones.

It is four-ply yarn and incredibly splitty. I don't really like that shade of pink (it's much less horrible in real life but still looks like boiled ham). Worst of all, that little bit you see there took absolutely forever. I am really not joking. I pulled it out the night before last and realised I didn't have a hope in hell of finishing it this year.

I decided to start on an alternative baby project. Something QUICK. Because I am a complete fool, I thought 'quick' could still include four ply knitting but maybe this time I could do Fair Isle instead of intarsia. See how stupid I am? As though I can knock out a 4 ply Fair Isle cardigan in one night or something. I spent the whole of last night knitting, until about 2am, and came up with this:

I did not stop because it was 2am and I was making fearfully slow progress, oh no. I stopped because I realised my tension was off. The Fair Isle section was way too tight, there was no way it was going to stretch around a baby. Went to bed in despair.

Got up this morning and went to work, feeling worried. That's when I remembered my Emergency Baby Project that I keep at the office. It is a super-simple and small basketweave baby blanket. It is DK weight yarn on 4mm needles. It is in not very attractive pink acrylic but hey, this is an emergency. I took it out and had a look at it. Not bad. Managed to do a bit of work on it while doing some work related reading this afternoon. I think this is what the baby is getting. No time left for messing around. This is simple to make. Bang it out, give it a wash when done and thread a ribbon through the eyelets around the outer edge. Will have to do. Is just about achieveable within the time.

It will look a bit nicer than this when finished, I promise. Well anyway. Even if it doesn't, that's what I'm making. I am now glad that I keep emergency easy projects at the office.

Knitting 101

2011-09-24T21:27:00.001Z

I wish I had seen this when I was first learning to knit. So helpful.

Autumn Hat & Scarf for Joe

2011-09-09T18:50:00.002Z

I have knitted very industriously this week. Joe's Autumn Scarf is in the Finishing Basket already. It is made of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran which I know is prone to pilling so it will need a shave every once in a while - just like Joe, heh heh. It is so soft and cosy. It needs a light blocking to make the woven-in ends settle down and also the yellow fringe needs trimming because it is very slightly longer than the oatmeal-coloured end. Here it is!

I've also made a start on the hat.

Beelzebub lives

2011-09-03T18:26:00.011Z

Hey everyone, I bet you thought I'd been eaten by moths didn't you. Well, I live on and I am still knitting. Here's a quick news update.

Moths

I still have moths. They are the bane of my existence. I think it says something that when I sat knitting at my desk last night, I was extremely surprised that not even one came fluttering around my lamp and monitor. I am forever dropping my knitting and clapping my hands, trying to kill them. Sometimes I succeed. I think all the practise is giving me faster reflexes. The one good thing about the onset of winter is that the little fuckers will go into hibernation for a few months. I still have not managed to pinpoint whatever part of my clothing or yarn stash they are using for food, and since they are not living on fresh air, that is a lovely surprise that still awaits me.

Sunshine Sweater

The Sunshine Sweater is coming along! It is synthetic yarn so I don't fear that the moths will eat it. As you can see from these rough photos taken just now, the front and back are knitted and the neckline has been attached. I am now working on the sleeves. That red yarn is temporary and gets taken out later, you'll be glad to know.

I have recently lost some weight and if I keep that up then I should be able to fit into this sweater in due course. I am excited by the thought of being able to fit into sweaters that I bought the yarn for back when I was a skinny size 10.

Joe's Autumn Scarf

Since the moths arrived I've been very keen to reduce my stash and I've had quite a lot of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran hanging around in bags and boxes for a long time, so I am turning it into a cosy scarf for Joe. Possibly I may make him a hat and gloves to go with, we'll have to see. This is a single rib scarf and I think it will eventually have 11 blocks of colour in it. It is coming along well.

In other news, I'm making a slightly unpleasant acrylic pram blanket which is at the office, for those times when I need some absolutely brainless knitting to get me through a long phone meeting, and I have made a little tiny bit of progress on that Jalapeno sweater that I've been working on for about three years.

I bought a couple of knitting books recently and I have plans for new projects! Specially now that I'm keen to use up my wool stash.

Okay, so the first book that I bought is this one by the marvellous Nicky Epstein:

I bought it because I have been thinking for a long time about making a blanket. When I saw this book in Waterstone's I was initially attracted by those fabulous looking blocks on the front cover and even more attracted when I saw that inside there's a pattern for making a spectacular blanket called the Academic Blanket that uses those blocks. It is really something else, look:

I can't wait to make it and am totally obsessing about what yarn to use as I work on Joe's scarf. I can see that there are a few aspects of this blanket that need taking very seriously if you want it to look as good as this dramatic picture. Firstly, the yarn has to be perfect. It has to be lovely quality with perhaps the very slightest hint of a sheen. The colours have to be extremely subdued. The colours have to be perfectly balanced, for instance if those plain-knit panels are too bright you will throw the whole design off kilter. The sewing-together has to be perfect. Finally, the various 3D motifs have to be plenty large enough to fill the whole block that they're attached to and they have to be exactly, perfectly placed. Going wrong in any one of these aspects will result in something like a large, lumpy dishcloth. I therefore deduce that this is in fact an extremely difficult blanket and not for the non-perfectionist.

As if that were not enough, there is a most delightful bag in the same book that is made of blocks with giant wheel-shaped ruffles attached to them. I love it so much and want to make one for my sister, it is just her sort of thing. So I hope to have pictures of one or both of those projects to show you in due course.

The other book I bought was this:

I have decided there's no reason why I can't have a shawl. They do look a bit funny with jeans, possibly, but I don't have to wear jeans all the time, do I. I wished I had one the other day when it was not cold enough for a jacket but just a little too cool for my light top. If I chose a neutral colour and a nice shape then I'd get lots of occasions of wear out of it, day-to-evening sort of thing, as well as being able to use it at home. This book has lots of lovely shawl patterns which I'm enjoying browsing. I want something big but not blanket-sized, probably rectangular (I'm less keen on the triangular ones where a point hangs down in the back) and possibly with a fancy edge. We'll have to wait and see.

That's all my knitting news for today! I am glad to be back and I'm looking forward to lots of knitting now that the summer is drawing to a close.

Moths

2011-04-22T15:57:00.002Z

Terrific. I have moths. Isn't that just fantastic.

I had to go and buy a vacuum cleaner, I thought I wouldn't need one again because I've got rid of all but one rug in favour of hard floors.

I wonder where they are making their home, the little buggers. In what corner of my enormous yarn stash. Fantastic. So that's what I'm doing for the next several months. Obsessively cleaning and waging war on moths.

Sunshine Sweater

2011-04-03T16:32:00.010Z

Right then, here's what I'm making. I'm calling it the Sunshine Sweater because its real name is just a long string of numbers. Number 486-T7-517, to be precise. It is from the Phildar Women's spring/summer collection of 2008 and that's how long the yarn has been in my stash. I think I mentioned that I wanted a non-wool yarn to knit with, and this is ideal. Phildar Sillages is 100% acrylic, a very light, loosely-woven acrylic tape, soft as a cloud. Here is the model shot of the Sunshine Sweater, from the Phildar catalogue.

__________________________... .

I am a bit unsure about sizing, having been bitten by Phildar patterns before, so I will play it carefully and keep measuring and in the meantime I'm following the pattern instructions for the largest size I can make out of the 11 balls of yarn that I have.

Here's where I'm up to, making nice quick progress on 6mm needles.

I feel like knitting something.

2011-04-01T16:59:00.004Z

Hello everyone! I have been away from my knitting for a while. I have been thoroughly cleaning my house, entertaining guests, learning new skills and taking up new hobbies, and it has all kept me very busy. My new interests include exercise (gasp!! both metaphorically and IRL) and this gives me hope that I'll eventually be a nicer shape and able to model handknits more attractively. So that is perhaps why I feel motivated to knit a nice jumper of some description. I shall go and look in my patterns and stash right now. I've just realised it will have to be nearly or completely free from wool, as my poor skin is very sensitive just at the moment and I don't want to aggravate it further until it has recovered a bit. I shall be back shortly with news.

Smiley Culture dies while being visited at home by the police.

2011-03-18T11:30:00.003Z

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Departed 15 March 2011.

Much loved and sadly missed. There is an inquiry into the highly suspicious circumstances of his death.

The bereaved Emanuel family held a press conference in Brixton on 17 March, viewable here.

Blog of Lee Jasper, stalwart campaigner for social justice and racial equality, who helped the family at the press conference, covers the morning's events.

Family press conference covered by The Guardian here.

Two pots of tea & one cake

2011-02-27T09:14:00.001Z

Strawberries & Cream Tea Cosy

2011-02-24T16:44:00.005Z

Lovely. Wanted to make this as soon as I saw it. Knitting magazine, issue 76. For some reason it took me ages to find a cream, mostly-synthetic, aran-weight yarn! Crazy! Glad I persevered as it turned out beautifully. The red yarn for the strawberries is DK weight and the green yarn is 4ply.

Tea & Cakes: Victoria Sponge

2011-02-24T16:36:00.002Z

I have recently acquired a delightful cake stand. I am actually trying to eat less cake, so I am going to fill it with knitted and crocheted cakes instead. Here's the first item: a hefty slice of Victoria sponge. The pattern is Happy Birthday in Simply Knitting issue 40.

Wet blocking the Debut Crochet Scarf

2011-01-30T10:31:00.004Z

I knew wet-blocking was going to be a good idea. That fabric is much more open than it was.

Caroline's Socks: finally ready to go in the post.

2011-01-29T20:34:00.003Z

Socks always look so nice and fluffy after blocking.

For The Horde Tea Cosy: live model shots

2011-01-29T19:23:00.006Z

Crochet

2011-01-29T14:59:00.005Z

I have just learned to crochet! I have made lots of previous attempts but they were beyond hopeless. The thing is, I look at Twinkie Chan's work, and I look at amigurumi and I can see that crochet is something I need and want to do. So I had another go last Sunday and it suddenly clicked! I made a granny square that came out square, look!

After that, there was no stopping me. I took three balls of Gedifra Riana Big in green and some Rowan Big Wool in pink, and knocked up a version of the so-called One-Skein Scarf from the Stitch'n'Bitch crochet book. The flower, which I haven't attached yet because I haven't decided how I want the scarf to look, is from the Garden Scarf pattern in the same book.

I am going to wet-block this scarf and I hope that doing so will open up the fabric, as it is quite a pleasing mesh when you stretch it out. We'll see how it goes.

Beautiful knitted objects

2011-01-20T21:20:00.012Z

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Look at these beautiful tea cosies. That's what I'm doing this evening. This is Carmen Miranda:

and this is Elfin:

Loani Prior is so clever. I have other things I could be doing this evening, but I am drooling over her designs. More amazing designs are on her blog.

I am also very interested in Log Cabin blankets, which are knitted or crocheted in large blocks. There's a nice one in shades of pink, wine, olive and beige in the February issue of Simply Knitting magazine.

Also on my radar: Twinkie Chan, who crochets extraordinary wearable food.

What fun! Awesome designs. A square tissue box cover that looks like a big hunk of lemon coconut cake! A hat that looks like a cupcake with blue icing. A scarf that looks like it's made from halves of pink grapefruit. This alone is a reason to learn to crochet. If I never crochet anything else, these items will be enough.

Finally, I must talk about amigurumi. Look at these creatures. A red octopus, a delightful hermit crab, and that's an angler fish you see in brown at the bottom there.

All these animals are knitted. I love their charm and their utter lack of function. Pure art.

For The Horde

2011-01-17T19:43:00.002Z

Ooh, I like tea cosies. This one bears the noble Horde symbol, as any dedicated World of Warcrafter will know. I'll show another pic when all the ends are weaved in and it is sewn up & adorning a tea pot.

Look, a tea cosy

2011-01-08T11:37:00.006Z

Happy New Year everyone! I have been spring cleaning my house and when it was all tidy and my tables were clear, I felt motivated to get the tea things out instead of making tea in a mug in the kitchen like I normally do. And then I thought, what is a tea tray without a tea cosy? Here is one. I knitted it from the Poppy pattern in the Jan 2011 edition of Let's Knit magazine.

I thought long and hard about type of yarn, and eventually settled on acrylic because I want to be able to chuck my tea cosies in the washing machine when they get tea on them. This cosy is made from Hayfield Bonus DK, two strands held together, because I didn't have any aran-weight.

Nancy Live Model Shot

2010-12-13T20:31:00.005Z

Look look! My Nancy cardigan is finished. Told you it was going to be big. It is not slimming but it is SO warm and cosy! It is like having a very soft, squishy coat on. I am especially enjoying the double-thick chenille trim, it's really velvety and luxurious. I decided it did need a closure, couldn't make up my mind what kind, and then found this pewter pin with a Scottish thistle design that goes with it just perfectly. So there we have our finished garment and I am wearing it right now. I think it is going to be a favourite this winter.

Nancy hits the finishing basket.

2010-12-09T10:59:00.002Z

All the knitting is done. Cuffs are done. I'm now weaving in the ends, then it is time to press and sew up.

Nancy: a big purple cardigan

2010-12-06T11:27:00.010Z

So, I am busily knitting on the big purple cardigan that is going to replace the orange sweater that I gave my step-dad.

Here are some details.

The pattern: Nancy, from the Rowan Ribbon Twist pattern book.

The main yarn. Yay for stash-busting! I have had 10 balls of purple Ribbon Twist in my stash for a long time, and 10 balls is how many this pattern uses. Hooray for making yarn into a sweater that you can wear instead of keeping it in a plastic bag in the hall.

The pattern for Nancy suggests a kind of loopy frilled effect on the front edge/neck border and on the cuffs. Frankly, I could not quite understand the pattern. So I took some balls of Sirdar Wow (a synthetic, velvety chenille) and held the yarn together with the Ribbon Twist for the borders. It is creating a heavy smoking-jacket effect. I had to partially unravel a chenille scarf I was making to accomplish this, but that is okay, I want a really warm, luxurious sweater and I can make a scarf out of something else.

Progress. First I knit the back. That seemed to take no time at all and made me feel very ambitious.

Then I knit the fronts. You can see the Wow yarn here and how it is working with the Ribbon Twist.

Here's how it was looking by Sunday morning. Fronts done, both sleeves done, started the cuffs.

Almost there! Finish knitting the cuffs and sew up.

I have given some thought as to how this is going to hang together. See that big safety pin in the pattern picture? There's no joining mechanism on this cardigan, even though it has a generous wrapover front and is made in heavy yarn. Other bloggers have complained about this, and one person was even threatening to send her beautifully knitted Nancy to the frog pond! I have a plan. I once knitted the famous Baby Yoda Sweater which is a wrapover, and that has i-cord ties that hold it together. One inside, keeping the underneath flap supported and in the correct place, and one on the outside, to hold the upper flap closed. Hope that works out as I want it to! More news soon.

Impulsive Winter Sweater Live Model Shot

2010-11-28T10:34:00.002Z

Dear readers, sorry to have been away.

Here's the Impulsive Winter Sweater, complete and modelled by step-dad, its new owner. As I came near to finishing the sweater, I sort of knew it was for him. I think it looks great on him, and it is as warm as toast so hopefully it'll come in handy.

How's that for impulsive. Now I have to knit another for myself. I'll have another look in my (tidy, organised) stash. Maybe I can find something with a teeny bit more drape. I like drape.

Winter Sweater is nearly here

2010-11-15T09:58:00.003Z

Impulsive Winter Progress

2010-11-14T11:57:00.002Z

I set the troublesome sleeve aside and knit another on 7mm needles, a size smaller. The new sleeve turned out great, so I knit another just like it. Then I cast on for the body: I've just finished the ribbing.

I have never knit a sweater in the round before, apart from Green Silk Frustration, which is a top-down number. This one is bottom-up and I am loving it! Firstly, no seams to sew! A complete sweater is coming off my needles! Secondly, it is hilariously like knitting a large sock. Wish me luck for a speedy finish.

Colinette Socks

2010-11-13T14:25:00.003Z

Here's a pair of socks with an unexpected history. I promised a pair to a friend, and picked this Colinette yarn out of my stash. I wanted them to be extra-special socks, so with the help of Cool Socks, Warm Feet, I went for the following options: toe-up (I usually knit top-down, and choosing toe-up proved to be a mistake, but at the time I was concerned about not running out of yarn); Bosnian square toe; Turkish heel; garter stitch turnover cuff.

As you can see, they turned out rather well. The Bosnian square toe is where you knit a square of garter stitch, and then pick up stitches all around to start knitting the foot. It was fun. The Turkish heel is just basically a wedge toe knitted at the heel end. That was fun too, and so was the cuff. The thick Colinette yarn made for quick progress and I finished these ahead of my gift deadline with about a day to spare.

Which was a good job, because it turns out I'd misjudged the length of the foot. My friend takes a size 4 shoe. These socks are a size 7. Because I'd knit them toe-up, there was nothing I could do to correct the foot length within the time available. Gah! What to do? I took my beautiful silk Jaywalkers out of the drawer, where they have been nestling all this time among scented paper, unpicked the toes and altered them to fit a small foot. My friend was delighted. A good save, I think. Now I know why we keep virgin pairs of handknit socks around the house.

Impulsive Winter Sweater: Sleeve dilemmas

2010-11-13T13:59:00.006Z

Ok, so here is the sleeve of the winter sweater I am making. It is on top of the black jumper I'm trying to replace, because I'd like them to have similar dimensions.

My gauge must be slightly off because for a start the orange sleeve is an inch longer than the pattern suggests, and 1.5" longer than my black sweater. Also you will notice that orange sleeve is much narrower than the black one. It is at this point that I need to realise that these two sweaters are not the same, no matter how much I might imagine they are related.

The black one is made of very old and threadbare chenille: it is limp and floppy. The orange one is made of new, sturdy and thick wool with lots of depth and spring. A sleeve as wide as the black one in that orange wool would be too big and heavy to wear, I think.
The black one has set-in sleeves but the orange one is going to be a raglan. I think you have to plan extra armhole depth with set-in sleeves, which could account for the underarm depth difference.

So I shall not worry that they don't look the same. However, that orange sleeve is still an inch longer than the pattern says, which is a problem.

I could reknit the whole sleeve, resetting all the inreases, which would allow me to have the full 48 sts when I reach the new, shorter length.
I could reknit the whole sleeve on smaller needles to correct my row gauge.
I could just rip the sleeve back to the right length and suffer having a narrower circumference and fewer stitches at the point of the sleeve reaching the underarm. I haven't thought this through yet and need to check the pattern to understand the likely implications.
I could leave it the length it is and turn the cuffs back.
I could put it on a length of waste yarn and try knitting the body to see if that helps me know what to do about the sleeves.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Impulsive Winter Sweater

2010-11-10T21:59:00.004Z

All right, I think I've made a decision. I've got some Rowan Plaid yarn in the stash. It is very soft (42% merino, 30% acrylic, 28% alpaca) and I have just noticed it needs huge 8mm needles! 3 stitches per inch! That settles it. Yarn that fat promises quick results.

I've also just measured my ratty old black sweater and discovered that it is a massive 44" chest circumference! No wonder it is cosy. It would never have occurred to me to plan a sweater with that much ease, so I'm glad I measured! I think I will make a swatch which hopefully will also be the first sleeve. Unless I decide to knit in the round from the bottom up.

Let's return to our knitting

2010-11-10T20:23:00.004Z

Well well, I am sorry to have been gone so long. I have been experiencing some life changes, and investing some serious hours in various responsibilities. I also took up a new hobby which I'll perhaps tell you about another time. So that has taken me away from my knitting.

However. I recklessly promised a friend of mine a pair of socks, which are newly complete (kind of, it's a long story) and which I will show you a photo of next time, so knitting forced its way back into my busy schedule. I finished the socks ahead of the deadline and ever since I cast off the last stitch I've had itchy, twitchy fingers. Today I found myself reading a knitting book on the bus and fantasising about a sweater that I want to make.

So here we are. I had quite forgotten that it is supposed to be the year of finishing the UFO, and that I was making a doll sweater. What I want right now is a jumper to replace the one I'm wearing, which is utterly threadbare. It is such a simple and comfy shape. Winter cold is setting in here, and I want a jumper this shape, in a soft, cosy yarn, in a nice colour. I'm thinking cornflower blue. It's a generously-propotioned garment, so I think we're looking for a chunky yarn otherwise it'll take forever to knit. I might go and have a look in my stash now, actually.

Hooray! A new sweater is coming!

Green Silk Happiness has a sleeve.

2010-09-20T23:40:00.006Z

Ugh. I am so sick of Green Silk Happiness. But this is the year of finishing the UFO, and this has most definitely got to go. I am determined to finish the bugger now. The other night, I did nearly a whole sleeve, look!

In other news, I'm making a doll sweater for Clara.

And Sven wants winter socks. I am thinking of making the Retro Rib socks, from the book Favorite Socks, by Interweave Knits. I'll show you a pic next time.

Embossed Leaves Socks completed

2010-09-19T14:19:00.003Z

Oh, I am on a roll. The Embossed Leaves Socks are complete at last. I started in March and completed the first sock some months later.The second sock took barely a couple of days. Here they are, sitting wetly on the sock blockers. When they're dry, weave in a total of four ends and happily wear.

Little Devil Pin Cushion

2010-09-17T09:32:00.002Z

Here is the Little Devil at work. No room for unemployed ornaments at my house! So he is holding all my pins.

Little Devil is complete.

2010-09-16T08:29:00.004Z

Here he is! All the time I was knitting, I thought 'what shall I do with this useless toy?' Then I realised: pincushion. Perfect. I have lots of pins, and only a small and raggedy pincushion, so the Little Devil will do beautifully. From this moment on, he will be put to work, resembling a hedgehog.

Central Park Hoodie model shots

2010-09-15T21:04:00.004Z

2010 has been a good year for finishing UFOs. Here is the Central Park Hoodie that I started circa 2005. It is modelled by my sister, who is now its owner. I am going to knit a larger one in blue.

Little Devil Head

2010-09-15T20:49:00.003Z

At the time of writing, Little Devil is actually complete. There will be photos tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a shot of him in progress. I decided to make the face first, so I could be sure of getting one I liked, before attaching a body to it.

Little Devil

2010-09-09T12:57:00.001Z

Look! It is for me! It is in Simply Knitting, issue 72, on sale today. Pattern by Alan Dart.

One completed sweater, one slightly embarrassed model.

2010-09-08T12:22:00.005Z

It's so great when your mom wants to stand in the street taking photos of you wearing your new jumper. (I don't care, lol. It is finished, and it fits, and I am getting photographic evidence.)

Edan sweater complete.

2010-09-06T22:57:00.003Z

Edan is complete! Started December 2007, finally finished September 2010. I have sewed all the seams and woven in the last end. It is pret a porter. Photos coming asap, when it is daylight. Hooray!!!

Orange Bamboo Dilemma: Finish or Frog?

2010-09-05T15:48:00.003Z

This is the orange bamboo top by Phildar that I'm currently knitting. I can't decide if it's 50% done, or 0% done. I can't decide whether to frog it.

I'm very concerned about the size. I have ostensibly knitted the size for a 38" chest, according to the pattern. I had to block it to death to make it this large. I am very worried that it is too short, even though I added an extra repeat of the lace pattern on the bottom edge. I know it is wide enough to go around me, but I had to block it quite hard to make it that wide, and it is supposed to loosely drape, not stretch.

I think it will have to be frogged. I hope this yarn is okay and I haven't wrecked it. It is going to need re-knitting in the next size up. Same as Rosa. Sigh.

Sooper Seekrit Project #1 is complete

2010-09-05T14:16:00.005Z

I can only show you a limited number of photos, in case the receipient of this gift looks at my blog. Here's what I can post here, for now.

Cups of tea:

Apples and bananas:

Somebody else is making the other half of this knitted ensemble. Then we will gift it to the recipient. I look forward to showing you the rest of my photos and the complete set of tea-time-related knitted items then. For now, my part is done!

Frill Sleeved Top & Sooper Seekrit Project #1

2010-07-18T16:03:00.013Z

A few photos for you. Firstly, proof that I've finished the Frill Sleeved Top. I've sewn on the buttons, made button loops and everything. The only thing I haven't done is ironed the sleeves and commissioned a live model shot. But despite its unironed sleeves, it is entirely finished. Here it is.

I think this is a truer colour, although it does change in the light. Aren't those sleeves just so cute. Like angel wings. I also like the way the buttons are set in pairs, rather than evenly spaced. Adds a bit of interest, seems quite a 1930s touch.

My first attempt at button loops: a bit rustic, but overall not too bad. I did a kind of blanket stitch to get these; next time I might try making a crochet chain instead.

And one more look at those sleeves, which drew me to this project in the first place. I'm sure they'll look even better when ironed. They are like fish fins.

In other news, Sooper Seekrit Project #1 is coming along well. I have done a lot of knitting that I cannot show you. Also, some of the worst sewing of my entire life. What I can show you is these little items:

Bloody hell, making 3D objects with yarn is hard. The knitting is easy. But the rest of it - heck. You have to use card. Superglue. Hairspray. And you have to have better sewing skills than the family dog, which is all mine amount to. Anyway, more on that next time.

Frilly Green Completion

2010-07-13T22:45:00.002Z

I have just finished the Frill Sleeved Top. I had to put it down for a while, called away by more work and travel. When I returned, I finished it off quickly. Knit a second sleeve, a neckband, sewed the seams and weaved in all the ends, just like that. I didn't even block it in pieces, as I normally would. I will give the sleeves a press with the iron when I an finally done, which just means attaching the buttons.

Photos tomorrow, hopefully. I've tried it on and it fits like a dream. I am happy.

Frill Sleeved Progress

2010-06-20T12:50:00.002Z

I have been knitting up a storm on that Frill Sleeved Top. The front and back are complete, thanks to a lot of furious, repetitive knitting. Now I can at last do the fun bits, and the reason why I wanted to make this project: the frill sleeves. Watch this space for more news!

Sudden Thoughts

2010-06-13T22:57:00.005Z

.
1. Central Park Hoodie is done. Central Park Hoodie is what I was using to procrastinate and keep from finishing Joe's Edan sweater. Shit. Plus, Joe returns from college in a matter of days.
.
2. I bet I knit the front of Rosa in a size 36". I'm going to have to rip the entire thing.
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3. Ooh, I think I have a good idea. Back in 2007, when I was buying Rowan Soft Lux, just as it was being discontinued, I acquired some in blue that I haven't used yet. I had in mind to make a hoodie. Something like the Central Park Hoodie. I could make a blue one, in size 38". I could. Why not.

Breaking news: Central Park Hoodie

2010-06-13T19:50:00.004Z

I have sewed all the seams of the Central Park Hoodie, and attached wooden toggles.

I still need to weave in all the ends, but otherwise it is a finished garment. Here it is glimpsed at dusk. We'll do a final photoshoot in daylight soon.

It is a perfect size 36". It is a great pity *I* am no longer a perfect size 36", but nonetheless, it fits well enough, and I am actually thrilled with how it's turned out. I can't wait to show it off to you properly.

update to the update: It's done. I sewed in 60 ends. It is officially a finished object.

Frill Sleeved Top

2010-06-13T19:14:00.006Z

So, I needed something to knit on in Texas. Wool was right out, you don't want to be working with wool when the temperatures are in the mid 90s, with humidity to match. I don't, anyway. Also, where I'm from, you can't have your knitting in your hand baggage on the plane, so that meant not taking any project that I couldn't bear to lose to the airline baggage systems.

A new, low-engagement project was in order, and quickly. Knitting magazine (issue 77, June 2010) showed this little sweater by Pat Menchini on its front cover:

Reasons why this is a low-engagement project.
- It is a weird colour.
- It is VERY frilly and dainty. I honestly don't know if I'll wear it.

However, I *want* to make it. The main body is an interesting textured pattern, where you alternate two rows of moss stitch with two rows of stocking stitch. The sleeves look like great fun to knit: I love their shapes and the way they hang. I very much want to make a nice example of this garment, this project will be entirely about the process. So I ordered the exact yarn specified (King Cole Bamboo Cotton: 50% bamboo/50% cotton, in Lime Green, knit 22sts/10cm) and set to work. I am making it to fit size 38", as this is the magnificent girth I have recently achieved.

The bamboo/cotton yarn is soft and cool to knit with, just as I'd hoped, and the textured pattern helps the rows fly by. Here's where we are up to:

I'm knitting on this quite assiduously, hoping it will be a quick one because of the short sleeves. It is terrific fun.

Texas

2010-06-13T14:35:00.005Z

Green Silk Happiness lives on.

2010-05-31T12:43:00.005Z

Here's a project you haven't seen for a while: Green Silk Happiness, aka the Simple Knitted Bodice, in green silk by Tilli Tomas. I had a sudden burst of activity on this top-down sweater last night, cast off the bottom edge, and I'm calling it 50% done.

I have had terrible sizing angst since this project was born in 2007. At first I knit it way too large, and had to unravel, which the yarn did not like at all. Then I couldn't be bothered to unravel the bust, so I re-knit it from the bust down in a size smaller and left the top part big. Then I had angst about the top being too big, and finally I let it sit in the UFO pile for a good long time, about two years.

Anyways. In the extremely long time that this sweater was in the UFO pile, I apparently have put some weight on. Because when I tried on this sweater again, quite recently, it seemed to fit. So I am just going to finish it. It has awaited completion long enough. I am just going to do the sleeves and wear the damn thing.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Sooper Seekrit Project #1

2010-05-30T12:12:00.002Z

There is a Seekrit Project. I will occasionally show photos, but the finished product is a seekrit until the end. Here's the first snap.

Silky orange bamboo, thank you Phildar

2010-05-30T11:25:00.006Z

Sometimes you can have too much pink. The eyes grow tired. That's when it's time for some orange. Orange bamboo! That feels like silk! I heart Phildar.

What we are making:

CPH photos

2010-05-30T10:59:00.004Z

Photos! The Central Park Hoodie blocked to the right size without any problems, and now I've finally photographed the evidence, I can sew it up.

As you can see, the front pieces are in no way too small, or smaller than the back. They just look tiny when they are still on the needles.

I decided to knit the button bands separately, so I could block them to the right length before attaching them.

Even the button holes are being blocked! I did the classic cast-off 2/cast-on 2 button holes and of course they looked classically ugly. So when the button bands were wet, I found some egg-shaped glass beads and wedged one into each button hole, to block it into a more attractive shape. They are now perfectly round.

I dried this sweater with the hood already on. I pinned out the front and back of the wet sweater, then I arranged the hood facing to the back and left it until it was dry, and then I flipped the hood so it faced the front, and dried the other side. It worked out okay. You can see how I've put paper and whatnot inside the hood to keep it from collapsing on itself while it was still wet.

Yay! All blocked! Now to ruin it by sewing it up.

Blocking the cabled CPH

2010-05-16T15:23:00.002Z

Okay, I have it pinned out. That cabled fabric opens out a lot when you get it wet. The cables double in size. I am no longer worried about the front parts not covering my boobs. The size is perfectly fine. The sleeves are the size they should be, and I could easily have made the wet knitting go a lot larger, they are not stretched, if anything, I had to smoosh the stitches together. So the only thing I have left to worry about now is this rumour about the sleeve caps not fitting. Stay tuned for news on that when all this wet wool is dry.

Wool jumpers, just in time for summer!

2010-05-16T11:17:00.002Z

There has been sudden knitting progress. I eventually found the rest of the pink yarn for my Central Park Hoodie, and set to work. Astonishingly, I have finished all the knitting, except for the button bands. I have done the back, both fronts, both sleeves and the hood. It is in a warm bath right now, awaiting blocking. I am full of trepidation. Here's why.

This is a heavily cabled pattern, and that means the freshly-knitted fabric that comes off your needles pulls in a lot. It looks impossibly narrow. It is super-difficult to believe that the fronts are going to cover your boobs, and that the sleeves are not going to cut off the blood supply in your arms. But the fabric is stretchy. So when you flatten out your knitted pieces, the size can be whatever you want. So this is a bit disconcerting for the average knitter. The size the cabled fabric wants to be just seems impossibly small.

Anyway, the CPH is an immensely popular pattern, so I knit on. As I came close to finishing the hood last night, I had a read of the Central Park Hoodie group's forums on Ravelry. Crikey. People were worried about size. It is just impossible to tell how many people had some sort of problem, compared to how many people followed the pattern and had it turn out fine (of which there are a lot).

- Some people said they knit the body and it came out 4" smaller than the schematic predicted. This, I am not too worried about. The back is fine. It easily measures 18", and I am trying to achieve a 36" circumference with zero ease, so that's okay. The fronts do scare me, they are about the width of pencils, or so it appears in their unblocked state. So we will pin it out wet and see.

- Some people said their body was okay but their sleeves turned out too tight and had to be re-knit in the next size up. Relatedly, some people complained that the sleeve caps are too small for the armholes, resulting in tight sleeves. But did they block? People never tell you this stuff. I am a bit concerned about the sleeves now I've read all this, so I'm blocking the sleeves too.

I will let you know how we get on.

In other news, I have completed the entire front piece of my Rosa sweater, which is a clingy, sexy little number in 4ply. Next to the CPH, it looks tiny, and now I am disturbed about that too, even though the tape measure says it will be okay. Wish me luck. Photos next time.

Jaywalkers & Embossed Leaves

2010-04-03T15:12:00.006Z

Hey, guess what, I have been knitting and I even have a finished object to show you. But first, let me share with you my latest socks. I've finished one, and waited to start the other until I had a chance to photograph the yarn in the skein, because it is yummy.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces hand-dyed Shepherd Sock yarn in colourway 58, Valentine. I bought it ages ago and saved it in my stash for something special. A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a knitting treat, found a pattern I wanted to try, and fished the yarn out of my stash.

The pattern is Embossed Leaves Socks, published in the book Favorite Socks, by Interweave Knits. You can see the model version on the cover here.

It's a moderately complicated lace pattern that you more or less have to do on dpns if you don't want to lose count the whole time. I used the same short, 4" wooden dpns that I used on my Jaywalkers, and it was a lovely marriage of pattern with needles, until I inevitably lost one and had to substitute a 6" blue metallic monster by Susan Bates instead.

Here's how it's turning out in the Valentine yarn. I'm liking the results a lot, although I think the socks would be even better if I had picked a plain yarn. So I am going to finish these and then I might just knit a second pair, with a solid colour, and without making any alterations to the pattern (the ones you see here have an extra-long leg, and I omitted the decorative aspects of the ribbing, which I now wish I'd included).

And here's my finished project. The reason my short dpns were available for Embossed Leaves is because I actually finished my Jaywalkers. Yes, really. Look.

I am happy.

In other news: I restarted my Central Park Hoodie, knitted confidently to the end of the ball and then discovered that I can't find the rest of the yarn. I have also had another go at Joe's Edan sweater. The third version of the hood is going to be good enough, I think. It will have to be. It's done, except I don't like the way I reduced at the top, it's gathering a bit, so I'm going to undo the final couple of rows and see if I can make it neater. Then he is getting his jumper, whether he likes it or not.

That's all for now! I might go and have another look for my CPH yarn. See you soon.

Two Flat Collar Baby Cardigans

2009-10-02T16:59:00.003Z

Completed and dispatched, two baby cardigans in Sirdar Bamboo DK. Let's hope the recipients haven't grown out of them already!

Giraffe Baby Blanket is finished

2009-09-19T22:06:00.007Z

I have been knitting rather productively since my last post, so we at last have some finished objects to look at.

Tomorrow I'll show you some photos of the two baby jackets I've just finished - only the buttons to sew on now - but in the meantime I am happy to say that the Giraffe Baby Blanket is done and dispatched, to my young nephew Ben, who I went to visit today.

I was horribly late for the visit, because I was at home half the day doing the last bits of embroidery. So let me talk you through the finished giraffes you see here.

The body, neck and head of each giraffe are intarsia, knit right into the fabric. Also, the little brown dots that form a sort of mane on the neck. After that is where this morning's fun began. First, knit lots of giraffe legs and stitch them on (easy). Then, take the four-ply cotton yarn and gently try to unravel it *without breaking it* so that you've got a three-ply yarn and a two-ply yarn to work with. That took a very long time and a lot of patience, lol. After that, make a bunch of tiny crochet chains with your three- and two-ply yarns and stitch them painstakingly into the right place. The three-ply makes giraffe tails and the two-ply makes horns. The finished effect is delicate, lovely, and worth the hours of picking the thread apart with my nails. Finally, do a wobbly French knot in blue to make the eyes. Et voila! Giraffes.

You Nork Mets socks for Joe

2009-08-09T13:18:00.004Z

Oh, by the way, did I mention that I finished Joe's socks? The ones using Knitivity's You Nork Mets sock yarn? I did. Here they are.

That'll be two items I've completed this year. Whoa.

Baby Knitting

2009-08-09T12:29:00.010Z

As you know, dear readers, over the last year I have played a very great deal of World of Warcraft. I warcrafted my way through April and May, and then June saw the release of the magnificent Sims 3, to which I instantly transferred my allegiance. Although I do miss Azeroth terribly, and wish I had time for both.

The great thing about Sims 3, for me, is that we only have it installed on one machine here, so when that machine is in use by someone else, I get some knitting done. Which can only be a good thing, because there are a lot of new babies around in 2009.

Here's the giraffe blanket I'm making for Lizzy's baby. Cute, isn't it? You embroider the legs and tails on separately. It's made of six rows of blocks (knit all together in one piece, as you can see) and I've nearly completed the fourth row, so that is coming along all right really. Liz's baby isn't due until September so no need to panic on this one just yet.

Two other babies on Beelzebub's radar go by the names of Elwood and Ethan. The former arrived the other day in Birmingham, England, the latter is due any time now in Alabama. I needed a cute, easy, boy baby pattern in a hurry, so when I was at the yarn shop the other day, I picked up this one by Sirdar: The yarn is Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK. The pattern specifies three balls for a newborn size cardi, so I got four to be safe. Four in each shade, that is, since I'm making this twice. The green one is coming along splendidly as you can see, I finished the sleeves last night.

And now I'm doing the ribbing for the sleeves on the white version, because it is a great way to avoid sewing in ends, blocking and finishing the green one.

So the plan is, finish these two boy cardis as swiftly as I can, send them off, then get back to work on the giraffe blanket. And THEN get back to work on poor Josef's red sweater, which is now officially a UFO and still in need of a hood.

The Knitter magazine: review

2009-03-30T17:49:00.005Z

My sock had an adventure this week, when it got lost at a conference, used as a comedy prop in front of an audience of 200 be-suited businessmen, and then returned to me, to my joy (and shame). That sock is about the most knitting I've done since last time. I have, from time to time, carried Joe's red sweater around in my knitting bag, as though I were going to do something with it, but ultimately the sock is the only item that's seen any progress. Perhaps I'll take some photos and show you next weekend how Ray's blue-and-orange You Nork Mets sock yarn is knitting up. It is soft and bouncy yarn, a delight to use.

In the meantime, let's talk about knitting magazines. I used to have a subscription to one or two, but I let them lapse. Then I was in WHSmith today, a store which the last time I looked, several months ago, stocked not one single knitting title, just a lot of cross-stitch. Well, things certainly have changed since then. Not having seen any of the UK magazines in quite a while, I thought I'd take a look at The Knitter, the newest title on the British market, and share my thoughts with you.

The Knitter, Issue 4

note: the pic here is an earlier issue

Of all the knitting titles that Smiths has to offer, The Knitter is the only one not in a plastic bag. And it didn't include a lot of falling-out inserts, that I noticed. This is the first time I've seen The Knitter magazine, and one of the first things that crosses my mind is to wonder how they're going to make it pay for itself. Will consumers continue to tolerate the credit-crunch-unfriendly £5.99 cover price? Why isn't it stuffed with advertising inserts? How are they going to keep up the high production values? It's printed on heavy paper, with proper binding (no cheapy staples here) and semi-stiff covers, a bit like Rowan magazine. The colour printing is great. The graphic design is professional and it looks thoughtfully edited. It makes a great first impression - very premium - but how will they keep it up?

The featured designers will be mostly familiar to British knitters: Kaffe Fassett, Erika Knight, Marie Wallin, Louisa Harding and Martin Storey, for example. While this more or less guarantees 'tasteful' patterns (although I must say that Louisa Harding's beribboned, pink-and-orange lacy cape is a little too much for my taste), it also means that there is probably not much in here design-wise that you don't already have on your knitting bookshelf. In fact, the sweaters, cardigans and table cloths shown here are not far off what you'd expect to find in Rowan magazine, which regularly features Kaffe, Martin et al, which was disappointing for me, because the magazine is such nice quality and so colourful, that I wanted it to be more edgy with its design choices. I stopped my Rowan subscription because I just don't dig the woodland fairy lacy shawl vibe, no matter how much I want to support them. For me, Phildar in France gets it right, fashion-wise.

I will say that I loved the Lucy Neatby pattern for Mermaid Socks, and it was only a shame I already have this pattern, as it was published in her book Cool Socks, Warm Feet. I think you see the problem.

The editorial content is much better than average. The new product reviews aren't offensively gushing. There's a big feature on UK Ravelry Day. Yarn reviews. Book reviews (including novels that aren't knitting chicklit). A feature by Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting. The Who's Who of British Designers looks great and the one thing that makes me wish I had last month's issue, for Part 1. A very nice feature on designing with warm and cool colours, that really gives The Knitter a competitive edge for advanced knitters. A pretty good-looking competition where you can win a Namaste knitting bag, 18 balls of merino, birch needles, three books (reviewed in the magazine) and a few other bits including hand cream. I warmed to The Knitter once I got past the patterns and concentrated on the editorial. I'm not used to knitting magazines containing features that I actually want to read. Thumbs up to that.

Conclusion: A very readable, high-quality magazine for advanced British knitters, that plugs a gap between Rowan magazine and the US titles such as Interweave. Scary cover price, but then if that means its life will ultimately be quite short, I might be tempted to enjoy The Knitter while I can. New patterns from new designers would clinch the deal.

Incidentally, beginner knitters might care to know that you get 3.25mm birch dpns as a cover gift with this month's Let's Knit, and a magnifying gadget that looks really quite useful with this month's Simply Knitting. I do like a good cover gift. I wish one of the upmarket knitting titles would do upmarket cover gifts. Now that would be interesting.

New baby is coming

2009-03-02T08:24:00.001Z

Yay! My sister Elizabeth is pregnant. Due in mid September. I am so pleased for her! Time to get baby knitting. If I start soon, I'm in with a chance of finishing something before she's due.

Kreativ Bloggers

2009-02-26T12:18:00.009Z

Astonishingly, your lazy Beelzebub has been nominated for an award. Thank you so much, Lara, of little sheep, big sheep for your kindness.

Here's what KB nominees need to do, myself included:

1. copy the award to your site.
2. link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. nominate 8 other bloggers.
4. link to those on your blog.
5. leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

So now I just need to complete steps 3, 4 and 5, which I look forward to doing when I'm not at work!

PS ... I bought the Rowan Milk Cotton yarn for that sweater I showed you. I couldn't help it. Also, I started a new pair of socks, so I am happy to report that I'm knitting again (maybe that's why I felt okay about suddenly buying yarn). I am knitting a lovely pair of wool socks using yarn that was dyed by my dear friend Ray, aka Knitivity.

Ray has a beautiful eye for colour and hand-dyes the most scrumptious yarn. I'm using his You Nork Mets colourway, look:

That orange and blue combo sets my soul on fire. Go here to see more of Ray's gorgeous sock yarn and get some of your own. I'll post a picture of the socks I'm making when I've knit a little more of them.

Matter of fact, I think I now know who needs to be the first of my Kreativ Blogger nominees. Ray, I'm officially nominating your creative self. Lots of love as always, B.

Taking stock

2009-02-23T14:59:00.003Z

The weather is cold, dark and snowy. My central heating system has broken and we have no hot water. Work is - work. Together, these things slow down my knitting mojo. All I want to do is put on an extra jumper, drink gallons of hot tea and play World of Warcraft, where it is never cold and you don't even have to concentrate.

I'd like to start knitting again now, so maybe taking stock of my projects will do the trick.

Regia Kaffe Fassett socks

They're done. I'm wearing them. Remember I was saying they needed blocking because they were a wee bit tight? I stretched them over a pair of small sock blockers and then I just hung them on a nail on the wall near my desk, and forgot them. I didn't get them wet. They just sat there, waiting to be blocked and looking decorative. Then, the other day, I was sat at my desk with cold feet, wishing for a clean, warm pair of socks, and there they were. I put them on and they fit perfectly and were warm as toast. Job done. No blocking required.

Sven's Noro Scarf II

As you'll remember, this was looking way too short, and I was relying on blocking to help me out. So, I blocked it nearly to death and it did grow a considerable amount. Enough to look like a normal scarf. Sven reassured me that it was ample - until he put it on. It's more of a neckwarmer than a scarf, really. I let him wear it like that for a few days, and then I went to John Lewis to get another ball of Noro. It needs a few inches on each end. Needless to say, I haven't started this amendment and it will probably be summer by the time I get round to it.

Joe's Edan Sweater

I haven't touched it. I haven't even weaved in any ends. I think I am afraid to pick it up because it is the Eternal Sweater, and handling it will just make the project expand until it once again outstrips my ability.

Fading Friendship Travelling Socks

I am ashamed to say I'm not even sure where these are. Lately, I've been reading instead of knitting on public transport. I need to get going on these again.

Bleh. This blog ought to be titled 'Beelzebub is too lazy to knit'. I think I need to pick up something easy, like a sock, and knit on that until I am back in the habit again, then tackle the sweater. Also, it wouldn't kill me to weave in some ends.

I know my knitting energy will come back, because I am still lusting after hand knit items. I want them, and I want to make them. Have you seen the Rowan book that supports their new Milk Cotton yarn? I have next to no interest in the technical aspects of the yarn itself, but I very much like these colours and I can't resist a bit of complicated Fair Isle or intarsia. Because I love weaving in ends so much. Oh yeah, that's me.

Nice. That blue is scrumptious, and the big, abstract rose shapes are great. I might have to set a rule for myself that Joe must be wearing his finished Edan sweater before buying any more yarn.

A bit of nice, warm knitting for January

2009-01-25T15:34:00.013Z

Blech, who likes January. London is cold, wet and miserable. Plus, the overcast skies make it so dark, it's impossible to take decent photos of knitting. Fortunately, the knitting itself doesn't care about the weather, so I've been industriously working on various sweaters, socks and scarves.

My Kaffe Fassette socks are finished; the ends are woven in and they just need blocking. I don't always bother blocking socks, but these were knit on 56 sts rather than my usual 60. (I wanted to try a pair of socks with a narrower fit, just on the offchance that that might be a better fit for my feet.) They go on okay but they are a tiny bit tight so I'm going to block them properly on my smallest sock blockers and see what happens. I am optimistic.

I've got a new pair of travelling socks on the go: the Fading Friendship socks in a slightly stretchy Lana Grossa sock yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Cotton Stretch. It says stretch on the label, but doesn’t feel particularly stretchy to knit with. The resulting fabric is slightly stretchier than one might expect from a vey firm, almost hard, yarn with no splitting and good stitch definition. The yarn is 41% cotton; 39% superwash wool; 13% polyamide, 7% Elite, which I think is elastane. It's an unusual colourway: pale pink gives way to stripes of red, black and orange. This potentially violent colourway is mediated by a white ply in the yarn that gives everything, even the black sections, a faded, dusty, washed-out appearance. I might add that the hazy appearance of the knitted fabric is most forgiving when it comes to hiding mistakes. Which is a good thing, as I made a bit of a pig's ear out of picking up the gusset stitches (stupid slipped stitches up the sides of the heel flap are always too loose, even if you cross them, don't you find?) When this sock is off the needles, I'll take to those sections with a bit of Swiss darning to firm them up.

I picked up my long-neglected Silk Jaywalkers last weekend. I got up early and thought I'd use the sparse winter light to sort out a little problem I'd been having. The sort of problem that means swearing while twiddling a crochet hook. To my enormous surprise, I not only fixed the problem, but finished the sock. I guess I'd better get on and knit the other one now, they have been in progress for about a year. I am so pleased that this one suddenly reached completion, it is as though it were desperate to get off the needles. It fits like a dream and feels like pure luxury. I'm excited about this project again now. One thing I've learned about the Jaywalkers pattern: you must pay attention. There are a lot of increases, decreases and passovers, and so unpicking mistakes is very slow and painful. You really do not want to tink this more often than you can help, it is not fun. But if you concentrate on this superficially simple pattern, and don't make any mistakes, it whips along in no time and is really quite unputdownable.

I've also just made a scarf, which has been - annoying. It is shorter than I meant to make it, and now I'm relying on the gods of blocking to lengthen it for me. Backstory: last year I made Sven a lovely scarf using (I am sure this is right) one skein of Noro Kureyon and one of Noro Silk Garden. Lots of earthy black and brown base shades with a few patches of strawberry, mint green and peacock blue. But mostly black and brown. Of course, I didn't bother writing down the pattern I used because I am not that sensible. It seemed so obvious at the time. So when he lost his scarf this year, I thought I'd easily make another. I'd forgotten about using Silk Garden so I went out and bought two skeins of Kureyon. They don't make the original black/red/blue/green colourway that Sven loved which was disappointing so I ended up with two skeins in a brown/orange/blue colourway that I am frankly still not sure about. Anyway, based on memory of the rib pattern, I cast on 39 stitches and knit my little heart out, six rows from each skein, from opposite ends of the skein, to get those alternating stripes, until I ran out of yarn. So it turned out okay and Sven seems to like it, but why the buggery is it so short? Gah! Did I use a lot more yarn than I thought last time? Did I have two skeins of each yarn? I dunno. Blocking is my only hope now.

Next up, let's talk about Joe's Edan sweater. I have really put in a lot of work on this, and I'm not sure it's finished with me yet. As you know, he wanted me to modify this sweater by adding a hood. I've never made a hood before, so I did some reading up about it. There seem to be a few different ways to make hoods. I read a lot of patterns, none perfect, but all offering something. So eventually I settled on following these instructions I'd found somewhere, which said 'pick up stitches around the neckline, but cast off 16 sts at the centre front. That sounded reasonable to me so that's what I did. Then I knit straight upwards, for several inches, until I realised that the hood I was making was much too small because I had not allowed any room for the curve of the head. I tried it on Joe. The hood was ridiculously small. Joe was not pleased, and showed me various hooded garments with large hoods. I frogged it back to the neckline and tried again. I had another look at hood patterns. I found one in Debbie Stoller's "Son of Stitch & Bitch" that showed a baseball-type sweater with quite a large hood on. I followed the instructions and knit for bloody hours and hours and hours until I'd increased where appropriate, and the hood measured 16" from the start of the neckline. Then I did a three needle bindoff. Then I had Joe try it on. OMG. I don't know what to think. I think it is too large. Way too large. And there is a massive point at the back (why don't hood patterns tell you to decrease to mirror the increase shaping at the back of the head?). Also, because the thing is so large, it's quite heavy, and it hangs heavily at the back, pulling on the neckline. Which might be okay if I'd thought to do one of those crosses-in-front necklines, but no, I cast off 16sts in front to make a face opening and it looks - weird. Am I going to have to frog this damn hood and knit it a third time in a smaller size? I don't know. Also not helping: the knitting is unblocked so edges are curling everywhere and I can't see how large things are relative to each other. So I'm going to set in sleeves, sew side seams, and weave in all the ends except the ones connected to the hood, and then block it. And then I'll have Joe try it on again and find out if it is really okay or if I have weeks more knitting in front of me. Wish me luck.

Finally, as you know, I like to tempt myself with new projects when I am labouring to complete something. Look at this spectacularly sexy top by Kim Hargreaves. Isn't that beautiful? I want to make it. Matter of fact, I want to make it in every colour, but I'll start with the one you see here (that's RYC Cashsoft 4ply in rose pink, and Rowan Kidsilk Haze in pearl). Why I didn't buy a kit, I don't know. I could have got buttons as part of the kit and now I have to buy them separately. Note to self: in future, get kit. But perhaps looking around for nice buttons will be fun, and it will take me a good long time to finish, in any case. I love this top so much. I don't usually like frills (at ALL) but this won my heart because of the gorgeous curvy fit and the unreasonably deep button placket. Why is it necessary to be able to unbutton this very busty top nearly to the waist? Just for fun, that's why. Va-va-voom.

And that's all the knitting news. Please wish me luck that that hood turns out okay, otherwise I'll be reknitting it all of February.

Grandiflora, complete

2008-12-27T11:12:00.005Z

Grandiflora is complete, and not a moment before time. Joe has just set off for Birmingham with a massive bag containing this, amongst other things, for my mother. My camera broke this morning and the sun refused to shine but despite this I managed to get some quite nice shots using my phone. Here they are.

Happy birthday Mom. I'm sorry I can't be there to give this to you in person. I hope you like it. Lots of love, Beelzy.

Mason Dixon ballband cloths: a love song

2008-12-21T15:18:00.027Z

Look. 20 Mason Dixon cloths. With handmade soap, that co-ordinates perfectly, by some miracle. I am overjoyed.

Why I love Phildar

2008-11-23T21:27:00.010Z

While Grandiflora languishes in the finishing basket (blocked, but no tassels made yet), there has been a frenzy of Mason-Dixon cloth-making here at Chez Beelzebub. I'm going to make 20 (don't ask me why, it just seemed like a good number - I thought I'd need quite a lot to have a proper play with colour) and I've just finished the fourteenth. I'll take some photos when the 20th one is off the needles - they will look spectacular all together. Let's hope for a spot of winter sun the day I get the camera out. Until then, I'm not showing you anything :p

The MD cloths are made in the prescribed yarn of Elmore Pisgah Peaches'n'Creme 100% cotton. While cotton can be hard on a knitter's hands, the brilliant colours that can be achieved bring me back to cotton and cotton blends time and time again. I can appreciate subtle. I can appreciate a dusty cornflower blue or a soft sage green as much as the next knitter. But the colours that really make me need to knit are the brilliant ones: peacock blue, fuschia, scarlet, fiery orange, zingy lime green, sunshine yellow, royal purple. Oooh yeah. It makes my knitting fingers twitch just thinking about it.

And that is why I love Phildar. They perfectly understand my interest in mouthwatering, nearly painfully brilliant colours expressed in interesting, fresh, fashionable shapes. I am not going to knit a classic Debbie-Bliss-meets-the-Queen cabled pullover in electric blue. You need a more youthful, and probably simpler, design to carry very bold colour. When I saw the Phildar women's catalogue for Summer 2008 I just about died. It could have been written for me. I have six patterns in mind - an extraordinary amount of joy to find within the pages of one pattern catalogue - and I have the yarn stashed away, waiting for me to bring it needles. Well, now the time is coming. If I start making (some of) them when my Xmas knitting and Joe's eternal red sweater are finished, one or two could be ready for me to wear next summer. The only question is what to knit first. Now drool over these gorgeous pictures. First up: a beautiful sleeveless top.

Just Look At That Ribbing. OMG. The detail around the bust is just gorgeous. I hardly ever wear sleeveless but this is making me feel like toning up my arms solely so I can show off this lovely summer top to its best advantage. Oh, and what about that colour. What's more summery than orange? Nothing, that's what. I have to have it.

Next, this stripey sweater:

Those stripes ... the way they fade into each other ... they way they put colours next to each other that really should not work but look fabulous together. Before I saw this photo, I absolutely was not thinking "Oh, what I most want in the world is a sweater that's burgundy and also primrose yellow and also several shades of green". I don't know how on earth the designer came up with it. Look at it, though. That colourway rocks. I am a real jeans-and-sweater person and I'm going to wear this all the time.

Next: Beelzebub is tempted by a pink dress!

Lordy. I really did not know that I was into pink dresses, until I saw this. It's not frilly. You can wear it over jeans. The pink stripes look like a peppermint candy cane, and I want to lick it. Also, will you check out that beautiful neckline. I love it. I want to make it and I can't wait to wear it.

Next: royal purple wrapped around a lot of holes.

Another knitted garment that I want to eat. Yummy. Blackcurranty juicy fruity goodness. The holes in the sleeves are just making my mouth water even more. It really reminds me of the fruit-flavoured Polos I used to eat as a kid. That is one delicious-looking, giant, blackcurrant, shiny, suckable Polo right there.

Next: a great big ray of sunshine.

Yesyesyes that is what you are supposed to do with blocks of bold colour. Make interesting shapes with it. A gloriously sunny day of a sweater, with a neckline that I'm aching to knit - or is that crochet? - and plenty of length for slipping over - you guessed it - jeans.

Finally: the reason why I must now buy an orange t-shirt.

You know, I could have lived without this sweater (probably) if they hadn't photographed it on a model with an orange vest. Man, those yarn pushers at Phildar know what they are doing. A splash of orange around the neckline and suddenly those vibrant blues, purples and pinks are 'popping' like crazy. I have to wear this. So cheering, I feel like summer's here already.

I Heart Phildar and I totally forgive that time their pattern sizing was whack. It's so worth it. I will just be extra careful this time. I'll try not to get too drunk on all the colour.

Go and visit: http://www.phildar.com/

Grandiflora on pins

2008-11-02T08:47:00.008Z

OK, so here are some photos.
I warned you it was large. It is too big for me to get the whole thing in shot.

I had to make a temporary, very precarious blocking board out of: some large, flat pieces of hardboard balanced on top of the sofa, also part of an old door. On top of this I unfurled some cardboard boxes, to increase the surface area and provide something to stick the pins in. I am sure Grandiflora would have grown to larger than 10 foot if I'd had the room.

You'll also detect an interesting assortment of pins there. First I used glass-headed dressmakers pins, like you're supposed to. Then I ran out and used safety pins. Then I ran out of those and used drawing pins. After that I used unfolded paperclips. Then I found another box of pins and used all those.

Here's a close up of the lace, which opened out beautifully.

It's drying pretty fast, which is good, cos it means we'll soon have the living room back. I'd better make some tassels to go on the ends.

Grandiflora is blocking

2008-11-01T21:24:00.001Z

Today I sewed in the ends, soaked it in water and pinned it out. It grew to 118". That's just shy of ten foot. It is taking up the whole living room. Photos tomorrow.,

I am knitting, look I'm casting off.

2008-10-26T14:18:00.015Z

Ha ha, I bet you thought I'd stopped knitting. I'll admit, I was distracted by other things for a while. But the knitting has not stopped, oh no. Indeed, I have some finished objects to show you.

First, though, who would like to see a picture of newborn Elsie modelling her Baby Yoda Sweater? Here it is, courtesy of her dad, Stuart. What a little cutie, and the sweater fits perfectly, too. Miracles all round.

Now, here is for the real news, and it has a comedy element. You know the Grandiflora shawl that I entered for the Ravelympics, aaaaages ago, when I was showing off about being an athlete? Here's how it looked when you last saw it.

Well, I gave it my best shot. I knit very industriously on the shawl, and when I thought I'd knit nearly enough repeats (I estimated I'd need about nine), I measured it. It was close to the Ravelympics deadline, but with one big push over the weekend, I thought I'd have it done. Unfortunately, measuring it at that point, when I thought I was nearly finished, was the first time I'd actually thought to look at the finished measurements in the pattern. It is enormous. You are supposed to knit until it is 90" long. Ninety inches. That is seven and a half foot long. I was nowhere near completion, and I was despondent as I realised what a massive project I had taken on. It would need more like 14 pattern repeats, not nine. It would take days and days more work. I gave up and allowed myself to be pleasantly diverted by World of Warcraft for a few weeks.

Upon my return from warcrafting, I realised how near to Xmas it is getting, and I pondered the fact that my mother has been waiting for this shawl since April 2007. So I set to work to finish the bugger. I knit and knit, and yesterday this finally came off the needles. As one should expect with lace, it still looks like a crumpled old rag, except this time a lot larger.

Here's the funny part: because I've been working on this quite enthusiastically of late, and getting near actual completion, I've proudly showed it off to people. I showed it to Mom when she came to visit (just so she keeps the faith and knows it exists). I showed to Ann & Arianne, BF's mom & sister. I showed to BF. All were quietly horrified.

Ha ha ha ha! You guys are so cute, trying not to show how disturbed you are. Yes, I can see it looks like an old crumpled rag. I'm not blind. You're not supposed to wear it looking like that. It is pre-blocking. Sheesh. I will show you. Just as soon as I've sewed in all those ends.

In other late-birthday-present news, I've finally finished Clara's ribbed jacket and matching hat, and I am heartily sorry that I did not finish these in August, when they were due. They also need blocking, to flatten those bulky sleeve seams as much as anything. But they are off the needles and the ends are sewn in; here is the evidence.

As you can imagine, finishing that big shawl took quite an effort of will towards the end, so I needed to tempt myself with a new project. I have felt the urge to make Mason Dixon ballband cloths lately, so I took out a box of lovely Peaches & Creme cotton yarn and admired the delicious colours, but I did not cast on a single stitch.

As soon as the mighty shawl was cast off, I dived into the Peaches & Creme and cast on my very first ballband cloth on 3.5mm needles. I chose a vibrant 1970s orange/brown colourway. In no time (well actually, a good four hours later) I had a super example of the ballband genre and the next morning I couldn't wait to cast on a second cloth in yellow and blue.

Talk about easy and fun, I'm going to make a few of these.

A tip if you want to make some: a useful cloth needs to be sturdy, with less drape than most clothes. The Mason Dixon ballband pattern specifies a tight gauge that I dropped down to 3.5mm needles to achieve, even though that means the thick cotton is a bit tougher to knit. The orange/brown cloth, I knit on straight, steel needles and I'm not going to pretend it was easy on my hands. For the blue/yellow cloth, I've switched to my Harmony interchangeable needles which are very light wood on a light cable, and that is proving both faster and easier.

Watch this space for upcoming news of shawl blocking. I eventually knit to about 87" before I cast off but I wouldn't be surprised if it expands way past the specified dimensions. I don't know by how much. It will be interesting to see.

In which Beelzebub becomes an athlete

2008-07-31T20:50:00.006Z

By now, surely all knitters are aware of the wondrousness that is Ravelry, the online knitting community. An amazing feat of organisation on the part of Ravelry's owners and moderators has resulted in the Ravelympics 2008, a knitting event timed to coincide with the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which open on August 8th and last for about a fortnight.

Would you believe, three thousand 'athletes' (read knitting, spinning and crocheting Ravellers) have formed into teams and agreed to knit or craft a project to be completed during those couple of weeks. The last day of the Olympics is the Finishing Line and the idea is to set yourself a challenge and produce a Finished Object on or before the final date.

Athletes enter one or more of their projects into various Ravelympics Events. These include Hat Dash, Synchronised Skirts, Baby Dressage, Cable Steeplechase, Shawl Relay, Glove Decathlon and Free-for-all Freestyle. I think you can tell they are not taking it too seriously.

Now, I am not usually a joiner but over at Rav I have great love for certain groups, particularly Atheist & Agnostic Crafters. So when the A&ACers talked of entering the Ravelympics and wondered about forming a team, the result was ultimately this:

I am officially in the Ravelympics. I'm competing in the WIP Wrestling event, which ought to come as good news to my mum, because the project I have entered into that event is my mother's Grandiflora shawl. She's waited quite long enough.

So wish me luck! I'm determined to cross the finishing line with a completed shawl.

We. Can. Do. It. Go atheists!

Baby Yoda Sweater and Umbilical Cord Hat

2008-07-15T13:13:00.007Z

Welcome to the world, little Elsie Edwards, daughter of my friend Stuart, born 2008.

She's about 6 weeks old already and I've just finished making her a Baby Yoda Sweater and Umbilical Cord Hat. Check this out for matching cuteness. The yarn is Rowan All Seasons Cotton Printed in a nice summery orange/yellow.

The Umbilical Cord Hat is from the Stitch'n'Bitch Handbook. I reduced the width of the I-cord from four stitches to three. Why? So it would perfectly match the ties on the little wrapover jacket. I think the UC Hat is so sweet in this colourway, it's like a Halloween pumpkin costume.

The sweater, for which I found the pattern on Ravelry, has four pieces of I-cord holding it together. It rather elegantly ties on the inside, then on the outside.

Awww! How sweet is that? Now let's see what we can do to finish the pink number I'm knitting for Clara.

Now with photos

2008-05-20T14:04:00.013Z

I've been working and travelling a great deal over the last few weeks. This has not been good for either blogging or video gaming. However, the travelling part has provided a fairly friendly climate for actual knitting, for a change, with the result that I've made amazing progress on the Debbie Bliss Ribbed Baby Jacket I'm making for Clara (from the book Special Knits).

As you can see, we're almost done. That's the pink All Seasons Cotton I'm using. The jacket is knit in one piece: you start by knitting the back piece, from the bottom up (at the top of this picture). Then you widen for the sleeves, and cast off some stitches in the middle to divide for the neck. Then you knit the two front pieces, down to the bottom edge. Finally, you go round and pick up about eight million stitches more than you think you need to, to make the ribbed edging. That's the part I'm doing now. A few more rows of ribbing and we'll be ready to cast off and sew it up. I believe and hope that collar is going to look beautiful when the jacket is finally assembled. If you're thinking of making one, the Debbie Bliss pattern is a breeze to knit. A good travelling project, despite being larger than socks.

The Baby Yoda Sweater(see Ravelry.com for details) I'm making for Stuart's baby is underway, although there's a lot to do. This is the beginning of the back. It's All Seasons Cotton again, in yellow/orange. Nice and summery, and unisex without being that ubiquitous new-baby pale lemon.

The Grandiflora Shawl is making progress, just so you know. There is a long way to go, but it is moving. I have little experience with lace, but I am now experiencing, at a deeply personal level, the truism that lace looks like crap while it is still on the needles. It requires a near-religious faith in blocking just to persevere with it.

Evidence that the Edan sweater lives on. This is the back. Josef is patiently waiting.

Finally, the latest travelling socks, in very nice Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett yarn. It's a shame the sun was not shining on my camera today, but still, Yum.

And that's all today's knitting news. Suppose I'd better go and wash up or something.

Yarn, Patterns, but No Match

2008-05-05T12:31:00.016Z

So, the day I get around to updating my blog is the day I leave my camera at work.

Consequently, I won't give you any news today about Grandiflora, the Edan sweater or even the silk Jaywalkers, which I've finally restarted. We'll save those for next time. Instead, let's discuss baby knitting. Right now I have two babies on my knitting radar. My colleague Stuart is due to become a dad for the first time in June. Then there's my little niece Clara. I'm thinking ahead about her birthday in the autumn, when she'll be two.

Much as I would like to whip up a couple of exotic items in luxury silk and alpaca, we need to consider the mothers. The fibre needs to be soft enough for the baby but machine-washable for mum. Right about now I'm regretting not having kept my yarn card-index up to date. I'll have to dig through the stash. I'm bound to have something but it could entail quite a bit of sorting through bags and boxes. I've a nice selection of baby patterns, the most easily located of which are in book form. I'll have a browse now and see what's nice. It would be very convenient if I could find two suitable patterns in the same book.

If you want to follow me as I browse, I'm going to upload the books to my library on Ravelry as I go along. You'll be able to find more details there.

First up, Rowan Babies: designs by Kim Hargreaves for little ones up to age 5.

This includes some absolutely sweet cardigans for little girls. This is Relish (the pattern recommends Rowan Wool Cotton).

This is Strawberry Bud. I am sure I would quickly regret choosing something so fiddly, but it's very pretty.

Next up, Adorable knits for tots by Zoe Mellor.

The word 'tots' makes my teeth hurt, but this little girl's sweater with the rose motif on the front makes me feel happy inside.

The knitting would have to be perfect. I'm thinking it would look very pretty in a dusty cornflower blue or a soft sage green.

I do love Special Knits by Debbie Bliss. I find her a tiny bit conservative for adult wear, but she produces gorgeous pieces for babies and small kids. There are three or four beautiful kimonos and dresses for little girls that I want to make, but they all require good embroidery skills and I'm not up for that right now. Zoe Mellor's Nursery Knits is good for classy toys.

Fiona McTague's Knits for Babies and Toddlers offers some delightful patterns.

There's a toy dog that's cute without being sickening, and a very traditional Picot-Edged Cardigan and Booties, which might turn out to be my new baby project.

I should mention that I am provably rubbish at picot. The last bit I attempted look like a rat had been eating it. So I might substitute a different edging on this project, for a better chance of success.

A browse through a pile of knitting magazines turned up nothing of interest, which is odd, because I'd previously thought of them as quite baby-centric. Apparently not. The emphasis is on women's sweaters.

OK, decision time. What if we did the rose-motif Lacy Sweater for Clara. The recommended yarn is Rowan Handknit DK Cotton (7 balls for size to fit age 2-3), with a gauge of 20 sts and 28 rows over 10cm on 4mm needles.

And what if we did the Non-Picot-Edged Cardigan for Stuart's baby. Fiona McTague wants us to use Jaeger Cashmere 4-ply (4 balls for age 6 months, the smallest size), with a gauge of 28 sts and 36 rows to 10cm on 3.25mm needles.

Time to go for a dig in the stash.

(some time later ...)

Why oh why do I never learn. If you are going to shop the stash, pick the yarn before the pattern. Despite having a stash the size of a small LYS, I apparently have absolutely nothing at all that fits either of those gauges. Or else I do, but only one ball of it. Botheration.

OK, let's try and approach this from a different angle. The search turned up these possible contenders:

Some Rowan Cotton Rope in hot pink.
Some Jaeger Siena green 4-ply cotton.
Quite a lot of Rowan All Seasons Cotton (can you tell I like discontination sales?) in variegated shades: one batch in hot pinks, the other in a warm peach. I did originally buy this yarn with babies in mind. The yarn gauge is 16-18sts and 23-25 rows over 10cm. The pink I could use for Clara, and the peach for Stuart's baby.

Let's take another look through the baby books and see if anything fits.

OK, apparently I have no patterns for babies to fit that gauge. I'll have to have a search online.

Who said knitting was easy? Harumph. Excuse me while I go back to knitting my sock.

Grandiflora

2008-04-13T09:43:00.007Z

Good morning, knitters. Here is the news.

There was a family dinner last weekend, which provided opportunities for me to offload my recently-finished objects. Sis looks adorable in her pink hat. I handed over Ed's Irish Hiking Scarf to Mom to take home for him. People oohed and aahed appropriately over the yummy Rowan Cocoon yarn and fat, squishy cables. Mom got the Tiger Eye socks, by way of an interim birthday present. An interim birthday present is what you give someone when it actually is their birthday but you have failed to knit the large, ambitious item you had in mind. She was pleased with the socks, by the way, and they should fit her perfectly because she has narrow feet, like me. However, this does not absolve me from knitting the Real birthday present, which I am re-starting now.

Grandiflora is a shawl, made in RYC Soft Lux.

I can't see myself ever wearing a shawl, but I like knitting them and this one is going to be perfect for Mom. I last attempted to knit Grandiflora about a year ago, prior to her last birthday (and just as the RYC Soft Lux yarn was being discontinued). I knit up a goodly amount before I realised that I had severe gauge issues. Basically, the first panel you knit is some moderately complicated lace, and in my earnestness, I made it far too tight. It was noticeably the case that on the later panels, once I'd learned the pattern, my knitting tension had relaxed. I had to rip out the whole thing, missed Mom's birthday, and the whole project went off the agenda from that day to this. Well, it is time to get Grandiflora up and running again. I have no excuse now that the socks, hat and scarf are all done. I'll cast on today and let you know how it goes.

Various notes:

I'm using 4.5mm needles, in bamboo. Last time I tried to use an Addi turbo chrome circular, and it was hell. Way too slippery. We'll see if bamboo is easier this time. Soft Lux is 100% wool, if you don't count the metallic thread.
The Grandiflora pattern is in the RYC book 'Classic Woman', published to support the Soft Lux yarn.
Joe's red sweater is coming along. It will have to compete with Grandiflora, but should benefit considerably from the recent FOs having left the house. I've done both sleeves and a respectable chunk of the back.
I frogged the Mirasol sock, the fabric was thick and horrible. I like to learn the hard way about the rules of yarn and needle gauge compatibility.
I have got a new travelling sock on the go, I'll show pics when I've done more.

Until next time, happy knitting.

Finishing

2008-03-25T10:04:00.006Z

My knitting mojo has been slow lately, very slow, so it comes as a surprise to me that I finally have some Finished Objects to report. At last, something to put in the 'Completed in 2008' list.

First, my sister's pink hat, now with an appropriately-sized pompom. 'Scuse the slightly blurry picture (it was 8am). I am actually very pleased with how this hat turned out, because she wanted a copy of a hat she already has that's nearing the end of its life. So I had a look at her current hat, measured it, and then worked out the pattern for this one under my own steam. It looks great on, a slouchy beret shape. I'm seeing her in a couple of weeks so she'll get it soon.

Next up, the Tiger Eye socks are finally done. Please note that they match, and that this is a happy accident. I have never tried to make a pair of self-striping socks identical. It doesn't seem worth the time and aggravation, and I like the unique personalities of fraternal socks. This pair came out identical quite by chance, and I have to say, I do find them appealing. I won't be attempting to match on purpose in the future (that way, certain frustration lies) but it is pleasing to know that sometimes a pair of matching socks can happen by chance.

Ed's Irish Hiking Scarf has been sitting around the living room for weeks wondering whether or not it was going to get blocked. It did. I couldn't bear not to. I've only put pins in the ends to neaten the edges, other than that I just gently prodded it into shape and left it to dry.

So there you go, it feels like a breakthrough to have something finished. Maybe there's hope for Joe's red sweater after all.

PS: I cast on new socks using that blue Mirasol Hacho yarn I was telling you about last time.

Mirasol

2008-03-16T17:04:00.007Z

This week, readers, I've been to the newly-opened John Lewis store in Cambridge. It's a bit more adventurous with its interior design than I've known other JL stores to be, which is a good thing, and there are five floors to explore. However, don't rush there if your sole purpose is to buy yarn because the offering hasn't expanded in line with the size of the shop. There is actually slightly less choice in yarn here than I found in John Lewis Solihull the other week. For example, the Cambridge store really hasn't twigged to the popularity of sock yarn - that one forlorn Regia sock kit does not count because its massive 7" steel dpns would inconvenience the most experienced sock knitter, and as for learning socks on dpns that long & spiky ... best not imagine it. They have no other sock yarn for sale that I could see. To be fair to Cambridge, they do have a good selection of Rowan and a few other yarn brands in all the usual weights above 4-ply, including some bamboo products, so they're not completely off the mark.

One of JL's more interesting introductions to its yarn offering is Mirasol. It's a brand with a heartwarming backstory (the hyperlink takes you to the Mirasol Project website). The yarn originates on an alpaca ranch in Peru. The people there are economically disadvantaged, but they make great yarn. A percentage of sales of Mirasol yarn gets reinvested back into the alpaca farmers' community, where it does things like supporting local schools for the farmers' children.

So, in the absence of any standard sock yarn, I got myself two skeins of Mirasol Hacho, a 100% merino yarn with a recommended gauge of 22sts on 4mm needles. It reminded me of Colinette's Jitterbug, because of its thick, soft, squishability and variegated jewel tones.

This is shade 302, called 'Peacock Purple', although to my eye, there's a lot of blue in it, and it could stand up to a name with more weight, something less flashy. ... I dunno, you think of something. Cate Blanchett.

I've been experimenting lately with the gauge thing on socks (who am I kidding, experimenting is a euphemism for getting it wrong a lot). I'm finding on the Tiger Eye socks, knitted with standard 4ply sock yarn, that on 2.75" needles, I can reduce the number of stitches in a round from 60 to 56 and still get a good fit. Maybe even a better one. Also, Jitterbug claims to be 4ply but it feels like DK, the socks I made with it turned out large, in my opinion, and ever since I've wondered about knitting it at tighter gauge next time. The Mirasol Hacho, of course, implies DK in its gauge recommendation, but I'm just wondering what would happen if I knit socks from it, on my usual 2.75" needles, on 56sts. I need to find out, and for some reason I always need to do it the hard way. Of course, I have not actually cast on yet, but hey, maybe soon.

The week in pictures

2008-03-09T11:38:00.008Z

OK, so I finally got the camera out. Here is the news in pictures.

The Tiger Eye socks progressed well despite the laziness of their owner.

Check out this fabric I got from Liberty. Turquoise green with fancy cupcakes printed all over it. I love this fabric and I have to learn to sew just so I can use it.

What it will eventually become, I've no idea, but I adore it. It reminds me of the work of Wayne Thiebaud, one of my very, very favourite artists.

I love a man who can make a serious point using confectionery.

The Irish Hiking Scarf refused to be photographed nicely but you get the idea.

Is it a sin not to block? This scarf feels great, the cables are springy and I'm considering not blocking it and just giving to Ed as it is, before the summer comes.

The giant pompom dominates the living room.

The only fitting purpose for a pompom this heavy (do try this at home, is great fun).

The back of Joe's Edan sweater is growing, slowly.

It's less than a month until my mother's Big Birthday and I'm thinking I might have to give her something non-knitted. Wait, maybe I could give her the big pompom! Whaddya think?

Return from Azeroth

2008-03-02T20:39:00.013Z

I do hope you'll excuse my recent absence. I have just returned from Azeroth (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/) where I was delayed for several weeks, slaying ferocious animals, all kinds of mystical creatures, and lots of pesky humans. For those who care, my Undead Fury warrior Lucero is now level 44, complete with horse and a nearly-matching set of plate armour. For the Horde!

Twisted Stitches is a European Ravelry guild, and we are recruiting. Come and join us!

Now that my bloodlust has slightly abated, I've once again picked up the knitting needles and it is time to get all my projects, and this blog, back on track,. So let's begin with a knitting round-up. Photos will be forthcoming this week.

Pink Bobble Hat

This is 99% done and it's looking great. All it needs is the pompom. I have actually attempted to make the pompom once, I devoted the best part of an evening to it. I didn't exactly screw it up, it's a fine pompom in its own right. It's just that I overshot the mark. I made a pompom, of thick Rowan Big Wool, so large and heavy that it should be registered somewhere as a dangerous weapon. It is a lot of fun to swing around the room like a mace but it would not be fun attached to the top of one's hat, so I have to make another. And then the hat is done.

Ed's Irish Hiking Scarf

I've finished knitting, sewn in the ends and it just needs blocking, then we're good to go.

Joe's Red Edan Sweater

Joe has been so cross with me these last few weeks because I've been online Warcrafting instead of knitting his sweater. He should be cheered to learn that I've finished both sleeves and I've started the back. It has not progressed much, but it has not stood still either.

Tiger Eye Socks

I've just finished Sock 1. The toe is a bit messy due to dropping & recovering a stitch in the dark but I don't mind because the blessed sock got me through a very trying evening at the National Theatre* the other night. Ann, if you read this, I am so, so sorry I wasn't more positive about it. It actually was great to see all of you and have dinner together, thank you for a lovely evening. Sorry if I seemed a bit stressed.

*The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other: may cause irritation.

I also put an extra stitch in the shoulder of the recently-completed yellow Basil sweater, which means it's now wearable and might make an appearance at the office this week. I think that's about all the knitting news. I haven't touched the Central Park Hoodie or Green Silk Happiness, or any other socks, I can't let anything else interfere with Joe's Edan sweater now.

I'll blog regularly again now I'm back. Hope you were all OK without me ;)

Until next time, B.

Irish Hiking Scarf and other stories

2008-02-03T10:41:00.001Z

Hi guys

It is very remiss of me not to have blogged much lately, I am sorry. Life does have a nasty habit of interfering with one's knitting. I have made a little progress though, so let me tell you about the Irish Hiking Scarf I'm knitting for Ed. Here it is:

It's coming along well. It is my travelling project so I knit it on buses and trains and I got loads done sitting at the back of a conference the other day. The yarn, you'll recall, is Rowan Cocoon, which includes kid mohair, so it's slightly hairy but still not so fluffy that you can't see the pattern. I'm knitting the pattern on the prescribed 42 sts, I've used up two balls of yarn so far and I'm thinking that half a ball more will probably do it. When it comes to blocking, I'm unsure what to do. Fierce blocking for maximum stitch display? Or gentle blocking for maximum elasticity and spring in the finished scarf? Your opinions welcome.

In other news, I am ploughing on with Joe's red Edan sweater and I've nearly finished the second sleeve. Joe is a bit disgusted with how long it's taking. I am sorry, but not sorry enough to stop scarf-knitting alongside the jumper.

The new Rowan magazine arrived at my house today. Oh, Rowan. It never fails to disappoint. I just keep buying it out of loyalty because it's a lovely British yarn brand. A bit of a national institution, like John Lewis or something. But the fact is, they really need to come up with a new fashion story. If I see any more pictures of bored, embarrassed models wafting around the English countryside in floaty skirts and shapeless lacy jumpers, I will scream. Rowan, will you please wake up! Some of us live in urban environments and got over wanting to dress up like a fairy by the time we were 8 years old.

I ask you. Beelzebub has no time for such frippery.

Next time, a review of The Knitting Circle, by Ann Hood: a novel about knitting which distinguishes itself by being slightly less awful than The Friday Night Knitting Club, by the nearly-illiterate Kate Jacobs.

Sudden Gifts

2008-01-21T18:57:00.000Z

Curses.

How did this happen?

I was all set for a well-organised New Year and then my knitting went completely off the rails. I started three unplanned, needless & illegitimate pairs of socks. Then I got going on Joe's red Edan jumper, of which I've still only completed one-and-a-half sleeves. This is despite not having finished either Green Silk Happiness or my Central Park Hoodie. Then I took on some gift knitting, post-Christmas. This would be due to not having bought any gifts, cards or indeed anything at all that was Xmas-related during the season itself. So now I have some catching up to do. I'm about 35% through making an Irish Hiking Scarf for Ed, using Rowan Cocoon (80% merino, 20% kid mohair). Here's the yarn:

and here's how the IHS is supposed to look when it's finished:

It's a lot of fun to knit, very simple. You don't need to count the rows, just put in a cable twist on every fourth knit row, which you can do by sight. The yarn is luxurious, I've never seen such lustre on natural fibre. It positively glistens. I owe Ed a particularly nice scarf due to having made him a slightly tasteless hat last year. This was not on purpose, although I am capable of doing such things.

I also need to make a hat for Liz. She knows exactly what she wants and I have a pattern that I think will do the trick. The yarn is going to be Rowan Big Wool, in pink.

I haven't started it yet but I need to, before spring comes.
.
As if that were not enough I've realised that it's now only about 8 weeks until my mother celebrates a major birthday and she's going to expect something special made out of wool. I wasn't lying when I said to her on the phone the other day that I have projects right here in my yarn room with her name on. It is just that they currently exist as balls of yarn rather than actual knitted objects, and they are all large and difficult. Eight weeks of work, easily, even if I didn't knit anything else.

Oh, and did I mention that my dad is inconsiderately having a Major Birthday in the same week as mum?

Curses, curses.

I don't know where to start. Someone come over and help me.

Needles we do & don't like

2008-01-12T12:04:00.000Z

Good afternoon knitters. Today I am going to review the various new needles that have found their way into my knitting lately.

Let's begin straight away with the latest must-haves, the Knitpicks Harmony Options interchangeable needles. Here's a reminder of what they look like:

I am using them to knit Joe's red Edan sweater, of which I've completed a sleeve and a bit. Want to see how it's coming along?

So, a few facts and opinions about these needles:

They are wood.

They are pretty as a picture. When they first came out, people wondered if variegated, coloured needles would be confusing to work with. They're not. At least for the plain red yarn I'm using to make Edan. I think it helps that the colours used in the needles are actually quite subtle IRL. It's not like they are neon rainbow stripes. So, no problems there.

The needle heads screw on to the cables using a nickel screw fixture. Other knitters have complained that the needle heads come loose, or don't fit properly. Well, I have found these to fit fine. No problems screwing the heads on. They do tend to work a bit loose as you knit, so I've got into the habit of giving the head of the empty end of the needle a little twist to tighten it up at the beginning of each row. Incidentally, just the other day the Yarn Harlot made a casual reference to using pliers to firmly fix the heads on interchangeable circs. If she thinks that's a normal thing to do, then my guess is that screw fittings are kind of inevitably going to come loose. In which case, I'm not going to take that as a basis for criticising the Harmony Options.

They are pointy. Pointy as a very, very pointy thing. And that makes them a dream to knit with. I never knew what a difference really pointy needles could make. For me, the main benefit is that I can suddenly knit without looking, and without dropping stitches. The super pointy ends on those needles are like stitch-seeking missiles. They nose their way through each stitch almost before I can catch them at it. Oh yes, I am a newly-converted Pointy Needle fan.

In sum, I'm giving these Knitpicks Harmony Options 8 out of 10 because they are both beautiful and functional, and I bet that score would go up if I borrowed Stephanie's pliers.

Next, let's consider the Susan Bates metallic dpns I was on about the other day. I've been trying out the smallest size, which is 1.5mm (it turns out, not 1.75 as I previously thought).

I've been using them for my Seeded Fair Isle socks. Which are not going that well due to my being unable to count to 16. Here's the cuff. It may hit the frog pond soon.

About these needles:

This is the Susan Bates Sock Set of dpns. It's a multipack of four sizes, from 1.5mm to 2.25mm. You get five needles in each size.

They are very pretty colours. The ones I'm using are metallic blue; other colours in the set include red and gold.

They are light, and flexible. The material is some branded stuff called Silvalume, which is basically aluminium. Some knitters find them too bendy, and I can see why. It's a good job I'm a naturally loose knitter. I wouldn't recommend them if you knit tightly, otherwise your yarn will be more rigid than the pins.

They are 7" long, and that's the biggest downside. It's excessively long for socks, although these might be good for lace (not something I know a lot about yet). The upshot for me is that I've got miles of long, sharp, thin, bendy needle sticking out all over the place when I'm only trying to knit a relatively small bit of fabruc. It's unnecessary and it's a pain in the ass. In my experience, dpns are standardly 6", and even that can sometimes be too much.

Marks out of 10: I'm giving these 4 because the excessive length makes them a pain to work with. And I am only awarding 4 marks because I am giving them the benefit of the doubt: maybe they are perfect for lace doilies or something. For socks, I wouldn't bother.

Finally, let's say a few words about the Brittany dpns that I'm using to make my silk Jaywalkers. They are the ones on the left in this picture (I haven't tried the Sox Stix yet).

And here is the sock:

What you need to know about these dpns:

They are birch. Light and warm in the hand, more yielding than steel but not bendy.

This particular set is 2.5mm

They are dinky, only 5" long. Susan Bates take note. This is the perfect length for socks. On my Jaywalkers, most of the space on each needle is used up by actual knitting, with just enough room left at each end so the stitches don't fall off. You can concentrate on your knitting without spending the whole time manipulating and managing a bunch of porcupine quills. The sole complaint I have about these tiny needles is that I'm afraid I'll lose one.

Marks out of 10: I'm giving these 9 because when you are using them, you hardly notice they are there, and that is a wonderful quality in a needle. It means I can give all my attention and love to the yarn. Highly recommended.

Until next time, happy knitting.

Seeded Fair Isle Socks

2008-01-06T23:19:00.000Z

Friends, I wish I had significant progress on any one of my designated projects to share with you. Sadly, and despite all my Resolutions, I have been knitting quite chaotically - a bit here, a bit there, none of it planned or documented. Shocking.

Seeded Fair Isle Socks
OK, so here's an illustrative story of un-planning. There I was, happily knitting away on Joe's red Edan jumper. On that project, I'm using my brand new Harmony circular needles. As I knit, I contemplated the review of the needles that I'd eventually write for this blog. Then I remembered that I have some new Susan Bates metallic dpns in the stash, and I thought 'why not use them, and review them at the same time - compare and contrast'. So, off I went to the stash, with no thought for what I was doing, found the needles, selected the smallest size (1.75mm), grabbed a ball of Opal Uni sock yarn in a dusty mauve, and cast on 64 sts to make up for the needles being so fine. Did you see what happened there? One minute I'm knitting a jumper, the next, I have a new pair of socks on my hands.

I knit a 1x1 rib cuff with absolutely no idea what kind of socks I was making. 64sts seemed like the right number (I usually have 60sts on 2.75 or 2.5mm needles). Other than that I had no constraints, and no plans. I knit the cuff and for a while I thought they'd have a boxy, stretchy, openwork pattern that's halfway between rib and lace. I saw it in Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks and it had my attention for a while. Then I looked at some more Schurch and decided that in fact the socks would have an eight-stitch Falling Leaves pattern. Yes, that would be much nicer than the boxy openwork. Falling Leaves it would be. I knit a few more rounds of rib. I started to wonder if mauve is really the ideal colour for leaves. I thought about what colours go with pale, dusty mauve and contemplated dark brown. Then I hit on it: these socks would be Fair Isle. I have wanted to make Fair Isle socks for ages. I dug out yet another book, an old paperback called The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting, by Sheila McGregor. I soon found myself a beautiful, eight-stitch, seeded pattern that makes big diamonds with dots in them. So that is the new thing now, Seeded Fair Isle socks. Dammit, this is where I keep going wrong.

In other news, I've done one sleeve of the Edan sweater and we shall not speak of the other WIPs until next time.

Completed in 2007

2008-01-01T16:37:00.001Z

A round up of all 2007's FOs:

Vogue baby blanket in DB Cashmerino Aran for Miles
Purple Colinette Perugino Throw for Justine
Perugino throw II for Brafia
Phildar Nautical Button Sweater in Phil Thalassia & Phil Falaise
Basil sweater
Clara's Baby Surprise Jacket
Diana bag for Liz in Rowan Glimmer Print

Rainbow spa slippers in Noro Kureyon & Silk Garden
Blue knee-high socks in Elle Stretch DK
Justine's red cashmere socks in Posh Yarn
Purple/orange Opal Hundertwasser socks for Mom
Sky-blue AY socks for Joe
Purple basketweave socks for Dad in Angel Yarns sock yarn
Blue-green Fortissima cotton socks
Imken's socks in AY angora
Regia Nation red/white stripy Arsenal socks for Sven
Regia rainbow socks for Ian
Matching pink socks for Cal & Clara.

Hmm, I think the learning from that might be 'fewer socks equals more sweaters'. I hereby pledge a less socky, more sweatery year in 2008.

Xmas, New Year & Warcraft

2008-01-01T16:12:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had an enjoyable festive break. I am back to work tomorrow and I can't quite believe it - it's amazing how fast one gets used to not having to show up at the office all the time.

At Xmas I went to visit my family of origin and there I did quite a lot of knitting. I finished Cal's and Clara's matching pink socks and left them with Ian to deliver for me. Next, I got a new project up and running: the Edan sweater for Joe. I've nearly finished the first sleeve and there will be photos soon (too dark for photography right now).

Also, I took a couple of gift orders. Not having done any gift knitting prior to Xmas, I let my brother and sister choose what they want. Sis wants a pink hat which shouldn't take too long once I find the right pattern and yarn. Brother wants a dark coloured scarf, I'm thinking maybe an Irish Hiking Scarf in charcoal grey will substitute nicely for a travelling sock while I'm working on it.

Eventually, after Xmas, I returned to my lair in London and that is where I disappeared through my computer screen into a different world altogether, one from which I have only just returned to write this post. The world of which I speak is the mighty World of Warcraft. If you have played WoW, you will know exactly what I've been dealing with over the last few days. It is like crack. One more puff, one more, even though your heart is pounding already and you're so tired you can hardly see. If you have never played WoW, you must. I am not kidding. I used to be sniffy about games that involved a lot of 'running around killing things' but this is so much more sophisticated and complex than that, even though there's a lot of both running and killing. This is mainly because of the interactivity. WoW is a real place, populated by something like 9 million real, live, human players. You can talk to them, form relationships, and team up together to complete difficult quests. And that is what I have been doing. I can't say any more, otherwise I'll never stop. This game stands head, shoulders and half a chest above any other game I've ever played. It rules. If only I could knit there, I'd move in. If you play, I'm on the Steamwheedle Cartel European server. Give me a shout and I'll meet you at the inn.

Warcraft

Basil: Live Model

2007-12-23T16:28:00.000Z

Readers, as promised, some Live Model shots of my newly completed Basil sweater, in Rowan Summer Tweed.. ....

I added some extra length to the body of this sweater, which worked out perfectly. I also added some length to the sleeves, which turned out to be excessive, so I'm just going to roll the cuffs back and call it a design feature.

I'm very pleased with how this turned out, it's a comfortable fit without being too baggy and I still love the colour. You may recall that I sloshed some hair conditioner in the blocking water to soften it up a bit, and that certainly had the desired effect, it's positively silky now.

In other news, I have just barely finished Cal's pink socks. They still need to have their ends weaved in and be blocked, but the actual knitting is done. I'm now half way through a miniature pair for little Clara. I have until the 27th to get them done, so I'm optimistic.

Beelzebub will be knitting as much as possible over the festive period and I look forward to bringing you photos soon. Until next time, bah humbug and go easy on the sherry.

Knitting Resolutions 2008

2007-12-20T14:09:00.000Z

Readers, I am already thinking about New Year Resolutions, since 2007 is about to expire. Last year I had no Knitting Resolutions because I just hadn’t been a serious Knitter long enough to aspire to anything apart from ‘stash!’ and ‘knit more’. However, this year, after 12 months of near-continous stashing, knitting, planning & project queueing, I am not short of things that need to be Resolved. Here they are.

Finish Green Silk Happiness (StitchDiva Simple Knitted Bodice), which has to be started from scratch for the third time because I just can’t get the sizing right. I seem to be permanently under the impression that I am 4 sizes larger than I really am. I am not going to let this garment beat me though, and I have the idea that when I finally get it right I’m going to know all I’ll ever need to know about how to make a top-down, raglan sweater that fits me.

Prioritise and think more carefully about what’s in my queue before starting a new project. I have dozens of patterns that I want to knit, and the yarn to knit them with. As we all know, it takes only a minute to impulsively choose and cast on for a new project, and about half a lifetime to finish it. Which means that often I spend ages knitting things which I like but are not actually top of my wish list, while other queued projects, which I really want to knit, get left sitting in the queue for months on end. So, in 2008, before starting something new, I’m going to think harder about what I most want to make next.
Cut right back on the yarn stashing, do as many stash-busting projects as possible and only buy new yarn if I really need it for some designated project. Do not buy carrier bags full of yarn just because it is on sale. In fact, do not go to yarn sales. The one exception I will make is the annual Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. That was the one, solitary occasion this year when I felt like I had not bought enough yarn – I will certainly correct that error next year!
Actually use some of the new information that has come my way this year. Eg, thanks to knittinghelp.com and Lucy Neatby’s utterly wonderful series of DVDs, I am now surrounded by visual resources that will teach me to knit Continental style, cast off more efficiently and do three-needle bind-offs – if only I paid attention. So this coming year, I hereby resolve to look up and use the resources around me, rather than just sticking with the familiar old techniques that I already know.
Do something about the Beelzebub Knits knitwear collection, which right now has barely progressed past the illustration stage. I have very nice drawings of 9 sweaters and they just need me to dedicate some proper time to them so that I write up functioning patterns and knit a sample garment for each.
Find a suitable use for the 2 kilos of pink and orange acrylic that my darling son thoughtfully bought for me last birthday. I don’t want him to get discouraged and stop buying me yarn! Make said project before my next birthday rolls around in August, to encourage him & keep him from wondering if I don’t really like yarn after all. Also, ahead of next birthday, give the poor boy some tips about what knitters like to knit with (as opposed to what LYSs like to sell).

OK, I had better stop there, otherwise I’ll get totally overwhelmed and do none of them. How about you? What do you hope for from your knitting in 2008?

FO Photoshoot: Perugino II & Basil Portraits

2007-12-16T15:32:00.001Z

It's time for some knitting p0rn; Perugino II and Basil are all blocked, finished & stitched into place and are ready for their final photo-call.

First, the majestic Perugino II, draped artfully on cushions & such.

Basil is finished - and guess what, readers, so keen was I to do a lovely job on this sweater that I actually took out the iron, got myself a damp tea-towel and pressed those seams, just like they tell you on page 15. It's looking so gorgeous now, there on the hanger, that I am actually scared to try it on in case it doesn't fit.

Now, I must confess that I have started a new pair of socks. Yes, another pair. I've been feeling very virtuous as a result of the discipline of NOvember, which helped me complete the above FOs, but kept me from knitting any new socks. I've therefore rewarded myself with a flirty treat of a sock project that combines three magical elements in one. Here are the three magic ingredients:

Jaywalker sock pattern by Grumperina (is here). This pattern from Sep 2005 is still sweeping the knitting world like wildfire and I can't believe I haven't yet expressed it in yarn. Now is the time.
Short, wooden, 2.5mm DPNs. These little, wooden needles are light, warm and delicate. They're only 5" long instead of the usual 6", so there's no excess needle sticking out all over your knitting. I picked up these Brittany needles at the recent Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace and I've been waiting for a chance to use them ever since.
Regia Silk Color yarn. They've been raving about this on the Angel Yarns forum and I had to try it. Pure silk is not great for socks (no memory, for a start) but Regia Silk is 55% merino, 25% polyamide & 20% silk so it has all the functional properties of sock yarn but feels totally luxurious.

Yum yum.

And finally, the Pink Lana Grossa Socks are making great progress. The first sock is done already. I knit half while commuting since the start of the month, and the other half in a single evening on Friday. I'm planning to make the second sock as quickly as possible so I can give the pair to Cal, whose birthday it was the other day. I'm going to have yarn left over so I plan to make a miniature pair for little Clara at the same time. Does anyone know how many inches long the feet of a child aged 15 months should be?

Joy! Knitpicks Harmony Needles

2007-12-14T10:53:00.000Z

I am at work on an average Friday morning (average meaning both busy and somewhat stressful). But this particular Friday morning I am breathless with joy because an exciting and long-awaited parcel has just arrived at my office. I'm now the proud owner of some of these:

Here's a close-up of the tips:

And I have the DPN set too!

They are, of course, the indescribably beautiful Knitpicks Harmony needles, which have just become available in the UK and were ordered from that much-loved British retailer Get Knitted.

I believe this might be the solution to the inertia I've been feeling lately regarding my Green Silk Happiness (StitchDiva Simple Knitted Bodice). I had kind of lost faith in it a bit but I'm hoping these gorgeous new Options needles will give it a kick up the bum. Now I can't wait for home time so I can go play with my new sticks!

Blocking Report

2007-12-09T12:45:00.000Z

Dudes, I am having a lousy weekend. I am ploughing my way through mountains of work here, while attempting to fight off a headache (not that easy when you are glued to your computer screen). Because I am tied to my desk, I am actually surprised how much blocking I managed to get done yesterday. Here's a progress report.

Perugino II
Is finally blocked. This is the sort of thing you can easily do in between video editing. Capture video, put in a few pins. Save the file for processing, put in a few pins. Render the finished movie, spritz with water. In reality, it took a much longer time than I'm implying, but hey, I managed to fit it in around work so who's complaining?

Basil is blocked too. Having put in something like 14 hours' work yesterday, I did not bother pulling out the ironing board. I just immersed Basil in water and put in a few pins at the same time as editing the video, same as Perugino. I do feel I've wimped out a bit there and will definitely try the pressing method next time. Anyway, it's blocked, and as soon as it's dry I'll sew it up.

The Central Park Hoodie is not behaving itself and is in the naughty corner. To look at the back, you'd think I'd made quite a lot of progress.

Unfortunately, this photo doesn't reveal that fact that when I looked at what I'd accomplished, I discovered no fewer than four mistakes. Mostly pairs of purl stitches put in where knit stitches should have been instead. Initially, I was not daunted. I thought I knew the solution. In each place where I'd made a mistake, I dropped those stitches, let them run back to the mistake, and then picked them up again with a crochet hook. Sounds perfectly sensible, right? Unfortunately, in doing that, I seem to have totally wrecked my gauge and I don't know if any amount of blocking is going to fix it. So it is in the naughty corner until I've worked out what to do about it.

Finally, Green Silk Happiness, aka the Simple Knitted Bodice. This one is in the doldrums too, and I don't know which to rescue first, this or the CPH. Basically, I think I've knitted it too loose. Yes, again. I think it needs to come down one more size, especially with all I've been reading lately about how silk garments 'grow' with wear. I keep looking at the pics of other people's successful SKBs (and some less successful ones too) and I can see that if you get it right it's the sexiest little top ever, but if you get it even a fraction too large, it looks like a sack. So I don't know what to do. I might have to completely restart it in the smallest size. This isn't a very cheering thought, especially as I think silk doesn't really like being frogged, especially the sequinned stuff.

So there you are, that leaves me wondering what to knit next! Perugino II and Basil are all wet and my socks are strictly for travelling, so I have to choose between the pink hoodie and the green silk top, neither of which are behaving themselves. Maybe I'll just do some work for a while and think on it.

PS, in answer to a couple of recent comments:

Kay, thanks for your compliments on the rose needles and stitch markers. They are from Knitz & Glitz here in the UK. The yarn is indeed Rowan Soft Lux.
I can't remember who was asking me about Summer Tweed (Basil). I'm liking Summer Tweed. It sure is an unusual texture and feels a bit like string when you have it OTN. Which is actually good for knitting without looking, I find, because the stitches are so easy to feel. I was a tad concerned about wearability so I sloshed a good bit of hair conditioner in the blocking water. I'll let you know how it feels when it's dry, but I'm hoping for soft results. It worked on my Noro scarf, after all.
Susan, I have no idea what I'm going to do with 8.5 kilos of mostly vintage acrylic. If you have any suggestions ....

Until next time, folks.

Blocking Avoidance

2007-12-04T21:08:00.000Z

OK, I admit it, I am avoiding blocking. I have not blocked Basil and I have not blocked Perugino II. I've thought deeply about why, and its relationship to my avoidance of the iron, but since Perugino II requires no ironing, I am obliged to put it down to a bad case of Can't Be Arsed. Bending over things with pins, for hours. It's all too much work. I'll do it at the weekend, I promise.

I avoided mentioning it up to now because you guys are giving me helpful support and advice about blocking and I am listening and I am going to use it. I didn't want you to think I was taking no notice. But it's now Tuesday and I can't go on pretending I spent the weekend blocking when I really didn't. So let me tell you what I've been doing instead.

Perugino II

I didn't block, but in my defence I did make all 23 tassels. Here they are, strung to the ever-versatile Knitting Tree.

Next, I set to work on the Central Park Hoodie, in Barbie pink. The campest hoodie ever. I've made both sleeves now, and what you see here is the ribbing at the start of the back.

Pink Lana Grossa Socks

I could exist no longer without a travelling sock. It was killing me. I found myself stalking my sock yarn. NOvember has been wonderful for kick-starting my various WIPs but while working on all those projects I've been without socks for a month now and I NEED some. So I cast on these, which will be plain vanilla socks strictly for knitting when travelling.

PRESS, as described on p.15.

2007-12-01T10:49:00.001Z

Beelzebub is scared of irons.

Having successfully shielded myself from housework for most of my life, I have no clue how our iron works (it is joined by quite a long list of appliances that I don't know how to use, including the cooker and the central heating).

Because of this, I normally go for full-on wet blocking when I've finished an item. Get it wet, pin it out, leave to dry. However, this weekend we're going to do things differently. As you know, I've just finished knitting both Perugino II and my Basil sweater. Perugino is going to need traditional wet blocking (OK, maybe damp rather than wet) and it's big. It needs lots of space. If I'm going to block Basil at the same time, we'll have to find a method that doesn't involve it sitting around for hours all wet, taking up space. In other words, for the first time, I'm about to follow that common instruction, "PRESS, as described on p.15".

Let's see what's involved.

Darn in all ends neatly. Yeah, right. We'll leave most of those ends swinging free, thank you. They will come in handy for seam-sewing later.

Block out each piece of knitting using pins. What, on the ironing board? I don't think it's going to be big enough. Perhaps I can improvise an ironing board with something laid out on the floor.

Gently press each piece, using a warm iron over a damp cloth. And that's the scary part. How gentle is 'gently'? How warm is 'warm'? How long to press for? And what are the risks attached if I get the temperature too high? Better have a look at the ball band ... which says 'use a damp pressing cloth'.

All right, let's give it a try. Piccies soon.

Basil Sweater Off-TN

2007-11-30T22:52:00.001Z

Oh joy! Less than a week after completing the knitting on Perugino II, Basil has followed it into the Finishing Basket. We now have four even-looking pieces of sweater waiting to be blocked and stitched together.

That was amazingly quick, or at least it seems that way in retrospect, now it's definitively off the needles.

Know what else is exciting? I have this thing about not letting more than three items pile up in the Finishing Basket, so that means there will be no knitting at all to be done this weekend. Not a stitch of knitting until all three waiting projects (Basil, Perugino II, Rainbow Socks) are pinned out wet and Perugino's tassels are made.

We have NOvember to thank for all this progress. I am definitely keeping it up next month.

8.5 kilos of yarn.

2007-11-25T23:15:00.000Z

8.5 kilos of yarn is what I brought home this evening from my BF's mate's house. His mum cleared out her stash and set a reasonable price on it as a job lot, so I naturally took it. It just barely fits in one of those big, plastic laundry bags. I've yet to identify what most of it is, but here are a few snaps, just so you can see the haul.

1-kilo packs, DK/aran weight, unidentified fibre

Red

Blue

Black/metallic

600-gram packs, aran/chunky weight, soft, slubby, unidentified fibre.

Salmon pink.

White

Grey boucle, about 500g

Various acrylic

Peach baby yarn, 100% acrylic. Brand is WHSmith - who knew they once sold yarn?

Wendy Capri: 51% cotton, 49% acrylic. Textured, nubbly yarn.

Patons Jamboree: 90% acrylic, 10% polyamide.

Patons Diana Discos: 85% acrylic, 15% polyamide.

Mohair & Faux Mohair

Hayfield Optimum Luxury Mohair: 68% mohair, 24% acrylic, 8% nylon.

Patons Mohair Visions Nouveaux. 66% mohair; 16% polyester; 14% nylon; 4% wool.

Looks like mohair even though it isn't: Wendy Dolce Mia; 50% Courtelle acrylic, 50% nylon.

Wendy Dolce. Pretending to be mohair but is 50% Courtelle acrylic, 50% nylon.

Large cone, at least 400g, of something black from the Yorkshire Mohair Mill.

Breaking News: Perugino II Off-TN

2007-11-24T23:54:00.000Z

I'm thrilled to report that the actual knitting of Perugino II is 100% done, and it is now residing in the Finishing Basket, waiting to be blocked and have its tassels made & sewn on.

Work on Green Silk Happiness (the StitchDiva Knitted Bodice) has resumed.

How to place & shape a set-in armhole.

2007-11-24T13:33:00.001Z

I write the opening lines of this post with not a clue how to design and shape a set-in sleeve with matching armhole. However, it's imperative that I find out. It's time to make some progress on the new Red/Pink Wrapover Sweater design and I've done most of the torso now so the next step is to figure out how a set-in sleeve works. Here's where we were up to last time. ................

I've had a dig through the library in the knitting room and the resource of choice is going to be the eternally authoritative Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlework (1981). It has only one chapter on knitting but that chapter is full of the most clear and sensible technical advice you could wish for. I am instructed that to plan the armhole, we'll need the following measurements:

Shoulder width: distance across the back between the armholes;
Chest: underarm measurement across half the garment;
Shoulder length: "standard for your garment size";
Armhole depth: "standard for your garment size".

To plan the sleeve we'll need these measurements:

Wrist;
Underarm length;
Upper-arm.

Excuse me while I go away and work out what all those measurements are.

Miss WIPlash

2007-11-24T12:48:00.001Z

Guys, sorry not to have posted for a few days. Heavy work schedule plus a broken internet connection meant no blogging for a little while there. However, Beelzebub's knitting continues undaunted. I am seriously whipping those idle WIPs into shape now. Discipline rules in the house of Beelzebub.

I have nearly cast on new socks a few times. I have some of this delicious yarn:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Valentine

and some of these miniature needles:
Lantern Moon Sox Stix

and they are calling and calling to me. I linger in the doorway of the knitting room, listening to their siren song. Then I shut the door, step away and go back to work on Perugino II and Basil.

Well, those pesky WIPs are showing tremendously good progress as a result. Check the status bars in the WIP list. Perugino II is 85% done, and Basil is coming on in leaps and bounds. In the last 24 hours it's shot from being 40% complete to a massive 70%, just like that.

The sleeves & back of Basil are now completed and I've already started the front.

And here is Perugino II, since I promised you a photo:

Look how big it's grown!

NOvember is really paying off.

NOvember

2007-11-18T16:44:00.000Z

As we all know, the knitting community has a calendar all its own, complete with distiinct seasons and annual celebrations. Following the Harvest Festival of knitting that is Socktoberfest, a bright spark over at the Angel Yarns forum came up with the genius idea of NOvember. NOvember is for everyone who has too many WIPs - and you know I've had a plague of WIPs lately. The simple rule behind NOvember is that you don't cast anything else on until you have finished your designated WIPs. All of them.

Beautiful in its austerity (a bit like Lent, ho ho), NOvember is really helping me plough through my WIPs, which, as you'll remember, consisted of a large Colinette Perugino throw, three (count 'em!) adult-sized sweaters and several socks. Here's what happened.

On first approaching the fearsome mountain of WIPs, I naturally took the cowardly option and started with the easiest possible thing, namely the socks. I worked on socks at home, and socks while travelling. Eventually, I had to admit all the socks were done, and that meant it was time to do some proper knitting on some of those large WIPs. Under normal circumstances, at this point I would have cast on a new pair of socks. I would have rationalised that I must have a travelling sock to knit on, because travelling without one is unthinkable. I would then have cast on some fascinating new sock pattern and been unable to leave it alone when at home, leaving the WIPs languishing in a corner.

NOvember dictated that no new socks could be cast on until I'd finished four much larger items. Do you know what that means about how long it will be before I have a travelling sock to knit on again? That's a blanket and three sweaters away! I have to read books about knitting on the train, because NOvember is not letting me knit anything that's not massive. I have new sock yarn & needles I want to play with. It is driving me a bit nuts.

However, like a strict diet, this 'no new projects' thing is undeniably working and we are now seeing excellent progress on two of the four large WIPs. The first is the Colinette throw, known as Perugino II, which I'll tell you about next time. You'll be amazed when you see how big it's grown. The second is my Basil sweater, knit in Rowan Summer Tweed. See that green V-neck jumper on the left! We're making that, but in popcorn yellow. Summer Tweed is a fairly luxurious silk/wool mix.

I've been working hard on this when I want a break from Perugino. Because I don't have any socks to play with, whenever I want to knit something I have to choose one of my WIPs and they are really benefiting. At the time of writing I've knit both sleeves of Basil and about half the back.

My mum came to visit this weekend, so I enlisted her help winding my remaining skeins of Summer Tweed into balls. We had great fun with the swift and ball winder.

I love a freshly-wound ball of yarn. That buttery yellow is a dream.

I'm going to need to start blocking sooner than I thought! The race is on now, between this and Perugino II Which will pass the finish line first?

Why are you here? Update

2007-11-12T16:28:00.000Z

Everyone, thank you again for your thoughtful and caring comments in reply to Why are you here?

It was nearly impossible to pick out the winner as you were all so helpful! I've learned something from everyone. After deep thought and consideration, I'm going to say: ContinentalCat please email me your name and address to beelzebubknits AT hotmail DOT co DOT uk, so I can send you some sock yarn. Your comments about doing the blog round on Ravelry were something I hadn't anticipated and wouldn't have figured out without your help. Thank you.

And by the way, dear readers, there'll be more opportunities to win stuff in the future, so do watch this space.

I love you all.

Beelzebub.

The Friday Night Knitting Club

2007-11-12T15:55:00.000Z

I am on the road again, this time around the UK. I started in Birmingham, then went to Newcastle for a few days, then Liverpool and right now I'm in York. I am tired.

All this travelling is not brilliant for knitting (or blogging) but I am getting some reading done. I've just finished The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. It's currently being produced as a movie, starring Julia Roberts, to be released in 2008. Would you like to hear about it?

I'm afraid I can't give this the same glowing review that I gave Charmed Knits the other week. The best thing I can say about it is that it will easily translate into a movie. It actually feels like an idea for a movie that somehow got turned into a novel first, which was possibly a mistake. The movie is destined to be a weepie. A chick-flick weepie starring Julia Roberts. Does that tell you everything you need to know about the movie? It does me. Let's put it this way: I'll tune in when it eventually makes it on to the TV but I won't be rushing to the cinema. This is not Pedro Almodovar, not by a long chalk.

OK, so, the novel. It's about the emotional ups and downs of a bunch of women who congregate at a NYC LYS and make friends there, despite their individual differences. Everyone eventually either finds romance (yawn) or gets in touch with her true, inner self (double yawn). The writing is poor, I struggled to get through it and would have abandoned it half way through except I'd already planned to write about it here so I felt obliged to finish it. The dialogue is horribly unnatural and stilted, so let's hope a screenwriter can fix that before it hits the big screen. There are too many exclamation points. Kate Jacobs may feel it makes a sentence more exciting to stick an exclamation mark on the end! But I don't! See what I mean! The plot is full of unlikely events and inconsistent details that undermine the credibility of the story. I basically didn't believe it. When reading a novel, you want to believe in the characters and get lost in the plot. You don't want to feel like taking out the red pen and editing out the crap. Sorry, Kate.

Maybe we shouldn't blame Kate, but rather her editor. This is KJ's first novel and it feels like a first draft. With another 12 months of work it might have been better. Or maybe not. There's no substance to TFNKC at all, just a long, emotional wallow. It's a bit like one long episode of Friends but without the jokes.

One last thing: The Friday night knitting club. Really? Let's think about this practically for a moment. If you owned a yarn store and you wanted to start a knitting club, would you pick Friday night? Of course not, you'd have to be determined to make it fail. Friday and Saturday are the two nights of the week when people are almost certain to be doing something else. Particularly in Manhattan. It's exactly this kind of thing that renders the credibility of the novel shaky. To take another example, the owner of the LYS in the book has had her shop mentioned, briefly, once, in a magazine. Yet everyone she meets seems to have read it *and* remembered it. In real life, the more likely scenario would be that the woman would work her ass off getting her shop mentioned here and there and yet *no-one* she met would have read or remembered it. Earth to Kate Jacobs: we don't believe you.

Still tempted to buy it and read it? Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm giving it 2 out of 10. Published by Hodder, a complete waste of £6.99.

New design: blueprint takes shape

2007-11-07T23:39:00.000Z

As you can see, the crude ideas of Monday are taking on a more organised appearance. I'm staying up far too late tonight, pondering the best way to plan the set-in sleeves. Click on the images to see them enlarged.