Just a quickie 🙂
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Tag: knitting
Intrepid Adventures… or … a Leap of Faith
I have long coveted the Sara Lund jumper. Do you know the one? From the hit Danish TV series “The Killing”. It’s gorgeous (though she also has a very trim figure, which showcases the sweater perfectly) and has had knitters and non-knitters alike hankering for it or how to make it. The sweater is made by a company called Gudrun & Gudrun for an inordinate amount of money, and they are closely guarding the pattern, too, but over on Ravelry you can find many different and highly successful versions of it.
First, though, you need to be able to knit a sweater. And with confidence. Oh, and with that Nordic fair isle pattern.
Hmmmm.
Well, as you know from a recent post, I have not long finished my first jumper. It was knitted from the bottom up, joined at the yoke. The Three Movies Sweater. And it was just a fraction too small. I may (horror of horrors) end up frogging it. Too much good yarn to waste and a little too feminine for my boys, sadly.
I have had two projects (oh, of so many) on the go which may help me reach my ultimate Sara Lund goal. The first, as yet unfinished, is a bottom-up sweater in gorgeous Ardalanish wool (a most exciting Christmas present), which is proving to be a bit of a fair isle sampler. I hadn’t tried fair isle before, and I’m LOVING it. I adore the way the pattern emerges, after blood, sweat and tears through stitch counting… 😉
This is as far as it has got:
*beams*
In the meantime, and with the Sarah Lund sweater still firmly in mind, I bought a book. This one, to be precise:
The name of this style of knitting always makes me snigger. I guess my inner twelve-year old is not so inner…
I embarked, using the yarn I had bought with the intention of a larger Three Movies Sweater, on a top-down seamless yoke, hoping against hope that this one would fit.
Two tricks I picked up along the way, one from a friend on my new Instagram account: Transfer the live stitches onto scrap yarn periodically, to reassure yourself it fits (and, if you’re anything like me, to get ridiculously over-excited when it does).
The second I picked up from Pinterest many moons ago and had never tried out. I’ll endeavour to explain. When you come to the end of a yarn ball, and need to introduce the next, loop the two ends around each other and, using a yarn needle, sew each yarn end back into itself. I may try to produce pictures of this at some stage. It’s brilliant. Of course, I may be preaching to the converted, but just in case you hadn’t heard of it – try it!
OK, so without further ado, here, in pictures, is the end result. Given the fact that I often finish things at night and am at work during the day, they are a little on the grainy side. But I’m thrilled. It’s warm, snuggly and I have worn it every day since I made it. Can I get a whoop whoop? 😉
HUZZAH!
I am, obviously, plotting the next. Oh, and of course I have an Ardalanish fair isle to complete… Eek!
Yarn Bowls!
Who knew?!
I have a new Instagram account and through my travels encountered Wendy Fowler, aka yarnbowl987
I was instantly drawn to her beautiful yarn bowls, though having treated myself recently to a dressmaker’s dummy, I was a good girl and simply put it on my wish list.
But she stymied me 😉
I logged in to my account, and there was the prettiest bowl, a ‘slight second’ because it had become slightly misaligned in the kiln, which didn’t affect it’s functionality at all, but its price considerably.
I failed to resist.
But look!
Can you blame me?
A capelet. Or a ponchette?
Whatever you want to call it, I made it! I am disproportionately thrilled with this one because it came out of my head.
A learning experience with (to me at least) glaring imperfections, I know just how to get it right now and, after wearing it for merely a day – I only take it off at night at the moment! 😉 – I have two commissions already, so plenty of opportunity to perfect it.
I especially love the trim: a yarn called ‘Duchessa’ by Laines du Nord, which I knitted around the top and crocheted around the bottom.
When I’ve perfected the pattern, I’ll write it up, but for now, here it is in the making:
My very first adult jumper!
On my travels around the interweb, I discovered the challengingly entitled Three Movies Sweater, written in Swedish and English. I loved the style, and the premise, so I took the bait and ordered the wool. Drops Eskimo, for the uninitiated, is a chunky (9mm needle) 100% wool for a very reasonable £1.70 for 50g. This pattern took around 12 x 50g balls to make.
Although I was thrilled by the outcome, especially for a first-timer, my jumper came out considerably smaller than the one in the blog, unless she’s teeny, and I bigger than I thought 😉
Also, I found there were a few omissions / confusing points in the pattern where I just had to wing it.
In short, I’ve ordered the wool for my next one and it’ll be better!
One thing I was REALLY pleased with, though, was a bit of an innovation – a risk that paid off. The ribbing at the bottom was too narrow for me, and curled up a lot. I searched the Net for tips on how to pick up and continue in rib, but found none. So I winged it again, and it worked. The join is visible, but not unsightly, and I have a new knitting fix in my arsenal 🙂 I tried to photograph it, as you will see below.
So… A picture story of its creation:
A Rather Rustic Shrug. {pattern}
I posted this picture on my Tumblr blog earlier today, and it has received a lot of attention, including requests for the pattern.
It was a weekend project, cooked up in my head and produced in a frankly slapdash fashion which, to my surprise and delight, paid off. Knitted ‘sideways’, it really is astoundingly simple – basically a long rectangle with slits for arms – and, once you’ve got it, could be tweaked and customised endlessly. Smaller needles, lighter weight yarn and more stitches for something less bulky and more drapey, for example… Or you could make one front section longer, so you can throw it over the opposite shoulder…
I have never written a pattern before, so bear with me, and if you do decide to give this a go and find glaring faults or have any questions, please just holler.
So here goes.
You will need:
Super chunky yarn. I used James C Brett Rustic, Mega Chunky, I think around 5 x 100g balls (that may be an overestimate)
12mm, long knitting needles
9mm or 10mm crochet hook
Darning needle
Chopstick or toggle or fastening of choice
Using 12mm needles, cast on 45 stitches. This is the length of your shrug, so if you want it shorter, cast on fewer, or longer, cast on more. I am 5 feet 9 and a size 12, and have given the number of rows mine took. It’s an easy pattern to play with and adjust for your size.
1) Knit in stocking stitch: one row plain, one row purl, until the work covers your front across your chest. (About 35 rows in my case) ending with a wrong side (purl) row.
Next (right side) row: knit 10, cast off 15, knit 15
Next (wrong side) row: purl 15, cast on 15, purl 10.
You have created the first armhole.
2) Continue in stocking stitch until the work after the armhole comfortably covers your back. (About 45 rows on mine)
Create the next armhole in exactly the same way.
3) Continue in stocking stitch until it covers your front again. (About 35 again). Cast off.
Attach yarn to a corner and double crochet UK (sc US) all the way around.
I did an extra line of treble UK (double US) around the bottom of mine, for a more obvious border. But of course your border could be anything you like. Or nothing if you prefer the curling up look of the plain stocking stitch… Weave in tails.
Fasten with chopstick, in whatever style takes your fancy, or leave open and draped, like a large scarf 🙂
Wildflower Fairy Crown
I was fortunate enough to receive this book for Christmas…
Full of fanciful whimsy, I chose the simplest bit of pretty I could find, to start with.
Here it is, blow by blow.
I love it, and hopefully it’s teeny recipient will too…
A few of the ongoing projects
I haven’t had much time to blog lately, but I’ve been beavering away when I can.
For now, a few pictures, and when life allows 😉 I’ll be back in more detail…
Thanks for your interest!
An Easter break from the norm…
Well, whaddayaknow…? It was a snake! Remember that French knitting my lovely boy was doing? Here’s what it became:
It’s been a bit slow on the creation front lately, what with having five children at home for the holidays. Actually, we had 8 as my oldest friend in the world came to stay with her brood. And we had lots of adventures, including taking them for their very first trip to Hadrian’s Wall. I am very happy to report that the-longest-winter-ever chose that particular day to cede at last to spring. It was nothing short of glorious:
It was chilly enough when we set off, however, for some woolly knitwear and my dear friend’s littl’uns chose from my ever-expanding bag of home-made winter woollies – and very fetching they were, too <3
We were inundated with boys so we girls snuck off for a bit of learning to Finger Knit. We found a tutorial on YouTube, in which the now immortal words “Always start with the pinkie!”, once uttered have now become the mantra 🙂
And, when we had said our fond farewells, my snake charmer decided to learn, too, and has taken finger knitting to an extreme sport level:
I’ve been plugging away at little Alice’s jacket, beginning to panic slightly that her mother’s reports suggest she may be too big for it by the time it’s finished… Eek! Unfortunately, my youngest has removed the needles from the stitches more times than I can remember. When this little thing is finished, I’ll be most relieved!
And finally, at a time when inspiration is somewhat lacking, I received a surprise present in the post from my lovely mother-in-law.
Must. Finish. Some. Before. Starting. More…!
Home from the wilds
I have just spent a glorious week, along with my lovely man and our little Ted, in the wilds of Norfolk, which was bracing but for the most part rather lovely and sunny. We even managed to sit outside for an afternoon of photographing my mother-in-law’s gorgeous knitwear collection. (Go and have a look at what she’s up to over here).
She spoilt us thoroughly and we came home with considerably less give in our clothes than when we left.
I didn’t get much knitting or crocheting done, though I did learn a new skill or two, as I shall explain.
First of all, this is my (rather slow) progress with the beautiful crocheted cowl. I’m really happy with it, but a little anxious that my initial stitches are too tight and the shape may be a little off as a result.
But what Susan did teach me is one of the simplest things in the world, if you know how… knitted rope. She taught me the double pointed needle method. 6 stitches only, and a beautiful result (which reminds me – I’ve run off with her needles… Better get them in the post!)
A while ago, I made Teddy a jacket. Outside one of the charity shops in our nearest town, I found a ladies’ cardigan for £2.99 and I bought it, largely because it was 100% wool, and you can’t buy a ball of yarn for that price, let alone a whole cardigan! I put it through the wash twice to get it properly shrunk and felted, appliqued a tree and leaves on the back, and found a tutorial on line to learn how to make and attach a hood, which I fashioned out of the same fleece as the tree.
I was really pleased with it. Apart from one small, but very irritating thing. It flared out in a sort of misshapen way around the bottom and along the button line. I might have known fabulous Susan would have a solution. And a classy one at that! She kindly donated a few strips of the most beautiful William Morris fabric, and showed me how to attach it to the inside of the jacket. We began by removing the buttons and poppers, stitching a line of wool, the same colour as the cardi, along the flared parts to pull them into a straight line. Then we ironed the fabric to those perimeters using Bondaweb, and I hand-stitched them along the outer edges to prevent any peeling away. Just look how beautifully it turned out:
The whole thing looks so much more finished now, as Ted is happily demonstrating here (though I may just applique a couple of leaves on the little front pockets, and perhaps fasten the cuffs back rather than just folding them…):
Susan also kindly donated her purpose-made french knitting dollies – made from old wooden cotton reels and nails – to continue the knitted rope experiment. My second biggest boy snaffled the largest before I had a chance to try it:
Apparently, he’s making a snake… 🙂
First, though, I showed him the presents she sent back with me for him – the products of one of her regular morning walks with her dogs:
She knows the way to a boy’s heart 🙂