yarn Archives - Page 7 of 7 - Alice in Knittingland

A couple of weeks’ worth of prevarication

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Alice Neal

Welcome back to my topsy turvy world 🙂

It’s been even more of a rollercoaster than usual lately, and of course we’re nearing the end of term, which is always manic, hectic and this year is a little more emotional than others as number two son prepares to leave primary school tomorrow and start the next educational adventure in September.

But a firm constant has been the crochet. It’s a meditation of sorts, except when I need to concentrate on counting and have at least three of the five saying “Mummy…!” I’ve been plugging away at the granny square waistcoat / vest / jacket / whatever we want to call it, managing to make about a row a week. And I’ve been trying different patterns of square, some of which are quite dramatically more beautiful (in my opinion, anyway).

But, as often happens with such a big project, I have become a little bored of the same old same old, and my mind has wandered a bit. And then I had a birthday and my fabulous fella gave me some crochet books, one of which is entirely dedicated to trims. You can find it here: The Finer Edge

I dug out the beautiful (if rather pricey) yarn I’d just bought and started playing:

I wanted to trim the sleeves and hem of a dress I’d been given for my birthday, but it’s linen and this yarn is not machine washable, so I tried another:

But this was a little too fuzzy-looking for my liking, so I attempted it again with cotton:

But this was a bit thick and heavy… *Harumph*

However… it did give me an idea…

At auction a couple of years ago, I bought a couple of boxes of sewing paraphernalia – the genuine article; in old tobacco tins with sellotaped “Pins”, “Buttons” etc and it contained loads and loads of mother-of-pearl buttons. On the strength of this one, a few friends ordered their own in various colours and with various decorations – these followed swiftly:

And another lovely friend stretched me a little further by sending me a picture she’d found on Pinterest and asking if I could do anything like it. I loved it, took up the challenge, and here it is:

These are my own personal two that I am now living in:

Then, I found a bag of beads I’ve had for years:

And here is a sample from the collection:

I don’t think this enthusiasm is going to wear out any time soon 🙂

But the real story of the past week is that I threw myself into something I’d promised aeons ago. Back in January, a few friends and I on Facebook became involved in a ‘Pay it Forward’ – the idea being that the first five friends to comment would receive something from you over the past year. Could be anything, but most likely, I think, is personal creations. One of these friends had her third beautiful daughter not so very long ago, and I decided to test my skill and knit her a jacket. My number five son – a little feral to say the least – pulled it off its needles once too often and I abandoned it. Then, I decided a granny-square hoodie was the way forward, but could only find a pattern for an adult and lost confidence in my ability to create…

Then, I found this pattern on Etsy from monpetitviolon: Little Crochet Cardigan

I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever made. I highly recommend the author of the pattern, as it was incredibly easy to follow, and included pictures for reference, to check you hadn’t gone horribly wrong.

In times of stress, I throw myself wholeheartedly into projects like this and neglect all other areas of my life (except my children!) and I managed to make this in about two days.

I have a new passion! I have plans to attempt a long-sleeved shrug for myself loosely based on this pattern and using the yarn from the very first trim I attempted, but I’m going to make a summer version of the little cardigan first, similar to picture 2, for our lovely niece Laura’s adorable daughter Faith next. At least I know it’s quick and she won’t have grown out of it before it’s done!

See you soon, and happy hooking 😉

An extended leave of absence…

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Alice Neal

I’ve been away a while.

Things in our house have been a little crazy. My baby boy (okay, he’s nearly three, but he’s my baby of five boys) is in the process of being diagnosed with autism. This in itself has rather shaken our world, but on top of this he has a new diet which is outrageously restrictive and restricted, but which has produced incredible results in terms of how he is connecting with his family. So, the long and the short of it is that I’m rather chained to him and the kitchen and struggling to find time for my (other) passion – wool.

However, as the shock dies down and the diet becomes a little easier to get my head round, the crochet is creeping back in…

So, for now, this is where my crochet cardigan has got to. It is about half the length I hope it will be eventually, is entirely organic and evolving as I go, ideas popping into my head in the small hours when sleep is eluding me. I started with a pattern and discarded it after about the fourth granny square. I have totted them up and now have, I think, 81 squares so far.

Here’s a reminder of where it began:

And here it is now:

I inserted two triangles at the back of the hip, in the yellow, green and orange row, which has given it a fuller ‘skirt’ and taken each row from 11 to 13 squares.

The next row is coming on in this colourway and pattern:

So, my sanity-saver has returned. And I am determined to finish it before the autumn. Earlier if I can.

I have a couple of other WIPs, some of which are old and will stay covered for a while, and some of which are new and smaller, to give me a sense of satisfaction when I finally complete them 😉

Before I disappeared, Fiona nominated me for the Liebster award. Fiona, if you see this, thank you. I’ll reconnect when I’m back in full swing 🙂

In other news, our Beard Oil business is launching officially this week and is taking up every second of ‘spare’ time we can find. If you’re involved with a bearded man, check it out. I promise you won’t regret it!

See you soon!

An Easter break from the norm…

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Alice Neal

Well, whaddayaknow…? It was a snake! Remember that French knitting my lovely boy was doing? Here’s what it became:

Arthur's finger-knitted snake — Arthur’s finger-knitted snake

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:

Some of the brood at Hadrian's Wall — Some of the brood at Hadrian’s Wall

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

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Alice Neal

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:

Willam Morris - nothing but the best for Ted! — Willam Morris – nothing but the best for Ted!

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:

Granny's grisly finds — Granny’s grisly finds

She knows the way to a boy’s heart 🙂

Hexagons and Spindles…

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Alice Neal

This week, I am determined to advance some of the projects I already have on the go. I am itching to start several other things, but I must exercise some self-discipline or my house will be taken over in the messiest and least intentional yarn-bomb catastrophe known to man (or woman, for that matter).

So, with that in mind, I went back to my hexagon blanket today. I’m using Rowan’s Kaffe Fassett Colourscape: a gorgeous woollen yarn whose colours melt effortlessly into one another. All the hexagons below are from the same skein. I have already got 30 made, and some already joined up, but I decided I needed a more methodical approach. So my mission today was to edge all the motifs I already have:

But then I got bored. I’d edged maybe five or six, so I decided to join them to the piece I already had. I now have around 17 joined together and I totally love the look (though it needs blocking, the ends weaving in etc) and working with it in this unseasonally snowy weather was lovely and snuggly warm, too.

The hexagonal story so far, with, in the background, my toddler whose favourite place is on top of the coffee table 🙂

The post brought a rather exciting parcel, too… My spindle! I now have some fibre (and more on the way), a spindle, YouTube and am just waiting till all my little darlings are in bed, my lovely man cooking – how glad am I that he’s in the kitchen tonight!? – and I’ll give it a whirl. (No pun intended) 🙂

And finally, my little number four son, aged 6, has been suffering from a lack of attention lately. It’s tough being number four of five. Actually, it’s tricky getting enough attention being any one of five (and I speak from experience) especially when you have a mother who is constantly buried under a mountain of yarn, and is off in a world of ‘what shall I make next’…?

I had a rare insight into his world outside home yesterday, when his teacher told me how proud he is to come to school in something I’ve made for him. I do sometimes worry about the potential therapy sessions when they’re grown up and have left home: “All the other kids had this really cool kit, but my mum made me wear all this homemade stuff…!” After all, I’m not sure my 13 year old would be remotely happy about leaving the house in something I’d knitted 😉

So I’m off to spend some time with my little fella, and I’ve promised him that the very next project I start will be a knitted crocodile for him.

Progress and Experimentation

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Alice Neal

I had the chance to catch up a bit with weaving ends and attaching squares to my granny square waistcoat this weekend. This is what it looks like now:

As you can see, I have made two ‘granny triangles’ to shape the top of the front a bit and it now meets around me, though I’m going to crochet a border around the whole thing when it’s finished, so meeting at the front isn’t too necessary.

I’ve had a couple of flashes of potential inspiration, too. Around the bottom of this completed part, I’m going to crochet the little squares you can see in the top picture, along with some the same size in a different colourway. This will form a sort of empire line belt. Then, below that ‘belt’, I’m going to add some squares I’ve already made in said different colourway, along with a couple of triangles at strategic points at the back, to make the ‘skirt’ of the waistcoat a little fuller. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense in my head, but is quite possibly gobbledigook in the explaining… 😉

The baby jacket is coming on, too. I have just finished the front right, and am onto the hood on that side.

I have long hankered after those cute little stitch markers and finally got around to ordering some. As you can see, I used the old ‘tie a bit of old yarn around the stitch’ on the back of the jacket, but by the time I had started the right front, the markers had arrived. They are just the cutest little things – like teeny tiny nappy pins – and have brought me disproportionate pleasure 🙂

And we’ve been painting eggs for a school competition. That is, I haven’t painted them at all, but three of my boys have. With… ahem… interesting and varied results 😉

The one on the right, as you may well be able to tell, is a robot. The one on the left, I am reliably informed, is a Ninja… You can see it, can’t you? Go on… squint a bit… a bit more… and a leeeeeeeeeeetle bit more… see it now?

No. Thought not. 🙂

Spindles and Looking Glasses

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Alice Neal

So I’ve picked up my spinning wheel. It is a thing of beauty!

I haven’t a clue how it works, as I have mentioned before, nor even if it has all its requisite parts. So this morning, before dragging my bones out of bed to cook brunch for a million small people (and two big ones), I looked on YouTube to see if I could shed any light on the situation.

I didn’t get further than this (a fabulous lady who goes by the name of Biddypunk on Tumblr too, and who I follow for her fibre adventures):

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfPKLpL0TQ]

from which I learned that I didn’t need the spinning wheel at all!

So, I’ve bought one of these on eBay:

Now, instead of picturing a rather haggard mother-of-five trudging her way steadily forwards on the treadmill of packed lunches, homework, nappies, laundry, cooking and trying to remember if she brushed her hair this morning, I can imagine myself like this:

I promptly bought myself a kilo of black sheep wool (which tickles me… the Black Sheep part, for reasons I’d better not share 😉 ) and am waiting for spindle and fleece to arrive so that I can get cracking with it.

There are also videos a-plenty on YouTube for advice on how to wash fleece without turning it into a great big lump of felt. Felting is all well and good, but better when it was intended – I speak from experience (though I have always made good use of his shrunken jumpers afterwards… shhhh!)

This morning, the postman’s knock at the door bore my copy of Alice in Wonderland for turning into an English Patient-type journal. At first, I was concerned it was too big – there had been no dimensions in the listing and it is a large copy. But as my lovely other half pointed out, we are not world travellers, so lugging it around isn’t going to be too much of an issue. And the really really good news is that it is just beautiful.

So I am champing at the bit to get started on that, too.

This afternoon, though, I have finally completed the crocheting together of the top of my granny square waistcoat. Which will probably be more of a long, sleeveless coat, but let’s not fret about names 🙂

I took some photos in the mirror, as I always think these things look more real when they’re on a body, rather than lying on a table or floor, but… I’ll try to upload them tomorrow, and get better pictures when it’s nearing completion. Don’t watch this space. And certainly don’t hold your breath – you’ll turn blue! This is a lengthy process.

Off to cook supper.

Toodle-pip

Old films and new spinning wheels…

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Alice Neal

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday. My man and my youngest babe are both poorly, so we all snuggled up on the sofa – well, the littl’un snuggled into his daddy and went to sleep – and I spent a very happy couple of hours crocheting and watching the English Patient. The top of my granny square waistcoat is now in one piece, though I have discovered I need four more squares to make it meet at the front. In other words, I went from making it for a giant to making it for a supermodel. I’m neither. Oops. 🙂

One of the upshots of watching the English Patient was observing Ralph Fiennes’ character – Count Almasy – and his notebook/journal. What we realised is that it was a copy of Herodotus into which he had stuck his memories, sketches, observations… What a fabulous idea! I have ordered an old, hardback copy of Alice in Wonderland and am going to do the self-same thing.

Count Almasy's JournalThe English Patient — Count Almasy’s Journal
The English Patient

But then, cruising Tumblr this morning, I came across this rather synchronous and totally beautiful thing:

Isn’t it dreamy? So I’ve decided to make one of those rough, thick-papered notebooks and am determined to master the rather more intricate of lace patterns, .which I have so far avoided as too difficult and fiddly. 🙂 At some point…

And today I drove to a gorgeous farmhouse the other side of Durham and picked up my spinning wheel!! Here is a not-very-good picture of it:

I have no idea if or how it works, but plan to do some research this weekend and see if I can make head or tail of it. I haven’t the first clue about spinning, other than to be careful not to prick my finger in case I need a big kiss from a handsome prince in a century’s time… (Though, frankly, I could do with the sleep)… It came with these two carders and these books, but is missing its manual, which the lady selling it to me has promised to post on, should it resurface:

So, I have a voyage of discovery to embark upon this weekend.

And a letter home saying my 6-year old needs to bring a decorated egg into school by Monday. So he and I will be busy, too.

Happy weekend, all! x

When Life Gets in the Way…

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Alice Neal

… crochet!

Ooh! My new mantra!

I have a poorly man and a poorly youngest babe, so there is no out-and-abouting today. On the downside, I can’t go and collect my spinning wheel, which has had to be put off till later in the week, but on the upside, I’ve been working on my mother-in-law’s blog, and had the chance to do a bit more crochet. I’ve finally crocheted enough granny squares to complete the top of my long vest (a WIP – work in progress). I have this vision of what it’s going to look like. I even have a pattern, but I find myself in the small hours of the morning planning modifications, improvements, using things I’ve picked up on Pinterest, Crochet Me, Ravelry and all sorts of other places to make it ‘better’. I have a suspicion it will look nothing like the original when it’s done. I hope I love it as much as I plan to as it’s a lot of work 🙂 Next stage is weaving in all the ends and crocheting it all in place. Then I need to start on the ‘skirt’ of the waistcoat. My vision has it as a kind of empire line affair, with some knitted godets, or maybe granny triangles providing some shaping, but… We’ll see…

I’m also hoping to get back to my crocheted hexagon blanket, but not finding enough hours in the day. So, I needed something quick and simple, which would give me speedy results and help maintain my creative enthusiasm. I chose a little pink jacket I’ve promised to a friend for her new baby (who, rather happily coincidentally, shares my name). I’m knitting it from a very simple pattern I bought yonks ago and discovered in a pile of unfiled papers recently, and using Sirdar Balmoral yarn, which is wool, silk and alpaca and beautifully soft, in a lovely baby pink, but not too pale. I love it. This kind of thing is so quick and satisfying to do, and I have plans for some embroidery on the front, though my vision may exceed my capability… Again, we shall see. 🙂

And I finished a jingly pixie hat for my toddler’s little cousin, embellishing it with a tinkling bell and a crochet heart, which I hope is not too girly for a little boy… This is knitted with Araucania pure cotton, a very unevenly spun yarn which I love – it gives such a gorgeous homemade look. The heart is crocheted with Louisa Harding Ianthe – 50% merino 50% cotton (the same yarn as my granny square waistcoat). I confess to much preferring natural yarns to anything manmade, though it does tend to stretch the purse a bit more.

Ooh, ooh! And in other news, though I haven’t yet collected the spinning wheel, this morning a very exciting package arrived all the way from Bulgaria – some wool! This is a totally new experience for me, I’ve done absolutely no research whatever 🙂 and my mother-in-law has promised me a book on natural dyes… Gulp. Watch this space!

Here… We… Go…!

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Alice Neal

My mother-in-law and I are embarking on a voyage of yarnie blogdom…

She, Susan Campbell, is an enormously accomplished knitter, designer, artist of many years standing, and I am a relative ingenu.

She plans to pass on her pearls of wisdom to me, since I am in awe and unbridled envy of her skill and accomplishment, and love nothing more than to spend the day knitting, crocheting, sewing… Life gets in the way a little too much for my liking, though 😉

Knitting, for me, began when I was 10 and my grandmother taught me the basics. She took me to a little shop in Weybridge, Surrey, where we chose a pattern and some blue, fluffy yarn and I promised her faithfully that I would finish it. A short while ago I came across a bag with the completed front in it, some 30 years later, and felt a pang of guilt.

Then, enter my mother-in-law. She got me going again. She, like my grandmother, took me to a shop – this time in King’s Lynn, Norfolk – and we chose some cream-coloured yarn. She taught me to follow a pattern again, and I made a tea-cozy. Which struck me as rather hat-shaped. So I recreated it without the holes for handle and spout, and put a little sprout on the top, and started knitting hats, for babies, for my family, for friends, and for sale.

It’s a short step from there to attempting larger projects, though I became side-tracked by crochet along the way…

So now, I have half a million projects on the go. I have nearly finished a knitted elephant for one son, have completed a tank top for another, a pair of aran socks for a dear friend, a new baby hat for a relative, a cowl for a friend… and am crocheting a long waistcoat of granny squares, a blanket of granny hexagons, knitting a baby hoodie for a friend’s baby, but my mind is teeming with more ideas and balking at not having enough time to do it all.

Oh, and tomorrow I go to collect my latest acquisition – a spinning wheel – about which I know next-to-nothing and am ridiculously excited.

Pictures and details to follow.

Off to put littl’uns to bed… I’ll leave you with some works in progress:

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