And this is why i knit (for other people)

Since I got to the UK and have been able to show off my skill with needles and hook to a whole new batch of friends, I’ve heard the following comment a lot…

“oooh, you could sell those”

or a variation on the theme…

“Have you ever thought about selling things?”

To which I sometimes smile and just say no, or sometimes explain i tried that and it was hard, or for my closer, more patient, actually want a response friends, I explain that actually, what people would pay versus the time and money I invest would make it a pointless exercise.

But the real reason is this.

I am a selfish knitter. I knit for pleasure, so I can take pride in showing off something I created with my own hands, so I can have something that is exactly how I want it (most of the time) and to pass hours that I would otherwise feel are wasted (or my excuse to watch television).

And because of this, when I do knit for other people, it is for one reason and one reason only. Because I care.

The wonderful Yarn Harlot posted today about the love that goes into a knitted present and how it stays with it. How wrapping oneself up in a handknitted gift really is like a woolly hug. And this is exactly how I think about knitting for other people. For both family and friends, and for new little people who don’t even realise that the thing that is keeping them warm is doing so in more ways than one. Even when I take requests, I accept them because I know that the finished object will not only be valued, but will be a reminder of my love and affection. (seriously, my most recent request I argued against receiving any kind of payment, but the recipient objected!)

I have only been in England a year, but I have made 3 gifts for people here and a few for little people back home. You’ve seen Kylie’s hat and I told you about John’s winter set and now here’s the third…

Fade Fingerless Gloves
or “Proper Thug Mitts” as Sam put it

After knitting Kylie’s hat, I offered to knit something for Sam for his christmas/birthday present (as the two events bookend the coldest part of the year). He asked for some mitts in purple and black and I immediately thought of this pattern* (as I have done it before for another male friend* of mine with great success)

It took me a while to find the right shade of purple in the right kind of yarn, but i finally did just after christmas and in less than a week I whipped up a pair of mitts for my dearest, dearest Sam.

I was worried they might be a bit snug, but he loves them!

And I love him.

See how this works?

<3

 

 

*ravelry link

The Winter of the Jumper

It’s been cold. I’m sure it’s not overly cold by a lot of the world’s standards. Definitely not by Canadian Standards, or Scandanavian standards, or Russian standards, but by little old Aussie standards? cold. there’s been SNOW. I mean come on!

Mid last year i finished my lettuce pullover with a few mods. It looked a little like this:

I love this jumper. completely and utterly. It’s lightweight, warm and flattering.

So I decided to knit another one.

I can hear you all now. what? are you crazy? that took you 6 whole months. It’s a jumper done in freaking LACEWEIGHT you fool!

I said the same things, believe me, but when i saw that Loop had gotten in some new wollmeise lace in my favourite colour, it was only a matter of time before i managed to talk myself into it. About 30 minutes, to be precise. There was the knowledge that great colours go quickly in the WM lace, the love for this beautiful object i’d created, excitement about perfecting it even more with a few more mods, and the knowledge that I would be flying to and from Australia at christmas.

That was the cincher. After all, I’d started my first lettuce on the plane to the UK, seemed only fitting that I take one solitary stocking stitch project back with me.

And now, less than two months after casting on, I have my second, even more perfect, lettuce pullover

forgive the fuzziness, my camera never knows where to focus in the mirror!

But this was not the only jumper knitted for myself these past cold months. Late last year I finally got to knit with the delight that is Rowan Lima. I’d been wanting to knit Briar by Kim Hargreaves in this yarn for a while, and when the colour i wanted was discontinued i thought it was time to buy it, and after knitting a jumper in laceweight, one in a gauge of 20 or so stitches over 4″ seemed very appealing.

It was damn speedy too!

It’s a deep boatneck, and sadly the alpaca is stretching out, so it’s sort of slouchy and sloppy, but SO warm and cuddly!

And super soft too! very touchable.

So my body has been nice and warm, but lets not forget about my hands and head! while i came prepared with many mittens and gloves, fingerless and otherwise, I used the lovely shetland yarn purchased in Edinburgh to create some finger warming beauties. I’m highly aware that mittens are overkill for aussie winters, so i’ve been getting the most out of them!

I love them! Anemoi by Eunny Jang! I haven’t blocked them, because i started wearing them, but they’ve been settling with wear, so the stitches look nice and even, if i do say so myself!

I also used some of the left overs from Briar to create a super warm squishy (if not completely suited for my head/face) hat – Kat, another Kim pattern!

I’m working on some spats so I can wear them over stockings and little flats when on my way to swing dancing, and two vests for a dear friend’s daughters back in Aus. Then it’s time for another jumper!

2012 round up

lettuce jumper * meret * petit artichaut * original cowl * louise as dress * aeolian shawl * offset raglan * miss moreland’s neck warmer * waffle mitts * sylvi * poppy gloves * hydrangea cowl * veyla mitts *sherilyn shawl * original hat * anemoi mitts * original mask * chevalier * poppy hat

2012:

25 projects finished

• 5 presents for new people
• 3 presents for not-so-new people
• 3 cowls
• 3 adult jumpers/coats
• 4 adult hats (one lost!!! *cry*)
• 2 shawls (one handspun)
• 5 sets mitts/mittens
• one crochet mask

This year has been a bit of a selfish knitting year – or at least it would have been if all my friends didn’t keep reproducing! This year i got to knit for some little girls so I went a bit crazy on the pink, dresses and general femininity. Living in London, I also went a bit crazy on the WARM, which was fun. I’ve made two jumpers which i love, including the laceweight lettuce, which i love so much i’m knitting another. Given it took 6 months all up, that shows how much i love it, though i’m steaming ahead on my second one, thanks to 2 25+ hour flights to aus and back.

I feel like i wasn’t very productive this year, which i think comes down to a few things: fewer regular knitting nights  (I miss you richmond girls!), fewer knitting friends in general, more non-knitting conducive socialising and a few really long-term projects (lettuce and aeolian took up a good 2-3 months of almost bygamous knitting)

I’ve barely been spinning as it turns out i do love spinning on the wheel SO much more than the spindle. I did spin a little when i was back in Australia which reminded me how much fun it is to watch this fluff become this useful thing. I will try to spindle a bit more!

I’ve also discovered that I’m even worse at taking photos of FOs when it gets dark at 4pm! I finished 2 Rowan Lima projects – briar and kat – months ago and am yet to take a photo of either, even bad ones!

So, my 2013 crafting resolutions are to photograph my FOs properly, get my london friends more used to my knitting in public and knit (mostly) from the stash under my bed – i don’t want to have to take it back to Aus when they kick me out in 2014!

Finishing things…

I have finished a jumper and a matching hat this month. I have also finished one of a pair of colourwork mittens (up side of being home sick)

However, I have been very bad at taking photos… so hopefully I shall take some this week and blog properly!

the best souvenir is yarn!

Growing up, my mum travelled a lot and brought me gifts from all over the world. As i got older and my friends travelled more, they brought me presents too (mostly fridge magnets, because it made my fridge far more interesting and useful). When I first started travelling a lot, I bought myself the usual, magnets, shot glasses (18!), jewellery… but then i got into knitting and souvenir shopping got a lot more fun!

I’ve talked about my various international yarny purchases from my Big Trip 09 and I’ve mentioned the yarny component of other travels as well. Since i’ve been in Europe I’ve had a few opportunities to travel and have continued my souvenir traditions – wanna see?

First off was the lovely Rooster lace weight from Bath mentioned in an earlier post.

Then in July I headed to sunny (sadly not) Copenhagen, Gothenburg and Malmo. You would think that Scandinavia would be the best place to get all sorts of super warm woollen yarns, what with it being the HOME OF WINTER… and you would be right! Not all of my purchases originate from the area…

like this delicious Shibui Knits Sock, destined to become a mini colour affection shawl/scarf

but a lot did…

like this lovely self striping single blended from shetland and merino lambswool… what a great combo! This is from Denmark, purchased in Copenhagen

And this Norwegian (ok so it’s next door) Angora blended with lambswool, beautifully naturally coloured. Picked this one up in Gothenburg! It’s became a pretty little Ishbel hat and i still have half the ball!

And another rustic wool, dyed in gorgeous selfstriping greys, from a little island in Sweden, also purchased in Gothenburg

What i found most interesting was the penchant for Linen! Despite the freezing cold temperatures of the area, Linen makes an appearance in all the stores, with most producing their own line (fibre pun!)

I couldn’t resist this colour – am thinking of crocheting a lacy thin scarf. pattern suggestions?

(yarns purchased at Sommerfuglen in Copenhagen and Strikk and Broderi & Garn in Gotheburg. I would recommend all 3)

As mentioned on my other blog I headed up to Edinburgh for the festival and thought it only fitting I picked up some Northern yarn. While knitting at the Purple Pig, (where I met Ysolda!) it was suggested to me that I try Rennie’s shetland yarn – apparently the meterage goes forever and it softens up beautifully upon washing (the suggestion was made complete with feelable samples). I was also told it made an appearance at a new store in the New Town, which i’d been planning on heading to, so when i went to Kathy’s Knits, the aim was to suss out the colours and maybe pick something up for some colourwork.

what do we think? I’m pretty happy!

I also knew I had to check out K1 Yarns – apart from it being Ysolda’s local, I also knew they stocked the Orkney angora that My darling Mel (who’s just started an etsy store for hand blended fibre – check it out!) turned into a deliciously soft and fluffy ishbel shawl. I couldn’t resist my own fluffy bundle!

I’m predictable I know…
The blend used to be 100% butI think it’s still pretty lovely!

Last week I went to Amsterdam, but sadly I ended up not visiting the yarn store literally one street away from our hostel because I was sick as a dog on our last day and buying the yarn, whilst definitely on my mind, was just too hard.

So here’s a picture perfect moment from Amsterdam instead…

more photos like this to come on my other blog…

When you really love someone…

you will part with the perfect hat because it was knitted for them, not you.

this is kylie

She is my best friend here in London. we work together and have lots of fun and totally get each other.

One day Kylie came with me to Loop (even though she’s not a knitter – see, told you she was a good friend) and showed serious interest in a pair of mitts in my favourite teal.

I offered a pair as a belated birthday present.

finally got my hands on some mad tosh in a colour i thought she’d like… but she saw me wearing this hat and decide she wanted a beret instead.

I offered Kylie some patterns (she chose Meret) and 2 days later i had finished what is possibly my favourite hat i’ve ever knitted. I’m completely in love with it.

But i love Kylie more.

 

So knitting is a thing that’s been happening…

Hi!

Still alive.

Still knitting.

Still making the stuffs.

So here’s a little update!

First off I have to show off the perfect jumper, 6 months in the making, almost 1500m of laceweight and millions of stitches (that might be an overstatement, but not by much)

I present, the Lettuce Pullover by Hannah Fettig* (with mods)

Such pretty colours. I love it SO much

 

 

I am hanging out with the lovely Ursula on tuesday and if I wear this i will ask her to take some photos. It looked great today with a grey t-shirt and jeans, but didn’t get any good photos i’m afraid. It’s sooooo warm and snuggly too, but still really light! only dilemma is the ribbing on the sleeves doesn’t quite match up. I counted and there’s only 2 rows difference, but it feels like 4. not sure whether to rip back the cast off and knit more, or rip the other sleeve back and redo the bind off… thoughts?

Next up we have a little touch of decadence… I had a skein of beautiful Louet Mooi laceweight* that i bought in canada in 2009. It’s the most expensive skein of (commercial) yarn I’ve ever owned (I spun a cashmere/alpaca blend and plied it with a cashmere/silk blend, which probably ended up more expensive, especially if you include labour costs, but that’s not really the point right now… back to it). I’ve been waiting for the perfect one skein project (only 300m or so of this deliciousness) and when i saw Mrs Moreland’s neckcloth in the first Jane Austen Knits mag, i thought i might just have found the perfect match. I cast on in Copenhagen (yes, that long ago) and finally finished last week. I’ve even worn it since the weather’s turned cold!!

lace, bison, cashmere, bamboo, vintage essence… perfection? possibly!

A hint of what it looks like on – with a sneak peak of the lettuce jumper too!

In preparation for the coming cold (oh how am i going to cope) here in London, I also finally found a project for some pure cashmere that i had – again from Canada (this time from Montreal, not Toronto). I knit this into a circular cowl. The pattern was taken from a stitch dictionary, then adapated for the width i wanted. I knitted until there was very little left and sewed the ends together. I’m still waiting for it to be cold enough to risk spilling stuff on this (you KNOW it’s going to happen!)

So soft and creamy!

And last but not least i have the presents mentioned in the previous post… while the photo of the original yarn has disappeared (!) I do have a photos of one of the FOs. I only have blocking photos of the scarf, and they’re a bit shit, but hopefully as it gets colder I’ll manage to snap a photo of the recipient all rugged up in it!

And a pair of matching mitts

There has also been more baby knitting going on (photos soon) for a little sweetheart back home… Congratulations to dearest Bec and Erik on the arrival of Freja! (It’s never ending!!)

And of course there’s been souvenir yarn buying… coming soon to a blog post near you (I promise!)

* ravelry link

you would think…

… that being on the other side of the world from the majority of the people i love would excuse me from knitting for other people…

But no.

not only is there the adorable baby dress that needs to get sent to the BRAND NEW NOVEMBER ANNABETH!!! (oh yes, she is an adorable squishy baby of EPIC PROPORTIONS) but there is also adult present knitting…

 

4 balls of Rowan Alpaca Cotton (the photo of which has inexplicably disappeared) will become a winter set for the darling John who moved to London at around the same time as me and has been brilliant at taking me to the theatre, spending time with me, eating delicious food with me, talking about boys with me and generally being and epically awesome friend.

the irony is his birthday (for which this is his present) is in July. so it will be the first time in his life that this would be a seasonally inappropriate gift! but it’s ok, cos he’s coming to Scotland with me, so there will be a need for them then!

some FOs at last!

I have been knitting quite a bit, but given the nature of projects, i don’t have a lot to show for it!

My lettuce pullover is coming along nicely, though sadly it’s my out-and-about project and i’ve actually been REALLY busy when i’m out, so not so much knitting! Over the next few days i’ll do the neck and start on the sleeves and then it should get going again.

At home i’ve been working on more complicated things… namely my first Aeolian. It was my first large scale laceweight shawl. I bough the yarn in Downer’s Grove, Illinois – handmaiden lace silk. SO divine. I had been told when i bought it that the meterage was a lie, and that what was stated as 600m was at LEAST 900. The full Aeolian calls for around 1200 so i played it safe.

Now as it turns out i could probably have done the full shawl or at the very least done 9 stitch nupps instead of 7, but my finished object is still large and stunning!

good thing i’d just put all my clean clothes away!

mirror mirror

“beads and nupps, why not?”

Once the shawl was finished i felt i needed a bit more of a quick’n'dirty knit, so i pulled out the skein of handdyed BFL i had earmarked for a present for Nett and Greg’s soon-to-be daughter ‘Muffin’

My friends have had a lot of boys of late, so i’ve been getting my full girliness out with this little bub. I really wanted a bit of lace, something floaty and fun, so i took a cute little lace vest pattern and modified it into a dress…

blocking…

It just needs some buttons – i bought some at Liberty (oh yes, how i love liberty) but sadly they are really just too big, so will be looking for some teeny tiny ones soon. There is no way this is going to get to Adelaide before Muffin arrives (unless she’s stupidly late) so Nett and Greg have seen it on Skype and Muffin will get to witness the opening of the package!

The pattern is Louise and i simple added some more rounds of the centre panel while working moss stitch instead of stocking stitch. then i increased by a third (ie, after every second stitch) went up 2 needle sizes to create a nice drape on the skirt and did a Dory (just kept knitting). I finished off with 6 rounds of moss.

I have a decent amount left… hat? booties? sockies? or save it for another little bub?

A few weeks ago before i started my job I headed down to Stonehenge and Bath. It was totally brilliant and beautiful and I’ve just realised i’ve TOTALLY FORGOTTEN TO BLOG IT! so will do that over on Before i’m too old in a tick. BUT I mention it here because despite only having 3 hours in the city of bath, I managed to find a yarn store and purchase a BEEEAUUUTIFUL souvenir skein of yarn…

Dragon’s Blood
(actually it’s called Arequipa, but who’s checking)

Isn’t it stunning? It’s Rooster Angel Lace, handdyed in Cheshire. Laceweigh Silk and Alpaca in a beautiful red (the kind i can wear happily)

It’s around 800m, so i see another shawl on the horizon soon.

In other news, my mum has sent me a few bits and bobs from my existing stash so i don’t go crazy over here

And I’ve been going to the Loop knitting group on a thurs night – luckily my schedule at work means i should be able to go most weeks if only for an hour and a bit. It’s a lovely shop with lovely people  (but not as lovely as my Richmond girls of course. I miss you)

So many pretties in London… Oh my!

Just a quick little hello crafty-types

I had a lovely afternoon at Loop on Thursday where i met some lovely knitters. There was lovely conversation and biscuits and interesting projects, all surrounded by gorgeous yarn in Angel. Truly Heavenly. I resisted the NEW SHIPMENT OF WOLLMEISE. yep. SO MUCH WM! *sigh* I am eyeing off a few things though…

I am also looking forward to checking out Nest – probably next monday for their afternoon tea day – as it’s walking distance from my new abode!

Speaking of yarn-eyeballing though, i also want an opinion…
Now that i am living in the land where i can go and VIEW the colours of Jamieson’s Shetland (Spindthrift) at Loop I am thinking of finally knitting Little Birds, by Ysolda. I bought the pattern ages ago when she was donating a percentage of sales to Haiti, since i knew i wanted to tackle it one day. After all, I am yet to try steeking and I so long to be a truly fearless knitter.

So! the question is, what colours do I choose! do i stick with three colours? Do I do two alternating colours for the stripes? Or use 2 alternating for the birds, or use four contrasts in total? I’m thinking a very very soft grey or the actual off-white Ysolda used for the base colour, but there are SO MANY pretty colours! it’s so hard to choose!

So have a look and give me an opinion!

And i promise the next post will have photos! I am about 2 thirds of the way through my Aeolian Shawl (and by that i really mean probably just over half way since i’ve reached the edging which usually takes about 50% of the yarn, but it FEELS like more!) and my Lettuce is going well, though I’m going to finish the body, do the neck and then halve the yarn for the sleeves as i think i may be a bit short for full sleeves.