What I’m upto these days

Posted on May 18, 2014 by honey

Deep breath. I am determined to try and update much more regularly than I have been. Ok, that wouldn’t be terribly difficult to be fair. My current aim is once a week – but we’ll see how realistic that turns out to be!

So, I need to update you on where I am and what I’m doing.

My hands: still playing up – I’m just about to finish the 3rd course of steroids, as it would appear that steroids is the only thing that beats this thing (still unknown) into a cocked hat once the pain starts. Annoying, but at least we know what works even if we still have no idea what the triggers are (stress is still the favourite of the medical community).

I taught my first course of 2014 yesterday. A lovely intimate course with three lovely lovely ladies who absolutely got everything I said and went away with lace weight yarn to make their own lovely variations of the Eva shawl.

I, myself, am working (as always) on several projects;

Giovannina – knitted lace rectangular shawl designed by Franklin Habit in lace weight Wollemeise. Enjoying this project immensely, but it’s a little too concentration worthy to be a commute/t.v. watching project. It’s growing, but it’s very slow Given I bought the pattern and the yarn in 2011 there obviously isn’t any rush. I’ve only another 19 repeats of the pattern to do.

Laura – crochet side to side crescent shawl by Lily Go in Fyberspace ‘lace’. I say ‘lace’ it’s closer to a cobweb weight. I’m adding beads to this as well – size 11 seedbeads. Definitely not a ‘I’m not really thinking about this project’ and it’s going to take the proverbial “while”. It is however going to be stunning when completed.

I needed a project that I didn’t need to focus on quite so much, so (having been out and bought new needles specifically for the project) I’ve cast on for Tirrol by Fyberspates, in Fyberspates lace (see above). It’s a sweater knit on 2.5mm needles. And this is my ‘mindless’ project What was I thinking? Though I love the idea of getting a sweater out of a single (small) skein. I have 111 rows of 2×2 rib to do first so again, this could take a while – but at least I can do it on the train / in a waiting room / watching TV / at knit group…

Finally about to research and do a genuinely quick project as a display sample for Purlescence – a crochet cowl in the glorious new yarn Cumulus. It’s like a ‘thick’ version of kid-silk haze (it pretends to be a 4ply) and comes in the most stunning colours. I have a ball of bottle green to play with and I’m thinking floaty light lace. For those of you who want the technical details it’s 150m/164yds per 25gms, 3mm-5mm needles recommended, and is a blend of 74% baby suri alpaca and 26% mulberry silk. It has a lovely halo and is very soft

Right I must crack on. I’ll try and take photographs for next week!

The problem of a new project…

Posted on October 25, 2013 by honey

So my finishing of projects over the summer leaves me in the odd situation of having no major projects on needles or hooks.

Ok, I have a few rows on a secret project to finish, and a thrummed muff that is staring at from the corner but I want to start something new. As you know well, a new project has to fulfil several ‘rules’, and these rules will change depending on what the project needs to fulfil.

I want to use up some of my gorgeous laceweight or lighter yarns
I probably (therefore) want a shawl -but I’m not sure I want another triangle
I have a long coach journey in the middle of next month so whatever project I start can’t be too fiddly or complicated
I don’t want a boring project
I’d quite like it to be blue, don’t know why, just would – you know how it goes.

Now, I have lots of projects that don’t fit the ‘must be done on a coach’ requirement – small beads, complex lace charts, fiddly stitches… In fact I was surprised at how many projects I have that fall into that category.

The list of projects that can be done on a coach is much, much smaller but also contains stuff that is full of rows and rows and rows of boring garter or stockinette stitch. So, I have:

The Tirrold Jumper – laceweight, purple, bottom-up jumper sweater with an eventual interesting lace panel at the top. The yards of stockinette and rib have to be done at some point!
The Textured Shawl – I have a raft of dark green mirasol K’acha marked for this. DK weight, enough variance to be interesting but it’s triangular
Thin Ice – easy pattern with a little variance to keep it interesting, blue, lace on the bottom edge and beads if I want to add them. also triangular
Finally, Laura is a crochet project that I’ve had in my queue for a while. It’s beaded, so not appropriate coach crafting but I have some lovely fyberspates purple lace that didn’t work for the project I bought it for or I could go a little heavier and use the 4ply seasilk I have. I also don’t have a crochet project on the go at the moment, so I might just “cast” this one on as well – despite the fact I’d have to buy beads!

So, having done all that I think I’m going to cast on the Thin Ice and have that as this month’s project -and maybe take the Tirrold as a ‘back up’ project for the coach if I’ve got to the complex bit of Thin Ice by then…

Of course in the process of trying to decide what to do next I emptied out my entire stash onto the study floor and even had a bit of clear out (gosh, go me!) – as do I really need that half skein of bright orange acrylic? i’ve tagged the yarns I have for specific projects and made a list – I might even check it twice! have lots of things to for the next few months now at least.

Right, best get started then..

summer of completed items

Posted on October 20, 2013 by honey

Hello, pull up a chair, tell me – how have you been? It’s been simply ages, and that is entirely my fault. I apologise.

I can’t believe it’s July since we last spoke, so this is isnt’ going to be a mega long post – I’m going to break it into bits. There’s what I’ve achieved crafting-wise, and details of my trip “Abroad” to Europe over the summer, and lots of other bits I’m sure I’m forgetting right now but will remember once I start talking to you.

So this post is going to be a quick(ish) summary of everything I’ve got done over the summer. Which makes it sound like loads, but don’t get too excited – it really isn’t.

I started by finishing (at long last!) my Jan/August Sweater. It was such a joy to finally get it off the needles, and everyone complements it when I wear it. The excelana yarn was a joy to work with and if I ever get around to repeating a pattern this one will be very high on my list. I’m also absolutely solid in my Portuguese technique now! I don’t think for one minute that repeating the pattern would take me the 2 years that this one took me – maybe a couple of months as it is a quick knit and an easily memorised pattern.

took a while but got there in the end…

I also finished my Herbie shawl (after 2 years), replete with beads, this week and it’s currently blocking on my front room floor. I’m delighted with how this turned out – the shading, the beads, the size everything. I love it, and am still manically in love with The unique sheep yarns as well. Really looking forward to getting the wear out of this one as the nights turn cooler – it’s HUGE.

The Herbie Shawl is also known (affectionately) as the Attention Deficit Shawl as every time I got bored of a pattern I changed it!

I finally gave up trying to get the ends to match on Love is a Prism – there is only so much ripping back I’m prepared to do, and though my scales told me I had more than 1/2 my yarn left at more than the 1/2 way point there still wasn’t enough to do the last three rows. Gah. However it’s lovely and heavy (just over 300gms) and the drape from the linen/bamboo blend is just stunning. The colour is outstanding and I can well see me using this yarn again for summer tank tops – if it means another trip to France so be it. I haven’t blocked it, but it’s gorgeous as it is.

I did a couple of samples for the texture and colourwork class – of which there will be more in another post – another one of those ‘learning experiences’ where for some reason on the day my brain went a bit dead, and the colour theory section of the course could have been done *much* better I believe so I’ll do my best to get some of it up on here.

Finally my hands flared up again, not as far as my wrists this time, and the doctor was great in getting me straight back on the drugs, so it’s all good 🙂

Vienna 2013

Posted on October 20, 2013 by honey

Having travelled down the country all day by train, an 8 hour train journey, during which I swapped between knitting, reading and gazing out the window, I arrived in Vienna to night scenes and the drizzly end to what had been stunning weather.

However the weather couldn’t stop me and we did another whistlestop whirlwind tour of sights and sounds and sachertorte. Vienna is big on non-symmetrical symmetry – lots of conversations contain the sentence “this building was going to have a matching one opposite but…” and it’s the most gothic, beroque, overwrought, wedding cake of a city. It reminded me strongly of Buenos Aires and had a very Irish atmosphere while being very definitely germanic. I particularly loved the art deco and art neuvo flourishes everywhere, from the famous cupola gracing one of the ‘tube’ stations to little hand paintings on doorways.

Going from a protestant to a catholic country was actually quite startling in a way I hadn’t predicted. Having grown up with a mix of churches and styles to go from the simple, open almost auster protestant churches to the heady wrought, dripping in gilt (and guilt!), ornateness that is the catholism I was brought up with was amazing.

We visited far too many places and saw too many things to mention, but highlights included Lobmyer glass, Klosterneuburg Abbey with it’s beautiful enamelled alter screen, St Patricks, The Summer Place and a lovely walk around The Dorotheum (auction house). The city centre is compact and very easy to get around with lots of ‘hidden’ feeling alleys and side streets – and of course the ubiquitous coffee houses.

I was spoilt by M and her husband (and two very friendly cats) – and lots and lots (and lots of beautiful handmade patchwork quilts). I was also spoilt by M’s very lovely parents, who welcomed me into their home and made me eat and drink lots of wonderful foodstuffs.

I met a Vienna branch of a knit group, disingenuously in a Starbucks as the only place that stayed open late enough, and had a wonderful time sharing fibre stories.

Of course I visited more yarn shops. Another ‘high end’ luxury store with skeins on the walls, it’s own range of t-shirts (I particularly liked “knit fast, die warm”) and the cutest sheep project bags, but M beat me to it!

The other was the size of a cupboard (it was crowded with the three of us) but just the most wonderful place. Another ‘taken on by an avid knitter when the original owner retired’ shop – and almost as full with stock – but only because the space was so small! Very friendly, very fun and we had a wonderful time.

In both shops there were one or two skeins/balls/hanks on display in each colourway for each yarn type and you took your colour to the counter and told them how much you wanted – at which point assistant would disappear into the back and return with what you wanted. I kept wanting to hum the theme tune to Mr Benn for some reason.

I bought lots in Vienna, the yarn shops were lovely and though there was very high end expensive imports lots of it was very cheap. I’ve even let Purlescence have a little squish to see what they think as I’d love to be able to pick up some of these brands without having to travel Austria!

I got…

2 skeins of Isager Spinni and 3 of Isager 1 (100% alpaca) in a beautiful sort of faded vintage teal colour to make (at some point) Camomille. I also bought 2 skiens of Isager 2 Alpaca in black for a Spectra. I know I can get this here in the UK at Loop, but it was a lot cheaper in Europe.

I then swapped shops (so to speak) and indulged… First to fall to me was the BC Garn Silkbloom Fino. The lightest, softest, squidgest puff of nothingness which apparently a lot of Austrians use to make baby blankets. At 45% mohairsilk and 55% super soft merino I’m not sure I’d be cranking out baby blankets, though to be fair it wasn’t that expensive. I bought 1 ball in the most lovely chocolate mocha colour (there were loads of colours) for a pair of cabled fingerless mitts

Swiftly followed into the basket by BC Garn’s Jaipur Silk Fino – 300m of pure mulberry silk that I genuinely have no idea what I’m going to do with it, but it shines like it’s lit from within..

then I came across a whole new company (well to me anyway) with the wall of deliciousness that was Lotus Yarns. Into the basket fell a ball of Miya – a rich purple laceweight that is 70% mink (!), 20% merino and 10% silk.

then a ball of Moon Night – 95% lambswool, 5% cashmere and 600 meters per 50g! Yeap that’s right – SIX HUNDRED meters! In a beautiful smoke grey…

then, having become jealous of all the fine laceweights and cobweb weights a brave little skein of DK Cashmere made the dive. And not just any cashmere, oh no, this was 100% Mongolian cashmere. I have no idea is this is better, being a bit of a cashmere virgin, but it just happened to match the Isager bought earlier as well so I’m thinking mittens to match the shawl eventually, maybe,..

I also had several close run in’s with mushrooms – more on that in another post.

Zurich 2013

Posted on October 19, 2013 by honey

Zurich is a genuinely beautiful city set in stunning countryside. My five days there were packed with things and I barely scratched the surface. Apologies in advance as my camera wasn’t working so there are no photos to share.

The city as cosmopolitan as you could hope for, with one of the most comprehensive public transport systems I think I’ve ever seen – buses, trains, funiculars (whee!), trams, bike hire – it was all going on. It’s also impressively expensive in some respects – it made the London Travel card look positively cheap, and eating out is definitely for special occassions.

Switzerland seems to be very proud of it’s dispirate groups, and the city reflects that, with very different atmospheres in it’s different districts and areas – some of it feels very English industrial, some of it very French town square (missing only the boules) and some of it undoubtedly Swiss.

The city centre is well worth a visit, particulalry the old town, if you are only passing through. However if you have more time – a tour on the lake (which issomuch bigger than I thought it was, and we went on the day of the Annual Swim across in which 56,000 people took part!), a walk up (or down!) Uetliberg for it’s stunning views across the lake and the surrounding land and visits to both the Fraumünster church (famous for it’s Chagall stained glass windows) and Grossmünster with it’s stunning “alternative” stained glass windows by Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti added in 1932.

We also took a trip out of town to visit a local Palace, which was fascinating and meant I got to travel through several Swiss villages – all of which look exactly like you would expect them to from chocolate box depictions over the years – wooden shutters and steep roofs with over-abundant flowered window boxes. It was lovely.

I was more than ably looked after by A, her husband and excitable Bob clone Max. And of course staying with crafting friends meant there were visits to yarn shops and crafty goodness. I was surrounded by spinning wheels (seven to be precise!) and spindles and lots of books I don’t own and an impressive stash. A’s crochet friends welcomed me with open arms (despite my Swiss/German being even worse than my French) and I saw some outstanding samples of filet crochet used as curtains, tablecloths, dresser runners….

I only went into two yarn shops while in Zurich, but they were chalk and cheese. One was on the ‘main drag’ in the Old Town and was set up like many high-end luxury yarn stores in the UK. Yarns were grouped by colour and then by weight (cobweb at the top, bulky at the bottom) around the walls of the store – which was very pretty, but pointed out an almost non-existance of varigated yarns. Haberdashery was limited and nothing had a price. I did pick up a set of square knit pro circular needles as I hadn’t seen them elsewhere, but little else appealed to me. It had a good range of yarns but I got the feeling I couldn’t afford any of it before I even started.

The second store was more ‘hidden’ – and in the start of a theme I was to revisit in Vienna, this store had been taken on by an enthusiastic knitter when the original owner retired. Now, I have to say that the owners were lovely, very friendly and I really enjoyed the time I spent there (and I did buy stuff, more about that in a second). The shop was HUGE, two large rooms, but it was very, very, difficult to see how much space there really was – or what was in stock. The owner was working towards her PhD – Piled higher and Deeper – in stock management.

There were some really lovely bits and peices – and some surprises (Rowan Silk Haze for £25 anyone?) but you really had to dig and ferret, and not everyone is comfortable doing that. It’s a shame as this could be a really lovely shop.

Anyway, on to what I bought…

Kauni XEQ lace weight – 150grams over lovely rainbow long colour stripy-ness…

and this puff of fun may have found it’s way into my bag..

It’s Zealana Air – a 40% cashmere, 40% Brushtail Possum down and 20% mulberry silk blend that gives nearly 200m for 25grams. yeah, you read that right – Possum! How could I not? I also bought a swirl pewter shawl pin and a double ended tunisian hook (just of the completeness of the collection you understand!) – however most of my ‘haul’ came from Austria – so I need to leap on a train and travel…

France

Posted on July 6, 2013 by honey

In my previous post I told you all about my impending trip to France, and how i had been challenged to (start) learning French. Those of you who are good at maths, or have a calendar to hand, will work out that not only was last weekend the last weekend in June, but also that that gave me just over 5 weeks to learn a language. Naturally I didn’t learn French to fluency in 5 weeks – but I gave it a good shot, with about 2 hours of study each evening (which obviously cut into my crafting time) and meant that I understood a lot more than I was letting on (even if I couldn’t speak very well) the whole time I was in Lille. During this study phase I mentioned to a teacher I work with that there were relatively few accredited courses for adult learners – the upshot being that I shall now be resitting my GCSE French exams next summer!

Of course, I now that you all want to know about knitting and yarn shops in France (and specifically Lille) so here goes:

I stepped off the Eurostar (my project for the trip was my Herbie Shawl, by the way, and is slowly getting there…)

Herbie Shawl

to be met by V and taken straight into a very welcoming Tricot (that’s knitting to us English) group. There were some amazing projects being worked on, and I was amused to note that everyone was working ‘English’ style (throwing). Of course, as at most knit groups we were plied with excellent food and drink – and though serenaded by a football crowd, stayed until gone 11pm. I even joined in a conversation about learning techniques and the apparent unwillingness of some crafters to try new methods of doing things (in French!)

The group were quick to ask about the availability of yarn in the UK, and it soon became obvious that the impression in France is that the UK is full of luxury (expensive) yarn. The French (apparently) are more used to using acrylics and have a fundamental objection to ‘spending’ on more expensive yarns. My own Unique Sheep Eos was much admired and the group said it was a shame that very few yarn shops outside of Paris would (or could) carry yarn like that due to the expense of customs (for importing) and lack of customers (I’ll get to the reason for that soon).

A tour of three yarn shops in Lille on Friday proved to be fascinating (and educating) though! The first shop was beautiful, stacks of yarn in wooden book case type arrangements. Everything was in balls (no skeins or hanks here!) and there were beautifully worked samples made in selected yarns. Unfortunately this particular store has to close due to increasing rents – after nearly 30 years at the same site which is a real shame. The majority of the stock was wool blends, some with alpaca, some with acrylic – some lovely pure alpaca, and an average of about 4euro a 50grm ball. I say average as some was heavily discounted due to having to close – but I was very good and kept my hands in my pockets!

The second shop was a real Aladdin’s cave stocked floor to ceiling with bag upon bag of acrylic in every weight imaginable. Lots of novelty yarn (such as the hated ‘ruffle yarn’ for a mere 4euro a scarf) and even a small shelf of ‘luxury’ yarn – though I won’t argue with 100% alpaca at 3euro for 50gms. Yeap you read that right – THREE euro for 100% alpaca! So I’m not surprised that French yarn stores have a difficulty trying to get customers to buy the more expensive yarns we know so well here.

With prices like that I may have taken my hands out of my pockets! I bought some really beautiful, soft, acyrlic called Uttacryl and manufactured by Cheval Blanc. 50gms for 1euro and it came in about 40 shades. At that price (and quality) I can afford to make sweaters! The yarn is for a secret project, but here’s the photo.

Uttacryl by Cheval Blanc

I also picked up two huge balls of crochet cotton in an amazing bottle green shade at 3.5euro per ball…

Annell crochet cotton

Finally we headed for the hallowed ground that is La Droguerie. This legendary store doesn’t allow photos, so I don’t have any to share with you, but it was like stepping back into the 1940s. Fabulous yarn adorned the walls in hanks for you to handle – but everything was done by service, so you decided what you wanted and then (attempted) to attract the attention of one of the very busy attendants. I was so relieved to have a native speaker with me I can tell you! Surrounded by beads, trims, ribbons, amazing bias binding, jewellery findings, fabric squares and yarn I got out relatively intact with only two yarn purchases and a pack of charms..

First up was some beautiful peacock, petrol, kingfisher, blue yarn in a bamboo & linen blend. It’s heavy and cool to the touch, very soft and already being transformed into Love is a Prism (as per my previous post) here’s the yarn again for completeness though…

Bamboo & Linen

I may have also been suckered by the pretty packaging, and bought a present for my mother… a ‘nothing there’ whisp of a scarf with a pretty ‘cherry/berry’ trim. The kit came with the mohair yarn in two colours, the trim, the instructions and a (super cool) woven tag!

Cherry ScarfL

Lille is a beautiful city, and I’m already planning my return (to practice my French if nothing else!) It’s only 1 and half hours from London on the Eurostar so easy to go for the day and I highly recommend it for the cobblestones, the friendly people and the wonderful, wonderful pastries. Next time I promise to have a fully charged camera as well to take more photos, but for now I’ll leave you with this….

Lille is FULL of Art!

Bonjour Mes Amis

Posted on July 6, 2013 by honey

It seems like ages since I last updated, but of course that is because it is ages since I last updated here! The 5th May to be precise. I am so ashamed of myself.

However the time hasn’t been wasted, I’ve been very, very busy!

First up I finished a hairpin lace tunic as a class examplar for the hairpin course in November,

hairpin lace tunic

I really enjoyed the process of making this tunic, though, I’ll be honest, I’m still undecided about the final result. I also finished one of the baby blankets that I needed to get done (the other is still in ‘kit’ form, and as the baby is due next week I really need to crack on with that). I’m really pleased with how this came out – I love the colours together, and the stitch is a really pretty stitch and works really well in this context.

1970’s colourway baby blanket

I also taught the Tunisian Beginners course to a full house, and there are some outstanding ‘luxury spa cloths’ appearing on the Glamourous Knitters forum on Ravelry as people post their finished projects! There is already demand for a follow up course to look in more detail at some further stitches and advanced techniques, so I shall start work on that soon I promise.

However, my focus the last few weeks has been France. Pourqoui? I hear you ask.

Well just after my last post, I had the ever lovely V (whom I met at KnitNation 2011) come visit with his partner G, and we spent a few great sunshiny days in London. A promise had been made last year to go visit them in Lille, so a date was set for the last weekend in June – and a challenge of learning French by then! That’s all for another post.

Having set myself that challenge, Channel 4 started showingThe Returned, a drama in French! handy. And I’m loving it. A clever, intelligent drama that doesn’t talk down to it’s audience and isn’t afraid to ask questions and leave them unanswered.

Finally the weekend saw the start of the Tour de France, one of the two sporting events I actually sit down and make time to watch (the other being the Six Nations). I also take part in a sort of mass knit along on Ravelry with other Tour fans – setting our own challenge for our own pick of the jerseys. It’s lots of fun, and at least I don’t have to spin miles and miles of yarn for the famous Tour de Fleece! I’ve put myself down for a King of the Mountains (that’s the spotty one) to challenge myself to finish the Jan sweater – afterall I have just one (cap) sleeve and the sewing up to do. This week I’ve managed to get the cuff done – so go me!

Jan Sweater – almost two sleeves!

I’ve also set myself the yellow jersey for completing the Tunisian pattern Love is a Prism in just 3 weeks. I’m twenty rows in and really enjoying it. The yarn was picked up in France, so more about that in the next post.

Love is a Prism starts..

Not much crafting this week, but lots of photos.

Posted on May 5, 2013 by honey

What a week! It started, as frankly all Monday’s should, with a Piper Heidsieck tasting on the 40th floor of 30 St Mary Axe, more formally known as the Swiss Re building and colloquially as ‘The Gherkin’.

yeap, it’s the one that looks like a pickle

the views from the top are stunning (if you’re at all uncomfortable with heights you probably don’t want to follow this link to a 360 panarama at night…) the third pic along on the top below is the Shard, the fourth contains the BT Telecommunication tower at Sunset *and* you can click on the image to get a big version that you can zoom into should you so wish!

Snippets of the Evening

(guess what I learnt to do today? – and how cool is it?!)

We had several vintages, a fabulous Rosé and a demi-sec. The bottle you see in the collection on the bottom right, on the right of centre, is a gold filigree design that people in Dubai apparently spend ages steaming off and then wearing as a tiara. I so want a champagne tiara!

detail of gold work

Of course the complexities involved in “smuggling” 12 glasses of vintage champagne past security on a Monday night meant that Tuesday morning dawned more than a little delicate. There’s nothing like a 3 1/2 mile bike commute to help to clear one’s head when you have a hangover. So I’ve heard. Didn’t work for me.

Anyhow. Crafting – that’s what you’re here for isn’t it? I finally, finally finished my long relationship with the Honeymeade shawl (started October 2011). It’s made from the fabulous Fyberspates Sparkle Sock yarn (2 skiens thereof with about 15gms left over) and the construction is really clever combining crochet and a form of tunisian/linked stitch/lacework… here’s some photos…

MrTuesday was delighted that it blocked to a New Republic Logo given it was StarWars day when we pinned it out – May 4th (say it out loud, it’ll make more sense)

Finally for now, here’s a sneak peak of the Hairpin top I’m making. I’ve given up on the beautiful tunic for now, I’m really struggling to find a yarn thick enough so instead of sinking more and more money after bad, I’ve changed my sights and am doing a pattern from Issue 9 of Inside crochet.

Hairpin is made in strips that are then joined together for the finished piece – much like you would make a front, back and sleeves for a seamed sweater. However each strip is about 4″ wide (depending on the pattern) so there can be more of them. For some reason this means that although I now have all the required strips, this really feels like a ‘kit form’ garment. And yes I know you don’t get much more kit-form than string and sticks, but you’ll just have to believe me that this feels a bit, well, odd.

Hopefully next week you’ll see finished photos. Right now I’m off to prepare for a Very English Explorer event at the British Museum tomorrow with friends. If you happen to be there around 2pm and see a crowd of mad people in khaki, suits, Pith helmets and Fez’s (Fez’s are cool you know) then that will be us! Wave hello!

Warning! Long post reversing…

Posted on April 20, 2013 by honey

Well what a week it’s been – learning and discovering so many things, teaching and giving and actually being productive for a change… although of course the path is never quite bump free

First up was teaching the new Crochet Shaping course, exactly 1 year to the day since I taught the Crochet Beginners class with Purlescence. We had a lovely crowd of intelligent, inquisitive people along for the ride, who are the best type to have on a class as they help point out the bits I’ve forgotten to say or taken for granted. I adore having a class full of people who ask questions! The new tech worked pretty well – a couple of tweaks and I think we’ve got it sorted, and I’m beavering away now putting the finishing touches to the Tunisian Basics course which runs in June.

I think the nicest complement I got from the day (and I’m paraphrasing as this is a week on, if you’re reading this and you remember exactly what you said please let me know and I’ll correct what follows) was:

It wasn’t like a workshop at all – it was like popping round to a friends for a bit of crochet and a natter and learning stuff by accident.

Learning can come in many forms, so of it literal and involving conscious effort to learn on your own behalf. I’ve had two instances of this in the last 7 days. First up I signed up for some knitting courses on Craftsy. I’ve done several of their courses before and found them useful and informative. The two I signed up for this week were Franklin Habit’s Heirloom Lace Edgings – if you are a knitter and want to know more about lace edgings and different ways of attaching them to your work (and why snowflakes should always be knit in yellow yarn) then this is an indispensable course. I also signed up for Lace Shawl Design, which I’m not enjoying quite as much but again is packed full of information. It’s aimed at knitters but I can see applying some of the info to crochet designs.

Another type of learning is that from which you learn something from even though you are doing something else at the time – for example, don’t photograph the missing bits of your stash for Ravelry, put it all away and then upload the photos. You won’t remember what the brand is and how much of it you’ve got by that point, I guarantee it! My other ‘non-learning-learning’ session this week was teaching the Shaping class. Any teaching involves just as much learning for the teacher as the students (or it should) and of course by 3am Sunday morning I had not so much ‘rewritten’ the course as ‘reordered’ it – for when it runs again in the future to give a more cohesive and logically structured course.

I also got two new stitch dictionaries in the shape of Robyn Chachula’s Visual Encyclopaedia and Edie Eckman’s “Around the Corner, Crochet Borders”. I love my reference books and I’m finding them indispensable in preparing for the texture and colour course in September. Robyn’s book is very well put together – I’ll do a review soon I promise, but I’m already using one of the stitch patterns.

I’ve started a new baby blanket, which may result in a new free pattern. I’m loving this reversible stitch, and the Vinni’s (as always) works beautiful for baby stuff.

I’ve made lots of progress this week on loads of different things. I’ve also finally cast on the first sleeve for the Jan Sweater. Having been knitting this sweater since August 2011 I’m really looking forward to finishing it, and while I still have two sleeves and the seaming to do I’m already fantasizing about the next project I will take up once I finish this..

I’m also on the last 3 rows of Honeymeade – although these rows are over 450stitches long so may take me a little while.. I have finally had to admit (temporary) defeat in the face of Frechen. My head is just not in right space to focus on this at the moment, so I’m calling a halt instead of getting more and more frustrated with it. I’m going to back away from it slowly for a couple of weeks and pick it up again next month.

In the course in the photographing of the stash I may have taken a couple of snapshots of the yarn I got from Purlescence to make the samples for the Texture and Colours course in September (gee, aren’t I organised?) This is Rooster Almerino DK.

and it’s lovely. A blend of 50% baby alpaca and 50% merino it’s squishy and soft and the palette of colours are strong without being overpowering – sort of deep subdued pastels if that makes sense. The colours are saturated without being overly bright giving a lovely rich luxurious feel to the palette. I’m just whittering now, their gorgeous. That’ll do. Of course I didn’t just buy yarn (who could?) but I was very restrained. I bought a lovely clasp for my Anais jacket..

and I also picked up one of Tulips new interchangeable Tunisian hooks, along with cable and (for some inexplicable reason) a pack of FOUR cable stops. Why they don’t sell them in packs of two I don’t know – I know we’ll all lose one down the back of the sofa, but trying to remember where I put the other three will never work!

I haven’t had chance to play with it yet, but I will let you know how it goes when I do.

Last weekend I popped up to the familial home to visit, well, my family. My mother decided that this year. instead of buying me (her eldest daughter) an easter egg. she would go unconventional (if you’ve met my mother you’ll know this is a habit of a lifetime). Along with a fabulous Vogue branded umbrella in navy blue and silver, and several ‘subtle’ reminders that it’s a Vogue umbrella (the furl strap to fasten the umbrella, the handle and the mechanism button are all branded suitably) I got a a book. Not just any book of course, but a copy of:

Not only does the title make it sound like owning a shawl is some form of terminal illness, but the introduction boasts of a whole career option I hadn’t thought of previously. Apparently during the 1980’s nearly every Canadian department store had it’s own Qualified Scarf Consultant. I want to know what’s involved in becoming a Qualified Scarf Consultant. I so want that on my C.V.!

The whole thing is wonderfully 80’s and slightly dated, though to be fair a lot of the ideas are just as usable and applicable today. I flipped the book open at random to give you a taste of the illustrations…

At the start of the post I mentioned a ‘bump’. Well I must have caught my ringshawl on something and snagged it.

The beauty of crochet is that if a thread breaks then each stitch is independent and the whole thing doesn’t just unravel on the spot (phew!) and I do (luckily) have the 2grm scrap of yarn remaining from the original project in order to darn it up and make it good as new. (Hence me going through my stash in the first place to realise that I hadn’t photographed it all for my Ravelry stash pages)

It also forces me to sit down and study my shawl – which should help me start writing up the pattern, something I’m determined to do before the end of April.

Overrun with Baby Cardigans

Posted on April 11, 2013 by honey

Easter holidays gave me a little bit of time to dash to the family seat ‘up north’ and visit the relatives.

My younger Sister is fabulous, glamorous and wonderful. All my life she has been very focused on what’s ‘in’ and designer labels and stuff like that – reading the magazines and following the trends. Me on the other hand, I get dressed and then wait for it to come back into fashion. It happens surprisingly frequently.

I know that knitting is currently the ‘big thing’, that it has now tapered out and diffused from the ever increasing knitting groups, and is becoming an ever increasing blip on the general populations’ radar. However I was still surprised when Sis asked me to teach her to knit while I was there.

A ball of DK (8ply for the non-UK readers) and 5.5mm bamboo needles later and I was *amazed* at how fast my sister processes information. In an hour we had done cast on, knit (which she confessed she kinda remembered from being a child), purl, garter stitch, stockingette stitch, how to tell which one you were doing and how to swap between them, slipping the first stitch of each row (and why) and casting off. 5 hours later she had a ‘Barbie Quilt’ of beautifully even stockingette stitches, and she had started another ‘test square’ with a few garter stitch rows so that it didn’t curl.

She has now set her sights on a baby cardigan. I might just have to send her a knit package! I’ve told her about Ravelry, but it’s all very new and daunting right now. I’m scrolling through loads of baby cardigan patterns looking for one that isn’t a basic bog garter stitch boredom fest, but also isn’t a top down, raglan, seamless “and now get your dpn’s out for the sleeves” thing which could terrify a beginner. Sure I’m on the other end of a skype call, but that’s not the point – any suggestions anybody?

There is a theory that the older you get the faster time seems to fly by. I think it’s all marketing myself (how can you possibly not think the year is going faster if you can buy Easter eggs on 26th December?) but I’m still surprised by how fast my first course of 2013 has rolled around. I’m all ready bar piling everything in the car – piles of samples, class notes, presentations, blocking equipment, secret goodies and the cutest little baby cardigan for a gender confused child..

See that little dotted pink line? That ladies and gentlemen is a short row pocket – worked at the same time as the garment. It gives a completely seamless pocket top and invisible joins and is so cute. I didn’t think of this myself, I got the inspiration from Franklin Habit and his love of vintage pattern (you can read his post here if you like).

Another example of short row shaping is done in the neck of this little cardigan to let it lie properly on the back of baby’s neck.

However the most concerning thing about this cardigan is not the fact that I have made a baby garment (those of you who know me may be surprised that I didn’t in fact spontaneously combust when presented with this little task) but that I (who never, ever, ever makes any baby blanket present in baby blue or baby pink). had two balls of baby pastels in my stash. What I want to know is “why do I have a 100g ball of baby blue acrylic, and 100g grams of baby pink acrylic in my stash?!” It would appear that the stash is prone to growing, with stuff you don’t want, if you don’t keep a careful eye on it.

Having said that the Crochet Shaping course is going to be a blast, I’m trying out several new ideas – I’ve even had my nails done in preparation! k- and I’m really looking forward to it.

Most of this week, and last week has been taken up with final minute non-productive flapping, but I did get to the end of the charts on the Honeymeade shawl (you have no idea how happy I was to complete that!) and I’ve done the first 5 rows of a slip stitch crochet rectangular shawl test about 20,000 times. More fool me for thinking it would be easy. More on that process next week I think!

Finally in other news, the doctors are now weaning me off the drugs to see what happens. Apparently what happens is that when I get to 1mg my hands object, so I’ve gone back up to 2mg till Saturday and will drop back to 1mg next week when it’s not so vitally important that I can use my hands. My next appointment is 22nd April so we’ll see what happens then.

Tuesday Fortnite

unraveling the yarn