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 🙂

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.

Simple Pleasures

Posted on March 10, 2013 by honey

I know, I’m late. Apologies. This isn’t Friday, it’s Monday – but that just means less time until the next update right?

The past week has been a week of squeezing in simple pleasures. Those little events that give a momentary frisson of great joy.

First of all was picking up a project (my Honeymeade shawl), that has laid dormant for nearly 12 months and making a little bit of progress. Only 4 repeats of one of the charts, but given each chart repeat takes just under 30 minutes, that’s not bad going. During that process I rediscovered just how much I adore the yarn that finally agreed to be this wrapper (after 3 disasterous other, aborted, attempts) – the fyberspates 4ply is just gorgeous and the colouring is working up beautifully – I’ll try and take photos this week for you. Making any progress at all on any project is a minor win after being so unable to do anything for so long – but for some reason this one felt like a particular achievement. There’s still a long way to go on this project, but I just know that it’s going to stunning when it’s finished.

As you (probably) remember I had to frog the front of my Jan sweater completely to get the rib section the same length as the back. Over the weekend I finally caught up with where I had got to previously, the small victory of finally working with virgin, non crinkley, yarn warming the little cockles of my heart (and signifying the section where I have to concentrate on the armhole shaping, but the end of the front is in sight!). With a tail wind I might even have a back and a front of a sweater by the end of the week! Then of course there is the sleeves and the making up to do, but that’s not the end of the world.

I love teaching, and there is little that is as exciting as a completely new course or workshop. However, doing all the prep is not my favourite activity. Finally completing all 26 swatches (yes, I have an entire alphabet of swatches) for the Crochet Shaping workshop in April was a moment for a little happy dance. All the little samples are finished, labelled, blocked and pristine – ready for handling and pouring over by curious students.

Finally I felt like doing something I haven’t done in years, and the Hairpin Lace tunic in Crochet So Fine has been looking at me for about 2 years. Along with the ribbon yarn that I got for free just as I got back into crafting seriously. I had been waiting for an opportunity to use my Ed Jenkin’s hairpin loom (that I also picked up about 2 years ago), and picking up a skill that I haven’t touched for many years (and it coming back to smoothly and easily) gave a lovely glow of satisfaction to my Sunday evening. Again photo’s to follow. The loom is just gorgeous, and the art-silk ribbon so soft that it’s another project that you know from the outset is going to turn out better than you hoped.

Finally I saw a fabulous poster on Saturday that I wanted to share with you…

It will all be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end!

2nd crochet project of 2013 finished!

Posted on March 2, 2013 by honey

It’s just a short post this week as it’s still a bit ‘all go on the home front’.

This week I progressed a little further on the Jan Sweater, only 8 rows but in the words of a famous UK supermarket- “every little helps”. There isn’t enough of a change to justify a photograph, but I reckon I’m about 8 rows short of the armhole shaping now, so it’s going pretty well.

I did however finish the Anais (pronounced Ah-nah-is) Jacket. Using Rowan Big Wool in a delicious dark purple colour this has come out really well and I’m really pleased with it. It’s a very fast Tunisian crochet project (once you get around the slightly fiddly main stitch) and although I had ripped out completely once, and gone again I still ended up with the wrong stitch count at one point, but decided it was close enough. The pattern notes state that this won’t close in front, mine does – and I’m contemplating adding some clasps, but it’s just lovely without.

The combination of bulky yarn and tunisian stitches means that this is a very structured little bolero with a stand up collar, and though the yarn seemed to have a lot of bits of plastic twined in with the ply that I had to pull out, the stitch definition is outstanding.

Want a peek?

and here’s a couple of the stitch detail because you’ve been so good…

A little fairy tells me that the Tunisian workshop is selling really well, so if you are thinking about it now is a good time to act – though I just know we will be running this one again!

Snow Day!

Posted on January 18, 2013 by honey

Right now it’s snowing, and according to the forecasts it’s settled in for 24 hours at least. I know this is no big deal in 90% of the world, but in London you might as well have announced Armageddon – the supermarket this morning was full of people panic buying beans, soup and long-life milk because they might not be able to get to the shops tomorrow. It started at 7am and we have a little over an inch settled nearly 9 hours later. Yes, a whole inch, and to listen to local radio you would think the world was ending. I know, crazy isn’t it?

What that means for me is some serious ‘snowed in’ crafting time. Ok, I’m limited to what I can realistically achieve, but I can get some more swatches done for Crochet 102 and maybe even sneak in a few rows of knitting while sitting in front of my open fire with a large brandy. It would be hot chocolate, except one of the tablets I’m on doesn’t let me eat chocolate! Which sadist of a pharmaceutical company came up with that one?

Ah, knitting I missed you! The steroids have appeared to have kicked in, and despite having gained 4lbs in the last 4 days and I’m starting to look like some strange drug-induced freakish balloon animal chipmunk my hands have been pretty good.

Good enough that I have been able to do a whole FOUR rows a night, the last 3 nights, on my Jan Sweater. That equates to a massive distance of about 4cm growth – but growth it is, and to mix metaphors a bird in the hand is better than a kick in the teeth. Or some such. Of course my brain has since gone on a flight of fancy as to how much knitting I could now do and catch up on and that complex cabled sweater in lace weight etc… so I’m having to be very strict with myself and that frivolous part of my personality and set very specific limits so I don’t accidentally injure myself or make things worse. Some is better than none no?

I’ve also had a phone call today to let me know that ‘an opening’ has occurred and instead of waiting 3 months for a physio appointment, they have a slot on Monday! I have an MRI in early February and it’s all go!

I’ve been hinting and promising the last couple of posts about teaching in 2013. I can’t reveal dates and suchlike yet, but I can definitely confirm that there will be at least one course from me (in conjunction with Purlescence) this year. Crochet 102 will take you from ‘beginner’ to ‘wizard’. Well, OK, maybe a bit below that – magician? I’ll be covering LOADS, including how to get a pretty cast on edge, how to get rid of that gap at the edge of your work, how to do shapes other than squares, rectangles and circles, short rows, gauge (*why* it’s important and when we can ignore it), blocking and texture! There maybe more, but that’s where I’m up to in my notes so far. There’s more obviously that I’m keeping secret – and there may even be enough for a Crochet 103, as if I put in everything I want to Crochet 102 then the only person who will be able to keep up is me – and that’s a bit pointless. If you want something specific or want to know if something will be covered then feel free to comment.

If you missed out on last year’s Crochet 101 (Complete Beginners) and would be interested in the course running again you can contact me, or Purlescence direct.

Right now I’m going to get a hot drink and stare out the window for a bit…

Welcome to 2013

Posted on January 11, 2013 by honey

Happy New Year dear reader and friend. I hope that the next 12 months bring you joy and happiness and as little of the salt of life as we can get away with to allow us to fully enjoy and appreciate the good times.

Frankly, I’m hoping for a much better year than 2012. Seeing as the Incas didn’t predict the end of the world, just a new beginning, i’m really hoping that 2013 signifies that new start, and I have lots and lots planned for the next 12 months.

First up, I’ve been promising pictures of this since I can remember, so here’s the lovely Cloudy Skies Cowl

Cloudy Skies Cowl

I really enjoyed this project, the rustic texture (I got used to working with 4ply or lighter so it was a pleasure to work in a thick worsted), the cable, the kitchner graft. I love it. I’m really pleased I was able to do this handspun justice, and it’s given me a lot of confidence to tackle some more stuff in 2013.

I’m going to be good and list out all the projects I am currently doing, and those I want to get to (health allowing) in 2013… Deep breath and here goes…

Currently in progress…

Jan Sweater – this has been ongoing now since August 2011. Which isn’t good. Last week I finally acknowledged that the INCH difference in the hem between front and back would not ‘block out’, so despite having passed the arm shaping I took the needles out, ripped back to the 1×1 ribbing and forced myself to knit that extra inch. Of course, that means I’ve put myself back by a goodly way, but I’ll be happier with the finished sweater, which I am determined to finish this year! (knitting)
Bee’s Honeymeade Shawl – I love this yarn, I love this pattern, and it’s been ongoing since October 2011. Another one I’m determined to finish (tunisian & crochet)
Sunset Chameleon Blanket – given the child is due to join the population in February I really need to crack on with this don’t I?! (crochet)
Herbie Shawl – another one started back in 2011. I’m really enjoying this shawl, and am about 50% done. I find the ‘non-pattern/recipe’ formula very liberating, and much of the stalling on this is deciding what stitch pattern to use next. (knitting)

Projects I want to do / start

Queen of the Night Shawl – (*I think you might need to have a Ravelry account to follow that link*) I have the yarn, I have the beads, I have the pattern, but I want to know I’m pretty consistent on the hands before I start this one. (knitting)
The Giovannina Stole is another that I have the yarn and pattern for (since 2011) and I even bought my signature needles specifically to do this pattern. (knitting)
The Tranquil Hairpin Lace Tunic is pretty high on the list as well
Finish the samples for my Crochet 102 course – I’m about 70% done with this, so the end is in sight (making large swatches was never my thing to start with, and doing them repeatedly is dull, but thankfully it is a one time job!)
Make samples for other courses in the pipeline, a Crochet 103 (oh yes, boys and girls), a basic Tunisian 101 course, and a Tunisian 102, a Hairpin Lace 101 and a Broomstick Lace 101. Of course I need to write the material as well, and all courses will be subject to demand and uptake, but the plan is there…

Of course I have more projects than just those that I have the yarn for, ready to go, (12 to be exact) and I have several projects that I have yarn for and ideas but no set pattern (5 or 6 I think), or I have to write the pattern myself, but I think only adding 3 official projects to my existing list is probably sensible until we can get my hands reliably fixed.

I also have my 2011 Christmas present from my brother to tackle.

Gold Collection Aurora Cabin Cross Stitch

Having never done cross stitch before, and this being 16×12 inches, I have my work cut out, but I have a frame and I’m determined to get some of this done, this year.

So, in short I shall be challenging myself to finish at least 1 sweater, 1 blanket and 2 shawls this year. Along with improving my tunisian, hairpin, broomstick and teaching skills. If those go well I want to try my hand at some fairly complex cabling in knitting and in crochet – and oh, yes, I’ve got a knook to play with as well!

What do you want to achieve this year?

Olympic Efforts

Posted on August 1, 2012 by honey

While I got a few days of what currently constitutes ‘normal’ for my hands last week, this week they have been particularly difficult. I’ve got a date for my scans though – next Tuesday evening, so I’m hoping something comes from those.

The Olympics got off to a very British start, being very eccentric, but Danny Boyle gets points for:
a) getting the Queen involved (she’s a good sport isn’t she?) and
b) the pure *genius* that was the Olympic Flame Flower.

Ravelry is having it’s own simultaneous competition, in which individuals challenge themselves in a variety of fun events. For myself I leapt into the lead during the opening ceremony by entering the Frogging Trampoline and finally frogging my beaded cape which had been lying since March 2011 look at me accusingly. I loved the pattern, but I’ve finally had to conceed that the yarn I was using didn’t want to be that project. I’ve already got my medal for that!

I’m also trying to finish my ‘Jan Sweater’ (as part of the WiP Wrestling, or I could put it in for the Sweater Triathalon though the yarn itself is about a week too young to qualify for the Syncronised stash busting as I bought it at KnitNation last year).

A jumper for all seasons?

I’m thinking of renaming the project from ‘August Sweater’ to ‘Calendar sweater’ as I have now being working on it longer than a year! This is the sweater I’m doing in the Portuguese method of knitting (which is great for my hands) and I’m really enjoy it. I particuarly love the fact that every time I pick it up I am reminded of the meeting I gatecrashed to meet a fabulous group of people – including strikstrik who taught me the method, V (who has been mentioned previously) and *the* Stephen West!

I’m also trying to design, make, write up and publish a ‘shawl’ in the three weeks of the olympics. It’s going to be more of a ‘receipe’ than a ‘stitch by stitich’ pattern. The inspiration for this is the lack of relatively easy ‘confident beginner’ patterns that aren’t rafts of SC or DC. I wanted something that had a bit of interest (visually and mentally), that was unisex and could be easily modified without being too hung up on the ‘precision’. I’ll be entering this in the Shawl Sailing, Single Skien Sprint and possibly Balance Beads. I’m using a ball of Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball in fuchsienbeet that Needlemania (who I met for KnitNation 2011) sent me at Christmas. I’ve made a reasonable start…

sneak peak..

Gosh, I’ve just realised how involved KnitNation 2011 is in my choices – the yarn, the techniques, the people!

Tuesday Fortnite

unraveling the yarn

Tag Archives: Jan sweater