Yarrr! Avast ye, FOs!

Pattern: Pirate Hat by Knit Like A Pirate
Needle: 9mm Knitpicks circ; I wish I had some 9mm DPNs, it would have made the top so much easier. As it was I magic looped it, bitching the whole time.
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers, in Galaxy, under 3 balls
Mods: None for this one.

It was a fun and quick knit. I cast it on with one strand of Lamb's Pride Bulky in January, hoping to use the yarn up, but was concerned the fabric was too loose, so I set it aside and then finally bit the bullet, ordered some different yarn and started again last Monday. It was done by the end of knitting group on Saturday morning. It was HOOOGE! Like a poncho I'd forgotten to put the head hole in, according to one of my knitclub friends.
It went through the washing machine twice, on a quick wash at 60 degrees, no spin, with some jeans. That got it good and felted; then I dried it over a bowl and pinned the brim to wear I wanted it. It's kind of rustic looking but I think that adds to it.

I have discovered the cabled cast on with this pattern. I LOVE it - makes such a pretty edge. Unfortunately, when I cast on my 150 stithces, I failed to follow the pattern instruction, "Be damn sure not to twist" because I realised it was, indeed, twisted after 10 rows. I was knitting this to a deadline and couldn't face ripping it back, so I cut through the knitting, untwisted, and then tied the ends of the yarn back together and oversewed it. It was quite messy and felt so wrong cutting the stitches, but the felting has hidden all of it Hurrah.

I have been doing lots of Yarring and calling people scurvy dawgs since it was finished. I love pirates. I can't wait for the murder mystery this weekend.

And now for something completely different....



Pattern: The ubiquitous Eowyn. These are the 6th pair I've knitted.
Needle: 6mm DPNs
Yarn: Total stashbuster these - I used Rowan Kid Classic in blue, Calmer in lilac, and Kidsilk Haze or Night in a pale silvery grey. Didn't actually use any of them up, but got some way towards it and loved what came out of the three together - very soft and warm, with a fluffy halo and a bit of sparkle.
Mods: I knitted the body of the mitts in the round, and added an extra repeat of the cable pattern.

These were a charity knit for a lady who lives in a unit for people with head injuries. Shani, whose idea it was to knit everybody a pair, was very complimentary and said they matched the lady they were made for perfectly. I might have to leave the Selfish Knitters group soon because knitting and giving them gave me the warm fuzzies.

It's not snowy outside now - I knitted these during the snow-in in February.

Had a training day today - well, a county G&T co-ordinators meeting at a local golf club. I had a blissful extra hour of kip this morning and a bacon and egg breakfast, it was lush. The meeting was great and I got loads of ideas, and we got a lot done in our cluster group in the afternoon, towards the year 9 conference we're having in the summer. I like training courses, they sort of recharge me and reinvigorate me for work again. I am feeling quite low about my job lately, and like I am making a hamfisted attempt of everything; but now I feel a bit better.

A final bizarre anecdote. I went to Corsham this afternoon to set up an orienteering exercise for the weekend, and on the way home I saw a peacock waddling down the pavement. No common pigeons for Corsham!

First FOs of 2009

I have been a productive knitter, so far. My other resolutions, such as exercising and reading more books, have taken some time to get off the ground (though I did purchase and read Z For Zachariah, a book I remember from my teens, last week) but I already have two FOs to share, and another on the way.

FO # 1: Lelah

Pattern: Lelah, by Christina Buhagier at Knitting for Boozehags (no link because it's defunct now, sadly)
Needle: 4mm and 3.5mm Knitpicks
Yarn: Allhemp6 in Midori, three full skeins and about a third of a fourth.
Mods: I knitted in a couple of extra lace panels and phased them out at my waist. I knitted more repeats of the lace pattern. I did four short rows around halfway up the bust to make sure it was high enough at the front.

I basically took the pattern at its word and measured and did some maths and it came out a perfect fit. It's such a perfect fit it doesn't even need elastic to keep it up! I have knitted a couple of icord straps though, which will be attached with poppers or hooks and eyes.

There was a bit of a wobble where I realised my gauge was different to my swatch (must be the round-knitting as opposed to the flat-knitting) and I had to rip back a day's worth of knitting and do rather a lot of decreases, but it was made a lot better because, for the first time ever, I used a lifeline. I don't know what made me do it. Prescience!

It's hard to do the pulled back shoulders, one leg forward pose
when Mr Z tells me to flick my hair from side to side.

Then, of course, it snowed - a lot. Hence the pictures. I like the irony. Really it's for my trip to the Red Sea next week. I may have bought 7 different kinds of green ribbon online because I couldn't pick the one I liked best...

FO # 2: Fingerless gloves for swap



Pattern: Mayahana Flying Gloves
Needle: 4mm DPNs
Yarn: RYC Baby Cashsoft in pale pink (that colour that looks sort of grey). It is so soft and lovely.
Mods: I didn't knit a thumb I just made a hole. I ribbed at the top, too, though that may be part of the original pattern. I only really used it to get the number of stitches ot cast on, and for the link to the lattice stitch. They are very pretty, and luckily too small for me or they might not make it into the swap parcel.

Tonight I have knitted one Eowyn mitt, too, for a friend from knitting group who is trying to rustle up something warming for friends of her son, who lives in a unit for people with head injuries in Devon (I think that's what it is - it's one of those stories I missed the beginning of). Apparently the unit is very cold at present.

I haven't knitted any Eowyns for over a year and it feels funny to go back to a pattern I am so familiar with, when I am a considerably more accomplished knitter. For a start, I can't understand wtf I EVER knitted them flat and seamed (I remember thinking of a good reason at the time, heaven knoiws what it was). For another thing, the first mitt only took me an hour, and I certainly wasn't that quick last time.

I bought a new camera. I have many, many snowy pictures to share. But talking about Eowyn makes me want to go and CO for the second one, so they will have to wait.