Busy Knitter

Looking at my January 2013 Crafting set on Flickr confirms my suspicions that I have been knitting lots this month.  The trouble is, I've been knitting lots on lots of different projects, so I haven't got very far on most of them.  I have got a finished Pterodactyl that I'm keeping for Friday's post, but it doesn't feel like I've got very far on the rest of them.

I shall start with my Melia.  Oh, how I LOVE this project and the yarn.  Together they are a knitters dream.  I have a finished hood.

One of the many reasons I love this project is that it always has something to keep you occupied.  While you are churning out the hood, there are the lovely little cables at the edges to keep you happy.  When you get to the neck shaping of the hood, you do one row of decreases and then you add four rows of the cable pattern, to pull it in the rest of the way.  It's so clever!

It makes an ordinary set of decreases into something pretty as well as functional.  It also provides a strong section of fabric to prevent stretching across the shoulders in this seamless garment.

As you can see, without blocking, the edge of the cabling pulls round.  I think with blocking it won't pull round quite as much, but it will soften the edges nicely.  The yoke hasn't been started yet, which is why the hood doesn't have much shape yet, as it isn't being anchored in the right place.

When I can tear myself away from this CTM project, am working on a test knit.  It's a 'Giddy' Made With Love design.  It's the first test knit I've done for Amanda, and I'm enjoying it.  The test group is informal and relaxed and very friendly.  I'm really glad I complimented the sample and said yes when I was invited to test it.  I'm not going to show pictures or give details until the pattern is ready for release, as I haven't had permission.  But I thought you should go and look at Amanda's other designs as there are some very pretty ones!

Of course my other project is my Knotted Cap KAL!  There are lots of very different yarns being used by the members of the KAL, and one person has even finished.  Not only has Calophi made her hat, she even made some matching mitts, using the cable design from the hat.  I love that she made the body of the hat a bit longer, which has changed the shape of the hat significantly.

For my version of the hat, I am using Fyberspates Scrumptious Aran in Magenta.  It's lovely stuff.  Working with it though is not as simple as I expectd, because it has 45% silk content, which means there is less give in the yarn, than when I knit this hat before.  It makes the cabling a bit more challenging.  However, I have still got this far:

That wooden object, holding the skein, is a Yarn Pal.  I've been looking for one in the UK for ages.  I loved these from the US, but didn't want to pay the Import Tax.  Then I was browsing Ripples Crafts for yarn and saw the Yarn Pal option on the shop headings.  I was so pleased when I saw them I instantly put my name on the waiting list for one.  It came last week and it's lovely.  It keeps the skein off the floor when I yank it.  In fact, I don't really need to yank it now as it just needs a gently pull to unravel the yarn.  I'm just leaving this yarn on the Yarn Pal because the Fez, I'm using for Melia, came pre-wound and it doesn't really sit on the Yarn Pal easily.  The yarn travels underneath and over the top of the skein in Fez, so I think I can only use the Yarn Pal in instances where I wind the skein myself.

I used the Tubular Cast on from Woolly Wormhead's tutorial again.  I do like how stretchy it makes the cast on edge.  It also makes the edge look invisible as there is no hard line created as the cast on stitches stretch along the bottom.

I've chosen to knit the cables without a cable needle.  I did a photo-tutorial for employing this technique for my Handyman Hat pattern, but the principles are the same.  Cabling without a needle definitely speeds up the process of knitting this hat.  I think this hat is going to turn out very nicely.  I may even knit some mitts to match, if I have enough yarn left over!

To see other works in progress, click on the button.

WIP Wednesday

It is Wednesday, therefore I will share WIPs with you.  If you are a new reader, a WIP is a Work in Progress.  Whenever I manage to post about WIPs on a Wednesday I hook up to Tami's link party, which you can find by clicking the button at the bottom of this post.  Involved in the link up are dozens of great crafters, all sharing their progress.  It is really inspiring and I've found lots of great ideas for future projects, by looking at the other posters' blogs.

To start off with, I have managed to finish the body of my Austin Hoodie.  I have even managed to block it, as instructed in the pattern.

It always amazes me how much of a difference blocking makes.  The next stage is now to join the shoulders together using three needle bind off, and then knit the sleeves in the round.  This really is a very interesting pattern and I am enjoying it very much.

I have stalled a little on my hoodie project because I have cast on some of the Kidsilk Haze, I received.  I decided to knit the Modern Quilt Wrap by Mags Kandis.  I originally fell in love with this pattern a long time ago but knew I could never afford to make this lovely item.  It uses 9 different colours of Kidsilk Haze!!!!  If you know anything about yarn, then you know how much that would cost to buy.  I couldn't justify spending that kind of money for any kind of knit, let alone a wrap.

Recently, Susan Crowe shared her version, which made the project fresh in my mind for when I got my enormous bag of yarn. When I got this generous gift, I knew I wanted to make something really special, rather than lots of smaller projects.  I wanted to make something as a kind of tribute to the knitter who had left this yarn behind.  I looked at the colours I had, and knew that if I just added a couple of extra colours I could make a really lovely version of this pattern.  I bought a couple of extra colours, a lime green and a teal, which meant that I have these 9 colours to use.

They aren't the colours I would have chosen, if starting from scratch, but I think they will work ok.

I cast on this project fairly quickly, after buying the yarn, and I have really enjoyed starting this project.  I have decided that weaving in the ends, as I go, is a very good idea.  I used this tutorial and it seems to be working ok.  I have left the ends trailing so that when I block it, they don't get pulled out.  After blocking the wrap, I will cut all the tails off.  Until I do cut the ends, they are beginning to look like strands of multicoloured hair, as you can see from the photos!

I have managed to finish the first row of blocks, and have started on the next row.

I apologise for the photos.  The light wasn't very good this morning, so the shots have been tweaked to within an inch of their lives, in order to get anything vaguely resembling the actual colours.

The wrap is made up of two types of block, one is large:

and the other is a block made up of four smaller ones:

All the striping in the blocks are different, so the colour changes keep you interested in what could be quite a dull knit.  Well, it would be dull if I weren't using such lovely yarn.  It feels like a soft cloud of gorgeousness!

This knit will probably be quite a long term project, but it will be nice to pick it up and do a bit of a colour, here and there as a treat.

I've also been chugging away at my Noro Ripple Scarf.

I have now nearly finished the first skein, so I'm halfway there.

I do love how the yarn has unwound and formed really nice stripes.  This is another long term project, that I pull out and do a few rows here and there.  I think it's nice to have a few long term projects on the go, that have no deadlines on them.  Though, I admit, as it gets colder, I will probably be knitting more on both my wrap and my ripple scarf so I can snuggle up in them when I'm out on my scooter.

It always amazes me how much the cooler weather makes me knit so much faster.  I think it is the pressing need to be wearing as much wool as possible!