Massive photo/progress/stash pics post!

Ok, here goes.. tonnes and tonnes of photos for your perusal, including recent WIPs, progress, new stash, new needles, arty close ups of new stash, and the beginnings of my Forest Canopy....


First off the needles was this - it's a wall hanging for Grandma, which has three crosses on. However as you can see, the yarn doesn't show up the pattern that well. The pattern's in garter stitch, but if I did it again I'd do it in reverse stocking stitch which would be tighter and show up better.


So... I embroidered a border on it, using glittery turquoise thread... as you can see, the results were much better. the yarn used is Lana Grossa (both the LYS and craft shop sell lots of Lana Grossa so I'm very lucky as they do some wonderful yarns). It's cotton with little shiny bobbles (like tiny wee pearls). The Lavender is draped for effect :p

Next! Sirdar YoYo jacket... this is taking along time as it's my in between project and is my first big garment. Also I find the yarn difficult, as it sticks to the needles, no matter how slippy the needles are. It's worth it though, I think the colour change is very effective. I just have two big ribbed borders to do (the sleever are folded under the body there). so that's going to suck my will to live!

Next up, my Mud Flap Girl Tank Top from SnB Nation. This is a great pattern, it's my first intarsia, first close fitting garment, and the first and last time I stupidly edit the pattern on one side but not the other. Hence the front is 4 inches longer than the back, and I will have to pick up and lengthen it. But apart from that I am very happy with my first Intarsia attempt!

Above you can see how I kept track of where I was - I used masking tape, as it doesn't damage the pages when you rip it off.

She needs her nose adding (half duplicate stitch?) which I'll do last no doubt! But I am happy with her.

Next is a pretty picture of the Lana Grossa Luxor that I'm using for my Forest Canopy (which you can see at the bottom of this post). It's beautiful yarn, 50& merino, 50% polyamide. It's warm and wooly but the fake stuff gives it a lovely silvery shimmer. Mmmmmm!

Ok next up some MORE stash enhancement! These are my beautiful Drops needles which have rapidly become top of the favourites list along with a couple of other pairs which I love. They are made from sturdy plastic, and are a variety of colours, however they are hard to get hold of! :( I got purple DPNs, and green straights, and I have purple straights on the way :D They are perfect - slippy for ease of use, but not too slippy that it's easy to drop stitches. They are also as light as a feather. Honestly! It's like knitting with a hard piece of air! I love em!

I think knitting needles should be exciting as the knitting itself - why the hell not! I can see a needle collection coming on..

This is what I recieved from Angel Yarns last week. I'm enjoying reading Vogue, it's more fulfilling somehow than certain other mags that I won't name but are British. I'm looking forward to the rest of my order from them, which includes some beautiful yarn, and Interweave Knits mag - yey!

You might notice the Opal Sock started kit.. that's next on my to do list.

Twilley's Freedom pure wool, for a try at felting (small bag I think).. isn't it a stunner! -

Yesterday I somehow ended up in John Lewis in Aberdeen. I'm not sure how it happened but my debit card bought me lots of stuff - how kind of it!

Here you can see two lovely glass pendants which will probably sit on my desk for ages, then eventually become big heavy stitch markers which I'll admire rather than use.

Now I didn't intend to get any chunky yarn.. but the Wendy Fusion has caught my eye a few times. This time, like I said, my card happily bought it for me. So here is the gorgeous rich colours of Wendy Fusion...

There are two different balls there, one pink based, one purple based.

I also got some Rowan Tapestry. This is likely to become a lace shawl. The colours are lovely, and it feels so soft! It really is lovely stuff!

And finally, what I went for - laceweight. Rowan Kidsilk Night. I was going to get the really rich purple coloured Haze but the Night has a gentle sparkle in it - glamourous or what! I'm not going to attempt mohair lace yet, but will do at some point.

Sorry the photos aren't quite the quality for the last two pics - I got a shadow in! :(

And finally *phew* is the beginning of my forest Canopy being knitted on my Drops Needles. I am finding it really easy, and this morning did another pattern repeat som I'm on around 70ish stitches now.

So... if you read me all the way through - well done! I don't mind if people don't read really, I'm more about photographing the work and the yarns and the needles and stuff. But I think it's interesting to have progress reports and pics on because that's useful to anyone else who's using the same pattern or is interested in trying a pattern (and needles and yarn).

So I will soon update on Forest Canopy and my tank top - which I am going to sew up today and try on (it looks very big :s ). I have a tonne of uni work for Monday, so don't expect much progress or another update til after Monday! I'll just be snatching a few rows here and there. I also intend to post photos of my uni work (drawings and models) so you can see what it is that I do that I'm always moaning about!! It's creative - I study Architecture, so thought it's not knitting, it's still of interest (I think!!).

Ciao for now sorry it's such a big post!

New stash photos

Today I went on a wee shopping spree to my LYS. I bought a few nice yarns, they are really improving their stock in there, and I actually got a smile and a ceonversation out of the lady there! She asked if I was doing knitting for college, and I said if I could knit for my course I'd be the happiest girl alive, but unfortunately that's not the case!! She actually laughed as well! (Maybe because I spent over £20 in there for once!)

Anyway, I'll show you what I got...

First - Wendy Flake, in white and a variegated (sp?) blue, purple & pink. This is for cosy, snuggly hats.



Lana Grossa Hp no 31 - 100% cotton in a deep plum. This will be a shawl in the near future.

Lana Grossa Pallone, white, mostly cotton, with shiny bobbles that look like tiny pearls (these are the non-cotton content). It's looks quite pretty, and is going to be a wee wall hanging with three crosses on (see pics further down).

Lana Grossa (see a trend here??) hp no 31 in pink and white, 100% cotton (mercerised). This is also going to be a shawl or summer scarf.

Papillon Starlight, in purple. This is a sparkly yarn, it's 100% nylon (or something, not natural anyway). It's going to be knitted with a blue sparkly yarn, to create the motif on my Mud Flap Girl Tank Top. Which, by the way, I'm halfway through the front panel and will post photos when appropriate! (Hopefully soon!)

Here is me casting on for the wall hanging.

Pattern: http://www.knittingknonsense.com/3crossescloth.html

The crosses don't show up that well in white yarn. So I may give this to Mum, and knit a darker one for Grandma (it's her easter present - yes I know it's way past Easter now!!), or I may adapt the pattern, so that the crosses are actually in reverse stocking stitch rather than Garter stitch. Anyhow, we'll see.

I have already had to frog this once as my counting skills failed to make themselves known. I will post frogging pics tomorrow - it's my first real frog experience and went surprisingly well!

So, current WIPs are:

YoYo jacket (which is slow)

Mud Flap Girl Tank Top from SnB (all stocking stitch is getting slightly tedious now)

Three Crosses Hanging (I'm sure this could have been done in a couple of hours but never mind, it's a nice wee project)

I have a lot of uni work over the next week - I'm unreasonably expected to redo three months' work in one week for final review.. obviously thats' not going to happen but I will do as much as I can, so not much knitting will get done unfortunately (I will sacrifice lunch hour for knitting hour of course though).

However... I did lots of online S.E.X. today.. LOTS! So the postie should be very good to me this week and I will post photos of the lush goodies I'm expecting (I can't wait!). So watch this space!

Ciao for now :)

There's so much I want to learn!

Progress report:

Tank top - back panel finished, front panel about 4 inches in. Pics will follow.

YoYo Jacket - All pieces finished, now I need to sew up the body and add the 19cm border (all ribbed.. ugh!) all the way round. Then of course, sew the sleeves on. Being a jacket and all :p Again - pics will follow.

I get my loan through on Monday. This is an important time for me, because I can pay off a hefty amount of two of my overdrafts, and not only that but I can spend some money on my habit. I have a list of things I would love to get, these include yarn for felting (dying to try it), laceweight yarn ready for joining the Forest Canopy KAL (Knitalong), a swift, a ball winder, and Tess' book. Oh also I would like to get an Opal Sock starter kit.

So as you can see, there's not a lot I want!! :p A few of the things I'm dying to learn/try out are:

Felting,

Lace,

Socks,

Fair Isle.

There's zillions of patterns on my to-do list now. It resides in a special place in my diary and when I need inspiration I just look longingly at my list of knitting to do.

In other news - my shallots are all growing nicely. They are rather cute in a planty sort of way. They are under a light (we have no sun here), and whichever way I turn them they lean towards light! I don't know why but this endears me to them!

Ok I'll show you a pic of my tank top. It looks huge. That's because it needs to accomodate my spare tyre, but even so it looks bigger than the rest of my tops :s

It's sparkly yarn by the way, that's why it looks like it's covered in bits! Oh the straps are being saved on stitch holders so that when I finish the front panel I can do a three needle cast off. I really like this method of joining two pieces of knitting.

Ok and Next the sleeve for my jacket. You'll notice the mistake... I'm hoping when it's blocked and on me it won't be as noticeable! For the other sleeve I tried out a new 'advanced' technique of casting off, where you leave the st's on the needles instead of casting them off, and you end up with a smooth slope instead of stepped cast off slope. If that made any sense..! Anyway...

Doesn't it look messy? :( Once it's all done and blocked and that it hopefully won't be.

So, on Friday I'm going to Aberdeen for a medical appointment (I have to take pee in a bottle!! :O ) and then to John Lewis (YEY!) to get some knitular treats.. I can't wait!!

Oh I forgot to add that the front panel of this tank has intarsia on it and I've no idea how to do intarsia so it's going to be a sudden and steep learning curve when I get to it!! I'll update when I make any more progress!

Ciao for now!

Hmm

I don't have a lot to say to be honest. Apart from that I got a new blue linen skirt the other day and yesterday I wore it, got out the car and it fell down, showing my bum cheeks to all and sundry (was wearing a thong.. oops). Two elderly ladies glared at me, I was very humiliated, but secretly pleased because it means I'm slightly smaller than I used to be.

Knittingwise, I got the 18cm ribbed cuff of the YoYo Jacket done, and am on the increases up the arm now. The tank top is also 18cm done and I'm about to start the decreasing as I work up to the waist. Pictures will ensue very soon.

I am growing some shallots too, out of the seed packet so far 22 have sprouted in two days, and have been put into wee peat pots. I will post photos at some point of their progress (when there's something to see). I'm going to seed my sweet peppers very soon too, but want to get the shallots all sprouted first.

I'm off for some gaming action, and then some needle action.... ciao for now!

Guess What I Got Today!

Two things.. well a few but the two main things are...
Stitch n Bitch Knitters Handbook from a forum member - it's a great book and there's a few patterns I'll definitely be knitting!
Also I got.. Magic Knickers!! I'm overweight you see, and for some unknown medical reason cannot lose weight... so I have this annoying, flabbly, wobbly spare tyre which stays two paces ahead of me where ever I go, and even dances seperately to me when I dance. Soooooo in my desperation I pursuaded Mum to get me magic knickers and by golly, they really are magic!! I may even wear a summer dress for the first time in my life this summer! I'm definitely tempted to knit a dress now! :D
WIPs coming along slowly by the way. The tank top's about an inch long, and the sleeve of the YoYo jacket is about two inches long!

Seven finished WIPs

Seven finished WIPs for your perusal... The next post after this WILL contain some amount of text and not all photos. Mainly because my uni work (sat in front of me) is calling at me.. in fact it's shouting at me, it's just I've been ignoring it as much as possible. Well for two weeks. Maybe three. And now I only have two weeks left to do the darn stuff. (wish it was the yarn stuff! (Did you see that one coming? I nearly didn't))

Anyway, I did quite a bit today - well I designed a few rooves, modelled them, and then scrapped them, so in fact I'm really no further on.

But enough of that, lets get to the knitty gritty (ooh I'm quick tonigt)!

1. Experimental Hotbot Cover

Yarn - Wendy Pampas Mega Chunky in Storm (I think)

Needles - Metal 9mm

2. Stitch Markers (the skteleton is an ex earring!):

3. Earrings (one's slightly squinty):

4. Silk Tie

Yarn - Debbie Bliss

Pattern - http://www.knitwits-heaven.com/knitted_necktie.htm

Edits - Stocking Stitch throughout, rather than Garter Stitch.

5. Gnome for Step Dad (called Bertie)

Yarn - Various DK yarns

Pattern - From SK Christmas 2005

Here's the uncompromising position in which I had to wrap him:

Awww bless!

6. Wizard Gnome (called Casper) for fella

Yarn - Various DK Yarns

Pattern - From SK Christmas 2005

The thing he's holding is a wand by the way :p

7. Wee Angel for my Godmother.

Yarn - Cool Cotton Aran, with a glitter yarn (can't remember the name)

Pattern - http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h64/

Phew... so there you go! I did them all last week, I'm pretty happy with my progress (shame about the uni work)

Pictures!

Ok Here goes the photo post!
I'm still new to this so bear with me!

First of all chunky hat in Jaeger Natural Fleece (yummy):

Next - hat for my step dad (it's supposed to be a 'camo' hat):

Next up is Mildred the Highland Cow I knitted for my other half...

Sorry not a great photo there.

Ok next, look what happened to the beautiful skein of Debbie Bliss pure silk I got! :(

You See I'd never wound a skein into a ball before (can't you tell!)... so for the next skein I actually read how to do it before trying...

This is what I'm knitting with it.. It's a silk tie for my other half, as you can see it's going to need some serious blocking and I don't have long til he comes up to visit! (It's his birthday you see)

Please forgive me for the hideous light quality in a lot of these...

Look what I found today! He's an ex-keyring, now a stitch marker! Isn't he cute!

Now strictly speaking this isn't knitting, but look where I was sat yesterday!!

Isn't it beautiful? It's Magdalen Green outside our house, who needs a garden?? The smell of these was really potent too, it's just fantastic :D

More pics to come later or tomorrow - I made myself three stitch markers and a pair of earrings today, and I'm in the process of making up two gnomes, plus the tie is growing AND I've managed to do some uni work!

Hope you enjoy the piccies, Ciao for now :) Vik xx