FO: Another pair of Daves

Apologies for the radio silence... Work got busy and home has been busy too. There simply aren't enough hours in the day sometimes! Anyway, I figured it was better to knit and have something to blog about when my time was less limited, than to try to write, but have no material!

Here are the next pair of Daves:

This is a pair of Dave socks, from Rachel Coopey's latest book, Coop Knits Socks volume 2. I've made them from a lovely skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight, which Rachel gifted to me a while back. They are the most incredible shade of zingy lime green, with shots of blue, teal and purple. I may never take them off.

This truly may well be the year of the Daves... I already have yarn wound ready for the next pair! This time it's some beautiful Lorna's Laces that another friend gave me for Christmas last year.

There's something about the gentle simplicity of Daves - the perfect soothing project. Thanks Rachel!

WIP: Everybody needs a Dave

I believe that I've written a few times about how much I love knitting plain socks. They are the perfect portable project, and don't require too much concentration when you're low on energy. Rachel Coopey's new book, CoopKnits Socks Volume 2 contains a plain sock pattern called Dave. I love the name Dave. One day I'd like to have a cat called Dave!

I'm really enjoying my second pair of Dave socks. They have a lovely deep ribbed cuff, and a slipstitch heel flap. I'm using a skein of Socks that Rock Lightweight in a great zingy lime green, with flashes of teal and purple. It's a mill ends skein and there are a couple of broken sections - perfect for contrast toes on another sock perhaps...

I'm trying hard to maintain my monogamy on this project, but another POP! Cardigan is biting hard on its heels as I need to have it done before a week on Friday. There's probably time to finish the socks first, but the little voice in my head would like to get going on the cardigan just in case!

FO: POP! Cardigan

See?! I'm steaming through these projects, finishing things left, right and centre!!

This is a teeny tiny 3-6 month old baby cardi, which I've knitted for the first child of a very old friend. One of those friends we played in the road with as kids. We've not been in touch that much of late, but a little one arrived at just the right point in my knitting, and this cute little cardigan just sort of slipped off my needles!

The design is the POP! cardigan by Rachel Atkinson (aka Knittingtastic), and I've made mine using just two 50g balls of King Cole Merino Blend DK. The yarn is just lovely - affordable, soft, and pleasingly rounded. It is a great match to this pattern - the superwash-ness is perfect for a baby cardigan, and the stitch definition is fantastic in the garter stitch yoke and edgings. And did I mention before, it knitted up REALLY quickly?!

I had spotted these lovely red rocket buttons on the Textile Garden Instagram feed a few days before I finished the cardi, so I was delighted to realise that they were exhibiting at Unravel. I have visited Unravel 3 times now, and it's a really lovely yarn show. There was so much inspiration to be had! Not to mention all the lovely people I bumped into. But that's for another post...

As well as being super-cute, these buttons were particularly perfect for this cardigan, as the rockets remind me of the Tintin story, Destination Moon, a book I'm fairly sure my friend enjoyed as a kid. The rockets are perhaps more similar to the Wallace and Gromit rocket from A Grand Day Out, or maybe they are a hybrid between the two... My memory is going hazy...

If you know someone who's expecting, then I'd highly recommend this little cardigan. It's a fun knit!

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the POP! Cardigan for free, after I provided Rachel with a picture of my favourite Christmas bauble. I also work with Rachel from time to time. It's still a great pattern, and I would happily have paid for it.

FO: Wee Levenwick

This monogamy thing is magic!

I finished off my Wee Levenwick cardigan last week, and it sat for a few days without buttons, as I had a feeling that I would find the perfect match at Unravel. Wee Levenwick is a kids' version of Levenwick, both designs for Brooklyn Tweed by Gudrun Johnston. I've had the great pleasure of working for Gudrun a few times, and I love her pattern writing, and design aesthetic.

This cardigan was lovely to knit. It's worked from the top down, and I just flew through it (once I'd cast off the other bits I had been working on). The New Lanark Aran was just as lovely to knit with as ever - I've got a ball or two over, which I have a plan for as well...

I noticed as I sewed on the final buttons that I'd done the pocket the wrong way round. The main part of the pocket should be reverse stocking stitch, whereas I've done it in stocking stitch. Hey ho. One of those things that makes my project unique - the joy of handmade. :)

As I expected, the Textile Garden stand at Unravel was pure button heaven. I found buttons for this project, as well as for another little cardi, which I'll show you tomorrow. And I may also have stashed a few more button sets, while I was at it!

FO: Alva Sweater

So far this monogamous thing is really working for me! In the space of just 4 days, I knitted a kids sweater. From start to finish. In just 4 days! Here I am having cast on on Thursday evening...

A kind friend sent me two balls of the lovely deep blue Alafoss Lopi, as well as a ball of Orange in the same yarn. I had been skimming through Ravelry looking for projects using just a small amount of this yarn. I wasn't too keen to make a hat (I have far more of those than I need!), and I stumbled upon this beautiful project: Purpurschnecke's Justus I loved the colours she had used and could quickly see that all I would need was a ball of cream Alafoss Lopi. I downloaded the free pattern (Alva by Maria Vangen), ordered the extra ball of yarn from Meadow Yarn (great service) and set straight to work.

By Saturday morning, I had a body, and I was well on the way to two sleeves!

Lopi knits up far more quickly than sock yarn... who knew?! Well I did of course! But it's been such a long time since I knitted anything more chunky than socks, that it was a lovely surprise. When I started knitting, I quickly learned that knitting would be a very expensive hobby if I didn't switch to finer yarns. So for many years I have mostly knitted with 4ply. But since the kids arrived, my knitting time has been drastically cut, so I can now indulge in some chunkier knits without bankrupting myself, and it's proving very satisfying!

Here's the sweater blocking on Sunday evening, after a pleasant day of knitting at a chess tournament! 

And last night I finished it off with a "Hand knitted with love" label. I embarked on this project without a definite recipient in mind. The pattern was only in one size - for a 3 year old - and thus too small for any of our kids. It was just something I had to make. It was the perfect project and yarn combination and I was powerless to resist! I think I've found its owner, but we need to try it on.

In the meantime, I'm working hard on the next kids jumper. I'm still surprised at how quickly it's going!

FOs: Snawheid and Dave socks (and notes on knitworthiness)

When you just knit on one thing, it's amazing how much more quickly you finish it! I managed to churn out the plain socks in just over 3 weeks. That's far more impressive than the 6 months it took me to make my Betula socks - simply down to polygamy of projects...

Here they are, blocking on my steel sock blockers (I got mine from Loop), and hanging on the curtain rail in the living room. I used the Dave sock pattern from Rachel Coopey's new book, Coop Knits Socks vol 2. I will tell you more about the book in a future post, as I had the pleasure of editing it, hence the head start on knitting from the pattern.

You may remember that I was knitting these for a very special teacher. And actually, they aren't the only thing I've knitted for this teacher. Just before Christmas I knitted up a Snawheid (by Kate Davies) for her as well. Here's a picture of it blocking, before I added a fluffy TOFT alpaca pompom to it:

I regularly get asked to knit things for people, and I almost always say no. I tend to explain that knitting is like sex - if I love you it's free, but if I don't there's no amount you could pay me to do it!

So how is it that this teacher has ended up with two lovely projects in such a short space of time? Well, she has gone above and beyond, and repeatedly proved herself to be thoroughly knitworthy. How did she do that? First up, she didn't ask. I wanted to make something for her, and we chatted about what she might like (I threatened to knit something hideous if she didn't provide some pointers!!). She was very respectful of the amount of time it takes to knit a gift. Many people assume that it's quick. It really isn't (as I'm sure most of you know!). She has been a very important person to our family. She helped me to grow in confidence as a parent, and she goes above and beyond to ensure that our kids are as happy as possible at school. We really couldn't have asked for a better teacher, and as such I wanted to thank her in the most meaningful way I could. I don't know of a better way that this. As a knit recipient she has also aced it on all levels - I see her wearing them. Daft I know, but I get a sense of loss when I give away a project I've enjoyed making. I don't expect people to wear things I've made when we're meeting up, just to prove they wear them, but it is lovely to see those projects again, and to know they are being enjoyed (and not languishing in a drawer waiting for BEST).

So there we go. Two projects in just a few months for a really special teacher. Who do you knit for? And why?

The monotony of monogamy

It's not very interesting to blog about really. I'm being monogamous. I'm talking about my relationship with my knitting of course... I've cleared the decks and I'm focussing on one thing at a time.

Just now I'm working on the plain vanilla socks for the most knitworthy teacher I've ever met. And I'm just knitting on the socks.

It makes for deathly dull blogging, but really, it's exactly what I need. Nothing too exciting. Just churning through the sections. Cuff done. Tick. Leg done. Tick. Heel flap done. Tick.

I'm on to the second sock now, and working through the gusset decreases. It won't be long before I catch a glimpse of the end. The grafting together of the toe stitches. The sweet joy of another finished project, and then the delight of the next one.

Like I said. Not very interesting, but it's providing me with the soothing rhythm I need right now.

FO: Betula Socks

This lovely Betula Sock design by Rachel Coopey had been in my queue for ages, and I finally cast on last summer. My intention was to make them as part of Rachel's Summer of Socks knitalong. HA! Life had a way of biting plans like that in the bottom around that time. So I didn't eventually finish these until 3rd January, which was more approapriate for the Winter Sock KAL, but never mind...

I used some fabulous Sheila's Sock from Fyberspates, that I received in a sock club back in 2011 (how things linger, waiting for that perfect project!). Sadly, Jeni's not doing hand-dyed yarn these days, so if you want something similar, you'll need to use her Vivacious 4ply, which knits up quite similarly.

The stitch pattern Rachel has used makes these socks satisfying to knit - the ribs line up so that you know you're in the right place. The bobbly bits make it one of those just one more repeat projects, so when I was actually knitting on them, they seemed to fly off my needles at quite a pace.

If you want any more technical details about my project, head over to Ravelry, where the project is logged: JenACKnitwear's Betula Socks

FO: Scatness Hat

I'm aiming to catch up with myself a little. There's been a fair bit of knitting happening, but much of it has been uncatalogued here on the blog, which I'd like to rectify!

First up is my Scatness Tam.

As you can see from the photo, I finished this last summer, but I wasn't overly excited by the photos, so I put off blogging about it. Now that I'm in a New Year frenzy of catching up with myself, I've taken a few flat photos, and I'm calling it done. I really enjoyed knitting this. I realised / remembered that I absolutely love Fair Isle designs. There's something about the rhythm of them that is a complete joy to me.

I used Kate's colours, straight from Colours of Shetland (where you will find this and many other beautiful designs), apart from forgetting to use the brighter white shade in the centre of the main Fair Isle band. Doh!

I'm really pleased with the finished hat, which hasn't yet decided who it wants to live with. My knits tend to tell me these things, but Scatness hasn't yet spoken!

I'd highly recommend both the pattern and the yarn (J&S 2 ply Jumper Weight) - they were a symphony of perfection! :)

When Knitting Attacks!

Do you listen to podcasts? I used to listen to quite a few, but these days I only manage to keep up with a couple. I religiously listen to The Archers omnibus podcast after it's released on a Sunday (yes, I am old before my time...), and I more or less manage to keep up with The Knitmore Girls podcast, which is a knitting podcast presented by the mother-daughter team of Gigi and Jasmin. The Knitmore Girls is a polished production. They have a selection of different segments in each episode, and I really enjoy listening to what they've been up to - usually a selection of knitting, spinning and sewing. So, why am I wittering on about podcasts? Well, one of the segments they regularly feature is called "When Knitting Attacks!" And that is pretty much how my knitting has been for the last week!

I think that it was the Yarn Harlot who once said that experienced knitters don't stop making mistakes, they just make bigger mistakes more quickly! That's certainly how it feels this week.

First up are my Conina Socks. A beautiful pattern from my great friend Rachel Coopey. It's been pretty near the top of my queue ever since she released it in August 2012, and I've finally wound up some Fyberspates Sheila's Sock and cast it on.

It's a fantastic design, and very clearly written. There's no issue with either the pattern or the yarn; the error was entirely mine. I have been knitting happily from charts, almost since I first picked up my needles, with no problem at all. And for some reason, last week, I managed to start working from the top line of the chart, and worked down 12 rounds before I realised that I was working the wrong way through the chart. To make matters worse, I was also questioning in every round why the pattern in the panel wasn't matching up the way I was anticipating. The knitting wasn't making any sense to me, and yet I still managed to knit 12 rounds of the chart, before I realised my error and frogged it. I feel like it's some kind of testament to my faith in Rachel that I continued to knit, assuming that she knew what she was doing, all the while knowing that it was squiffy, before I stopped and thought about what was happening. Well and truly attacked by my knitting.

The photo above is of my reknitted sock, now happily starting from row 1 at the bottom of the chart, and lo and behold, everything lines up properly! Strange that!

My next tale of woe relates to my Scatness Tam (by Kate Davies, from Colours of Shetland). This seems to grow really quickly whenever I pick it up! But because of the number of balls of yarn, it just doesn't get picked up as often as I would like. Most of my knitting time is on the hoof - in the car, a few minutes in the playground, an hour at my knitting group on Tuesdays - and so small portable projects get worked on more often.

Anyway, I'm now on to the crown part of the pattern, and I was looking through my bag of yarn, and I noticed a ball of shade 1A (a just slightly off-white). "That's funny", I thought. "I wonder when I'll be using that?" And I peered at my draft-quality printed-out chart. It turns out that the centre of the main pattern panel should have shade 1A as the background shade, rather than the more oatmealy shade 202. Whoops! It doesn't bother me enough to reknit it, but slightly irritating, since Kate's original shade combinations are stunning. That brighter background in the centre of the main motif definitely would have added a zing to the hat. Hey ho! Life's too short. :D I shall amend the settings on my printer before I next print out a colourwork chart. It is, after all, perfectly clear on the chart in the book.

What a numpty!

Happily, my Blue Tit socks made their way off my needles without any hiccups, and my sock project bag is now empty, awaiting the arrival of some World Cup themed sock yarn from Rachel. Yes, I've got arm-twisted in to joining in with #WorldCupSocks by a pincer action from Rachel Coopey and Rachel Atkinson (follow that link to read more about #WorldCupSocks).

Now, I can't go too far wrong on plain socks... can I?!