Pransellknit

Before indulging in a Japan roundup post, I should mention how I went in the recent Ravelympics. Sad to say, I didn’t complete my project. This wasn’t much of a surprise, as the only real knitting time I thought I would have during the Olympics was on the plane to Japan and a couple of longer train rides. What did surprise me was how little I achieved.

I made a mistake early on, and even the smallest mistake with Henry, unless caught very early, means a whole lot of ripping back. My enthusiasm drained pretty quickly at that point. On top of that, it appears I misunderstood the rules for taking knitting needles on international flights. Soon after takeoff, I was told knitting on the plane was not allowed as the change to the prohibited item list only applied to domestic flights. This didn’t seem right to me, as I’d heard of others knitting on international flights departing from Australia without issue, but thought it best not to argue.

So yes, my Ravelympics effort was a bit of a washout. That’s perfectly all right though, Henry will now be my project for the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show. Given that’s still months away, it’s a much more relaxed goal and should (!!) be easily achievable.

Despite my previous claim about not having much time for knitting over the past couple of weeks, a little bit of knitting did occur; enough to finish off this fellow:

Elijah by Ysolda Teague
Approximately 100 grams of Lincraft Balmoral Tweed
Black embroidery thread
3.25mm double pointed needles
Started: February 2010
Finished: February 2010
Ravelryed: here

He was made as a thank you gift to our wonderful hosts in Tokyo. He was mostly done before we left, but his eyes and ears were finished while away. The only differences between this Elijah and previous Elijahs were slightly larger needles, accommodating for the slightly heavier yarn used (a 10 ply was used this time rather than the 8 ply used previously). I also used a little bit less stuffing, which makes him a bit easier to pose.

As this is the third time I’ve made Elijah, it’s hard to say whether this is now the end of my Elijah career. It would be good to try different patterns for toys as gifts, but at the same time it’s hard to go past him as he’s a fun and interesting pattern to knit, with such cute results.

There aren’t too many major things to report from round here, so here’s a highlights reel of the minor things I did today.

Baking

Bara Brith via Taste
Mods: omitted the mixed peel, increased the sultanas to a heaped cup, used cinnamon, cardamon and nutmeg rather than mixed spice, used Nuttelex rather than butter (didn’t have butter on hand and was impatient to make the bread), and halved the amount of honey glaze.

The bread looks great (even if I do say so myself) and tastes just as good. Next time I’ll use even less honey on top of the loaf as it’s quite sticky.

In making this bread, it became clear that that bread making and knitting are complementary activities. The long proving and baking times allowed me to get quite a bit of knitting done. Admittedly, I could have been washing dishes as I went, but knitting beats doing the dishes every time.

Sewing

Pincushion (PDF) by Fiona Lech

My goal of properly learning how to sew this year began in earnest today, finishing a project started at Brown Owls last year. It turned out a bit wonky, both in terms of sewing the two circles of fabric together and spacing the red threads to form the pin cushion segments.

Despite its homely appearance, it’s still completely usable and the buttons used on either side match nicely. This project sits firmly in the ’should have gotten round to this ages ago’ camp, so I’m really happy it’s finished. Now, to find some suitably pretty pins to go with it!

Knitting

Somerset by Melissa Werhle

Not so much knitting, but blocking. This project was started in December and is now nearly finished, but hasn’t been mentioned on here until now. It’s not a project that is meant to be kept secret, nor am I unhappy with it (far from it actually), I just haven’t gotten round to posting anything about it until now.

The yarn I’m using is Cleckheaton Angora Supreme, a yarn discontinued around five years ago. While it’s a lovely warm, soft yarn, it likes to spread the angora love around a bit. Even while pinning it out, quite a few whisps of angora stuck to the mat. Black clothes should be avoided when wearing this, I think.

So there is my scatty, yet productive, Sunday. It felt like I was hopping from project to project with rapid pace throughout the day, but the products of my stop-start labour are quite pleasing. If only all weekends could be so fruitful!

The first finished object for this year, with photos taken with the first of this season’s tomato crop during the first heatwave for the year.

Herringbone Mittens with Poms (PDF) by Elli Stubenrauch
Scraps of Malabrigo Worsted, American Beauty and Lincraft Balmoral Tweed, fawny colour
3.75 mm and 4.00mm needles
Started: December 2009
Finished: January 2010
Modifcations: lengthened hand and thumb sections, left off the pompom
Ravelryed here

To anyone who saw the photos being taken today, they must have wondered what on earth that girl was doing, wearing mittens and toting tomatoes when it’s hot outside. These photos make up for any slippage in our standing around the neighbourhood, right?

Given the weather, it might be surprising to know these mittens were borne out of necessity. It seems I don’t have that much in the way of proper winter clothes, an issue that will become most apparent when we’re in Japan next month (!!!). The mittens, while not solving all the winter wardrobe deficiencies, will hopefully keep the winter chill off my fingers somewhat.

It pleases me greatly that the mittens were made from yarn left over from other projects. I was concerned about whether I’d have enough yarn for the mittens, and whether the yarns would go together, but both concerns were completely ill-founded. There is still some Malabrigo left, and the yarns worked up together really well. Using the Malabrigo at the edge of the cuff might not have been the wisest choice, as I suspect it’ll pill or even felt a bit.

There’s been a noticeable slow down in knitting on account of the warmer weather. So much so that it took a concerted effort to get the thumbs finished and ends woven in and I’ve been contemplating doing some sewing instead of knitting. The horror!

These are the small diversions I was referring to last post.

Tiny Shoes by Ysolda Teague
Scraps of 8ply Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury, Cream
3.25mm double pointed needles
Started: November 2009
Finished: November 2009
Ravelryed here

A friend just had a little girl, and I’ve been wanting to try this pattern for a little while. Quite fortuitous really.

I initially started with Grignasco Bambi, but was concerned they were coming out a bit floppy. So, I upped the yarn to 8 ply Luxury and the needles to 3.5 mm. Although the end result is a lot more structured than my 4 ply attempt, it’ll be a while before they fit. It pains me a little that the colour of the button doesn’t quite match the colour of the bootee, but as soon as I spied the buttons at the shop, I knew they were going to be the ones for this project.

I’m now building quite a collection of projects made from Ysolda Teague’s patterns, I think this is the sixth pattern of hers I’ve used. Beyond the look of the finished objects, I always learn something new about construction and find her patterns pretty clear and well written. In fact, there’s only two instances where I’ve struck trouble; the top button hole of Liesl (a fix for that exact problem was sent out this morning, as luck would have it) and the cast on for Elijah (required a bit of mental and physical gymnastics to get it to work, but the effort is worth it). I guess some would argue that these are two issues too many, but in both instances they made me think about how I knit in a different way, and not in an angry ‘I hate knitting’ way, which I think is a positive thing.

After many years, many mistakes, many stints in the naughty corner and much procrastination, Matt’s Suave Sweater is done. It’s a big mixture of relief that it’s done and that it fits well, and sadness.

“Jumper” (seriously, that’s what it’s called) from Patons Bluebell pattern book 353, Suave Sweaters (circa 1970s)
5 ply olive green crepe from the magical and slightly mystical Bendigo Woollen Mills Bargain Room
3mm needles
Started: Some time during 2005
Finished: November 2009
Ravelryed here

If only I used Bluebell, this project could have been completed a lot quicker and with a lot less tears. However, I thought it would be a good substitute and was determined to make it work.

As I was finishing it off, I thought about all the things that have happened while it’s been in my knitting basket. I remember working on it while on the tram coming home from the last time I saw Matt’s dad before he died. I remember it being one of the ’special’ projects that came with us when we overloaded my little car and made our way up the Hume nearly three years ago (but strangely, it was trusted with the removalists on our return. It must have been in the naughty corner at the time). I don’t think there’s been a project that has carried so many memories, but this may be purely because of the length of time it took to finish it.

Being a pretty plain diagonal rib jumper, it’s probably an unremarkable project to everyone but me, but I’m really proud of it. I worked through the gauge issues, the sleeve cap issues and the ‘losing the pattern’ issues (thank you to Australian Country Spinners for helping me out there) without ever thinking about giving up. Best of all, it fits and he likes it a lot.

The only concern I have is the sleeves. Does anyone else think it looks a bit strange at the shoulder? The amount of staring at the sleeve cap may have warped my perception but it doesn’t look quite right, a bit lumpy and baggy. Having said all that it’s unlikely that I’ll unpick it, it can just be a charming character flaw.

Now that it’s done, there’s one small diversion to deal with and then a new project can be started. I’ve been fawning over the yarn and pattern for the last couple of weeks when the end was in sight, so it will be most pleasing to get a start on it.

Overzealous yarn overs have been conquered, Hap is now finished!

Hap Blanket by Ysolda Teague
1.75 skeins Countrywide 12 ply light grey, 0.75 skein Countrywide 12 ply dark grey
9mm needles
Started: September 2009
Finished: November 2009
Ravelryed here

As predicted, the hot days have started so it’s unlikely Hap will be used for quite some time. Having said that, I do live in a city where I once got sunburnt and hailed on in the same day in December some years ago. The blanket did get a quick test run, and it’s very warm and surprisingly large.

I was hopeful that this would be one of two Haps with this yarn; this one, and another with the colours reversed. Unfortunately I underestimated the amount of yarn required for the border. As I haven’t seen this yarn elsewhere (one of the few drawbacks of picking up yarn at op shops), only one Hap will be made with this yarn.

The border was pretty arduous, even with 9mm needles. The rows are long, and one small mistake can take a long time to frog and fix. There’s no denying though that the border makes the blanket, so the slight tedium is worth it.

Now that the days are getting longer and daylight savings has started, this year’s cold days are most definitely numbered. Despite this, I have started work on Hap Blanket by Ysolda Teague.

The yarn was an op shop find from 2007, and I had no plans for it until the pattern was released earlier this year. Since then, it’s been burning a hole in my stash.

So far they seem to be a perfect match. The natural-coloured yarn works well with chunky garter stitch, and the dark grey stripe matches the light fawny grey nicely. It’s also lovely and warm.

Although the blanket will be lucky to get any use at all this year, I’m sure it’ll get a decent work out next year.

A little bit of knitting on the train, a little bit of knitting during lunch breaks, and before I knew it, this scarf was done.

Gathered Scarf by Maryse Roudier
1 skein Collinette Jitterbug, Velvet Plum
3.5mm and 4.5mm needles
Started: September 2009
Finished: September 2009
Modifications: started with garter stitch rather than stockingette, and worked over 46 stitches rather than 48
Ravelryed here

All up this took 3 weeks at most, which is quite surprising given the yarn and needle size. I highly recommend it as a commute knit, even with the needle changes, as the easily-remembered pattern makes it a good ‘pick up, put down’ project.

While purple isn’t my colour (the scarf is intended for someone else), Velvet Plum has made me fall for semi solids. I doubt I’d ever use semi solids for a larger item of clothing, like a jumper, but in small doses I think it’s terrific. Particularly with this pattern, the variation in colour works in well with the gathered stripes.

Unfortunately I’m now at a loose end, commute knit-wise. None of my current projects are really suitable for commute knitting, yet I’m reluctant to start another. Quite the conundrum.

This blog had an unintentional break in transmission, largely due to the lack of writing material. I have been knitting, but they are projects that I can’t quite blog about just yet. In the meantime, I thought I’d break up the radio silence with a story about my next (bloggable) project.

This project was started in 2005, after finding the pattern in a local op shop. The title of the pattern book is Suave Sweaters. Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced the pattern book, but if you think along the lines of ‘Men’s jumpers from the 70s, vacuumed sealed onto the model’, you’re in the ball park. Within this gem of a book, was a nice diagonal rib jumper that I thought would look good on Matt, in a non vacuum sealed form.

So off I went, and in my usual slow and steady pace, finished all parts of the jumper by 2006 (admittedly it was a 5ply pattern, using 3mm needles). As I was seaming it up, I got Matt to try it on, and it was HUGE. The sleeves were more like drop, rather than set in, sleeves, and you could reasonably fit 1.5 Matts in the body.

Down, but not out, I frogged it all and started again. The second time round it took me a bit longer due to a slight lack of interest and the gauge conversions to get the parts right. Being slightly wiser, the parts were measured against Matt at regular intervals and everything seemed to be going swimmingly. Until seaming.

I had managed to screw up the conversion at the armscye, so the sleeve caps were waaaaaay too small. Slightly more forlorn than the first time, the suave sweater sat in my pile of ‘to do’ knits for another year or so. Now I think I’m ready to tackle it again.

I have a handy dandy calculator in hand and a little bit more knitting experience under my belt. Hopefully it’ll be third time lucky.

Does this make me a process knitter? Or just stubborn (or foolish)?

It has only been one event that caused this no good, very bad week, but it has caused enough upset in the Pransell household that it’s spoiled the whole week. However, I was determined to get something finished, to feel like something good and productive has come out of the last seven days. While it is unblocked, I feel that I’ve gone some way to achieving that.

Baktus Scarf (lace version) by Tehri Montonen (original pattern by Strikkelise)
75g Knittery 4ply merino (have lost the label, and can’t remember the colourway sorry!)
3mm needles
Started: July 2009
Finished: August 2009

This project was borne out of a need (or want, more like) to work on something simple while we moved and for my commute to work (my poor bikes are sadly neglected in our new location). It worked well in those circumstances as the pattern was easy to remember after a couple of repeats and the project itself was quite compact.

Prior to making Baktus, I was absolutely convinced that variegated yarns and shawls were not for me. In fact, this yarn was not far away from being offered up for destash. Now I think there are exceptions to the rule. I don’t Baktus is something that will become a wardrobe staple for me, but I do think it will work well as a ‘transitional weather’ piece.

Looking at it now it’s off the needles, it does seem a little short. I don’t intend to wear it over my shoulders, just as a neckerchief, but a good blocking should be able to sort the shortness out somewhat.