Knitting: a baby blanket

A very special baby is due next month.

Knitting: baby hat and bootees

So. Someone I'm very fond of is pregnant. Once the screaming, squealing, and congratulating (and the three month mark - I'm superstitious) was past, I did what came naturally, and got out my knitting needles and some very brightly coloured yarn, knowing that this baby's parents won't want pastels.

Knitting: a finished snowdrop shawl

When I was in London in June I saw  Caroline, and could finally hand over her shawl. I've blogged about it before here and here, and actually finished it back in late May, but couldn't block it at the time because the spare room was such a mess I couldn't get the bed open. And also, I didn't want to blog about it before I gave it to her.

But when I eventually tidied up the spare room and did block it before travelling down, I forgot to take pictures. So Caroline very kindly took this one of the finished project for me:

I was really happy with the way it turned out, and the pattern was fun. I probably won't do another with a knitted-on edging, though, because picking up stitches for it was a complete nightmare, and when I got to the point, after several day's work, I wasn't at the point in the pattern repeat I should have been at. I had a choice of losing a great deal of work or... fudging it slightly. I'm afraid I went for the latter! At least with a edging that's knitted with the rest of the shawl you can read your pattern to see if you've gone wrong - that wasn't really possible with this one.

The pattern was Yarn Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl. There's a link to the pattern, and all the other details here. 

I'm now taking a mini rest from knitting, partly because it's summer, partly because I've finished a bunch of things I've promised people, and largely because I got not one, but three Emily Peacock tapestry kits for my birthday and I'm really enjoying making them. But that's a whole different post! However, there's enough beautiful yarn in my drawer, and fab patterns in my queue, to ensure I'll be back knitting again soon.

Knitting in progress: the shawl is nearly there!

I'm still working on this shawl (last blog post here).

In fact, I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the week.

It's still going well - I finished the main body without too many problems.

And the edging pattern itself is fairly simple - and one where any mistakes become apparent instantly, so can be fixed.

But before I could start on it I had to pick up and knit over 400 stitches from the edging - a process I hate when it's just 20 stitches, let alone twenty times twenty.

The only way I managed to do it even slightly evenly was by putting in stitch markers at regular intervals - I divided the edge into half again, and again, until I knew roughly 27 stitches had to go between each stitch marker. That made it much easier.

I must have gone wrong somewhere because when I approached the point I wasn't where I should have been in the pattern repeat, but I had enough warning to bodge it and make it work out!

Knitting in progress: snowdrop shawl

Nearly two years ago, in a cottage with an open fire and many open bottles of wine, I sat gossiping with three old friends while putting the finishing touches to the lace shawls I knitted for my bridesmaids.

It was a fabulous weekend - much gossip, booze, and I learnt to play backgammon. I also learnt that although I am capable of knitting lace when drunk, I must not attempt to fix mistakes in lace when drunk - a truly terrifying patch of unravelling yarn ensued at my first attempt, which I managed to put back together with steady nerves and a strong cup of tea the next morning.

Although none of the wonderful women present were my bridesmaids, for reasons of geography, and the impossibility of picking one and not all three, I realised that I wanted to make them shawls too, to celebrate their fabulousness.

Two decided they did want lace shawls. One decided that she'd never wear one and would rather have gauntlets. All three picked out their colours. I bought the yarn for the shawls while on honeymoon in Florence.

The gauntlets were made quickly, and then progress slowed. I stopped to make my Dad three pairs of socks for his sixtieth birthday - a process that took a while.

I then started work on the first shawl, picking the colour I'd never knitted with before -  a deep, dark blue. This was the result, finished a year after the wedding.

Then my mother's sixtieth started to approach. I promised her two shawls, got knitting, and these were the results - shawl one, in a fiery red/orange, and shawl two, in a thicker yarn, with grey and charcoal.

I got them finished on time - just. But then, after a lot of knitting for deadlines, I got fed up of big projects that would take a long time with deadlines attached, and started on small things, bootees, baby hats, tea cozies - oh, and one more deadline project, an enormous baby blanket.

Finally, as spring started, I was back in the mood for lace, for delicate yarn, and for taking time knitting something perfect for a friend.

So I cast on this about a month ago. It's The Yarn Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl in a deep red, a shade that always reminds me of the friend it's for.

The pattern is fun and quite simple and easy to memorise, and it's going quite fast.

I'm nearly there now - one pattern repeat from the end, although I know I'll want to do the knitted on edging which may take a while. All in all, I'm hopefully that it'll be finished, blocked and posted off (or better, given by hand) to the recipient by the second wedding anniversary, this June.

The recipient knows who she is, and knows full well it's coming (or she does now - I have a nasty feeling she thought I'd forgotten until I couldn't resist showing it to her in a pub last time we met).

So no harm in a sneak preview - although I can't wait until it's blocked, and you can see the pattern properly.

Tea operated? Time to get knitting.

If I'm completely honest, this blog should probably be called Tea Operated. While I do love gin - I'm writing this (in advance) with a g&t to hand - I frequently go days without having any. I don't know when I last went a day without a cup of tea. I have three types of gin in stock, and more than twenty types of tea.  I own two teapots.

You get the picture. I like tea.

But although I have two teapots, I didn't own anything to keep the tea in them warm. So the time came to get knitting.

This is the first, which I'm giving to my wee brother and his partner next time I see them, because he made the mistake of sounding enthusiastic when I offered to knit him a tea cozy.

Details of the pattern, yarn etc can be found on my Ravelry page here.


And this is the second, which I judged much too over the top to give to anyone else, but I love it.

You can see the pattern and yarn details here.

I modified both patterns slightly because I wasn't happy with the finishing - the first pattern was meant to come with a ribbon on top, the second with fewer, smaller flowers. I used the knitted version of the roses from here but only cast on 25 stitches, did 4 rows of ribbing, and 20 rows of the lines after that, to make smaller roses. I did this after knitting the central rose in the second tea cozy - I just thought it was too big for what I wanted, although it works quite well as the centre of a bouquet!

Knitting twenty roses for the two cozies, all in a row, did become tedious, and because I was putting it off, did take quite a long time. It also started to feel like a critique of modern society and crafting as a hobby - I was using a skill that had once been essential to keep people warm, a central part of life, to make decorative flowers for a tea cozy.

But when I finished the knitting and sewed them all together I stopped over thinking it and started cooing at how pretty they were.

Lunch and a little light shopping

On Saturday afternoon the Husband decided, entirely spontaneously*, that it was time take me out for lunch.

We went to Le Mouton Noir in Bruntsfield. This is the point where I have to admit I'm a bad blogger, because I'll confess I paid a lot more attention to the Husband than the lunch, so the following will have to be sparse on details and photos.

That's not to say the food wasn't fantastic. They've launched a lunch menu offering two course for £10, which is amazing value for the quality and atmosphere. We both had the same -  salmon tartar, with beetroot, and pernod soaked carrots with a lime crème fraiche to start, and pan roasted chicken supreme in mushroom, cream and tarragon sauce with roasted garlic mash. All even better than it sounds. And then a duo of crème brule - one lavender, one vanilla. Delicious!

Afterwards we headed back up the hill and called in to Morningside Makers Market. Despite the fact that it happens just a stone's throw from our flat every month, and I've so often seen the bunting and signs and longed to call in, I've always been too busy when it's on. There was a lovely range of stalls - although about half the exhibitors were selling jewellery - and plenty I'd have taken home with me if I'd been feeling flush or Christmas was coming.

But the stall that caught me - and the very first one I saw after coming through the door - was The Yarn Yard - and all my good intentions of just going for a look went out the door. The whole stall was piled with skeins of yarn in such vibrant colours, I must have picked up and petted a dozen skeins before I made my decision. I was quite proud of myself for only buying one skein of yarn. But it's a beauty - with tiny sparkly bits that the camera hasn't picked up. The second I saw it I could think of half a dozen people who would love a lace shawl made out of it. But right now, I can't imagine parting with it.

*Nothing to do with my perfectly observed impression of a screaming banshee the other day before. Of course not.

Sticks and string

Today's been an odd day in Edinburgh. It's now spring, the winter coat has been swapped for a mac and there's warmth in the air. But today there were leaden clouds and gusts of wind, and heavy air. It feels like a storm is coming, and the anticipation means I just can't settle. 

So rather than do the important but boring things I'd planned, I'm here, blogging. And - wait for it - it's going to be about knitting. 

I've been knitting on and off for years, but only progressed beyond scarves eighteen months ago. But since then I've got addicted. There's something soothing about the repeated actions, and the soft, beautifully coloured yarn. When I knit, I'm a perfectionist - no "that'll do", because I enjoy the process enough to rip it out and start again until it's right. And when what I do all day, while rewarding, interesting and sometimes even exciting, seldom gives me tangible results quickly, it soothes the soul to be able to point at an inch of even stitches and say "that's what I achieved today." Even more so to finish something beautiful, and know I made it.

More rewarding still, then, when I finish three projects within a month. So, here we have a boasting session. All links are to my project pages on Ravelry, where you can see more pictures and get the patterns - but you do have to have a login. But then, if you want to see lots of pictures of knitting, you should probably join anyway!

First of all, a shawl for a friend. Her birthday was in January and it's just finished, but in my defence she did only tell me what she wanted on Hogmanay.

Not the best picture in the world, possibly one of the worst, but you get the idea.

Then, armwarmers for me. A pattern I'd wanted to knit since I first saw Ravelry, and they go all the way to my elbow. Which for someone who seems to think wearing three quarter length sleeves in Edinburgh is a good idea, is quite exciting. I've been knitting these since Christmas, but they went on hiatus for the shawl.

And finally, a pair of experimental socks. Expermental, because they were my first "proper" pair, and I'm about to knit many, many more pairs. But more on that another time. Meanwhile, admire!