Knitting withdrawal symptoms

I was so very close to completing my bamboo skirt and suddenly between moving house (which was brilliant and exhausting at the same time) and busy work (unexpected at this time of year) I haven't actually been able to do any knitting for at least a month now!

I guess its not the end of the world, just feels very strange and feel like I might forget how if I leave it too long! haha just kidding.

I'm travelling at the moment, been in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday then Berlin yesterday and today, but very much looking forward to coming home to our new house and my fiancee - travelling for work is exciting to a certain point, but at the same time, nothing beats being at home with people who speak your language:)

And yes, I realise my promise to blog more has been broken, here's to an attempt at more regular blogging!

blogium for iPhone

Just testing out my blogger app on my phone-haven't really done much knitting lately been busy but hoping to finish my bamboo skirt soon!
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Posted from Blogium for iPhone

The importance of casting off LOOSELY

So, I wore my red camisole out for the first time yesterday to the Double Helix boat party and it was great! A couple of people commented on my top and when I told them I'd made it they were impressed (bonus!). But when I got home I hadn't realised how tight it had been at the top where I cast off and had rubbed a welt into my skin! It was quite sore the next day - confirmation that I need to undo and re-cast off (for a third time!!). I think this warning should be in the knitting pattern as I already undid it once before when I cast off normally and it was too tight to put on.

I also still need to darn the socks I made for my mum, I foolishly hoped that making a pair of merino/ cashmere socks devoid of nylon would last at least 6 months, but already they have holes in both heels. I've learnt my lesson and will only make socks with nylon in them or else buy a spool of nylon sewing thread and knit that into the yarn too...

It's a time of learning lessons the hard way! But in better news, I've nearly finished the Intolerable Cruelty skirt I'm knitting with bamboo soft from RYC - it's such a soft fabric and am very much looking forward to wearing it:)

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Red camisole finished at last

I start this camisole top (my first one) last March and completed the knitting part in July, but have taken until this morning to find and sew the ribbons on...so here it is!

Jury duty

I started jury service on Monday and didn't realise just how much waiting around is involved - but unexpected bonus: I can spend the whole time knitting and chatting to the other people there!

I've made loads of progress on the Herringbone jumper I'm working on, so on track to finish sometime in April. When people run out of conversation they start asking me about what I'm knitting and it's nice seeing how people are interested in it!

I'm feeling very tempted to buy more yarn as I haven't in a while, but with our recent purchase of a whole house :):) I'm needing to be more careful, but it's worth it! So once we're settled in I want to make something called a Luna Blanket which is really pretty squares of cream and black yarn with intarsia patterns.

Right, on with the jumper:)

Christmas is coming!

Wahoo! It's only 5 days until Christmas:) I had my last day at work on Friday (after an eventful Christmas party on Thursday) and am now relaxing on the sofa ready to get into some wonderful knitting.

We did secret santa at work and I got a brilliant present! I was given a 'Knit your own Piggies' kit from John Lewis:) Not many people from work know that I knit so I was very surprised!

For my December knit along (KAL) it's going really well, and I'm about a third of the way through the second sock - they look so pretty!

Roll on Christmas Day:)

Magazine arrival

I was randomly surfing through various people on Ravelry when I ended up reading someone's blog which aptly described a situation I didn't realise I, myself am guilty of. For some reason, I feel the need to have a photo to upload for each post, so each time I think about blogging I decide I can't be bothered to take some photos, plug into my computer, save the pics, and then upload into a blog. Thus, from today I will be a much more committed blogger as I generally have at least something interesting to say about my current project work (plus it gets it out of my system better than having to bore Lewis to tears describing the excitement of my latest cast-on project!)

So, my The Knitter magazine was waiting for me on the door mat when I got home this evening - I don't know why but it seems just so much more exciting to have this delivered than buying it straight from WH Smith's or somewhere. I have yet to open it and start reading through all the wonderful info, as I felt a blog was necessary (and long overdue).

I have recently cast on two new projects. The first one is called Bamburg by Judy Furlong, a pair of red and black gauntlet style gloves that I'm making for Lewis' mum for her birthday on January 7th, and the

second is a pair of Monkey socks by the infamous Cookie A, which are for the December KAL. This is the first time I've taken part in a KAL and I'm very excited! I think it's a great concept as it encourages you to try new patterns that you may not have had the courage to try, along with knowing that a fair few other people are also attempting the same challenge. It's like a virtual knitting group, as you can post pictures part way through and ask all sorts of ridiculous questions without feeling stupid! I cast on the Monkey socks using a skein of Persephone by Yarn D'amour in colourway Saucy...[que photo which was already saved on my comp] which I bought at the UK Ravelry day in Coventry earlier this year:

I've done the first 6 rounds of twisted rib and am loving how the colours are coming out!

I know it's going to be a challenge to finish the Monkey socks AND the Bamburg gloves all in about a month, but I figure with the Christmas holidays coming up I'll have plenty of time in amongst shopping and wrapping up presents to get these finished. Although I do have my doubts sometimes as it tends to take me about 2 weeks to finish one sock (on average) so I'll have to get some serious knitting commitment going!

The Bamburg gloves are so far proving to be the most complicated project I've ever tried - it starts with the wristband which looks like a twisted rope. This was my first attempt at an icord and I reckon I did a fairly ok job at it (after ripping back the first one which was on back to front). The pattern looks quite clever as you pick up stitches using the wristband and start knitting the hand part of the glove from there. So you don't have any skinny cast on or cast off edge, ingenious!

I'm also quite excited about making these gloves because I'm the first person on Ravelry to have posted the project - it was published in last month's The Knitter (issue #12).

Ooh! In other news, this was quite cool I think - I posted a thread on Ravelry asking how many beads approximately you would get in 100g of size SB7 embroidery beads. When know one replied (which is odd) I thought there was no way of knowing. Now the reason I was asking about the beads is because I've spied another project called Aida Scarf and Gloves (also by Judy Furlong) which are absolutely gorgeous! I want to make the gloves as a new challenge: my first beading project, and I wanted to know how many 15g pots to buy. Guess who personal messaged me on Ravelry this morning...Judy Furlong herself! It's so cool that these designers are people you can actually communicate with, avoiding the whole celebrity hassle (as they are celebrities of the knitting world). Anyway, I thought that was really cool, and am eager to complete both projects and let her know how clever her patterns are.

Wow, this blog has extended much further than I originally intended, maybe because I've been holding back all those blogs that 'required' a photo! ha!

Anyway, will post more often I promise:)

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