Knitting!

January 2005

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27-01-05

Hmmmm long absence and nothing to show for it - this will be an interesting post (!). I am currently applying for jobs and it's taking up a lot of time and is pretty much all I can think about. I probably won't get any of these jobs, and so I'm worried as well.

BUT! In my spare time I have been fiddling around with my site (but in secret!), so maybe there will be developments there sometime soon...although I am aware I always say this and it never happens!

I am trying to finish my Magknits design super quickly and that has to be secret so I have no photos today. I wish I had more to say....but it's all about the jobs!

I hope to be back soon with real content :)

19-01-05

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on Rosa! I've never had so many comments before, and all so nice! It made me happy, so thanks :)

I have another finished thing to show already - sewing this time. I'm loving my sewing at the moment - nothing like an instant fix!

I made a skirt:

Click for more bigger pictures, and also (hooray!) instructions on how to make your own. I like making skirts......but next time I go shopping I'm going to get fabric for trousers. One of my favourite pairs of trousers has completely worn through over my bum...this has happened to other pairs of my trousers before, and I have no idea how it happens. Adam says my ass POWERS through them!!! A likely story....

In knitting news I am nearly halfway done with my Magknits design. I'm making it from the Phildar Copacabana that was in my stash, so that has gone form the stash page. I can't show it to you, but maybe there will be things to show next time...who knows?!

14-01-05

We had lovely weather here yesterday, and I finally managed to get photos of my secret project with Carolyn - a secret no longer!

This is Rosa - from Rowan magazine 35.

It is knitted with 4-ply cotton, teensy weensy needles, and thousands of beads - it was the slowest thing I have ever knitted, but eventually I finished, and I'm very pleased with the result.

Click on the photo to see more!

12-01-05

At last - back online! Our internet went down for almost a week! It was very frustrating, but finally it's working again.

It has been so rainy and rubbish in Oxford this week.....so no photos of the secret project! I really hope to get some before I next update, I just wish it would stop raining.

But!I do have photos of the mittens I made for my friend Jess for Christmas:

Click on the photo for some bigger ones and details about the mittens.

I haven't finished anything else, but I have started some new things (but of course!). I'm making a new felted bag, from Colinette Skye, and also a secret Magknits project - for a summery thing that I just don't want to work on now because it's raining! But I must.

As soon as I saw the Russian Winter hat in Stitch and Bitch Nation, I thought it would be the perfect project to use up the Jaeger Fur that was lurking in my stash. It is the wrong gauge, but it was pretty easy to change stitch counts etc. to adapt the pattern for the Fur....I don't know if I can tell you what to do or not as that would kind of be the same as telling you the actual pattern.....but I'll just say it wasn't hard to change!

The one thing I will say is that I made the hat in reverse st st instead of st st, because the Fur is much furrier on that side.

I am making the ties and ear linings with partial balls I had left from other projects, so that's very satisfying. Here's the main hat piece and the other balls I'm going to use:

I am totally love how furry it is! It doesn't look knitted at all!

I was very impressed with Julia's new year's resolutions post, but there is no way I could do such an orderly one without thinking about it for longer. Maybe I will another day, but my basic new year's resolutions are to use up the stash, and only knit things I will use a lot. It's hard at the moment, as I work in a stinky lab and have already damaged one pair of jeans and a cardi with acid holes! And I wear a lab coat! Not the best place to wear handknitted goods.

But if you look at my stash page you will see it's already looking much emptier. All I must do now is finish the things I've started!

OK this is probably the most text heavy post I've ever made and I bet it's boring, so I'm out. Back soon with photos of the secret project!

04-01-05

Here I am - back after a long break! Happy new year to everyone! I had a really lovely time over the holidays, relaxing at home and visiting family (although I was sick for one day....better now).

I haven't posted in ages, and hence have a lot to show, so today's post is full of showing off crafty things that I either gave for Christmas, or got given myself.

Firstly these super cool books:

Simple Crochet from my Great-Aunt and Stitch and Bitch Nation from my Grandma - I love them both, and have several things in each I really want to make - thanks guys!

The other ace crafty gift was my sock swap socks, which came from Rebecca! I <3 them:

Click on the picture and see them in detail!

Now onto things I gave others. My mum has a gorgeous old teddy bear that was given to her when she was born - he has to be the most loved teddy ever. He has been cuddled so much over his 50 years that most of his hair is gone, so we all (me, mum and dad) decided that he needed a jumper for Christmas (but of course!) to keep him warm! Kerrie gave me some spare Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that she had, and I whipped up a little jumper for Ted from it:

Click on Ted to see more pictures!

Now for my Dad - you may remember I knitted him a scarf for Christmas.....well he likes it (or he's doing a good job of pretending he does!), and you can see him wearing it here.

Finally (!) my lovely Adam. I love making Adam things, he won't let me make him anything unless he really would use it, so I never feel like the effort went to waste. Anyway, it's not knitting this time but sewing - I made him some cord trousers. They only took a couple of days and I love the way they came out:

Once again click for more photos.

As if all this wasn't excitement enough (!) I'm making mittens for my friend Jess as well, and I finished my SECRET PROJECT with Carolyn over the new year - gasp! I haven't got photos yet but soon I swear, and they will be worth the wait, or at least they bloody ought to be after how long that top took!