Mayhem!

March 10, 2010 at 5:51 pm | Posted in General ( day to day stuff), Knitting | Leave a comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,

The last few weeks have been crazy for me. I’d been thrown back into full time hours at work while someone took there holidays, I visited Baa Ram Ewe for a yarn spring/summer season launch and spent lots of cash. There have been quite a few meetings with my knitting group and family visiting and getting Charlotte’s Octopus finished. In between all of that a lot of knitting and designing.

I have nearly completed the roger socks (my birthday sock) You last saw them looking like this!

Yes thats right not much done and now they look like this!

Yes i know! Their not completely finished but i only have a little left to do. I have a few pattern repeats and then onto the toe, They maybe finished in the next few hours or at latest tomorrow. I really do love them and I’m hoping to wear them with my Pink Doc Martens

I’ve been Designing a lace scarf using Rowan’s 4 ply cash-soft which is lovely and soft, knits up great and is nice for the fingers. This yarn also has a good yardage of 197 Yards which means only two balls is perfect for a scarf or small shawl. I’m not posting any photo’s of the lace scarf as i believe some patterns in my book should be a surprise.

As I’ve mentioned i went to a  spring/ summer season yarn launch at Baa Ram Ewe where i picked up some lovely new yarns for myself.

I got some Cygnet 4 ply again in a green heathery colour, Orkney angora 4 ply lace weight in a soft blue, two different coloured balls of Zauberball sock yarn ,some Rowan cash-soft in a rich red and some fyberspates Scrumptious Dk in a beautiful dark purple.

While we are talking of purchases i found a lot of Rowan books in a charity shop and i whipped them up for only £4.70. In my bargain i got Kim Hargreaves – Nectar, Rowan – Bigger picture, Rowan – Ribbon twist collection, Rowan- Big it up, Rowan- The next big thing. Which is a super awesome buy, I’m chuffed.

Me and the rest of my knitting group had a lengthly chat about Dpns and what are a good size for socks. The choice of Dpns for socks is entirely up to the knitter it’s a personal choice based on comfort. Different sized needles suit different people. My chosen size would have to be 2.75mm and 15 cm in length they are more comfy to hold but thats just me. Everybody has their own preference though trial and error. To me Dpns are very fiddly for beginners and i would recommend two circulars first and get a feel for the creation of a sock and then use dpns.  As if you are not careful with tension you may find ladders where your Dpns join. Also as you knit on Dpns the more to knit the more stable they will be as the knitting helps them not to wobble about. But remember it’s all practice and trial and error someone may give different advice than other but i recommend playing with your choices first so you can figure out what suits you.

Nessa xxx

Jitter Me Bug

February 21, 2010 at 9:53 pm | Posted in Knitting | Leave a comment
Tags: , ,

It’s been a busy weekend for me so I’ve been feeling shattered today and i must stay awake, at least a little longer. On Saturday early hours of the morning at 4 am, I woken up by my partner and friends  coming to ours and then taking a trip to a party which since i already had been awaken i figured I’d go. It turned out to just being a little gathering of friends watching TV and chatting so i whipped out my knitting and got a good few inches of a sleeve done for my new shrug. I found the pattern in an older issue of Knitting, it’s called Bloom by Tess Dawson. It’s meant to  be knitted up in Noro Blossom which is quite a bulky weight yarn where as i wanted to us King Cole Mirage Dk. So i spent a good few hours figuring from her gauge how many inches it would be in the cast on stage. I then had to do a gauge swatch for the yarn i was using to see how many stitches per inches and figure out the casted on stitches i needed. I added and extra inch for room as i wanted it floaty and it’s turning out really nice. I’m roughly about half way up my arm on the first sleeve and it is in plain stockinette, which is a bit boring but great for mindless knitting.

I also went and casted on the mystery shawl in yarn forward magazine, I’ve been waiting for the first installment of this project for a month and have been looking through my stash for some nice yarn and finally found some i was happy to knit it up in. I started this today at work and it’s turning out quite well although each row is 141 stitches so it’s going to take a while to be fully finished.

I also got a wonderful present from my friend Charlotte, As I’ve been helping her knit for her animation . She went out on Saturday to baa ram ewe and purchased some lovely jitterbug Colinette sock yarn for me as a gift to say Thanks which is great as i was needing more sock yarn my stash is lacking it at the moment.

I think I broke the ice!

December 22, 2009 at 12:26 am | Posted in Knitting | 2 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Well I think it was last Friday when it started to snow and my was it beautiful, until morning hit at sub zero temperature and froze it over, and every time we’ve had a snow fall since it’s decided to freeze over again and again our street is an icy death trap as i figured out this evening coming home, Yes this is a rant of an annoyed, full of cold, Christmas lover, who wants to let it all out lol!!

Last Thursday I did some Christmas shopping i didn’t get much done due to spending money on myself i found more items i loved then others would lol!! I purchased a new t-shirt, new jeans (I’ve dropped a size Yea!!) and a new bag. I Love bags way too much. On topic i caught an evil cold i was out all day in the coldest weather known to man, And because god seems to be smithing me i had to walk an extra 20 minutes due to my bus braking down and setting fire only a few minutes after getting on it. Just my luck!!

I Awoke with a horrid cold which seems to not like any food which I’ve been eating there for non of it settled and have thrown up every morsel, until today and an evil cough which hasn’t aloud me to sleep and has pulled some muscles in my back and ribs. Then (wait for it) Today coming home i fell flat, straight on my back on some thick ice near my home and have hurt the base of my back which isn’t good, I’m now a bit worried of stepping out of our home due to the roads and paths around our street and the neighboring ones are covered in ice which the council have greatly not gritted, And i am done ranting!! Thank you for baring though i needed to vent lol!!

On knitting related topics

This is a new project which i started Friday and completed Sunday, My partners new hat which was for Christmas but it’s been so cold i let him have it early. I used the Style craft Life DK yarn which as a low wool content but is really quite nice to knit with and doesn’t squeak on the needles  i didn’t use a pattern but it’s turned out great i did find a dropped stitch which you can see i saved on a dpn to fix once I’d finished.

I also started the Veyla fingerless mitten by Ysolda Teague i tried these on when i met her at the Baa Ram Ewe knit night and they were beautiful, I’m using a Regia 4 ply which i bought from Kemps at £1.20 a ball bargain or what!!

On the Yarn front i purchased some New Lanark yarn  DK 50g balls for £1.95 an is 100% pure wool some have silk in too, they are very beautiful.

And off i go mentioning Kemps again i bought one of there Rowan Assortment bags 500g for £5 and i received my joyous surprise, I’d got some Rowan Classic yarn ‘Natural Silk Aran’ It’s so pretty and what a bargain, I’ve got project ideas flowing through my ears at the speed of light lol!!

I will most likely post through Christmas an let you know about my presents i received :) and what I’ve been up too,

Have a Great Christmas, And a Happy New Year to all, Enjoy yourselves

And let me know what you’ve been up to I’d love to hear some festive stories

See You All Soon Nessa xx

Ysolda at Baa Ram Ewe

November 20, 2009 at 12:42 am | Posted in General ( day to day stuff), Knitting | 1 Comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,

OK! It as been a random day, i woke up to find my boss had rang me at

4 am to get me to work this morning. Didn’t happen i woke up at 10:15 am got to work to find the guy who works the morning shift couldn’t come in due to a family member passing away.  I managed to help out for a few hours before i had to meet Lisa for our trip to the Leeds Baa Ram Ewe knit night. I purchased way too many items but thought i may as well while i have the money.

I purchased both Ysolda Teague’s books whimsical little knits 1 & 2. Addi lace needles 2.5 mm, Addi Premium 6 mm.  2 x 100g cygnet wool rich aran weight in shade – Pine.  2 x 50g King Cole Merino Blend DK shade- 703 Red. 2 x 25g Jamiesons Shetland spin drift shade- sand. Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn 110g shade – 101. And an extra ball of King Cole baby alpaca DK so i can finish my mittens.

We met Ysolda for our book signing which was cool and also got too talk with her for a little while.

And she also bought with her a lot for her finished pieces to display so we could feel and try them on. They were beautiful, and I’m now casting on the peak island hooded cowl.

Unfortunately didn’t get a photo with Ysolda but The night was great and I also got recognized for my Patterns which was rather awesome i felt rather proud of myself.

Happy Christmas Nautical Cowl

November 18, 2009 at 10:46 pm | Posted in Knitting | Leave a comment
Tags: , , , , , ,

Happy Christmas Nautical Cowl

I started a new cowl which i today you about in my last post and today i have finished it. I’m loving it and am thinking of writing out the pattern for Ravelry. I prefer this one to my Hooded cowl.

I used King Cole Magnum Light weight Chunky just 2 100g balls each in a different colour. Mine was cream and red. I used the 2 inch buttons which i used on the hooded cowl.

I love the fact it’s higher up so if it’s cold i can cover up my nose!

Tomorrow I’m meeting up with my knitting group friend Lisa for an awesome night out at Baa Ram Ewe to meet Ysolda Teague and get a signed copy of her new book Whimsical little knits 2. Which also means I’ll be purchasing more wool.

We found out yesterday somebody got the house before us and unfortunately we are now searching again. It’s as though we may have to share a flat or house to make sure we are out for Christmas since there isn’t much in our price range and we don’t have enough time.

We are keeping our chin up.

xx

Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.