healing socks

healing socks3
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Apparently I didn't post my finished socks! These are the spiralling socks pattern from The Knitter. Lots of new things for me here, knitting toe-up, after thought heel, and the spiralling method (thought up by Grumperina I think).

Loved the toe-up method, although the turkish cast on was tricky without 2 circs! I bought some for sock number 2! They are a bit short, but not too short, and I like the afterthought heel.

Shame the 2nd sock found a knot in on of the balls of yarn, which gives a disjointed effect, but I still like them.

The Zauberball was interesting, a bit thick and thin in places, and doesn't strike me as particularly hard wearing. Love the effect though!

When they were washed they twisted a bit, probably due to the spiralling nature of them.

More socks

P1010857
Originally uploaded by cob_web

With the lovely dream in colour stardust yarn given to me when I was going through a really hard time in November by my friend Kate I have cast on some Paraphernalia socks.

There are no measurements in the pattern, so it wasn't until I got to the end of the chart for the 2nd time that I realised these socks were going to be a strange length. Mid-calf - so not knee length but somewhere in the middle. I wasn't keen on that so I completely ignored the instructions about dong a 3rd repeat up to a certain point before starting the heel. Fingers crossed this doesn't screw things up later!

Shroooom!

P1010861
Originally uploaded by cob_web

So I made a hat from the latest Knitty. Matt laughed when I first put it on. Oh well, it was a fun knit.

A hat for Pip

piphat3
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I have no idea what to get my friend for Christmas, especially since she said she doesn't want anything for herself, and she can't eat diary at the moment so chocolates are out and she doesn't drink alcohol. So I decided to knit a hat for her baby, Pip. Pip is 7 (probably 8 now) months old, and the pattern (Umbilical cord hat from Stitch n Bitch) was for up to 6 months. So I added an inch in diameter and knit for a bit longer before decreasing.

I hope it fits!

More Aliens

Kate Alien
Originally uploaded by cob_web

and another one...

aliens!

aliens!
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I'm making lots of little aliens to add to gifts at Christmas. I am putting them on keychains as they are small enough. I think they are really cute! Being me I want to knit them all out of different yarn, but its proving tricky! The pattern calls for DK, but I just don't have much DK. As each one only takes about 10g of yarn I can't really justify buying yarn, even the cheapo stuff is more than £1.50 a ball - and that is for 100g! I don't need 100g!

Sock yarn doubled is working OK, but it is very tight to knit. I could go up a bit to 3.25mm, but then they'll be larger, and I like them being very mini.

The Naked Sheep

The Naked Sheep
Originally uploaded by cob_web

So, yesterday my mum took me to the Naked Sheep, along with my sister and brother-in-law. Matt stayed at home to watch tennis. Anyway, it was a lovely little place!

I went to school in Buckingham, but haven’t been back for years, and it is a nice little town now. The shop is near Stowe Landscape Gardens, so if you are into that sort of thing the two combined would make a nice little day-trip. If not, Buckingham has some nice little shops now, there was a quilting shop with some yarns in, and some gifty/boutique/gallery type places.

Its a nice drive out of Buckingham to the farm, as you drive up the road towards the gate to Stowe, which is impressive.

Once at the farm, we had to negotiate the free range chickens (they have 6000, and some are more free range than the rest and just roam around the farm as they like). Once parked we decided to do the Naked Sheep first incase the others had to leave me there while they went to the farm shop! On the way we got sidetracked by the Alpacas, who were gorgeous! You can buy a bag of feed to give them, but some small people were already doing that. Then the owner of the shop came out and told us all bits about the Alpaca and all their names and what they are like. One had a punk hair do as his fringe kept going in his eyes so they have to tie it up!

Then we went into the little shop, which was lovely. They do all their own spinning, and keep each fleece separate. They have a small team of knitters, who handknit all sorts of items which you can buy. As you can imagine they are not cheap! The owner was lovely, and spent quite a while chatting to us, and let me take photos.

Apparently at the moment they have 6 knitters, but she said that they have casual knitters too, who will knit a garment like a hat or scarf for them in exchange for yarn. Sounds like a good deal to me! Sadly I had to explain I didn’t live nearby any more (I think she was trying to recruit me). I was able to show her photos of my shawl though, which she liked!

She would have even let us look round the spinning room if we wanted, but time was limited so we didn’t.

I bought 50g of alpaca yarn (£8 - promptly confiscated by my mum as I couldn’t think of anything I wanted for christmas!) and was given a hat pattern to go with it.

As well as alpaca and sheep yarn from the farm they sold Jamisons, and a few other UK-based spun yarn.

She had some things knitted from Buffalo and Qivit (or however you spell it), and it really is as soft as the people say. Luckily she didn’t have any yarn for sale, as it is the second most expensive yarn in the world!

Then we went to the farm shop, where there was lots of lovely stuff, and they have a cafe/restaurant as well.

Finished Shawl

I finished the shawl for my sister's wedding about a week before the date! Just enough time to block it. Blocking was hard work, I didn't have enough space to block it all at once, and then I ran out of pins for the complex half, so it was blocked in three stages! The basket weave half was easy to block as you could line things up well. The cherry blossom half was much harder.

Anyway, here is me wearing it on the day:

and here are two shots to show the ends, taken after the wedding, so it is a bit crumpled!

Dyeing again

I've been doing some acid-dyeing today, in theory it is less faff than natural dying, but you know, its really not! Its equally unpredictable.

I had one nice result with some purple and black yarn, but the sea-green variegated yarn I was going for hasn't worked at all. In fact, it didn't hold onto the dye at all well, and I have green hands! I stopped using gloves for rinsing as the yarn always soaked up all the dye. I guess I'll go back to using gloves in future!

I'll have to assess the colour in daylight when it is all dried out (so probably next weekend then now winter is creeping up!), but currently I don't like it, its just a mid-green, very plain. I might try over-dying one skein and leave the other.

We shall see!

Shawl progress

hanami 3
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I got to the end of chart C of the blossom section last night. 3 more charts to go!

A Yarn Crawl

So I've been going to some knit-nights with Ravelry-types. We meet every other week and alternate between Woking and Guildford. Woking is great because i just go after work, Guildford is great cos I get the train and can drink cider... mmmm... cider...

We got loads of new people last time, but prior to that there was a core of just 4 of us, and we get on well, share a slightly wicked sense of humour!

It was proposed that we should do a yarn crawl around the area, and this coincided with the Stitch and Craft show at Sandown Racecourse. So on saturday we all met up at Woking station, and greentrianglegirl (I never know whether to use real names or not in internetland, I shall stick to Rav names) gamely volunteered to drive. She had cause to utilise her London driving Skilz so I was glad it wasn't me behind the wheel, I am far too meek a driver for almost-London-driving!

The show was a disappointment, especially since we were led to believe there would be wizards (long story) and, well, more yarn! There was one nice stall with a less-nice sales lady, plus a stand with real life angora rabbits (cute!). I got a bag of 10 balls of RYC Angora Soft (or something) in a nice purple colour for less than half price at a discount stall. Its a bit boucle-ly, which is never good, but its not too extreme, and should make a cosy jumper or cardigan. It will be stashed for now though, ready for when I can't afford yarn any more!

Other than that we all left with lovely lovely cheese.

Then we went to Hampton to find a rather bizarre yarn store with a hair dressers in the back. We were clearly not their usual age-range, and there wan't much for us there (not bad as such, just nothing out of the ordinary). Redcathy saved the day by buying a yarn pen thing, and then we ran away.

Then we went to Kingston to John Lewis. This is apparently my closed JL, but after experiencing Kingston and the car parks I'll stick to Reading thanks! No more sales, so we left slightly disappointed and raced down the A3 and A31 to Farnham. InterKnit Cafe was the highlight of the day really. They have less Collinette than they used to, but though it always looks lovely I've never had great success knitting it, so that's no bad thing. They stock Zauberballs! But I have 2 already so was good. Good to see they stock KnitPro needles now, I shall remember that when I need to stock up!

Then we went to Guildford and took in CandH fabrics and Pandora (where were not appreciated, we left after one of the staff members made a pointed comment about wanting to hoover but not being able to).

We had a nice drink, and then I got the train home. Reading trains appear to miss out Ash on saturdays now, so I had to wait for the Ascot train, but it wasn't too long to wait, and I got to sit next to a proper punk with an impressive mohecan while I waited!

Got home, and promptly tried to burn the house down :-(

As for actual knitting - I'm still plodding along with the shawl, near the end of chart C of the blossom end now, hurrah!

I'm knitting the second Giraffe sock at knit-nights, but the talking and the cider at the last one mean I've messed up quite significantly. I'm not ripping it though, they are for me.

Progress

hanami2
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I've done 4 repeats of the first half now, so a quarter of the way through!

experiments

experiments
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Earlier this week I did some experimenting. Unfortunately I lost track of what was what :-/

I have here fustic, common horsetail and tansey. The pink is madder exhaust. I used some organic 100% merino, and it definitely feels nicer than the superwash sock yarn. Not sure about the wisdom of knitting socks with no nylon in though. I was kind of hoping that the four colours would go together and I could knit some socks using the spiral technique to combine the yarns, but the pink doesn't go. No idea what do with these now, they aren't my kind of colours at all!

From bloodroot to madder

From bloodroot to Madder
Originally uploaded by cob_web

This photo shows the journey of the poor experimental skein.

Bloodroot, then Cherry Bark, then Madder.

Out of the dye-pot

madder2_both
Originally uploaded by cob_web

So the madder experiment was a success! The skeins were left in the dye pot overnight. When we got up this morning I removed the bags of madder, but we had to dash out to the farmers market. So rinsing was done after we got back.

As with the log wood there is still some dye washing out after many rinses, but I have acid dyed yarn from other people that is still bleeding even after knitting and repeated wearing/washing! Unlike the logwood there was still dye in the bath, so I could have got a paler batch, but I think 3 skeins is enough red yarn for me!

The colouring is slightly uneven. There are darker patches where the yarn sat on the bags of madder for too long at the start, and paler patches where I tied it a bit tight, but not into the variegated league. To be honest I like a slight variation, especially in something hand-dyed. You can get perfectly solid colour from factories.

Once again I am blown away by the vibrancy from natural dyes! When the madder skeins are fully dry (didn't want to leave them out in the sun TOO long) I will have to do a photo shoot with the logwood.

The yarn is 75% new wool, 25% nylon sock yarn, 100g/400m, just in case you are interested in obtaining one of these ;-)

madder

madder
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I couldn't wait to show you the results of my latest natural dye experiment. Behold madder red! Isn't it lovely? I think the colour will be slightly uneven due to having to put the bark in musin bags, but I think I like that. I tossed in the poo-coloured yarn (which on rational appraisal was more gold coloured, but not my thing) and it is going a lovely dark red.

fun, fun fun :-)

oops!

I guess I shouldn't really post from work, hey? I shall leave the disclaimer there for comedy value.

Hurrah!

Things are improving on the lace front. For some reason I hadn’t thought of spit splicing – thanks Christina! It worked like a charm and no ends to weave in.

 

I also managed to fix the mistake. It was so simple to do in the end. I just needed to take a step back and have a break before the fog would lift! Just in case I ever go back and read these in future – Jess, DON’T KNIT LACE WHEN ILL!!

 

So although I didn’t get much done, I fixed the mistake and got back to where I had been before – so I am now two repeats into the basket weave section (of 7 repeats). This means I am 14% through the whole shawl. That sounds a bit high to me, but that’s what the maths says!

 

I should get on with my work now (I can’t access blogger from work, but you can update by email – handy!). Problem is my brain is still not fully used to the new drugs, and I’m having to do some complex stuff using GIS, excel and my brain. For once its not the IT that is letting me down… still, its after 10:30 now so I can have my first diet coke of the day…

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Dammit!

Thanks to Ravelry (and here!) I think I know that I can fix my lace knitting, but I set it aside for the day as today was clearly not a lace day. 

However, as I was putting it all away, I realised I have somehow snapped the yarn! Argh! I can join new yarn and weave in ends of course, but that never works as well on lacy things, and I could have completed the whole thing without needed to do this. How on EARTH did I manage that? I am a moron.

Lesson well and truly learnt, world!

update

I now know exactly where the mistake is, but I don't know how to fix it. I missed a YO out 2 rows down.

Bah

Lesson learnt today - don't knit lace while ill. I Can't even work out what has gone wrong :-(

zauberball!!

zauberball
Originally uploaded by cob_web

The lovely Clare (one of the many people who live in my computer - at Ravelry) pointed me in the direction of Knit n'Caboodle (http://www.knitncaboodle.co.uk/) who are closing down. While it is always sad to see yarn shops closing, it did mean I could get these lovelies for less-than-normal prices. I couldn't resist! I am now drowning in sock yarn however!

Too bad I'm feeling too ill to knit today. Off work ill and not even getting knitting down. There is something particularly mean about that.

Lace!

hanami1
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Well, I've just started the second repeat of Hanami. I have made a huge mistake though! I missed 2 rows out in the middle of the 2nd lot of diamonds. If you look closely you can see that they are squat :-(

I didn't notice till I was quite a few rows past. So I've left it. Not sure if I'll regret that, but Matt thinks people won't notice...

bloodroot

bloodroot
Originally uploaded by cob_web

hmm... bloodroot is supposed to give you red. This is more poo-coloured! The variations in colour are my own fault. I put the roots in muslin so I wouldn't have to strain the dye... but I left them in the dye pot with the yarn. Doh!

My first disaster.

logwood

logwood
Originally uploaded by cob_web

My first attempt at natural dyeing! 10% alum mordant followed by logwood. I used 18g logwood chips for 200g yarn. I was expecting a mid purpe but got very very dark! I love it.

Hmmm...

Well, my first natural dyeing experiment is, erm, interesting. Instead of purple I pretty much have BLACK. Not really what I was after! 

I used the right percentage solution and everything. Ah well, isn't that the joy of natural dyeing?

Yarn washed

Yay! I got into a groove with the yarn winding and got it all done. The grease in the water was impressive! 2 washes with a tiny bit of washing up liquid, a clear rinse, then a rinse with hair conditioner. It is looking lovely now.

Have some logwood dye simmering on the (new) hob now :-)

ID?

P1010643
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Anyone know what this is? It is one of the unidentified dye-stuffs I was given. Closeup on Flickr.

The office...

The office...
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Haha! I'm working from home today as we have a new oven being delivered and fitted, I AM working, but at the same time my garden is looking rather like I'm not!

The blue is my lace weight, that I am slowly winding onto the swift so I can wash it before using it (2,300m is a LOT of yarn).

The white are three skeins of sock yarn that I mordanted last night ready for some natural dye experiments. I have such a lot of dyes to play with I don't know what to try first! I might be predictable and see if I can get anything resembling purple from the logwood.

For anyone who knows, I used an aluminium (alum) mordant, as that seems to be the safest, easiest and most commonly used.

First lace yarn

colourmart2
Originally uploaded by cob_web

So I bought some lace yarn from ColourMart (yesterday as it happens, super service!) and look how perfectly it matches the dress the shawl is for!

I'm now trying to wind it from the cone onto my swift as the yarn is oiled. You can knit with it and THEN wash obviously, but I thought it would be easier to wash it first. I might be wrong...

I'm very very very bored.

Japanese Dying 2

towel
Originally uploaded by cob_web

After doing the hanky I couldn't resist doing this towel too! All Japanese hand towels are this size and shape.

Japanese Indigo Dying

hanky
Originally uploaded by cob_web

This is the hanky I dyed in Japan. I'm probably going to frame it and put it on the wall.

Yarn yarn yarn yarn...

So, I'm back from Japan. It already feels like a distant memory :-( It was absolutely fantastic, and we are still sorting through the photos. Or would be if we didn't both have the ill.

I did some crazy yarn buying while I was there. In Kyoto I went to Avril (known as Habu everywhere else) and bought some of thier yarn with stainless steel so I could make Sea Tangles

It was a cute little shop, with people sat around knitting. There was lots of lovely yarn, but it was all quite pricy. Of course, I forgot to check how much I needed, and what the yarn was called. But MAtt encouraged me, so with the help of the phrase book I got the message across. I ended up buying two 100g cones of grey and one of black... when I got back to the hotel I found out I only needed about 90g for the jumper! Doh!

In Japan they seem to sell yarn by the gram quite a lot, so once I had said how much I wanted I had to wait while it was wound by a machine for me! Quite cool. It was VERY expensive. Lets not got there...

On the cheaper side I found one of the fantastic 7 floor craft stores was having a Noro sale, so I got 2 balls of the kureyon sock yarn for half the price you get it in the UK.

For Tinebeest

japanese1
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Here is the japanese packet, there are close-ups on flicker tagged "japanese" http://www.flickr.com/photos/cob_web/tags/japanese/

Nellie

P1000476
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Meet the latest addition to my family, Nellie!

Dying stuff

Dying stuff
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Look at all this stuff! I said on my Yarn website that I wanted to get into natural dying next, and a lovely lady who happens to live just down the road contacted me and said she was getting rid of all her old stuff! Thank you Chrissy!

I picked it all up today. When she said she had a LOT of stuff, I don't think I quite believed her...

There are loads of bit of kit, some lovely buckets and pans, a boiler-thing that I'm not *quite* sure what I should do with and so many dyes! I couldn't resist and sat and listed them all. I will list them at the end for my own info. There were also a lot of mordants and things, but I think I will probably start afresh with those as some were quite old.

Its so exciting, but I Can't do anything till we are back from Japan. I might have to invest in a good book too so I know where to start...

Natural dye list

Something Japanese...!?
Some large Leaves??
Logwood
Cochineal
Lichen
Yew Chips
Acacia Chips
Poplar buds
Cutch
Turmeric
Common Horsetail
Marigold
Bearberry leaves
Heather flowers
Chamomile
Ivy berries
Natural Indigo
Golden Rod
Madder Powder
Madder
Bloodroot
Brazil wood
Gall nuts
Annato
Rhubarb Root
Tansy
Ossage Orange
Oak Bark
Wild Cherry Bark
Sanderswood
Alkanet
Fustic
Weld
Sticklack
Turkish Madder
Onion skins

some unidentified things!

German Shopping?

Does anyone fancy anything from Schoppel Wool? it is a 15 Euro flat shipping charge to the UK, and I have rather fallen in love with this:

But at 10 Euros a ball I can't buy enough to make the 15 Euro shipping justifyable.

Sory for posting everywhere!

Finished Sock

japnese giraffe 3
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I don't have a pair yet, but I'm very proud to finish these as I am struggling to keep focussed on any one thing right now.

I love Aber's pattern! These are slightly loose on me, but noro doesn't seem to have much stretch, they might be better after washing.

See more detail of the lace panel and the back of the sock at Flickr.

Baby Booties

P1000461 (2)
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I've knitted a couple of baby hats in the days before digital camera and Ravelry, but those were sent to internet people, and I never even got a thanks, so I was put off knitting baby things. Not that I think you have to be thanked, but when a lot of work goes into things it is a bit disappointing to get no acknowledgement, especailyl when you see others getting it :-/

ANYWAY. so these are the first baby things I have knit for a long time. I know the baby in question isn't going to want for anything, but I was ill and really needed something small and fast to do. So here we go! These are knit with DK, when the pattern is for 4-ply. So they will probably be too big for the little one when she comes along, but hopefully she will grow into them. I have so much yarn I might knit two pairs.

Little Skit Hat

littleskihat
Originally uploaded by cob_web

This is a smaller version of Ferg's hat - knit for his little brother, who he is taking skiing (well, snowboarding actually). I made the mdeium size, which isn't very medium as it fits me well, and I have a child-sized head (I have to buy kid's glasses).

I started with white at the bottom where Ferg's is blue, so hopefully they won't get mixed up!

Ferg's hat

Fergs hat2
Originally uploaded by cob_web

After I knitted Ferg an ipod cosy, he got very excited and demanded a hat. So we went to hobbycraft after work and managed to find some half-decent yarn of the right weight. It was Sirdar Peru Naturals. So I did him a basic ribbed beanie, following a Wooly Wormhead pattern.

I used just over half a ball of the blue and just under half of the white, and apparently his brother wants a matching one...

Peru naturals is quite a nice yarn given its high acrylic content. Its not really spun though, at times it felt like knitting with narrow strips of fleece! The white was noticeably finer than the blue as well. I know the dye can have an effect on yarn qualities, but thats the first time I have seen it in action. I kept having to check the ball-bands to check I hadn't got two different weights of the same yarn by mistake!

Ferg has promised me a photo of it in action on the slopes when he goes snowboarding with his little brother in a few weeks.

New website!

I have a new yarn website: http://cobwebyarns.wordpress.com/

I plan to do lots more dying soon, but it might have to wain until I am back from Japan as funds are tight right now.

I am also now on Ravelry as a designer. Which is very silly and I doubt anyone will knit my cosy, but its fun to be able to say that!

ipod cosy pattern

So I thought I'd write up the pattern for the ipod nano cosy. Its a very simple pattern but it works really well, and might save others having to work it out. It will also give people a good starting point to modify and play with this basic design (I'm thinking cables, but they wouldn't be as stretchy, so that needs some thought).

The key to this pattern is the ribbing. I made ipod cosy 2.0 for a friend at work, who was simply amazed by the stretchyness, and the fact that it returned to its shape (I want to stress that this guy is not a knitter!). This is the reason the cosy works, you don't want your nice shiny ipod coming out of its cosy in your bag and getting all scratched up, so it needs to be snug.

I've used two different brands of standard weight sock yarn, 2.0 was knit with Opal, which gives you a good idea of the kind of yarn to use. Bascially this will work with any sock yarn leftovers.

Cast on 24 stitches (fairly loosely) and divide between 3 needles.

Join, being careful not to twist, then (K2, P2) and repeat across all three needles. One row done!

Repeat this until the cosy measures 9 cm (or until you can fit your ipod in).

Next row, K1, K2Tog, K6, SSK, K2, K2Tog, K6, SSK, K1 (22 Stitches remaining)

Next row, K all stitches, rearranging as you go to end up with 11 stitches on each of 2 needles.

You are then set up to graft the end, just like sock toes. Some people don't like Kitchener Stitch, but this is a good pattern to practice on if you've never attempted it before. Lots of people have written good instructions, I have linked to two below. The key is to sit somewhere quiet and tell anyone you live with not to bother you until you have finished! Any grafting errors in my knitting have always been caused by me loosing concentration and the wrong moment!

http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATtheresasum04.html

For a video tutorial, scroll down to the "Finishing" Section http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips

Enjoy, I'd love to see any resulting cosies!

ETA: the pattern is up on Ravelry, but I'm not linked to it yet. Find it here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-ipod-nano-cosy

ipod cosy 2.0

ipod_cosy2-2
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I've made another ipod cosy as my colleague loved the one I made for myself. I've improved the pattern HUGELY by thinking it through a little better, and this one is much better. I might even wright it out for others, but I don't suppose its rocket science so I doubt anyone would be interested.

ipod cosy

I made this for my lovely new ipod I got for my 30th birthday. Knit in just one day, while I was off sick with tonsillitis (on my birthday!).

I wanted it very tight so cast on just 21 stitches (k2, p2, k2, p1)x3. I used my left over Zak and Sara sock yarn.

At the end I tried some slight shaping, but the nano isn't tapered at all, so I just decreased one for an even number, then decreased 2 at either end (like sock toes) before grafting. Should probably have decreased a bit more.

Works though, grips it tight enough that I'm not scared of it coming off, so I can throw my nano in my bag without worrying about stitches.

Japanese Giraffes Progress

Five stars to Aberdonian's pattern! This motors along nicely, the pattern is split into a row 4-repeat, which is a nice chunk that you can get done fairly quickly, so I can pick it up, knit four rows and drop again very easily. The fact that the lace pattern is resticted to three panels means there is always the straight bit to knit fast and not think in (only 11 stitches at a time, but it helps!).

I think you can see the lace a bit better now:





The Noro is quite fun too. Much longer colour changes than most striping yarn, and much more subtle. The fun part is peering through the yarn ball to see what colours are coming up... I can just see some green poking through!

japanese giraffe

japanese giraffe 1
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I am knitting Sam the Giraffe Socks by my internet friend Aberdonian *waves at Aber*.

I'm using some Noro sock yarn, which is quite obviously completely unsuited to the lacy bit. You can't really determine the pattern. But I am persevering. Not quite sure why. Maybe I'm crazy, but I keep thinking it will look better when there is more of it done.

The other issue with the Noro is that the suggested needle size is 2.7 to 3.3mm. Weirdarse sizing. I've stuck with the 2.5 recommended by the pattern so it is knitting up quite firmly. Maybe thats another mistake. But I figured that since the yarn isn't plied, tighter was better.

People moan a lot about noro being stiff and scratchy. It is a BIT but not at all as bad as was expecting my all the moaning on Ravelry!

Nearly Finished Object

Sunshine blues 4
Originally uploaded by cob_web

So, I have been knitting a bag from a Rowan kit, using thier denim yarn. I had to wash it at 90 degrees to shrink it. Sadly I forgot to turn the temperatur back to 30, and Matt put a wash on... half my clothes are now shrunk as well :-(

But, the bag turned out well! I still have to line it, which I am avoiding as I can't sew straight by hand and I don't have a sewing machine.

Here is a close up of the front:



Not sure why it is called the sunshine bag, the beads look more like a snowflake, and the other shapes are hearts.

Rowan Bag

sunshineblues1
Originally uploaded by cob_web

So my latest WIP is the Sunshine bag - a Rowan kit knit with with thier Denim yarn. I have no idea why it is called the sunshine bag. The beads make more of a snowflake design, and then there are hearts around it. Oh well. I got this in the Rowan sale a few years ago (I'm not a member, I like someone on LJ bought it for me).

I don't think I've ever knit with a 100% cotton yarn before. Its very inelastic and splitty, and a bit hard.

The stitch pattern is charted, and this is the first chart I've used. I realised I was doing it wrong, but luckily the design is symetrical, so it doesn't matter. I am finding it hard work though. The front went OK but just tonight I've had to tink back 3 times due to miscounting or misreading where I was.

It shrinks, so the idea is to put it in the wash to firm up the fabric.... I know its not felting, but I've had such bad luck with that that I'm a bit nervous! We shall see...

sheldon!

sheldon2
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Yet another finished object! Shledon has been languishing for some time. First the crochet beat me, and he had to have a holiday to mym Mum, which did that bit for me (she even tried to teach me). Then the i-cord join beat me and he sat in a bag for a while. After finishing the socks I got him out again. I tried the i-cord AGAIN but I just don't get it. So I just sewing up up.

I'm glad I did as he is quite happy, and Matt has already adopted him. Here he is in his new home: