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.