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Socks for Chris in autumnal colours 
Unexpected knitting in greens 
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Lacy muffler for D 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 |
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Knitty Threadbear Ozeyarn Martina for sock yarn Kangaroo House of Hemp Ford Barton Laughing Hens Hip Knits Posh Yarn (Posh Yarn's colours) |
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Cashmere socks which were finished in time for Christmas 06 I have also in mind a fine-knit 3/4 shaped coat for D of many close, luminous colours, either in the reds or, even better, the deep turquoises range (to bring out the exquisite deepest blue of her eyes) - but it's not secret. It's been discussed and planned and I have taken measurements from a favourite jacket. So not secret at all. I may hide it until it's done. She likes my designs. [happy sigh] Shawl in peacock and ocean blues - lace silk - to wrap around whilst the broken shoulder is recovering. It's going to take a while... |
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I've done a shed-load of training in the last few years, some in new areas, some pretty advanced. These are the training establishments I recommend for outstanding integrity, professionalism and allround excellence: Trauma Healing - Somatic Experiencing Brain Gym Jean-Pierre Barral Visceral Osteopathy John F Barnes Myofascial Release Human Givens A new approach to emotional health and clear thinking Upledger Institute Craniosacral Therapy Jing Advanced Massage Advanced Clinical Bodywork Remedial Massage Myofascial Release (I also teach with these guys) Pilates Training Solutions |
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| Knitted Tea Cosy OK, I've had a very good look at Kate's Tea Cosies and this is how they seem to go: Cast on enough stitches for stocking stich fabric to reach from the bottom of the pot to the centre of the lid, plus 1" or 2cm or thereabouts. This is knitted sideways. In the swatch I've cast on 12 stitches just to show the pleating. Work 12 rows st st (stocking stitch) in your MY (main yarn); leave these stitches on their needle. With the purl / bumpy (wrong) side of the st st in MY facing you, pick up the same number of stitches as the MY along that self same first row of the MY in your LY (lining yarn). Purl one row. Yarns are both hanging off the same side. This will set you up for the pleat repeat. Picking up the stitches looks like this:  * Pick up LY and needle and work 6 rows stocking stitch in LY starting with a knit row; leave these on their needle. Opened out it looks like this  And folded over so that you have both sections pointing in the right (same)direction, it looks like this:  Now pick up the MY and needle again and pick up the stitches of the last LY row, to join the two pieces of fabric, bumpy side to bumpy side, thus producing a fold or a pleat in the first section of MY fabric. Do this either by just hoiking up the LY bump below the needle and knitting into it together with the corresponding MY stitch, like so: 
or run a spare needle through the LY bumps below the LY needle first and knit those stitches together with the corresponding MY stitches: 
Either way it ends up looking like this on the 'right' side: 
and this on the 'lining' side when you are done. 
Work 11 more rows in st st in MY starting with a purl row. This will form the fabric for the next pleat and ends up looking like this. *  When you come to knit the second section of 6 LY rows it looks like this:  Repeat from * to * until you have knitted enough lining repeats to reach half way around the pot. Work the last MY pleat and join to the lining by picking up the lining stitches on the 13th row. (the only time you knit 13 rows for a pleat). This forms half a cosy. Make another half-cosy to match. Sew the two halves together, cast-on edges to cast-off edges, leaving a gap in the seams for the spout on one side and the handle on the other. This makes a sort of tube with gaps in the seams. Attach a drawstring 2cm from the top of the tube and voilą! One Tea Cosy ą la Kate's Gran. Slightly less murky mud now? Of course, the variations are endless. The pleats could be in different colours, the lining could sport different colours, you don't have to use stocking stitch, just make sure the pleat is twice as long as the lining section each time. I have swatched with DK yarn and 3.75mm needles, but you could use finer yarn (and may 10 and 20 rows respectively for lining and pleat) or use thicker yarn - but I'm not sure how the pleat would fold then; it may be too bulky for a 12 row fold but wider pleats (and therefore lining sections) may work very well. Playtime? Pickle OneSponge now weighs 17.5kg. That's somewhere between 35 and 40 lbs. Just thought I'd let you know. Proud puppy - gran :) February 12th | New books New knitting books! My current fabourite is Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. Captivating lace from Victorian patterns with plenty of hisorical detail: shawls, scarves, wraps, capelets, beautifully photographed on location in Cambridge, Belton Manor House, Lavenham, London and even Brighton - featuring of course that splendid statue of Queen Victoria herself in The Victoria Gardens! 37 Patterns with a good few one can really get one's teeth into, no messing and no froth. Jane Sowerby is a fine, erudite woman and there is no sign of froth. There's a section on how to understand lace knitting, basic techniques and lace techniques. I did wonder whether I would be able to pick it up quickly, not having knitted complex or shaped lace for a while, but I can indeed vouch for the techniques section :) Lace Knitting Fully inspired by Jean Sowerby's excellent book, I've started some more lace. A shawl, or really a very wide scarf. I'm doing 'Large Rectangle with Centre Diamond Pattern', one of Mrs. Jane Gaugain's patterns, in nutmeg 4ply alpaca on 3.75mm needles. This makes it less light and airy than the one featured, but still shows the pattern of columns of large diamonds and small diamonds alternating and will be warm as a wrap. What I like about these patterns are the borders and Jane's well explained techniques for knitting them on and getting them to fit around the corners. I'm nothing if not practical!  More Yarn! I went to the Stitching and crafts show in Brighton over the weekend... I wasn't very impressed with the yarn and / or knitting offerings, but it was packed with enthusiastic crafters. I did find Kangaroo's stall and, tucked away at the back, some beautiful fine hand-dyed silks and wools. Purchases had to be made, particularly since I am into lace-knitting mode. Here's the haul:  Kaalund Yarns from Australia (how appropriate from 'Kangaroo'?) 1750m of 100% wool in 'wombat', pinky browns, very fine; 1500m of pure silk in 'Pacific' blues, greens and purples, from which I am swatching for a triangular shawl for D who has broken her arm and can't wear anything with sleeves; 1200m of pure silk in 'Wine', reds, mauves, greens. Knitted Breasts Alison Blenkinsop left a lovely message to say that a pattern for knitted breasts is now available from the website of the Lactation Consultants of Great Britain - and it is indeed there - fantastic! Knitted Breast Pattern from LCGB January 18th | It's been a while! It's been a long, loong while, but I'm back! We've had a lovely Christmas and a good launch into the new year. I had 18 (yes 18, count them... that's a wonderfully long time) - 18 whole days off and I needed every one of them to recover from madness at work and general business. I've done some knitting and had some very good ideas... whether they will make it into production, who knows? Socks for presis D received two pairs of socks from me and is in love with at least one of them. Yippee. They are both from hipknits' sock cashmere, lovely and soft and feel as if they are going to last more than three weeks. You know how robust cashmere can be ;).  
I also knitted her rather a lovely lace muffler, i.e. a cylindrical scarf in baby alpaca lace, kingfisher blue, to go with her eyes. And then I forgot to take a pici, so I shall have to snap it when I next see her. But here, instead, are two picis of Pickle OneSponge over Christmas, one in which she looks like Scoobydoo and the other in which she demonstrates how small she once was.   She now weighs a hefty 14.4 kg and is beginning to look like a very beefy greyhound. Module Knitting I'm seduced again by module knitting, in which one takes any number of yarns and combines them in diamonds or shells or, indeed any shape one wishes, knitting on to the sides and ends, tops or bottoms of other shapes, and thus designing a garment as one goes along. The drawback is a basket full of dozens of balls of yarn, and despite the claims, it takes so little time to knit a shape that one needs to carry several yarns with one at the same time, and then they all spill out all over the place, and that's inconvenient... etc. Kaffe Fasset's strategy of joining metres or half metres of different yarns into one 'magic ball' for ease of transport, and indeed to avoid having to make colour change decisions, doesn't quite work for me in this instance as I do want to control where my stripes go on the scales and shells. Kate's gran's teacosy pattern My friend Kate's gran taught her how to knit a very cool tea cosy. I shall start one and describe it properly in the near future... in the meantime it goes somewhat like this: take any similar weight yarns in any colours and cast on enough to reach from the bottom of the pot to the top plus enough to pull the top in, say another 8cm. Ahem. How did it go? Knit enough in stocking stitch for one fold... that means about 8cm so that the fabric can be folded back on itself for a very smart pleat. Leave this on its needle. Then, picking up stitches again from that very first row with another needle you knit half (I think it's about half) the length of the 'fold' fabric in stocking stitch; this is the lining. Still with me? Now. This is where I am a bit hazy and shall have to either consult Kate or try it out - now you take the original fold fabric, change colours if you want stripes, and pick up the stitches along the last row of the lining fabric. This will give you a fold. You then knit another fold, leave the fold stitches on the needle, pick up the lining fabric, knit another lining strip, join the fold back to the lining, knit another fold, etc. Folds are always the same length and so are linings. I think :) |
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