Train knitting

This time on my train journey home.  Now I don't actually have to keep an eye on every stitch I make and in this case I was knitting in the round with a ribbed pattern, so I had the leisure to look around the carriage.

 

Of course as I am in the UK there were a few sidelong glances and then I was seriously ignored.  People were far too busy and important to notice anything like a sock - except for three guys.  One who kept leaning over (rather precariously I thought) to get a better look at what I was up to, the second spent 30mins glaring at me (srsly every time I looked up he was frowning at me which seemed a little odd) and the third young man sitting opposite me who stared attentively at the knitting and only at the knitting.  This was also a little disconcerting as usually people are not that interested in knitting. 

 

More surprisingly when I got off the train he came up to me and said "I couldn't help noticing you were knitting and I was wondering what you were making."

This was just such a British thing to say as if his noticing the knitting has been some terrible intrusion on my privacy.  Made me smile.

 

taking a leaf out of C's book

I have started both my baby projects at the same time - strike will the baby is hot i say. actually i find it works a treat - as the paint is drying on the box i can start making the rattle.

The box is now green on the outside - i will paint a football on the front and find a funky font to write Mads' name as well. i also managed to pain the inside, and the boxes as well, its going swimmingly, though i think i may need to lighten the green a bit.

on the rattle i have cut the ears, head and the strip for attaching the ring. i also sewed a patch on which one of the eye will go on top of (that was very penickity). today i must procure foam for the insides. shoud be able to finish this this weekend. yay!

i am also thinking about the next project which will be a mini ballet theatre made out of a cigar box, with glansbilleder (dont know the name in English!??) and i will paint a back drop of some kind. this will be for la niece as she is only getting homemade pressies from me. lucky her hahahahah

-ditte

Controlling the stash

As per the previous post I have a small stash of yarn, beads, embroidery stuff, and a slightly larger stash of painting stuff. Fortunately I have chosen hobbies which pack up pretty flat and can therefore be more easily hidden.

Until now the yarn stash was pretty well contained in one large bag behind the sofa. This is no longer the case. So as there is nowhere for it to really go expect spread across the floor, this is not acceptable. I want to sort it into little compartments and other boxes and colour code it.

So I have looked for inspiration and looked to my mother. My mother is a quilter and her stash is a) totally hidden and b) enormous (she could probably quilt for the next 20yrs and not use up all the material and still she buys more). So I have a plan!! It is perhaps not immediately obvious but it has started with a new kitchen (did I mention I like to cook?).

The new kitchen has absorbed some things from the living room (where more storage is being created). This has emptied out the vintage ikea sideboard. Once I get rid of the old sideboard a new item of furniture will be purchased which will house the stash and allow for proper sorting of materials and maybe some labels and cubby holes. I have already identified the new piece of furniture and think that with some creative thinking it should a) hide the stash in plain site b) make me appear more tidy and c) allow for the stash to grow.

oh babies

So, i have finally decided on which bits to actaully make for les babies.

For my friend Netty's wee son Alexander i am going to go for something completely new - a towelling rattle. sounds weird right? well for this particular project i will be sacrificing a white facecloth (a la IKEA - they sell a stack of 10 for about €1), i will also be slicing and dicing a bit of v colourful cloth (i bought about 3 years ago in..IKEA) but any should do. A couple of buttons mis-matched for colour and size i think, a ringly-jingly bell, and a wooden curtain ring (actually i have bought a ring that i found in the beads section, but a old fashioned curtain ring should suffice)

The pic here shows the bits i have gathered for the purpose - including the rather gorgeous turquoise embroidery silk i will use for the nose and mouth. oh, yea i am intending to make a dog face, with buttons for eyes, embroidered mouth and nose, floppy colourful ears, the ring will be attached using the bright fabric as well.

For Mads i am going to make the box of firsts, i couldnt get the same box as i got my niece (it had nine internal compartments) so i bought some more small paper boxes which i will paint and label (like milt teeth etc). the theme will be decidedly boyish with a heavy leaning towards football (both his folks are BIG into footie) i have bought lots of small bits and have a fair few odds and sods in my craft stash already.

the firsts i will make something for are:
1. milk teeth (box)
2. words (minibook)
3. football match (little pouch for keepsakes)
4. hospital bracelet (box)
5. seaside holiday (box)
6.favorite song
there are more and i will have to think of some obscure ones for a laugh (and pinch a few from my niece's box) suggestions welcome!

each will be decorated in different (and appropriate) themes, and i think i will paint the outside green with a football on the front. inside will be light blue. i have found miniature bits (like cars and trains etc) that i will stick inside.

am quite excited about the box especially as it really is only ones own imagination that will be the limit to the possibilities.
-ditte

Craft stash denial

I don't have a stash really. After all most of the materials I have were for a specific project or purpose, even if I may not have started it and I've been hoarding embroidery thread like it's going out of fashion. Recently I decided that the stash situation needs to be brought under control and started to go through what I have squirrelled away.

1.In my box of embroidery stuff I found 1 unstarted christmas table cloth, 1 christmas runner complete except for sewing up, 6 christmas decorations started, 1 kimono lady almost finished except for border, 1 bag full of embroidery thread for unknown project and two smaller boxes almost full of embroidery thread for already completed projects.

2. I transferred all bead and jewellry items to a new (slightly larger) box - I have not really got enough in there to make anything specific tho' I see that I have no less than 5 bags of the beginnings of projects.

3. The various knitting bits and pieces now fill the bottom part of the vintage ikea cupboard. I have 1 baby hat waiting sewing up, 1 completed raggsokk the other is in progress, 1 wrap in progress, 1 cardigan in progress, 1 sock in progress, 1 blanket or something 3 squares done and of course the lusekofte awaiting an act of god or miracle to get it done. I also have wool for a pair of green socks for Kristina, wool for a cardigan for myself, posh wool for a scarf for my mother, lovely exciting dark blue wool for something, lilac mohair nightmare wool, and some cerise wool. Also of course leftovers from earlier projects.

4. However by far the biggest stash of stuff is my painting chest. It is full to the brim with paint and art stuff. Mostly paper, but also paints and some wood models. The easel did not get space so is squashed behind a book case. I would make a list of every item but that would challenge my view on how good I am at not just buying stuff for the sake of it.

I think I need help.

Patterns and size whinge

You would think that knitting or sewing your own garments would guarantee that what you end up with would be a perfect fit. This is not always the case as the patterns I follow do not all tell you exactly what measurements their sizing is meant to fit. So a small often ends up too big from granstudio patterns. I've knitted one thing from Rowan but it was a one size fits all type shrug thing. From Dale I have knitted a lusekofte (a traditional Norwegian type of jumper) and I knitted that in the smallest size and it came out pretty ok, despite my mother repeatedly telling me that it was far too small.

This sizing issue is very annoying. It means that I have to take the recommended tension now let's assume that the knitting tension is 23 x 30st over 10 cm. Now that means that if the measurement at the top of your hips (approx where your hip bones end) is 90cm you will need 23x9 = 207 stitches. Now I do realise that you probably want to knit it a few centimeters bigger than your exact measure ment but it is surprising when I look at the pattern and it claims I need to cast on in the region of 250 stitches. That is plainly going to be a lot bigger than I want (250-207=43stitches so by my calculations by about 20cm or ca 8ins). Even if I do not want a very tight jumper I still don't want to be wearing the wool equivalent of a burlap sack. So to get a jumper that looks like it was knitted for me I have to make a stab at working what number of stitches (assuming I am knitting to gauge) will give me a jumper I will not be swimming in.

I have seen quite a few American and UK charts which appear to give better instructions, but of course Norwegian or at a push Swedish is my preferred knitting language.

The alternative is of course that I start to design my own knitwear from scratch.

Is knitting really frugal . . .

or am I just kidding myself?

Ok, I have a yarn stash. Mostly it's for things that I intend to make, so I feel that I am being very good and not buying it just because it's pretty. Not like my mother and her quilting stash . . . nothing like that at all. Much. Yet.

My mother keeps telling me that it is not cost effective to knit things to wear as it is cheaper to buy it ready made. I think this is a cheap ploy to get me over to the quilting side. Which by the way is a much more expensive hobby than mine - you need a sewing machine and the sort my mother has does not come cheap. In fact she has been trying to pawn her old sewing machine off on to me!!! I will resist

Now I obviously buy some new yarn and have bought some fabulous silk and merino blend in soft browns to make a pretty scarf for my mother - and this yarn is not cheap at £12 per ball (or skein). Now I know that some of the really luxurious stuff retails at closer to £50 a ball but I'm not crazy!! I'd pay £25 for a beautiful handmade silk scarf, I would not pay £100.

Ulitmately making stuff yourself gives you a one of a kind item which is often customised for the wearer. There are things I see in teh shops and often think if it were a little longer, a different colour, didn't have that pattern etc.

See I can always find justification for doing the things I enjoy!

let's play hide and seek

Today I played where the !@*%$ is my camera. I last used it to take pics of the bread, but the bread refused to pose properly so hence no pics on here.

I started the search for the camera this morning and hunted high and low at my parents house (scene of bread making) but it was nowhere. I emptied and repacked every bag and then searched my car.

Usually I am not that bothered if the camera goes missing - it usually turns up eventually. But I have a new kitchen and I want to take pictures of the 'pre decorating stage'. So today I have made no progress on the kitchen but I have torn my flat apart looking for the blessed camera.

This afternoon I admitted defeat and had to go back to my parent's house to tidy up the mess I had left there. I picked up my bag and went into my trashed bedroom to pick up my sunglasses and as I turned I saw my camera. Lying on the middle of the bed. In plain view.

I think it's pixies. They hide things from me and put them out in obvious places so I can feel like an idiot.

Knitting in the car & future projects

I was stuck in traffic on Wednesday. It took 30mins to get out of the multistorey car park at work, and I happened to have my knitting with me. So I knitted, it was the only logical thing to do. This is probably the oddest semi public space I have crafted in ... so I think the challenge this year will be to find a more unlikely place.

On other news I have found a pattern for a tea cosy that can be converted into a shaun the sheep tea cosy!! I am ridiculously excited about this as it is the perfect present for the Partridge. However, as she has two small children it has been pointed out that this could lead to small child & hot object collison. There is only one solution - I will need to make decoy shaun the sheep tea cosys and a more sensible one for the tea pot. If I start now I should be finished for Christmas ... And yes I know Kat I am still working on your shrug but it's like knitting with sewing thread and really hard on my hands!

Ditte I am jealous of your local shop of joy - I do not have one. It is depressing.

Charlotte

Oh Baby!

I am in the happy situation of having at least 5 pregnant friends and even more who have just had babies. Happy because it means I can get my stitching needle out.

For some reason this is the year the entire world has chosen to procreate and that really will leave my local shop of heureux with slightly lower stocks and ever bulging coffers. I have always wanted to do a sampler but two things stop me.

1. I have NO patience for one though I think them incomparably pretty and I like the historical value.
2. I can imagine NO ONE who would have one in their homes. Except maybe Charlotte hahaha.

Instead I tend to go for the (evergrowing line of) teddybear with embroiderable t-shirt/scarf/cloth which serves the purpose of being commemorative and useful (excellent recepticle for drool, vomit and other unmentionable bodily fluids). But I think this lacks originality now. My oldest friend has just given birth to a boy (Mads) and I need to find something more suitable for him. So while I start musing on best possibilities for him - everyone else gets the tried and tested teddy.

For my niece it was little booties (she has a traditional Danish double barrelled name so that worked well), and for her first birthday I made her a Box of Firsts (pictures of which I will try to procure from my sister in law) - first teeth, first words, first museum visit, first holiday etc etc. Perhaps a second version of this would work for little Mads. Hmm certainly worth a ponder.

One thing is certain - there will be NO knitting!! ha ha ha

I made bread!

I confess. I cheat on knitting a lot. Today I made bread. It's lovely rye and some leftover wholemeal.

Bread is one of the easiest things to make - people seem to think it's difficult but it's not. It is also very low maintenance, there's really very little for you to actually do.

My bread recipe in basic terms

Mix the dry ingredients

Flour (any) about 600g

Salt to taste (way to personal I like mine quite savoury)

Yeast - 2 sachets

Seeds/nuts/dried fruit - whatever you fancy

Add the wet ingredients

Oil

finger warm water or milk (about 500ml - but this will depend very much on the flour - add 300ml to start and start stirring)

the dough is the right consistency when still a little sticky but one fairly solid lump. Cover and leave to rise for 45 - 60mins. Try to eliminate cold and draughts.

Leave the dough alone! Do not move it do not peek at it just leave it alone for at least 45mins. Go knit something ...

After 45 - 60mins the dought will have increased in size (for white bread it should have at least doubled a bit less for brown in my experience).

Turn dough out on clean table. Pound a bit. Knead a bit (add more flour if it is too sticky).

Shape into whatever shape you want. put on to a baking tray (with some baking parchment underneath) Cover with clean tea towel. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 30 - 40mins. In the meantime you can turn the oven on (200degrees centigrade)

The bread should increase by about 1/3 in size (probably a bit more). Now put it into the oven a bit below the middle and leave it for 40 - 50mins. Take out after 40 and give it a tap - if it sounds hollow it's ready. If it doesn't put it back for another 5mins. Repeat.

And voila. The bread is done.

Unfinished business

I keep my works in progress (I have 4 at present) separate from the works that need finishing off (2 in the bag). This gives me the illusion that I am not really all that bad and that I can maintain focus. Because once the knitting is done it's as good as finished and moves to a different, entirely separate from the stash and works in progress bags. I have chosen a relatively small bag for this to encourage myself to actually finish stuff in there from time to time.

Mostly this tends to not work. I don't like finishing things off. It's boring. And it's the moment of truth where frequently I learn that things have not gone according to plan. This means that it is too big or uneven or knitted in two different sizes or some other calamity.

Sometimes I think I should just switch to a diffferent hobby.

New Project

I want a new cardigan. It should have stripes. The yarn is bought (Debbie Bliss Prima - Bamboo and Merino - yum). I cannot find a pattern I like. Therefore with no experience and much enthusiasm I am going to adapt a few patterns that I sort of like but aren't quite there. I've been using http://www.garnstudio.com/index_lang.php (my favourite site and I like their wool) to find patterns that I like.

Things that I am doing right :

1. I have (for the first time) knitted a swatch - I feel this should come with applause

No doubt you will note that the swatch is not the right shape (this is because it was reknitted a few times and there were frayed edges and tempers). Anyhow as I am not really using the patterns as anything other than a rough guide, the important thing is the number of stiches per 10cm across not up.

Things I am probably doing wrong but we won't know till later:

1. Not using a pattern

2. Trying to adapt patterns with slightly different knit gauges

3. Patterns are not for this type of yarn

I will not let this deter me. See picture - I have cast on stiches my least favourite part of any knitting project. It seems impossible to get it right the first time I never leave myself enough yarn.

Future projects

I like to plan ahead. It means that I've got things to look forward to.

So I've seen a pattern for a cardigan that I rather like the look of - it's even the sort of thing I'd want to wear! It's a Paul Smith cardigan knit pattern.

http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/Fashion/Paul-Smith-Cardigan/99511/v1

Of course I'm not intending to do it quite the way it is described in the pattern. I do not want to use the suggested wool. I want to wear this in the winter when I go to the land of cold and snow (Norway) soI want to do this in Alpaca wool. I knitted some handwarmers and just loved the feel of the wool. I used a brand called Garnstudio - which I bought in Norway. But fret not . . . you can get the brand here (Norwegian wool in the UK!).

http://www.scandinavianknittingdesign.eu

I realise the tension is totally different, but that cannot be so difficult to figure out - can it?

Now I am not allowed to start on this (but I might buy the wool) till I am finished with the sock of doom and the blue stripey cardigan (long or short sleeves, long or short hmmmmm).

Charlotte

To knit or not to knit? Ditte's intro (well, she is Danish)

I am not a very apt knitter, in fact I am a bit of a knitwit. Any attempts I have made at knitting generally ended up being shapeless blobs of unwearble wool-mix. I find the whole thing too reptitive perhaps; being of very short amounts of patience, and prone to bouts of throwing things about in frustration - the whole thing could amount to a dangerous sport when you consider there are large needles involved.

Having now firmly established that I will more than likely be the 'notlimitedtoknitting' part of this venture, I feel it would be pertinent to add my own crafty endeavours at this juncture. I am a total christmas nut. Not in the 'wear snowman jumpers' way, but in the scando way. Charlotte will no doubt join me in regaling the infantissimal joy that is Jul (Christmas in all the scandinavian languages); but this particular endeauvour can take up an entire post (if not blog) by itself, so more of that another time. I, like Charlotte, love to paint (I am an oils girl, but also partake in H2O) - let me tell you oils are NOT ideal for doing anywhere but your home/studio; I also cross-stitch (for the stress relief) and like to come up with new and creative ways to do simple things, for a lot less money! But my biggest love, and most effort, is expended on making Christmas decorations with not a scrap of tinsel in sight!

I think it would be a good idea to mention that we are not the decorate "frames with shells" kind of craft fans. And I do not believe that any of us have ever gone hunting for driftwood to make a seaside themed dining room table (though Kat's obseesion with all things nautical might just tempt her). For hundreds upon thousands of years people have handmade everything, often with beauty and immense skill, I think we are aiming for that level of quality, even if we don't always succeed - which brings me back to why i dont knit - in public or otherwise!!

Other bloggers

There will from time to time be other bloggers - Ditte and Kat (now possibly known as Christmas Kat). They will be introducing themselves.

So with a drum roll

Ditte is our Danish correspondent. Her intro is above.

Introduction

Well then ... I had an introduction post but I managed to delete it. Of course I did. Why wouldn't I delete it.

Anyhow introduction post the second. Not to be deleted this time.

As per the little blurb at the top I do enjoy making things. Currently I'm knitting but I don't like to limit myself to just the one hobby.

Things that I do (in no particular order):

Knit

Cook

Write

Paint (watercolours)

Embroider

Christmas decorations (usually with cocktails)

Things that I really shouldn't do:

Try to fix the taps (even if they are just dripping call the plumber)

Try to put up shelves (books are heavy they cause damage when they fall)

Try to put up lights (abandoned this one half way through too complicated)

Use power tools probably (no injury so far)

Hobbies in public . . .

Hobbies in public . . .

I had a bizarre experience the other day when knitting outside. It got me thinking about the hobbies I can take with me and those I can't or don't. Jewelry making is not on my list of portable hobbies - what if I had a bead accident, it just wouldn't make for a happy experience. Painting is a bit borderline there's an awful lot of stuff you need to bring with you but I do enjoy alfresco painting so I put up with it.


When painting people will stop and have a look. Sometimes they want to know how long you've been painting. Sometimes they offer praise or advice. It's always been a very positive and laid back experience. Probably because it's not unexpected to paint a landscape outside.


In years gone by when I commuted to work by train I would sometimes take my embroidery with me - easy all you need is needle thread and the thing you are embroidering. Doesn't take much space in your bag. It sometimes elicited curious looks but few comments. I've knitted on trains more recently for a couple of long distance journeys in Scandinavia and I was not the only one knitting so perhaps it is more common. And on occasion I've had my knitting on the train in the UK - but I no longer commute by train (I drive or bike and neither one of those forms of transport will combine happily with knitting).

A few weekends ago the weather was lovely and I had a baby's hat to knit. I did not want to sit inside all day so took myself and the knitting to the park. Within 15mins of sitting down and taking out my knitting I had been joined by a man who found my knitting deeply interesting. First he felt the location was all wrong for knitting. Secondly I should really be reading or sunbathing. Thirdly only his aunt knitted. Fourthly I was weird to be knitting outside. I admit to having a terrible habit of engaging strangers in conversation, but generally not to tell them what they are doing wrong with their life (yes he felt that I was living my life wrong too).

Oddly I declined to give him my number or go for a drink with him in the pub. Can't think why.

This is not going to stop me knitting outside, or on the train or where-ever, but I do hope it is not the beginning of a trend.