Unintentional NaKniSweMo

Ok, so I wasn't particpating in the NaKniSweMo knitalong, but I finished a sweater in the month of November! I started on the 1st and finished on the 25th (and I'm posting on the 30th, so I just make it with all aspects!)





It's my second Rogue Sweater. I bought this pattern ages ago, and made a red one, which I absolutely love and wear all the time. I loved knitting the pattern, it's so well written and a lot of fun with the cables and pocket. Plus it knits up pretty fast. So I decided to make a black one as well.

I used James C Brett Aran with Wool on 5.5mm needles. For some reason, even though I used the same size of yarn, needles, and pattern, this one came out a little looser and the hood is quite bigger and floppier round my head. But that's cool, I can pretend I'm a mad hoody (see 2nd definition on link if you don't know what that is)!

I changed the pattern a little to knit the sleeves in the round up till the shoulder cap, and moved the increase stitches in by a stitch, so the sleeve looks much tidier and nicer than my red one which has some quite bad seaming!

I really like this sweater. I've already planned what mods to make for the next one (3 needle bind off at the shoulder to avoid seaming that little bit, and casting off the stitches at the top of the hood cos grafting them onto the cable section is a PITA) This'll probably be the last sweater for a little while at least though, because it's absolutely baltic here! There's been frost on the ground for the last 3 days solid with no signs of it disappearing. I've been wearing my hats and gloves and scarfs non stop, and I need more warm things, pronto!

Here's a macro picture of the frost on top of my fence, so you can see how cold it is! (Also, somehow I managed to get a bokeh picture with my camera, where the foreground is sharp and the background is blurred! No idea how it did that, but I like the effect and wanted to show it off!)

Snow!

Out the back garden at 8 this morning. (The sun had only been up half an hour)


Macro snow on a buddleia plant.



Tupac liked the snow :)


Let me out to play some more!!!


Exhausted after all that fun!

Arka Hat and Mittens Pattern Up!!!!!!

Yay! The pattern for these mittens and the hat is up on The Inside Loop, here.

I was so excited when it went up this morning, I was planning to spend all day refreshing the page to see when it came up, then it was up at 8 in the morning!

This issue of The Inside Loop is fab, and no, not just cos it has my pattern in! There are a ton of other great patterns too, and some really interesting articles. I particularly liked the article on photographing knits and yarn. It's something I need to work on and this article is super helpful! The whole magazine is great, a whole bunch of the patterns got queued!

Kate and Diane did a really great job putting this magazine together. Thank you to both, they totally deserve a rest and lot of chocolate now! Go and check it out, if you haven't already! :D

Published!!! (soon :D )

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my Laminara shawl. I've been visting my parents and generally very busy so it still isn't blocked, but that is a job for either today or tomorrow, without fail! The pattern was from knitty.com - here.

Anyway, today's is just a little post, basically to let y'all know that I've got a pattern coming up in the next issue of The Inside Loop online magazine!!!! Yay!!! [jumping around the living room for joy!] It'll be up on Thursday (only 2 days left, eep), and I'm very excited and nervous, and all sorts of fun emotions! (This is my first published pattern) But you'll have to wait till Thursday to see it. (I'm such a tease, I know, but that's the rules!)

Lumpy Laminaria!

I finished knitting my Laminaria Shawl!

I'm very excited about it. This is the first piece of lace I've knitted that has that 'lumpy' unblocked look about it, and I can't wait to see it all blocked out! I thought I'd post my unblocked pics so that other people can see how it looks before the magic blocking. I've seen many pics of finished Laminarias but I like to see pics of unblocked lace too, because there always seems to be such a magical transformation! (Can you tell I'm a bit excited about this shawl?! I hope the blocking lives up to all I've heard! :D )



This one shows the full unblocked shape of the shawl, but the colours are a little off. The weather's been rubbish here lately, no sun at all, and the flash just blurred everything up, so that's why this is so dark.



This shows a detail of the unblocked lumpiness, and the edge, which looks all ruffly just now. The colours are pretty accurate in this one for some reason. My camera's been very strange recently, I think it must have heard me talking about getting a new one and is upset with me :D

Unfortunately I won't be able to block the shawl for a couple of days cos I'm going to visit my family, so it'll have to wait :(

America - Yes, They Did!

I've been following the American election pretty closely. Partly because it's such an historic one (only 40-50 years after the civil rights movement a black president gets elected, how amazing is that!), partly because of my own political beliefs, and partly because whatever the President of the USA decides, my own government and others throughout the world are strongly influenced one way or the other. Opinions on either side have been very strong this election, and it's been a big thing even this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I want to offer my congratulations to the winners of this election, and to the American public. Like I said before, this is an historic day, and I hope President Obama's term in office lives up to the hopes and dreams that were invested in his election.

I've always been interested in politics, I think it influences all of our lives, and even though political decisions sometimes seems remote and inaccessible, this election proves that people can have the power to have their voice heard and to influence the direction their lives will take.

I will always vote in every election I am eligible to vote in. Not because people died to allow me that right (everyone always gives that reason, and it's an important one, but just not big in my own thinking), but because I have opinions, and am lucky enough to live in a country where I can voice them. I know that there are those who will ignore the voice of the people, and those who just plain want to take their voice away, but this election has galvanized my interest, and I have an increased desire to involve myself in those issues I feel strongly about, and that affect myself and others.

Politics in the UK seems less fractured, with less of a difference between the main parties. To be honest, it's hard to choose between them at times, because we're a smaller nation, with less room for divide. The main parties are chasing after the same few votes, which means their policies have to be kind of similar to attract them. But I will never be one of those who say my vote has no impact, and certainly not after last night!

Good luck America, and well done on making your voice heard!

Startitis

I have a serious case of startitis. I've finished one project:



BPT from Knitty

I like this jacket. I didn't do any waist shaping as I want it as an outerwear jacket to go over other clothes, so after the armholes had been seperated, it was just straight knitting with cables. I got gauge with this yarn (Teddy Vanguard (worsted weight)), but the fabric is a little thin, that's my only complaint (about the yarn). I guess it's more of a spring/autumn jacket than a winter one ;) The only thing that really bugs me about this sweater is the incessant rolling of the icord hem. It was fun to knit the icord and join it at the same time, but it just keeps rolling! Maybe it's because of the relative thin-ness of the fabric compared to the icord. Whatever it is, it's really annoying. I'm going to have to try fix it some way, maybe some crochet on the inside, or line it with some fabric. Maybe I could line the whole thing, then it'd be a little thicker. But whatever I decide to do, it won't be for a while yet anyway.

I wore it to Jewel Of Yorkshire, and it was perfect for the autumn weather down there. (yeah, I know, it's been finished for a month, and I'm only blogging about it now. Bad, bad blogger!)

Anyway, since then it feels like I've started a billion other things. I attempted the trystero sock pattern by Cookie A for Socktoberfest, but that was a bust. First they were too small on 2.25mm needles, so I went up to 2.75mm and they're too big :( They're sitting in the corner until some 2.5mm needles arrive from ebay. If they don't fit after that, I don't know what I'll do. Cry, probably.

I've been knitting steadily on Laminaria, I'm halfway through the first edging chart now, it should be finished soon! Yay!

I'm also making the Shades of Plaid scarf from the Crochet Me book, and I'm about 4/5 of the way through that. I'm sewing in ends, and threading it all together. It should also be finished soon.

I started a couple of soft toys, including an Octopus toy designed by Jean Greenhowe. However, I was trying to use up odds and ends for that, and didn't have enough of the colours I wanted to use. I'm either going to have to use more colours or buy more to make it.

And yesterday I felt an insatiable urge to cast on my second Rogue sweater, this time in black.

According to Ravelry, I have 6 projects on the go, which is more than I've ever had before! It's not bothering me too much though, most of them are small, and I'm sure I'll go through a finishing phase soon. :)