tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058323124667864762024-03-06T06:27:38.568+00:00YarndancerYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.comBlogger292125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-47863607054558873862014-06-09T11:47:00.002+00:002014-06-09T11:48:36.817+00:00Moving onwards and upwards!!I've moved!<br />
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After a long unexpected hiatus, I've decided to start blogging again. But it feels to me like this blog is "old" or something, and it's been holding me back. Especially after leaving it for so long. So I;ve decided to start a new knitting blog. A whole new blank to fill with yarny goodness :)<br />
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Come over and join me on my new knitting adventures at <a href="http://amandamayyarndancer.blogspot.co.uk/">www.amandamayyarndancer.blogspot.com</a> :D xxYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-86830309994342110642012-10-26T16:47:00.000+00:002012-10-26T16:47:12.516+00:00Knitting again!I guess you can tell from that title what I've been up to recently :) <br />
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Thinking off all the decluttering I've been doing recently, it occurs to me that there's no better way of clearing out your stash than actually using it :)<br />
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That thought, and clearing out my ravelry queue got me going. I saw lots of patterns that would go with the yarn I have (probably why I queued some of them in the first place lol). <br />
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The first pattern I decided to knit was Esperenza by Gabriela Ordenes. I've been meaning to make this for ages, and I've had the yarn planned for ages - a pure wool dk from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/Freyalyn">Freyalyn's Hand-Dyed Yarns</a>. So now that my head feels a little clearer after all the decluttering (weird, but it really does feel clearer!) I actually managed to cast it on and knit it!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/8122472684/" title="Esperanza Cowl by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8186/8122472684_2191e4cf81.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Esperanza Cowl"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/8122468696/" title="Esperanza Cowl by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8051/8122468696_ff180bb62c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Esperanza Cowl"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/8122464394/" title="Esperanza Cowl by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8122464394_8a1131eb72.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Esperanza Cowl"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/8122460038/" title="Esperanza Cowl by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8122460038_6ee1dfd37e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Esperanza Cowl"></a><br />
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I'm so happy now that I've made this cowl! I think it's a very pretty pattern :) I made a slight modification - cast on 55sts and added the extra sts to the garter stitch section. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/8122446184/" title="Esperanza Cowl by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8325/8122446184_b4aa3b9233.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Esperanza Cowl"></a><br />
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One of my favourite features of this cowl is how people have folded the garter stitch section over. I had extra yardage than was called for, so I figured i'd be happier with a larger fold and it would use up more of the skein. Less clutter :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/8122434341/" title="Esperanza Cowl by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8122434341_69072cd36c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Esperanza Cowl"></a><br />
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And I also got to go through my button jar and find a use for these pretty blue square buttons! A win all round!Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-13369867544972595362012-10-04T08:31:00.000+00:002012-10-04T08:31:47.563+00:00Hmm, Another Unintentional Hiatus...This year seems to have been full of them :(<br />
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To be honest, I've been having an unintentional hiatus from mostly everything. I organised a charity hafla in August, and this time it was by myself mostly. It was a LOT of social activity getting it all together, talking to and emailing a lot of people a lot of times (I was pretty much glued to hotmail and facebook the whole end of August!), and I'm not the most social of butterflies ;). It really seemed to take a lot out of me, which I didn't realise till after the event when I just pretty much collapsed on my sofa, and stayed there for about a month and a half!<br />
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The hafla went really well - it was a great night in the end, and we raised £763 for MSF/Doctors Without Borders! I'm very proud of the amount we raised, and of all the fabulous people who came and danced. So it was totally worth it, but next time I'll definitely be getting help from other people instead of knackering myself!<br />
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These past two months or so I have done almost nothing productive! No knitting at all, and only the barest amount of spindle spinning. I've played a few video games, and read a few books and basically just slobbed around recharging my energy. But I think it's nearly back to full now, which is good!<br />
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Actually, this past month I have been tidying the house a bit and decluttering my mind and surroundings. I have 5 bags of stuff waiting to go to the charity shops and 4 boxes waiting for people I know to look through them and see what they want. It still doesn't feel quite like I've even made a dent in the amount of stuff collected in this house, but I guess it is a good start. I can see the sofa in the spare room now - it's not covered in <i>stuff</i>!<br />
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I've even been declutttering my ravelry queue! I've managed to get down from 8000+ to only 5500(ish) - yay me! At the time it was great having all that choice, and it was kind of a pre-vetted group of patterns that I liked, but it was just weighing me down recently. Not that I felt I had to make all of those patterns, but there was just too <i>much </i>choice. My eventual goal is to get to less than 1000 patterns in my ravelry queue - yes, I can hear you laughing! I might be too much of a hoarder for that to actually happen, but I can aim for it! I think that would be enough choice without being too unwieldy on my poor brain!<br />
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So I think I may start knitting again very soon. Looking through my queue has meant that I've re-found some lovely patterns, and I'm quite inspired, which is good! I've even got plans for some of my handspun that I've been making this year - hmm, I should take pictures of that!<br />
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My energy is obviously coming back, I can't wait! Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-91761495931146502022012-08-03T14:03:00.001+00:002012-08-03T14:05:18.977+00:00Ravellenics Observer Shawl - Pictureless ProgressPattern page here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/observer<br />
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My ravelry project page here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/observer<br />
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I've been steadily working on my ravellenics shawl, and I've made quite a bit of progress in the past few days. I'm now at the point where, if I was making a small size shawl, I'd be on the edging. I've decided to make the large size though, so I've still got some way to go. I've done my increase round for section 6, and I'm now at 512 stitches per round, and it'll increase to 1024 stitches per round for the edging. I didn't take this into account when deciding to make the large size, lol! Although my computer geeky size does love how the numbers work out :) <br />
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I worked it out, and I have 28,672 stitches left to work in this shawl before the end of the Olympics. Hmmmm. I hope I can get it done in time. It's turning out to be an Olympic sized project, indeed!Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-13796061553731020882012-07-31T14:54:00.000+00:002012-07-31T14:54:07.349+00:00Ravellenics Observer Shawl - Progress PicturesPattern page here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/observer<br />
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My ravelry project page here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/observer<br />
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After day 3, I had finished the fourth section of this shawl.<br />
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Here it is looking rather sombrero-like. It's getting too big to stretch out without taking it off the needles.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7684385190/" title="Ravellenics Day 4 - Observer Shawl - After Section 4 by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7684385190_e568eefa4a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ravellenics Day 4 - Observer Shawl - After Section 4"></a><br />
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And here's a close-up of the zig-zag section:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7684379354/" title="Ravellenics Day 4 - Observer Shawl - After Section 4 by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8003/7684379354_e76ddea1e2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ravellenics Day 4 - Observer Shawl - After Section 4"></a><br />
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This section confused me a bit at first. I was finding it hard to "read" the lace pattern because it's a written pattern, and the yarn overs were a little difficult to figure out where to place because I was trying to overthink it instead of just following the pattern :) But the designer <a href="http://www.minknit.com/">Mindy </a>posted some helpful tips on the ravelry board, and I also began to recognise the relationship between the yo's on the rounds. I did have to rip out the section half way through, because I'd made a mistake somewhere, but I'd recognised the relationshi[ by then, and could just zoom straight through.<br />
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I knitted a whole lot on it yesterday, and am now at the halfway point of section 5 - yay! I'm at the next zig-zag portion now :)Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-25771456123327328822012-07-28T17:31:00.000+00:002012-07-31T14:45:47.867+00:00Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer ShawlI cast on for my Observer Shawl last night :)<br />
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Pattern page here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/observer<br />
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My ravelry project page here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/observer<br />
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I'm using this huge cone of light fingering weight yarn<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7662983976/" title="Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer Shawl - Big Cone Of Yarn by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8432/7662983976_8c4acccab4.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer Shawl - Big Cone Of Yarn"></a><br />
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on 5mm needles, and it's coming out great! I had wondered about the large needle size, but it's really knitting up into a nice fabric.<br />
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The shawl is knitted using the Pi formula by Elizabeth Zimmerman and each part of the shawl is written out as a separate section, which is very useful for keeping track of where you are in the pattern. It's a written pattern, not charted, but having it in these sections makes it much easier to read - also the way Mindy writes her patterns with regard to pattern repeats makes it a "clean" pattern and very easy to read. There's no extraneous waffling - it's all very much to the point and straight-forward. I like her style of pattern writing :)<br />
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This is the shawl after section 2:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7662967310/" title="Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer Shawl - After Section 2 by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7272/7662967310_4856817689.jpg" width="500" height="446" alt="Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer Shawl - After Section 2"></a><br />
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And this is is after section 3:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7662976160/" title="Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer Shawl - After Section 3 by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8009/7662976160_9b3afdb930.jpg" width="500" height="422" alt="Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer Shawl - After Section 3"></a><br />
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which is where I stopped last night.<br />
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Getting pictures of black yarn in knitting is very difficult! I ended up with my fingers etc being washed out and just a big white blur because the camera needed to absorb so much light for the dark stitches to show. Still, nobody's looking at the pictures for my fingers or toes (hopefully, lol) :) Also - trying to take a picture of circular knitting that wants to fold in on itself requires about 3 or 4 hands! I don't know how I'm going to manage it when the shawl gets bigger!<br />
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I'm really enjoying this project. The beginning was hard - I had to knit my end piece of yarn from the CO into my first row, because I kept picking that up and knitting with that instead. I had to frog it a couple of times because I was getting muddled up with that bit of yarn. But now it’s got going, it’s really quite addictive! I'll be knitting more on it tonight, I'm super excited! :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-50772441489577930262012-07-26T15:03:00.002+00:002012-07-26T15:03:37.919+00:00Ravellenics Tomorrow, Yay!Tomorrow is the start of the Olympic Games, and that means it's also the start of the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/groups/ravellenic-games-2012">Ravellenic Games</a> over on Ravelry - yaaay!!<br />
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I've joined <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/minknit-designs--knitting-minknits-podcast/2120188/1-25">Team MinKnit</a> this time - it's a team being captained by Mindy from <a href="http://www.minknit.com/">MinKnit designs</a> and also she hosts the <a href="http://podcast.minknit.com/">Knitting Minknits</a> podcast, which I really enjoy and recommend. She talks about her knitting and her designing, which I find really interesting. Her podcast is both informative and friendly - it's one of my favourite ones now. This is going to be a smaller team, which is ideal for me, because I get totally overwhelmed by the larger groups. I go on and see like 500 new posts in one day and just don't bother even looking. I think this group is going to be lots of fun. There are some lovely people talking on the thread already, and I feel like I can chime in at any time and be welcomed, which is always good in a team/group :)<br />
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Mindy has designed the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/observer">Observer shawl</a>, which is a $4 on ravelry, or free if you're in Team Minknit. It's <i>beautiful</i>! I've never made a circular shawl before, but I really like this one. I like the geometric-ness of the zig-zag lace, and I think it would look awesome in 2 or even multi colours because of the defined rings of lace. My first knitting of it is going to be in one colour though.<br />
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The pattern is designed so that the small size would use only one skein of sock yarn, which is awesome! I have a large cone of black yarn though - of a light fingering weight, so I'm going to make either the large size, or even larger :D<br />
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I've added my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/observer">project page on ravelry</a>, and changed my ravatar to the Team Minknit one - I can't believe I'm going to have to wait till 9pm tomorrow to cast on!<br />
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So that means that I'm taking part in the shawl sailing and the lace longjump events with this project. I've only officially added this project just now - if there's any time left after finishing it, I may add another, but I'll wait and see :)<br />
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Are you taking part in the ravellenic games? What team are you on, and what are you making - I want to know! :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-19932495943462810662012-07-11T14:03:00.001+00:002012-07-11T14:03:08.002+00:00Arrrg - Dyelots!!I'm knitting - well, attempting to knit - the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kourtney-light-weight">Kourtney Light Weight</a> vest top by <a href="http://www.hauteknitdesigns.com/">Mishellee Zaharis</a>. I'm using a pink Stylecraft Special 4 ply yarn that has been in my stash for ages. I've tried to use it for 2 other large projects and it hasn't worked for <i>anything</i>. In fact, I kind of wanted to just get rid of it, but I'm a Taurus - I'm stubborn ;) I kind of had this idea that I could "defeat" the yarn, and make it become something lovely.<br />
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This vest is a lovely pattern - I like the ruffles round the front neck - totally girly and un-me :) And so I started knitting it in this pink yarn. My gauge was off - 6sts to the inch instead of 5, but no bother, I did maths (!) and knit the numbers for a couple of sizes larger. I even worked out the different numbers of row to account for my 8.5 rows to the inch instead of the 7.5 in the pattern. I get all the way to the armholes, change balls and look:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7549707478/" title="Dyelot Disaster by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7129/7549707478_39cfbed5ac.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Dyelot Disaster"></a><br />
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A great big stripe where the new ball is a completely different shade of pink! Arrrrg!<br />
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(Strangely, the yarn in the balls looked identical. Weird.)<br />
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I actually almost cried. It didn't take terribly long to knit this far because it's quite a loose gauge for the yarn, on 4mm needles. And up to the armholes only took one 100g ball! But still! To make matters worse - I have another half ball in this yarn (3 total) but this other ball matches the top darker stripe, not the bottom one! Of course, I had to start knitting with the odd ball!<br />
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So I (quite literally!) threw it in the corner, and went to sleep. My partner suggested just keeping knitting and then over-dying the whole garment, but I don't even know if that would work properly. I suppose I could chuck it in a basin full of Dylon! :D<br />
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But since I have this 150g that match, I guess it makes more sense (to me, at least) to start again, and re-knit the whole thing. Dying seems like a whole other step, and an unknown one at that. I haven't really done any dying before.<br />
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After having slept on it, it doesn't seem like such a disaster, more of a huge annoyance. But ooh, I was so angry last night! I'm sure the balls all had the same dyelot number, and stylecraft are usually very good at getting all the dyelots to match. Maybe it wasn't the same dyelot after all - I lost the band months ago when I tried to make it into some other random thing. But dammit, it should have been! Cos I wanted it to be!! Yeah, I've just gone into peevish mode now about it, which is better than angry crying mode.<br />
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(Seriously, crying over dyelots!!! In my defence, it was late and I was sleepy, and apparently I just am the type of person who would cry over such a silly thing! lol!)Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-49044960058234191872012-07-03T13:18:00.003+00:002012-07-03T13:18:53.564+00:00Some Actual Knitting Content!In my quest to slowly get back into blogging etc, I took some photos of some FOs that I finished at the end of last year/beginning of this year. Gloves and mittens are easy to take relatively decent photos of, so I started with them :)<br />
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First off, last year at some point I frogged my version of the Druid Mittens that I had started to make with fingering weight yarn (I posted about them <a href="http://yarn-dancer.blogspot.com/2011/04/mitten-knittin-and-rant-about-thumbs.html">here</a>) They were just a bit too small, and I never got round to finishing them, because I kind of knew that I'd be unhappy with them. Then I thought of making them with DK weight yarn instead, as it would be an easy way to make them larger without having to mess about with the pattern. So I used this green yarn (it's wool/acrylic, possibly Stylecraft Life DK, but I've forgotten exactly. I'm about 80% sure it's Life DK though), and slightly larger needles I think. See, this is why keeping blog posts and putting things on ravelry is much easier when you do it directly after making the item! :D Anyway, I just knit the pattern as written, since I didn't have much brain space for modifications, and I just wanted to get them done and out of my queue. Here's some photos:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493853628/" title="Druid Mittens by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/7493853628_31efca128c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Druid Mittens"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493853628/" title="Druid Mittens by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/7493853628_31efca128c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Druid Mittens"></a><br />
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And here's a photo with one of them steam blocked and the other not:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493849400/" title="Druid Mittens - mid blocking by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8281/7493849400_969d4aaef8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Druid Mittens - mid blocking"></a><br />
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Pattern: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/03-green-autumn-druid-mittens">Druid Mittens</a> by <a href="http://www.brooklyntweed.net/">Jared Flood</a>, from Vogue Knitting Fall 2008<br />
My ravelry project page: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/03-green-autumn-druid-mittens-2">here</a><br />
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I did another re-knit as well. I don't know if I'd ever posted about the Something Floral fingerless mitts, but I'd started to knit them in some fingering weight yarn before - in black and white. But again, they were small. So I decided to just frog them (I went through a bit of a frogging phase in my knitting slump!) But I really like the pattern, and wanted to make them, so I cast them on again. This time I used different yarn - it's possibly Regia sock yarn, but again, I've forgotten and lost the ball bands :)<br />
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This is the project that made me figure out that I need to knit colourwork either on very large needles compared to the pattern recommendation, or go up a yarn weight. They're still snug, even using larger needles, but they can at least go on now :) They'll be perfect for autumn days either with T-shirts or under a cardi or something.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493844798/" title="Something Floral Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7493844798_daba6d4787.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Something Floral Mitts"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493840356/" title="Something Floral Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/7493840356_e91c30d8eb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Something Floral Mitts"></a><br />
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Some detail shots:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493830976/" title="- top edgeSomething Floral Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/7493830976_126b83106b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="- top edgeSomething Floral Mitts"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493835474/" title="Something Floral Mitts - detail by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7126/7493835474_f235eb1c1e.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Something Floral Mitts - detail"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493826476/" title="Something Floral Mitts - flower detail by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7493826476_24e6b0c7c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Something Floral Mitts - flower detail"></a><br />
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And mid-steam-blocking:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493822006/" title="Something Floral Mitts - mid blocking by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/7493822006_847e50a586.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Something Floral Mitts - mid blocking"></a><br />
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Pattern: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/something-floral">Something Floral</a> by <a href="http://pokitoknits.blogspot.com/">Miranda Grant</a><br />
My ravelry project page: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/something-floral">here</a><br />
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And finally, a pattern I'd been wanting to knit for ages, in a yarn that I'd been wondering what to make out of for ages :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493803460/" title="Reading Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7493803460_7d8db7de65.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Reading Mitts"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493808192/" title="Reading Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8428/7493808192_f80fdb7bfb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Reading Mitts"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493817428/" title="Reading Mitts - top edge by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/7493817428_e0d6570cbb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Reading Mitts - top edge"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/7493812638/" title="Reading Mitts - bottom edge by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7493812638_e508d55016.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Reading Mitts - bottom edge"></a><br />
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Pattern: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/susie-rogers-reading-mitts">Susie Rogers' Reading Mitts</a> by <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/designers/susie-rogers">Susie Rogers </a><br />
Yarn: a colourmart merino (DK?) that I got in my goodie bag at Knit Camp. I'd been wondering what to make out of it for ages, because I wasn't sure how much there was. Then I saw this pattern in my queue and the two matched together! I had a teeny bit left over, it just went in my scraps bag :)<br />
My ravelry project page: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/susie-rogers-reading-mitts">here</a><br />
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Yay, a post about actual knitting! I'm going to try to photograph some more stuff later on or tomorrow - it turns out that even though I considered I was in a knitting slump, I still managed to get quite a few projects finished! :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-45662625860708024132012-06-29T12:03:00.001+00:002012-06-29T13:21:29.309+00:00Tutorial: Ordering PDF Patterns From Knit Picks From OverseasOne of the reasons I wanted to start this blog up again was to write a tutorial. I recently ordered a pattern from the knit picks website (<a href="http://www.knitpicks.com"></a>) and OMG it was a convoluted experience!! I had to take information from various places on the internet, and combine them with my own making stuff up. Eventually I got the pattern, but I wanted to post how I did it, so that other people can follow the steps.<br />
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The problem is that Knit Picks does not allow shipping to other countries. But I just wanted to buy a pdf download, which does not involve shipping. You still have to put in a shipping address though, in the order form.<br />
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Now, the information used in this tutorial apparantly came from a Knit Picks employee and was then posted on ravelry. I found the information here, but apparantly there's an earlier thread that I can't find.<br />
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To illustrate how to order a pattern from "overseas" (not the U.S. in other words), I'll be using the order page for the <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/cfpatterns/pattern_display.cfm?ID=11018220&media=RAV&utm_source=media&utm_medium=marketing&utm_campaign=RAV">Cabled Summer Top by Lee Gant</a>, because it's a pretty top and I want the pattern ;)<br />
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So, first you go to the pattern page on knitpicks.com<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMC1faizztnvEZC8jX-gigG-AAAclizgOG5LrRjLLQqADUvaQgL8oMf7wEGBJpB7WFE6wOph2Zj7piSc_jQWtBbuz1yaMJaAUBgvqJ6QVEwCw9EQGr7QAyxtDT8lDd78rKpGkucKvf35Ul/s1600/pattern+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="186" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMC1faizztnvEZC8jX-gigG-AAAclizgOG5LrRjLLQqADUvaQgL8oMf7wEGBJpB7WFE6wOph2Zj7piSc_jQWtBbuz1yaMJaAUBgvqJ6QVEwCw9EQGr7QAyxtDT8lDd78rKpGkucKvf35Ul/s320/pattern+page.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Click on "get the pattern" in the right hand corner. It'll take you down the page to the "kit builder" where you could buy the yarn if you lived in the U.S. But you don't, or you wouldn't be using this tutorial, so ignore this and just click "add to cart".<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jzzFjSqyyZm9BqvLM6-St_cUBs-ZR8XoP8Ej11mM6O8kf8bOQeLIpRjmzSzxn-3fGCH_BEGUPajB3KsS3jtsEYra2oPRhJzA7Gcjh3SfcUG7yYNNwv0C-kV3SjptmiFBOaBWLNaxkbkz/s1600/kit+builder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jzzFjSqyyZm9BqvLM6-St_cUBs-ZR8XoP8Ej11mM6O8kf8bOQeLIpRjmzSzxn-3fGCH_BEGUPajB3KsS3jtsEYra2oPRhJzA7Gcjh3SfcUG7yYNNwv0C-kV3SjptmiFBOaBWLNaxkbkz/s320/kit+builder.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It'll take you to the top of the page again, just click on the checkout button in the top right now, which will take you to this page.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEzpsc5dqyWv5s-hFjZW2Fa2dMnYoNF7FlsiwgMYC10Ri1Y2RpNyTcHsTxS_hOKJjXvUxcJXRCXb3qsBJopuutFj_s6uhxc76lR-dgT5crVCza-X89OYm9E4mlbViUiP5mVhSK-goxqp9/s1600/basket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="174" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEzpsc5dqyWv5s-hFjZW2Fa2dMnYoNF7FlsiwgMYC10Ri1Y2RpNyTcHsTxS_hOKJjXvUxcJXRCXb3qsBJopuutFj_s6uhxc76lR-dgT5crVCza-X89OYm9E4mlbViUiP5mVhSK-goxqp9/s320/basket.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Click "checkout" at the bottom.<br />
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Now,this is the complicated bit. Fill in your proper billing information, your name, address, email etc. Put "not applicable" for the state, and whatever your country is in the drop down box.<br />
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BUT!<br />
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Your phone number may not have the correct number of digits (this is the bit that threw me for ages!) American phone numbers have 10 digits plus the 1 at the beginning for the country code (for example 1-800-123-1234) You'll see on the first picture that knitpicks have their own phone number laid out on the top of the screen. You need to put in that many digits (minus the country code). My UK landline has 11 digits. What I had to do was drop the 0 at the beginning of my phone number, and just put in the rest of the digits, as in this example (this is NOT my real phone number by the way - I don't think it's any real phone number. It's just an example. Don't try and phone it!)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitN60aKcpVehGqmxni4P2sAjri36xONkhSHeYwfiKd2be6h5-dOocjYvbyJdKsQ4E3JOjH6Ha87JMouWltkZcqcpyNKukEJqyNysIslLhX5B_yosVJVbi96_kJMPRP3UomE7YlsL3BOZkH/s1600/billing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="181" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitN60aKcpVehGqmxni4P2sAjri36xONkhSHeYwfiKd2be6h5-dOocjYvbyJdKsQ4E3JOjH6Ha87JMouWltkZcqcpyNKukEJqyNysIslLhX5B_yosVJVbi96_kJMPRP3UomE7YlsL3BOZkH/s320/billing.jpg" /></a></div><br />
For the shipping address, put in knitpicks own address. This is the advice that was given to the ravelry member from their own staff, so I'm assuming it's OK. It works anyway.<br />
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Fill in the shipping address as shown in this picture. Then fill in your first and last names, and the phone number you used before.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YfxR7N59ilt1LBfSiseXRnNRxctSMlrqbmTjQR6YeS4If4LiEqOGm1Ut6f6DyYxrxnJLkljL2q8udhlGoe9M2m0ib2-knN0bCrO4Pnw_T-4Igpu_cIvq12I_Y5LtdZQ3o-d3OzyHhB5a/s1600/shipping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="172" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YfxR7N59ilt1LBfSiseXRnNRxctSMlrqbmTjQR6YeS4If4LiEqOGm1Ut6f6DyYxrxnJLkljL2q8udhlGoe9M2m0ib2-knN0bCrO4Pnw_T-4Igpu_cIvq12I_Y5LtdZQ3o-d3OzyHhB5a/s320/shipping.jpg" /></a></div><br />
If this works, you'll be taken to the credit card details page. I have deleted my personal details from this photo - you'll have your billing and shipping addresses shown on the left.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVDIV6y8HZp7iEd21Y9-t6CYiw75Bn-cocOeSrkZ55a1WFnguvHszyTcSzh1qPJJtLMQK-xKW1VE8C2rCAECvfjc_mHHPtYju5lej8v7jH1Z5vrJzLp8Ow0tRHBqmaWDTGJEIIYYGGtO_y/s1600/card+details.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="174" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVDIV6y8HZp7iEd21Y9-t6CYiw75Bn-cocOeSrkZ55a1WFnguvHszyTcSzh1qPJJtLMQK-xKW1VE8C2rCAECvfjc_mHHPtYju5lej8v7jH1Z5vrJzLp8Ow0tRHBqmaWDTGJEIIYYGGtO_y/s320/card+details.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Scroll down and fill in your credit card details and click submit order, and away you go!<br />
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You'll see an order received page now.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCtl8DOG-CEHCvr3X6leT8-FTTu8VyltLSgoCDNseP3EbKsw-h4hRCqqnC34HpQQwxQytmcKR5BOaQdJEajVd5-gNas2R7jA1AWFaYr6Jl7RP1ZHHo04WE4Dzl8zQNtFU6URCpDKZe-m9/s1600/received.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="173" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCtl8DOG-CEHCvr3X6leT8-FTTu8VyltLSgoCDNseP3EbKsw-h4hRCqqnC34HpQQwxQytmcKR5BOaQdJEajVd5-gNas2R7jA1AWFaYr6Jl7RP1ZHHo04WE4Dzl8zQNtFU6URCpDKZe-m9/s320/received.jpg" /></a></div><br />
And in your email, you'll soon get a link to download your pattern.<br />
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But wait, that might not be it!! You might get your pattern downloaded as a cfm file - for example "downloadpattern.cfm" Confusing, huh? Don't worry, just go to the folder where the file has downloaded, and rename the file to "downloadpattern.pdf" It will now open in adobe acrobat reader, and you can print out your shiny new pattern!<br />
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I hope this tutorial makes sense and helps you. This is my first time writing a real internet tutorial, I hope I've added enough pictures and made it sound easy, which it is really. All you're changing is the shipping address, the phone number and renaming a file. Let me know if it helps, or if you have any other questions. The information is out there on ravelry etc, but I thought it would be helpful to have it all grouped into one page :)Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-36070008428213277852012-06-26T09:58:00.000+00:002012-06-26T09:58:18.459+00:00I Aten't Dead....I've just been on hiatus, I guess ;)<br />
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It's been over 6 months since I last posted - I'm sure no-one's still subscribed, but here I am anyway lol!<br />
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I totally lost my knitting mojo over Christmas and winter. I just couldn't think of anything I wanted to knit. And whenever I did try something, it went wrong - like it would be too big, or too small, or too... something. My stash was totally hanging over my head - I would stare at the bookshelves of yarn, and wonder just what on earth I could do with all of that yarn! And some things, I had plans for, like pullovers and clothing items, but I was having (mental) issues with my body too, and just felt like nothing would fit or look nice, or if it fit now, what would happen if I ever managed to lose weight? Or what if I put on weight? What was the point?<br />
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So I dropped out of knitting for a while. I sewed a little bit - made some fabric flowers and bettered some of my hand-sewing skills. I didn't go anywhere near blogs or even ravelry - there were just all these pretty, amazing objects taunting me with their makeability. So I spent months reading books, playing video games, or just sat on facebook. Which is full of all my bellydancing buddies and that's fantastic, but I still missed knitting.<br />
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Slowly, I seem to have come out of my knitting slump. I started with some small objects - fingerless mitts mostly. You can't go far wrong with them :) And now I'm back to knitting sweaters! I've crept back onto ravelry and my queue has started expanding again - it appears that so many amazing patterns have come out while I've been away! And now I'm going to slowly get back to blogging and reading other people's blogs. :)<br />
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I rearranged my blog reading layout - I used to use blogger to keep track of all the blogs I read, but it wasn't really a good layout at all. And then they changed it while I've been away and it's even more convoluted! So I've dragged all my fave blogs to a toolbar folder on firefox, and I can just scroll through that instead of having to open another program, or go to a specific page, which I was just forgetting to do. Soon I'll be back to commenting on them all, but I'm taking it slow this time - I don't want to burn myself out again by jumping back in too soon. This social networking stuff takes a lot of energy, and my levels are just starting to rise again! :)<br />
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I've also decided to stop beating myself about photographing all my knits. I kind of felt that they should all be photographed in lovely natural light, with fnacy bokeh effects and everything. This kind of hung over my head too, because in Scotland in the winter - this isn't really possible without big fancy photography rigs and tons of spare time to take 100 photos of every object from every angle. So I was beginning to feel like there was no point in taking photos if they weren't totally professional quality. I know, totally dumb, right? And I had this big thing against using the flash on my camera, when sometimes it's just the right thing that needs to be used... I'm so strange. From now on, I'll just try for the best picture I can get. With flash or without, indoors or outdoors depending on the weather and light, it doesn't <i>really</i> matter. A crappy photo with flash in front of a mirror is better than no photo at all, right?<br />
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I've been thinking a lot about my expectations for myself, and what I do. For this whole blogging thing - they were far too high. I'm not sure what I wanted my blog to be - a big professional looking site full of gorgeous pictures, and a tiny thin version of me in beautiful handknits posed on an Icelandic beach or something. Um, that's not my life?! So I'm going to endeavour - not to <i>lower </i>my standards or expectations for myself, but to make them reasonable, and realistic.<br />
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This is a good plan, I think, and I'm going to <i>slowly </i>work on it. And maybe I should apply the same thinking to other areas of my life... Actually, seeing that last sentence on the last paragraph written out - it makes so much sense. Why have I not been thinking like that already??? So, to repeat:<br />
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<b>I'm going to endeavour - not to <i>lower </i>my standards or expectations for myself, but to make them reasonable, and realistic.</b><br />
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Gosh, this post has been all therapeutic and stuff! I'm really excited about getting back to my online knitting life now! :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-5014304440614876502011-11-01T12:17:00.002+00:002011-11-01T12:40:29.569+00:00Some Small Projects: Fingerless MittsI've still not been knitting a whole lot, but here are some pictures of fingerless mitts I've made over the past couple of months.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6294991278/" title="Cratchit Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6093/6294991278_c4a05970f7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Cratchit Mitts"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6294465583/" title="Cratchit Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6052/6294465583_b95ff1e943.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Cratchit Mitts"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6294455911/" title="Cratchit Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6240/6294455911_fb1a9541d0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Cratchit Mitts"></a><br /><br />Back in July (!) I made these Cratchit Garter Mitts - <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cratchit-garter-mitts">pattern </a>by <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/designers/susan-newhall">Susan Newhall </a>. The yarn is something by Lana Grossa - I got it a few years ago and promptly took off the ball bands :/ I really like the colour of the yarn, and how it worked up in this pattern.<br /><br />This pattern was really good - easy to follow, and they're so scrunchy and stretchy, really comfortable. I like how my thumb ring peeks out over the top of the thumb gusset :)<br /><br />I enjoyed the pattern so much that I made another pair:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6294476967/" title="Cratchit Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6115/6294476967_220fff3c8c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Cratchit Mitts"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6295010308/" title="Cratchit Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6220/6295010308_4e0e8bf2ae.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Cratchit Mitts"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6295002170/" title="Cratchit Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6097/6295002170_f36aeec087.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Cratchit Mitts"></a><br /><br />These were made with some yarn by <a href="http://www.createwithwool.co.uk/">Ba T'at</a> Yarns. I got a 75g skein of it at Knit Camp in 2010, and this pattern seems to use around 58-60g, so I decided this was the pattern for this yarn. Again, I like how it shows the variegation in the yarn.<br /><br />Then last month I made these:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6294773976/" title="Verdigris by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6225/6294773976_9e48c6d093.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Verdigris"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6294485489/" title="Verdigris Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6236/6294485489_2dfcc24c6e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Verdigris Mitts"></a><br /><br />The pattern is <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer09/KSPATTverdigris.php">Verdigris </a>by <a href="http://www.designsbyromi.com/">Romi Hill</a>, from <a href="http://www.knitty.com">knitty</a>. These were made for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup. The task was to make something from knitty, and by the time that I had time to knit, I needed something small that could be finished quickly. So I looked through knitty's pattern browser for mitts, and these came up - I hadn't even noticed them before!<br /><br />I made the small size, they're definitely smaller on the cuff that I would normally make, but I kind of like it with this pattern, it makes them look cuter :) I really like the cables and lace stitch pattern, it reminds me of leaves, so I had to make them in green. Luckily I had some green sock yarn leftovers. These mitts weigh 37g, they didn't use up all of my leftovers, so I'll need to find something to do with the remaining small amount.<br /><br />I changed the pattern a little - I just did a normal cast on, and ribbed for four rounds, and at the end I ribbed for four rounds then did a sewn bind off. I couldn't figure out how the other cast on was supposed to work, and it was late at night and I didn't have the energy to try to figure it out. But it works :)<br /><br />Now I need to get photos of the other projects I've done over the past couple of months :)Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-25414132560270923742011-09-30T14:17:00.003+00:002011-09-30T14:42:26.915+00:00It's been a while...but I'm back :D<br /><br />I disappeared from knitting for a while. My mojo just up and disappeared all of a sudden :( I actually hardly knit anything for a while, and even stopped listening to knitting podcast. I even, gasp, didn't go on ravelry.<br /><br />I'm blaming it on two things. First of all, I was quite ill over the summer there. I was having problems breathing, and couldn't sleep at night without waking up out of breath, then I got a cold/flu which turned into tonsilitis. It really sucked. On the bright side, out of it all, I *finally* got diagnosed with asthma, after having these symptoms for the past few years. It's aggravated by hayfever for me, so in the summer it gets worse. Which explains the chest problems I've had for the past 3 summers :/ But I have inhalers and anti-histamines galore now, and it's great. I can actually sleep all night through! You wouldn't believe what a difference that has made. Sleep seems like such an basic thing, but when you're waking up every 3 hours and your sleep is interrupted to such a degree, it's hard to focus on anything through the day, and my energy levels were going right down. But now, I feel good. I have energy - even my metabolism seems a bit speeded up and my weight is easier to control over the past month or so of having these meds.<br /><br />I'm also blaming my lack of motivation on deadline knitting. I went to my cousin's wedding last month, and had to knit a shrug for it. I also had a couple of other things that had to be knit quickly, and my appetite for knitting just disappeared because of it. :( The shrug turned out nice though - here's me in my "going to a wedding" outfit:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6CPmLKyJQX_LZkPKO5eZ0-wv3chbI5rZczr3BtLMQ8oRBwWMH7zqaT4BfV_GPH-d_zaWBpSpIO2YXVBv6rQ7TDGlh9hXWAvPSBy1gvS_8bLEF3mGZNgZvYmoOZG611jtmDNWh3rsoAx4z/s1600/DSCF4363.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6CPmLKyJQX_LZkPKO5eZ0-wv3chbI5rZczr3BtLMQ8oRBwWMH7zqaT4BfV_GPH-d_zaWBpSpIO2YXVBv6rQ7TDGlh9hXWAvPSBy1gvS_8bLEF3mGZNgZvYmoOZG611jtmDNWh3rsoAx4z/s320/DSCF4363.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658160246182938994" /></a><br /><br />You can't see it that well because it's black, but it's another Two Tone Ribbed Shrug (pattern by Stephanie Japel from the book Fitted Knits). I made it from Debbie Bliss Rialto DK on 4mm needles. It's the third time I've knit that shrug. It's a very flattering shrug and I love it, but having to knit it quickly just put me right off :( <br /><br />I'm getting my mojo back - I've been listening to podcasts again and have been queueing patterns on ravelry, and even been knitting too!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6197777720/" title="Deep In The Forest Mittens by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6121/6197777720_79a9fd8dd9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Deep In The Forest Mittens"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/6197777720/" title="Deep In The Forest Mittens by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6121/6197777720_79a9fd8dd9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Deep In The Forest Mittens"></a><br /><br />These are the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/deep-in-the-forest-mittens">Deep In The Forest Mittens</a> by Tuulia Salmela. I've wanted to knit these for ages! I spun the yarn myself - merino, to just over a fingering weight, and then knit them this month as part of the Harry Potter Knit And Crochet House Cup over on ravelry. It was good motivation, and I'm really enjoying colourwork just now! I've even spun up the yarn for my next pair of colourwork handspun mittens already! <br /><br />I modified the pattern so that the picture would be the same on both hands on the front and back. I did this just by working the chart from left to right on the right mitten, and placing the thumb on the other side of the front. I also reversed the braided edging on the right mitten so that the arrows on them would both face “inwards”, by reversing the two rows on which the braiding is worked.<br /><br />I'm so pleased with these mittens! I love making colourwork out of my handspun! I'm still a bit put off knitting anything else at the moment, like hats or pullovers or anything like that, but I'm really enjoying the process of spinning and knitting mittens, so I'll just go with that for the time being :) I hope to get even more back into it soon :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-61064529093128895712011-07-25T15:41:00.002+00:002011-07-25T16:03:55.613+00:00FO and WIP - afterthought socksThe afterthought heel experiment worked well :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5974046325/" title="Afterthought Heel Experiment Socks by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6015/5974046325_f4a4bab64a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Afterthought Heel Experiment Socks"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5974052627/" title="Afterthought Heel Experiment Sock by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6133/5974052627_2b36999f07.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Afterthought Heel Experiment Sock"></a><br /><br />I wanted to try the afterthought heel technique, where you basically start knitting a sock (toe up or cuff down), put in some waste yarn where you'll put the heel later, then keep knitting the tube. Then when you've finished your sock, you go back and pick up the stitches from the waste yarn, and basically knit another toe. (I know, rubbish description. If you google it, there'll be tons of far better descriptions and tutorials) I wanted to make stripey socks, but short row heels never seem to work out for me. They always seem to fall off my heel and have massive holes. So I thought I'd give this a try. Other people seemed to be having success with it, and I figured, it's only knitting - I'll give something new a try :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5974620124/" title="Afterthought Heel Experiment by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/5974620124_d143542f7b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Afterthought Heel Experiment"></a><br /><br />For some reason, even though this heel is basically the same shape as a short row heel, it seems to stay on my foot much better. I can't explain it, it just seems to hug the heel of my foot much better - it feels less forced onto my foot. I did end up picking up 68sts when the rest of the sock was 64sts around, to close holes, and because I seemed to end up with a couple of extra sts anyway. Maybe that larger amount of sts accounts for it fitting better. I'm not sure, but I do like the way it fits. Not as much as I like heel flaps, but this works really well for striped socks, and it means you don't have to interrupt the pattern in self-striping yarn at all.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5974071189/" title="Stripey Sock - Afterthought Heel 2 by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6136/5974071189_0348484e92.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Stripey Sock - Afterthought Heel 2"></a><br /><br />So, after these were finished, I cast on another pair. I found 2 balls of Regia in a charity shop recently, but they were both different shades of blue. I can't make a pair from one ball for myself because my feet are too big, so I figured I would stripe them.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5974111827/" title="Stripey Sock - Afterthought Heel 2 - The Toe by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6121/5974111827_704ef1e423.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Stripey Sock - Afterthought Heel 2 - The Toe"></a><br /><br />I knit these from the toe up because I wanted the striping to end up exact on the toe. I didn't want to have to start decreases halfway through a stripe. So I did a figure 8 cast on, knit the toe in the navy blue, and then started striping. Luckily, I managed to fit the heel right into the middle of a navy stripe, and then I made the ribbing at the top of the cuff in navy too.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5974627712/" title="Stripey Sock - Afterthought Heel 2 by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6030/5974627712_7546866dc3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Stripey Sock - Afterthought Heel 2"></a><br /><br />I've only done one of these socks so far, but I'm liking the stripeyness :)Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-13294049693023278132011-07-20T13:27:00.003+00:002011-07-20T14:20:34.414+00:00WIP Wednesday - Oh my, where did all this come from??I felt this morning that I hadn't really done that much this week to write about. I've been kind of skipping between projects again, and that's made me feel like I've hardly accomplished anything on any of them. Then I went through my project bags to take photos :)<br /><br />I've been knitting on three projects this week. I've got an afterthought pair of socks on the go - this pair from the toe up. No photos yet of them though. And I cast on two new scarf projects. I finished the Willow Scarf (I think I said that already in another post) but it's not steamed out yet, so it doesn't count as an FO yet.<br /><br />The first scarf is another rectangular scarf to work on when the bf's mother comes to visit. I'm using yarn from two cones held double, so it has to stay beside the sofa, and that's the only time I'm on there. Same yarn as the willow scarf - laceweight burgundy acrylic. I got the two cones from a charity shop ages ago, and they've been never ending. This should be the last scarf that comes off those cones though, they're nearly finished! :D<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957986524/" title="WIP Wednesday - Falling Water by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6015/5957986524_c42c40ab85.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="WIP Wednesday - Falling Water"></a><br /><br />The pattern is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/falling-water">Falling Water</a> by <a href="http://www.bluepeninsula.blogspot.com/">Bonnie Sennott</a>. It's a free pattern off Ravelry. I cast on 48sts, (an extra couple of repeats) and it's been going really fast. I chose that pattern because the repeats are quite a few rows long, so I wouldn't get bored with it so easily. That's the plan anyway. I've got to the stage where I've memorised the pattern, and can just read where I am on my knitting, which is always good :)<br /><br />I also cast on Celaeno by Rosemary Hill, from the 7 small shawls ebook (the first one). This is the first pattern I've knit from that book so far, but there are lots more that I want to make from it. I've purchased the second book too - can't wait to see the patterns she comes up with for it!<br /><br />I'm using the Sundara fingering silky merino that I won in a blog giveaway from Lina at photoknitdog. It's so lovely to knit with!! So soft and squishy! I'm really enjoying it. I was going to make Elektra from the same book with it, but it turned out that I didn't have quite enough yardage for it. With this pattern, I have a bit too much yardage, but I'm just going to make the shawl/scarf bigger. I've knit up to the point where the pattern says to start the lace, but I'm going to follow her instructions for making it bigger and knit more garter stitch.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957422921/" title="WIP Wednesday - Celaeno by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6124/5957422921_8387ce7ec2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="WIP Wednesday - Celaeno"></a><br /><br />I've also done lots of spinning and spinning related stuff. I plied and set the green yarn I'd been working on (it turned out to be merino), and I'm very happy with it. I'll be casting that on soon, as a pair of <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/deep-in-the-forest-mittens">Deep In The Forest</a> mittens. The pattern is printed and I'm all ready to go!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957964994/" title="Green Merino - Plied and Set by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6025/5957964994_7f380c532d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Green Merino - Plied and Set"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957971200/" title="Green Merino - Close-up by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6133/5957971200_4712e067ae.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Green Merino - Close-up"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957413865/" title="Green Merino - Close-up by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6142/5957413865_fbca74c725.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Green Merino - Close-up"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957968056/" title="Rolled Into Balls by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6002/5957968056_709fdc15a8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Rolled Into Balls"></a><br /><br />I was worried that the dark green would be a lot thinner than the light green, but I think it'll be fine. Setting the yarn seemed to make it a lot more similar to my eyes at least.<br /><br />I also spun and plied all of the pink fibre that I had.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957398239/" title="Pink Corriedale - Plied and Set by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6145/5957398239_7be3657d9d.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Pink Corriedale - Plied and Set"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957401501/" title="Pink Corriedale - Close-up by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5957401501_b4518ea591.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pink Corriedale - Close-up"></a><br /><br />This is corridale - I'm going to make some sort of scarf/shawl thing from it but I haven't decided yet. It turned out to be somewhat of an aran weight - I'll have to search Ravelry and see what patterns are there. I had quite a bit less of the dark pink, so I still have some light pink singles sitting in my basket. I'm going to go back to my LYS and see if they've got more of the dark pink, then spin that up to go with it (there's enough of the light pink left to make that worthwhile)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5957977246/" title="Plying by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/5957977246_d34573f466.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Plying"></a><br /><br />And so, with all that spun, I was still itching to spin something, so I went back to some cream coloured corridale that I'd spun singles of ages ago. So long ago, that the twist is completely unenergised just now. So I'm plying them up, and I'll see what they turn out like.<br /><br />And that's another WIP Wednesday! I've been a lot busier that I thought I had, and I've still got 2 FO posts to write :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-71625623232649154892011-07-15T14:10:00.002+00:002011-07-15T14:31:02.154+00:00FO: Commuter MittsI finished my Commuter Mitts!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5939638149/" title="Commuter Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6137/5939638149_40d0293e12.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commuter Mitts"></a><br /><br />Pattern: <a href="http://knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTcommuter.php">Commuter Mitts</a> by <a href="http://ssknits.wordpress.com/">Stephanie Sun</a><br /><br />Yarn: Sirdar Click Aran With Wool<br /><br />Needles: 4.5mm (I had to go up a couple of sizes to get gauge)<br /><br />The buttons were in my button stash - I think they came off of a jacket of the bf's, or his grandfather's - I'm not sure exactly. I know they came from the grandfather's house, and they've been in this house forever. I nabbed 2 of them for these gloves (after asking permission, of course!). If he wants to use them for anything else, I can always take them off and use something else, but I'm liking the slightly militaristic look the metal buttons give to these gloves.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5940184568/" title="Button by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/5940184568_18e3d797ea.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Button"></a><br /><br />I really like these mitts! I love the foldover at the cuff - such a great design element.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5940198502/" title="Mitten Fold by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6140/5940198502_344d0ba56e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Mitten Fold"></a><br /><br />The yarn knit up really nicely. It's an acrylic/wool blend, but it feels really nice, nicer than some of the other yarns I have with the exact same percentages of the fibres. It is more expensive than those yarns, admittedly, but still affordable. I'd definitely use it again, I really like the flecks of colour/heathering.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5939632627/" title="Fluffy Stitches by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6125/5939632627_bacb324fd4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Fluffy Stitches"></a><br /><br />They're very easy and quick to make - the main reason it took a bit longer for me was because I always procrastinate on sewing on buttons. I sewed on buttons on the palm side too, so I could do the folding over the fingers thing that you can see on the pattern page, but I didn't take a photo of them like that.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5940195628/" title="Commuter Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/5940195628_6afd1a17fe.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commuter Mitts"></a><br /><br />My only (slight) quibble about the pattern is that it has afterthought thumbs instead of gusseted ones, but I didn't notice till I was at that point, and couldn't be bothered ripping back and working out a gusset. But really, they're comfortable, and the thumb is on the side of the hand, not on the palm, so I just went with it, and I do really like these mitts. I'd definitely knit this pattern again, probably still with the afterthought thumbs.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5940190156/" title="Commuter Mitts by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6128/5940190156_87fe5e2423.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commuter Mitts"></a><br /><br />The only thing about knitting all these winter accessories is that I just can't wait till it's winter!! It's going to be like, 4 whole months before it's cold enough to wear all these things I've been making. I'll just have to pet them and look longingly at pictures of snow till then, lol!Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-89236028189351118362011-07-11T12:07:00.004+00:002011-07-11T12:17:12.500+00:00Oops! Teddy Bear Hat DetailsIn all my excitement yesterday I forgot to link details about the hat! D'oh!<br /><br />It's the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/teddy-bear-hat-2">Teddy Bear Hat</a> by Diane Langan - which can be purchased at her etsy shop which is <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dianelangan?ref=pr_shop_more">here</a>.<br /><br />I used Stylecraft Special Chunky for the main hat and the muzzle - the black yarn was DK acrylic that I held double, and I used a 6mm hook. I have to write all these details down or I know a couple of months from now I'll be wondering what I did :)<br /><br />Uh oh, I just browsed through her shop and realised she has other critter hats - owl, raccoon, fox(!), hello kitty... I may be in trouble ;) That's as well as all the patterns I found on ravelry yesterday!Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-24737055369533041422011-07-10T11:43:00.005+00:002011-07-10T14:16:29.032+00:00FO: The awesomely awesome bear hat!!!Yes, I am super pleased with this hat!!! Could you tell? ;)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5921625795/" title="Teddy Bear Hat by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6002/5921625795_79dc80988b.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Teddy Bear Hat"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5921621517/" title="Teddy Bear Hat by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6026/5921621517_3d38fdcbb1.jpg" width="500" height="395" alt="Teddy Bear Hat"></a><br /><br />I actually finished the crocheting a couple of weeks ago, but I was worried about how the sewing would turn out. The muzzle looked a little small, and the nose looked a little large, but last night I decided to just bite the bullet and sew it. I did the muzzle first, stretched it out, pinned it on and sewed it, and it turned out fine! The ears were next (sewing the whole thing involved a few dozen trips to the mirror and back to check placement, but it was worth it), then the eyes and nose.<br /><br />I think when sewing things made of bits, I get all worried, but then spend so much time checking the placement of each bit that it works out fine. Going back and forward to the mirror to check every piece was a bit of a pain, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out!<br /><br />Seriously, I've been walking around the house with this hat on all last night, and the first thing I did this morning was to put it on and look at myself in the mirror. This hat makes me smile, which is what makes it so awesome! :D<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5921630957/" title="Cuuute by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5921630957_2cbda0316f.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Cuuute"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5922199642/" title="Funny Face by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/5922199642_cfc12f2aa7.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Funny Face"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5922203068/" title="Raaaarrr!! by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/5922203068_639728640b.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Raaaarrr!!"></a><br /><br />I'm so excited, I can't wait till it's winter. Why does it have to be July just now *pouts pathetically and stamps foot* I want cold weather so I can wear it outside!!! :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-22221588086632342112011-07-06T11:12:00.003+00:002011-07-06T11:21:13.631+00:00WIP Wednesday - Pink BubblegumThis week I've been spinning :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5908531828/" title="Spinning Pink Bubblegum by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5072/5908531828_55c8c5996c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Spinning Pink Bubblegum"></a><br /><br />This is baby pink Corriedale fibre spun into singles on my spindle. I spun this at spinning guild on Saturday. I'm using my heavier spindle, which I'm not terribly good at using, so the singles are a bit uneven, but I'm not terribly bothered. It'll all even out in the plying (I hope) ;)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5908534182/" title="Spinning Pink Bubblegum by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6058/5908534182_e20e106003.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Spinning Pink Bubblegum"></a><br /><br />The colour of this fibre spun up is sooooo pink! My next door neighbour's girls would just love this, it's so pink (they're a bit obsessed with that colour, which makes for interesting viewing when they have all their toys out in the front garden). I've got a darker pink which I think I'm going to ply it with, to mute the girliness a little.<br /><br />I've spun three lots of 25g so far. I have 100g of this, and 100g of the darker pink, and I'm going to spin them all together, and make some sort of scarf, I think. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I spun 25g, but didn't get any done yesterday. I'm not taking part in this year's Tour de Fleece, but I do want to get this spun up quickly.<br /><br />I've also been plying the green yarn I was spinning a few weeks ago. I think the two greens have turned out to be different weights though :( The light green seems to be a bit heavier than the dark green, so I don't know if I'll be able to combine them to make mittens. I think I'll just have to buy more dark green fibre, it's the only thing for it, lol! The dark green I've got just now might have to go with that dark pink that I spun intending it to be for the galileo mittens, but it was too thin... I don't know. I've still got to ply the last lot then set the twist, so I'll decide after that.Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-37598176372994706762011-06-29T10:38:00.005+00:002011-06-29T12:41:34.534+00:00WIP Wednesday - Knitty Startitis Extravaganza!Have you seen the new <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/index.php">knitty</a> yet?<br /><br />So many lovely patterns!! I followed the link from Laura Chau's <a href="http://www.cosmicpluto.com/">blog </a>(she made the lovely <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTdarrin.php">Darrin </a>cardi pattern)and immediately queued a whole bunch of them. Then I cast on two :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5884425710/" title="WIP Wednesday - Lingerie Socks by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5192/5884425710_97bc791576.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="WIP Wednesday - Lingerie Socks"></a><br /><br />First of all I cast on the <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTlingerie.php">Lingerie </a>socks out of Patons Fairytale Dreamtime 3ply wool. I went up to 2.5mm needles because I think the 2mm called for would be far too tight around my cankles, even if it is ribbed lace :) I've knit the top of the cuff so far, so down to where the ribbed portion begins. It looks very cute so far :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5884429654/" title="WIP Wednesday - Commuter by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5141/5884429654_762e1ed098.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="WIP Wednesday - Commuter"></a><br /><br />Then I cast on the <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTcommuter.php">Commuter</a> mitts out of Sirdar Click yarn. I tried it on 3.75mm needles first, but my gauge was too tight - I was getting 24 sts to 4 inches instead of 21. So I went up to 4.5mm needles, and all seems well now :) I love the folded over cuff on these mitts, can't wait to have these on my hands!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5883868125/" title="WIP Wednesday - Something Floral by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5883868125_0b37b821e8.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="WIP Wednesday - Something Floral"></a><br /><br />I also cast on another pattern, although this isn't a knitty pattern - the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/something-floral">Something Floral mitts</a> by Miranda Grant. I'm using stash yarns for these, but I don't know what the yarn is. The ball bands disappeared long ago! These are knitting up nicely, although not as nicely as they would if they were in my handspun (I'm totally spoiled now as far as colourwork mittens are concerned! They'll never be the same again!)<br /><br />I knit a few more rows on my Willow scarf this week, and finished my afterthought socks, which I'll write about in another post, so I have a feeling I'll be casting on more of them this week. Also, I have a severe case of startitis in case you couldn't tell. I'm itching to cast on <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/KSPATTdunes.php">Dunes </a>from the new knitty. I'm trying to hold off till my willow scarf is done, but I don't know how long I'll be able to hold out :) Also, I'm looking at my stash wanting to cast on cowls and socks by the dozen.<br /><br />Other patterns from the new knitty that I'm drooling over are <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTrhodion.php">Rhodian</a>, <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTdarrin.php">Darrin</a>, <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTleaflet.php">Leaflet</a>, <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTundercurrent.php">Undercurrent</a>, <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/KSPATTchasingsnakes.php">Chasing Snakes</a>, <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTdoubleheelix.php">Double Heelix</a> and <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTinlay.php">Inlay</a>. Half the patterns in this issue, basically! And if there were any little girls around me to knit for, then I'd be casting on <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff11/PATTkindling.php">Kindling </a>right now! So cute!!<br /><br />Add to that my massive ravelry queue, and I'm feeling very inspired to cast on bajillions of projects just now. It's lots of fun! :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-15841180202767470122011-06-25T14:03:00.002+00:002011-06-25T14:10:49.095+00:00FO: Galileo MittensMy very first ever project knitted with my own handspun!!!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5869081477/" title="Galileo Mittens - Being Worn by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/5869081477_69445cd222.jpg" width="500" height="404" alt="Galileo Mittens - Being Worn"></a><br /><br />Pattern: Galileo Mittens by Laura Chau<br />Yarn: My own handspun :D Corridale, orange and black spun into a heavy fingering weight<br /><br />I love these mittens!! Ever since I first saw the pattern come up on ravelry, I've wanted to make them. I was going to use my pink handspun as the contrast colour, but it turned out too thin, as I've blogged, so I spun up some orange that I had left over from another spinning project, and deliberately tried to make it the same size as the black. This was my first spinning project intentionally spinning my yarn to a certain size, and it turned out pretty good!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5869632018/" title="Galileo Mittens - After Blocking by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/5869632018_7f576055fb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Galileo Mittens - After Blocking"></a><br /><br />I really loved knitting with my handspun. I would have written "enjoyed" there, to break up the monotony of the word "loved" which I've used about ten million times in regard to this project, but that really is how I feel about it. I didn't just enjoy knitting with it, I really, really loved it! I kept saying to my partner about how I was knitting with yarn that I had made, and that I'd actually made knitable yarn that I liked. It got to the point where he was fed up hearing about it :D<br /><br />It turns out that I really like my yarn to be tightly spun and plied. It had never even occured to me before, but it turns out that I naturally spin yarn how I like to knit it. How awesome is that?! There was no splitting, none of the twist fell out as I was knitting with it, as has happened with some commercial yarns. And not just the cheap acrylics!<br /><br />I just can't get over that I spun the yarn, and then knit it into these mittens! I'm already spinning for another pair of mittens - I'm going to have quite a handspun mitten collection at this rate. The only thing is that spinning on a drop spindle is quite slow, so it'll take me a bit of time to get enough yarn to make a pair of mittens, but I'm knitting some colourwork fingerless mitts out of commercial yarn in the meantime. It's just not the same now though! I've been totally spoiled!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5869084041/" title="Galileo Mittens - One Hand by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/5869084041_573cdb5cd9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Galileo Mittens - One Hand"></a><br /><br />I think what I really like about this pattern is the (almost)random/abstract-ness of the design. Geometric repeating patterns are good, but this pattern looks so different that it was the first pattern I thought of when I decided to knit mittens out of my handspun. Not that that stopped me from queuing loads of others for the future! :D They fit really well too, the first pair of mittens I've knit where the fit is just perfect and not too tight or anything.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5869078255/" title="Galileo Mittens - How My Hand Fits Into The Mitten by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5312/5869078255_9d8e0dd62f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Galileo Mittens - How My Hand Fits Into The Mitten"></a><br /><br />The pattern knit up really well, no errors or anything, and I really like how it was explained and written out. Laura's an excellent designer, one of my favourites - I really must knit more of her patterns. I have a major desire to knit the <a href="http://twistcollective.com/2010/fall/magazinepage_040.php">Cityscape </a>pullover - a larger handspun project, perhaps? ;)<br /><br />I think I will definitely knit these again. I just love the pattern (there's that word again, but it's true!) and I had a lot of fun making them. Now if only December would hurry up and arrive so I could wear them outside!! :DYarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-83130114811022428982011-06-23T12:12:00.002+00:002011-06-23T12:32:29.202+00:00WIP... Thursday :/ - Mostly The Afterthought Heel SockThis week I haven't had as much time to knit as I would have liked :( I've been busy with other things - some of which have been fun, like dancing at a hafla on Saturday night, and some of which have not been so much fun, so I won't mention them :) I did go to see my mum the past couple of days, which is why WIP Wednesday has to be WIP Thursday this week. But hey, at least I'm making myself write something, so I won't beat myself up too much :)<br /><br />Because it's on youtube already, I'll link to the video of me on Saturday, but I think I'll try to write a more in-depth post for my dance blog, which has been sorely neglected as of late.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8KjfZLQ5b8A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />I was dancing to "Tribute to Um Koulthoum" by Ahmed Bergaoui.<br /><br />Anyway, knitting!! I've been mostly knitting on my afterthought heel socks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5863242738/" title="Afterthought Heel Experiment Sock - Before The Heel by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/5863242738_ea56307b44.jpg" width="193" height="500" alt="Afterthought Heel Experiment Sock - Before The Heel"></a><br /><br />I've knit most of one sock. The heel will go where that yellow line is in the middle of the sock (in between two lines of grey. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5862696043/" title="Afterthought Heel Experiment Sock - Before The Heel by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/5862696043_257762af06.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Afterthought Heel Experiment Sock - Before The Heel"></a><br /><br />It's so weird seeing just the tube of the sock without any heel. I measured the foot of the sock against one of my short-row-heel socks that I have. I figure they should be the same size since the afterthought heel is essentially the same shape, just constructed differently.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5862690269/" title="Sock Toe by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5199/5862690269_8f93025b98.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Sock Toe"></a><br /><br />For the toe, I was doing the usual ssk, k2tog decreases, but it's been bugging me for some time that when I do these decreases, they don't look the same on either side. I started with the ssks on this sock toe, but it was annoying me how they looked different, so I started experimenting with the decreases as well.<br /><br />I ended up using a different decrease for the majority of the decreases (you can see the ssks on the first few decrease rows and how it's different from the ones above). I ended up doing a slip one knitwise, knit a stitch then pass slipped stitch over decrease, and I think it looks far more like the k2togs on the left hand side. I think that will be my standard replacement for ssks from now on, because I was evidently doing something wrong with my ssks (either that or ssks are just not the same as k2togs, but everyone seems to think they are, so I figure it must be me) Anyway, that's what I'll be doing from now on.<br /><br />So, I've still to put in the heel, I'll write about that next week.<br /><br />I also did a repeat and a half on my willow scarf, but it's at the stage where it just doesn't seem to be growing. I think I've got about another 5 repeats or so till it's done. I'm just knitting a little on it at a time whenever my partner's mother comes to visit, so it'll get done eventually :) I figure it looks much the same as last time, so I didn't take another picture of it. <br /><br />I'm hoping to get more knitting done this week, I've got a few things to finish for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup. I also have a bunch of FO posts to write at some point this week, yay!!Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-33740862248798004562011-06-15T14:21:00.003+00:002011-06-15T14:48:53.046+00:00WIP WednesdayThis week I've been working on more than one project!! I finished last week's WIP - <a href="http://yarn-dancer.blogspot.com/2011/06/wip-wednesday-lacy-baktus.html">the lacy baktus scarf</a> - but I still need to get pictures of it so I can write an FO post. I knit 3 rows on my willow scarf, another <a href="http://yarn-dancer.blogspot.com/2011/05/wip-wednesday-willow-scarf.html">previous WIP Wednesday</a>, but it's not grown enough to bother taking another picture of. Just imagine another 3 rows added onto the last pics :D<br /><br />I started 2 more projects though - I seem to have a bit of a case of startitis going on, for small projects especially. <br /><br />Firstly - my afterthought experiment sock.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5835782207/" title="WIP Wednesday - Afterthought Experiment Sock by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/5835782207_2cf2286000.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="WIP Wednesday - Afterthought Experiment Sock"></a><br /><br />It's just a plain 64st sock knit from the cuff down, but I'm going to put in an afterthought heel in this pair of socks. It'll be the first time I've ever done this, and I don't know if I'll like how it turns out, but if I don't it doesn't really matter. I'll wear the socks anyway, and its good to try new things once in a while. Keeps the brain fresh :)<br /><br />The yarn I'm using is some kind of Opal yarn, possibly the toucan colourway, but I've lost the ballband. I got it a couple of years ago, and decided to use this one because it's the sock yarn I'm least attached to in my stash. It'll be interesting to see how those weird stripes look in a finished sock.<br /><br />I've been knitting this one mostly in my bedroom, which has quite dim light, so it was surprising to take the sock into the kitchen to photograph and see all that blue! In my room, it looks gray, or even black at times!<br /><br />Dim light is why I haven't finished my next project yet - my teddy bear hat.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5835786695/" title="WIP Wednesday - Teddy Bear Hat by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/5835786695_421730c19b.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="WIP Wednesday - Teddy Bear Hat"></a><br /><br />I only have the nose and eyes to do now, but it was impossible to crochet with black yarn in my room. I just couldn't see anything, and with crochet I'm still at the stage where I need to see where I'm putting my hook all the time. So I had to put it aside last night :(<br /><br />This pattern is the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/teddy-bear-hat-2">Teddy Bear Hat</a> by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dianelangan">Diane Langan</a>. It's so cute!! I so want it for next year, so I can walk about with a teddy bear face on my head! My partner is in horror at this, it's far too weird for him, but it's my head, and I want a teddy bear face on it, dammit! :D<br /><br />This is a project for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup. I'm going to try to squish it into the Defense Aganst The Dark Arts class - reveal a truth about yourself (that I'm nuts and want a teddy bear face on my head?!) It's been in my queue for ages, so it's a good excuse to get it out of there and actually make it.<br /><br />So yeah, that'll probably get finished today in the living room where there's actually some light, and the socks will just get worked on whenever I need some mindless knitting.Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-53090678221381653262011-06-11T14:23:00.003+00:002011-06-11T14:48:42.658+00:00I Made Curtains!!Well, a curtain :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigP9y25Bi_Imd6XO7x6LvoEvPKLTjRnTjN_Wlgh3_LGPrfoaRbpPDFLRYhpPe9SILE_ju2xd8c5AUUQJkF-tfdyCAV_ZOg3dz7eYvmcF6LxWF9bZS0z1JA5LqE5Tzsm8Q8dDW3W0yWvrXE/s1600/DSCF3583+copy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigP9y25Bi_Imd6XO7x6LvoEvPKLTjRnTjN_Wlgh3_LGPrfoaRbpPDFLRYhpPe9SILE_ju2xd8c5AUUQJkF-tfdyCAV_ZOg3dz7eYvmcF6LxWF9bZS0z1JA5LqE5Tzsm8Q8dDW3W0yWvrXE/s320/DSCF3583+copy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616969822678114194" /></a><br /><br />My bathroom faces due east, and is in such a position relative to my bedroom that in the morning, light just pours in. Not so good in the middle of the year like now, when the sun starts to rise at about 4am. I had a lacy white net curtain over the window, but that kept out none of the light at all. So I wanted something that would block out the majority of the light in the morning.<br /><br />I got some fabric from my fabric stash - some sort of purple satin-y stuff - sorry to anyone who wants to know more, I'm such a beginning sewer that I don't even know what kind of fabric it is. It was given to me in a huge pile of fabric from a friend who was clearing out her own stash. It was long enough sideways to make a curtain the same width as the original net one, that was what I was bothered about yesterday :)<br /><br />I laid the net curtain over it, and cut it down to the same width. It was a little longer, but I was going to hem it and anyway, it would just cut out more of the light if it was longer. So I folded over the sides and bottom to make a hem (I should really have taken pictures of all these steps, but I was concentrating too hard on getting them done. One thing about sewing, it's not like knitting where I'm happy to spend loads of time on the process. I just want it sewed up as fast as possible :)<br /><br />I did an invisible stitch to sew in the hem (kind of like mattress stitch in knitting). I should probably mention here that I handsewed the curtain, not machine sewed. I'm still a little scared of my machine. Stupid, I know, but there it is. Then I folded over a much larger portion at the top to make a kind of slot for the pole the original curtain was on to go through, and I invisible-stitched that too. That invisible stitch probably has a proper name, I should look that up at some point!<br /><br />And voila, I sewed a curtain!! It's more than a little lilac purple, which is not one of my most favouritest colours, but it's what fabric I had in my stash, and it works. I've decided not to buy any more fabric till I've used all or most of the fabric I have, and practiced on that.<br /><br />I'm quite proud of this curtain, despite its glaring lilac-ness. It's rectangle-y with only one wonky corner, and the sewing is not too badly executed. That's probably just my perfectionism and tendancy to talk my own work down showing through though. It's a good curtain, for my very first one ever!!! I'll probably make a different one at some point, in a more suitable fabric, but this one definitely works for now. I wasn't woken up this morning by insane sunshine, or the dog getting overexcited by the fact that the sun is up, and demanding we get up too! So, yay!!Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-505832312466786476.post-25507756346883010492011-06-08T14:34:00.003+00:002011-06-08T14:58:34.127+00:00WIP Wednesday - Lacy BaktusHey, 3 weeks in a row blogging on a specific day!! Go me!! I never thought I could manage even 2 weeks in a row, not really, but it's actually been really motivating. Thinking "Right it's Wednesday, gotta take a photo and blog" has been really helpful for me (I know, it's only 3 weeks, but for me to maintain any kind of routine for any amount of time is pretty spectacular!) And even if I don't blog in between Wednesdays (like this week), it means that the poor blog doesn't get abandoned until I can find the time to take tons of photos of FOs.<br /><br />So, this week my main project has been my Lacy Baktus:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5811525747/" title="Lacy Baktus - 1st Half Done by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5151/5811525747_9794b369ea.jpg" width="500" height="388" alt="Lacy Baktus - 1st Half Done"></a><br /><br />The pattern is <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/83952633@N00/3646583926/">Lacy Baktus</a> by <a href="http://mustaavillaa.blogspot.com/">Terhi Montonen</a>. The ravelry pattern page is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lacy-baktus">here</a>. It's a triangular scarf knit side to side, based on the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/norwayneedles/2963651011">Baktus </a>pattern by <a href="http://strikkelises.blogspot.com/">Strikkelise</a>: ravelry pattern page for the Baktus scarf is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baktus-scarf">here</a>, with lacy stripes.<br /><br />It's quite an easy knit, which is why it's been worked on so much this week. I cast it on only 3 days ago, and I've already knit half of it, and am onto the decreases. I'm using a heavier weight yarn than called for in the pattern, a DK yarn instead of a fingering weight yarn, and I'm also using more of it. You would normally get one skein of sock yarn and split it in half to knit the two sides, but I'm using 2 full 100g balls of Stylecraft Life DK Prints. It's 75% acrylic, 25%wool, 298m/326yds to a ball. I'm using colourway 2398 (pampas), which is green with red and blue flecks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132829@N03/5812093756/" title="Lacy Garter Stitch by manda_chan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/5812093756_31d9a0d57e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Lacy Garter Stitch"></a><br /><br />I was going to knit a plain Baktus out of this yarn. I got the two balls of heavier yarn because I knit one from sock yarn before, and I wanted a larger, cosier one this time. But then I was watching the Round The Twist video podcast, and Carin was making a lacy Baktus scarf from handspun, and I thought that the pattern would look really good with this yarn as well. So I cast on, and liked it :)<br /><br />This WIP will probably become an FO before too long - it's knitting up <span style="font-style:italic;">really </span>fast. The only thing I had to do was to put a safety pin in the side where I was doing the increases (you can just see the silver line of the pin at the bottom of the scarf running along the side, beside the needle in the photo). Before I did that, I was making a few mistakes as the scarf got larger - doing increases on the wrong row, or on the wrong side, but as soon as I put that pin in, I didn't make any more mistakes and it started going super fast. I'm enjoying knitting it very much, I may have to make more of these :)Yarndancerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05599394739413977625noreply@blogger.com5