To Rip or Not to Rip?

That’s often the biggest question when it comes to a project that’s just not going to plan. In this case, it’s a pair of mitts. I bought the pattern on Ravelry and while I loved the original design, the measurements were never going to work with my (apparently) freakishly small hands. At its widest, the mitts hold a circumference of 68 stitches, but a little mathing showed that even with my smallest needles (2mm), knitting at my usual tension, anything over 54 stitches was going to be too big. And there’s no point knitting mitts that’ll just slide off your hands, right? Right.

So I did what any passionate, obsessive knitter would do and rewrote the whole pattern. This meant redrawing the image and rejigging the lettering and fixing the decreases and resizing the thumb hole and basically just starting all over.

Which I did.

But now I’m not crazy about my colour choices (big surprise there, I hear you say) because I feel there’s not enough contrast. And for all my careful math, I feel I could get away with a few more stitches in the circumference. Those floats make the mitts quite snug.

So. This means I’m faced with two options: knit on, or frog. I’m leaning towards frogging. I’ve yelled and raged and had a cry and now I’ve entered the final stage of acceptance and I think that means frogging the fucker and starting over. What would you do, O Blogverse? Ever had a project you worked so hard on only to end up frogging and starting over? C’mon, spill. Make me feel less incompetent and we can commiserate together.

(This is the first mitt, by the way, just before beginning the decreases.)

An EYF tour

I really love the month of March as it means it’s time for a quick hop across the Irish Sea to visit the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I’ve been every year since 2015 and have very fond memories of being with my tribe. People who get my enthusiasm and excitement for all types of yarn.

I thought now would be a good time to follow my knitting journey over the last four years as it’s pretty much summed up in my EYF stash.

 

The first year there was a little bit overwhelming as I had never seen so many skeins of yarn in the same place. I was like a child in a sweet shop, my eyes just didn’t know where to rest. At that part in my journey I was exploring the world of knitting socks and shawls so all those pretty hand dyed skeins of loveliness captured my attention. I think the most important thing was discovering indie dyers and seeing how many British dyers there were. I was excited to return home with some Old Maiden Aunt , Ripples craft and Skein queen.

Year two was more of the same but I found yarn from Easyknits and liked it so much that when I decided to knit a garment I decided to go for lighter loftier yarn than my go to super smooth merino . I bought some Blue faced Leicester and began my steps towards discovering the delights of more rustic yarn. I loved the sheepy smell of the lanolin as I knit . It conjured up images of gambolling lambs in spring sunshine.

Year three was a strange one as I had so many single skeins in my stash that I could knit enough shawls and socks to last a lifetime. I was beginning to want to knit garments. Now this requires more planning , patterns need to be chosen and the correct quantities need to be purchased especially if you are using hand dyed skeins. I got two lovely skeins of Old maiden aunt lace to knit a lace weight cardigan Laar. You would think that impulse purchasing of a sweaters worth of yarn but Ysolda is the best enabler ever and I found myself leaving with blend no 1 a beautiful mix of polwarth and zwarbles to knit a Polwarth sweater .

This year my journey from hand painted merino loveliness to sheepy goodness seemed to be complete. Through EYF and the podcast lounge I entered the world of podcasts and blogs and learnt about colourwork that requires a much toothier sticky yarn. So once again Ysolda enabled with Rauma yarn and Shetland yarns.

The thing that inspired me most was the meet the Shepherdess event on Sunday where I found beautiful yarns that had gone from farm to skein . There was so much variety from natural sheepish tones to beautiful jewel dyed skeins. I came away with some treasures and plans for colourwork mittens, cowls and hats.

Why?

Sometimes, people ask me this question: why do I have so much yarn? I already have plenty, in all weights and shades and varieties. What could I possibly need with another skein (or three)?

I’ve decided to sum up my answer here because I think it may apply to other knitters/crocheters/yarn addicts too. And we need to stick together.

So why do I acquire more yarn?

BECAUSE I NEED ALL THE COLOURS.

 

The End.

A Lesson Learned

Earlier this week I decided to plan ahead. I knew I was going to be taking a trip over the next weekend, and I wanted a project that was light, quick, and easy to transport. I also wanted it to be a one-skein project that required little mind power. So of course I figured it was time to knit that hat I’d promised my husband six months ago.

But where did I put that skein of fabulous charcoal grey Dublin Dye Company merino? I’m sure I put it in this box….

But no. Maybe this one? No. Ok. Downstairs, in that bag, surely….

Again, no. Don’t panic. It has to be around here somewhere. I just saw it, didn’t I? How can it just vanish?

I’ll go through the stash again. Hmm. There’s that skein of silk and alpaca I bought last year. Oh! And those two would be perfecto together! Maybe I should cast on a shawl?

NO! You have to find this skein of grey. That red Rowan won’t do at all. Too bright. And don’t even consider the Sirdar turquoise, or that green. The grey would go so well with his eyes. Back to the drawing board.

Hang on. What’s this box? Let’s ask the husband. Yeah, that one shoved in the corner, way up there. What is that? It’s what?! Let me get the ladder.

It’s MORE STASH!! Oh happy days!! There’s that bag of Rowan tweed, and the Donegal Aran I was saving! I’d forgotten completely about this ball of DK. And what’s this? Oh! It’s my Dublin Dye grey!!

I guess the husband is gonna get his hat. As long as he keeps his filthy mitts always from my stash. What was he thinking, boxing it up like that? Hrmph.

The great WIP-pression

Come on, admit it. You know that feeling. You just finished that one project you were really excited about. It knit up way too quick. And now, you don’t know what to knit.
You have tons of WIPs. But they don’t seem all that exciting at the moment.

Okay, I might have made up the term, but the feeling can’t be new to any knitter. Or crafter in general, really.

In any case, it’s where I am right now.

The exciting project that knit up too quick? Libran, although I call mine Katy Perry. The reasons for that may or may not become obvious when you look at the project page.

The WIPs? Oh, so many.
There’s the MKAL from last fall, 8 clues, and I’m still stuck in the middle of clue 3. Every time I look at it, I just think ‘Meh.’
There’s the shawl I started just a few days before Christmas last year, and worked on furiously at the time because I had nothing else with me, but now I can hardly bear to look at it, because there was a death in my family at the time.
There’s the gloves, gorgeous pattern, but so detailed, my brain hurts just thinking about it.
There’s the second Yggdrasil Afghan – seriously, what was I even thinking when I cast on A SECOND ONE???
The CAL with only one block and the edges to do? I kind of don’t want it to end just yet, but I also kind of do.

So, yeah… Here I am, nothing to knit. Nothing to crochet. Nthing to stop me from biting my nails while watching that one heartbreaking episode of ‘Supernatural’ for the I-stopped-counting-long-ago’th time.

Here I am, smack in the middle of a great WIP-pression.

Frozen Fever

… has had a tight grip on me, too, for quite some time now. It appears, though, that this especially shows when prompted by others.

But let’s start at the beginning…

About a year ago, as talks and planning of our annual pilgrimage to the Dublin Knitting & Stitching Show slowly began to take shape, the lovely Terri of A Fine Fish Yarns was looking for willing sample knitters. It was, I believe, her first time at the show (she’ll be back this year, one hears…) and she wanted a variety of garments and accessories to display her beautiful colorways.

I jumped at the chance. Duh. I was Hermione Granger when Snape asks those random questions. My hand was so far up in the air it touched the ceiling.

To get rid of me (I am convinced that’s why), Terri gave me a lovely skein in her Frozen-inspired colorway “Anna’s Frozen Heart”, and asked me to knit a pair of finger-less mitts.

Off I went to Ravelry, but, alas, I could not find a pattern that suited. They were all either so plain they would have been absolutely boring, or way too intricate. I was looking for something simple, yet with an interesting touch, that still managed to show off the yarn.

What do we do when we can’t find what we’re looking for? That’s right, we make something up. Thus, “Twisted Heart” was born.

 

Now, this is the first pattern I designed myself. That I wrote down, anyway.

The name was Nikki’s idea.I just agreed.

I have since made a second pair, in order to retrace my steps and weed out mistakes. Tweaked the thumb gusset a bit. Put it into a readable set of instructions. It has been test knit and deemed appropriate for publication, but I have yet to find the heart to do so. I guess I should probably do so before the Dublin Show this year, right?

Right?

Rainbows to work

Well I am a very lucky duck.

Our very own, Belfast based, indie dyer heard my pleas for the perfect rainbow.

Two skeins of this lovely have been given to me, (in exchange for a sum of money of course), and now I have a question.

What do I make with this delicious treat?

Livorem

Nautilus

Talisman

Bohemian

Livorem is a simple triangular shawl done with two colours to make the variegations POP. I would invert the rainbow for the stripes.

Nautilus is a shawl that knit from the centre outwards using yarn overs to create the unique Fibonacci inspired shape.

Talisman is designed to show off colour changes in the yarn with just enough pattern accents to keep the knitter interested but does not detract from the beauty of the yarn.

Bohemian is a simple fun knit that plays with texture and shows its influence within its name.

Help me out will you?

The WIP of Doom

Last week I finally finished a massive wip of mine. This shawl took me just over two years to finish. It was a nightmare. The pattern wasn’t written very clearly, at least to my understanding, none of my stitch counts matched, I felt like I was flying blind. But I knit into the darkness and came out – only slightly scathed but somewhat traumatised – on the other side.

I love the yarn. It’s Zitron Filigran lace in the colourway Indian Summer.

I had received one skein as a birthday present and, a year later, when I decided I’d knit Ipomoea, I searched desperately for another skein. I found it, and cast on immediately, knitting alternately from each skein to blend the slight variation in dye lots. I knit and knit and knit…

…I knit through one summer, and then through the next. I knit intermittenly through good times and not so good times, and through the pregnancy and birth of my third child. And then I decided it was time. It was time to finish the fucker once and for all.

Pardon my language. Ahem.

Fourth of July weekend I was in my mother-in-law’s house with the kids, and I had just about had enough of this shawl. Since the final chart no longer made an ounce of sense, and I was sick of making up the lace repeat from looking closely at the picture every row, I made the decision to cast off.

 

It was glorious.

A few days later, I had a brief opportunity to block it. It took up most of the kids’ bedroom floor.

 

But I’m proud of the result. I’m sad it didn’t work out, but this wip of doom had had a good run and it was time to move on.

 

Onto the next adventure!

What to do…

… on the first weekend you have to yourself after a two-week vacation with your parents?

Why, Dye-Workshop, of course!

Throw a few friends into the mix, a couple of strangers, A Fine Fish Yarns‘ gloriously gorgeous (just like her yarns) Terri, and the lovely ladies of Framewerk Belfast, and you’ll end up with a lovely morning/early afternoon.

And some pretty yarn.

BEHOLD:

What’s travelling?

The big question every knitter has to ask themselves when the go on vacation is, obviously, “What kind of knitting do I take?”

Something fancy (like a beaded lace shawl)?

Something simple (like plain, self-striping socks)?

Both?

Neither? (Kidding, we all know that’s never gonna happen…)

One project? Two? Three? FOUR?

Thus, we dive into the WIPs… The circular Fandom shawl that was cast on in a Mystery KAL autumn last year? Too big.

The CAL released in fortnightly installments? Too many skeins to take.

Meanwhile, we have started, and finished, a beaded lace shawl that was a disturbingly quick knit, and voilá, part of the decision has been made. We make another one. Different yarn, for someone else. Of course, this one project will not suffice. Not seeing how it has already been established as a quick knit. So, naturally, one will sit in the living room for half an hour, winding two skeins of lace yarn for yet another beaded lace shawl. And because we still need something stupid to knit, let’s also dig out that skein of sock yarn we’ve been wanting to knit forever.

Does that seem like enough for a week?

I sure hope so. the suitcase is full.