the next big thing

I've finally decided on a pattern and yarn for my next big project!

Meet Agnes, a chunky knit jumper. We're going to be great friends. Simple and with cute pockets knit in a contrast colour, she is going to be a great addition to my wardrobe (if a bit warm for Sydney). As if I needed more encouragement than the look of the jumper alone, pretty much all of the comments from the other Ravelry projects mention how much they love the pattern and design. 

I've ordered Valley Yarns Amherst yarn in a lovely dark slate blue and a pale, stormy blue for the pockets. I considered going for a bright contrasting colour for the pockets but wasn't sure how much they'd show and ending up picking a complimentary colour instead. 

I've not knit with this yarn before but really, as a knitter in Australia, sometimes you just need to jump blindly into ordering yarn online despite never having laid eyes or hands on it before. We do get yarns in Australia but there is really only one store in Sydney that I trust and they just don't stock everything. I ordered all of the yarn for my Featherweight and Walpole online and was perfectly happy with both.

Amherst had wonderful reviews on Webs so I'm putting all of my trust in my fellow knitters!

In the meantime I've got the Crofton Cuffs on the go. I've finished the right hand glove and have just cast on for the left yesterday...

I'm knitting them in the Cascade 220 that Mum snagged for me.

The mitt is super cute but looks totally odd when the top is pulled over. You have to keep your hand in a fist if the top is down and it looks a little odd. Stumpy. And thus, not at all useful. I'd just seen Jamie Lanister's hand being cut off in Game of Thrones and the stump wrist just isn't what I was hoping for. But they'll be super warm and great for quick dashes around when I would otherwise be shoving my hands in my pockets. The happy yellow is going to be fun to look at during winter as well!

4KCBWDAY7 - Looking Forward

I've really only been knitting for just over a year now. I learnt when I was a kid but crochet was my first real crafty love and I didn't think I was all that interested in knitting. I started quite a few scarves but never finished them and just wasn't addicted like I was with crochet.

 

It was Bohdana who inspired me to take another look at knitting (Dana and shooting pains in my upper arms that I'd get if I crocheted for longer than half an hour...)

 

We went down to the coast, I cast on the Martha Stewart neck scarf and I haven't looked back.

 

 

It's been a big learning year for me and my knitting - I've finished cardigans, beanies and scarves.

 

I've got the basics under my belt, as well as a range of increases, decreases, cast ons and bind offs.

 

I've made top down and bottom up construction cardigans, very basic lace work, knitting from a chart and most recently taught myself to cable. I love a good cable!

 

In the next year I'd really like to develop my colour work skills and learn to knit fair isle and intarsia patterns.
I tend to knit with one colour of yarn and I think it's time to branch out with my colours and knit with a combination (more reasons to cast on the Abra wrist warmers!)

My spinning is still in the beginning stages and I know that I'm going to get better with practice naturally - looking forward to seeing what stage I'm at in a years time.

 

 

 

4KCBWDAY6 - A tool to covet

When Ben and I went to Japan last year I had just started my Goodale cardigan and decided to risk bringing it with me on the plane. This involved a spare set of needles in my checked in bag and a whole lot of worrying about what I would do to fill my time on the flights if my needles were wretched away from me.

In the end the knitting passed through without so much as a raised eyebrow and I happily knit my way from Sydney to Osaka. All of my little notions - stitch markers, darning needle and spare thread in place of stitch holders, measuring tape, stitch counter etc were tucked into a pencil case.

It was when I was in Harujuku that I found this tin...

Gorgeously sweet colours and the perfect size for notions - it even fits a pair of interchangeable needle tips on the diagonal and the cable when rolled carefully up. Even my pair of teeny scissors fit neatly inside.

My tin now goes everywhere I go. It can always be found rattling around at the bottom of my bag and has been absolutely perfect for travel knitting. I'm pretty pleased with myself every time I need to snip a thread or add a stitch marker and I feel like I can Macgyver myself out of any knitting situation with it alongside. 

My posting for this week has been knocked out of schedule by one day thanks to this face... it's been ridiculously fun getting to know little Lulu this week. Poppy spent most of her time being far less than impressed by the new canine addition at Mum's house but they've got years to get used to each other!

Driving back to Sydney today - it's been such a lovely long weekend in Canberra that as always, I'm a bit sad to be leaving. Poppy will go back to being top dog, work will start tomorrow and I'll just keep on knitting. 

In the end, I cast on the Crofton Cuffs - interchangable fingerless mittens - with my yellow Cascade220. That's what I was knitting in yesterday's wordless, one picture post (which was absolutely the easy and fast way to do a different type of post while also juggling a puppy). I'm knitting the shorter version and I think with the added 3 hours of car knitting time today I should get almost a full mitten finished!

4KCBWDAY5 - Something a bit different

4KCBWDAY4 - Colour Review

I generally go with my gut decision when I'm picking a colour. Being a knitter on a tight budget means I don't usually buy yarn without a specific project in mind - unless on special occasions (like if I'm visiting a new yarn store, or it's just one little skein, or it's a Wednesday.) 

I guess I should think much more critically about the colours I do end up choosing so that whatever I make is going to be in a colour I can get a lot of wear out of - does it suit what I have in my wardrobe? Do I already have something similar? I don't really ask myself those questions. I've got a good sense about colours that suit me and to be honest, I don't mind if I end up making a garment that I can only wear with one particular dress or top. I enjoyed the journey, dude. 

Burnt orange and mustard yellow are the two colours I would say get me reaching for my wallet the fastest. Going through my pattern library last night on Ravelry showed me that even sample patterns knit in these colours work their way towards me somehow. 

There is also something about neutrals that I seem to like. Knitted neutrals always seem so serene to me - a cozy cream scarf to wear on the beach, a grey slouchy jumper to lounge around on the couch in. 

Taking a look at my project page on Ravelry tells me I was pretty spot on - 

Thousand Splendid Suns was a double whammy. The sample was knit in yellow, I knit it in orange.

ceciknits sample

Featherweight Cardigan was another - sample knit in yellow, I knit in orange...

Hannah Fetig sample

 Star Crossed beanie - yellow (no photos on my project page but trust me.)

And then I used the scraps for a coffee cup cozy. 

Even my Goodale in red, my Grouse slippers in a dusky pink with hints of mustard and the Mystery Beret have the same tones. 

And then the neutrals - Walpole (grey), Ben's vest (grey), Lunatic Fringe (tweedy cream with flecks of green and pink). Oh yeah, I've definitely got a type. 

Ben, Poppy and I are on our way to Canberra today to frolic with Miss Lulu - mum's sweet new puppy - for the long weekend. Mum mentioned that she managed to snag me a skein of Cascade 220 in a mustard yellow (of course!) at her knitting group a couple of weeks back. This isn't even a joke - she got it because even she knew I'd love the colour! 

I'm doing a wee bit of ravelry searching this morning to see if I can find a pattern for fingerless gloves to knit with it. I'm thinking of the Commuter Fingerless Gloves but am not convinced about the way they only half fold up into mittens. They look a little...odd? Has anyone knit them? 

I know I posted a pattern for fingerless gloves I'd love to knit only two days ago for the Mascot pattern but I've only got the one colour of Cascade - I need some time to pick three colours for a pair of Abras!

See you from Canberra all! 

4KCBWDAY3 - Infographic

I much prefer using my Ravelry Library to the queue function. I just love the way the patterns look sitting on the little shelves. Patterns look so enticing in the library and looking for my next pattern feels like private window shopping in a shop stocked with all the things I love. 

My infographic for Day 3 of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is a sweet, colourful pie chart representing different types of patterns I have right now on my library shelves! Turns out I've been gravitating pretty heavily towards cardigans and sweaters!

4KCBWDAY2 - Mascot Project

I started thinking about the types of projects that would sum up a busy knitter bee and for me this year that means present knitting. In an effort to save money and put a little more love into my gift giving for 2013 I'm really trying to be organised enough to knit and sew my friends and family their gifts.

I've recently finished the Sand Bank beanie for a friends birthday and a lovely little sewn something for Mother's Day (I'll share photos and details once it's been given. That's not to say I'm entirely sure Mum even reads my blog. Hi Mum?)

For me present knitting means small, easy, fast and fun to knit projects that are going to be useful and beautiful. The pattern I've chosen as my mascot pattern are the Abra Alba Wrist Warmers by Matilde Skar.

They're super dooper cute, look fairly straight forward and to top it off are striped like little bees! Colour combinations for the yarn are absolutely endless which is perfect and means I can really pick the best colours for the intended recipient.