Log cabin Blanket

So - I started on it. I decided not to use the Rowan Tweed as I think I sold most of it. But I did realise I have a substantial stash of Cascade 220 bought for a Dr. Who scarf which I know I will never make and for Harry Potter hats/scarves.I cast on and followed the instructions and made my first square.

I love the pattern, love the colours, love the yarn... but hate the picking up. I am just rubbish at it and can't seem to get it neat. The perfectionist is telling me to rip it all back and start again but I think I will leave it and hopefully by the end of the squares I will see an improvement in my tension and my techniques.My problem seems to be using the correct part of the stitch to use when picking up - and no amount of googling is helping me to find the correct bit to use. Feeling frustrated.

In the meantime these are the colours I have to hand - but I have a few more on the way from a few kind Ravellers who are letting me buy up their Cascade 220 stashes - hee.

Log Cabin Blankets

For a long time I have drooled over the knitted log cabin blankets that I see in the Mason Dixon books and on their blog. I have a load of Rowan tweed that is yelling to be used for some big project and I think a blanket may well be the thing. So - today I was catching up on their blog and find the details for making Clif's Squares Blanket and thought this should be the one for me. Each square is worked individually and then you fit them all together at the end like a patchwork blanket. I am very excited by this and want to collect all my bits together and use this as my holiday project as it looks easily portable - and not socks. (Which I have to admit to being very, very slow at.)

The pattern looks easy enough for me to do. Knit a garter square, add on two rows of a contrasting colour, add a border block. Turn. Pick up stitches and do another contrasting colour ridge and then a border block. Repeat the turn twice more and you get a yummy square.



Photo from http://www.masondixonknitting.com

Drop Spindling on Youtube

I often find myself looking for the same thing over and over again. One of these things is the drop spindling tutorials on YouTube. So I thought I would link them into my blog for ease of use.

So here we go - a list of tutorials you may find useful if you are new to drop spindling or want to improve your techniques.

Megan LaCore has a number of videos showing the techniques:

• Drafting Wool for Spinning - Tutorial
  


• Spinning Yarn on a Drop Spindle - Tutorial


• Finishing Yarn and Wrapping a Skein - Tutorial

I love watching her tutorials - she is very clear and shows what you need to do - the only thing that bugs me is she always has background music playing! I found her blog as well which is full of lots of craft information.

Abby Franquemont also has a number of videos:

• Drop Spindle Plying, View 2


• Drop Spindle Basics


• Drop Spindle Plying

Some of Abby's are purely just to watch her spin which is useful once you have the basics. She has a lot of other videos about wheel spinning - but I'll save those until I have the wheel I am borrowing. (Did I tell you all I'm borrowing a spinning wheel? So excited!)

Some videos of Navajo plying:

• mjspins

Will add more links to this later - but have to take the kids out.

Sock Pattern - Plain and Simple

Sock Pattern

2.5mm needles and sock yarn

Cast on 64 sts, join and PM

12 rows of 1x1 rib
40 rows of plain knit

Divide for heel:
Remove stitch marker and knit across 32 sts
Turn
Sl1, purl to end
Sl1, knit to end
Repeat until 32 rows have been worked
Work one more row

Turn heel:
Knit 18 sts, ssk, k1, turn
Sl1, p5, p2tog, p1, turn
Sl1, k6, ssk, k1, turn
Repeat last two until all heel stitches have been worked - 18sts

Instep:
Divide amongst 3 needles
Knit across 18 heel stitches
Pick up and knit 18sts down edge of heel flap, pm1, k32 sts across foot, pm2, pick up and knit 18sts - 86 sts
Row 1: Knit to within 2 sts of 1st marker, k2tog, knit to 2nd marker, ssk
Row 2: Knit
Repeat 10 more times 64sts

Foot:
Knit for 46 rows
- ending at 1st marker

Toe:
Row 1: K1, ssk, knit to within 3sts of 2nd marker, k2tog, knit 2, ssk, knit to within 3sts of 1st marker, k2tog, k1
Row 2: Knit
Repeat until 28 sts remain

Place 14sts on two needles and graft

A bad knitting week

It's not been the best of knitting weeks. I'm seem to have hit a bit of a rut.

I have lots of projects I am really wanting to get my needles into but just can't seem to clarify my thoughts and wool.

First up was the lovely dress I was making for Orla. It's a Zoe Mellor pattern called Daisy Dress. It's a lovely, simple dress made in cotton with a big flower on - perfect for Orla. I chose and bought some lilac and pink wool with blue for the flower. Being me I resisted making it on straight needles and cast it on with circulars, adapting the pattern accordingly. All was going well until I had a session knitting in the dark at my God-daughter's dance show. I wasn't really concentrating on the knitting - just letting the stitches happen. When I picked it up the next day I noticed I had managed to knit the row counter *into* the dress. The only options were to cut into the loop on the row counter or to frog back. So I put it into my bag and hoped the knitting fairies would sort it out. I'll continue this story in a while.

In the meantime... remember the jumper for Martin? (Mentioned on my February Update.) Well much as I love it - I do need to have the pattern with me at all times - and that is hard work for me and I found I wasn't picking it up at all. Knitting the Daisy Dress for Orla prompted me to re-think the jumper - plain stocking stitch on circular needles is ideal for me at the moment - pretty much brain-free. I frogged the Cheesy Puffs. So - I reached for my Elizabeth Zimmermann Knitter's Almanac knowing she had a simple pattern in there and cast on the Hurry Up Last Minute Sweater. Unfortunately I didn't really think it through. I swatched and cast on using huge needles. After a few rows I realised it was too loose - the needles were simply too big - so my yarn is simply not chunky enough for this pattern.

At knitting group this week - Louise frogged back the Daisy Dress (bless her) and saved the stray stitch marker. So - I was just picking it up to knit again - and it was laid out flat on two circulars and it made me appreciate the full size of it. It was *huge*. Big enough to fit me, never mind Orla (she's a petite 3-year old!) So - it had to be frogged along with the Martin jumper - not a good day. So now both are sitting off the needles - waiting for the chance to start again!

In the meantime I cast on and started knitting Martin Storey's Hardwick Slipover. I have completely changed the colours and the yarn and am really pleased with it... until I noticed that I have a twist on my circular needles and am going to have to frog it all back again....

Is someone trying to tell me something??

I do have something wonderful to blog about though - but will need to take photos first...

Koolaid Dyeing

I bought a load of Kool Aid sachets yonks ago and never got round to using it. Well today was sunny with a light breeze and I was kid-free for a bit.. So I went for it.

It was fun actually and didn't take anywhere as long asＩthought.

I used two tutorials:
Kiki's Kool-Aid Class by Catherine J Hall
Dyed in the wool from the Knitty site

I took four different types of yarn and used different colours on them. There was no planning in it at all - I just wanted to do it and see what happened. If I do it again I will take more time and consider the colours I actually want.

Using Kool Aid is fun - all the yummy fruit smells. It does alarm me that these are marketed as drinks for kids and have the chemical composition to dye wool (and my hands.)

So - back to the yarn.

Pictured from left to right: 

Yarn One:
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK - 50grams
Colours used: 1 x Pink Lemonade + 1 x Black Cherry
I mixed the colours together on this one and put the yarn (pre-soaked) in with the dye and enough water to cover and then zapped it in the microwave. (2 mins + rest + 2 mins) Once it had cooled I rinsed with cool water (amazingly it ran clear straight away) and hung it out on the line to dry.

Yarn Two:
Bought from the Natural Dye Studio - Alpaca/Merino 4ply/Sock yarn - 100grams
Colours used: 2 x Cherry, 2 x Tropical Punch, 2 x Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade
I pre-soaked the yarn and then mixed the dyes with a little water and spooned it on to sections of the yarn. Once I had the dyes on I put it in a bowl and gave it a microwave blast before rinsing and hanging out to dry.

Yarn Three:
Bought from Woolfish - Sock yarn (60% merino, 15% bamboo, 15% nylon, 10% silk) - 100grams
Colours used: 1 x Lemon Lime + 1 x Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, 2 x Strawberry
I pre-soaked the yarn and then mixed the dyes with a little water and spooned it on to sections of the yarn. Once I had the dyes on I put it in a bowl and gave it a microwave blast before rinsing and hanging out to dry.

Yarn Four:
Fyberspates Squishy Yarn - 50% BFL and 50% Alpaca - 100grams
Colours used: 3 x Grape, 3 x Orange
Ruaridh and Orla helped with this one and chose purple and orange for the colours. I skeined the yarn but it was much shorter than the others so I just opted for half in each colour.  

Once it had been microwaved and cooled I rinsed it. Lots and lots of dye came out of it and the colours look really murky. Not as happy with this one as with the others.

Lace Knitting

I've been starting, planning, testing and doing a lot of lace knitting recently. I thought I'd share some of it with you. All works in progress at the moment.

First up is a shawl I am making with a huge load of alpaca tweed I have. I cast on 5 stitches and used simple yarn over increases. Every 4th row I am doing yarn over/k2 together to make the holes. When I feel like it I make one of those into an increase row. I love the look of it but as yet have no idea what it will look like when it is finished or who it is for. I am guessing it will finish up as a simple triangular shawl. The yarn is lovely to work with and I am using an addi lace circular to knit with and I am loving the combination.

Next up is some Rowan Kidsilk Spray I bought in a sale. I was attracted to the colour and didn't really think it through. I love the idea of mohair knitting - but it really is incredibly hard to knit with. I am trying a simple scarf with lots of yarn overs to open it up. Here it is about 8 rows in and it is so slow to knit - I think I need to find some pointier and more slippery needles. Sorry about the poor photo I was having problems getting it to focus:

As I liked the pattern I was doing with the Kidsilk I decided to cast it on again with another yarn. So this is the same yarn but on bigger needles and with a really different yarn - this is 100% silk from Louisa Harding - an absolute dream to knit with. I can see this being finished long before the blue. Again apologies for the lack of photo-focus!