Finished

It's a rare occasion when I get to post a finished project, and even rarer when I get to post about two (ignore the fact that my posting isn't exactly regular or frequent!)

First we have the Cable and Rib jacket by Debbie Bliss. I've been knitting this for what seems like ages (since February 2008) using wool from a herd of Jacob sheep kept at High Head Castle near Carlisle. They separate the wool into the three colours of natural wool found on a Jacob sheep, and this is the darkest. I have some more of this left and also some in the medium colour, so no doubt there will be more knitting of this wool to come. I think it's a really nice wool - I love that it's not dyed, but still has such a strong colour. I think it shows good stitch definition in the cables and ribs. I like the pattern, I found its formatting a bit of a problem during the cables, but a bit of copy, paste into word soon made that problem go away. I've heard people complain on blogs about putting zips in, and that they're difficult etc etc - I didn't have any problem. I guess my sewing skills come in handy.

Secondly we have Vinnland socks by Becca Compton. These were a bit of a technique experiment as these are the first pair of socks I've knit toe up, two at once, magic loop. Technique fine, although as I mentioned in the last posting I've got a bit of a ladder thing going on. I found the pattern a bit of a drag to knit, and not getting tangled up in either end of the same ball of yarn was a chore, but I really like the pattern now it's done, and the colour of the yarn is very me. I have a little bit of a problem with them, but I'll blog about that some other time once I've solved it.

The next project that I've cast on is Cyd by Martin Storey in Jaeger Handknits JB31. I'm using garnstudio's drops alpaca, which is lovely and soft and really nice to work with so far. It's a thinner yarn than the pattern calls for, so I've changed needles and the size pattern I'm knitting. I'm not convinced yet though that I'm going to continue as I'm getting quite a limp fabric. I'm thinking about re-swatching with a double thickness of yarn.

Jacob cardigan update

Felicity Anne and I have been having a bit of a try on of the Jacob wool cardigan I've been knitting. I've been having a real push at this since the beginning of July and have managed to finish the second cabled front section and one sleeve. I thought it was worth pinning it together and seeing what it looks like.

Felicity Anne and I both like it. It has a lot of texture to it, with the cabled panels on the front and the twisted rib covering the rest of it. It's not a loose sloppy cardigan, but nicely fitted and flattering. The red and yellow bulldog clips on the front holding it together are where there will be a double ended zip (hopefully if I can find one).

What's left to do: second sleeve (cast on this morning), collar, blocking, seaming and finding and sewing in the zip.

pre wedding update

I haven't been very good at blogging recently. I've been in more of a do mood than a talk about doing of having done mood - and so the blog has suffered. There's been lots to do recently with wedding stuff and knitting etc to keep me busy. We fly back to the UK tomorrow so there won't be any blogging until we're back at the beginning of the 2nd week of June, so I thought I'd better have a quick update of the ikke ferdig progress...

here we have the sailor sock with the heel turned

And here we have the first embossed leaf sock finished.

I knit to the heel turn on both of these and then had them around in case Cecilie needed visual aid while she turned her first heel. Her heel passed by without incident and so I can now get on and get both of these finished. I'll take them both with me to the UK and hopefully get some knitting done between enjoying real ale in real pubs and walking.

And then we have the first little bit of the second front of the Jacob cardigan - kind of a token cast on.

So, a bit of sock knitting in the UK and maybe a look in the rowan shop (which sounds dangerous).

I'm sure I'll blog more when we get back....

Greening

First of all I wanted to show you the difference 10 days makes. The first of these two pictures was taken on April 27th, and the second this morning on May 7th.

Shame I didn't take them both from the same spot, but I think you can see that things are definitely greening up nicely. Those bushes at the far side of our garden are lilacs, and in the gap that shows the neigbouring house I've planted some fruit bushes, a rhubarb and also a little philadelphus cutting. They're all only little so will take some time to make a difference.

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I seem to have three knitting projects on the go at the moment. All are making progress:

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Firstly we have my jacob cardigan, I'm getting through the cables on the left front at the moment. I was a little worried it was going to be too small, but I did a bit of comparison with another zipped cardigan I have and I think it's going to be OK - not super baggy or anything, but OK.

Secondly we have my sailor stitch sock from more sensational knitted socks - these are paused at the moment so that I can knit the heel at the same time as Cecilie knits the first heel of her first sock. I'm really liking the subtle colour changes on the Trekking Pro Natura and the wool/bamboo mix is really light and fine - I'm hoping these might be a less warm socks that can be worn all year round.

And while I'm waiting for then I've cast on a second pair of socks, these are going to be the embossed leaves sock by Mona Schmidt from Favorite Socks. The leaves are just starting to show. I'm using some Finish wool called Veto. The colour hasn't come out very well on this photo, it's more a soft green/blue. The Veto is a wool/nylon blend and seems very thick in comparison to the trekking.

I would imagine both of the sock projects will go with me to the UK when we go to get married - two weeks tomorrow we fly.

trousers

We seem to have been pretty busy lately - with Finnish class, Finnish homework, our weekly trip to the cinema, a beer festival, various amounts of work and just general living.

I've been plugging away on my boyfriend socks that I talked about in my last post and am just about to turn the heel on the second sock, and then I'm on the homeward stretch. David tried the first sock on and it looked pretty good (it's all relative as it is just a sock after all!). I don't think Cecilie's quite ready to start learning socks yet, so I should get the 2nd sock finished while she's still scarf-ing.

I've also been knitting my jacob cardigan - I'm knitting the cabling that's on either side of the front - it's pretty slow going and I don't seem to be able to learn the pattern so am having to follow along with each stitch. I'm also a little concerned that it's going to be too small - but I'll keep going for at least one side and then see what I think.

I've also been sewing. I've made a pair of trousers....

They're made using the now discontinued vogue 2865 pattern. They're simple, lined trousers with darts at the front and back, no separate waistband and a side zip. I altered them at the waistline and also made them a little shorter (they still look pretty long, but I like my trousers longer rather than shorter). I'm pleased with how they look, I think they're quite flattering and my changes to the waist have worked. I have enough fabric to maybe make a jacket as well. Not that I really need a suit at the moment. I have no idea what the fabric is composed of, it's pretty light and has a bit of stretch - I bought it from a little shop in Bristol.

And finally, we bought a compost heap.... now the weather's improving I'm looking forward to doing some digging and no doubt making some garden waste to go along with the kitchen waste that David produces, and also hopefully growing some veg for David to use in the kitchen.

potting on

I had a potting on session yesterday, so now the seed tray has expanded into lots and lots of little pots. I expect there'll be some casualties as the tomatoes, especially, are very leggy from not getting quite enough light when they first germinated. I planted the tomatoes deep to try to make up for their legginess and encourage some roots to form along their stems.

Monsieur le Sammy has been given four tumbling tom plants to look after.

I'm still a bit nervous about putting anything out in the cold frame yet, but there are some spinach, chard and cabbage plants that will move outside when the time's right.

It was fun potting everything on yesterday. I love growing plants, especially vegetables, from seeds. I like thinking about how the plants are going to develop and wondering how much veg we'll get this year and what we will make. I've also been wondering about where to plant the little fruit bushes and the rhubarb plant we have - the soil's definitely not warm enough for digging yet, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about these things.

On the knitting front, the cable and rib cardigan I'm making using the Jacob wool is coming on well, the back is finished, so I've started on the front cabling. So far so good. The ribbed part is all twisted rib, and the wool I'm using is really letting the texture stand out. I can't wait to see how the cables look.

I've also been having a go at knitting "Continental" rather than "English" - a friend, Cecilie, has decided to expand upon the little bit of knitting she was taught when she was younger, of course she was taught continental and I think it would be useful if I could knit the same way, in case she needs help. Although from what she's been saying she's been getting on pretty well on her own with the help of the Internet. I've also read that being able to knit both ways is useful for speeding up stranded, colourwork knitting, so it'll be a useful skill to learn. So far I can knit and purl continental although it's slow and uneven and very awkward feeling - I'm sure with some practice I can get better.

Green tea cheesecake

We had David's boss and his family (wife and 3 kids) over for dinner on Sunday afternoon. David did most of the cooking, apart from the dessert, which is usually seen as my department. We cooked a Japanese inspired dinner and decided to try to make a green tea cheesecake for dessert.

We've previously made green tea ice cream, which was surprisingly good so we thought this was the next logical step. I used a basic baked cheesecake recipe from Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking and then added green tea powder instead of the lemon juice and rind. It worked, and was tasty, although I still think I prefer the original lemon one.

Keeping on the Japanese theme we found the little Japanese shop I blogged about visiting the other week and then didn't think I'd be able to find it again. It's called Common Japanese Standards and has a website. It's well worth visiting if you're in the neighbourhood. The couple that run it are ever so friendly and they have some beautiful things for sale. They also give you some green tea to drink while you look at everything and have a chat.

Here's the start of my latest project. It's going to be a zipped jacket (it has a little way to go yet!) but will hopefully look something like this once it's done.

The skiing lesson last weekend went well - the instructor was very funny and made it a lot of fun. He gave us a lot of tips and hopefully started us off with some good techniques. We just need to get out there and get some practice in now. The snow's still a bit patchy (although it has just been snowing) so getting practice around here might not be so easy.

Projects coming out of my ears

Seeing as I primarily started this blog to try to keep track of my projects I thought I should give an update on how I'm getting on...

I've had a couple of slow computer afternoons this week, so have managed to finish David's not grey socks..... he seems pleased with them, and they just about match. Here he is reading Steve Waugh's autobiography and enjoying his new socks. He's usually pretty good at getting holes in his socks so I guess I'm going to have to become proficient at darning.....
My Konfekt jumper is also making progress... it still feels pretty slow, but then I guess I'm knitting it in the round so am knitting the front and back at the same time. Another 9cm and then I'm up to the armholes.(Not that I've done any more on it for a couple of months, but) I joined a flickr group called "kaffe fassett inspired creations" and put a picture of my quilt on it - I've had a few nice comments about it which is very satisfying. Hopefully I'll have some time soon to do a few more squares.

And of course I'm having thoughts about the next projects (am I getting ahead of myself?).

My Mum and Dad brought this wool with them when they came to visit a couple of weeks ago - it's Jacob Wool produced quite locally to them at High Head Castle, Ivegill. The picture has washed the colour out quite a bit, but it's thick looking (it says on the label that it should be knit as a light Aran), soft and squishy feeling, and a nice natural looking (because it is) brown colour - definitely without the greyness of the photo. The plan is to make this cardigan... I haven't swatched or anything for it yet - but that's the plan at the moment.

I've also come across a pattern on the MagKnits website that I think I might think about knitting with the red Rowan Cotton Glace that I've had kicking around for a bit without a purpose. Again no swatching has taken place yet - but that's the plan.

I'm also hatching a plan for a pair of socks for my Mum, and also for doing some more sewing. I'm exhausted just thinking about all the things I want to do.