Where I've been

As usual, I'm not really sure what to say in a blog post.  But I keep getting random people supposedly following my blog (I'm skeptical, and looking at their profiles I don't believe they're real) so thought I'd write something to post.

I haven't posted since last October -  that's no way to run a blog! 

Anyway, in my last post I wrote that I had published a shawl pattern on ravelry.  To date, I've sold 13 patterns - but no one seems to be posting pictures of what they're making or asking questions - so I guess the pattern has been bought and has been stagnating.  I'm really keen to see anyone's finished versions - but I can be patient. 

I also mentioned in my last post that I was planning to try to publish an inset sleeve sweater - I thought I'd managed to grade it and even got it accepted into an online knitting magazine, but then during tech edit we found out that my grading hadn't been completely successful and after a bit of toing and froing it was dropped for the time being.  I'm actually wondering if I'll rewrite it completely as a top down seamless top - but after my grading fail I might pay for someone to grade it for me.

At about the same time as they were trying to figure out my submitted pattern I was admitted to hospital after a tumour was found lurking in my colon.  It's been a pretty efficient, if not exactly pleasant, experience to get rid of it.  Now I am tumour-free but am undergoing chemo and radiotherapy over the next 5-ish months.  I'm finding the highs and lows of chemo pretty tough going, but am trying to make use of the highs to be productive and do some knitting and sewing.

After my op I can't wear jeans (my usual uniform) as I have a temporary stoma and jeans are too constricting around my waist, so I decided to make some high, elasticated waisted trousers.  I've made one pair so far using some dark blue fabric I found in my stash and a pattern that I have also previously made (sounds like a win win to me - lets call them free trousers).  I've ordered some more fabric to make another couple of pairs.

I've also started knitting from my stash - I've started stripes gone crazy by alpha knits.  It's such a fun knit, especially using the long colour changing yarn I bought eons ago in Tallin. 

Last year, after some storms I collected some oak moss lichen.  My plan is to dye it using ammonia - I can't figure out a source of household ammonia here, so I'm going to create a urine vat... the thing that I'm now not sure about is that from what I've read you should avoid urine from people taking medication.  I'm wondering if I'm clear enough of the chemo meds a week after my infusion to start collecting or if I need to find an alternative source?  Any ideas? 

Zöllner shawl - pattern publishing

I've been plugging away at trying to get my City and Guilds assessment pieces published.

I published the apple seat pad on Ravelry, despite it not being test knit.  I figured it was a good way to figure out how the system works etc.

Since then I've been working on the accessory assessment piece, which was a shawl I designed and made for David.  I had the same person tech review it and this time I was able to find a few people who were willing to test knit it for me.

My version of the shawl came out like this:

 It has a geometric zig zaggy pattern at differing scales across the whole thing created from twisted stitches.  It's interesting without being too feminine.  The zig zags are inspired by an optical illusion by German astrophysicist Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner.  

One aspect of the shawl that I was keen to have it be is reversible.  I think it's nice when you're able to put a scarf or shawl on and not have to worry about which way round it is, or which way the ends are twisted etc - so I took quite some time during the designing phase figuring out the stitch so that it is reversible.  This does make it a bit fiddly to knit as there are no easy rows and you're often knitting into stitches which have been twisted on the row below.  It's also a bear to correct mistakes on as my test knitters discovered!

I published the pattern on Ravelry last week and have already had a few sales - which I'm pleasantly surprised about.  I'm now waiting for requests for pattern support and hoping to see some more finished shawls out there.

The next assessment piece I'm going to rework and try to get published is an inset sleeve sweater.  I might change this one a bit and actually make it sleeveless.  At the very least I need to grade it into more sizes than just mine.  I'm quite looking forward to having a go at that.

Apple seat pad pattern publishing in progress

One of the things I'd like to do is to try to publish the patterns that I wrote as part of my City and Guilds course.  I had to produce 4 assessment pieces including writing the patterns for them: an interior item, an inset sleeve sweater, an accessory and a cardigan/jacket.

For the interior item I produced a seat pad for a kitchen chair using my sister-in-law as my client and using a tile in her kitchen as my inspiration starting point.

The apple on the tile is quite simple and I wanted to find a way of making the apple remain an apple but be more abstract.  After some trial and error and art making and swatch knitting I came up with a mosaic stitch pattern with "apples" on the seat pad upper and then just "leaves" underneath.  

 

To make it City and Guilds  -worthy I decided to seam it together using I-cord and also have a buttoned opening underneath to get the cushion in and out.  

It passed the assessment and made my sister-in-law's chair more comfortable.  So that's a double tick.

When it comes to publishing it - I don't know that it's that "commercial" a pattern.  I think it might be fun knit in some non-apple colours to make it even more abstract.  Or maybe even just knit the leaf pattern?

I've rejigged the pattern layout a little and have had it tech reviewed and am now trying to find test knitters through Ravelry.  I haven't had any success finding a test knitter so far, which I think confirms what I thought about its commerciability - but it's interesting to figure out the process of getting a pattern published.  It's been a while since I did this module so I don't feel so personally attached to this as I maybe did straight after I'd finished it, so am happy to take my time and use this to figure out how things work.  If I don't find a test knitter I'll probably publish it on Ravelry anyway to see how that side of things works. 

What's on my ironing board

Most people work at a desk, not me - I do most things (apart from sitting at my sewing machine or somewhere knitting) at my ironing board. 

Very little actual ironing goes on!  So, what's on my ironing board at the moment:

From left to right:

I'm making a blouse for F from some spotty purple fabric using the Oliver and S music class blouse and skirt pattern.  I've made the skirt a couple of times before, but never the blouse - I'm making the size 10, have added a couple of inches to the length and intend to sew some shirring elastic around the sleeves on Fs request after her seeing that on a top I made for myself.

There's also a yarn label for Creative Bubble by Rico Design.   I had one ball of this to try making washing up tribbles from, it was successful so the yarn label is around as I went looking for some more. 

Next is my Geo Yoked Fair Isle Sweater by Di Gilpin.  I received the pattern and yarn for this from D for my birthday last year after seeing it (and trying it on) at Di Gilpin's stand at Yarndale.  It's in a bag as I'm having to pause as I have run out of the main colour - I don't need a lot more as it's mostly just the yoke to do, and Di has been very helpful in finding another ball for me, so hopefully it won't be in the bag for long.

In the red folder is the paperwork for the first assessment piece I submitted to City and Guilds and which I intend to work into a publishable pattern.  At the moment I'm rewriting the charts from excel into Stitchmastery before I get the pattern into shape and then look for a couple of test knitters. 

I'm off to the Swiss Yarn Festival tomorrow - I wonder if I'll find any goodies.

Knitting update

I'm pretty good at keeping my Ravelry project list up to date.  I was just looking back at it to see how many projects I've completed since before the blog hiatus - and there's one or two:

Thirty five, actually, and there's two completed items (a jumper and a cardigan) that aren't on here as I haven't taken a post blocking picture to put on Ravelry yet. 

Seven of these projects are all related to one larger project that I've finally finished - and that's the City & Guilds level 3 in knitwear design.  It's taken me a while - I was pretty slow at first, but managed to speed up and concentrate on it so that I was able to finish it within the designated C&G time frame. 

I've learnt a lot during the course - knitting techniques, art techniques, design process, knitting confidence - all sorts of things.  Four of the modules had knitted assessment pieces associated with them, so my plan now is to try to publish those four items (seat cushion, summer top, shawl and cardigan).  I'll start by self publishing through Ravelry, just to get a feel for the process and then go from there. 

I'm keen to do this, but am also keen to preserve knitting as a hobby, rather than getting too bogged down in deadlines and stress.

Happy new year

Dear blog,

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately, but I'll try to be a bit better... 

I thought I'd start the new year not with a look back on what I made last year and not with resolutions, but with a to do list.

So, in no particular order:

1. Finish quilt top

2. Sew pair of jeans

3. Sew knickers

4. Knit gloves for me

5. Keep going with city & guilds (I'm just about to start module 6)

6. Laugh more

7. Socks for F

8. Sleeveless jumper for D

9. Green jumper for R
10. Brown jacket

I'm sure that will do for now. 

Finally a picture of my Christmas knitting... 5 repeats of artesian. I should be able to knit one more repeat of chart A and have enough yarn to knit chart B.

De-stashing before it makes the stash

After I finished my Martha cardigan I was left with three balls of the green cotton yarn.  Instead of finding a home for it to go to - and languish for who knows how long - I decided to find a pattern that I could knit to use it up.

Enter "Fresh mint" - I cute little camisole top pattern by Linden Down that's knitted from the top down.  Ravelry link.

It took just over the three balls I had, so I bought a ball of something similar and did a few stripes at the bottom, which hopefully looks like the colour change is a design feature!

The back is exactly the same as the front:

I think I'll be making some more of these tops - or variations of them as they're very simple and a good little stash buster.

In other knitting news, I'm just about to send off the Module 4 of the C&G course.

We're off to London tomorrow, so I might as well make use of sending it locally rather than internationally.

Martha cardigan

I've been back from holiday now for a couple of weeks - I should have been blogging, but haven't as I've been feeling peculiarly lonely.... I think it's just the post holiday blues and that we've now been living in Switzerland and this apartment for 2 years and I start getting a bit antsy after 2 years somewhere.  It'll pass.

Anyway, while I was away I finished off the green cardigan I had started.

As I mentioned before, I converted the pattern so that I could knit it seamlessly - so I knit the back and the fronts at the same time, including the side seam shaping as I went along, up until the armholes.  I then knitted the two sleeves (in the round) also to the armholes - I had to knit them inside out so that I could do the eyelet stitch in the round, but that wasn't a bother.

Once I got to the armholes I joined everything together as per EZ's set-in sleeve method (p86 Knitting workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann) and kept on going.

I think the sleeves have come out pretty well - it's not such a difficult method to do and it was lovely not having to sew any seams at the end.

Here's the back - lots and lots of eyelets.

I added buttons from my stash - it needed 7 buttons - I didn't have 7 all the same, so have added an eclectic almost matching set in a blue/green colour, which I think looks fine.

More info over on ravelry.

Cardigan disaster

A little while ago I had a washing disaster with my favourite hand knitted cardigan and it ended up like this:

Whoops - I'd hand washed it and then put it in the washing machine on a very low spin, which it apparently didn't like. 

This is the Geodesic cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio.  I made this back in 2012, and at first it was too big.... but over the last 3 years it has become a firm favourite, so I was very sad when it came from the wash looking like this.

Not to be deterred I wet it again and gave it a very huge block..

This was more, I have to do something rather than putting is straight in the bin attempt.

It came out looking like this:

So, better, but now it's wavy around the edges from where I pinned it.

While I'm not quite ready to let go of it yet, I have cast on another cardigan. 

It's the Martha cardigan (eyelet version) from Rowan 37.  I've converted it to be knitted in the round and when I get both sleeves to the underarm I'm going to attempt to do the armholes using the EZ set-in sleeve method (p86 Knitting workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann). 

I love wearing cardigans but I seem to have a real lack of hand made cardigans - this oversight needs to be addressed. 

More spiral hats and a bit of sockage

I've been a bit of a slacker blogger of late - my excuse is that working on bigger projects doesn't make much blogging fodder, and I'm not one to just waffle on and ruminate about this and that for the sake of it.

Last week we took the kids and my sister-in-law skiing in Saas Fee.  The kids did their first week of ski school, which they really enjoyed.  David and his sister zoomed over the mountains as much as he was able.  I don't ski (I've tried and failed and am not quite ready to try again yet), so apart from being chalet maid I sat in the sun and knit.  The weather was great, and at times I had to go inside to knit.  I did some of my City & Guild course and also knit a couple more spiral hats.

I knit these exactly the same as the previous ones - the blue one is for my Mum for Christmas and the beige one for Aunty Alwyn.  I think I'm going to knit a couple more - one for my SIL and I guess I should knit one for myself too.

I've also been knitting a pair of socks, and finished the first sock while we were away.  They're Kai Mei by Cookie A.  The yarn I'm using is Merisock Hand Painted by Punta Yarns.  As you can see from above it still needs blocking as they're a pretty freaky shape at the moment. 

But they do fit.  I love the way the lace work curls across the foot.  This is the first pattern I've knit from Cookie A's sock innovation book, even though I've had the book for ages.  I'll definitely be knitting some more.

I'm now on the look out for some cotton-rich sock yarn - I'd like to knit some little socks to go inside ballet flats but I'm sure normal wool-rich sock yarn will be far too warm.
 

week 6

Week 6 (last week) is a bit of a funny week around here, and has been for a few years now.  David goes away with work every week 6 and I'm left with the kids, which is not normally a problem but week 6 at the moment also happens to be their half term and I think we'd go mad if it was just the 3 of us without school to go to or anyone else.  Luckily my parents are very understanding and come to us for week 6.  Last week we did lots of train trips (it being Switzerland and the trains being super efficient) and saw lots of things including: the Swiss Transport Museum in Luzern; the Tinguely museum in Basel; Solothurn; Interlaken; the Kambly biscuit factory...  We had a couple of days off while some new shelves were being delivered, but generally had lots of fun.

Of course all this jollying around on trains meant that there wasn't a whole lot of crafting going on.  I managed to do a few swatches of various increase and decrease related knitting for the city and guilds course.  But sadly, no quilt progress has been made. 

The tiger fabric for Rory's tiger costume arrived with my parents much to his excitement - I managed to get it off him so I could pre-wash and cut it out and have managed to make a start on it.

Looking good so far - the fabric is fleece found in my parent's local fabric shop and I'm following the pattern for the lion in the book Cute and Easy Costumes for Kids by Emma Hardy - I'll make a couple of changes to make it a tiger rather than a lion, but I think with this fabric I can't really go wrong.

While my parents were here I also finally managed to get Rory to wear the stripy tank top I knitted for him ages ago.

I think it looks great on him. 

spiral hats and goals for the year

This last Christmas my knitting was a few pairs of socks and also some spiral hats.  D asked for a new hat for Christmas, and once I'd finished one I thought I should make a couple more for the kids too. 

Here they are all modelling them together (I love F's pose!).  R looks sad, but it's not because of the hat (honest).

And of course once Grandma saw the hats she requested one too....

They're all knitted using the three-spiral hat pattern by EZ from the opinionated knitter.  D's is knit pretty much as written so it's quite large and sloppy.  The others I scaled down a bit, so cast on 34 stitches and altered the rest of the pattern accordingly.  I used some Bravo Big by Schachenmayr original for all of them.

They're all ravelled here.... D's, F's, R's and Grandma's

So, this year I have made some crafting goals - basically I'm going to try to make some progress on some large projects that have been hanging around for a while. 

First, I'm restarting my City and Guilds in Knitwear design that I started before F was born and then put on hold when we moved back to Helsinki and I was expecting R.  Now they're both at kindergarten some of the time I have time to start that again.  I'm trying to get the module I was working on when I quit back in 2010 finished by the end of January.

Secondly, I'm going to try to make a leap forward in the queen-size quilt I've been working on forever (well since 2000).  It's coming along nicely but I want to prioritise it so that I can get it finished.

So, they're my big goals - there's some other stuff I'd like to make - but I'm going to try to prioritise those two for now.

Dither

It's been really tense around here.... well, not really... I've been knitting some socks for my Mum for Christmas and was convinced about half way through that I was going to run out of yarn for them.  I chose the pattern because it looked interesting and also so I could reduce the amount of stash I have and when I thought I was going to run out I was pretty gutted.  I even "phoned" a friend and there's some emergency yarn winging its way from Finland to here.  In the end I didn't need it, so my plans for stash reduction have only been partially successful, but I'm sure I can find a plan for the extra yarn when it arrives. 

Anyway, here are the socks:

I really like them -  I love how the colours dither (hence the name of the pattern) and I can see some other versions in the future.  I think they're quite a unisex pattern, so I can see some blues and blacks and greens going well together for David.

They're ravelled here.

upcycled jumper cushion cover.

Hello blog, I've been away again - this time back to the UK for a bit of blighty time.  The weather was surprisingly good, and apart from a bit of a luggage diversion (3 bags decided they wanted to be a day late and one bag decided it wanted to go for a holiday on its own for a few days to Rhodes) we had a great time.

I'm now waiting for my birthday present to arrive - we bought it in the UK and are having it shipped back - it's meant to be delivered today so I'm very excited. 

While we were away I did a bit of knitting.

I finished off some socks that are going to be a Christmas present for David.

 They're the waffle rib socks from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks book.  I was gifted the yarn by my friend Quinn when she moved back to the US and I can't remember what it is, but it's pretty nice.  (Ravelled here).

I also knitted this flamingo for Frances - my Mum had got all the yarn etc together and then gone off the idea of knitting it, so I took over.    

It was a pretty simple knit although my row gauge was off so I add a few more rows to the neck and wings.  It has a bouncy ball in its bum, although the kids haven't figured this out yet! (only a matter of time).  (Ravelled here)

Since we've been back I've been working on refashioning an upcycled cushion cover.  An old jumper of David's was being relegated so I thought I'd turn it into a cushion cover - the first version involved chopping off its sleeves and filling in the neck area - I wasn't particularly pleased with my effort.  While we were in the UK I picked up a copy of Sew Magazine in it was a pattern for a patchwork cushion cover (it also has a pattern for a flamingo, but that's for the future).  So I've now cut David's jumper up further and turned it into a jumper patchwork cushion cover:

 

It was originally grey and black horizontal stripes with the brighter blue as ribbing around the bottom.  I decided to cut the main part of the jumper up so that some of the pieces have the stripes running horizontally and others vertically.  I like the effect - especially with the addition of the bright blue ribbing running across.  It's backed with some half cut up black sheet that happened to be just the right size to make an envelope opening in the back using the existing hem.

Laila and Lottie

A couple of things to show today on my show and tell blog:

First are a pair of socks I've knitted for my MIL for Christmas - they're Laila's socks from Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush.  Raveled here.  This is the second time I've knitted them, the first pair were for me.  I really like the design and how simple, yet effective the colourwork is.

Next is the Lottie Blouse that came with the 2nd editions of Love Sewing magazine - I saw this pattern and bought the magazine over the internet specifically for it.

I bought the fabric in Spain at the same time as the fabric I used for Frances' dress - it was in the remnant bin - it's a light cotton which I thought would make a nice top (everyone else thought it would make a nice skirt or dress).

I think the pussy bow is quite nice and feminine - I was a little worried I would look like I should be part of a 60s typing pool, but I like it. 

It is a very simple pattern - a couple of darts in the front and very simple sleeves.  I cut a straight size 10 and it fits fine.  The opening at the front (hidden for the most part by the bow) is quite large, but allows it to easily get on and off without needing a button or zip. 

And the back is just plain - sorry about the wrinkles... I wasn't particularly happy with the photos my husband took of me wearing it, so Flissy Anne wore it after me.

What I'm particularly pleased about is the inside...

The instructions called for the collar to be sewn into a tube and then attached, which would leave a raw edge at the back of the neck - this seemed unnecessary so I attached the collar like a normal collar, which is a lot neater.

I also french seamed all my seams - including my armholes (which I'd never done before), so the inside looks much more professional.

All in all a simple, satisfying make. 

Daddy Totoro

A knit I made at the end of June to compliment the rest of the Totoro family:  

May I introduce O Totoro, or Daddy Totoro as called by the kids.  I knit him using the free Chu Totoro pattern, but with bigger needles and thicker yarn to make him a bit bigger.  I also added some whiskers and a mouth.

Raveled here.  There's not a huge amount to say about the pattern - it's quite a fiddly knit, which makes it interesting for such a small knit, and the overall result is quite satisfying - and using yarn that was in my stash makes it doubly satisfying.  I was hoping the O Totoro pattern that is said to be under construction would have been released before I felt the need to complete the Totoro family as I've liked how they're written, but not to worry I think this looks fine. 

Dahlia cardigan

My two WIPs I blogged about last week are now finished. 

Here is my Dahlia cardigan.... it's not really the weather for it now, I haven't quite got into the right schedule for knitting - mind you, we're passed mid summer now, so the nights are drawing in (kind of, sort of):

I'm not really sure how to wear it as it's not really the shape of cardigan, or clothes, that I'm used to wearing - I don't tend (or haven't tended) to go for anything vaguely draped.  I feel more comfortable with it pinned together at the front.

Although it looks fine open - it would probably be better with something other than scruffy top and t-shirt!  I suppose I could have dressed up properly to show off my new Dahlia, but that's not really my thing :-)

I really like the bit of lacework on the back and sleeve:

And the colour is lovely.  I think I need to use this piece as inspiration to sew some garments that will look really cool with it.  That will have to wait till after the summer holidays as my crafting time and access to the sewing machine is going to be severely diminished.

WIPs

I have two WIPs on the go at the moment (well, there are of course more, but these are the main ones!)... one is nearly done and one is just starting.

The first is the Dahlia cardigan, which I've been working on since October last year.  I had to pause work on it over Christmas as I ran out of yarn and so had to order some more - and then by the time it arrived I was well underway with another project.

Anyway, I'm pleased that the knitting is done and it is blocking before I sew up the gap above and below the lace panel.  This is a different shape of cardigan than I would normally wear, but hopefully it will fit in with what I wear.  I chose this patten as I love the long colour changes and wanted to preserve them - I think this pattern and how it starts at the centre allows me to do this.  I tried to match (as close as I could) the colour when joining at the centre top and bottom and also when going back to add the arms.

My other WIP - which is just starting is going to be a dress for Frances - she is a real dress girl and it's time she had some more.

I had some old sheet in my stash that was donated to me in order to make a muslin for my wedding dress - so I cut up the muslin and to make it a bit more interesting (and hopefully look less like an old sheet) and have done some potato stamping in the shape of bows....