Random Knits | Page 121

Jun30

Twinkies tip for the day.
When your mother is hanging the washing, if you do this

And this

And this

She has to stop and give you a scratch.

“What? No more laundry? Check Em’s floor, there’s bound to be some in there!”

Jun28

Is there a specially choreographed dance we’re supposed to do when we have a finished project?

The beaded socks are done. I love them. (No, I haven’t blocked or seamed the striped jumper!)
Pertinent info
Yarn : Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in “River”
Beads: 8/0 seed beads, purchased from eBay
Pattern: Heartstrings Fiber Arts “Beaded Faux Cable Anklets”
A close up of the cuff.

Pretty, pretty!
I have rather thick ankles, so I had to play with the needle and sock sizes a little, but I’m very happy with the finished result. I wore them all day today, and they most comfortable indeed.
I have actually already started something else, because I needed some easy knitting for the dance comp the other day. I’m knitting something Em specifically asked for.
Be warned, there is Fun Fur involved.
The things we do for love.

Purple fluffy trimmed socks.
I’m making them up as I go along, but they fit “perfectly”, according to Em’s excited squeal. If anyone is interested in the pattern, let me know and I’ll write it up.
I’m using Filatura Di Crosa “Zarina”. It’s a sportweight yarn, with recommended gauge 26sts/4″ on 3.75mm (US 5) needles.
I love this yarn, and the slightly heavier weight “Zara”. They’re springy, soft pure merino wool yarns that are yummy to knit with.
I’m knitting it at a tighter gauge, roughly 30sts/4″, and it’s making a lovely soft sock. I hope it wears okay, Em is pretty hard on socks.
Oh, and the trim is Sirdar Funky Fur magic. I held it together with the Zarina, but I really don’t enjoy knitting with the stuff. I find it hard to count the rows, and I kept knitting into only one of the yarns, and accidently dropping the other. I only did 10 rows of it though, so it wasn’t too much of a hardship.
It’s knitting up nice and quickly, but of course not quick enough for Em’s liking, who wants them now.

Jun26

And another weekend is over. We need more of them, I say!
It was another busy one, I missed Stitch n Bitch due to yet another dancing event.
I couldn’t take the gloves to the dancing event, but I did get a bit more done on them, and am now partway through the fingers. A few people expressed interest in the fingers, so I thought I’d document the process for you.
Some Fair Isle gloves have patterned fingers, but luckily for me, not these ones.
I finished the palm of the first glove.

I’m now up to the fingers, and we start with the pinky finger. The end of round is at the side of the hand, and pattern says “K8, place next 48 stitches on a holder, then use the backwards loop method to CO 2 sts over the gap, K8″
This gives you 18 finger stitches, and the 48 stitches on the holder are left aside for the other fingers later on.

Rather than use a holder or waste yarn, I leave the stitches on the needles, and just use a new set for the fingers. So my finger stitches are on the green needles, and the set aside stitches are on teh bamboo needles.
Using those stitches, complete the finger by knitting around.

Because your little finger sits a little lower than the rest of your fingers, rejoin the yarn to the 48 held stitches to lengthen the palm for the remaining fingers.
The pattern says “Rejoin the working yarn, and beginning at the base of the little finger, work one round, picking up and knitting 2 sts at base of cast on for little finger to eliminate any gap”
Basically, you should pick up stitches where you cast on to cover the gap on the previous finger.

The blue circle is where I rejoined the yarn, the red oval is where you will pick up stitches.
I find that just because you have cast on 2 sts on the previous finger, picking up 2 sts is not enough. If I only pick up 2 stitches, I end up with gaps at the base of the finger.
So I pick up however many I think I need to prevent holes. For this glove, I found I needed to pick up 5.

Then, on the next round, I reduced it to 3 by knitting 2 stitches together twice.

Then on the next round again, I reduce it to the 2 required. (I have begun the ring finger at this stage, and have 16 stitches on my green finger needles)
As you can see, this eliminates any holes, and still looks nice and neat.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten. If anyone has any questions that I haven’t covered, let me know and I’ll put up more info.
Now it’s back to more fingers!

Jun23

Well, it definitely ain’t sunny and bright here at Casa del Random this morning.

Thick as pea soup, people. That pic was taken at 7.30 this morning, it’s now 9.30am and it’s still just as bad. And it’s cold.
I opened the back door for Twinkie, who usually goes bounding out first thing, and even she stopped at the door and turned and gave me her “What the f*&@?” look. I’m sure she wanted me to go out and chase it away, like I do with the birds.
Good day to sit and knit, I think.
The gloves are coming along, the flower on the first one is finished.

The colours aren’t as bright as they appear here, but I had to use the flash.
I’ve also been working on the second beaded sock.

I’ve only just had to join in the second ball. I always seem to get great yardage from Lorna’s Laces, and it’s just so yummy to work with.
The costume sewing goes on and on. I still have 48 or something left to do, but I have until October. Of course, I use that as an excuse to put it off, and then I fall behind again. The sewing machine is out in the kitchen, and it’s just too cold to sit out there some days.
While I was taking pictures of the knitting, I saw these little guys on the back fence.

Poor things, I told you it was cold!!
Twinkie thinks it’s a better idea to hide inside today.

I love those little front legs!

Jun20

I got my knitting back!
I went to the doctors this morning, and the receptionist told me how lovely it was, and that she’d shown it to everyone in the waiting room when she found it.
However, not having the sock around gave me plenty of time to work on the Fair Isle gloves.

(Click for big)
That’s the front of the glove, and that’s the start of the flower petals you can see in the green.

(Click for big)
That’s the palm of the glove. Those “stripes” make up the pattern for the whole palm.
But I do have a bit of a problem. The gauge called for is 32sts x 32rows = 4″. I’m getting 32sts, but I’m getting 40 rows. So the width is right, but the length is a bit squishy. I’m hoping I can stretch it a bit at the blocking stage. Or that the recipient has little squat hands!
Emily is feeling much better today, and is going back to school tomorrow. Thank you for all the well wishes!