Stash check

Have just been having a deep and meaningful with my sister on MSN about knitting (we acknowledge that we are strange) and have realised my stash is crazy. My problem is, that I go to yarn shops (I have no LYS :( at least, not one which has anything I want to buy) without a clear idea of what I need, so I end up buying a bit of everything I like. And I generally don't like to buy more than one or two skeins of each thing either, which means I can't make anything useful anyway.

More for my reference than anything else, here is a list of my stash as it stands right now:

  • Noro Kureyon, 2 skeins (one of which is hopelessly tangled), destined to be a My so-called scarf
  • Colinette mohair, 1 ball, which is part-knitted into a lengthwise feather and fan - 202 stitches casted on! What a nightmare that was..and now I'm not sure I like it
  • Louisa Harding Impression, 1 skein
  • Louisa Harding Kimono angora, 1 and a bit skein
  • Louisa Harding Kimono Ribbon, 2 skeins (yep I like her stuff)
  • Debbie Bliss Cotton angora, 1 skein
  • Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed, 2 and a bit skeins, maybe for a Brea bag
  • Rowan Biggy Print, 3 skeins in a nice cherry red
  • Rowan Big Wool, 1 skein in black for a hat for my DH
  • Rowan Big Print (I think), 2 skeins for a scarf for my cousin
  • Rowan Plaid, 2 skeins for a scarf for my DH
  • Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for Fetching, for my sister
  • R2 Braid, 2 skeins in pink, which I don't really like, maybe I'll dye it black and use it for the strap of my Brea bag
  • Circo from handpaintedyarn.com, 3 skeins
  • handpaintedyarn.com 2 skeins laceweight pure wool in Lavender for a Rowan Butterfly (but I only need one I think)
  • handpaintedyarn.com 1 skein laceweight wool in Lettuce (which needs to be dyed too
  • handpaintedyarn.com thick and thin wool in Damask, 1 and a bit skein
  • GGH Soft Kid in lilac, 1 skein
  • Plissard Pichenette mohair, 1 skein brown and one in jade
  • Mixed bag of colinette scraps
  • knitglobal undyed fleece yarn, 1 skein
  • Cherry Tree Hill supersock, 1 skein, which hasn't come yet
  • Be Sweet magic balls, not come yet

I think that's it! I have ten weeks to get through it all..

I have been knitting this scarf forever. I bought 2 skeins of Louisa Harding Kimono Angora in this colourway and a pink (will put up the pictures later) and didn't really know what to do with this one..in the end I decided to try a feather-and-fan scarf thinking that the variegated yarn would be suited to the pattern. It was, but the relatively fine gauge of the yarn meant that it took ages, and it's not the most interesting pattern to follow! I think I ended up doing 60 or so pattern repeats. However, because there was hardly any memorising to do, it was a good knit to do when out and about.

The yarn feels beautiful, and is lovely to knit with, even though it tears very easily - it didn't matter with this pattern but I used it to make some mittens and I had to be really careful when frogging to make sure i didn't destroy the yarn. On the other hand, I didn't need to bother finding my scissors :) I'm not sure I agree with this review though - the angora fibres float around and really got in my nose and throat!

It was also my first attempt at blocking anything, I haven't really needed to before as I haven't tried any lace patterns before. It was really easy to do because the yarn is quite stretchy, and was also only slightly damp after rolling up in a towel. The only thing is I didn't have enough pins. Also will have to warn my DH to watch his step when he comes home!

Anyway, here are the pictures, and a pattern if anyone needs it:


Pattern: Feather and Fan scarf

Yarn: Louisa Harding Kimono angora, 2 skeins (70% angora, 25% wool, 5% nylon 25 g / 124 yards)

Needles: Clover (I think) Bamboo needles 5mm

This is a four row repeat pattern
Row 1: Knit all stitches
Row 2: Knit all stitches
Row 3: K2, k2tog 3 times, (yo k1) 6 times, k2tog 6 times, (yo k1) 6 times, k2tog 3 times, k2
Row 4: Knit all stitches

Cast on 40 stitches, then follow 4-row pattern as above until scarf is long enough
Cast off



Being blocked on my bedroom rug


A close-up of the pattern

FO: baby booties

I was positively yearning to make these baby booties from the first time I saw them in Baby Bloom by Erika Knight, which, by the way, is an excellent book for baby and maternity projects. I found some Patons DK cotton on sale at 75p in Knitwits in Penzance, and finished one booty (how do you spell it in the singular?) the night before we left Cornwall and the other in the car on the way home. They were a quick-ish knit, but a little bit fiddly with all the picking up of stitches. Also, weaving in all the ends and mattress stitching the booties up took almost as long as knitting them!

I think of all the things I have knit so far these seem impress non-knitters the most - now I just need someone to have a baby so I can give them away!


As you can see, they need a bit of pressing and I need to stitch buttons on, but otherwise they are ready to go.

A couple of weeks ago, DH and I took a trip to Cornwall. We stayed here by the way, which was great apart from a few things:
1. It's a new build apartment, therefore not exactly a character-filled cottage
2. There was building work going on next door, which woke us up at 8am every morning
3. The sink! Damn that thing - it blocked even if we poured water down it, and needed plunging all the time
4. It's walking distance to nowhere - you need a car to visit anything
Saying that, the place was still brand spanking new, and a great base for touring Cornwall. We visited Fowey (pronounced 'Foy') which was a really beautiful little village, as well as St. Austell, Mevagissey, Charlestown, Penzance, Malazion, Newquay and Land's End! The best thing was that Cornwall has plenty of yarn shops! I found a very useful list here. The best shops were in Penzance - in fact here are some pics of me standing outside said shops:





Good selection of yarn including some unusual ones like South West Trading and Hipknits, interesting buttons and other bits and pieces. They have lots of swatches knitted up to give you an idea what the yarn looks like too.



Again, good selection, but most things are behind the counter so it's a bit hard to just browse and feel up the yarn (my favourite part!), also this shop sells other crafting things, such as a selection of beads. They also have knitted-up garments, which are expensive-ish, but no more so than you'd expect considering the price-per-skein of some wools, especially Rowan! They have Lana Grossa and (i think) Opal sock yarn kits which would make good gifts.

And I went to a place in Newquay, the Spinning Wheel on the high street. It was ok, but the selection wasn't as great as I thought it would be, mostly Wendy yarn. Saying that, I quite liked the Wendy Pampas yarn, maybe for a simple baby blanket or something, as it's washable and similar in gauge to Rowan Big Wool. The St. Austell wool shop wasn't worth even going into, but I have a suspicion that I didn't go to the right place.

I also went through the charity shops with a fine toothed comb in search of knitting needles, wool and pattern books! I got a great selection of vintage buttons and knitting needles at one charity shop, where they were so pleased to see a young knitter that they let me have 5 pairs of needles for only 5p! Certainly beats the John Lewis price promise. I got this really pretty wool for 20p at a charity shop as well - it's lovely but I definitely think it needs a nice bath before I get to work on it.


I have no idea what its made of, or even what the yardage is, but I'm going to try Branching Out from Knitty with it. I think I have cast on for BO 3 or 4 times with different yarn, but none of them worked out. I think this will be a nice weight and it has a mohair-y fluffiness about it (you can't tell too well in the photo) which should make it quite pretty.

Intro

After three months of knitting, I have finally got round to starting a knitting blog, and it happens to coincide with the start of my first real job as a doctor. I started knitting properly during my finals, as a way of relieving 'stress' (although I don't think I was putting myself under too much pressure really) and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking up pretty knitting needles in the middle of the night and jumping at noises which might mean that my parents had woken up and were about to catch me!

Now I'm living with my husband in London and am disposing of my already huge stash as fast as I can so I can stock up again at the Knitting and Stitch Show! I've got my ticket already and have sufficiently enthused my little sis to convince her to come along as well.

Anyway, in the next couple of days I will be posting my WIPs and FOs (there are a few already) as well as posting some reviews of yarn I have used and links that I've found useful. Please link my blog if you like it!



Copyright 2006| Blogger Templates by GeckoandFly modified and converted to Blogger Beta by Blogcrowds.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.