making progress

Here it is - the Rebel jacket. The front and back are made up from 7 panels, now joined and the hem knitted down from my provisional cast ons.

Next is the collar and then all the finishing touches...

...and finished

This is the second 'attic24' bag. I made it from Rowan Cotton Rope that I bought in Seoul.

And I lined it - no sewing machine here - so all hand sewn.
And now back to the Rebel Jacket - and just as well as it is cooling down quickly now and I will be needing to wear it soon.

Finishing, finishing

I'm trying to finish a few smaller projects before launching back into my Rebel jacket.

Plus the bit I'm up to in the Rebel jacket requires Provisional casting on - something new to me. I saw a complicated version on Youtube that has probably contributed to me putting it off. But last night I found a much easier version - so I am keen to get back to it.

So anyway - here are the two scarves I've been making for a while. The colours are not quite true - they are actually richer. The top one has a lot of 'roll' at the edges so for the seecond one I added 3 knit sts at the end of each row. I used a Knitpicks Sport cotton that my knit buddy left me when she returned to the US (thanks Leah)

Just one more project to finish now...

My new top - Liesl

I should have mentioned - it is made from Euroflax linen - I'd not made anything with linen yarn before. It had a stringy feel when knitting with it - but has worked out well

properly finished now - I think

OK - now it's looking better. I did some research and asked a friend - and then I got brave and chucked it in the washing machine - on a gentle cycle. I don't have a dryer so just laid it out flat to dry and pushed/stretched it into its approximate shape - and the result is below - which looks a lot neater/crisper than before.

Now to wear it...while I can

Liesl - finished - pretty much

Well I finished Liesl last night. One good thing about knitting 'in the round' is that there isn't so much sewing to do - just the pocket edges and yarn ends.

The pattern recommends 'wet blocking' and I'm going to do a little research first as I've never blocked anything before - however I think it needs something as the bottom has curled and apparently the linen is softer after a wash.

Anyway - it is still warm here (up to 29C today) so I think I'll have a bit of time to wear it yet.

holidays and many wips

Gee time flies and it has been a month since my last post.

Mainly it was holidays - I went to New York. I love that place - there is also plenty to do.

I have lots of 'wip's at the moment (works in progress).

I try not to do this too much as I'm bad at finishing anyway but it's just turned out this way.

My main project for summer was to be a long vest/top called Liesl by Cocoknits.

I ordered this lovely rusty orange linen yarn but instead of the 4 that I ordered I only received 2 - and then the shop didn;t have any more - so I waited for their next order to come and then it turned out there was no more - so I had to choose a different colour - this time it is Soft Coral. This was waiting for me when I returned from my holiday last week so I have made that my first priority. I would like to get it finished i time to wear it a little before it gets cold.

The next wip is the Sake and Soba which came to a halt with problems in the pattern. Interweave did get back with a revised chart when I was away - so that's good. It's also nice to know it wasn't me - that there really was a problem with the chart.

And so when Sake and Soba stopped I started on the Rebel jacket - and have completed 2 sleeves so far. I did manage to find some nice buttons for it in NY - at Mood - where they go for their fabrics on Project Runway.

It was fun to go there but fortunately I don't have a sewing machine here or I may have stayed there all day.

While away I took a simple project - a scarf - in fact I am making 2. I'm doing them together to make sure I have enough yarn for both. Today was quiet at school so I did a little sewing in of ends. I am making it out of a Knitpicks Cotton that a friend gave me when she was leaving Korea. The colours are gorgeous and work really well together.

The first one was straight stocking stitch and the edges roll a lot so I have introduced a K3 on the edges of the second and that works a lot better

Update

The Sake and Soba sweater is hibernating until I get some response from the designer or publisher....

Meanwhile I'm working on the attic24 crochet bag ...and then my next lot of yarn turned up - it's Plymouth Mulberry - a wool/silk mix and I'm making a Sgt Pepper style jacket using a pattern called Rebel. One sleeve completed so far...

WIP

My current Work In Progress:

1) the 'sake and soba' sweater/jersey from the book "Japanese Inspired Knits'

It is a gorgeous pattern and I am using the same wool/yarn in the same colour (natural).

The pattern is a challenge - it takes some deciphering - I have to rewrite each row in my size.

I made a big mistake with the ribbing - on the slip stitch I was yarn forward instead of back but I only realised this after I had completed the ribbing and it had taken me so long I didn't frog it! Then I started on the pattern and realised the slip stitch part extended right up the entire jersey - but still I decided I could live with it - and would just correct it on the pattern part.

When I got to Row 5 of the pattern I hit a glitch - it did not seem right. I adjusted a few other stitches and continued. But by Row 7 the problem had reared its ugly head again.

I met up with my knit friend yesterday - she is very experienced and so I knew she would be able to work it out - but in the end even she admitted defeat! - which made me feel less stupid. The pattern is on Ravelry but no one else has made it there - and the publisher has not shown any errata for it.

So now I have emailed the publisher and Marianne Isager (the designer) for clarification.

The 'good' news is that after the mistakes and frustration on Rows 5 and 7 I needed to frog it back so in the end I just frogged it all and started again - this time correcting my first slip st error. So I guess every cloud has a silver lining.

2) This is a Rowan Cotton Rope that I found on sale in Seoul (any imported yarns here can be pretty expensive). I am making another 'attic24' bag.
3) I am test knitting a small project for my friend. We have decided that I am such a literal pattern follower that I will make a good test knitter! As she will publish this later I can't show it to you yet - sorry.

3 months later

You may remember this contraption from March - it was my attempts to keep 3 small pinhole 'cameras' (in the black film cannisters) still for 3 months - recording the sun for Tarja Trygg's solargraph project. You can read more on www.solargraphy.com

So come June 21st I finally removed them and sent them to her.

And here are the results! I was really pleased that they all came out -as I had accidentally exposed one on opening. I had aimed each cannister in different directions. Wacky huh?

slow to finish and diversions

The Little Squares Baby Cardigan Mark 2 is finally finished. There was a lot of sewing-in of ends and it seemed to go on forever.

And I got waylaid by starting the next project - a big mistake as that was more interesting as I watched the colours develop/change. In the end I finished the bag first.

The colours are a little garish - but I like the pattern and so will just trial different colour combinations on future ones

one down and one to go

At last - I have finished one of the two jackets. It is very cute.

I used a tutorial from http://doyoumindifiknit.typepad.com for sewing up the squares. She had made a scarf from little squares. It makes for a neat finish. Thank you Vanessa.

Slow finishing

Oh dear - the Little Squares are taking forever to assemble themselves - not helped by me starting on the next project and finding that more interesting. I am making 2 of the Little Squares cardigans/jackets - so far I have sewn up the first one's pieces and now to sew together.

The fact that the babies will be born soon is enough to keep me at it! Nothing like a deadline.

I completed the Tropical Garden Vest Mark 2 a few weeks back but didn't want to post about it until my sister had received it. It is very similar except the Main Colour is a charcoal/black.

Patchwork and indigo blue

The Little Squares Cardi is taking forever to sew up - not helped by me moving onto another project ...

And here is an exhibition I went to the other weekend - it goes into my brain as inspiration for colour and pattern - and one day may return in another form. The exhibition was about dyeing textiles (mostly indigo) - I just love that blue. And also the way they use patchwork - I'm not sure if it was born out of necessity but they have certainly taken it to a higher art form.

Sorry about the layout - I switched back to an older form of blogger and I need to switch back again.

But if you click on the photos you can see them individually and big!

and now...

I have this messy pile. Next I need to arrange the colours and sew up. Why is is so much harder to finish than it is to start? 

I will post all the details (about the tutorials and pattern) with the finished items.