February 2007 – Knitting Box

Winging it

The baby hat has been finished, blocked, and gifted. Tada!

Pattern: My own. Also known as the “figure it out as I go” pattern. Added: Pattern is now here.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino colour #340202 (baby blue), less than 1 ball.
Needles: 3.25mm DPNs.

Well, not too shabby I’d say. At first I was just going for a plain stockinette hat. Then I thought about adding those little cables just to add a bit of interest to it.

And on the sewing front, I made this bag for Annette to take to crÃ©che. I made her this little bag a while ago, which she loves, but now I realise that it’s getting too small for the stuff that needs to be in the bag. It would fit a lunch box and a water bottle, but no space for say, raincoat or change of clothes. Hence this new bag.

The idea for this bag started with me seeing this trim box tutorial by Melissa from all buttoned up, and then seeing this boxed bag in her archives, and a plan was hatched. I basically just followed the trim box tutorial, minus the Timtex, adjusted the dimensions (this bag is about 25cm long, 20cm wide, and 25cm high, or 10 x 8 x 10 inches), and added front pocket and straps.

I’m very pleased with the bag, even though there are lots of room for improvement.

This hand stitching on the felt took me longer than putting the rest of the bag together.

And whoops, rather flimsy sides! It’s ok, actually, but next time I might consider using some interfacing.

28 February 2007

Just pretty pictures

Knitting has been slow going here. Here and there cables scarf is growing a little longer, and the swing coat is growing a little more, but they still look the same. I’m dying to start a sock with the STR, or maybe something from the Victorian Lace Today, but I keep thinking that I should make more progress on the current WIPs first. I don’t know how long this will last, though. So in the mean time, how about I distract you with some pretty pictures instead?

Got these on a recent trip to Spotlight. The yarn is called ‘Dashing’, which makes me chuckle. They must be new, as I had never seen them before. For a cheapo yarn it’s surprisingly soft, although the colour range is not that great. This one is pastel green. It also comes in pastel blue, pastel pink, and peach.

I’m also in the middle of making this baby hat for a friend who just had a baby boy. I’m going to see her next week, so this one is taking priority. I’m not using any pattern, just making it up as I go. I actually started with a pattern, and got up to the crown decreases, before I had to admit that it would be far too big for a newborn baby. I really do have a bad denial problem. So off to the frog pond it went. Anyway, this one looks ok for size now. I’m using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for this one. Mmm… Cashmerino…

There have been some sewing as well. Here’s a peek on what I’m working on 🙂

And another eye candy: A new fabric line to gawk at, Chocolate Lollipop by Anna Maria Horner.

23 February 2007

Forecast: Chance of socks

Indeed, here’s a pair of Pomatomus socks done…

… with plenty of yarn to spare.

Pattern: Pomatomus Socks by Cookie A, from Knitty.
Yarn: Celia‘s handpainted sock yarn in Bougainvilla colourway, 1 skein with plenty to spare.
Needles: 2.5mm DPNs

The second sock actually progressed faster than the first one, perhaps because I already ‘got’ the pattern. However all this thinking that I’ve got the pattern down got me rather smug, that I stuffed up the foot and had to rip back 10 rows for like 3 or 4 times. Grrr. But no matter, they’re done, and I love them. I think the stitch pattern looks so pretty…

I’m officially converted into sock knitting now, and there sure will be more handknit socks in my future. I thought getting sock yarns would be a good start, so I splurged and got these:

Socks That Rock!! My first STR yarns ever, and I’m definitely not disappointed. From left to right: Obsidian, Chapman Springs, G-Rocks, and January One colourways. How good are those colours! I absolutely LOVE the colour combinations in each skein, they just look so good together. So much so, that I’m almost afraid to wind the skeins into balls and knit them up. Almost.

And in non-sock-related news, I’ve made some progress on Annette’s swing coat. It’s knitted in one piece from the neck down, and I’m enjoying this very much. I’m looking forward to very little seaming too 🙂

I’m using some Malabrigo worsted, in the Marine colourway, which is kind of a mix of navy blue, indigo, and steel blue. The variegation is very subtle.

13 February 2007

Blue, White, And Grey

So yeah, I decided to join in Project Spectrum, and while thinking about February/March theme colours, I realised that hey, those were my school colours! In fact, let me show you my high school jersey.

In Australia, in the final year of high school (Year 12), it’s tradition for the graduating students to produce a jersey, typically in the school colours, as a memento of their high school years. Typically they show the year of graduation at the back, and when you’re just graduating, it’s cool to wear these everywhere you go. It’s like, look! we’re graduating!! Of course, when one had graduated from high school more than a decade ago, it’s not so cool anymore.

Anyway, I have casted on for my new projects. My brother in law asked for a scarf. A white scarf, of all colours. And he picked the Here and There Cables scarf from the Scarf Style book. I’m using Filatura Di Crosa Zara yarn. It’s soft and nice to work with, and you can just put the item in the washing machine and it will come out even softer.

And these lovely skeins of Malabrigo will become a swing coat for Annette.

5 February 2007