New Year, New Hat

So, I walked into a tree.

In my defense, it wasn't the trunk of the tree I walked into, just a bit of a branch. Also, it was snowing quite hard, and I had my eyes on the ground, checking for ice so I didn't slip.

It was on Clapham Common a bit before Christmas, and the point of this story is that I was so dazed from the cold branch hitting me in the face, not to mention checking my glasses weren't scratched, that I didn't realise my hat had fallen off. When I went back to look, it had gone.

I needed a new hat. I picked up a ball of kid classic and a 3.5mm circular needle. I cast on 4 stitches and started working in the round. I increased four stitches every other round until it was roughly wide enough, then worked a 4x4 rib until I'd nearly run out of yarn, and cast off.

Result: one pixie-point red hat, perfect for the Christmas holidays. Final finished piece of knitting for 2010. Ravelry project page.

Conclusion: New Year's Resolution number one is to stop walking into trees.

My New Year's Resolution number two is the more serious one: do less. I've been rushed off my feet all year. I've had so much work, I haven't left much time for many of my friends, time for myself, or even simple things like tidying my room, exercise, cooking properly or sleep. I've hardly had time for a weekend, let alone a holiday. I've gone from being one of the most organised people I know, to turning up late to meetings. I've also been late with a couple of projects, and rushed a few more. I hate that. "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing properly", and all that.

2010 was a lot of fun. I've made new friends and achieved things I've never thought possible, but I finished it absolutely exhausted. Next year: do less, but do it better and be happier. That said, looking at my diary for 2011 I have some really exciting things planned. I'm going to be writing and speaking about some amazing things, and visiting some fantastic places. I just need to keep it all under control.

Having finally taken some time off over the holiday season, I've taken time to knit a few Christmas presents and pieces for friends who have recently turned 30 (urgh, 2011 is the year I do too). Will post them all soon.

... and yes, my eyes are different colours.

light in sight

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On my thesis. That's chapter seven (of nine) pretty much done. Two more to polish (they are basically done), then I'm editing the thing as one (giant) narrative, which I hope shouldn't be much of a job, as I've been treating it as a whole thesis for a while. Then, maybe (just maybe) I can hand it in.

On the bleeding Muir I seem to have been working on for YEARS (well, since March). It seems like forever, as I had to frog a good four inches. I'm at the boarder though, and it's just garter stitch (with the odd picot) from then on in.

And, annoyingly, on my favourite jacket. I've had it for about nine years now, and have been darning and patching up holes for the last five. However, I fear it may finally be gone. I'm all about the re-use and re-cycle though, so I'll think of something to do with the fabric. Reconstructed denim is a tad too 80s-tastic though, don't you think? Idea ideas?

Whilst I get going with finishing all this off, I'll leave you with some pictures of pretty Yorkshire Sheep.

FO: placed cable

This was a project inspired by the yarn. It was a very uncharacteristic impulse buy, which I blame Kirsty for entirely - she sent me to the Liberty's pre-Christmas 20%-off event and, the previous weekend, had me model a gorgeous kid-classic cardigan she'd just finished knitting for an ex-flatmate of ours. Initially, I was planning on knitting Belle Epoque, but as soon as I started knitting up the silky yarn I decided it had to be a cowl-neck, and settled on the simple aran from last autumn's Interweave.


Needles: 3.75mm 80cm addi circular.
Pattern: Placed Cable Aran, Cathy Payson, in Interweave Knits, Fall 2007.
Mods: Extensive, see below.
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic in 'peat', just under nine balls
Ravelled: here.

I modified in two respects. Firstly, actual design: I lengthened the sleeves, cowl and the body by several inches each, and worked the bottom of the body in the same rib as the sleeves. I also added side-shaping and an extra pattern repeat for the central cable, because I thought a longer line in the middle would be more flattering. Secondly, I worked it in the round, and from the top-down (largely to escape seaming such a dark mohair-mix). I started with the back piece, which I worked flat until I got to the bit where the arms divide. I held these stitches, and cast on two small pieces for the front shoulders. I worked these at once (as you would two sleeves at once) before joining at the neck and then working as one piece until it matched the back. Then I joined to work in the round and it was all knitting from then on. For the arms, I picked up with the circular needle and worked in the round using magic loop. I used a k2tog bind off throughout.



Generally I'm pleased with the result. It is a bit sack-like, even with the side-shaping and using a yarn with good drape. A few people who've made it have suggested set-in sleeves might be a good idea (especially as the aran design is so simple, and doesn't really extend to the sleeves anyway), and I'm inclined to agree. Still, I wanted a reasonably baggy jumper, and it's smart enough to where at work. The yarn is a tad itchy - it is 70% wool, but the mohair and nylon take the edge off so I don't find it uncomfortable. Its so lovely and fluffy (without being too fluffy) and silky (without being too silky). For once, this impulse-buy was a goodun.

Sorry about the rubbish in-a-mirror photos. I did take my camera and boyfriend out to the park on Saturday. But the spring-like weather seemed to have brought hayfever along with decent sunlight, and I just didn't feel like having my picture taken. Also, though I'm generally a believer than no responsible blogger should knit with either dark or fuzzy yarn, I do realise this isn't the most photogenic of projects. I'll finish with an 'I'm a little teapot' shot, so you can see the ribbing at the bottom.

Two FOs: red hats and purple scarf

I thought I'd knit my mum red hat and purple scarf for her 60th birthday (a reference to this poem). I chose my yarn and patterns, and planned to complete the projects during my trip to the USA.

But knitting doesn't always go to plan.

For the red hat, I planned fair-isle, mixing some red 4ply soft with opal uni in a chocolate brown. I designed a chart, cast on at Gatwick airport and, as the plane made its way to the other side of the Atlantic, got about half way through. But as we landed, I decided I didn't like colour combination in fair-isle, and frogged the lot (the brown yarn and chart pattern became these mittens). Stranded in DC with limited internet and a whole ocean away from my pattern book collection (not to mention needles), I was a bit stuck for what to do. I had a 3.25mm circular with me to make the scarf, so did a gauge swatch with the yarn held double, trying out the cable pattern I could do from memory (I'd just used it in this sock).


It worked pretty well, and the double-held soft yarn made for a lovely warm and squishy hat. I'm particularly proud of the the in-pattern crown decreases. I don't know if I could write out the pattern, as the whole project was pretty free-form, but I'll maybe have a go if I have time before Christmas.


This half of the project completed, I cast-on for a lace scarf. Swallowtail in a soysilk laceweight which I planned to dye purple once knitted-up. I worked out how to add pattern repeats to make it big enough, and got most of the way through. But the p5tog's in the boarder were my undoing. I mis-placed one (knitting lace while gossiping...) so frogged a few rows back to re-do them. But the p5tog's acted as a knot, and I literally had to rip it apart, cutting the yarn to bits. As I did this, a load more unravelled in a way I couldn't possible pick back up (and I'm pretty good at using a crochet hook to re-knit a few rows down). More ripping. So much that I lost more yarn than I could spare - I wasn't going to have enough left to re-knit the ripped bit and finish the thing.

Bye bye soy-swallowtail. You can see a picture here. It is the only thing I've knitted that has actually ended up in the bin.

By then I'd got to California, so visited Artfibers in San Francisco hoping to find something special enough to make a replacement with. What a shop! They have the most beautiful, unusual yarn. They also have mini-skeins you can knit with to see if you like it and try out stitch patterns. There are examples of swatches and pictures of finished pieces hanging up all over the place for inspiration. It has a really relaxed and friendly environment too, yet also extremely professional (photos here and here). As soon as I cast on with their Alfabeto, I knew it was perfect - so warm and silky, yet also very light. It has a very dark purple base, almost an oily black, with bits of blue, pink and red shot through (I couldn't get a photo which did it justice). It's 76% silk, 19% mohair, 5% wool - gorgeous stuff.


As a variegated yarn, I decided I'd go for a relatively simple garter-stitch based seafoam stitch, which also gives it a nice drape. It took a bus trip from San Francisco to LA, the plane from LAX to JFK and several commutes to and from work once I was home to finish, but I got it done in time for the birthday itself. I'm really pleased with it, though I think the credit goes largely to Artfibers for such delicious yarn.


So, neither piece was quite what I was planning, and all improvised on the road. But I was pretty pleased with it in the end.