Year of Projects Week 49

Wow, we're so close to the end here!

A quick update so say I have finally finished my socks!

Saying that it took 4 goes to knit them, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. There are some issues with my tension in places, I think a combination of the purls, twisted stitches and cables over 4 needles mixed with the fact that the yarn is slightly overspun. I also didn't help myself by knitting with the kinked yarn instead of soaking it to get the kinks out after frogging.

Blocking fixed a few of the problems, and I was excited to try my new sock blockers

A close up of the pattern, you can see the ladders where I wasn't very good at changing needles with purl stitches though!

All in all, I think they'll probably get a lot of wear, and I still love the yarn and the pattern, so I'm happy with them!

Free Pattern - Warhammer Double Knit Scarf

Well I have finally got round to writing up the pattern for this scarf. It's been a long time coming, but you can now download the PDF pattern here and find it on Ravelry here.

This scarf measures 7 feet 4 inches (88 inches) length by 9.5 inches width, and the double layered double knit fabric mixed with the lusciously soft yarn makes it something to snuggle up in which will keep you warm in the coldest weather. Plus the colours mean that it is perfect for either men or women, the only requirements are a liking for Warhammer. The double headed aquilla logo celebrates the famous models without being too loud or obvious; a great way to subtly show off your geekery.

Yarn used: Rowan DK Cashsoft, Black, 11 skeins

                    Rowan Pure Wool DK, Yellow, 0.5 skeins

Yarn requirements: 1550 - 1650 yards MC, 65 - 100 yards CC

Needles: 3.5mm straight

Gauge: 12 stitches, 17 rows in 2 inches, measured on one side of the double layered fabric only.

This is not a very difficult pattern, though it does take a long time to do, so I would suggest that some knowledge of double knitting is useful.

If you are a beginner at double knitting, I can highly recommend the tutorial and instructions found here: http://www.knittinghelp.com/c/free-knitting-patterns-heart-double-knit-hot-pad

A video tutorial for the cast on used can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GQpsC1FKGrU

Year of Projects Week 48

Just a very short update this week. I'm now half way through  sock 2, having turned the heel yesterday, and I'm really pleased with how they're looking. Plus I'm shocked at how quickly I'm getting through this one. It looks like I'll have a quite a lot of yarn left, so I might use the leftovers to make some trainer socks for my Mum at some point.

I'm loving the 4 day Jubilee Weekend we're getting at the moment. It's really helped me to get cracking on some more work, plus I went out for my 21st yesterday night, and don't feel guilty about spending most of today on the sofa, since I have 2 more days to get everything done. And my parents are coming down to visit tomorrow to celebrate with me, since I'm on placement on my actual birthday, so I won't get to see anyone then.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend, and I can't believe how close we are to finishing  this!

Year of Projects Week 47

I'm very excited, I've hit 10,000 views on my blog (though I think most of those are on the Pug Washcloth)

I've finally finished a sock! Only one, but it's a start. It fits really well, though I do have to say that I had to reknit the heel three times, since I just couldn't get my head around the wrap and turn aspect of it. I really do love it, I think the yarn goes really well with the pattern, and reminds me of autumn, so it's very unseasonal at the moment!

We've been having gorgeous weather lately. I can't believe I'm sat here in a vest top and shorts, with the doors and windows open. I love the sunshine, it makes me so happy, so I'm really enjoying the heatwave. I hope it carries on!

It was mine and Connor's 3rd anniversary on Friday, and I came home from placement to this beautiful bunch of flowers. Isn't it gorgeous.

We went out for the most amazing meal.

 And then cocktails on the roof of one of the bars in the city centre.

It really was a lovely evening, and a great break from the stress of work which I'm spending a lot of my time on. I've been doing 45 minutes of work followed by 15 minutes of knitting on the socks, so my knitting is still progressing. I need to relax and I'm hopeful I can get the socks finished relatively soon

Sunday Spinning

I had the most amazing day on Sunday. My Dad wanted to buy me something I could keep forever for my 21st birthday (which is the beginning of June), and my Mum came across the most amazing shop one day. We travelled to a beautiful little Yorkshire village to visit this place:

This is Wingham Wool Work, in Wentworth, which is a very cute village, where every building looks like this. It may not look like much, but this is what's inside:

This is only a tiny selection of the shop, which also comprises 4 sheds behind the front building. They have 125 different colours of Merino fibre, as well as fibre from almost every breed of sheep in big bins. Along with that, they have pretty much any kind of fibre you can think of, custom blends (which they can make for you), handspun yarn, knitting needles, needle felting, dyes, and the reason I was there, spinning wheels and supplies:

I had my very first spinning lesson, on this Ashford Traveller. It was a great introduction to spinning wheels, and I came out with this.

After getting a good appreciation of how a spinning wheel works and the basics of use and care, the shop owner, Ruth, taught me how to control the thickness of my yarn, and we span a little bit of several different fleeces into singles, and then plied them.

And the best bit?

My own Ashford Traveller, Niddy Noddy, and the bags of fibre that came free with the spinning wheel. I was just let loose in the shop to grab £15 worth of whatever I liked to take home, which ended up being 500g of fibre.

3 bags of coloured Merino, a bag of Jacobs and a bag of Swaledale.

Of course, I don't actually get it until my birthday, and even then I won't be able to use it until after exams, but I'm really excited to sit down and practise when I can!

Year of Projects Week 46

There is a story behind the socks that I'm posting today.

First they were like this:

Then they were frogged, and looked like this:

Nope. Frogged again, went up a needle size, and got this:

Still no good. They went into time out. And after last week's advice, I decided to give up, frog again, and go up another needle size

So the picture isn't great, but the great news is:

It fits! After being frogged 3 times, and 3 different needle sizes, I think I've actually got it! I love this yarn, which I got on holiday in the Lake District, and which reminds me of what a great time I had. I think it looks perfect with this pattern, but I was so close to giving up on it. I'm glad I persevered, and now that it looks like it's going to fit, I actually want to work on it, which is a big plus!

Apologies, awards and absences

So the title isn't strictly true, but I ran out of "A" words. I know I've not been around much lately, and it's entirely due to this thing:

Yes, I know it looks very boring, but that is Connor's dissertation and it is fiiiiiinished! It took two weeks to redo the two weeks worth of work that he'd lost (surprisingly), but his supervisor was very supportive and gave him an extension, so he shouldn't be penalised for it being late.

I've been proofreader and coffee maker, and I have to say, I now know more than I ever wanted to about Roman law. At least I'm acknowledged though!

This is basically going to be all the posts that I wanted to make in the last week, but couldn't as I'd given up my computer, rolled into one. So moving on to what would have been WIP Wednesday:

I'm in the middle of a cross stitch test piece for someone on Ravelry, and I'm very annoyed with myself since apparently I can't count. I finished two petal on the second flower before I realised I was 10 stitches too close to the first flower, and therefore had to rip out both petals and start them again. It's annoying and to me it takes the joy out of working on the project until I get past the point I had to rip out. But hopefully, I can get past it this weekend and start enjoying stitching again.

That is, if I don't get distracted by this:

This is Ghostie Self Striping Yarn and I'm so excited by it. I've wanted some for over a year, and when I reached my goal weight, I decided to treat myself to some. The picture really doesn't do it justice, the colours are incredibly bright and vibrant, and it even come with a little witches hat and pumpkin stitch marker, which is the perfect touch. But after my rant about orange yarn, I can't believe I now have some in my stash!

The final bit of this post is awards. I've received two in the past few weeks, and I just want to say some big thanks!

I need to thank Shannon at A Life Flexible for this. She gave me this a few weeks ago, and I've only just got round to thanking her for it, so my deepest apologies! I'm really grateful =) I received this award before, so although I'm very touched to receive it again, I'm not going to give it out, but if you're interested you can see who I gave it to here.

Then I received the Sunshine Award from figknits, so thank you so much! I have to say, this is the perfect award, since I like my blog (and my life) to be a happy sunshiny place. Plus my friends tell me that they're sure I photosynthesise, put me out in the sunshine and I perk right up get all happy and bubbly

Sunshine Award Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2. Answer the 10 questions on your favourite things.

3. Nominate 10 blogs to receive the Sunshine Award and let them know they've been nominated.

 

My Ten Favourites

1. Favourite animal: This is a hard one... I love cats, dogs and horses, plus any number of wild animals... Even when I was a child I couldn't answer this question.
2. Favourite number: 5, not sure why, I just like it
3. Favourite non-alcoholic drink: Orange juice and coffee (not together), my standard breakfast and both things I can't live without
4. Facebook or Twitter: I like Facebook for keeping up with school and uni friends, and twitter for yarny friends!
5. My passion: Making things
6. Getting or giving: I can't deny I like getting things (who doesn't?) but you can't beat the warm fuzzy feeling giving gives you.
7. Favourite Pattern:I can't really say I have one, in fact, I don't think I've ever thought about it...
8. Favourite day of the week: Saturday, as there's nothing that has to be done, and there's still one day of the weekend left
9. Favourite flower: Those little blue ones that look like licorice allsorts (no idea what they're called), or maybe bluebells
10. Favourite country: I can't just pick one, that would be mean to all the other countries! I've loved most places I've visited.

So, 10 blogs that deserve this award (and that you should go read):

Confessions of a Yarn Addict

Lynda Grace An Hour Away

A Stash Addicts Ramblings...

Misadventures in Craft

Master of a Thousand Things

The Barefoot Crofter

Needles, Pins and Baking Tins

Salamander Dreams

Peppermint Mocha Mama

Good purl gone bad

These are all blogs that make me smile and bring a bit of sunshine to life, and they definitely deserve this award!

And finally absences. My first clinical exams are in a month's time, so I probably won't be updating this blog very often.  I'll try to keep up to date with my year of projects posts, but no guarantees even of that. So if you don't hear from me, you'll know why.