In which Dolores models the finished (but not yet washed/blocked) Jess, for your viewing pleasure.

You'll get better pics when it's been shrunk to (hopefully) fit - this is just to share my glee at having actually completed an actual whole jersey.* And another milestone (slightly topsy-turvy - this is surely something most knitters do at the start of their crafty careers): this is the first time I have ever knit a project entirely from a pattern, no modifications, in the recommended yarn.

Wow.

Pattern: Jess. Which overall I found well constructed, clearly communicated and fun to knit. (I did at a few points consider that it could have been just a little bit clearer - it shows signs of having been written with some sort of automating software, not that I know if that really exists on a professional enough level or would produce the sort of results I was noticing, but that was my impression - but still, it was fine.) There was, however, one big problem. One big SMALL problem.

See that? That rather dark, not very generously sized photo is all you get. It's the only one on the website, and some how I assumed (being new to the ways of downloaded patterns) that there would be more detail in the actual pattern. There isn't. Which meant that the collar, for instance, came as a complete surprise. (Seriously. Compare that collar there to the one on Dolores. Turns out I love the collar, but it's not what I was expecting - I wasn't really sure what I was expecting, but not that - and I had serious qualms during the knitting of it. Misplaced entirely, but there you go.)

So. Pattern: Good, but would it kill you to let us actually see the design details, Rowan?

Yarn: Rowan Denim. Not hard to knit with, but not the best fun either. Absolutely no give, and it turned my fingers blue after extended knitting sessions. I think it'll be worth it for the sake of enjoying the lovely fading effects, but while there are a number of denim designs I'd rather like to knit, I don't really see them leaping to the top of the queue.

Needles: Lantern Moon ebony 4mm, Colonial 3.75mm and 3mm.
Buttons: Perl Grey celtic.

Tweaks: None. Absolutely none. Which is rather freaking me out. Oh, not entirely true: I used different increase techniques (which at first were better, then worse, than the M1 recommended - I'm not sure why the change in results - but I ended up with a Zimmerman-style M1, and that worked like a charm). And I used whipstitch on all the seams, rather than the recommended backstitch or mattress stitch. I did actually try mattressing it, but I really didn't like the effect on those raglans. I like whipstitch because, while not invisible, it can create a beautifully neat, flat finish. But of course it's now possible that I've terminally screwed with the sizing, hence the rather excessive length from shoulder to waist. We'll see after the wash. [ETA: I just remembered, I also made larger buttonholes, to go with the larger buttons. Tres logique.**]

By the way, you may remember I said this project was also going to see me doing actual proper blocking. It hasn't. But for a very good reason: I was following the pattern. It said sternly DO NOT PRESS! It told me to dive straight into sewing the raglan seam, button bands, collar etc; and well, there didn't seem to be a lot of point in blocking it after all that, with just the underarm and side seams to be done. So I didn't. So there. That milestone will just have to wait till another time.

_____
* Being an expat knitter really messes with my jargon. In SA we called woolly warm things "jerseys". Over here they're "jumpers" - but I just can't bring myself to say that. It sounds incredibly Enid Blyton-esque to my ears. Of course in America, and hence in most of the knitblogs, magazines etc, they're "sweaters". Which sounds slightly less weird to me than "jumpers", but still weird; and anyway I don't live in a country where people talk about sweaters, nor do I come from one, so it's weirder to say "sweater" than anything else. Yet I've been in London long enough that "jersey" sounds slightly peculiar too. So any time you read me talking about, well, woolly warm things with sleeves, imagine my fingers hovering over the keyboard for a second before I desperately plump for whichever alternative fights its way to the front of the queue. And don't bother asking why I chose that particular term on any one occasion, because believe me, I don't know.
** No, I don't think that's actual French.

Posted by Robynn at 12:05 PM | Permalink | 10 cups of tea on the table

I like knowing that as many years as I've been knitting, as confident as I am in my skills, there's still a million things to learn. I like having all those challenges ahead of me. And I like meeting them - I like passing those little milestones: learning to handle DPNs. Knitting my first socks.

Then come the, well, the less conventional milestones. The frankly unexpected ones. Two of which I passed this week, much to my own surprise.

First: I finally took a decent yarn picture or two.

This is part of last week's Posh haul: Helena merino sock yarn, in Pond.

The beginnings of Cara's shrug in Kid Silk Lace. The colours are... well. See for yourself.

Exquisite.

My newfound (and still vv patchy) photo skillz come courtesy of Armin's birthday present: a snazzy new lens. And learning to play with the aperture. Finally, some sexy depth of focus action! About time too, eh?

The second milestone — well — I bought a pair of shoes. Cute, aren't they?

So, er, what's the knitterly milestone, exactly? It's not as if I made them. Er... look, I bought them expressly to wear with socks. There. I said it.

Which is particularly amusing as I'm still not sure where exactly I stand on the whole socks-and-skirts fashion question. I mean, cute, totally, but not on me. Except, apparently, soon to be on me. If they fit. I don't even have the socks yet, and I got shoes to show them off. This knitting thing? It messes with your head.

Posted by Robynn at 09:33 PM | Permalink | 3 cups of tea on the table

You know what you find if you happen to be passing through Richmond Park in the cool of the evening?

You find deer. Lots and lots of deer. Just hanging out.

You also find a really spectacular sunset, if you're lucky. And if you've been riding all the way from Isleworth to Wimbledon** and back... well, then you get some pretty tired thighs.

Which earns you a chocolate, at least. So it's all good.

_____
* Most of London, probably. I get that. But although I knew there were deer... I didn't know quite how many, and how widely they roam, and how easy it is to get up close. A happy discovery.
** Friend was having a barbecue, and since it was such an unexpectedly lovely day, we figured we'd take a little bike ride. Or, as it turned out, a really big bike ride.

Posted by Robynn at 09:22 PM | Permalink | 2 cups of tea on the table

I was a Girl Guide for about five minutes. I never actually collected any badges, though I think I was ready to go for the hairdressing one, based on the fact that I cut my own fringe. (Rather shorter than I meant to.) Now, however, is the time to make good on that missed opportunity.

Race you to level 3 Macgyver?

Posted by Robynn at 10:22 PM | Permalink | 1 cups of tea on the table

O'course the good thing about these cool, grey, drizzly days is that my cats get ever so affectionate. And who am I to complain about fluffy company... everywhere I go... every single step... draped over my wrists as I type... well, I admit, it's not very conducive to productivity. But damn, they cute.

Talking of cute: How adorable is this dancing robot? Lil guy's got rhythm.

Ahem. Back to the topic (such as it is). Yes, so, it's distinctly autumnal all of a sardine. And my pleasure in this fact makes me realise: I have finally adjusted to the English climate. (Hey, only five years... that's not bad, right?) After bitching and whining every single summer that it's just not enough, it's not reliable enough, it's not nearly long enough... well, this summer was about the most unreliable and certainly short-lived that I've yet experienced, and you know? The lovely, sunny days we had recently just confused me. I didn't quite know how to dress or what to do. Now it's all damp and miserable again, I feel strangely relieved. Boots! Scarves! I can handle this.

And of course knitting. I am thinking about warm woolly stitches almost every minute of the day... so about 10 minutes more than usual, then. Really, I'm obsessed. And newly driven to actually Get Stuff Done. Which means being more productive with my work time, so that I can allow myself to take some knitting time. That's a win-win idea.

There's an interesting discussion on Ravelry about how to knit faster. It's wandered from the usual continental/English debate* on to project fidelity (or lack thereof). It's interesting to me that now I've learned the joys of having a project in every room (well, nearly), all in different stages of completion and of different levels of complexity, I actually seem to be making better progress than when I was focused on just one thing - which you might have thought would make for faster completion. But of course there's a great advantage to having something ready to just pick up at any convenient moment, even if your big sweater/lace shawl/bed-sized afghan is at an awkward stage. And there's another factor too: enthusiasm. Sometimes getting stuck in a dreary bit of a big project turns you off knitting generally, at least for a while, unless you have other fun things to distract you.

What about knitting smarter, though? Particularly as regards design. I wonder whether I would need to reinstate a little project monogamy if I wanted to actually create a new design, one with a bit of detail and structure to it, one that requires some mental focus. I guess there's only one way to find out. Folks, consider this a vow: I will, before the year is out, get cracking on the cute swingy asymmetrical cabled jacket that is haunting my dreams...

But right now, I have a wedding shrug to deal with. I started swatching with my beautiful Kid Silk lace last night and suddenly I realise (being a bit slow on the uptake) that I might have rather more work on my hands than expected. Yes yes, you may all laugh now, you old KSH hands; I know it's notorious stuff. But I honestly didn't realise. Wish me luck.

(And just when my denim jacket was going so well... I'm halfway through the second sleeve. What are my chances of finishing the damn thing before 6 September? Considering I have this damn shrug to deal with, and preferably two, in case the colours don't match? Dammit.)

_____
* Which included some links to videos and such, which I perused because I've been wondering how people can say it's easier to rib continental-style when I find it so hard, and that's encouraged me to try it again, and we'll** report back on that later. But I also looked at Annie Modesitt's animations on her "combined method" and I'm now thoroughly confused. Her purl is indeed the way I tried continental purl, which is smooth and simple and gets the stitch sat the wrong way round on the needle. (Bummer.) But her knit... can anyone explain to me how that is different to a regular, English-style knit stitch? Or continental. I dunno. You can't really see how the yarn is held. Edit: I think I've just answered my own question, taking another look at it. The stitch is, indeed, sat differently on the needle, because of the purl stitch. Is that really the only difference? Sometimes I'm amazed at how much fuss gets made over tiny little details like that.
** No, I'm not sure why I sometimes lapse into the royal we when blogging either. But indulge me, would you? Us. Indulge us. We are amused by it.

Posted by Robynn at 12:46 PM | Permalink | 1 cups of tea on the table

That title applies to so many things. Firstly, my mood. I'm not exactly bouncing with energy, but I'm not drowning in the glums either. I had a great yoga class this week, and I've been eating a bit more fruit and less crap. Always a good thing, though sometimes... well... hard.

Second, the Socks That Wouldn't Die have bowed to my superior knitting fu (and not before time). Sock 1 (on its third attempt, I believe) has been finished, tried on, and pronounced a success. (Seriously, it's a beautiful fit.) Although my sewn bind-off is a bit crappy. On the red cosy socks I used a stretchy knit cast-off, but on this one it didn't seem to work quite as well. I could have fiddled about until it worked, but I thought I should learn a New Skill. Which I did, and I've learned that it's crappy. Next time I'll try harder on the knit version - but not on this pair. This pair will match, even if they match in crappiness.

As if to congratulate me on my great prowess, not to mention progress, I arrived home last night to find a gloriously lavish pile of magazines in the post. Eunny's first Interweave, the 25th anniversary Vogue (which is HUGE - I haven't yet found out whether that's all ads, or whether there's actual worthwhile content, but apparently there are 60 designs in there!), plus Simply Knitting, Knit Today - and a media pack for an upcoming UK launch.

It's supposed to be hush-hush still, so I won't share any details, but there's something to look out for: a new monthly knit mag from around October. They'll be distributing, of course, at Ally Pally. And they promise "more more more". Sadly, they don't promise better; I seem doomed to disappointment in my desire for a Vogue-a-like mag with stylish, sophisticated, challenging knits. But let's wait and see.

And today, we're off to Putney for more knitting at the new and improved venue of the Duke's Head... knitting with booze! Alas, the weather is newly returned to its crappy, rainy state. I was rather hoping for a little riverside sunshine. Ah well. Once again, if you're in south-west London and fancy dropping by, we'll be there between 12.30 and 3pm. See you there?

Posted by Robynn at 09:08 AM | Permalink | 2 cups of tea on the table

Eh.

So I'm supposed to be showing you some knitting right? ...Eh. Whatever.

*deep sigh*

The denim jacket's coming along, I'm onto the first sleeve now.

I'm a bit worried that it's going to come out too big. I picked the biggest size, based on my bust, but the thing is I'm a busty girl; the rest of me isn't necessarily in proportion. Maybe a little negative ease would have been something to consider. Well, let's hope all that ribbing does its job and pulls things in nicely. How does denim ribbing behave once it's been washed? Anybody? I rather think I'm going to have a sack on my hands.

(Shrug? Oh yes, shrug. Deadlines. Yeah. Well, I've found possibly the perfect yarn for that, in this week's Posh sale, so I'll crack on when that arrives. Hooray for excuses to carry on with my jacket!)

The sock is progressing slowly. I am SO VERY BORED of this now.

So I've cast on for another sock. Or more accurately, for a swatch for what will be another sock. (Didn't exactly get very far. Supper was ready.) I just wanted to check that, when doing a pretty pattern - Spiral boot socks from Interweave - and using scrummy yarn, socks are still fun.

Eh. They might be. I can't tell yet.

So, right, forget all that now. (It won't be hard. It wasn't that interesting.) What do you do when you feel... well... crappy? Assuming (purely for the purposes of argument) that part of the crappy might be described as "fat", so chocolate is not necessarily the answer? (I know. Sacrilege.) And further assuming that you have a metric shitload of work to do, so - even more heretical - knitting might not really fit into the schedule either?

Posted by Robynn at 10:57 AM | Permalink | 2 cups of tea on the table

Well, we had a lovely weekend, good thing I didn't blink and miss it. The clouds are back in the sky today. (Obviously. This morning I put a load of washing in.) Which makes me doubly pleased that I was just a little bit naughty... I stole a good few hours from work to sit out in the garden, knitting and reading Harry Potter*. Yes, this is how I rebel these days. (Come to think of it, it's much like how I rebelled at school, too: knitting instead of homework. I'm so wild.)

This is what I was knitting on.

Remember that denim jacket I started in, um, April or so? Remember my cold feet? Remember I said I'd just tweak the Jess pattern a bit? Here's a first: I'm not tweaking. I'm knitting it exactly as is. For novelty value. And also, um, laziness.

(How's that rolling, eh? I'm planning on making this project, not just my first ever true-to-pattern knit, but also my first blocking job. Really. I've done all right without it all these years, but it's time to stop being so damn lazy.)

I'm enjoying it (which explains how I've raced through two fronts in a week - yes dears, that is racing, at least considering my schedule), despite being irritated by the lack of photographs in the pattern,** the stiffness of the yarn and the way it makes my hands blue. On the other hand, after working on titchy little 2.25mm sock needles, these 4mm sticks are positively chunky! Loving that, oh yes. While the titchy little socks...

Well. Um. Yeah, they're fine and all, whatever. Can I stop now?

No, no I can't. This is the first ever pair of socks I'm making for my lovely Armin (although clearly not the last; did I mention he's requested his very own cosy socks, in Wollmeise Tiefersee?) and dammit, I will finish them. Doomed as the little bastards are. Y'see, I been lazy, and I been dumb. I finished the first sock, cast off, and he couldn't pull it on. Cast off too tight. So I put that aside, figuring I'd deal with the cast off thing later, and did the next one. Didn't quite get around to redoing the cast off meanwhile; didn't even check whether it fit if I pulled the cast off out. So. Finished the second sock, complete with stretchy cast off. Tried to pull it on. It didn't. Bummer. Wasn't the cast off that was the problem...

So I pull the sock back to the heel, add a few stitches for a deeper heel, turn the heel, start working up the leg in k3, p1 rib. It's going to be a long slog back up. (Have I mentioned I hate ribbing on dpns? Really do.) But hey. We'll get there. Then, attempting to demonstrate to a friend how I screwed up, I pull the too-tight sock on my foot...

Hang on. It totally goes on. Apparently this is what I get for knitting drunk.***

Still, Armin would like it a bit easier to pull on (fair enough), so it's not a bad idea to be reknitting. Also, they're too short. (I did confer with him on the length, but it looks a lot shorter on the leg. All part of learning to be a sock knitter, I guess.) Still. Damn.

And while I've been steaming ahead on Jess, and plodding ahead on the socks (they're my train knit, which means I have to choose between reading and socking; at the moment Harry Potter is winning), here's what I should have been working on.

The wedding shrug for my bestest friend, getting married in Cape Town in September. As you can see, I'm not exactly racing on this one. I do have an excuse though: this is not our first choice of yarn. It's to match a "red/gold" shot taffeta dress, which, being in Cape Town and all, I haven't seen. I have seen some very dodgy photos, and a tiny - 1cm x 3cm - scrap of fabric. But you know what shot taffeta's like. That little scrap looks kind of purple/yellow, rather than red or gold. The photos look quite orangey. She swears the actual dress, in normal light, is none of these things, and I believe her. So how to pick a yarn? This Goldiehair has flashes of what is probably exactly the right colour - but overall it's pretty dark, and she's not mad about the idea of a dark shrug. The Silk Rhapsody I was using for my Moebius is maybe closer to the dress; but the fabric scrap gave me the idea that it would be close but not close enough, and you know how crappy it looks to have a bad colour match; that made me think I'd do better to have a contrast, not a match, because that's easier to fudge.

So I've found a couple of slightly lighter red/gold-ish colourways in Colinette mohair, and ordered them (just one ball of each - I have no idea what the yardage is anyway - and with luck they'll arrive promptly, and one of those will do, and I can buy more, and get cracking). Oh, I should probably finish the Goldiehair one anyway, though. To go with my (garnet red) bridesmaid dress. Yup... I should get going right away.

If only Jess weren't so very, very appealing right now...

PS I still owe you yarn photos. Oops. Okay, here we go: evidence of my late spendies.

BFL laceweight from Hello Yarn - arrived with my nostepinde. (Because clearly it would be Bad and Wrong to order something from a yarny all the way in America and not grab the chance to sample her wares at the same time. Right?) I'm planning to use this for my first lace shawl; I've been hesitant about the whole lace thing, because I'm not sure how wearable it is in my wardrobe. But the challenge of it all is getting to me. So I spent a good while browsing the Interweb, looking for the perfect lace shawl pattern, and I saw quite a few lovely things, and developed an instant and intense desire to make the Peacock Shawl... but that of course will require quite different yarn. After all my research, Dee's Fir Cone photos appear to have swung the deciding vote. Funny, I never had any desire to make this shawl along with everyone else, but I rather think it'll be perfect for this particular yarn. ...Then I just need to figure out how to wear the damn thing.

And then we come to my Posh indiscretions. Ah yes. It's clear that my sock enthusiasm has not been entirely squashed by the shepherd socks of doom.

Emily, in Pompous. Intended for those lovely lacy boot socks in the last Interweave.

And finally, left to right: Emily, Bed of Roses; Lucia, Devoted (way less bright than it looks - Photoshop failed me); and Emily again, in Offbeat and Ripen. The Lucia is a present for my sister, whom I am welcoming back into the knitting fold with enthusiasm, and presents. Although I am finding it very, very, very hard to let go of this particular skein. It's delicious.

_____
* No spoilers please! I'm actually just working my way through the series, refreshing my memory for the final instalment. Which I will be reading aloud to Armin in the evening, as he washes up. It's a longstanding tradition; and don't mock, it means I get out of doing the dishes.
** One photo. One. About five centimetres deep. No detail shots, no back shots... nada. So frankly, this is going to be a voyage of discovery, this knit.
*** Not actually joking, no. I finished this sock - and attempted to try it on - in the late stages of a barbecue last weekend. Sitting on the table. I want to say this wasn't actually as weird as it sounds, but what do I know? I'd had a few gallons of Bombay Flowers. I couldn't even pull on a damn sock.

Posted by Robynn at 01:34 PM | Permalink | 5 cups of tea on the table