Joining one of my favourite blogs, "Small Things" today for Yarn Along.
Here are some pictures of my weeks works in progress. A custom Earth Mama doll and I'm still working on Emmy's baby's longies. They are to for 6-12 months so I have some time left to finish them :)
I haven't been reading too much of late as, thanks to my Vitamin D deficiency, my eyes tire easily at the moment. However, I have, thanks to my resident teens just discovered to joys of the You-tube playlist I know I'm a little behind on all this folks. Thank heaven's for the resident teens, right.
I love doing my work with music playing in the background.
I don't follow the charts (do charts still exist?) and haven't a clue what is popular or not right now but again, thanks to my household teenagers I've been introduced to a lot of new artists. My tastes are really eclectic. I love anything, as long as it either makes me want to cry, have an adventure or sing (badly but enthusiastically) along. :)
Hope everyone is having a good week!
I just noticed Sylvie in the background. Look how this dog sleeps. This dog has a pretty good life.
It has been hard to find time to sit down and write of late. Somehow there is always something else to do, which is good in a way as it means life is full. We have also all been down with various viruses, coughs and colds which isn't such a good kind of busy. I'm hoping at least we'll all have rock solid immunity by Christmas.
I find that whenever I take a break from blogging, it feels hard to get back into it again. I wonder if I really have anything to say worth sharing. Yet blogging does inspire me. It tunes my mind to a positive dial. Maybe it's the sense of community and the interaction, or the way it makes me focus on the beautiful, easy to miss details of the day, in order to take a photo or record a wayward thought that would otherwise simply fall back into the great ocean of reflection that make up the moments, hours, days of life.
I like this quote from writer Noah Ben Shea:
“The details make life holy. If you want a little happiness in life
don’t forget to look at the little things. It is a poet’s work to see
the incidental, pluck it, place an appropriate silence around both sides
and see the profound in what passes for a passing moment. It is an
artist’s job to as much discover art as create it. Prayer is a way of
making the common profound by pausing, tying knots around a moment,
turning our life into a string of pearls."
Little time for writing means more time for knitting though doesn't it? I have been spending lots of quite evenings with needles in hand, breaking every now and then for another cup of tea and some Pinsperation.It amazes me how much you can accomplish during a few quiet evenings. Poor Nola lamby, has had a couple of ear infections recently. I found a free slouch hat pattern on Ravelry and knit the child size up in one evening. It was a lovely simple knit. I love the way it fits cozily over her ears. I even learnt a new cast on method to make that cute rolled hem. I will be using the long tailed cast on method a lot more in the future. It is so fast and although sturdy allows a lot of flexibility. Click here for a You Tube tutorial.
To make the fingerless mitts I used the long tail cast on method and cast on 28 stitches onto size 4.5 mm needles using Aran weight wool mix yarn. I simply knitted in K2, P2" ribbing until I reached the desired length before casting off in rib and stitching up the side seam leaving adequate space for a little thumb.
I am making lots of bootees in different sizes for Emmy's baby. We still don't know if it will be a boy or a girl but if takes after it's Mama it will love any shade of green.
Above is the first leg of a pair of leggings. The cable cuff is a fun alternative to Knit2, Purl2 ribbing.
Below is a little top I kind of made up as I went along loosely following the dimensions of a couple of different patterns.
I haven't been reading too much but I have been enjoying the new series of Great Canal Journeys. Wouldn't it be magical to live on one of these?
I am still working on Matilda's Pickles Vest. I'm a little less inspired third time around, not because I don't like the pattern, I love it, it's just that novelty motivates me when it comes to knitting and I'm ready to get my hands on some interesting textures and colourways after metres and metres of what is a very pretty but rather monotonous beige/lavender aran.
"Just as a blade can pare fruit, sculpt wood or inflict injury, or a key can set free or imprison, in hundreds of tongues around the world, words are being employed both to hurt and to heal. To cause both peace and chaos. To connect and to isolate. To praise and to condemn. Create harmony and discord. Honor and abase. To mask truth and to tell it. To align and to alienate neighbors and nations.
Again I consider, how do I use my allotment? How mindful am I of my intent? How responsible am I to my speech? How long will the effects of my carelessly spoken words linger? In silence, I sit and contemplate."
"There is a book called The Hidden Messages of Water by the Japanese scientist Dr. Masuru Emoto. When Dr. Emoto began experimenting with photographing crystals, he found that when the water he used for the experiments was exposed to words like "love" and "gratitude" and "wisdom," it formed stunningly beautiful crystals. But when it was subjected to words like "hate" and "You're ugly," the crystals became dark, malformed and fragmented.
Earlier this morning, as I stared at the photographs Dr. Emoto took - visual evidence of the power of language - I wondered this: If the vibrations of words can affect water so dramatically, what do they do to us? We who are comprised of more than 70% water."
" Our emotions and feelings have an effect on the world moment by moment," Dr. Emoto writes. "If you send out words and images of creativity, then you will be contributing to the creation of a beautiful world. However, emitting messages of destruction, you contribute to the destruction of the universe."
Anne D. LeClare "Listening Below the Noise - The Transformative Power of Silence"
I so enjoyed knitting up a Pickles Plain vest for Seraphina I made one for Nola too and have already cast on another for Matilda by enlarging the pattern. It is a lovely quick, satisfying knit with a lovely garter stitched yoke. Perfect for those breezier Autumn days.
The pattern was simple. I was only flummoxed once when trying to work out what kind of technique I should use for making the sleeve stitches. In the end I was able to figure it out pretty quickly.
I'm currently reading Kaleidoscope City - a Year in Varanasi by Piers Moor Ede.
I have only just started it but his descriptions of the city have already immersed me in the sights, sounds and smells of this extraordinary place.
Learning that you are going to be an Omie* ...at 36 is quite something.
And you know it is going to be a wonderful, magical, joyful, beautiful something.
I am sure having a baby during her first year of college will be challenging at times but this surprise wee one and it's dear Mama will be loved beyond measure by so many. I know all will be well, as it usually always is. And aren't some of the greatest wonders of life often unplanned?
So Emmy is starting college this September and the baby will be due in March so I've started to get a baby knits hamper made up for her.
I can't believe how much I've knitted for my babies over the years! Clearly this little one won't get chilly.
The satin lined blanket with the rabbit applique was actually knitted by my own grandfather for me.
His Scottish mother made sure he and his three older brothers learnt to knit when they were boys.
I made up this little baby bunting doll pattern on our way to and from the seaside a couple of weeks ago.
I had a rough idea of the shapes I wanted to create and by some magic/luck they kind of worked.
Bit slap dash I know but I sometimes like the feeling of not knowing exactly what you're going to get.
Muddling along is my speciality it seems. Besides, I had only found out the exciting news a few days earlier and my hands were itchy for baby knits.
Watching this little being unfold from the nest of my own hands, my
heart filled with love for the little hands that will hold was very
special. *
I knitted this little bunting doll using a mix of natural brown Alpaca Aran and some beautiful, plant dyed worsted by the wonderful Oxford Kitchen Yarns on Etsy.
While the face and hands were knitted with some BFL that I tea dyed some months ago.
Last night I finished my hat and sewed up the seams on my second glove.
Either my tension was a bit off or my head is unusually small because the hat is a little loose.
I think I might gather the back seam and sew it a little tighter.
Saying that, I do like the pattern very much. I like the garter stitch edge and the artisan/casual look as my daughter describes it :)
Having fallen head over heels with this yarn (Sirdar Divine) despite it's awkward, metallic threaded + thick/thin fuzziness.
I decided to knit myself a glove and slouch hat combo with it. For the gloves, I'm using a pattern from Erica Knight's Classic Collection, except I'm knitting the fingers only halfway up as I find fingerless gloves more versatile (I can wear them in the house etc...)
The first glove turned out quite well. I love how it looks but the thicker threads of yarn do make the fingers a little bulky. I'm thinking this will mean "cosy" come the winter chills.
Any one have any slouch hat pattern recommendations?
*
I am halfway through "Far from the Madding Crowd" I love Hardy, both his prose and poetry. I'm drawn to the language, the idiosyncratic characters and the gentle yet gripping plot, and for a while I am transported back to a kind of English country life (for all it's sins) that has now past and will never be again.
As soon as I finish the book I plan on treating myself to the movie.
Speaking of Hardy, We watched an adaptation of the Mayor of Casterbridge in the new year and it was beautifully done.
I received the most lovely surprise in the post yesterday.
By the luckiest chance I won the beautiful book "Forgotten Ways for Modern Days" over at Annie Cholewa.
Please pop over to visit her thoughtful space if you get a chance. You'll be glad you did.
I always use natural, gentle and homemade products around the home but have found myself uninspired by household tasks of late. I suppose it is easy to fall into survival mode with a big, busy family. What is that saying about shoveling snow while it's still snowing?
I understand that I need a level of beauty and order around me. It is the way I'm made. (Moon in Libra)
Yet I am comfortable with homely shabbiness. I enjoy seeing piles of books, jars of colouring pencils, floury counter-tops and scattered balls of yarn. These are the marks of a happy, full and living home.
But a drop of essential oil, the scent of lemon zest, mustard yellow drying balls for winter loads and pots of salad resting on the windowsill ... make my heart happy.
And more than that, they inspire me to enjoy the small tasks again.
Today I am ordering some roving to make those mustard yellow dryer balls with the girls.
Last week I had a need to knit something very simple and warm for myself. I wanted something therapeutic, rhythmical and garter stitched. I learned to knit by knitting garter stitch squares and there is the nostalgia I suppose.
I wasn't sure whether this shawl would turn out as I hoped but somehow, as if by magic the vision in my head appeared upon my needles.
It is a very simple pattern. Gauge doesn't really matter as the garter stitch pattern is very forgiving and allows for a lot of stretch. This shawl is pretty much medium sized but it can be adjusted by knitting more rows in the middle section to make it longer.
Using 3.75 needles and 100grams Sirdar Country Style DK in Slate Cast on 3 stitches First row K2, knit into the front and back of next stitch Second row knit Continue in this way increasing on one side of the shawl every other row until you have 72 stitches on your needle. Now increase every 4th row instead of every 2nd row until you have 75 stitches on your needle Continue knitting straight in garter stitch for about 6 inches or so. (your yarn will probably end around 3 inches in and this will mark your halfway point) Instead of increasing on the second stitch from the bottom edge of the shawl you'll now be decreasing by knitting two stitches together. First row of decrease: K2, k2tog, knit to end of row Knit next 3 rows straight Repeat until you have 72 stitches on your needle Then continue decreasing by knitting two stitches then knitting two stitches together at the beginning of every other row (the bottom edge of your shawl) until three stitches remain on your needle. Knit two together. Cast off. You can stretch the shawl length ways and block for a wider wrap that you can pin with a shawl pin. I decided to sew the points together without blocking first (about an inch and a half along both seams) I wore it this way all day yesterday and it seems to work well.
I knitted a couple of these vests last year and found them fun and quick to make so I decided to knit Nola one this past week in a lovely mottled, blue aran. It is scottish lambswool and soft as a cloud.
A pair of my linen trousers were beginning to wear at the leg so I refashioned them for Nola by tracing round a pair of her jeans and leaving a generous seam allowance. There are so many tutorials for this online. Here is one I just found.
