February Craft Challenge

Well I did choose a craft for February.... button craft.  I didn't get very far with it!  Due to circumstances I decided not to choose anything new for March but to try and progress with the buttons.

I LOVE buttons.  Old, new, plastic, wood, glass, ceramic, you name it I love them.  There is such variation and the colours..........swoon!

So what were my plans at the start of February for all my buttons?  Well I wanted to have a go at button pictures and also button jewellery.  I have seen the most gorgeous creations on the internet and in fact I have several Pinterest boards dedicated to them.  Check them out here by clicking the links.:

Buttons  Look at these pretty ones.  Plain white, but oh so beautiful.

Button Art Wonder how many buttons it took to complete this?

 Button Craft  Such a pretty bracelet.

Unfortunately despite so much inspiration and so many ideas in my head I have only actually made one thing so far.

I made a button heart picture as a valentines day gift for Simon.  It is done in shades of blue as I wanted it to go in our living room.

 

It was much more time consuming that I had thought it would be. Not to mention messy!  I used a glue gun and you know that stuff gets everywhere.  Why can't they make a glue gun that doesn't make those long stringy bits?

Anyway, I was quite pleased with the overall effect.  It's not bad for a first attempt.

As that was the only thing I managed to make I decided to continue with button craft for March as well. So far I have not done anything else.  I have 2 more weeks so you never know.  I'll keep you updated.

Missing in Action

Well February has been and gone and so has half of March.  I had such good intentions but life kind of came along and messed them up.

My Dad had a very serious stroke at the beginning of February.  He spent the whole month in the Lister hospital in Stevenage and then on the 4th of March he was moved to a specialist neurological unit for rehabilitation. Sadly he has just today been moved back to the Lister as he is very poorly.

I have been keeping busy but find it hard to really engage my brain for blogging.  As you know I had intended to try a new craft each month.  January was knitting. I have continued with basic items. I have knitted 2 more pairs of the mitts with thumbs.  One pair in the pink again and one pair in black along with a black cowl for Simon. He hasn't actually worn them as the weather has been milder.  I have also done lots of garter stitch squares.

As promised in my last blog here are the photos of me in my new kit. You can have a good laugh at the one where I have my eyes closed!

 

 

So knitting was fairly successful although I have yet to try anything harder.

I did choose a new craft for February....... Button Craft.  Tell you about that tomorrow.

January's craft challenge is over.

As you know this month I have been trying out knitting.  Well January has been and gone so time to discuss how it went.

I began with 8 inch squares in garter stitch so that I could practise.  I have now done 10 of them using up all sorts of scrap wool that I have.  Some squares are better than others!  Some look more or less perfect whilst others have mistakes including holes where I have lost stitches.  If I ever get around to knitting enough for a blanket, I am sure Loulou will not mind!

I started out knitting fingerless mittens as my first real garment.  That was the pattern that I tested for my friend..  They turned out really well.

After that I found a free pattern online for a fifties style keyhole scarf.  I was so pleased with myself when that worked out OK.  It was fiddly doing that keyhole bit as the stitches get put on a holder and that was a new thing for me.  I think it could have been a bit tighter in that area but also I think I used  wool that was too thin. Neverless it is wearable and looks quite cute.

Once that was finished I purchased a pattern from another Etsy friend for a cowl, a scarf, mittens and a headband. It is knitted with chunky wool on big needles.  Both new things for me to try out.  The pattern is worked over 6 rows and includes a new technique for me of wrapping the wool twice to form a loopy pattern.  It is really beautiful.

I found the cowl, scarf and headband relatively straight forward but the mittens were more of a challenge.  I was OK until I had to shape the thumb and that took  bit of pondering!  I think I did it right as it looks OK.

I am really, really pleased with how they all turned out.

So, in 31 days staring from the very beginning I have managed to knit 10 garter stitch squares, 2 pairs of fingerless mittens, 1 keyhole scarf, 1 cowl and 1 long scarf.  I think that is pretty good going.  Did I enjoy it?  Yes!  Will I continue?  Yes I shall.   I don't think I am ever going to be fantastic at this, not sure that I would have the patience to do anything beyond the basics or even that I want to.

I do intend to carry on with the squares as they are very easy and  it is relaxing and I can do it and sort of half watch the TV.  I have also ordered some chunky wool in plain black to knit a cowl and fingerless mitts for Simon to wear when he works in the garage. I am still on the look out for a very basic hoodie jacket that I can knit for Saskia's baby too.

I will of course continue to update you on my progress over the coming months.  Look out for photos of me wearing my new woolies very soon.

So with January over it is time to choose my new craft for February............Hmmm.................. I know............

Knitting progress.

Morning!  Thought I would drop in to show you my knitting progress. I am now working with the chunky wool on the pattern that I got from MadMum aka Liz. 

I began with the headband.  The pattern is easy enough once you get used to it but does involve wrapping the wool twice around the needle to form the loops and I had never done that before. You can see the loops in the bottom photo.   I have yet to sew the headband together as I do not have a sewing needle with a big enough eye!  A friend gave me a darning needle but as the wool is chunky it still wouldn't fit.  I have ordered some special needles now.   They are plastic.

Next I started on a mitten. These are much fancier mittens than the ones that I did a few weeks ago. They have a thumb!  I managed quite well with the pattern up until the point where you need to shape the thumb.  I think I have it right!  It does look odd though as I have stitches on both needles and this bit in the middle.  Once again, I can't progress as I need to sew the thumb together first.  Not too sure where I go after that as it involves picking up stitches.  Liz said she will skype me so she can show me but I have my friend Denise coming tomorrow and as she is a brilliant knitter I am sure she will be able to show me.

 

So at a standstill once again, I decided to begin on the cowl.  This should be easy as it is just the 6 rows of the pattern repeated until it is 20 inches long.  The challenge however is that this is on jumbo needles.  Well they seem jumbo to me!  7.5mm, that is big right?  I found the casting on awkward but once I got going it was fine.  It is about halfway I think.  I am a bit unsure about the loose edge on one side but the pattern makes big loops.  I think it will be lovely when it is completed.  The colour in this photo is much truer to life than the ones above where it looks lilac.  It is pink. 

Hopefully it won't take too long and then I can do the scarf and I will be all set for the winter weather.   I will do a post of me wearing them soon.

Needles and Yarn.

I think most of you know by now that I am challenging myself in January to learn how to knit.  Wow, it is one big learning curve isn't it.   Before you even begin to knit you have to get your head round the needles and all the different kinds of wool.

Thought the needle bit would be easy. I had some old needles, don't know where I acquired them from.   I have 5 needles that say 7 on them, 3 needles with an 8 and 1 each of size 2 and 3. OK.  I kind of thought something was going on here.  Good job I checked.  It seems the needles that I have are numbered on some old, antiquated British system.  Seems that we are now in metric. So, my number 7 needles were fine as they are 4.5mm and just what I needed.   The needle situation is complicated further because the Merikans across  the pond use a different numbering system.

Knitting Reference – Needle Sizes

Knitting needles in the UK are now sold in metric measurements. However, if you’ve inherited your great-grandmother’s knitting bag you may have needles with the old UK ratings so these have been included for your information. Where there is a gap in the table this is where there is no direct equivalent size.

US	Metric	Old UK
0	2mm	14
1	2.25mm	13
2	2.75mm	12
	3mm	11
3	3.25mm	10
4	3.5mm
5	3.75mm	9
6	4mm	8
7	4.5mm	7
8	5mm	6
9	5.5mm	5
10	6mm	4
10½	6.5mm	3
	7mm	2
11	8mm	1
13	9mm	0
15	10mm

So with my needles sorted it was time to turn my attention to yarn.  I will call it yarn as wool is a misnomer because half the time it isn't actually wool.  My limited knowledge was such that I thought pretty much everything was knitted in double knitting wool which I actually know is 8 ply and yes thank you, I do know what ply means. I was aware (vaguely) that there was something called 3ply which was for things like shawls and something called chunky which I wouldn't have a clue what to do with.

Seems that there is way more to yarn than I ever could have guessed. First comes the weight, which means the number of ply. I think there are about 7 to choose from and they would be used for different things. Of course it is complicated again by those Merikans who have totally different names to us.  

Once you know what your pattern requires and so far I have been using DK, then you need to actually choose the yarn.  Cheapest seems to be acrylic, then there is pure wool or how about cotton or any number of mixes in between,  The mixes can use alpaca, silk, mohair, merino (isn't that wool?) angora and I am sure there are others. 

Angora?  That opens a whole can of ethical wormies.  I personally wouldn't touch anything with angora in it. Do you know how that is obtained?  Want to see a bunny skinned alive?  Google it.  Sick, sick, sick. If you have any shred of decency then I urge you to boycott anything that contains angora. Sorry, off my soap box now. **

Yarn Conversion Chart USA UK Australia - NZ Lace 2 ply 2 ply Sock or Fingering 3 ply 3 ply Fingering 4 ply 4 ply Sport Some double knitting yarns 5 ply Light Worsted Double knitting 8 ply Worsted Aran 10ply Chunky Bulky 16 ply Bulky Chunky 20 ply

To think all of these considerations for needles and wool have to be made before you can cast on the first stitch.  It's a minefield. 

Having completed a pair of mitts and a little keyhole scarf, I am now going on to the next stage.  A whole complete set of scarf, cowl, mitts and headband.  I have purchased this pattern from fellow Etsy teamie MADMUM.  

Isn't it lovely?  It does have some new techniques in there for me. It also requires that I branch out into chunky wool  and I need some new needles as I do not have the required 5mm ones.  Now I thought I had needles sussed out, but when I went to purchase some I found there was a whole new conundrum....... do I get plastic, bamboo or metal???  

Long story short I have opted for bamboo.  My old needles are metal so I thought I would try something different to see if it actually does make any difference. I suspect not but I am sure that there are peeps out there who swear by one or the other.  I think I might just be swearing about the whole thing!  In the course of my research for my purchase it has come to my attention that there are also needles that are pointed at both ends and short needles joined together by plastic tubing.  The mind boggles, well my mind does!  Who wants needles with points at both ends?  The stitches would all fall off. 

My chosen wool after many hours of deliberation is this one.

James C Brett Marble Chunky in pink mix. 

So, I have my chunky wool on order and my bamboo needles.  Hopefully they will arrive in the next few days and I will make a start.  I will keep you updated on the process.

** Actually, I am not sorry at all it is the most horrific process and should be banned.

January Knitting Challenge Progress.

Well, I am very pleased to say that I am keeping at it!  Never thought I would get this far actually.  I was so pleased with the fingerless mittens that I knew I had to find something else.

While I was searching easy patterns I knitted a 3rd square using up the mitten yarn and some mint green.  It is actually square even though the photo makes it look wonky!  Not sure if I said before but OH reckons if I knit about 50 of these I would have enough for a  doggie blanket!  Hmm, that is going to take a while!

While I was looking for patterns I came across one for a keyhole scarf very similar to the gorgeous one that I purchased recently from my teamie Jarg0n.  You can see it below with it's matching mitts and headband.

The pattern looked manageable as it is mainly garter stitch and rib like I did on the mittens.  It did mean that I had to learn how to increase and decrease and I can tell you that was a learning curve!!  I Googled it and watched some videos which made it look simple enough....... yeah right!  I found it incredibly difficult to get the needle in the back of the stitch.  I am still not convinced that I was doing it totally right but it has come out OK so who cares!

Work in progress.  I have no idea why the wool looks pink here.  These were taken with my iPad.

The finished article.  This is the actual colour of the wool.  A pale lilac.

My ribby bit for the key hole is a bit loose. Not sure why that is.  Not sure that the wool was totally correct either but I am still working with scrap balls that were given to me.

Anyway, I am secretly dead chuffed with myself.  Never imagined I could make something like this.

I am now looking for my next challenge.  I would like to knit the mitts again for OH but they need to be much bigger and I don't know how to make them bigger.  Well, I know I would need more stitches and to knit more rows, I'm not totally thick!  I just need someone to tell me exactly how many stitches and rows!!

I do want a new project though and am looking online for easy, free patterns.  I am thinking of a cowl or maybe a baby jacket for Saskia's baby.  Thank you to everyone who has sent me links to good pattern sites and wool shops.

Until I decide what to do next I shall knit some more squares.  Only another 47 needed for a doggie blanket!!!

My Knitting Technique.

Recently when talking about doing knitting for my January crafting challenge I happened to mention my "technique".  It seems that I do it a little differently to most people!!

I remember my Mum would have her elbows out and both needles would be kind of going at the same time. They used to fly.  I can't do it like that.  I have tried but it just doesn't work.  If I manage to get the needle through the stitch then I have no fingers or hands left to move the wool around. 

So, the way that I do it is to hold the right hand needle in a vertical fashion and to kind of use the left needle to move around it. The right needle does not move. Everyone seemed very confused when I said this so I have done a video for you.  I hate videos of myself and hate the sound of my voice too so don't look at me or listen to me, just be amused by my novel knitting technique"

It works for me.  Well so far!

Fingerless Mittens.

Remember that I told you I was testing out a friends pattern for knitting fingerless mittens?  Well I have finally managed to complete them.  I am pleased to say that Spinning's pattern is just fine and that now I have learnt a little more I could knit another pair probably quicker and more easily.  This is a grand pattern for beginners as it is fairly quick to do once you get the hang of the stitches.

My knitted squares stood me in good sted for casting on.  No probs there. The pattern begins with the rib stitch which is done by alternating knit stitches with purl stitches.  Hmm, OK.  I had to Google the purl stitch and watched a couple of You Tube vids to get the hang of it.

It seems to be like a backwards knit stitch.... I think!  The needle goes in the back instead of the front and the wool stays at the front instead of the back!  I think!  At least that is what I have been doing. It's a bit of a pain this rib lark because alternating the knit and purl means the wool goes from front to back all the time.

Anyway, I made a start.  I got to 5 rows and it looked OK, but it didn't look ribby to me.  I feared I had done it wrong.  I checked the pattern.  Nope I had done as instructed.  Still didn't look ribby though!  It was at this point that I confused myself further by Googling the rib stitch.  Seems to be a lot of conflicting advice. One website said you had to have an odd number of stitches which was odd because my pattern has an even number. Another website said that you start each new row with the same stitch that you finished on...... so you end with a purl stitch the new row will start with a purl stitch.  My pattern seemed  to my novices mind to be saying do every row the same!

Oh dear, my knickers were twisting further and further with every passing minute.  I did ask advice from my wonderful teamie friends at Craft Britannia as I couldn't get hold of Spinning. They told me I had it right as far as they could tell so I thought I would try a few more rows.  I did and it began to look sort of ribby.  Got to 8 rows and there was a hole on row 7.  WTH?   How did that happen? It was at that point that I opened the red stuff!  After a glass or 2 I concluded it was probably best to go to bed and leave it.

The following day after speaking to Spinning and confirming that I was doing it right I unpicked it and started over.  Long story short, I unpicked it 4 more times before I had that little piece of rib correct with no holes.

Then it was time to start the flat bit.  That was a bit easier as it is alternating rows of knit and purl which form stocking stitch.  Got half way through that though and must have lost track as I had knitted where I should have purled.  Unpicking time again!!

Finally after many hours I completed it.  I was so chuffed.  The second one I am pleased to say was much easier.  I was very careful and counted everything and I did it in one go without any unpicking!  Go Me!  All that was left to do was to sew them up.  Rights sides together and away we go.

This is the finished article. The ones that Spinning sells in her shop are decorated with crochet flowers but as I have yet to learn that skill I had to choose something different for mine.  (These photos look a different colour because I had to use flash).

If you would like to see Spinning's work you can check out her shop where the pattern that I tested will be available shortly.  CLICK HERE.

Knitting challenge

I'm still persevering with the knitting.  Yesterday I finished my 2nd square.  I had the correct number of stitches and I think it is slightly better than the first one although something is not quite right on one side near the beginning,  Hey ho!  I'll do another one.

Now this is much more exciting than knitted squares, this is real knitting.  Something functional that I can actually use.  Well hopefully!  A friend on the Etsy, Craft Britannia team who spins her own wool, dyes it herself and then writes her own patterns before knitting gorgeous garments has allowed me to test a pattern for her.

It is a beginners pattern for fingerless mittens and she has very kindly sent me some of her own beautiful wool to make them with.  It arrived today.

Isn't it just gorgeous?  The colour is actually about halfway between what you see in the 2 photos.  Still trying to get to grips with the camera!

If you would like to see more of Spinnings work then you can visit her shop here :Spinning Streak

I will do a blog post all about her in the next week or so and don't forget to check back and see how my mittens are doing.