| just want to knit....

Knitting on the train most days (40 minutes of knitting time each way, plus delays and platform waiting time), means that I've got my knitting groove back, slowly and all I want to do this weekend is knit.  There are three bits of stash I want to bust, the unlabelled yarn from Sweden has a pattern I want to knit it up into and there are at least three projects waiting to be finished.  (One of which I suspect is going to have to wait quite a long time, as it's a bit of a knit)  and I want to find stuff for knitting on the flight to Japan.   

Here, have the out-takes from As Time Goes By, my usual knitting viewing at the weekend.  The aim for this weekend is:

• Finish green shrug
• Knit more of the ecru yarn
• Finish big wool wristwarmers and cowl
• Block Turkish Delight scarf

Progress updates to follow.....

The weekends appear to be running away with me....

I don't quite know what's happening to the weekends at the moment. A couple of weeks ago, it was spring and now we're mid June. I may have blinked once too many times. 

I went to visit my sister; we went swimming and shopping and to the theatre, and walking in the hills. When you see the number of shades of green that are possible, you understand where Noro get their inspiration from:

I didn't tell my sister this; she was already a little put out at me knitting in the car, rather than looking at the view.  (As a side note, I've never bought Noro yarns in the UK.  Cannot wait to go find them in Japan). 

Even the grey clouds had a kind of beauty to them:

Not quite fifty shades of grey - but certainly more than one

We had lunch overlooking Sugar Loaf Mountain, which I'd only previously known through song lyrics No photos for that one, you'll just have to have the lyrics.

Other people may have seen trees against a light green/yellow field.  I saw a Fair Isle border to something or another:

There was also a yarn shop.  (I only found it as it was next to the pub where I was waiting for my sister, on the Friday evening.  I wasn't actively looking for a yarn shop, it just happened)

Yarn shop, of course, meant yarn:

Which then got taken, a few weeks later, to Switzerland...

Where I laughed about the place names:

And went for a hike up a mountain with some German scouts:

And I generally reminded myself what it's like to be outside London:

This is the route we took - the village at the bottom is where we started out.

This is where we had our lunch

Julia, one of the German scouts took photos of almost every waterfall, so I did the same too!

Of course, there was knitting - but that's for another time. 

Swedish Stash

Please reassure me that I'm not the only knitter who's planned to get a couple of balls of souvenir yarn, and then come back with slightly more than planned?  Yeah, that.

The first place we visited was Litet Nystan, Sankt Paulsgatan 20  (No photo as it was behind scaffolding).  Of course, I forgot to write down which number of the road the shop was located at, so we did a bit of going up and down.  Once I saw a yarn bombed tree, I knew I was going in the right direction.

Loved this shop.  Quite a lot of cotton, some Italian made sock yarn and lots of stuff with no labels - which I found quite exciting.  I got this:

I did think about getting a second ball, but I couldn't assume that they were both of the same dye lots.  I could have bought more, but the husband was with me, and was already questioning what I was going to use the one skein for. 

The next shop we looked for was Sticka & Virka which has now closed (although the website has only just updated to confirm that). We spent some time going up and down the street to make sure. 

The next lot of yarn was the linen yarn I bought at the Nordic Museum (Yes, they sell knitting yarn in the museum shop). One hundred percent linen yarn,which I've never knitted with before.

Then, on the last day, I went yarn shopping on my own.  Again, I couldn't find Anntorps Vav - I suspect that it's shut down and is internet only.  Gamla Stan (Old Town), the part of Stockholm where it is/was located is beautiful and I wish I had time to look round more.
And you know what, I was!


The thing I love about Stockholm is the way the signs show you which block you're on. So, if you're looking for Ljungqvist Garn, Odenplan on Karlbergsvägen 10, then you know you're getting close:

And do you know what ?  I was. 

And in the absence of my husband, I may have lost a little control - to the point that the lady behind the counter asked if I needed a basket, as I was dropping stuff all over the floor.  (I only went in for enough for one project). 

First, I wanted something for the Easy as Pie shawl from Ravelry.  (There were others,but they needed longer lengths of yarn).  So I got this one from Marks and Kattens:

Marks and Kattens Fame

It was available in purple, but as I'm trying to expand the colours in my stash, I went for the grey and black.

Then was the sock yarn I saw, and bought for my husband. I keep telling him I'm going to knit him something.  He wants a dark red jumper, which I've promised him at some point.  I thought the dark red and black sock yarn would be a good start for a pair of socks for him.


Finally (and trust me, I could have bought the same again), was this, which I loved because of the colour.  There is a cuff-down sock pattern on the inside of the yarn band, which I may not use for knitting - but may use to help with learning Swedish.

The final yarn I bought, I bought because I loved, loved, loved the colours.  No idea what I want to knit with it, possibly another shawl/wrap or socks.  (There are apparently 12 projects on Ravelry, so not a lot of inspiration there, at the moment)

The colours in the yarn bring to mind the yellow and blue in the Swedish flag, which feels kind of appropriate for souvenir yarn. 

What's your favourite souvenir yarn, and what did you knit it into ? 

The Frances sampler scarf

This came about after going through my stitch dictionary and realising that there were several patterns which could be worked over 35 stitches.  As a learning exercise, I'd recommend it, but as a knitting project there's still a lot I need to learn!

I started by trying to work out which stitches would go best together, have a similar drape etc.  Then I tried to work out the length of yarn needed.  I did this by knitting a set number of rows in garter stitch, measuring the amount of yarn used, and worked out how many rows I could do with the yarn I had. Note - this isn't a method which works!

NB - all photos taken before blocking.

I still have a lot to learn, like the fact that different stitches take up a different breadth of the scarf:

Ooops! 

I started with ribbed border stitch, worked over a two row repeat.  Loved it as a stitch pattern, but it has a clear front and back - which I don't like for scarves.  (I like my scarves to be the same back and front).  The problem was, I couldn't work out which was supposed to be the front, and which was supposed to be the back.  

My least favourite side:

ribbed border stitch

My favourite side:

ribbed border stitch

Close up of the crossed stitch pattern:

ribbed border stitch

I'd probably use this one again, but on a jumper or other piece of clothing.  Not sure it's stretchy enough for a ribbed edging, but it looks pretty and is easy to knit.

Next were the open striped rows, again worked over a two row pattern.

Open striped rows

I think I changed this from a stockingette stitch pattern, to a garter stitch pattern to make the fabric lie flat.  Again, liked the pattern, would use it for a scarf or something similar for future patterns.

After that were the open worked squares, in both stockingette stitch and garter stitch - to stop the scarf rolling up too much.  This was worked over a ten row pattern.  Interestingly, the garter stitch squares were much shorter than the stockingette stitch (which was how the pattern was written).

Open work squares - stockingette at the bottom and top, garter in the middle.

I think the pattern needs to be worked at a tighter gauge than the one I used.  The pattern doesn't work  as well in garter stitch and I wouldn't use it in stockingette stitch for a scarf.  I like the look of the pattern, but am unlikely to use it again, as I don't know where I would use it.

Then came the crossed cardigan stitch

Crossed cardigan stitch

I liked this one - worked over one row, so the same back and front.  It looked like ribs, but wasn't.  It was much thinner across the width of the scarf, so if I were making a scarf with this stitch again, I'd probably need more stitches on the needle.  I'd also use this for sweaters or other clothing. 

Then, my second favourite stitch - eyelet mesh, worked over four rows. 

Eyelet mesh

The only downside is that the front is not the same as the back (one side is flatter than the other), so not one I'd choose for a scarf again.  I don't know about using it for other clothing, as I don't know how much it would stretch after being worn and washed a few times.  No point having a sweater which sags and looks like a tent after knitting, is there?


Then, my favourite, just because I thought it looked so pretty - Turkish stitch.

Turkish stitch

Again, this was worked over one row, with an odd number of stitches: k1 *YO, k2tog - repeat from * to end of row.  The YO K2tog combo felt a bit hard going at times, and didn't do my wrists any favours.  I'm sure there are other variations which could be made: moss stitch border, slip the first stitch rather than knit it, cast on an even number of stitches and knit both the first and last stitches.....

After the above pattern, I then reversed it and went back through eyelet mesh, crossed cardigan stitch, open worked squares, open striped rows etc.  Only, I ended up with this much yarn left for about thirty or so rows.  Now maths isn't my greatest strength, but....

Overall, as an exercise I was glad I did it.  I discovered some stitch patterns which I'd use again, I've discovered that guessing the yarn length needed isn't really the most exact way of doing it.  I almost managed to join in My Sister's Knitter  stash down knitalong, but just flunked the deadline.  I've got a vague idea about how to write a pattern, albeit a scarf pattern.  I'd recommend it to others, and would do it myself again.

Reader, I frogged it.  

The Devil on your shoulder

Do you have a friend who is an occasional bad influence?  The one who persuades you that 'just one more glass' won't make a difference in the morning, or that you don't really need all those hours sleep tonight ?  Well, in the case of yarn, my bad influence is my friend Goo.

It started when Karen from Didyoumakethat.com wrote a post which included some socks knit in self striping yarn.  Of course, I followed the link to the Etsy shop and found not one, but two yarns that I liked the look of.

Now, I'm trying not to buy more yarn (please can we ignore the souvenir yarn from Sweden), until I've destashed a little bit - so there's no reason to be buying more.  However, Goo pointed out that anything I buy from Etsy would raise money for my Brownie unit (via Easfundraising) and that I should buy it as an 'end of horrible job' present.

Sold.

So, when I got a note through the door from Royal Mail, saying that there was a package for me to pick up, I wasn't surprised to see this on the side:

Having paid for the yarn in Canadian dollars, I was surprised to hear that the yarn had come from New Zealand - as in, Southern hemisphere. 

I love the internet for letting me buy from people the other side of the world.  I also loved the cute cats, which decorated the packaging....

And, oh my, do I love the yarn which was inside!  Each yarn was in its own box, which was as pretty and clever as anything:

See the yarn peeping through the kitten paw?

I ordered two colourways.  Jaffa and Jumping Jenny.

Jaffa colourway - orange and purple

Jumping Jenny colourway - green and purple

The yarn is 75% washable merino and 25% nylon (natch) and feels and looks as gorgeous in real life as it does on the screen.  In fact, it only seems kind to leave you with one more picture to gaze at.....

Thank you Goo for being my bad influence! 

Snakes on a plane!

Alright, not snakes on a plane, more knitting needles on a plane. Although, if it’s a circular needle, I can see it being confused for a snake – by the easily confused non knitter. Have you ever tried to fly with knitting needles? It’s not as easy as people make out.

We were flying from London Heathrow (one of the busiest airports in the world or something) with Scandinavian Airlines. According to both SAS policy and UK government, knitting needles are permissible in the cabin. I know, I checked.  (And I've now found that the Heathrow website explicitly says that knitting needles are allowed.  I've bookmarked that for when I next travel from Heathrow)

The conversation at the gate went along these lines:

 - Do you have anything sharp in your hand luggage ?
 - Knitting needles ?
 - Ooh, I don’t know about those. (Consults with colleagues, who also doesn’t know) I don’t think they are
- The Civil Aviation Authority say they're allowed  (I may have made this bit up)
- Yeah, but it depends if security will allow it.  They’re sharp.
 - No, they’re not. (I wanted  to point out that they’re 3.75mm more likely to bruise somebody than pierce their skin, although far more dangerous as a garrotte. After the time I told Easyjet check in staff all the ways that bras could be used for nefarious purposes, I’ve learned to keep thoughts like this to myself)
 - No, security are sharp. They’ll be on it. I’d suggest putting it in your hold luggage. You don’t want to lose your needles, do you ?

This did very little, but annoy me at the thought of security guards confiscating items which are allowed, and made my husband more jumpy at me having knitting needles in my hand luggage for the journey home.

We then went through security – where I set off the scanner thing, was put in the tube thing for a body scan, had to take my shoes off to be scanned and was then asked to swap my shoes for my phone – so that the phone could be swabbed for drugs. I suspect that the presence of knitting needles 
would have stopped me from leaving the country entirely.

Thank goodness, the Swedish are more relaxed and sensible about these things…..

When Graduating....

Remember the important things.  Y'know - like safety pins for the gown, spare make-up, comb for the photos, putting your pattern in the knitting bag......

Prepping for Sweden

We're off to Stockholm soon, to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary.  Although every time I think of ten years marriage, my immediate thought is, 'how the hell did we manage that?!'

Anyway, I have no idea what we're going to be doing.  Thanks to a hiccup with the hotel not being able to fulfil the booking after all, we didn't know where we'd be staying until last night.  (As an aside, we're not going to be using Expedia to book any more trips.  We've used them twice and both times the husband's card has been stopped on suspicion of fraud).

I do however know what knitting I'm taking with me.  And which knitting shops I want to visit.  After going to York , I realised the joy of having a travelling project; every time you wear the finished article, you remember the trip.  This time I really, really want to master socks.  I've got yarn, I've got a pattern (although cannot find the link) and I've ordered some bamboo circulars for the plane, to minimise suspicion from security.

A quick internet search brought up this blog post about yarn shops in Stockholm, mentioning Sticka & Virka (Knit and Crochet), Anntorps Vav and Litet Nystan (Little Ball), so they're all going to get a visit.  Thanks to the Planet Purl website, I've got a mini knitting dictionary in Swedish.  (I know, isn't the internet great!)

I've also got the telephone number for my mother's childhood au pair, who was known for her knitting.  I learnt her long tail cast on from my mother, and it's still my favourite.  I just don't know if it's strange to phone somebody I've never met and say 'hey, I hear you're into knitting. Fancy meeting for coffee?'.

Have a good weekend. 

Shaun-ing Around

So, how was your Easter break?

In between knitting, thinking about knitting, washing up and more knitting, the husband and I were following the Shaun in the City trail.  There is a certain skill to taking photos of decorated sheep on a Bank Holiday weekend, without getting other people's children in the picture!

Some of our favourites of the 33 we saw:


Because I love the Union Flag pattern:

Rule Britannia

Mossy Bottom

Look at the close-up, with pictures of Shaun and his friends:

Not necessarily a fan of Cath Kidston floral designs, but this was just so delicate:

Paradise Bunch

Me Llamo Shaun 

The Guardian

This one, I just love the perturbed look at two angels landing on his head:

Baa-roque

Out of This World

Happy and Glorious

Attempt at a Shaun Selfie.  (I actually hit my chin on his ear, which may explain the odd expression)

This I loved for the colours:

Lambmark Larry

Of course, it couldn't be a flock of sheep without some reference to knitting:

Nelson

Did you miss it ?

And of course, the obligatory sheep related puns! 

Another One Rides The Bus

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