Pat's Jumper Part 1

I find it very exciting when I start a new knitted piece and I must say with this one I had mixed feelings about the colour & pattern, Pat had picked for his new jumper for winter 08.


I loved the colour of the wool, but I wasn't sure the pattern suited the wool colour. As I was knitting I kept asking Pat "are you sure about the jumper style and pattern?"

After a four week break from knitting I picked this jumper up last night and I actually loved the look of it.




Back of the jumper is being knitted on a circular needle and this is so much easier than knitting with two needles.




Closer look at the panels of pattern, 28 rows to this style. Colour is hard to show up correctly as the lighting inside isn't the best for showing it off. Outside is yuck today and so I'd have to say the first & third photo is more truer in colour.

Once again I'm knitting with Cleckheaton and it's called "Country Naturals" and it's a 8 ply wool.

Machine washable with
85% Pure wool
10% Acrylic
5% Viscose.

Until next time....hoo roo

technorati tags: 8 ply, cable knits, men's jumper

No Knitting For A Month

Until last night, the last time I picked up my knitting needles as just before the 18th of November.

Going away on a holiday was lovely and coming home was even better.

Just finding time to sit and pick up my needles was a struggle. Seemed to be something always needing to be done, since we came home.

Including me picking up a virus that left me flat for a few days. Now Pat has come down with a chest infection and having only 1 lung (full of asthma) makes for 1 sick husband to care for.

So last night I left dishes draining in the dish rack, forgot completely to bring inside my canary and 2 budgies. Thank goodness it was a warm night, as all 3 birds were bopping round in their cages no worse for their night out on the town.

I got 2o rows of the right front side of Happy Potter's cardigan done. Great to see the knitting growing and getting closer to shaping the neck part.

So I am hoping I am back in the swing of sitting down and picking up my knitting each day.

Once the front is finished I'll post a photo.

Until next time...hoo roo

Knitting Mistakes

Couple of nights ago I started the right side of Happy Potter's cream cardigan. What I found was a series of mistakes in the pattern.

First off I thought it was me and after back tracking over the pattern and what I had knitted I was able to find the boo-boos were on the publisher's side.

So that night I rewrote the pattern as I knitted each row. Thank goodness the pattern is easy to read and easy to compare to the left front side, already knitted up.

In the past I have done some of the following when finding a mistake in a pattern. You can use these tips yourself as well.

• Looked the pattern up on the internet, at the company's website. Some sites will have a link to a section with corrections published.
• Contacted the publishers by phone or email and let them know of the problem with the pattern.
• If really desperate pull the project apart and pick something new .......

Only time I haven't completed a knitted item was a pair of baby booties when pregnant with both my kids. I always put it down to me being the problem with the pattern, now I am thinking...maybe it wasn't me.

Now the pattern is sorted out and it's knitting up smoothly I have added the other pocket to the front right side.

If you really love the item you are knitting and having problems with the pattern, until its sorted out and fixed up try the following...

• Put the said problem item away and leave it until you have calmed down. Throwing it across the room in frustration might make you feel good at the time, but when you pick it up off the floor or from behind furniture...... is it fixed or still a problem ?
• Wait until it's quiet and have a look at the knitting and pattern.
  
• If you need to ask someone for help, ask.
  
• There are forums out there that can help or even visiting a fellow knitter and getting them to help.

Something A Little Different

Something a bit different for you to look at.

Another craft passion for me is my cross stitch I do. I have a series of these in patterns, but this is the only competed one. I also have some big cats on the go, tigers, jags and I think a lion

As you can tell I don't go into this craft box all that often.

Anyway this one is framed and on the lounge room wall.

technorati tags: crafts, cross stitch

Oh So Comfy

Hello readers My name is Lucky and I am mummy's spoilt little angle. I just thought I'd let you know this blanket my mum crochet for me is lovely and warm tonight.

I have been watching television as I lay here nice and snug under my blanket on my dad's lap.




For some reason Harley got upset and walked away, while Abby just sat there. I think she is waiting for me to use the little girl's room.

I really do wish they would stop thinking this blanket belongs to them as well.



Abby has a long wait for me to use the little girl's room. Little does she know, I have my legs crossed.

technorati tags: blankets

Blue Ladies Cardigan 8 Ply, Part 5.

Well after 3 years of knitting this cardigan, most of it this year my first cardigan I have knitted for myself is finished.

It's lovely and warm on and I know next winter, I'll be snug as when wearing it.




Still need to buy the buttons for it, so for the photos I used safety pins to hold the front closed.



I am just so thrilled with the colour and cable pattern of this cardigan. The best thing is, I shouldn't see the same cardigan down at the shops.



Closeup of the jumper.

Now I have only 2 adult jumpers on the go, Happy Potter's 12 ply cardigan and Pat's fawn coloured cable jumper.

Gee looks quiet in my knitting box now. May need to fix this at some stage soon.

technorati tags: 8 ply, cable knits, ladies jumper

Blue Ladies Cardigan 8 Ply, Part 4.

Thought I'd show you the cardigan as it is of 5 mins ago. All that is left to do it knit up 2 front bands and then sew the cardigan all together.

I'll take the cardigan into the city after it's all sew together and match up buttons to the pattern.

I'm really happy with how the cardigan has come up and I love the blue colour. Taken me a few years to knit this one. Loosing the knitting bug for awhile didn't help.

Can't wait to try the cardigan on, when all finished.

technorati tags: 8 ply, Ladies cardigan

Baby News

Tuesday morning (early) my niece delivered a baby girl. How special is this

So tomorrow Pat & I will go and visit both mum & Bub with our gift of 3 jackets I knitted. The blue one will be for another baby down the track some time.

Also today I got the last 10 balls of Pat's wool off of the wool bank. So now I am free to buy other wools for projects down the road.

technorati tags: baby jacket, baby jumpers

From My Knitting Box.

At the moment I have 3 projects on the go, all adult size jumpers or cardigans. No little things to knit, though I could quite easily start a baby jacket this very minute.

In an awake period last night I decided it's time to finish my blue cardigan. I started this cardigan for me about 3 years ago.

One winter I did only about 6 rows and put it aside. So I think it's now time to have it finished and packed away for the cooler months next year.

So today I'll start the last sleeve and that will leave just the front bands and sewing it up. Then the fun will be choosing the buttons to match my cardigan.

I find having a few projects on the go a big help in knitting. As some days the knitted piece might not suit my mood. Also it stops me getting bored and I think this was the problem when I only had my blue cardigan on needles.

technorati tags: 8 ply, cable knits, ladies cardigan

Kitchen Swap Part 2

Today in the mail I received my "Kitchen Swap" from woolaholics and I love them.

The dishcloth is wonderful as I have been reading all about them on the forum. I have been converted and want to knit some of these myself.

Potholder& dishcloth are crocheted with cotton and the bag is knitted in cotton. They were wrapped in the purple tea towel. I love that idea instead of paper like I used for my swap.





Thank you so much for the time you put into these lovely gifts.



This is the first swap I have ever taken part in and I was unsure of what to knit. So I went onto the internet to find something in a kitchen theme and came across this knitted bag storer.

So as I am more used to knitting in wool and no experience in cotton, I felt I was limited in what I could knit. This bag holder caught my interest and thought it would be a handy item in the kitchen. I also thought homemade dish clothes could be stored inside it in the pantry if plastic bags are not used in the house.

I do hope my kitchen swappy will find my gift to her a useful item in her kitchen/pantry.

technorati tags: cotton thread, knitting swap

12 Ply Cream Aran Cardigan Part 6.

Pockets

After knitting the band and then 34 rows of pattern, time to do the first of the 2 front pockets. I have used a different coloured knitting needle to show you what I did.

I haven't done a lot of pockets in the past and the ones I have done, I can't remember if they were done this way or not.

But what the heck...it's fun and thats all that matters.

In the first photo.

The green needle has the stitches from the pocket lining I knitted over the weekend. 33 stitches were left on a stitch holder and I transferred them to the green needle to make it easier for me to knit up.

So I patterned 22 stitches of pattern on the front left side (on the blue needle) then keeping the cable pattern correct I knitted the 33 stitches off the green needle.

Second photo.

Then using the stitch holder I slipped 33 stitches from the blue needle onto the stitch holder and these 33 stitches are now at the front of the knitted work. I then continued knitting up the last of the stitches in correct pattern from the blue needle to the end.

In the second photo, you can see the opening of the pocket.

Third photo.

Showing the front of the left piece with the pocket knitted in place. When finishing this cardigan off, I'll be knitting a band to tidy up the opening of the pocket.


Sorry about the changing colours of the wool...... night time photos with these environmental user friendly globes, just don't like to work well with cameras.

technorati tags: ladies cardigan, knitting needles, 12 ply, knitting patterns, Aran knits

12 Ply Cream Aran Cardigan Part 5.

Well after the slight hiccup of making that mistake and pulling undone 29 cm to correct it, I have finished the back. As you can see from my cheery face I am very happy to have this back finished and correct.

Going to be a good length and as it's for winter, the old bum will stay warm.

Finished the back last night and this afternoon I have knitted the pocket linings and next to be started is the left front. The pocket liners are knitted into the front pieces while knitting the fronts up.

technorati tags: 12 ply, cable knits, ladies cardigan

12 Ply Cream Aran Cardigan Part 4.

Colleen asked me in the comments area of the last posting, how was the fixing up of the boo-boo going?

Well I pulled the jumper undone back to where the mistake was. Now I have re-knitted 10 rows of the back of the cardigan. So I am getting closer to were I was when I spotted the mistake.

On the wool forum Woolaholics I visit, a link was put up of a blog on how to fix this sort of mistake where a cross-over goes the wrong way.

Here is that link. I need orange is what the blog is called. I hope you find this as interesting as what I did and keep it bookmarked, just in case you do what I did.

12 Ply Cream Aran Cardigan Part 3.

I am sitting here looking at this photo I just uploaded with my chin in my hand thinking.......that's a few hours worth to pull undone.



By clicking on the the photo, you will see the mistake a lot easier. The stitch is heading to the "right" when it should be heading towards the "left".

1 stitch done the wrong way.

I did

K1tbl, P1, T3B, P1, K1tbl

should have been

K1tbl, P1, T3F, P1, K1tbl

Still never mind, I take pride in my work and if I ignored it, it would chew me up as I continued knitting the cardigan.

Well this isn't getting the back of the cardigan fixed is it


I think.......cuppa tea first.

technorati tags: ladies cardigan, Aran knits, 12 ply

Blue Ladies Cardigan 8 Ply, Part 3.

Sleeve for my blue cardigan was so easy to knit as the increasing was done in the moss stitch area. Only 1 sleeve to go and the front bands and then sew it up, ready for next winter.

Taking a rest from this jumper for awhile to work on Happy Potter's cream cardigan.

technorati tags: 8 ply, ladies cardigan