I have changed the name of this blog from Witty knitting to I want to crochet a perfect world. Let's face it witty knitting was a crap name. And I have spent the last week getting back to my roots in world of crochet hooks and beautiful things.
I suppose it was the kids getting into crochet that has reminded me where my heart lies. I do enjoy knitting. I consider myself a knitter. I like the beautiful things one can make when knitting. But underneath it all, I am a crochet person.
I learned to crochet when I was 8 or so. My mother attended a community class to learn to crochet and she took me with her. I remember liking it, thinking I was pretty cool to be going to this thing with grown-ups, and I liked making things. And yes, I was very proud of those pot holders and hangers that I made as a child in the mid 70s. :-)
I have just made some leg warmers for myself with my sock club yarn for October. (more on legwarmers to come) It is Irish Jig coloured shepherd sock wool from Lorna's Laces. Actually they aren't quite finished. I have finished the crocheting, and have even worn them a bit, but I am going to order a solid colour to knit cuffs. I plan to get around to that at some point in the future. Like everything else in life. :-)
Peace
julie
Monday, 24 November 2008
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Leg Warmers
I am in a bit of a leg warmer phase at the moment, and I can't quite seem to get it right. I don't understand this. Leg warmers are basically long tubes. So why do I find them so disappointing!?
It started with this. I bought this lovely yarn from e bay and was going to make hat, leg warmers and wrist warmers for R. It was to be my first pair of leg warmers, as I wanted to practice using DPNS. I hadn't used DPNS before this and I thought that aran sized ones would be good to get going with. It was a nice theory.
Well, I made the hat for R. Then I got inventive and made one for S. I just sort of made up the pattern, which was a mistake as I used too many stitches for the ribbing. It is a lovely big baggy beret, which looks nice, but just falls off, so she doesn't wear it.
By the time I finished that, I had gone off the idea of doing the leg warmers, so went straight for doing my first pair of socks. I have been in a sock phase for most of 2008. And the lovely aran that I am supposed to be making into leg warmers for R is still sitting there waiting for me to get to it.
Instead I have embarked on several pairs of leg warmers in other yarns. I started with a gorgeous pattern from the Stitch Style Socks book. I read the pattern, and thought about it for days, and then at some point I decided I would go for it. Unfortunately, whatever was in my head doesn't appear to have been the pattern I read.
I found a site that was selling Sirdar Bigga for 99p a ball, and promptly bought 6 balls of each of two different colours. I was planning on doing the leg warmers, and a scarf for each of the teen aged girls I live with. At this point I was ignoring the fact that S(17) didn't actually want me to make them for her. :-) But my optimism was fairly powerful at this point.
I ordered my 10mm DPNS and thought I was ready to go. Then I went back to the book, and reread the pattern. Well, I had only bought the wrong yarn. It was supposed to be Rowan Big Wool. I have no idea why that fact did not linger in my brain. I can only surmise that the 99p balls of Bigga led me astray.
Not to be put off, I went ahead and gave it a try anyway. I read further into the pattern. I got to the cable bit. I got as far as row 14 and saw this "[4stLC, p1] to end".
I did what I always do, I looked on knittinghelp.com. Didn't see it anywhere. I googled it. Found nothing. I even looked through the list of abbreviations in the book, which didn't help. I was about at the point of thinking that stocking stitch is great for legwarmers, when I fell upon the idea of writing to the publishers.
Googled them, but there didn't seem to be a contact for people who don't know how to read the patterns they publish. :-( So I did a search for the designer Tanis Gray. Lo and behold, there she was!
I actually wrote to her and asked, "What does it all mean!" It took a couple of emails for me to figure out that there is probably a difference between UK and US ways of writing cable patterns. Anyway, she got me sorted, and told me about Ravelry for which I will have to have my revenge some day. As if I didn't have enough to do....
Anyway, I went on with my 10 mm DPNS happily making leg warmer number 1. I got up to about 50 rows when R started looking at me funny - wondering why I was seemingly knitting her a pair of stilts. We went away for the weekend to visit best mate Martine, and she very kindly nodded and smiled at my endeavour.
But when I realized that I could actually stand this leg warmer on the floor, DPNS still attached, and it just stayed there, I began to realize that perhaps Bigga needed bigger needles. It was maybe just a wee bit tight.
I checked Yarndex. I was right. It did. I am beginning to think that thoroughly reading patterns before you start a project is a good idea.
So I then ordered a lovely set of River John Birch 12 mm DPNS from Kangaroo. They are my favourites at the moment. They just feel so nice in your hands - they're a good weight, and they're just plain pretty. :-)
I undid the leg warmer, and started again and managed to finish a pair for R. She likes them, although they are very big, and very warm, and they fall down her skinny legs.
But of course, I had to use most of the yarn that I had intended for a scarf, so she doesn't get a scarf, and I am not even going to attempt to do a pair for S. She has skinny legs too.
Next I was beguiled by some Big Softie at my not so LYS. They just had this beautiful display, of a single leg warmer, which was in the light pink, with darker pink trim. It was just a plain stocking stitch tube, with a tie at the top, and the tie had pom poms! It was so tempting and it looked so easy.
Again, my optimistic side took over. Now anybody who knows my sullen nature will be surprised to hear about all of this optimism that I have when beginning a new project. The picture of beautiful things that I can make are so vivid in my head, that the process of getting there is often blurred. But then again, maybe it will help those people to understand that my optimism just gets used up, so that there is none left for real life.
I played around with the Big Softie for a bit, just to get used to the yarn and its gauge, and figure out how many stitches I would need to cast on for a pair of blue leg warmers for M, who is 9. I decided against the tie thing, as I would be the one retying it all the time, and went for a plain K1P1 ribbing, with stocking stitch body, increasing a couple of times on the way up. I even took notes, so as to make the 2nd one just like the first. It wasn't.
I don't understand how, but the 2nd was quite a bit longer, and I ran out of yarn, and had to go back and redo it a couple of times. Oh well. They aren't that bad, and M really likes them.
So I started on a pair for me. I used my Irish Jig Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn from the sock club at get knitted. And I have just crocheted two tubes. I am going to have to order something to match to add some knitted cuffs I think, although they do look nice, just slouching down my legs at the moment.
I am quiet pleased with them, but again, one is slightly longer than the other, although the photo makes it look worse. I measure gauge, and count rows, but making two things the same does not seem to be a talent that I have. I sometimes manage it with sleeves...
Anyway, not to be deterred, and quite excited about the prospect of having several different pairs of leg warmers to go with my new leggings, I have started again.
This time, for me, using the Bigga that was going to be for S. So I am starting a plain stocking stitch pair in the 99p Bigga wool for me. 99p a ball means that I will love them no matter what happens.
The saga continues...
Peace
Julie
It started with this. I bought this lovely yarn from e bay and was going to make hat, leg warmers and wrist warmers for R. It was to be my first pair of leg warmers, as I wanted to practice using DPNS. I hadn't used DPNS before this and I thought that aran sized ones would be good to get going with. It was a nice theory.
Well, I made the hat for R. Then I got inventive and made one for S. I just sort of made up the pattern, which was a mistake as I used too many stitches for the ribbing. It is a lovely big baggy beret, which looks nice, but just falls off, so she doesn't wear it.
By the time I finished that, I had gone off the idea of doing the leg warmers, so went straight for doing my first pair of socks. I have been in a sock phase for most of 2008. And the lovely aran that I am supposed to be making into leg warmers for R is still sitting there waiting for me to get to it.
Instead I have embarked on several pairs of leg warmers in other yarns. I started with a gorgeous pattern from the Stitch Style Socks book. I read the pattern, and thought about it for days, and then at some point I decided I would go for it. Unfortunately, whatever was in my head doesn't appear to have been the pattern I read.
I found a site that was selling Sirdar Bigga for 99p a ball, and promptly bought 6 balls of each of two different colours. I was planning on doing the leg warmers, and a scarf for each of the teen aged girls I live with. At this point I was ignoring the fact that S(17) didn't actually want me to make them for her. :-) But my optimism was fairly powerful at this point.
I ordered my 10mm DPNS and thought I was ready to go. Then I went back to the book, and reread the pattern. Well, I had only bought the wrong yarn. It was supposed to be Rowan Big Wool. I have no idea why that fact did not linger in my brain. I can only surmise that the 99p balls of Bigga led me astray.
Not to be put off, I went ahead and gave it a try anyway. I read further into the pattern. I got to the cable bit. I got as far as row 14 and saw this "[4stLC, p1] to end".
I did what I always do, I looked on knittinghelp.com. Didn't see it anywhere. I googled it. Found nothing. I even looked through the list of abbreviations in the book, which didn't help. I was about at the point of thinking that stocking stitch is great for legwarmers, when I fell upon the idea of writing to the publishers.
Googled them, but there didn't seem to be a contact for people who don't know how to read the patterns they publish. :-( So I did a search for the designer Tanis Gray. Lo and behold, there she was!
I actually wrote to her and asked, "What does it all mean!" It took a couple of emails for me to figure out that there is probably a difference between UK and US ways of writing cable patterns. Anyway, she got me sorted, and told me about Ravelry for which I will have to have my revenge some day. As if I didn't have enough to do....
Anyway, I went on with my 10 mm DPNS happily making leg warmer number 1. I got up to about 50 rows when R started looking at me funny - wondering why I was seemingly knitting her a pair of stilts. We went away for the weekend to visit best mate Martine, and she very kindly nodded and smiled at my endeavour.
But when I realized that I could actually stand this leg warmer on the floor, DPNS still attached, and it just stayed there, I began to realize that perhaps Bigga needed bigger needles. It was maybe just a wee bit tight.
I checked Yarndex. I was right. It did. I am beginning to think that thoroughly reading patterns before you start a project is a good idea.
So I then ordered a lovely set of River John Birch 12 mm DPNS from Kangaroo. They are my favourites at the moment. They just feel so nice in your hands - they're a good weight, and they're just plain pretty. :-)
I undid the leg warmer, and started again and managed to finish a pair for R. She likes them, although they are very big, and very warm, and they fall down her skinny legs.
But of course, I had to use most of the yarn that I had intended for a scarf, so she doesn't get a scarf, and I am not even going to attempt to do a pair for S. She has skinny legs too.
Next I was beguiled by some Big Softie at my not so LYS. They just had this beautiful display, of a single leg warmer, which was in the light pink, with darker pink trim. It was just a plain stocking stitch tube, with a tie at the top, and the tie had pom poms! It was so tempting and it looked so easy.
Again, my optimistic side took over. Now anybody who knows my sullen nature will be surprised to hear about all of this optimism that I have when beginning a new project. The picture of beautiful things that I can make are so vivid in my head, that the process of getting there is often blurred. But then again, maybe it will help those people to understand that my optimism just gets used up, so that there is none left for real life.
I played around with the Big Softie for a bit, just to get used to the yarn and its gauge, and figure out how many stitches I would need to cast on for a pair of blue leg warmers for M, who is 9. I decided against the tie thing, as I would be the one retying it all the time, and went for a plain K1P1 ribbing, with stocking stitch body, increasing a couple of times on the way up. I even took notes, so as to make the 2nd one just like the first. It wasn't.
I don't understand how, but the 2nd was quite a bit longer, and I ran out of yarn, and had to go back and redo it a couple of times. Oh well. They aren't that bad, and M really likes them.
So I started on a pair for me. I used my Irish Jig Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn from the sock club at get knitted. And I have just crocheted two tubes. I am going to have to order something to match to add some knitted cuffs I think, although they do look nice, just slouching down my legs at the moment.
I am quiet pleased with them, but again, one is slightly longer than the other, although the photo makes it look worse. I measure gauge, and count rows, but making two things the same does not seem to be a talent that I have. I sometimes manage it with sleeves...
Anyway, not to be deterred, and quite excited about the prospect of having several different pairs of leg warmers to go with my new leggings, I have started again.
This time, for me, using the Bigga that was going to be for S. So I am starting a plain stocking stitch pair in the 99p Bigga wool for me. 99p a ball means that I will love them no matter what happens.
The saga continues...
Peace
Julie
Sunday, 16 November 2008
The Hat
C is very proud of himself. He has finished his baby hat. We found some more of the navy so we could pompoms, which he likes big and floppy. Now he wants to make more stuff. :-)
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Kitchen Table Science
Since we are a home educating family, I reckon there will be a few posts here about our endeavours. Couldn't pass up the opportunity of sharing the current science that A is doing with the kids.
For the record, A works in a laboratory in a clinical setting, so the materials we are discussing were not produced at home!
The kids have been seeing sperm in the microscope. So I suppose I have to confess that the microscope is on the kitchen table. Oh well, we aren't proud.
We are hoping to get a camera that fits onto the microscope so in future we will be able to add photos of what we are actually seeing.
Won't that be fun?!
Peace
Julie
Ninja Knitting (Actually it is crochet, but couldn't think of an appropriate alliterative title.)
C has decided that he wants to crochet as well. Apparently it is contagious.
Here he is, all 12 years old of him, working on a baby hat with some scraps he found. If I had known he was actually going to stick with it, I could have gotten him some nicer yarn, but at least he is enjoying himself. He's even done a stripe. It is going to be a baby hat, crocheted in a rectangle, stitched up the side and top, so the head will fit in the bottom and the top will have two corners to either side, with pom poms on. I just hope we have enough yarn!!!
So here is a photo of him, in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pyjamas, crocheting a baby hat. :-)
Friday, 14 November 2008
Crocheting Child
Here are some photos of R's crochet. She has made a little hat for the baby next door, which we didn't' take a photo of but which is terribly cute with a little pom pom on top. She made this blanket for another baby who is now 1 year old. I am really impressed with her work. Firstly, because this is quite a project for somebody new to crochet, and secondly because her stitches are so even. She has good tension, and by the end was quite confident, noticing things, and being able to recognize different stitches, etc. She was a bit wobbley with the edges at first, adding a stitch or losing one here and there, but she got much better, and did a nice border to cover any wavy bits that weren't meant to be there.
We have been to the wool shop this week as well as she has other projects in mind. I am glad that she is wanting to make things. It is something that we have in common and enjoy. But...it means I have to buy wool for her now...instead of adding to my own stash! (As if I didn't have enough projects on the go!)
Must head off and go for a walk, and do some exercise. The problem with my hobbies is that they are stationary, and I need to be a bit active so that my back and hips don't freeze up. I wonder if I could get a treadmill, and knit while I walk....
Peace
Julie
We have been to the wool shop this week as well as she has other projects in mind. I am glad that she is wanting to make things. It is something that we have in common and enjoy. But...it means I have to buy wool for her now...instead of adding to my own stash! (As if I didn't have enough projects on the go!)
Must head off and go for a walk, and do some exercise. The problem with my hobbies is that they are stationary, and I need to be a bit active so that my back and hips don't freeze up. I wonder if I could get a treadmill, and knit while I walk....
Peace
Julie
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