Finished Object

If you don’t take pictures did it really happen? (FO 12 & 13)

Posted on May 13, 2013May 13, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I’ve failed as a blogger this week.
Only after I had three packages of knitted goods complete with care instructions all wrapped up in tissue paper did I think about photographing them.

The mittens I already had photos of because I’d blogged about them before, but I’ve just sent two hitchhikers into the wilderness without any proof they were here.

Well that’s not entirely true, but it does leave me at a bit of a blogging loose end.

I do think the hitchhikers were a success. The colours I chose matched what they were wearing when I saw them (always a good sign).

The hand knitting process gives you plenty of time to um and ah over colour choices so I was a little frazzled by the time I had finished.

So in absence of good pictures, I have the ones for my care instructions.
I use the Phonto iPhone/iPad app which makes putting text over photos very easy.
I use that app to make personalized cards too. My mum is always requesting photos of me and my partner so I find a decent photo, add our names to it and put a fridge magnet on the back.
Next time I think I’ll crochet a border for something different.

FO #11 – British Morning Socks the sequel

Posted on May 10, 2013May 10, 2013 by bekswhoknits

A while ago now I made some bed socks for my most favourite girl in the world.

Since then they have been well loved. As they were so well loved I had no issues with making another pair.

Only problem was I don’t quite know where that pattern book is. Maybe under the couch somewhere, but it’s lost at the moment.
So I did a bit of research and found nothing I really liked.

I did find a really cute mitten pattern which is only in Swedish but I thought I could figure it out and make it into some socks.

Using size 7 needles and Moda Vera Jet bulky yarn I cast on 8 stitches using Judy’s magic cast on
Then increased every second row until it fit my foot.
Then I switched colours and did a few rows of purling, switched colours and did a few rows of knitting.
There was no heel so I just kept trying it on until they were long enough.

Alternating the colours whilst doing two at a time is something I like doing a) because it creates odd socks that match and b) because it means you don’t have to wind the yarn into two balls. You just start with each colour and then swap. You do end up with a lot of ends though.

I’m hoping that with use the heel will magically appear and they’ll look less like woolen condoms.

FO#10 – Summer sky half socks

Posted on May 3, 2013May 3, 2013 by bekswhoknits

It was pointed out to me once that calling these ‘socks’ was a bit misleading.

Calling them yoga socks is also misleading because I’ve never done yoga.

So I’m calling them half socks.

These half socks come in really handy with my tiled floor.
I am a clumsy girl. I usually have unexplained bruises. My bed frame in particular attacks me.
I have sustained injuries from hair ties, cereal boxes, and Nutella jars. (The Nutella jar incident required 8 staples. I still eat Nutella though. I’m such a trooper.)
So walking around my house in slippery socks is a recipe for disaster.
I also have cold feet all the time so I need socks.

These are an OK answer. They still don’t stop my toes getting cold, but it’s better than no socks at all.

I’m counting these as sock 4 in my 13 in 2013 project.

Stuck in my head – The National (now with cushions)

Posted on May 1, 2013May 8, 2013 by bekswhoknits

If you watched my video from last week you may have noticed I showed you a finished object that I hadn’t blogged about yet.
So this is a little cushion with two different lyrics from The National on either side.
It’s not a standard shape, mostly because I didn’t realise I was going to make it into a cushion when I was embroidering those song lyrics onto scrap fabric.
Fortunately the scraps were big enough and I could turn them into a cushion.

This is cushion #3 in my 13 in 2013 project.

#4KCBWDAY5 – and now for something completely different

Posted on April 26, 2013April 26, 2013 by bekswhoknits

Day 5 4KCBWDAY5
And now for something completely different….

This was so much fun. I didn’t think it was going to be, but thank you Knitting And Crochet Blog Week (I still have difficulty saying that) for getting me out of my comfort zone and in front of a camera. This was actually quite scary, not to make, but uploading it for all of you to see (although I do take comfort that it probably won’t be found by anyone but other knitters who are mostly non-judgemental).

So say hi to me and my couch!!
My first ever vlog, where I find out just how often I say ‘pretty!’, that the train noise is actually pretty loud (I’m so used to it), and I really do have a short attention span.

FO #9 little granny squares

Posted on April 19, 2013April 19, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I think I managed to keep my foray into crochet a blogging secret! But there were a few attempts before I felt I could make a blanket.

See? Terrible.

It wasn’t until it clicked that I needed to crochet in the gaps (rather than in the stitches like knitting) that I made a bit of progress.

Having a go at crocheting a block don’t work so well either.

But really I can make block fabric with knitting. What I really wanted to do was granny squares.

So after a bit of practicing is finally clicked.

I spent a lot of the night balancing my needlecraft book on my lap, swearing and cursing.
But I cracked it.
Well I’ve cracked one pattern. The pattern for these squares is the same as my big one.

They’re so pretty. I can see more crochet in my future!
(I never thought I’d say that!)

FO 8 – Granny Square

Posted on April 12, 2013April 12, 2013 by bekswhoknits

So this ticks off number 13 in my 13 in 2013 challenge – crochet a granny square.

If I’m honest, this wasn’t exactly the outcome I expected.
Actually I’m surprised I kept this quiet for so long.

This is my granny square.

For reference, that’s our queen size bed that its resting on!

So I can add ‘can do the triple crochet stitch’ to my list of skills.

There were a few smaller granny squares that I did before starting a giant blanket sized one, I may share them at some point.
But for now I’m just going to sit back and feel impressed with myself.

Seriously I made this!
This is by far the biggest item I have made.
I feel accomplished.

Hitchhiker

Posted on April 5, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I may be the last knitter around to cast on Hitchhiker going by the project page on ravelry. But last year I told my mum I would knit her a pattern of her choosing and that’s what she chose.
She has been grateful for some truly awful knitted gifts from when I first started, and I’m trying to even the score.

So I cast on Hitchhiker with a bamboo viscose yarn, which is really nice to knit with.

So far I’ve ripped it back 3 times. Only a knitter knows just how difficult counting to 6 can be.

Ps. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway

Summer Sky Mitts – FO 7

Posted on April 4, 2013April 4, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I finished off the mitts for my grandma in law. And I’m pleased with the way the turned out.
I’m always a little nervous adapting a sock pattern to mittens, but it worked.

After some trial and error the magic number to cast on was 50.
The summer sky pattern is over 21 stitches so I added a border of 4 knit stitches.

I kept trying them on, and when they were about ready for the thumb hole I worked back and forth slipping the first stitch. Then when I could close them up around my thumb I starting working in the round again.

Two at a time, magic loop makes sure the they’re exactly the same. One of the reasons I use it for almost everything that comes in pairs.

I almost wish they weren’t a gift.

The bluest blue

Posted on March 29, 2013April 4, 2013 by bekswhoknits

This was meant to be a post about how it’s 2 days till doctor who and I made a lovely hat in tardis blue. But then my
circular needle came loose.
And I realised I can’t keep track of a pattern.

So instead it’s a not so finished object. And now I have to buy another 6mm hat circular.
But when it’s finished……….