Knitting

Arm knitting (or keeping yourself out of trouble for an hour)

Posted on March 12, 2013March 12, 2013 by bekswhoknits

And now for something completely different. (But not really. More like a variation on a well blogged theme.)

I was surfing through tumblr the other day (follow me if you like endless reblogs of things I like) and I found the video below of arm knitting.

The concept intrigued me so I decided to try it for myself.

The results were pretty satisfactory.

First I tried using 3 different 8 ply yarns. That looked terrible. Absolutely hideous.
So I finished that off and filed it under ‘big mistake’.

So I found some super bulky 12 ply from my stash and started again.
This time it was a success.

The process is really quite strange for someone used knitting with needles. It was a lot of fun though.
I’d definitely recommend trying it at least once.

It does require an uninterrupted block of time. At least one of your arms will be covered in yarn at any one time!
Even if you’ve never knitted before the instructions are very simple and gratifying.

FO#4 Dangerous Turns

Posted on February 18, 2013February 22, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I had a non-monogamous weekend.
Friday night kicked off with a show at Festival Gardens, and knitted some rows on Parcel.
I learnt how to turn a back cable into a front cable one row after discovering it. Disaster averted.

Saturday night was spent watching Castle, before having a girly night and spending some time with my 10 Stitch Blanket (which is slowly getting bigger after being ignored for some time).

Then Sunday was all about the next step sockalong socksDangerous Turns. These socks fit like a glove.
The only thing I’m not happy about is the cuff. But I’m never happy with my cuffs, they hang of my ankle rather than hugging it.
Somewhere along the line I missed a cable repeat and I’m still deciding how annoyed I am about it.

So I’m not over the moon with these socks. And I haven’t weaved in the ends as there is still the possibility that I will frog them.

I don’t mind them, but I know how they should look.

I’ll look at them in a couple of days and see whether I can live with the mistakes.

Next Step Sock Sockalong

Posted on February 12, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I’ve gone a little cable crazy. I’ve cast on two cable projects in the last week, one of which is dangerous turns.

These are a good candidate for the Next Step Sock Sockalong (hosted by crafts form the cwtch and is about stepping out of the sock comfort zone and trying something new).

Firstly I’m knitting these out of cotton. Which I haven’t knitted with before. I have no idea if they’ll make nice socks but I wanted to give it a go. I’m a bit tired of using Noir all the time and I’ve promised myself not to buy it again, but I was in Spotlight and wanted instant gratification yarn, so I bought Panda Regal 4ply Cotton.

Secondly I’m knitting cables without a cable needle. I’m a cable beginner, who naively assumed that there was only 2 types of cables.
Well there aren’t. And last week they had me beat. The tutorial I used didn’t cover what to do when there was purling involved. And stubborn old me wasn’t about to use a cable needle.

Fortunately the answer came to me in a dream.
After nearly throwing them across the room, frogging them, and sobbing into my cotton, I wisely decided that I would sleep on it.
After dreaming about knitting (is this common?) I had the answer.

All of a sudden the cables fell into place and I knew what to do.
So I manually transposed the stitches. Once I had done that I could knit and purl as I pleased.

And then last night I figured out how to do it in one clean swoop, the grumperina way. And it seems so simple I don’t know why I didn’t get it before.

So these are my next step socks.
I’m hoping now that I’ve got the cables figured out for good and the early cables don’t look too rubbish in comparison.
Or that I forget it all and can’t figure it back our.
Or that I have actually ‘got it’ and haven’t just made something up which doesn’t work.

Eep, maybe I’m not as confident about cables as I thought I was!!

FO#3 socks like a waltz

Posted on February 8, 2013February 8, 2013 by bekswhoknits

1, 2, 3.
1, 2, 3.

Knit knit knit, purl purl purl.

And so it goes.

Knit knit knit, purl purl purl.

Until you shift it one stitch to the left and then start waltzing again.

Knitting heel-less socks felt like dancing.

The pattern is really easy. So easy I didn’t think it would work.

But it did. And just in time to.

I did manage to finish these last Friday. And I wore them last Friday as my gorgeous polkadot cons were hurting my feet.

I still need to weave in the ends but I have cast on new projects since so that’s just not a priority right now.

So the pattern I made is as follows. Cast on 60 stiches. (Next time cast on more but make it divisible by 6 – not 3 as the pattern says. That doesn’t work)

Work in rib for a while. I went the twisted rib route which goes like
Row 1) knit 1, purl 1 through the back loop
Row 2) knit 1 through the back loop, purl 1

Once there’s enough rib, start to waltz.
K3, P3.
Do that for 4 rows.
Then
P1,K3, P3 (keep repeating the waltz, you’ve just shifted it over).

After 4 rows shift it over again.
P2, K3, P3

And then you’ll have swapped over and you’ll be starting with P3 K3

Just keep on going, shifting it one stitch along every 4 rows.

Try it on and when you’re ready, make a toe.

I did a standard decrease every second row, toe.

Once you get to the end, say you have 16 stitches on the needles, panic because you don’t have a needle to do Kitchener stitch or a decent enough Internet connection to google it.

Instead decide to so a 3 needle bind off, with a bobby pin.

Later regret this decision because it was so freakin fiddly, but be grateful that you finished them and they could soothe your feet.

I’m at the cricket

Posted on February 1, 2013 by bekswhoknits

Today’s post comes to you from the WACA.

I have polkadot converse and I’m knitting socks.

Tube socks which I’m hoping to finish today.

Oooh a wicket! Excuse me while I pay attention.

Finished object #1

Posted on January 18, 2013January 17, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I seem to be attracted to scarfs at the moment. It’s the middle of summer! Well I work in an office and wear tights and scarfs all year, so maybe it does make sense.

This charming fellow (as modeled by the newest member of the family) was a super quick knit.
In fact it was started and finished on New Year’s Day.

The yarn is leftovers from my cardigan. The pattern is quick but pretty.
I really love the design. I’ve always been a fan of bows, and the way this sits is really cute.

If I was to make it again I would shape the end a bit differently. It came out a bit pointy. This could be the pattern, but it also could be my inability to read patterns sometimes.

See. Cute!

~~~
lets talk!
tweet me ~ ravelry me ~ email me

Christmas spirits with hats!

Posted on December 17, 2012December 17, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Someone very kindly sent this my way this morning.

I am a little bit of a grinch when it comes to Christmas. I prefer to celebrate Boxing Day test match day.

But I did get into the Christmas spirit and decorated my wine rack.
(It would be better if I decorated the spirits rack but there was a gin incident last week and it’s all looking a bit depleted.)

So these little hats are the perfect way to use up those mini-skeins I always seem to have lying around.
It was also a great way to relearn double-pointed needles.
These hats are made before I’m sick of needles hitting me in the chest and am ready to throw the project across the room.

I also used it as an opportunity to learn how to cable without a cable needle. I still need loads of practice with that though.
I think my problem is I’m pulling it all too tight. I think I need to loosen up until the last stitch.

Also! Two finger pompoms! These are pompoms I can actually make.

So all in all a lot of learning went on.

And if I need to give anyone a last minute pressie, these are just the things to make it a little more special.

~~~
lets talk!
tweet me ~ ravelry me ~ email me

It’s an outfit post!

Posted on November 3, 2012November 7, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these.
But I reckon this is a good enough reason.

This is my cardigan! I am still super chuffed that I finished a big knitted project.

And this is my bookcase. The biggest reason that I haven’t done many outfit posts is that our apartment is so tiny, it gets no natural light, and there is no neutral place to use as a back drop.

So in lieu of a neutral place, I thought I’d show a part of my apartment that I’m proud of.
The first place that springs to mind is my cd collection. But that’s right next to the only window in the place and is really awkward to stand in front of.

So the next place is my bookshelf. I love to read. And I love to watch tv. To the left you can see my tea cup collection. And on the top shelf you can see my Dalek (and other assorted Doctor Who merchandise).
It’s forever changing, and being shuffled around, but I’m thinking of doing more outfit posts here. I’d love to know what people think of the location. Too cluttered? Too distracting? Or is it me? Will you all judge me on what you see in my bookcase?
Actually, if you haven’t already figured out who I am, my bookcase will certainly confuse or enlighten you.

So enough chat, here is me, pretending to model, wearing my own knitted creation.
(My jeans are cotton on, my shoes are from rubi, and my tank is from temt)

~~~
lets talk!
tweet me ~ ravelry me ~ email me

giveaway

Posted on July 30, 2012 by bekswhoknits

hi guys!

Don’t forget I’m having a sort-of giveaway at the moment.

It’s such an awesome idea and I really want to do this so I would love some comments!

~~~
lets talk!
tweet tweet ~ ravelry ~ email me

Tea cozy

Posted on June 8, 2012June 8, 2012 by bekswhoknits

I was struck the other day when I was at the post office.
They always get you when you’re waiting in line to pick up a parcel, and all you can do is look at the books, DVDs, nick-nacks that are on the shelves.

I spotted these two books and after reading a bit of them in line I had to have them.

I started reading the knitting section, realised that the author really knew what she was talking about, and that there were sections on things I didnt even know about.
Then I saw the sewing one and thought if its the same quality as the knitting section this will be a great investment.
And I have learnt so much.

They were both $25 each, from Australia Post but I’ve liked them both so far.

And my first creation inspired by one of these books is my tea cup cozy.

The reason I was at the post office was that my new favourite jeans had a hole in them, and so I’d ordered another pair. But they were $40 and if you spent $50 you got free postage. So I spent just a little bit more than that. But one of the things I bought was this mix it cup with a pink mix it lid .
For $4 I now have a new tea cup which I can take on the train in the mornings.

But it gets a bit hot, so using on of the basic cables in the book I made a cozy for it.

I have to say I’m not all that happy with it.
I forgot how much Moda Vera Ella stretches. And so most of the time it ends up falling off the cup.

But it was so quick to make i’ll probably make another one really soon.
I’m thinking maybe a bow – that would be really cute.