Still by Kim Hargreaves

Still by Kim Hargreaves

Having cleared out my yarn I realised that I probably had enough Patons Beehive Soft Blenk DK to knit myself something.

I bought the yarn from eBay. It was an impulse buy because it was very cheap, but it's the kind thing I'm trying to train myself to resist.

I'm not too precious about what I knit with (I don't have the budget to be!) but at the same time if I'm going to put in the effort of knitting something I want it to last a little while at least. The Beehive Soft Blend is 45% Acrylic, 40% Nylon and only 15% Wool, so I'm not convinced that it is going to make a great looking garment, but for some reason I really love this sludgy mustard colour. I think it's probably a love it or hate it one.

'Still' from 'Thrown Together' by Kim Hargreaves has been one of the patterns I've been meaning to get around to knitting for ages, so I decided that I may as well use my cheap yarn on this and at least I'll get some use out of it instead of it just taking up space in my yarn drawer. I have a dream of only having one drawer of yarn so that I can fill the other one up with the sewing stuff I currently have in a suitcase on top of the wardrobe.

I cast on the other day and am really happy with my progress. After spending months knitting fiddly gloves in 2 ply I'd forgotten how quickly DK knits up. So far I've modified the pattern to add in another couple of inches of length at the waist (14 rows added after the bottom pattern). I really don't like short jumpers.

Stash Clearout

tattie-bogle's knitting stash

I spent a busy afternoon on Sunday tidying out my yarn stash. I've been using Ravelry to record my stash since I joined the site at the end of 2007 and it's worked very well at keeping my yarn buying habits in check. As I mentioned in my last post I've been trying to knit down my stash since 2008 and failing miserably, despite making some progress knitting it up as scrap blankets: Mitred Square Blanket (4 ply), Mitred Square Blanket (DK), and Mitred Square Blanket (Chunky/Bulky/Aran)

I've been fairly good and have limited myself to only buying yarn very sparingly, and only then when I have a project in mind. In the past I've been a sucker for a bargain bin, optimistically thinking I will find just the right project for that single ball of something lovely.

The trouble is that my loved ones know how much I like yarn and are apt to buy me some lovely knitting stuff when present giving season comes around. I'm not complaining at all as I do love to feed my habit, but at the end of four years my stash had grown.

Well I finally decided as part of the great de-clutter to get it under control and sort out what I was likely to get around to knitting with, and what was just weighing me down with the guilt of not knitting with it.

I'm so pleased that as a result I have a chest of drawers that I can open!
 
You'll notice it's still quite full ... I wasn't too hard on myself! The other good thing about this is that I was able to offer 3 bags of mixed yarn on my local Freegle group and have been contacted by a beginner knitter who is glad to take it off my hands so that she can get in some knitting practise without having to shell out a fortune for new wool.

Odd balls

Robin Giveaway

Robin by Kim Hargreaves

I knitted this hat way back September/October 2008 to use up some lovely Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4 ply I had in my stash. I have to admit that for at least the last 4 years I've been trying to knit up my stash and I still haven't succeeded.

The pattern is Robin from Kim Hargreaves book 'Thrown Together'. The colours of the Yorkshire Tweed are Cheerful and Graze. My Ravelry project page can be found here: tattiebogle's Robin

I live in Scotland and the winters here are cold. In fact so are the Autumns, Springs and most of the Summers. I'm often to be found moaning about having a cold head but for some reason I don't own a coat with a hood or have a hat I want to wear.

I keep thinking I should wear this one because I knitted it from wool I think is lovely but somehow it never seems the right time. I think, rather like not being a shawl person, I'm not a 'tammy/beret' person either.

If anyone thinks they might be and would like to test the theory by trying out this one please leave a comment on this post by the midnight on the 31st January. If more than one comment is received I will pick a winner at random and post the name of the winner here soon after.

* It should be noted that I have a big head so I added some stitches in to take account of this so it's a relaxed fit rather that snug.

Christmas Hangover

Sew Your Own Felt Baubles

The boys (via their Dad) gave me a Sew Your Own Felt Baubles kit from paper-and-string for Christmas. Rather than putting it away for a year and then rushing to get them done when we brought the decorations out again I thought I would make them now.

I've been feeling decidely unfestive as I finished them off, but seeing them hanging up for a moment while I took their photo did make me smile. The are very bright and cheary.

I followed the suggested decoration to the letter so that they would look like the photo on the box for the boys, but you could easily do your own thing with the kit.

Andromeda Shawl Winner

Andromeda Shawl Giveaway Entrants

I was really pleased to have so many lovely comments on my Andromeda Shawl Giveaway post. Thank you everyone who entered. I'm so glad that it is going to go somewhere it can be appreciated instead of taking up much needed space in my wardrobe.

To help me pick a winner I roped in a hat and a handsome assistant.

Getting ready to pick a winner.

Early Mornings

My youngest son keeps insisting that sometime between 5 and 6 a.m. is a reasonable time to get up. I'm sure that for some people it is, but as I often don't go to bed until after midnight, I find it a bit of a struggle.

This morning I put off the inevitable until 6.30 a.m. (mainly by forgetting to take the baby monitor upstairs) and when I did get up I felt fairly awake and managed to throw enough of the right things into the bread maker to give us lovely fresh bread for a mid-morning snack. I was especially pleased it worked as the last 3 loafs I tried went wrong and this was make or break for the bread maker. I'm not sure whether it's been operator error, or a bad batch of yeast but the bread was coming out without having risen and baked into very oddly formed and smelly bricks. Not appetising. Today's loaf however, was a hit, so the machine gets a reprieve from being cleared out in the grand de-clutter.

Not much else happening. We're winding down for the end of the Christmas Holidays. Decorations are boxed up and put away in the attic (except the felt baubles that I'm in the middle of making from a kit I received for Christmas but didn't get done in time for this year's tree). A. is back at work but R. doesn't go back to school until Monday. I've reached the point that I'll be glad when our normal routine kicks back in. I think I'm suffering from the January weather, lack of sleep and a bit of post-festive slump.

Thanks to all those who have entered the giveaway for my Andromeda Shawl. As there's more than one of you I'll do a random draw. I've already had a volunteer to pick a name from the hat. Good luck to everyone!

Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year to one and all. Here's to a good 2012. Hope it brings you all you wish for. x