Blogalogalog!

On what you’ll find here today…

So, today is Blogathon Day, as I might have mentioned once or twice. I’m blogging for MDF: The Bipolar Organisation (more on that later), and if you’d like to sponsor me, you can do so by making a pledge at the Blogathon site.
If you are so kind as to pledge something, I’ll link you over in the side bar there, and depending on how much you can spare, I might make you a little present to say thank you as well :-)
My theme, amazingly enough, is knitting related. I’m going to vary it a little bit so that I don’t get bored, but what I’m planning on is:

  • Squares for a blanket, in different yarns and stitch patterns to give me some variety, and to bust some of my stash!
  • Children’s mittens, for a Christmas shoebox project.
  • Thank you gifts for my sponsors.
  • Forest Canopy Shawl.
  • Fetching wristwarmers.
  • Monkey socks.
  • Possibly reviews of knitting books and / or podcasts, as I’m going to be listening to podcasts to keep myself entertained as I knit!

I’ll take pictures as I go so you can see how I’m doing as well as hearing about it. So, off I go to start the actual knitting! TTFN.

Brain: unravelled.

Ravelry has completely eaten my brain. And my life. LJ went down the other day, and I totally didn’t notice. I used to live on that site. Not any more!! Seriously, it’s because I’m going through all the setting up part – once that’s done, it won’t be so time consuming. Not that I’m not having fun, because I am! *g* Plus, I’m getting organised at the same time, which is always good.
Anyway, it’s Blogathon day tomorrow, so I’m off to bed to get plenty of sleep in! I shall try and stop by tomorrow morning to do a sort of preparatory post.
Also, I have to remember to go and pick up some new batteries for my camera. It’ll kind of scupper my plan to take and post pics of my knitting throughout the 24 hours if the camera is dead, won’t it?…

Ravelry

I just found out, via the Posh Knitters group, that if you’re waiting for your Ravelry invite you can now check your status in the queue on their site. So I did! And….
“Found you!
* You signed up on June 3, 2007
* You are #6286 on the list.
* 72 people are ahead of you in line.
* 12965 people are behind you in line.
* 32% of the list has been invited so far”
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! Only 72 people in front of me! Soon! Soon I can go and play ;-)
(But for now, I’m off to continue reading That Potter Book. I’m trying to take it slowly and savour the thing…)

FOs: “BP”, and Sirdar Snuggly baby jumper.

Hoorah, I’ve actually finished “BP” and the Sirdar Snuggly intarsia kitty-face baby jumper. And since they’ve now been wrapped and given as birthday presents to my friend C and her little boy respectively, I can reveal that BP is in fact a variation on the Coleen cropped cardigan from Magknits. Basically, I used different yarn, and knit it in two colours rather than just the one. Mainly because I wasn’t quite sure that I had enough of any one colour in the yarn to knit the whole thing. I’m pretty sure I would have run short if I’d tried. As it is, I really like the way it turned out.
The Sirdar baby jumper (pattern #1668) was knit exactly to pattern, other than using a different main colour than shown on the pattern leaflet. Oh, and I also didn’t seam all the way up the neck, but added a button and a crochet chain button-loop so that it wouldn’t be too tight for getting on and off.
I took photos before I wrapped them up, so I’ll upload and post those tomorrow. They were both very well received, and C was lovely enough to appreciate the time-and-care factor of me having made the presents for them. :-)
Now I’m off to bed, and to continue resisting the new Harry Potter book. It can wait til tomorrow! Sleep is more important! Really, it is. Am I convincing anyone yet?…

Swatcharama

Skein Wars: Victory! (Click for larger version)So, I finally beat that skein of Eva Tuscany into submission and got it wound into a ball! Woohoo! However, I have to admit… I did resort to scissors. I tried for three whole days (on and off, not constantly, obviously) to detangle it. And I suppose I could have unwound the 1/3 I already had on the ball-winder. But that just seemed like the road to further tangling, so in the end I took a deep breath, and…. snipped. Once I’d done that, the detangling actually went dead fast, and as you can see I now have a lovely neat centre-pull ball. Two extra ends to be woven in, yes, but never mind.
So, I’ve been busily swatching away. I’ll be making the Forest Canopy Shawl with it, and as Eva 4ply’s not the same weight as the recommended yarn (which I think is a worsted weight), I needed to figure out which needle size I want. This is a pattern which is fairly friendly for using different weights of yarn, and gives lots of comprehensive information on the pre-knitting part of the process – three whole pages, in fact! Since this is my first big lace project (hats, socks, and even BP (which is ‘big’ but only a very simple lace pattern) don’t count) it’s nice to have clearly laid out instructions and suggestions like that.
Anyway! I started out with 4mm needles, but that gave me a gauge of 24×28, when what I was after was 22×14. I have no idea how that can be, actually – surely you normally get more rows to a gauge than stitches? Stitches are wider than they are high. I’m wondering if that’s a typo, and it should actually be 22×24? You know what? I think it has to be. I’ve just had a glance through every pattern I have to hand (which is quite a few, since I just printed a whole slew from Knitty), and 22sts x 24rows makes far more sense. Also, that’s the gauge I’ve now got by swatching on 4.5mm bamboos, and I like the way that knitted up as well. Drapey, but not too floppy.
Posh Yarn Eva 4ply 'Tuscany' (Click for larger version)So that’s what I’ve decided on: Forest Canopy shawl in Posh Yarn Eva 4ply ‘Tuscany’, on 4.5mm needles. As I mentioned above, I’m starting off on bamboo straights, but when it grows too big I’ll have to move it to circulars. I’ll need an 80cm one, I think, and I don’t actually have a 4.5mm one in that length.
I wonder if it’s worth getting a set of Denise’s or Boye Needlemasters? I’m drawn to the Boye ones, because they’re shiny. Literally shiny: multicoloured metallics. Shiiiiiiiiiinyyyyy. Plus, I think they have a couple more sizes than the Denise set. If I learned the Magic Loop technique, I could use them for the sock knitting as well, and not need to get the new DPNs that I was coveting. Anybody have them, and/or have any opinions on which might be better? Or if it’s worth it at all? This would also solve the possible problem I have with making Fetching from PY Sophia 6ply – I’m not sure that 4mm needles are going to get the right gauge for that. Although of course, going up to 4.5mm might make the fabric too floppy, in which case I’ll just have to get some 8ply instead. Maybe I should have gone for that in the first place.
Still, I spose there’s only one way to find out: SWATCH!

Blogathoning Are Go!

I’ve signed up for this year’s Blogathon, which is taking place on 28th July starting at 6am PST (which I’m pretty sure is 2pm GMT – hoorah, no early start for me!). In case you don’t know what the Blogathon is, it’s essentially a sponsored 24-hour ‘blogging marathon’. I’m going to make a post at least every half hour for the duration of the ‘thon.

This means I need something to keep me awake and interested, so as I think I mentioned before, I shall be knitting. Won’t that make a change? Specifically, I’ll be knitting away as much of my stash as I can into different stitch patterned squares for a patchwork blanket / afghan. I might also knit mittens or a hat for a bit of a change at some point.

The charity I’ll be blogging for is MDF (Manic Depression Fellowship) The Bipolar Organisation. As someone with the condition, I’m a member, so I can certify first-hand that they do a lot of good work.

So what I need now are sponsors. Basically, if you’re interested in pledging an amount to sponsor me for the event, click on the link in the last sentence and fill out your details. After the event (providing I completed it!) you’ll get a reminder email, and it’s then up to you to follow the instructions to donate the pledged amount directly to the charity. If you’d really rather, you could inform me how much you want to pledge and Paypal me the money for me to donate on your behalf, but my first preference is to do it the way the Blogathon site suggests.

What do you get for sponsoring me, other than a warm happy glow inside? Well…

  • I will of course give huge props to every sponsor (unless you don’t want me to name you at all… I can give you an alias so you’ll know I mean you).
  • If you have a site / blog, I’ll link you in my sidebar and links page here.
  • If anyone sponsors me more than £20, I’ll knit you an accessory of your choice (hat / scarf / arm-warmers / gloves / mittens / something of a similar size), although if you’re outside Europe I might need to send it surface-mail depending on weight.
  • … And I’ll entertain you with my babblings and in progress pics of the knitting, etc etc.

As well as this, I’ll be participating in the fandom_helps LJ group blog, to give me a bit more variety. And to give my hands a rest, because I think knitting solidly for 24 hours is going to give me cramp. And that’s it!

I’ll put up a “Sponsor Me” button at the top of this page when I’ve made one, and I’ll put a running total of sponsors under the Currently section in the sidebar. So, um, pledge something? Doesn’t matter how small an amount. A pound, a dollar, as much as you can afford and feel is worth it. It’s for chariteeeeeeeeeeee!

The birds and the beasts were there

Still no pictures (must get around to that by the end of the week), but I’ve cast on my second Monkey sock. Which means that, yes, BP is done. Um, almost. Alright, I’ve sewn on the second sleeve, and done the edging (which was a billionty stitches). All that actually needs doing now is for me to sew in the final two ends (on said edging), wash and block it, and sew the button on. Hoorah! Maybe tomorrow, then. Oh, and I was going to sew a little label in it, too. Must find those.
Other than that, I have (oops) totally fallen off the yarn wagon. I know, I’m bad. But I haven’t bought anything that I don’t have a project in mind for. In fact, I’ve bought sock yarn. So, more socks! Socks are good. And I have plenty of sock patterns (I love you, Knitty and Magknits! You enable me so!) that I’m dying to knit, so it all works out.
Actually, some of the sock yarn is going to be those typing gloves I mentioned. Since we have winter in July, and everything. Brr!
But before I start on those, I must get back to finishing up my WIPs (including the kitty jumper I’ve got done but for the sewing that’s for a certain small person), and working on that there Monkey. You know, if I had more DPNs, I could knit more pairs of socks at once…. *cough*

I went to the animal fair

So, once again I’ve been mainly too busy to knit, as I’ve had my friend staying (we had a brilliant time), and then my aunt sadly died (she had cancer), so there was her funeral in Blackpool to go to – one of those bitter-sweet things where it’s not an occasion you want to be happening, but it is nice to be with the extended family. *sigh*
Once I was back from that, I was working on Purdyshop.com, which is an online store for handmade designer glass jewellery, belonging to one of my best friends. We got that finished and open on Friday – hoorah! There will probably be a few small tweaks needed, but all in all I’m pleased with it.
So, that means I have time to do other stuff again. Like knitting! In fact, as soon as I’ve finished writing this entry I shall be parking myself on the sofa with an mp3 player full of knitting podcasts, BP, and the Monkey socks. Yay!
BP needs a sleeve sewn on, then I have to pick up again and knit the edging. So, nearly done! At long last!! As for the Monkey socks, I’ve just finished the first one, so I’ll be casting on No. 2 once BP is finished. I really enjoyed the first one – I made a couple of slip ups due to not paying attention, but nothing disastrous. I’ll post pics of the process soon. I was going to do that tonight, but I’m impatient to get back to the actual knitting, so they’ll have to wait. Oh, except I already do have a photo of the first sock uploaded to the photo album when it was only a few rows ‘old’. I’ll put that in here then – here you go:

Continue reading “I went to the animal fair”

Too busy to knit!

I’ve been so mad busy over the last few days, I haven’t even had time to knit. And I want to! I want to be knitting my Monkey sock, or swatching for the fingerless ‘typing gloves’ I’m planning, or starting that cardigan… or hey, maybe the other one! Or the jumper! Or even *cough* sewing the second sleeve onto BP and picking up the stitches to finish that off at last. (I have now developed a fear of blocking that project… interestingly this only started worrying me once the seaming and sleeve setting went off without a hitch. Do I have a general finishing phobia here? Am I afraid to let my babies go off into the big wide world?)
Still, I’m off to pick my friend up from Heathrow tomorrow – that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been so rushed off my feet. So I’ll have about 3 hours on the train to knit away on my lovely Monkey sock and listen to podcasts. I’m rather looking forward to it!

Upgrade…. success?

Well, things seem to have gone off ok, and I must say I rather like this newer version of MT! That everything did go smoothly, however, is not due to the documentation provided by SixApart. :-/ That’s what’s been making me put this off and tear my hair out for months! But I found a wonderful tutorial at Learning Movable Type, and in the end it took me less than half an hour including uploading everything. Woohoo! Thank you, LMT people!
Anyway, I still have some poking around the new version to do, and I want to explore how the tags work particularly. And see if I can turn comments back on without getting swamped with spaaaaaaaaaam.
I’m actually also thinking about combining the old entries back together with this blog so that it’s all in one again. I’ve seen from the activity log that people seem to be searching for things on this blog that are actually on the old one. Well, I guess I’ll keep thinking about it.

Upgrading, eep.

I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and upgrade to MT 3.35. I changed the comments back to being moderated but open to all (I’d had them only open to people with a Typepad ID before), and I’m getting spammed to death. I think the newer version is more secure. So here I go. Wish me luck!
(Procrastinating on sewing up that side seam? Who, me?)