The Bag of Bags

Surely everyone, the world over, has "the Bag of Bags". It's that plastic carrier bag that contains all the other carrier bags that seem to breed as soon as two of them are left alone together. We decided we were going to do something about this and my mother-in-law set about knitting a bag from strips of plastic:



She put the handles all the way around the bag to give it more strength:



It's been test driven by my sister-in-law and pronounced a success. It doesn't cut the circulation off in your fingers, either. (Always a bonus.)



I'm slightly concerned that the whole thing will disintegrated in a couple of years but then I suppose we'll just knit another one. In fact, MIL has already almost completed her second one - she modified the pattern because the addition of the gussets was "fiddly" (her technical term) and unnecessary.

I have finally reached the right height on the Kauni jumper to start the front neck shaping. I am loosely basing the shaping on a sweatshirt belonging to 'im indoors, which he claims is very comfortable and of a suitable shape and size. I measured the width of the neck on the sweatshirt and discovered the shoulders were eight inches and the neck opening was also eight inches. My gauge is eight stitches per inch, so I'm going to have the shoulders be 64 stitches wide and the neck opening 65 stitches wide (which adds up to 193, which is how many stitches I have on the front.) I left the centre 45 stitches on a piece of thread and cast on ten steek stitches over this area.






I'm going to decrease one stitch at both the front neck edges on every round five times and then decrease one stitch each side on every other round another five times. This should take me fifteen rounds. Then I'm going to do a little bit of back neck shaping (but I haven't done the sums for that yet), knit a few rounds straight and graft the shoulders together (or possibly do a three needle bind off, depending on how I'm feeling). It is my aim that the shoulders should fall just at the end of the pattern repeat. I'm hoping that all my sums will come together.

The Mermaid is only very slightly bigger. I'm hoping to get some pictures to show how I'm fixing the beads on. At first I threaded all the beads onto the yarn but got myself into a fearful tangle and, though I know silk is strong, I was a bit concerned about the beads wearing the yarn because of the constant pushing up and down. Another method needed to be found in order to preserve what little sanity I still retain. This involves a beading needle, a length of sewing cotton and a steady hand - pictures later (when I've had time to grow a third hand to hold the camera.)

Displacement Activities

You know when you are trying to revise for your exams but you don't really want to, so you spend an inordinate amount of time tidying your desk? This is what I have been doing for the last two days.

You all know far too much about how fearful the "Anne Cardigan" is that I don't need to tell you again. I just can't bear it.

I have had this:



delightful pink silk yarn in the stash since Jackie made me go to the back end of nowhere to a yarn shop that had a sale. (I believe it was Droitwich - I had to do a search on my own blog to find that out - when does being slightly vague turn into a problem?)

Wondering and wondering what to do with it - I thought a bag, I thought a hat, I thought a bag again.

This is a bag that was in Emma King's "25 Bags to Knit".

Naturally enough, I am not using the yarn called for. Nor am I getting the gauge called for. Nor using the right needles (neither the ones called for, nor the ones suggested on the yarn label.)

I decided that this yarn was the right yarn for the project and then I realised that I wanted the fabric to be fairly stiff (technical term) and not floppy (another technical term), so I used very skinny (that would be another technical term) needles and made something that would stop a speeding bullet. I had to cast on a different number of stitches too - talk about knitting on the high wire.

Here she is part-way through:



Here's a close-up of the beads:



These are pebble beads from Mill Hill (who seem to be the only people making beads in the world. I'm sure that can't be true. Mill Hill are the only people that I've heard of, that must be it.)

Here's the finished item:



If I were a man, I'd be asking "What's it for?"

She Sells Sea Shells Shawl

This is the first shawl I have designed myself. "Designed" sounds very complicated and may be overstating the case somewhat. I used the formula for a basic square shawl knitted in the round. Cast on a few stitches - I always use the ever reliable "Emily Ocker's circular cast-on" (Seen here from the public side. Isn't it neat?)



Then increase 8 stitches every other round. I designated two stitches at each corner to make the diagonal lines and increased with a simple YO on either side of these two stitches on every public side round. I trawled through stitch dictionaries looking for patterns to insert into my blank "canvas". Since there are so many stitch patterns out there, I thought it best to have a theme. I settled on the sea/shore because I love the sea - ironically, I live slap, bang in the middle of England, just about as far from the sea as it's possible to get on this tiny island. To make up for that I've knitted this shawl.

The first pattern is little shells - it's the 3 x 1 Herringbone stitch from "Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls". It's only a four stitch pattern repeat, so I just worked stocking stitch at the sides until I had enough stitches for another repeat.



When I got fed up of that I worked six round of garter stitch and then four rounds of simple YO, K2tog faggot stitch, to mimic a fishing net, followed by another six rounds of garter stitch.

The next pattern was Fishtail Lace from "The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches". This is an eight stitch repeat, so it fitted in quite nicely.



Again, I worked until I got fed up with it and then repeated the six rounds garter stitch, the four rounds faggot stitch, the six rounds garter stitch.

On to the next pattern, razor shell from Martha Waterman again, an eight stitch pattern repeat.



I did that for a bit (and if I'm honest, I think I should have done a bit more of it than I actually did do) and then launched into the border pattern. The delightful "Ocean Waves", also from Martha Waterman's book.



This is an edging that is "knitted on". You cast on the relevant number of stitches - in this case thirteen, onto another needle of the same diameter used for the body of the shawl. Some people like to use a dpn for this, I don't - too easy for the stitches to slip off the other end. I do like to use a shorter needle, though, as there are usually only a few stitches on the needle. You knit the edging and every time you come up against the live stitches, which are still there on your original needle, you K2tog (or SSK, or whatever you fancy) the last stitch of the edging with the next stitch of the body of the shawl. You then graft together the stitches from the beginning of the edging with those of the end. Simple!

Well, not all that simple, actually. It's bad enough grafting ordinary stocking stitch but when it comes to grafting lace?? However, I found a very neat trick from Robert Powell in "A Gathering of Lace". Basically, you use another ball of the same yarn and the same size needles to knit one repeat of the edging without attaching it to the shawl. You knit the last row of the repeat in a contrast colour and then you join in the main yarn and knit the edging attaching as you go. Here's a picture showing the tab and the contrasting yarn.



When you have completed the edging apart from the last row you cut the yarn, leaving a long tail and use the contrast coloured yarn to guide you in your grafting. Makes it a heck of a lot easier. As long as you remember that you have to pass the yarn through each stitch twice before you drop it off the needle and as long as you leave the contrast yarn in place until you have done that, you have cracked it.

Here's the whole thing, pre-blocking.



A sorry sight.

The magic of blocking transformed it into this:



which looks a whole lot better.

I took the "She Sells Sea Shells Shawl" for an outing into town and was astonished to be accosted (in Marks and Spencer's, no less) by someone who said she wanted to "stalk my knitting". I told her to feel free, whereupon she looked at the shawl, looked at me and said, "You're not Kate, are you? I read your blog." That's the first time I've ever met a blog reader in person. How lovely to be recognized by my knitting.

Diane, this one's for you:



Saturday Field, on a Monday.

Blocking the Romance

I give you the Romance Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting. I actually finished the knitting a while ago but I've just been waiting until I could manage to crawl about on the floor long enough to block it.

This is one of my very favourite parts of the art of lace knitting. The transformation from a sad-looking bundle of nothingness into the light, floaty, ethereal piece of lace is just enchanting. It makes me gasp every single time.

Here she is looking a little bit sorry for herself in the garden. Unblocked, just off the needles.



I put some lukewarm water into a bowl and add a good glug of hair shampoo. Wool is the hair of the sheep, after all. There's always discussion over the right temperature in which to wash wool. I don't actually think it matters all that much - the important thing is not to shock the fibres by changing temperature too radically. If you start with lukewarm, keep to lukewarm; if you start with hotter water, just make sure you keep the rinsing water at the same temperature. I use lukewarm because that's what I do.

Submerge the item in the soapy water and leave it to soak so that it is completely wet. This can actually take longer than you think - I usually leave it at least twenty minutes.



Squeeze the item gently. Gently is important here - wool really doesn't like to be agitated (but then, who does?). Take the item out of the bowl. Empty the bowl and refill it with water of the same temperature. (See above.) You do not need to be too exact, a thermometer is not necessary! Put the item back in and squeeze gently. Repeat until the water is clear - no more suds. Get the item out and support it. Here she is looking a right mess:



You need to get as much water out of it as you can. Some people squeeze it, then wrap it in a towel and roll it up into a sausage and walk on it. I tend to use my mother's patent method for drying salad leaves. She bungs the lettuce in a tea towel, grabs the four corners to make a "bag" then rushes out into the garden and whirls the whole lot round her head. (If you do decide to try this method for lettuce, or for the shawl for that matter, just try not to release one of the corners - there is nothing like having to retrieve stray lettuce leaves from far flung corners of the garden.)

I just hold the corners of the shawl and whirl it round my head. (Try not to do this when the postman is due. It tends to lead to difficult explanations.) Some people object to this method on the grounds that the lace is too "delicate" - you are just about to stretch it to within an inch of its life, a bit of whirling is not going to do it any harm.

Assemble your blocking ingredients. I put down a cotton bedspread with a handy grid of squares on it. Glass headed pins. Secret ingredient: fishing line.



Thread the fishing line through the edges of the shawl.



(You can do this before you wash the shawl but I get into a right old tangle and prefer to do it at this stage.) If there are points you only need to go once into each point but remember to go the same way each time. Front to back, back to front, it doesn't matter, just be consistent. Leave a large loop of fishing line at each corner. Sometimes I don't even cut the line, I just leave it attached to the reel. This time I did cut it.

Get a spare hand or two. ('Im indoors came to the rescue.) Pull the loops at the corners and, as if by magic, the shawl grows and reveals its true beauty. Use the pins to hold the shawl in the stretched position. It's not necessary to pin through the shawl - you can just pin the fishing line to hold it taut. The added advantage is that you don't run the risk of splitting the yarn and you avoid that "swoop" between the pins. You don't need half as many pins, either.

Here she is all pinned out - the lace has completely disappeared against the cotton cloth (but it is there, honest.)



Leave for a few hours/until tomorrow/until it's dry/until you can't wait any longer.. Remove the pins and weave in the ends. Yes, I know some people do this before the blocking. I prefer to do it afterwards so that the weaving in is done to the same tension as the finished shawl. You decide which you prefer.

Wear with pride. No picture of me in it as there is no-one here but me. However, here's a picture of her on the chair:



There have been other developments, too. The "She Sells Sea Shells" Shawl is finished. Well, the knitting part is finished, the blocking has yet to be accomplished. I used a new method to aid in the grafting (shudder) of the start of the border to the end of the border and will tell all about that another day.

I have also taken on board all your comments about the white cotton Japanese shawl and have decided to go with that and leave the Zephyr for another project.

AND I'm afraid I have started yet another shawl. This is the "GalKal" and there is a Yahoo Group for it. I did a mystery shawl KAL once (and once only). I wasn't very impressed with that one but this looks intriguing. It has rather an unusual construction, for a start. I am not getting all the emails of "I've started, have you started?" and "I'm using green yarn, what about you?" because they drive me bonkers. I have looked at the group messages once because there was a mistake in the pattern (easily sorted). This is it so far:



I'm using yellow yarn, what about you?

Another FO

Here's the little jacket/bolero thingie, finally finished. It started life as a moss stitch cardigan (what was I thinking??) and ended up being this. I definitely prefer this incarnation. It's a bit chilly round the mid-section at the moment but it certainly won't be as the year wears on. The pattern calls for a large button at the neck. I don't happen to have a large button at hand right now, so have used a hair slide. Any suggestions as to large button suppliers, preferably in the UK, would be welcome, although I expect the hair slide will become a permanent fixture.



Read the full story on the FO2007 blog. (and thanks to Marie for helping me out with a technical hitch.)

Many thanks to Ginny for her comment about the shawl percentage calculator - that's a really useful thing to have.

A small amount of progress has been made on the Romance Shawl - I have started Cupid's Arrows. I still haven't decided whether to dye the body of the shawl or not. Anybody have any experience in this area?

Time to go and put a few more books into that Library Thing, I think.

Finished

As I slowly return to what passes for reality in these parts, I've been on a finishing spree.

I am notoriously bad at finishing projects, particularly when they involve the sewing of seams; the setting in of sleeves or the turning back of hems. This partly explains my love of shawls, wraps, capelets and so on - as those who have been following have heard me say many times - "It doesn't have to fit." In my debilitated state, I really am only just getting back into knitting mode (three attempts at knitting a square of "Herringbone Twists", three goes at "Dotted Triple Slip" stitch and three at "Staggered Brioche Rib" revealed the true state of my brain - "Absent".) I thought a quick bit of finishing might fit the bill.

I had a few adventures with the Japanese Kimono Jacket from Vivian Hoxbro's "Shadow Knitting". Naturally, I did not use the Harrisville yarn recommended in the book but found a suitable alternative in Rowan's Yorkshire Tweed 4-ply. I bought the yarn last January and started the jacket in March. What with one thing and another (six blue wraps might have had something to do with it) I didn't pick it up again until this January (and feeling slightly wobbly, at that). It wasn't long before I realised that I was going to run out of yarn; it seemed like only a split second before I realised that Rowan have discontinued it. Panic phone calls to Nicky at Shipston Needlecraft revealed none of the right colours there. The day was saved by Colourway, which Nicky put me on to. They specialize in discontinued lines and just happened to have a few balls of the relevant colours on hand. The yarn arrived in very short order and I was astonished to see that the dye lots matched! I hadn't even checked that, thinking that the nature of the pattern would even out any slight irregularities.

Knitting over, I embarked on the finishing. Grafting together the centre back seam was an endurance test:



I don't think it looks too bad (even though it took me two episodes of "Desperate Housewives" to do it).

Here's the front:



Slightly wonky (technical term) on the fastening, I'm afraid. My stylist (#1 daughter) was so busy wielding the camera that she failed to notice I had done the equivalent of fastening the top button in the second button hole - be assured the fronts really are the same length and match perfectly if you do it right.

There are, in fact, no buttons. The jacket is fastened with a "brooch, pin or short knitting needle" (or in this case, a hat pin):



I'm going to have to come up with another solution, though - the hat pin keeps falling out. Any suggestions?

While all that was going on, I thought I might use up a bit of stash, so quickly made this:



The Charlotte Wrap from Rowan Magazine #38. Three balls Rowan Ribbon Twist, 12mm needles (amazingly, for me, the ones recommended in the pattern!). Took about three hours. Another reason I like knitting lace - much more bang for your buck. Months of fun to be had with a cone of skinny yarn and some skinny needles. Big, fat yarn + big, fat needles = all the fun's over in no time.

And as if that weren't enough - a scarf for #1 son:



Red ACK-rylic, black eyelash, his own design.

That's the lot for now, although there is another project in the last stages (setting in of sleeves - Aggh!), and one in the very early stages of simply floating about in my fevered brain.