Finished the bag

Firstly a detail from the lining fabric - this is machine embroidered silk, puchased in C&H Fabrics last Friday, purchased with almost no prompting at all from Hazel. Have often noticed, that I look at things first, and choose the thing that I like most, and am then horrified by the price (this is supposed to show that I have Good Taste!). So it was on this occasion, but I am consoling myself with the thought that as it was a remnant it only cost me half what it should have done at £25. I have managed to include internal pockets for cards, cheque book and mobile phone, and I still have enough left over for several more bags, so it will work out cheaply in the end ...


And here's the bag itself in all it's glory. Note to self - fitting eyelets is dangerous! - it is very easy indeed to hit your thumb with the hammer (a bit like something out of a Tom & Jerry cartoon)...

Moebius How-To

(NB. the diagrams are my copyright, but you are welcome to have them for personal use)

I have found this a slightly easier way to do a moebius, the other way makes my wrists hurt, but I realised that it was quite difficult to explain when trying to describe it to Hazel at lunch the other day (of which more in a separate post), so I've had a go at drawing some simple diagrams in MS Paint to see if I can explain it better.

In aran-weight yarn, cast on 80 - 90 stitches on a 6mm circular needle (80 cm long is a good size), this will give you a scarf 20 - 22 inches in circumference. Use the e-wrap cast-on, and don't start it with a slip knot. Knit the first row through the front of the cast on loops (you don't want to tighten up this edge, so don't do it tbl)


Knit about 9 rows garter stitch, and don't slip the first stitch of each row (you want the 'pips' on the edges for seaming later)


Pick up the cast on loops on a spare circular needle


This is where the twist comes in, and this is easier to do than to describe, but hope the diagram of what you should be holding will make it easier


The finishing bit, just a small amount of sewing to do

Come home Spike, all is forgiven ...

... anyone have any suggestions for re-capturing an escaped hamster? A certain 10 year-old who will remain nameless (E***y) managed to leave the hatch open on top of the cage, and the dratted creature has run away - well OK, he's somewhere in the house, but haven't so far worked out where. Am considering trying to get hold of some of those humane traps, to see if that will work, but it's the only idea I've had so far. If anyone knows a better way of doing it, feel free to leave me a comment, his owner will accept any suggestions only too happily right now.

UPDATE - caught the little pest a couple of hours ago - relieved small owner, who (I hope) will have Learnt Her Lesson - and he is back behind bars (where he belongs, IMHO). Just pure luck that I happened to look into the room as he ventured out, even so I am amazed at how fast the little perisher can run when he wants to. Thanks to Daisy, and I will check out Blueadt's blog - to the rest of you, keep the suggestions coming, just in case we ever have to do this again (hope not)

Brilliant site

Update to previous - the knob things are called "bag protective feet" - and thanks to Silvia, here's a terrifc site for all things baggy. Have ordered feet, magnetic snaps, bag bottoms and interlinings. As I also have a few spare skeins of Noro Blossom hanging around (but not enough to do anything much else with), think this may also be going to go baggish.

The plastic canvas is sewn in, and I think I may have found a nice button (looks like a reddish-gold overhand knot) to cover the magnetic snap closure on the tab. Drew a bit of a blank yesterday on finding a suitable lining when I went into Cranbrook yesterday (in an attempt to avoid housework - yes I know this makes me a Bad Person!), but I'm lunching in Maidstone with Hazel on Friday, so I can hit C&H Fabrics at the same time, and they usually have a really good selection of furnishing stuff, cords etc.

Update 25.5.2006 - the order arrived from u-handbag this afternoon - now that's what I call service! - thanks Silvia for the heads up ...

Blocking, and another moebius

Bag knitted, and cooked in the washing machine. As usual, I've had great trouble with colour reproduction, there is quite a dark red, a slightly paler (softer) red, and an ochre-ish orange. The gold bullions look like drips of molten metal all over it, and the spiralling I reported came out pretty well right to the end. Think it could have been more felted, but my washing machine was playing up and didn't want to do any of the really hot washes, so this is just on a normal 40 degree long wash, which seems to have worked reasonably well. I'm blocking it over a number of video cases (about 9 of them, which seems to be about the right fit).

So now I have to buy some plastic canvas for the back, front and bottom. Then I want some flashy-looking lining (one of those chinese-y looking brocades I think - it'll go with the rather chinese red colouring). Also some handles, and some eyelets - I quite like the idea of some of that silky looking heavy cord you get for posh upholstery and curtain tie-backs - and possibly some knob things to protect the bottom (don't know what they're really called, but I'll know them if I see them), and a jewelled button for the tab closure. So that'll be my shopping list next time I venture into Maidstone.

Meanwhile, a frenzied moebius scarf modelled by Emily (yes, she always looks that exhausted at 7.30 in the morning). This took 2 balls of Sirdar Frenzy, I cast on 85 stitches initially on 7mm needles (where the recommended needle is 8mm) and knitted till I ran out of yarn. The slightly smaller needle size gives a nice dense (but not too stiff) fabric, and though I think it's a little big on Emily, this gives a nice fit for a grown-up who actually wants to keep their neck warm in winter. Think this size would work well in any reasonably long-haired (1 inch or so) eyelash/fur yarn. It's also a nice quick knit, so lots of instant gratification! Must go and dig the Sirdar Illusion out of the loft, have manged to put this off so far, but really I keep on mentioning it, and it still hasn't happened ...

A few small projects ....

I've spent some time this week experimenting further with moebius scarves. Holly's modelling the one in Sirdar Firefly on the left (100 stitches cast on on 6mm circs), and Emily has bagged the dark green tweedy one (72 stitches cast on, same size needles) with matching beret on the right (knitted in Wendy Aran with Wool) for herself. I'm not entirely happy with the version in firefly, the drape's OK, but it's not really heavy enough, maybe it should have been used doubled. I have yet to try it in Sirdar Illusion which I think will give the effect I want, and I think I may also try it in a novelty yarn - the Sirdar Frenzy from my Simply Knitting prize might be quite fun. One of the good things about these scarves is that they only use 50-100 grams of yarn each, and so they are ideal for stash-busting, as well as being quick enough to experiment with.

I've also managed to knit a beanie hat that James wasn't embarrassed to be seen in. He says it makes him look like Craig David, which I seriously doubt - possibly his colouring has something to do with it - but I decided not to argue with him (which is called "being a tactful mother"). Unfortunately the camera batteries picked that exact moment to die, so you'll have to wait for a photo to see for yourselves.

Some time ago, you might remember that I mentioned some yarn in my stash from the long since defunct Yarn Store (just off Carnaby Street). I've had this yarn for over 25 years (so it's one of the very oldest yarns in my possession), as far as I can remember, but I'm pleased to report that I have finally found out what it wants to be. I think I bought it originally with the idea of using in random stripes with black chenille on a sleeveless top for the boyfriend at that time - and before you all say "eeewwww!", you will have to remember that this was the early 80s, and I was probably thinking New Romantic thoughts ... have I ever mentioned that I used to be a Blitz Kid?. No matter, the top never happened, that boyfriend is long gone, and I still have the yarn - 3 skeins of it, and it's just about enough to make a felted 'booga' bag. I have to say that previously I've not really been able to see the point of felting - to me, it's a bit like cutting up new fabric to make patchwork - but this really is going to be the ideal yarn to do it in. It's pure wool, spun lopi style, and plied with a black thread binder with little gold lurex 'bullions' at intervals, and it's really far too harsh to wear either in a garment or scarf, also I saw Hazel's felted bags at Maidstone Knitters meeting last weekend - so I think I just have to have a go too. The yarn-striping is pooling on the main part of the bag, but it's doing it in quite an interesting diagonal lightning-like stripe across the back and front of the bag, so I'm not going to worry about it for the moment, and see if I can keep it going all the way up the bag (so far, it's spiralling interestingly up around the bag).

Tubey? - haven't done much with it this week, 2 circs magic loop is quite slow and irritating, although it works beautifully, as far as not getting a slight ladder where the needles change over is concerned (it's a bit like knitting with an octopus though). I think, however, that if I ever make this jumper again, I wouldn't bother with knitting the sleeves circular. I'd prefer to knit it flat, and do a mattress stitch seam instead.

Have found another terrific wool shop, thanks to Amanda, who mentioned the Wool Pen at Singleton on the UKHandknitters list some time ago. Very nice shop, good selection and range of yarns, and a really friendly lady running it. They're well worth checking out if you're in the Ashford area, and they also have a web-site. Bought a few yarns for experimenting with further (decided to make that day my Stashalong day off!), and photos of these to follow.

Round the twist ...

This pretty (and almost unphotographable) stuff is Louisa Harding 'Glisten' (93 yards to 50g, 97% nylon 3% polyester). Bought a couple of balls in Curtain Scene in Sevenoaks on Friday, it's quite expensive at nearly £8 a ball, but it has a nice weight to it when knitted up, and the little sparkles are very pretty, and for scarf knitting I don't mind buying more expensive stuff.

Here's what I made it into - a moebius scarf. I made up this pattern, but it's pretty similar to the one in the last Simply Knitting, just that I made it a bit larger (100 stitches cast on instead of 80), and I used the method where you knit several rows back and forth, before twisting and joining, then continued knitting for a lot more rounds on the doubled number of stitches. This leaves you a tiny seam in the middle of the strip, but isn't quite so hard on the hands ...


I'm now trying it in Sirdar Firefly, but given the nature of the yarn, I'm sticking to garter stitch only (and of course because it's circular, that's 1 row knit, 1 row purl). I think this design will work in any of the 'heavy' silky type yarns - funny how they feel heavier than a wool yarn of the same yardage to weight ratio, isn't it? - so I think that yarns like Sirdar Illusion would also be a good candidate for this. (Oooh look, there's some of that in the stash, thanks to the trip to Olympia in March - how convenient!)

Stashalong day off (from April), an FO and WIP

The completed fichu from the article by Meg Swansen in the current issue of Vogue Knitting, shown here in the process of pinning it out for wet blocking. I used one ball of ggh Soft Kid for this, and when it ran out (about an inch shorter than I wanted it) I finished the final few rows in Kidsilk Haze, which turned out to be a pretty close match for the ggh.





Some pics of what I bought on my recent Stashalong day off at the end of April. As these are mainly yarns I hadn't tried before, I bought them in scarf-sized quantities, which I've found to be much more fun than knitting tension squares. Shown in the 2 pictures, are several balls of Laines du Nord Kiddy Print (tried doing the fichu in one of these, like the mohair, but didn't like the colour effect - too splotchy - so these will probably be made into simple scarves, see my post on hair-sticks), ggh Mystik (in purple and tomato red), ggh Illusion (all of these were from Loop in Islington), Gedifra Soffice and Gedifra Fiocco (this is similar to Fiocco Oro, but without the Oro bit) - and both of these came from Liberty's. In addition, my sister kindly donated enough Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran to make Tubey, for my birthday

Work in progress - Tubey from Knitty. I seem to have got the idea (finally!) of how the 2 circs magic loop method works - and although it's a little bit slow, at least I don't feel like I'm trying to knit with a hedgehog. I am making some changes to the original pattern. The sleeves are being worked in the main 3x1 rib pattern (hope this should take care of the slightly flabby upper arm problem!) to about 3 inches below the elbow. I then plan to taper some of the ribs down to 1 stitch wide (so some decreasing to do), and will then change to 1x1 rib for the final part. I need to find out how to do tubular (sewn) cast-off, and this is an ideal project to try it on. (Fortunately, the Vogue Knitting encyclopaedia I picked up the other day seems to have some good diagrams for this). I also plan to use tubular cast-on (it's in Montse Stanley's book, cast on 1 k-wise, cast on 1 p-wise, repeat for number of stitches needed, and then work 2 rows in k1, yf, slip 1, yb) for the main body, and finish the bottom in 1 or 2 rows of 1x1 rib, and tubular cast off as for the sleeves. On the main body, I am going to use these lovely purple yarns from Texere, knitted in with the main yarn.

The good thing about gardening leave ...

... the freedom to do things you need to do, when you feel like doing them.

We ran out of printer paper yesterday, so a quick trip to Tonbridge this morning to replenish supplies (might as well make the most of the remaining 10 days or so of my train season ticket), and while I was there, did a number of other bits & pieces that I could probably have done at the weekend (but didn't), including checking out all the local charity (thrift) shops. A useful haul included a copy of the Vogue Knitting book for £2.50 (bargain!) and some replacement net curtains for £1, which I needed for our garage window (to prevent people being able to see what we've got stashed in there) - the current one is completely beyond repair, and I noticed a new tear in it yesterday.

During the hunt for net curtains, a lady in one shop suggested Beale's which is a small department store next to Sainsbury's, mainly specialises in ladies clothes and accessories (for weddings and the like!), kitchen stuff , and small soft furninshing things, but to my surprise they've just opened a small wool and crafts department (currently stocking Rowan, RYC and Patons), also knitting needles (aluminium & bamboo) and crochet hooks (all by Prym, which I think is the same as Inox?), DMC embroidery threads and Zweigart fabrics, sewing thread and other bits and pieces (stamps, ink, scrapbook-y stuff). As I am virtuously sticking to the yarn diet, I didn't buy anything today, but thought other Kent knitters would like to know. Additionally, the little art shop at Quarry Hill Parade in Tonbridge (Cross's, I think it's called) is stocking Sirdar. What on earth is going on, can't be that this knitting thing is catching on, surely? :)

Am working on Tubey from Knitty though I plan to make some slight changes to it, as I don't really like bell sleeves flapping round my wrists. My sister kindly obtained the requisite amount of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in black, and I have a packet of yarn samples (about 3 yards of 15 different fancy yarns) from Texere in purple shades, which I plan to knit in with the main yarn at intervals on the main body, rather than doing either a plain or striped version. Cast on for the sleeves last night, yarn feels very nice to use, though I have a horrible suspicion that it pills like hell ...

Thank you to everyone who left kind messages over the last few days, I'm very touched that you did. Currently feeling OK, though not sleeping especially well, still generally feeling optimistic, and I hope that's a good sign.

Things you'd really rather not be doing today ...

... like having to go to the Citizen's Advice Bureau, because it's very likely that I will be made redundant in four weeks time, updating my CV, ringing round job agencies. Deep joy ...