Tag Archives: Pebble Beach Baktus

Nov23

WIP update

Posted on by
Standard
WIP update

Hi all, how’s it going? It’s another wet grey day here but that doesn’t get me down. I love every season and long dark evenings are just more of an excuse to knit and crochet!

I’ll be heading out shortly for a gym class but I thought I’d update the blog before I went. The Pebble Beach Baktus shawlette is done, done, DONE! It took about a month but only because I was distracting myself with other projects at the same time. It’s currently sitting on the blocking mats. I steamed the lace edging without too much stretching, just to minimise the curl. Still haven’t decided whether to keep this one or give it away. Maybe I will tuck it away with a couple of other FOs I have, just in case I find a worthy recipient.

I have started a new project, a knitted hat, at the request of a co-worker. She has been asked for a messy bun hat by a family member and doesn’t know where to buy one, so commissioned me to make one. She bought the yarn and is paying me a little, and I cast on last night.

FullSizeRender (20)

This yarn is Dynasty Cake Twist, a Caron Cakes knockoff that is our in-store brand at Fabricland. Same fibre content as the Caron too, 80% acrylic and 20% wool. I found this Eyelet Messy Bun pattern on Ravelry last night. It’s easy, with a bit of interest added with the eyelet bands. I cast on fewer stitches as I didn’t do a gauge swatch (gasp!) and thought I might knit more loosely than the pattern gauge suggested.

So far, so good!

Also, an FO!

FullSizeRender (19)

A retirement gift for a co-worker – the pattern is Slipper Boots which I made for myself last year with two strands of teal. This time I used the same yarn (Red Heart with Love), doubled, one strand of black and one of Blue Hawaii. She seemed to like them so hopefully they will get some wear.

Well, must dash. Have a great day!

Nov16

In which I prove my blog name

Posted on by
Standard

I coined the name Nicolaknits when I started this blog and it was an apt name. I was mostly knitting back then. However  I then went through a phase of almost 100% crochet and I was wondering if I’d ever get my knitting mojo back.

Seems I have!

The two projects I’ve been working on the last couple of weeks have been knitted. The Pebble Beach Baktus was put aside for a week or so to get some mittens made for a co-worker, but today I picked it back up again and made good progress (of course I’m on the “downhill” side now, so it will go faster as the decreases make my rows shorter and shorter).

It will need blocking at the end but I do love the look of squishy yarn in garter and cables. I cut off the last bit of brown at the end of cake #1 and also had to remove the blue at the centre of cake #2 to get to the brown section, but I allowed for that by turning the corner (starting the decreases) well before cake #1 ran out.

The mitten pattern I chose was Minky Mittens. These were made with yarn that my co-worker bought (at my recommendation – I thought the Deborah Norville Wool Naturals yarn would be really warm, especially in the slipstitch pattern).

I knitted the adult medium size and they came out perfectly. The yarn is brown though it looks rather grey in these nighttime shots.

They would look more exciting in more contrasting colours but they will do the job, which is to keep her hands warm when shovelling snow this winter.

What else is new? I took a new class at the gym today. It’s called SST which is a mixture of cardio and weights and gets your whole body sweating. Often, on a Tuesday evening, I’ve been going into yoga and have seen the people leaving the SST class looking like they had a really good workout. So rather than just do my usual solo treadmill/weights workout today, I joined the class and had a really good time. Definitely an experience to repeat.

Then I headed over to a friend’s house to fix a knitting emergency. Wouldn’t it be great to have a decal and some flashing lights to attach to my car so I could go over there with sirens blasting to help her with her scarf!? Anyway, she was stuck. There was a knot in the yarn which she’d knitted past and on the next row it was causing problems. So all that was needed was a bit of tinking (unknitting) a stitch at a time to get to the root of the problem on the previous row. Luckily it was an easy fix and my reputation as a knitting goddess is intact!

Well, I may have done a fitness class this morning but I wouldn’t want to cancel out the benefits by spending the entire rest of the day on the couch. I’ll sign off for now and wish you all happy crafting.

 

 

Nov6

Knitting and snow

Posted on by
Standard
Knitting and snow

FullSizeRender (13)

Two weeks! Haven’t I been a naughty blogger! Time to update you on my WIP. Last time I had a couple of FOs to show you and was stuck as to what to make next. Well, I made a decision, and I’m using my two cakes of Bernat Pop! in Birch Bark and Blue to make a shawlette/scarf type thing.

The pattern is here. It’s called the Pebble Beach Baktus and it’s an easy knit, mostly garter stitch but with a lace and bobble border that adds just a little interest while still being something I can knit while watching Netflix! It’s funny how technology has taken over our lives (well, sad too, in a way) but I can have my laptop open playing a movie or TV series and my iPad open in iBooks with a knitting or crochet pattern at the same time.

I’m just over half way through this. I decided to start on the decreasing half before I ran out of the first cake of yarn, as I am going to have to wind off a little bit of colour at the end of the first cake and the beginning of the next to get the correct colour transition.

It doesn’t look like a lot of progress for two weeks, does it!? But other stuff gets in the way (you know, annoying things like work, and cooking, and housework) plus I decided to knit a quick dishcloth during my Monday night social evening rather than try to keep track of rows and yarnovers and skp’s.

What else is new? Well, I have three tradesmen here today. They are all subcontracted by the same plumbing, heating and air conditioning company. One is replacing taps next to my washer and dryer, and also the outside tap on the other side of the wall to those. One is servicing our furnace. One has been crawling through the insulation in the roof space and is replacing the old, pathetic fan in the en suite bathroom ceiling. I don’t envy these guys. Mostly they are working in a tight space, in our case in an old 1970s house, trying to fix new stuff to old stuff. I know they get paid well, but still, I wouldn’t want their jobs.

IMG_6958

View from my deck today – two trucks out front. And looking in the other directions…

Lots of snow! A few days ago, it snowed solidly for about 24 hours. Then the temperature dropped to well below freezing so it stuck! This is the earliest snowfall we’ve had here since 2001, I believe. And it was a huge dump. We have a few more days of sub-zero to look forward to, and then it’s rising, so it’ll all be melted by the weekend probably.

Tai Chi Man and ds1 fitted both cars with the winter tires on Friday (a day after the snow arrived but he’d mentally scheduled the job for the weekend and the snow caught us out)!

It’s lovely and crisp out there. The sun is doing its best to come out and the light is beautiful.

Thinking of Netflix again, I watched Season 2 of Stranger Things. Definitely enjoyed that. If you haven’t watched it, I recommend it (starting with Season 1 of course).

I worked three days straight, Friday to Sunday, and the weekend was busy busy busy with a flash sale. I’m very glad to have the day at home today. Knowing these guys were going to show up today, but not knowing what time, I was awake at 6.50 (thanks to the time change) and quickly washed and dressed and started cleaning around. My man-boys have not been keeping up with their chore lists. It’s pretty disappointing really. So before I even had a glass of water and a cup of tea I cleaned three bathrooms, cleaned up the kitchen including mopping the floor and scrubbing the stovetop, took out the recycling, put away the laundry etc etc. Not worth vacuuming until the workmen have left.

My body will be pleased to have a rest day from work and workouts. I had a lot of aches and pains over the weekend. A muscle in the top of my right leg keeps giving me a stabbing pain, my right shoulder has been painful again, and my friend, who I went to for some healing touch the other night, has told me I should cut back on heavy lifting that strains the lower back as I have some compression happening in there. Also my neck is always ‘crunchy’ and is not as mobile as I would like. So I will have to be careful not to overdo things at the gym and the store.

Well, that’s probably enough waffling for now. As my bathroom fan guy clatters along in the roof space above my head, I should probably eat a late breakfast!!  Happy Monday to you all!