Tag Archives: super bulky

Jan22

Almost finished!

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We are at the 22nd of January already, and my January sweater deadline is fast approaching, but I’m going to make it!

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Since my last update, I have finished the yoke (inserting two more short rows near the back of the neck), knitted a ribbed turtleneck (adding stitches for the foldover part to accommodate the bulk and not be too tight), grafted the underarm stitches and started on the cuff hem lining.

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The colour of the lining was dictated by the fullest ball of Stylecraft Special Aran that I had, plus I wanted it to be bright to give the grey sweater a lift. Using two strands of Pomegranate and a US10.5 needle, I picked up stitches on the inner edge of the cuff. Obviously I had to increase, because the gauge is very different from the main part of the sweater, so I made an educated guess and did a Make One after each two stitches picked up. And it worked!

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I still haven’t fastened anything off or woven any ends in. I’ll do that after the second cuff and the bottom hem are done, but before washing and drying.

My Hygge friends are coming over tonight so I will get more knitting time in then. So far today I’ve done some housework and started a new batch of kombucha. I had a brainwave, and realised how much easier my Mondays are if I don’t have to work. I can get the house tidied up, and dinner made and eaten, well before my friends come at 7.30pm. Not so easy if you have to work until 6 or 6.15. So I have changed my scheduling preferences at work to say I am unavailable on Mondays.

I picked up my latest hold at the library this week – Jeremy Poldark, book 3 in the Poldark series – and it’s not a huge tome so I immediately reserved book 4, Warleggan, so I can get that one soon. I also found these…

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I don’t know whether I’ll make any of the projects, but the Arne and Carlos book is just a feast of eye candy! Beautiful colours of yarn and flowers and blankets and toys and the best doll’s house ever. Worth borrowing from the library for sure.

It’s a beautiful day out there, cold and windy of course, but the sun is streaming in. Hmmm, I should probably fit a neighbourhood walk into my afternoon. And while I’m out, I’ll annoy the boys and open some windows perhaps! It helps to keep the humidity down indoors. We had quite a problem with condensation last winter, with the new less-draughty windows.

Better get on then. Hope you have a great day!

 

Mar7

FO: psychedelic hat, WIP: Maypole hat

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Hello everyone. How is it in your corner of the world? We are still entrenched in winter here. We had more fresh snow today. Everyone else is complaining that winter is going on too long but I’m happy as I want to go snowboarding a few more times before the end of the season.

This is the state of my car…

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I did take it through a carwash a month ago, but since then it’s worked hard. Last Saturday ds2 and I headed off to the nearest ski resort for some belated boarding time. If you look carefully, those are icicles hanging off the bottom of my car. The winter wheels are on, which aren’t as sexy as the summer ones with the nice hubcaps. I was certainly grateful for good tires on Saturday, as a very impatient person passed us on a bendy road and absolutely covered my windshield with slush. It only took a second to activate the brakes and wipers, but a moment later and I would have crashed into the back of Mr Impatient as he had to stop for the car in front to turn left. Too close for comfort!

I am currently pro-croche-nating (procrastinating with my crocheted sweater) which means there are subconscious doubts about it. So I made this super bulky hat for some quick Finished Object satisfaction (I may remove the pompom, it takes it too far over the top for my liking).

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Here’s the link to my Ravelry project page if you want more specs.

And there’s another hat in the works. A knitted one, if you can believe it. I was feeling the itch to knit something, and this Euro Baby Maypole yarn had been sitting in my stash since my UK holiday last summer. It’s 100% polyester, and an interesting texture – sort of unspun and with a thread twisted around it.

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The orange, white and blue feels nautical to me. I cast on a random amount of stitches – whatever the tail of the long tail cast on made – but making sure it was an even number so that the 1 x 1 rib worked out. The ribbing was done with US8 (5mm) needle tips on my Knitpicks interchangeables, and the stockinette is being knitted with US9 (5.5mm) tips. I’m getting a gauge of about 4 stitches to the inch, which for a bulky yarn is quite tight, but I like the texture.  I have no specific recipient in mind for this hat. I feel like it is more boy-ish than girl-ish. What do you think?

My Fitbit is telling me that I haven’t even hit 5000 steps today so I should get out for a walk as my target is 10,000 per day. So I’d better sign off here. Talk to you again soon.

 

 

 

 

Dec13

The big freeze

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Yes, Winter Solstice is nearly here and we have been enjoying some delightfully cold temperatures. Last night was predicted to hit minus 17C and tonight is -20C (-4F). I’m sure the furnace is getting a good workout, keeping the house at +15 overnight.

The snow that fell is now ice. We have to drive carefully on the side roads, but the highway is mostly dry now. It was beautifully sunny today, and I enjoyed my weekly piano lesson followed by 20 lengths of the local pool. I also stopped in at work and picked up some mesh wrap in silver and turquoise to add to our Christmas/Solstice/Pagan/whatever tree!

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There’s also a couple of metres of turquoise organza with silver snowflakes on around the base.  Seems like the bottom of the tree could do with a bit of pruning as a couple of branches are looking a little out of place.

I had an enjoyable weekend. Saturday Tai Chi Man and I took the boys out to a vegan restaurant downtown that we’ve never tried before. They are heavy on the faux meats but the food was good. The boys had “burgers” and we had pulled “pork” sandwiches, all with fries. And OMG, I had the BEST hot chocolate complete with whipped coconut cream and a vegan marshmallow on top.

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We followed this up with the movie Moana at the big theatre not far from our house. It was fun and when we came out it was snowing heavily.

Sunday Tai Chi Man and I went to the Holistic Market, a regular gathering of energy workers and vendors, and had some Tesla treatment done. This apparently heals at a cellular level. I certainly noticed some effects, and it took a while to ‘ground’ myself again afterwards.

In the evening, I had the work Christmas dinner to attend. Eating out at a non-vegan restaurant can be tough, not just for finding tasty vegan food  but also from the perspective that I’m surrounded by people eating meat and fish, which I can find disturbing. This time, I made a conscious decision not to let it get to me. I love my group of co-workers – there were 18 of us there Sunday, which is almost all the staff, except for a couple who couldn’t make it. We sat at a long wooden table and I plunked myself down right in the middle of one side. The food was okay – I’m sure this place prides itself on its food, but it’s very meat-centric and expensive. My plate of roasted vegetables was $21!

The managers handed out gift certificates for part of the meal, gift certificates for the store, and gift bags which were totally unexpected and welcome. Mine of course had yarn in it, plus a few other nifty things. My friend across the table received a ball of yarn and a pompom (same kit as the one I used to knit the hat I showed you last time) but she doesn’t knit so she gave them to me. Next day, they were already transformed into this…

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This is my Gio hat pattern, minus the peak, with a crab stitch edging (reverse single crochet).

There is a new WIP in my life and it is a girly Santa hat. The plan is to make it in hot pink Red Heart With Love (crocheted) with a knitted Astrakan brim. The brim is more than half done and then I shall see how easy (or not) it is to crochet along the edge and work the body of the hat up from there.

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Not using a pattern. Just winging it as usual. I can’t believe how much knitting I’ve done in the last couple of weeks. Maybe my knitting mojo is coming back. I did try crocheting the brim but the first row convinced me that knitting it would be easier. It really is impossible to see your stitches with this loopy stuff. But it’s perfect for a Santa hat.

Brrr, I’m feeling a little chilly. Must be the thought of that -20 temperature outside. Stay warm, people! Talk to you again soon.

 

 

Dec1

Two FOs

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I do love those Finished Objects! Quick Finished Objects are even better. Here are two more  that I made – one yesterday and one today.

A garter stitch (yes, it ‘s actually knitting) cowl, made with some obscure Italian garage sale yarn, five strands held together and size 35 (19mm) needles. Ten stitches wide and seamed with a half twist (the twist brings it lower so it doesn’t cover half of my face). This is a selfie taken with wild hair late in the day (I cropped the top of my head where more hair was sticking out).

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I didn’t know who it would be for while I was knitting it, but it dawned on me that one of my co-workers wears this shade of purple all the time and so it is for her. It has been handwashed and is drying out on a towel in my living room.

And this one is from a blog called The Fiber Bug. It’s an apple cardigan!

And this is the Ravelry link.

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Isn’t it cute! Well, I think so anyhow. I used Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK and a 4mm hook. I was aiming to cover a pretty big apple so I did an extra round of increases at the bottom. This is for another co-worker who has apple trees and this apple was one of a box-full that I bought from her.

This isn’t the first time I’ve made something like this. I made one back in 2009, but didn’t follow a pattern that time.

Coat update: one cuff finished, second one started; a few ends woven in today at work. I would have done more at work but I was offered the chance to leave early – the afternoon staff came in and the manager decided they had sufficient coverage to let a couple of us go home. I never say  no to leaving early!!! I’m such a slacker 😉

Time to go and practise my piano pieces. Then I can make more progress on the coat. Have a happy Friday!