Thoughts on knitting

Alright.  So I'm pretty sure any Tom, Dick or Harry out there who wants to knit, can.  But this post isn't about them.  It's about me.  And learning to knit.

I forgot how I learnt to knit. My mum must've shown me, but I don't recall any extensive lessons or anything. By learning, I mean I learnt how to cast on and garter stitch.  And the only things I ever knit were scarves made with the most frightful acrylic yarn that ended up being all kinds of wrong.  Before my current foray into knitting, the last time I delved into it was 7ish years ago.  There was a bit of a rage going round of knitting scarves out of that disgusting feather yarn.  Uggh. 

I've always liked the idea of knitting.  But always found it so so difficult.  My brain didn't really compute why this was the case.  I've always been a bit of a crafty lass, with cross stitching and sewing and various things involving glue, felt and polyfill.  But knitting was just so hard.  SO MANY LOOPS.  So very fiddly.  Stitches so easily dropped, and not so easily found.  And it's so so slow.  So slow.  And it made my fingers hurt.  Those needles were so pointy.

Fast forward to learning to crochet.  I taught myself from a book and online videos, and picked it up like a fish to water.  I instantly loved it.  It gave me everything I ever wanted from knitting, and more. 

But now, I feel I've gone as far as I can with my beloved crochet.  Oh there's still lots more I want to make, but I just don't feel challenged anymore.  And I don't find it particularly versatile, and crochet garments just don't do it from me.  Also I started feeling this enormous pressure to make all the lovely things I kept seeing out there in blog land.  Knitters outnumber us crocheters, so I really felt the odds were not in my favour (hehe Hunger Games references work everywhere!).

My crocheted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  Proof that I am a crochet master.

Enter my self imposed challenge:  Learn to knit properly.   I thought, surely it must have some similarities to crochet, and I can crochet like the wind!  So I found myself a couple of projects that I thought I could do, and do you know what, I did them!

Knitting project 1:  Different Lines, and 2:  Hitchhiker, proof that I can garter with the best of them.

And you know what else?  I feel like I need more of a challenge!!  I thought the knitting learning curve was super steep, and that I would need to work my way up to it.  That just made me *snore*.  So I thought, F*** IT!  I'm going to give something awesome a go.

LOOK WHAT I DID!!

Are you impressed?  I am bloody over the moon with this little test piece.  Moss stitch (ok, not that impressive).  Yarn overs (oooOOOooo).  CABLES (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).   I still can't believe I did it.  I feel like Dr Frankenstein.  Look at what I have created!!

Aaaannnnddd I blocked it.  No idea if I blocked it correctly, I didn't want to stretch it out like I would lacy corchet, it didn't feel right. 

The pattern is Umaro and before I purchased it I studied other people's projects very closely.  It's just so beautiful, do I dare try? 

Now I'm starting to understand what a lot of my problems with knitting have been.  I wasn't holding the yarn properly, and this meant I had no control over the yarn or my tension.  I was using disgusting yarn and the wrong needles  (I acutally don't mind crocheting with acrylic yarn, but wow it is not fun to knit with.  I never knew the yarn could make such a difference!).  I've discovered that I love knitting with bulky yarn.  I used some random bulky yarn I had in my stash.  And I knit that sucker up SUPER quickly.  Well, it took me a couple of hours - but to me it was so much new stuff and I had to follow the chart, so the time flew. 

So, the moral of the story?  I'm becoming a knitter.  I don't think of myself as a proper knitter yet.  I read these posts (eg 1 and 2) where knitters patiently frog their work over and over again to get it right, and I cannot see myself doing that.  But I can see myself hunkering down with some pointy sticks to attempt to make something beautiful!  I'm going to do a few chunky yarn projects first, and then see where that takes me. 

Stay tuned!! (if I haven't already bored you to tears)

Caturday XII

Welcome to this week's edition of Caturday, the day where I go to the temple of cuteness to workship The Kitten in all her cute glory, and invite you to do the same with your kitties!

Today:  My cat likes to hide in boxes.  And bags, which I will feature another day.  It's so cute, the way she instantly spies a new box.  You can see the need in her eyes to jump in and explore.  Its like hurry-up-and-remove-your-groceries-or-whatever-and-get-out-of-my-way-i-need-to-be-in-that-box!!

Exhibit A:  hanging out in the empty passionfruit soft drink box.  The Kitten is nothing if not classy.

And today's topic, Kitties in Literature

One of my favorite books as a child was My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes.  

via

The premise was simple enough.  The author's cat liked to hide in boxes, and the author's cat is compared to other cats, who do not necessarily like to hide in boxes.  Riveting stuff.  It had very cool art and also cool rhymes. 


I love that fat one. via

Got some cool kitty related things to share?  Please fill in the Mr Linky below!

Ripple Baby Beanie Pattern

I made this hat to match, and was inspired by, this vintage baby set.  The set has a bonet, but I don't think bonets are very versatile and wanted a beanie instead.  I made this beanie as part of a layette, which I blogged here.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that I actually don't have any babies, so I can't say definitively if this fits, but I use this very helpful website as a guide. 

The finished hat shown below measured 12" in circumference and was 7 " long, allowing the rim to be turned up.  Because I turned every row, there is no 'wrong' side to the rim.  It came out good and stretchy too, so should fit bub for a little while.

Ripple Baby Beanie

Materials
Yarn:  Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4ply baby wool (though any 4 ply should do)
Hook:  3mm

I use UK terms, but have inluded US terms in parenthesis.

Additionally, I have included instructions on how to give this hat the ridged effect to match the cardigan in the set.   If you don't want the ridged effect, don't turn your work, but continue in a spiral.  This will mean that your finished hat will not be reverseable, and your rim will show the wrong side of the crochet.

I do not turn the work until row 5, but you could turn before if desired. 

To start:  ch 4 and join to form a loop.
Round 1:  ch 3 (counts as tr(dc) here and throughout),  13 tr(dc) into loop, join with sl st [14 st].
Round 2:  ch 3, *sk 1 st, 5 tr(dc) in next st**, repeat from * to **, 4 tr(dc) into same st as starting ch 3, join with sl st.
Round 3:  sl st across one st, ch 3, *tr(dc), tr(dc) 5 into next st, tr(dc), sk 2 st**, repeat from * to **, sl st into 3rd ch of beginning ch 3 to join.
Round 4:  sl st across one st, ch 3, *2 tr(dc), tr(dc) 5 into next st, 2 tr(dc), sk 2 st**, repeat from * to **, sl st into 3rd ch of beginning ch 3 to join.
Round 5:  turn, sl st across two sts, sl st across to next st in blo, ch 3, *3 tr(dc) blo, tr(dc) 5 into next st, 3 tr(dc) blo, sk 2 st**, repeat from * to **, sl st into 3rd ch of beginning ch 3 to join.

Can you see the pattern?  Essentially you want 5 tr(dc) in the middle tr of the 5 tr(dc) of the row below, tr(dc) in all other sts and always skipping two st on top of the 2 sts skipped in the previous row.  You could make this hat to fit any head by continuing this way to your desired size.

Round 6:  turn, sl st across two sts, sl st across to next st in blo, ch 3, *4 tr(dc) blo, tr(dc) 5 3 into next st, 4 tr(dc) blo, sk 2 st**, repeat from * to **, sl st into 3rd ch of beginning ch 3 to join.
Round 7-19:  repeat round 6.
End off, weave in ends.

Please let me know if you have any issues with the pattern, and I would love to see your FOs should you make your own!

Link up your projects with the pattern on ravelry here!!

**Update 4/9/12:  correction made to pattern (see red text above)

WIP: Seeing Green

There was no planning whatsover in the series of WIPs I have for your perusal today.  What could it all mean (hehe chryoprase.  I'd never looked it up before but I knew all the trolls on the discworld were named afeter geological things. hehehehehehe)??  Ahem.  Well, green...

Green is the color of nature, fertility, life. Grass green is the most restful color. Green symbolizes self-respect and well being. Green is the color of balance. It also means learning, growth and harmony. Green is a safe color, if you don't know what color to use anywhere use green.

Hmm.  Alright.  Check out my projects and tell me if you think they are safe, harmonious or balanced??

A new project!  I've been trying not to buy anymore yarn, or start anymore projects, but its so goshdarn hard!!  wwwwaaaahhhhh STOP JUDGING ME K??  Anyways, after finishing a mammoth project last week, I think it's ok to mix it up a bit with something small.  I cast on a garter stitch hat on Sunday using some bulky Pander Amber, it's purdy eh?  I had the sudden urge to make a bunch of colourful hats for the niecicles so I bought this yarn.  

Ok, so I wanted something a bit more challenging than garter, but you must admit, nothing looks better in close up!

My Spongey Scarf.  How do I love thee?  Let me not count the ways because I really don't.  Ok I'm being harsh, but this yarn is very difficult for a newbie to work with.  It is soft though, I imagine it will be like having some sort of green furry animal wrapped around my neck, an idea which I find quite appealing.  I'm finding it easeir than I did at the start, which I think I have my new bamboo needles to thank for, but I just want this one over with. (wow I have blogged about this one 4 times.  It's a one skein scarf!  That seems a bit excessive.  I promise only one more post about this one - when it's finished!)

I dunno, I can't think of anything funny to say.  Just look at my knitting, k?

The Blissful Flowers Shawl.  Oh poor little shawl, you were kinda finished, but you just turned out too small.  Why did you do this to me little shawl, when you were supposed to be a birthday present for my Crochet Biatch Ange back in May.  You've made me look like an absolute ho little shawl, and for that you will be punished, by being subject to my miraculous crochet skills whereby I add two more rows of flowers to you ex post facto.  TAKE THAT!  (Sorry for the delay Ange!!)

Why oh why will you not photograph true to your colour?  Stop being so difficult!!

I haven't done much reading lately.  I do that, I go through a period where I must always have a book on the go, then I go off reading for a while.  I tried reading one of Cherie Priest's steampunk zombie books, which you'd think would be awesome right, but found it super boring.  So much potential, so poorly executed.  And I generally stick it out with anything!!

Instead, I've gone back to the tried and true Pratchett, and am kicking off reading all the witch books with Equal Rites.  It's read by Celia Imrie, who I think is my favourite Pratchett-reader yet!  Her Granny is devine, and I love how Esk sounds like a little girl.  And what a great book it is too!  I always forget how much I love every single Pratchett book when it's been so long between readings <3

Why have I included a picture of Angelina Jolie in a badly photoshopped witch's hat rather than a picture of the cover?   I dunno, Google told me to (via)



-Linking to-

WIP Wednesday (Tami's Amis)

WIP Wednesday (Ambassador Crochet)

Yarn Along (Small Things)
Keep Calm and Craft On {Crafting on} (Frontier Dreams)

***CATURDAY PLUG***

Just a reminder, every Saturday is Caturday at My Grandmotherly Ways, meaning I post awesome pictures of The Kitten maybe some other feline related stuff, and invite you to partcipate by linking up to a post about your feline friend! 

May Movies

I watch a LOT of movies.  Time and again I've asked myself 'should I blog about them?'  The answer is generally no, because, who cares amiright?
But then I saw Kim's post about the movies she enjoyed in April (and now May) and I thought, surely it wouldn't be too boring if I did a movie post once a month would it?  So, I am unashamedly blogging about the movies I've seen in May!  M=seen at the movies, H=watched at home.

Beauty and the Beast, re-release in 3D. (M)
A wonderful trip into nostalgia.  Kids these days just don't get quality animated movies like we did.  The 3D actually looked really good on this!  Apparently Disney are releasing one of the classics in 3D every year.  I'm psyched!

My face, when I watch a Disney movie (via)

The Five Year Engagement (M)
I went in expecting a plain vanilla romantic comedy, and was pleasantly surprised by this often crude and offbeat jaunt.  Written by Jason Segal, so no wonder it was awesome.

via

The Muppets (H)
A bought me this on Blu-ray the day it came out.  Thoughtful much?  ^_^  So obviously, I had to watch it straight away.  (I blogged about this when I saw it at the movies)  I love it more with each viewing - I've seen it about 5 times now.  Ditto above re Jason Segal.

via

The Muppet Movie (H)
Coming off the high of The Muppets, I wanted to go back where it all began to relive the original Muppet Movie.  It's still amazing, and it hasn't dated at all!  

 Still one of the best movie effects I've ever seen!
 (via [Warning - if you click that link the magic will be explained])

The Avengers (3D) (M)
We saw this for the second time at the movies.  We saw it on opening day (25 April in Aust) and it was just shocking.  People brought babies.  BABIES!!  No offence to the parents out there, but please do not bring your babies to highly anticipated movies on opening day - especially if you cannot control them.  I mean, seriously, it's not a movie for little kids anyway.  It really spoiled the experience for us, and A is a huge comic book nut, so we had to see it again.  We probably would have seen it again in any case, but still.

Mewlnir (via)

Death Warrant (H)
Jean.Claude.Van.Damme.  I'm a late student to action movies of the 80s and early 90s. There are many many I haven't seen.  I'm currently working my way through Van Damme's hits.  The blurb on the back of the DVD really got me pumped "Your ticket to a Van Damme good time"!  How could I refuse?

In Death Warrant, JCVD is an undercover cop, posing as a criminal in a maximum security prison to figure out why a bunch of inmates have mysteriously died.  I wonder what it would have been like seeing these movies at the time they were made.  Would I be laughing my ass off the same way at JCVD's ridiculously high pants?  Would I be cheering with the same intensity every time he spin-kicks a person in the face?  My only criticism of this film was that Van Damme didn't do the splits.  Seriously, that's why I watch these movies!  At least his shirt was ripped off.

Tron: Legacy (H)

Another movie I watched because something else put me in the mood.  This time, Tron Uprising.  Uprising was so amazing and similar to Legacy I had to go back and revisit it.  Legacy is amazing, even though Clu's face creeps me out a bit.  

Speed Racer (H)

This movie.  Seriously, this movie.  I love this movie.  Don't you find, that every once in a while you see a trailer for a movie, and you're like whaaaaat?  I remember seeing the trailers for this movie, and I was like whaaaaat?  And then I saw the movie and it was freaking AMAZING.  I love everything about this movie, and I can watch it over and again.  I'm not really a car-race type person, but this movie is worth watching just for the car races.  I recently got it on Blu-ray just to experience the full blown colourful car-fu explosion of awesomesauce.   This movie didn't do well, which disappoints me (I keep reading really awful reviews.  Some people just can't be pleased! oh wait, I found at least one person who liked it. Some faith in humanity restored).  It's just so much FUN.

Go Speed Gooooo (via)

Men in Black and Men in Black II (H)

Getting in the mood for MIB3 (which I am seeing today!).  How crazy that it's been 10 years since the last one?  Love these movies, Will Smith is just too cool for me.  And I love the wurms.  They steal the show. 

From MIB animated - crazy eh? (via)

Anastasia (H)

I do love my animation.  Here's one of the non-Disney films that I quite like.  I had an urge to watch it so I went out and bought it.  I love hearing familiar voices in different settings - here John Cusack and Meg Ryan.  Lovely storey and music <3

via

Les Miserables (H)

Do you hear the people sing?  Singing the song of angry men?  It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again!   I was listening to the musical soundtrack of the stage show recently when I got the urge to watch this movie. It's an old favourite for many reasons - anything with Liam Neeson is brilliant, and I love Uma Thurman.  I am not looking forward to Anne Hathaway as Fantine in the musical version of this movie coming soon - what do you think? 

via



Ahhh movies...  how do I love thee.  See you next month!! 

Caturday XI

Yo yo yo!  It's Caturday!  The day dedicated to the The Kitten and the ridiculous amount of cuteness she eminates, and invite you to do the same with your kitty! 

Today, photos from the phone!!  The phone is always nearby, it increases my ability to snap The Kitten unawares when she is being cute.   The photos may not be the best quality, but the cuteness is always top notch!

Today's topic:  Kittens in Literature

A walk down memory lane today.  I loved, and still love, the Serendipity books written by Stephen Cosgrove and illustrated by Robyn James.  I'm trying to build up a complete collection of them now.  We had about 5 of them.  Fanny was one of them.   

via

Once you get over the alternate meaning of "fanny" (especially the aussie meaning) the book is lovely!  I really loved these books for the amazing artwork.  And yeah, it's nice they all have a message about being good to each other etc etc, but even as a child I remember thinking it was a bit of wank.  LOL.  But again, the calibre of the illustrations kept me reading and re-reading our limited supply of Serendipity books.

via

If you'd like to join in, please fill in the mister linky below!!

FO: Layette

Who knows what a layette is?  It seems no one that I speak to does!  I think it's old fashioned.  Grandmotherly even.  The Authority tells me it's a US thing.  Anywho, my idea of a layette is:  blanket, matinee jacket (another apparently outdated term), booties and hat.  So that's what I made for a friend of mine.  Her baby girl is due in July.  On my birthday even, how awesome is that?  And you know what my friend said?  "I hope I have a little girl just like you"!!!  Awwwwwww!

So this baby is going to be awesome.  And I thought, awesome baby needs an awesome hand crocheted set, so my awesome friend can tell people, "my awesome friend made these for my awesome baby".  It's all about me really.

I gave this gift to my friend yesterday.  There were tears.  You know you've done something right if you make them cry, a motto I live my life by.  I probably would have cried if I received this layette as a gift too - I'm so so so proud of it so obviously am very excited to show it off to you now!  Many gratuitous photos to follow.

Bah!  The only photo I took with the set showing the whole blanket.  Blurry, but you get the idea.

 I made the cardigan from this set, and picked up some cute buttons from ebay.  They don't exactly match, but they are cute, and isn't that all that really matters?  Ravelled here. 

I didn't like the bonet that went with the set (I don't really see babies wearing bonets), and I couldn't understand what the pattern was on about when it came to the booties, so I didn't make those either.  Instead I made these Mary Jane Booties. I made these very late in the piece, so I feel they're a bit rushed, and they're really only going to fit awesome baby as a newborn.  But cute!  And matching buttons.  Ravelled here. 

I struggled to take a photo of these, but behold - booties!

I had a real dilemma finding a hat pattern to match.  I wanted a beanie because I think they're more versatile.  So, instead I made one up, inspired by the cardigan pattern, and using this size guide to hopefully align with the size of the awesome baby's head.  I'm quite proud of this one, and will be writing out the pattern proper soon.  Ravelled here.

See how it has matching stripes??  and the edge folds up??

And the matching blanket, inspired by the cardigan pattern.  It measures 37" by 31.5", and looked to me like a nice size to wrap around a baby.  It weighs just under 450g.  This is the pièce de résistance (ooOOoo fancy) of the set in my opinion.  It's realllly soft and snuggly, and I think the edging really makes it look professional  (edging inspired by Gillian's edging on her Wool Eater Blanket).  I'll probably write this up as a pattern properly too.  Ravelled here.

10 points if you can spot the embedded cat hairs.

I blocked the blanket in my usual way (soaked in some lukewarm water for an hour or so, then rinsed thoroughly.  Squeeze the excess water out and then roll in a towl to really suck the water out.  Pin to cardboard covered with towels).  

Blocking a bit wobbly, but how often are you going to spread the blanket out and look at the whole thing?  I'm guessing, not very often.

The whole set is made using Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4 Ply.  It's described as 'baby wool' and that's no lie.  It was soft to begin with, but blocking rrrreeeallly made it soften up and gave it beautiful drape.  A little bit splitty, but I used a 3 and 3.5mm hook for all these items, so it might not catch so much with a larger hook.

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Linking up with Tami's Amis FO Fridays, and Fiber Arts Fridays at Wisdom Begins in Wonder.

***CATURDAY PLUG***

Every Saturday is Caturday at My Grandmotherly Ways.  Every Caturday I share a picture or two of The Kitten, and maybe some other feline related stuff.  I include a widget so you can link up with me and participate in Caturday and show us your furbabies!! Hope to see you back here on Caturday!!