A trove of creativity

I realised, as I was writing my recent peek into our day post, that in the previous one I had promised that I would share a cardigan that I had recently finished knitting.  My long blogging break has made me forget the bits and pieces of our lives that I used to share here on a regular basis.  I love to make and create things, mostly things we wear or use, and gifts for friends and family, so I thought I would share not only my cardigan but also some of the other things that have been keeping me busy over the past few weeks.

The cardigan was a labour of love.  I started it way back in the Summer last year, around the time that we booked flights for a holiday in the winter sun, I thought this would be perfect to wear on our holiday.  The cardigan was not finished by then but I did take it with me, it was too hot for knitting so I only added the odd row.  I really enjoyed knitting this cardigan despite the length of time it took, it was one that I picked up and put down in between other projects.    I chose this pattern not only for the design, which I love, I also wanted to improve my knitting skills and it certainly has done that.  I was a bit worried about knitting all that lace, as I have had many disasters trying to knit lace patterns in the past, but I needn't have worried it was so much easier than I thought it would be and I could see where I had made a mistake which I hadn't been able to in the past, all part of the learning.

I have two projects on the needles now, the first is a tunic for Alice.  This pattern goes up to age 10, Alice's current age but she is so tall I was sceptical that it would be long enough, it isn't, I need to add at least 10cm to the length. That is quite a bit of extra knitting, when I got to the end of the first ball of wall and measured my knitting I realised that I had miscalculated the amount of yarn I would need, luckily I was able to buy an extra two balls from the same dye lot, the last two which was a great relief!

The other project on the needles is a cardigan for my nephew, I love this pattern it will be the fourth one of these I have knitted.  This a great knit for when we are watching something together as a family, which we often do , I can knit it in the dark/poor light.  This is knitting up so much quicker than the tunic as it is a much smaller size and it is all stocking stitch.

Over my years of knitting I have amassed quite a collection of needles.  I am not a fan of sewing up seams so I choose patterns that are knit in the round, these patterns often make use of double pointed needles or dpns.  Six years ago I made a case to keep them in but I continued to add to my collection and out grew this needle roll some time ago.  I have been meaning to make a bigger one for a long time, every time I visited my local sewing shop I would be reminded that I had once again forgotten to work out the measurements.  On a recent visit they had an offer on some end of roll pieces of fabric so I bought a piece hoping that I could make it work, lucky for me it did.  I hand embroidered the numbers on before I sewed it up, now I shouldn't need to use my needle gauge to find the needles for a project, provided I put them back in the right place of course!

We have been making little gnomes this year as each season has come along, they sit on our seasonal table. Earlier this year some dear friends of ours moved away to another country and I wanted to make them something that was small enough to be posted and would be enjoyed by the whole family.  So I made them a full set, one for each season, I hope that when they place each gnome on their seasonal table they will be reminded of all the lovely time we spent together, a  little piece of us in their new home.

What have you been making or creating recently?

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Lace Cardigan Pattern here
Tunic Pattern here
Cardigan pattern here
Needle Roll Tutorial here
Peg Doll inspiration here

Finished

I finally got round to finishing off two knitting projects that had been languishing in a drawer needing some attention.  It is so much easier to cast on a new one and exciting than to weave in ends, block and sew up seams.  After taking stock of how many Christmas projects I still had on my to do list I realised that if I did not pay some attention to my two large projects that I had finished knitting they would be ignored until January.  If I left them that long then, in the case of the jumper for my youngest, it wouldn't fit anymore!

Both these projects were my first attempt at cables.  I have long loved the patterns you can create with cabling one of my favourite jumpers is one that my granny knitted me for my eighteenth birthday, a traditional aran jumper.  I had always thought that knitting cables would be too difficult for me, that I would never reach those heady heights how wrong I was.

The purple jumper is taken from the book Easy Kids Knits by Claire Montgomerie and is my sixth project from this book.  As with all knitting patterns they are a matter of personal taste and this book is one I love.  I had to adapt the pattern slightly to get it to fit.  The body and sleeves are knitted to the wearers length but at the raglan opening you are meant to sew the buttons straight onto the raglan shaping on the sleeves without making a button band.  When I tried this garment on for size there was a gap between the buttonhole band and the top of the sleeve.  I had blocked it quite hard as I was worried it would not fit in this area but despite being a good fit everywhere else it was to small around the shoulders.  Luckily for me the addition of a button band on the edge of each sleeve fixed that and it now fits.  I am hoping that my daughter does no grow any wider in this area over the coming months as it won't fit her, if she doesn't then it may even fit her next autumn and winter too as the sleeves and the body have some growing room!  You can read my Ravelry notes here.

The green cardigan is a pattern from Tin Can Knits which you can buy on Ravelry.  The cables on this project were more complicated as was the structure.  The jumper was knitted as pieces which were sewn together, this cardigan was knitted in the round joining the sleeves in and then completing the cabled yoke.  This was not a portable project especially towards the end!  I love the way the cables create a beautiful yoke, this is defiantly a shape which suits me and a style I like.  The sizing of this pattern means that I could make them for my children too which I would love to one day.  Again this pattern was written so that you knit the sleeves and body to fit the wearer, I find that garments I buy are too long in the body and too short in the arms it is great to have a cardigan that covers my wrists!  I bought some beautiful blue yarn in the same sale that I bought the purple yarn used to knit the jumper I am really tempted to use it to knit another one of these for myself!  You can read my Ravelry notes here.

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Knitting

The Antler Cardigan is nearly off the needles.  I just need to knit the sleeve and body stitches together.  There are also many ends to weave in, buttons to choose and sew on and then blocking.  I ordered a huge amount of yarn online this week in preparation for Christmas knitting I can see that casting on these new projects is going to take over finishing off!  I have also been working on a Sweater for my youngest, I have knitted up the back and have now cast on the front.  This pattern is in this lovely book, this is the fifth project I have knitted from it.  Most of my recent projects have been knitted in one or in the round it feels strange to be knitting up the individual pieces to sew up at the end. The yarn I am using is very old, judging by the label, I bought it from a friend of a friend who is emigrating and selling all their crafting stuff before they go they must have had this yarn sitting around for a long time. A quick look on the Internet has revealed that the factory closed in 1990.  This is the only project I really have on the needles now but I am sure that the new bag of yarn will lure me to cast something else on before the week is up!

I have read very little this week.  I was at the stage of the story where the characters and the plot were being developed and it was dragging on a little but now it has moved on and become mysterious and exciting as I am unsure where the plot will go.  I always find a book hard to put down when it reaches this stage I just need to find the time to read and knit!  Nearly forgot to say the book is The Devil's Acre by Matthew Plampin.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress and Ginny for this weeks yarn along.

Knitting

This week, largely due to a long car journey, I have finished the cable section of my cardigan and am now working on the rib around the neckband.  I then have two button bands to knit, the underarm seems to close and a load of ends to weave in.  I am planning lots more projects in my head whilst I knit these last few rows.  I have loved this pattern and hope that the cardigan is a good fit when complete, it will get lots of wear if it does in our cold autumns and winters.  I may knit one up for my youngest too as the pattern is from baby to adult.

Despite reading lots two weeks ago this week I have barely read a chapter.  We have been busy elsewhere, outside enjoying the continuing sunshine we so rarely get in the summer.  I am falling into bed tired out rather than reading a chapter or two before sleep.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress and Ginny for Yarn Along a sharing of knitting and reading.

Knitting

Sometimes when you start knitting a project, even though you love the photos that entice you to knit, you fail to see that to complete it you need to knit and purl many long rows.  The body of this cardigan is 149 stitches of knit and purl for 16 inches, although I knit 15 as this will make for a better fit for me, which I thought I would never complete.  I have taken this with me everywhere this week even if I had only time to knit a row or two it has made the knitting, somehow, much easier to complete, I am a very slow purl knitter.  I had also forgotten that 15 inches of aran weight wool on 5mm needles knits up a lot quicker than using 4 ply on 3mm.  I have now joined the sleeves and have just started the first cable row.  I am really enjoying this project now.

I have finished reading the book I shared last week, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier which I loved.  It is the fictional account of the story behind the painting of the picture with the same name.  It is written from the perspective of the girl in the picture who is a maid in the house of the painter, Vermeer.  It is a wonderful book, one that I read in only a few days.  I have also read Why be Happy When you Could be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson this week.  This is an autobiographical story of the authors upbringing in Northern England in the 60s and 70s, adopted as a young baby this is a harrowing and honest story of her life with her adopted parents and the years hence including her search for her birth mother.  It is a story of hardship, no love, religion and emotional neglect despite this it is a wonderful read, one that I throughly recommend I will be seeking out other books by this author.  I am now reading a completely different book, The Devil's Acre by Matthew Plampin, set in Victorian England it is a story of intrigue, violence and mystery.  I am a few pages in and am enjoying it thus far.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress.

Knitting

I have been knitting all sorts this week but mostly working on my Antler Cardigan which I really want to get finished before I start on Christmas knitting.  I know that if I don't it will not get finished until spring when it will be more than likely too warm to wear it!  I am nearing the end of the second sleeve, the body is progressing well too but still has a fair way to go.  It is actually great knit to do whilst out and about as the pieces are not too big at the moment and the yarn balls so big, 100g, that I do not need to lug extra yarn about.

I shared a hat I was working on a while ago and was playing the knitting game of yardage chicken, when you are not quite sure if you are going to have enough yarn to complete a project.  I did run out a few rows from the end!  So I searched on Ravelry to find someone who had finished a project using the same yarn who might have a bit left.  Well one lovely knitted replied to my messages and sent me  enough yarn to finish the hat, hurray.  Now that the hat is finished the weather has warmed up and I have yet to wear it, I knitted this for myself to wear on the cooler summer days and evenings, I am sure it will get used in the Spring and Autumn.

I have started a new book this week and can't put it down.  Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is a work of fiction based on the painting of the same name by Vermeer.  The story is told through the eyes of the 'girl' a sixteen year old who becomes a maid in the painters household.  I am a few chapters in and am finding it a wonderful read.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress and Ginny for sharing of knitting and reading.