Stashbusting Bear

I’m following a pattern I found in Yarn Forward Issue 27 from August 2010 on page 28.

It’s called, simply enough, Little Teddy Bear and was designed by Laura Long.

This little softie is meant to be about 19cm (7.5 inches) tall.

From a tangle of various DK yarns……..

It’s not looking much like a bear yet.

Do you see a bear yet?.......No? Me neither.

But stay tuned and there shall be a cuddly bear.

 

 

A Tee for All Occasions

Since giving up on ever completing Minerets, my stash has been home to some utterly lovely red Smoothie yarn.

In my recent trawl through my knitting magazines for a scarf patterns, I rediscovered Debbie O’Neill’s A Tee for all Occasions on page 82 of Yarn Forward Issue 18.

Yarn Forward October (2009 I think) Issue 18

As is usual I’m not using the recommended yarn or the suggested colourway.

A raglan tee knit from the top down

Progress as of around midnight last night

I’m enjoying how quickly this project is starting to resemble an actual garment.

 

Project the 11th Progress

The fabric is curling a newborn. This will abate once the final project has been blocked [prays to any and all knitterly fates to play nice & not make a liar of me on this point.]

This isn’t the colourway I first  opted for  in the store. This is the colourway that there were enough skeins of for me to make the entire project with.

Regardless of the fact that I knit, I am not a patient person, especially when I want to cast on for a project. I’ll order a more cheerful colourway for the next incarnation of this project.

So far so good with it, apart from the fact that Tivoli Ocean, being loosely plied, tends to unravel at the merest touch. It also has a halo (fibres which radiate out from the central strand), so it tends to tangle if it needs to be tinked.

I don’t recommend this yarn for newbies or for those with low tolerance for splitty yarns. This yarn will irk you beyond all that is seemly and cause otherwise mild mannered denizens to turn the air around them blue with choice swear words [......or maybe that's just me......]

At this point I’ve reached sleeve shaping. This is a top down garment so I’ll be able to try it on as I go & make appropriate adjustments [to the garment....not me :p ]

For everyone sitting exams at the moment, good luck, keep calm, get enough sleep, eat enough & remember, you’re awesome no matter what grades you get.

 

Project the 11th

It won’t surprise you to learn that impending exams have increased my knitterly productivity, and add to that a smidge of being newly single, and presto,  multiple works-in-progress.

 

Tivoli Ocean - Knits to Aran Shade 163 Dye Lot 3

 

Yarn Forward Issue 26 July 2010

 

Top – Down Cardigan by Kate Atherley

I spotted this a while back & was urged to cast it on in my size as apparently it will suit me.

The model and I share only those characteristics common to most humans of the estrogen based persuasion.

Two legs, two arms, a head…..the basics. Whether any of those basics share dimensions remains to be seen.

 

I shall knit the garment with an open mind.

 

If it doesn’t suit me I can always start making friends with women whose dimensions are more like those of the model

 

 

 

Project the Fourth

While it’s all very well to have a work-in-progress on the needles that will lead to a new garment….it’s also lovely to have quick knits on the go too.

So I introduce you to Project the Fourth:

Breakfast Set by Juliet Bernard

I’ve been meaning to whip up a tea cosy for ages but hadn’t found a pattern that I liked. This pattern is from Yarn Forward Issue 7 from December of way back. I <3 my collection of knitting magazines

Yarn Forward Issue 7

So far I have one side of the cosy done.

Sunshine Bright Tea Cosy

 

This cosy pattern calls for DK (Double Knitting) yarn held double. This makes for a lovely chunky fabric. I mixed two colourways for this project. A varigated pink & orange colourway with a solid yellow colourway. They make for a lovely and sunny fabric. I’m quite pleased with it.

I have no idea which brands or dye lots are associated wtih these yarns  as they’ve been wound around their ballbands and hail from a time before I started keeping written note of these details. Despite assumptions to the contrary, I’m not pendantic or perfectionistic enough about providing these details to unwind the skeins….(that plus I’m a tad tired….okay it’s mainly because I’m too tired to be bothered :p ).

Oh! I learned another cast on. I can now, finally, use the provisional cast on. This is thanks to a tutorial in another one of my magazines…..which I can’t currently find. Oh well. This evening isn’t one for details it seems. *shrugs*

Last year, I felt that I was resting on my knitterly laurels and decided that, along with cranking out actual finished projects and busting my considerable yarn stash, that this year would herald the learning & application of some new skills.

So, new skill the first – the provisional cast on

*happy dance*

There are a few patterns now that shall be cast on thanks to my now being able to use this technique.

Right, that’s it for this post, happy crafting folks!