Stitchville

I've been meaning to tell you...

2009-04-02T18:03:00.002+01:00

... that after much thought I decided NOT to dye the dress red. It is actually rather good as it is. Having worked on it for some 12 weeks - the natural off white grew on me.

The other thing I wanted to announce is that the dress is actually FINISHED!

Yes.

Not quite ready for the pics though.

Watch this space.

Out of the blue comes...

2009-03-25T19:11:00.003+01:00

Yellow...

A birthday card for my friend...

The Joy Of... Completing Something

2009-03-09T15:53:00.005+01:00

(Even if it is not a gigantic day dress) is ecstatic, exultant and as-good-as-the-best-Swiss-chocolate!

AND I will also have to 'eat' my own judgmental comment On Disgrace Of Having Too Many Unfinished Projects Under One's Roof!

Well, I was caught off guard zooming through the funnel neck on the dress. The next thing I knew was that it was my beloved's birthday the following day! Cool blooded, I examined my options and decided that the easiest and most reliable one would be to... no less than finish his unfinished Christmas present! I picked up the nearly done socks (O (3) chose the colourway - the yarn is Mirasol's Hacho, 100% hand-dyed merino wool). I "sprinted" to the finish. Et voilà!

Dress progress: nearly there.

Ocean Of Cream

2009-02-25T11:48:00.007+01:00

I'm afraid my determination means that for a while to come the posts' subject will continue to be the Day Dress... I am determined not to put this project down, especially because it is proving to be the case of 2 steps forward and 1 backwards. I want to complete it. I am sick of unfinished projects and I am on the mission to put some order in this household! Basta!

More to the point...

The raglan shaping seemed like a good idea at the time BUT it jeopardized the simplicity of the shape of upper body, so it had to go...

OK. Now to work...

About 3 or 4 days later...

The funny looking sts between rib and garter sections are the evidence of yet another afterthought. Luckily, in most cases it's never too late, as long as one is prepared to "suffer" a little bit of soft engineering...

In all its glory and fully BACK ON TRACK!

It was worth it!

All these setbacks make for a knitting odyssey of epic size. I will sure feel triumphant when it's done. Proper.

Nipple Positioning - Better Get It Right The First Time!

2009-02-15T13:54:00.004+01:00

My last post promised that the subject of this one will be breasts, and no less...
Faithful to my own promise I therefore invite you to join me on a somewhat painful, but ultimately triumphant, journey of getting the breast zone perfect for the (not quite yet) Red Day Dress.

As with all proper bespoke knitwear, there comes a point when a fitting is in order. And so I tried the dress on, only to realize that a crucial shaping designed to enhance the graceful female bust zone was slightly off :(

I immediately knew what, why, how and where went wrong, but the realization came to late. The picture below says it all: the positioning of nipples is off by about 5 sts; the markers indicate the correct positioning. This, obviously, will not do. This shaping's secret mission is to attract attention to one's breasts and it has to be PERFECT.

Having considered all my options:

frog back all the way to the base of bust;
surgically open the work just below the yoke and frog back to the base of bust, the advantage of which is that there would be less reconstructive work to do and the disadvantage of which would be grafting in a way that is completely invisibly joined - this could be passably accomplished but could not be done to perfection without MUCH fuss;
frog only front section of work, meaning there would be no need to "fuse" grafted seam's threads.

Below you can see what the breast shaping does and what it looks like exactly:

Once option 3 was decided upon and carried out half-way the dress looked something like this:

One row into reconstruction:

Reconstruction under way and gathering speed, well, very s l o w speed - more of a rythm, really.

Unpicking unnerving pile of frogged custom plied spaghetti... This, by the way, is the proof that I have nerves of steel (however unconvincing my usual reaction to mess might be, characterized by complete absence of patience - actually, that might be because I use up all my patience in these difficult surgical operations performed on knitted fabric).

About 5 hours later...

And even now there is more touching up to do, as getting the gauge right is somewhat tricky in reconstruction work, and although for about half of the rows I managed to get it spot on, another half required more tedious picking at and evening out...

All in all, everything went to plan. I lost a day whilst at it. Those of you, who followed this tale from the beginning, know that I have set myself a timeline for this project - half-term break, which is NOW. I'm actually a little way away from the END. It's a cruise now though, through the last simple stage. I reckon I will have it all finished for the next weekend. Bear with me...

The dyeing workshop is due to be re-opened shortly after the finishing line is crossed on this one :) I am looking forward to this!

Dress Adventures

2009-01-23T21:23:00.010+01:00

I have been working on the Red (I know, it's not red YET) Day Dress a lot and have finally reached the bust zone. It's exciting, as it means I'm nearly ready to work on the sleeves! But before I go further into this I must catch you up on the developments that led me here.

I have mentioned recently the trickiness of the gauge when it gets complex. And I have promised to say more about custom plying...

I'm working on 3.5mm needles and I'm custom plying the yarn. The skirt '5-ply' consists of 1 strand of organic alpaca yarn, 3 strands of tussah silk and 1 strand of shantung silk:

The body '6-ply' consists of 2 strands of recycled cashmere (which roughly is equivalent of alpaca strand used for the skirt), 3 strands of tussah silk and 1 strand of shantung silk:

Although the difference between alpaca strand and double cashmere strand is minimal it actually affects the gauge quite a bit. Custom made charts below show skirt gauge on the top right and body gauge on the bottom left:

1 stitch in skirt gauge measures 35mm x 47mm (H x W)
1 stitch in body gauge measures 32mm x 43mm (H x W)

These charts are quite easy to make and invaluable if you are designing something from scratch. Simply make a table in a word document with lots of columns and rows and then adjust the height and width according to your gauge measurements PER STITCH.

Below is a sample of body fabric gauge and it works out at 31 rnds and 23 sts to 10cm. You need to divide 10cm by 31 (= 32mm) to get the height, and by 23 (= 43mm) to get the width.

I have used this technique to design the hip curve on the skirt. Here is the chart:

It worked a treat (as it does in 99 cases out of 100).

And it is accentuated by the strategically positioned pleat.

Well, now that I'm on the bust level the subject of the next post is quite clear in my mind. It is going to be on charting the breasts :)

Surprise In The Mail!

2009-01-18T12:17:00.006+01:00

Well, I have stayed up too late watching "There Will Be Blood" (with Daniel Day-Lewis - I had a crash on him in my teenage years - ooops! should I be sharing this?) on Friday. Very intense. Saturday morning the bell rang and I half thought I was actually dreaming still, but it rang again. So I got up and - half asleep - went to open the door. By the time I clambered down the stairs the postman was already gone. Under the door mat there was an envelope. I picked it up and looked at the addressee (me?) not knowing what it might be...

I have already forgotten a deadline of nearly 1 year ago. And here are the actual books!

One of the Stitchville hats has actually made it onto the cover (hooray!). Styled here (above) like a classic pillbox-style hat, but can be also worn à la française, more like a beret...

I love the surprise moment that is a given of publishing turnover time...

Off to have another cup of coffee now, but will be back soon to talk more about the Stitch Style projects (unfortunately, some of the original instructions were simplified to widen the appeal of the projects). I figure I can still debrief my preferred approach which, given you are adventurous enough and your fingers are agile enough, can be of use to the potential "takers". I will also present a couple of technical tricks involved so that you don't have to look for them elsewhere...

Pirates Love Chunky Sweaters

2009-01-11T20:39:00.007+01:00

Hey! The chunky sweater is finished! It got 10 out of 10 in my son's estimation (and he is a severe critic, perfectionist as he happens to be). He practically does not take it off, except at bedtimes - and only after intensive campaign:

Me: "Darling. You cannot sleep in this sweater. You will get too hot. Believe me. Why don't you put on your spaceship PJ's? I promise, you can put it back on first thing in the morning."
Louis: "But..."
Me: "I know, and I promise - first thing tomorrow you can put it on. OK?"
Louis: (sulkily) OK.

The hot hit garment features:
- a side zip with a pully thing to make it easier to zip it up and unzip it,

- an odd cuff,

- and enough fine-stripe-free-space to spice it up with a scull badge, mateys.

Goofing about is something this young pirate likes to do a lot. And, may I say, he does it rather well.

This sweater was actually designed for Kids' Mirasol Collection, which (among other things) is fund raising for the Mirasol Project and the pattern will soon be available to download at the Stitchville Yarn Boutique. I will, of course, let you know...

The Perfect Souvenir

2009-01-10T21:02:00.008+01:00

This morning I had to get up early to meet a bunch of friends at the South Bank. It was not easy after last night, as my daughter's friend stayed with us for a sleep over. The novelty thing I discovered is that 7 year old's notion of sleep over has absolutely nothing to do with sleeping. It's more to do with applying ample make up in one's bed at 11.30pm, with a shadow of light available. They both literally looked like ghosts this morning when they appeared in the kitchen with their purple shadows around sleepy eyes accentuated by remaining traces of badly applied make up.

So off I went. The air was crisp and frosty. I ran past the Southwark Cathedral and the Golden Hinde. The mist hung over St.Paul's Cathedral's dome and the place looked quite mystical. I was late. I made an entry, was warmly greeted and spent subsequent 2 hours immersed in a very profound exchange of thoughts (instead of meeting for a gossip we meet to practice dialogue, you see). Afterward one of my friends asked me if I wanted to join her in her pursuit of the perfect yarn for a scarf. Now, this friend of mine is not quite as "touched by wool" as me and I thought that I shall certainly support her healthy if unexpected interest in knitting. A thought ran fleetingly through my mind.

"Remember NOT to buy any more yarn. You are running out of storage space."

Well, I only bought 4 balls of Rowan Classic Extra Fine Merino Wool in bright orange, because it was destined for me!

Picture this... In a chaotic sale section was a mountain of yarns. You name it: tweed, cotton blends, silk blends, wool, man-made stuff. I cast an eye over it and was not particularly drawn to it, frankly. But then I spotted this bright orange splodge and touched it (I know, I should have known better). I looked at the label - 100% merino. It's getting better all the time. After a moment of diving into the Yarn Mountain I tracked down another ball, at which point I thought:

"If I can find 4, I'll take it."

And then I saw a woman on the other side of the Yarn Mountain. She was holding a plastic bag containing 2 more balls of my chosen yarn and talking to a bloke about it. She took one ball out of the bag to examine it closer. All the while I was thinking:

"You don't really want this honey. PUT IT DOWN."

For another minute or two I kept on ploughing through the Yarn Mountain hoping that I might find 2 more balls of orange gorgeousness hiding there, but to no effect. All that time I discreetly monitored the "enemy movements" from the corner of my eye and repeated my "PUT IT DOWN" mantra in as focused a manner as humanely possible. The "enemy" had finally put the bag back onto the slope of the Yarn Mountain and I gracefully and decisively took it and gave her a big radiant smile. Sales can be very exciting indeed!

I am glad I purchased this yarn (even though it shows a slight weakness of will). On the up side I got it in a lady-like manner. Whatever it will eventually become, it will always remind me of this magical morning spent in company of excellent friends and a scouting trip with S.

A perfect souvenir.

4 Days & 21cm In

2009-01-09T21:31:00.008+01:00

The skirt of The Red Day Dress (more about this in the fullness of time) is getting more substantial every day. I am officially 21 cm in.
I promised to reveal the source of my gorgeous silks a few days ago and have subsequently disappeared for about 3 days - mostly knitting in every spare moment (let's face it - they are not numerous). A while ago I listened to an episode of Cast-On podcast where a knitter has attempted in a very thoughtful essay to tackle the subject of time relativity in relationship to knitting. I think this is exactly what happened on this occasion. It seamed like an instant, like a blink, but in fact was 3 days! Nevermind.

And to the point.

These lovely silky 'obelisks' are from Fibrecrafts and they are virtually inexhaustible source of finest silk thread. They are really meant for weaving and machine knitting but, as creativity has no limits, they do come in handy on occasion in this strictly hand-knitting temple of fibre worship (also known as my home). I ply them with various yarns and they do work up very beautifully in lace patterns too.

Just to give you an example of the sort of silky lace knitted up with this yarn...

Silk Shawl hand-dyed in safflower, 2002.

And in the next post more on the magic of custom plying...

When Gauge Gets Complicated

2009-01-06T23:40:00.016+01:00

As it will, from time to time. Are you ready? Ok. Here I come!
Single strand of Angel Touch Alpaca looks like this:

Plied with 1 strand of tussah silk it looks like this:

Plied with 2 strands of tussah silk it looks like this:

Plied with 3 strands of tussah silk it looks like this:

And ad finitum. Well, maybe not this time.

I'm experimenting with gauge for the next major project - a day dress. And it is very interesting indeed. Just look at this (you might need to click on the picture to be able to appreciate the tiny details :):

Although the strands are so fine, adding just one at a time makes much more of an impact than I have anticipated, and not in any sort of predictable pattern either. I like the subtle gradient effect this gives the fabric and am intending to use it to enhance the design. I will also add a fine strand of shuntung silk, which is shinier and "silkier" than the slubby and slightly "sticky" tussah. These silks combine well with alpaca, which on its own does not produce fabric dense enough for this project. I don't really want to work on needles smaller than 3.5mm. It's only a knee length dress, but still. I am actually giving myself a deadline for this project. Yep! February half-term. I do love challenges!

Today was Day 2 of the project (if I were to discount hours of nursing the idea in my mind over the Christmas holiday), and having sketched and swatched it yesterday, I have cast on today and made a bit of progress on the 250 sts of the hem. Thoroughly enjoying the plying process, though it can be a bit tedious at times.

Do try and imagine my yarn basket for this project.

Tomorrow I shall reveal its gargantuan proportions, as well as the source of my lovely silks...

Wrapping Up...

2009-01-02T14:05:00.003+01:00

And I am not referring to the chilly weather (although I must say I am loving the crispness of the air). I am referring to the Advent Calendar 2008. It is time to take stock of what it brought into our family life and into my creative life.

Firstly, it had provided a rich source of fun and excitement for everyone; children (because they adore Christmas time and treats) and parents (because we adore the children and anything, that makes them happy) alike.

Secondly, it has provided me with structure to be creative, disciplined and steady within.

Thirdly, it has inspired countless conversations and became a temporary installation in our kitchen (don't you love temporary installations - I tend to have at least one on the go at any one time!) and a tactile record of the run-up to Christmas 2008 for our family.

Finally, it provided this:

TREASURE!

We had emptied the pouches onto the sparkly piece of material and the pouches lay there, light as empty shells...

We had found a box and stored them away neatly:

This could have been a tricky moment to facilitate with a pile of chocolates in view and within reach. Luckily, I appear to have very sensible children who have agreed without too much convincing that it was an ace idea to put all chocolates in a special tin into which we will dive during post-climax zone of January, whenever our spirits need lifting or we are simply after momentary pleasure. And so we did! The pleasure derived from our tactile calendar continues into the New Year!

Happy New Year!

Warm Christmas Wishes From Stitchville

2008-12-25T22:23:00.002+01:00

PS: Having gotten into a blogging drill I am finding it hard not to blog ;)

Day 24 - The Climax

2008-12-24T23:37:00.006+01:00

This afternoon I took some time out of the Christmas Eve preparations to make this star. This also complements the advent heart I made to 'anchor' the advent pouches onto. I thought it would be a fine symbolic gesture to crown the tree tonight of all times, which reminds me of my childhood Christmases when we actually decorated the tree on the Christmas Eve morning!

After a special Christmas Eve supper and then sending kids off to bed (at least one night in the whole year it actually is easy!!!) I cast on for the last pouch. Throughout the duration of this 'project' I indulged in a wide variety of yarns to choose from - the colour, fibre, texture and weight of which were all totally dependent on a whimsy, MY whimsy... I would choose freely and sometimes impulsively, knowing that I will get to make quite a few more choices in the days to come. Tonight was quite different. I knew that I could only make one more choice, this year at least. And I felt a bit apprehensive of the deciding moment. So I closed my eyes, stayed still for a second or two, opened my eyes - and chose this...

...because it reminds me of winter berries :) The yarn is Habu bamboo in red (col.5) and I absolutely LOVE it!

Well, this is it for the Advent Calendar. It was first conceived as a KAL project, but that aspect of it did not materialize and, nevertheless, it was perfect just the way it happened. Do feel free to make your own version of the tactile Advent Calendar next year if you like the look of this one and the (slightly off the wall) interpretation. It is fun and it also is a test of sorts. I highly recommend it. It definitely helps to keep track of time and contributes greatly to kids' excitement about Christmas. I particularly like the non-instant gratification aspect of the experience.

Finally, I would like to credit a Norwegian friend of mine who shared with me the Scandinavian Advent tradition of daily storing of little gifts for someone loved. I completely forgot about this conversation which we had quite a few months ago. The idea was planted and has germinated and been adapted quite intuitively in this project. I only remembered this conversation a few days ago and was stunned by how I was unconsciously influenced by it...

Day 23 - Fragrant Home

2008-12-24T00:12:00.005+01:00

I opened one of my yarn drawers with a plan in mind - Rowan Summer Tweed in tomato red or chocolate brown... No idea where this thought came from. Anyway, there I was scanning the contents of my extensive stash when I saw this Araucania Pehuen in blue, still in a skein (easily distracted!!!). I took it out without thinking much and wound it into a ball. Out came 3.75mm needles (I needed to compensate for the time spent listening to the choir at St. Paul's Cathedral singing Christmas carols earlier on today and a gorgeous smelling activity I set up for children in the morning. It turned out that O's little fingers couldn't quite cope with the pointy cloves and I was promptly turned into the person in charge of his pomander, which very effectively diverted me from knitting).

I admit I haven't thought this through properly. I should have photographed these pomanders before dusting them with orris root powder, but there you go - I got carried away!

Day 22 - Heightened State Of Creativity

2008-12-22T23:24:00.003+01:00

The culmination point is getting closer all the time and I seem to have entered a heightened state of creativity and - it follows - productivity. Having spent about 2.5 skeins worth of time on the sweater, I was reminded politely by my children that the pouch no. 22 was still missing, despite the evening hours drawing in and B.E.D. time approaching.

So I got on the case with the pouch no. 22.

This yarn here is Hotaru by Noro, and if you have been following this calendar adventure of mine you know that I have already been there and done that, except it was green. Nevertheless, here I go again:

I love this yarn, although it doesn't quite meet my 'natural fibre' standard (containing 68%cotton and 32% of polyester). It is like a magical daisy chain - simply entrancing.

And if that was not enough for one day I have about an hour of work ahead of me tonight. I'm looking forward to it... I'm not telling you what this thing is. It smells of lavender :) I shall reveal the secret very soon.

I'm in a swing!

Day 21 - Will Power

2008-12-21T20:56:00.006+01:00

Today's pouch is made of Mirasol Sulka in sage.

I spent most of the day working on my son's sweater. I have been caught out. He hasn't got a single warm sweater that fits him well at present. All I can say in my defense is that he is growing rather fast, and I have resisted the urge to resort to an easy solution, i.e. visit this place. Don't get me wrong - I do like Boden, but not for knitwear. I am a knitter for heaven's sake!
This is a snippet of the sweater in progress. May I say that working chunky alpaca and wool mix on 6mm needle feels like riding a lightning. The progress is stunning!

There is something else I would like to put on record today. It's an excerpt from a book I have found on my bedside table this morning and opened randomly and the first thing I saw was this:

"Will power!" retorted Arkad. "What nonsense. Do you think will power gives a man strength to lift a burden that a camel cannot carry, or to draw a load that the oxen cannot budge? Will power is but the unwavering intention to carry a task you set for yourself to completion. If I set for myself a task, be it ever so trivial, I will see it through. How else can I have confidence in myself to do important things? If I said to myself, 'For a hundred days, as I walk across the bridge into the city, I will pick up a stone from the road and throw it into the stream,' I would do it. If on the seventh day I passed by without remembering, I wouldn't say to myself, 'Tomorrow I'll throw two stones which will do just as well.' Instead, I would retrace my steps and throw in the stone. Nor on the twentieth day would I say to myself, 'Arkad, this is useless. What does it help you to throw a stone every day? Just throw in a handful of stones and be done with it.' No, I would not say nor do that. When I set a task for myself, I complete it. Therefore, I'm careful not to start difficult and impractical tasks, because I love leisure."

"The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason

This book looks very interesting indeed. I think I might read it from cover to cover to find out what's it all about.
The paragraph above struck me as it is exactly what I am doing with the pouches! Exercising my will power.

Day 20 - Pouch Strain

2008-12-20T22:04:00.002+01:00

I am feeling it, but bravely ploughing on with the pouch thing. Basically, I have managed to stay on top of things, but the intensity of pre-Christmas prepping is getting to me a little. Mostly in that there seems to be not nearly enough hours in a day to do all the things I want to do!
I'm far from compromising though. Tonight, after a busy day involving dashing across the river to the South Bank to meet a bunch of friends, shlepping all the way to West End, and then to meet a student for an hour of tutorial on Upper Street (I am forgetting to mention the fairy light mission here - yet elswhere, and a stuck District line train, but nevermind that) I have picked up 2mm DPNs (the smallest I own I believe!) and bravely cast on for yet another pouch - using Jitterbug by Colinette - not exactly the chunkiest of yarns :/ I sort of new what I was doing, but could not help myself - the idea was there all day and I just wanted to follow through on it!

May I present pouch 20.

Day 19 - Red Is... Gone

2008-12-19T23:48:00.003+01:00

And the thing of today (other than producing this Kauni pouch) was seeing Mother Goose at the Hackney Empire Theatre.

Dy 18 - Red At Last!

2008-12-18T21:57:00.003+01:00

And if that wasn't enough back on track again!

Day 17 - Down To The Wire

2008-12-18T13:30:00.005+01:00

I continue to be posting 1 day late. Yesterday I went out... All the way to Richmond (it's way out!) to see some friends I haven't seen in ages. The Christmas social commitments list is, shall we say, large. It was a frock night, for me at least (any excuse is good, right?). My vintage 1930's hand made coat came out, and so did my vintage beaded purse - after all it was going to be a night of leisure and socializing (I do manage to kick my habit of carrying everything with me all the time once in a blue moon. The purse is so small that even my mobile phone is too large for it!) My gorgeous friend and "chauffeuse" appeared at the door and off we went... Did I mention a very small secret bag containing a ball of fine pure silk, a set of DPN's, tapestry needle, and small scissors?

Well, the evening was so exciting and full of conversation, laughter and delicious food and wine that I sort of forgot all about my pouch duty.

Until we were back on our way home that is, driving past the Natural History Museum, V&A, Harrods, Piccadilly Circus, and so on. Me and my needles in a flurry of action...

11.40pm - cast-on
11.50pm - increases nearly finished
11.55pm - knitting even and FAST
11.58pm - nearly ready for the decreases!!!
All of this whilst maintaining an animated conversation on tricky subjects and explaining the contemporary Advent Calendar concept.

Say "goodbye" (xx) and get out of the car.
Get into the house.
Throw myself onto the sofa, still fully dressed.

00.03am - darn it! darn it! I nearly did it!
00.05am - finish decreases
00.07am - weave in the ends (where is that needle?!)
00.09am - ribbon
00.10am - go to the advent thing and hang the pouch
00.13am - camera at the ready, I can do it! The post will only take a minute or two.

Darn it! The battery is gone!!!

So here we are. It's 12.48pm on the 18th and the picture is loading now.

Down to the wire. And lost. Nevermind. Today is a new day. I will manage this time.

Day 16 - Back To (Nearly) Black

2008-12-17T10:25:00.003+01:00

This pouch is made of Habu bamboo in charcoal. Love it! Actually this tiny pouch is a prelude to the prelude for a dress I am sketching at the moment. It's a great low commitment way to get a feel for this yarn. It's exciting as last time I had enough head space to be designing dresses was a rather long time ago. It's not a gigantic project like this one, but a lot more tailored, a lot less seethrough, and - in case you haven't guessed it already - without seams. Oui. Oui.

Day 15 - The Very Essence Of Subtlety...

2008-12-15T21:19:00.002+01:00

... is perfectly captured by this masterpiece of colour dyeing.

I was hoping to be getting into "real" red today, but as it appears with this yarn, subtlety is its thing. So here I am - closer to red than yesterday but still a long way to go. The thing with the pouches is that they are small. I will certainly come back to it, but for tomorrow I have planned something else. A little diversion of sorts to prevent myself from getting into a real state with the Kauni thing.

Day 14 - Carrot!?

2008-12-14T23:49:00.005+01:00

Today was a day of creating - totally against the biblical notion of rest. Actually, Sundays are not exactly what I remember them to be when my maternal grandmother was setting the tone! Anything goes these days, and today was mostly about making ornaments for the Christmas tree, which appeared here early this year due to some of our friends not being around this Christmas and visiting today for a special festive hello before flying off... I was all consumed by stringing beads and making fancy chains whilst chatting to friends and being served endless refreshments by our chef du jour.

Today's pouch was inspired by this yarn here. It's the stuff that Kauni cardigan is made of (yarn available here). Well the idea was to try and get to the red layer, but I have clearly underestimated the meterage here. I knitted and knitted and the pouch was getting deeper and deeper... Finally I decided to stop. At least until tomorrow.
Believe it or not, nothing was further from my mind than a carrot when I started this. And here we are - a carrot resembling pouch!
I therefore dedicate it to my son, who adores carrots.

Day 13 - Luxurious Pouch

2008-12-13T21:53:00.003+01:00

Today's pouch is made of The Good Yarn Stall bamboo yarn. Pure luxury outside + pure naughtiness inside pretty much sums it up.

Day 12 - Oxymoronic Day

2008-12-12T23:49:00.007+01:00

I had a productive day that consisted of doing "nothing". I haven't been very well this week, which is a rare occurrence, hence I am completely unused to it. I pretty much spent today (as well as the rest of this week) on the sofa, under a duvet and with a cup of steaming hot lemon tea by my side, relaxing and surrendering to my temporary lack of vitality. All of that time I was knitting Christmas presents. At times I couldn't see properly as my eyes seem to have really had it with this cold, but I persevered and am very close to completing all the projects I need to have ready for this Sunday. I have several more small projects planned, but am tackling them one at a time to avoid getting too overwhelmed...

This meant taking the focus off the Advent Calendar and, although I have kept up with the daily pouches, I haven't had much time to think about them or to plan. Instead I have opted for spontaneity and am letting myself be inspired quite literally as I pick up the needles to knit them! It's been fun. Today's pouch is made of novelty Noro cotton yarn. I love it! I have slightly changed the formula to one where I cast on 20 sts, increase in 4 evenly divided sections, and then decrease in 8. This pouch makes me think of spring :)

Day 11 - Popsicle Moment

2008-12-12T00:08:00.002+01:00

Right. I had this skein of popsicle-coloured Colinette merino for ages. And it jumped at me when I rummaged through my stash today...

Day 10 - Angels Rock

2008-12-11T10:26:00.005+01:00

Well, I should have known this was coming... Having boasted of how very on top of blogging I was the day before yesterday, I have missed yesterday's post! It's not a total disaster as I am on track with the pouches (Louis sees to it - he is my "pouch alarm"), but I have been reminded not to congratulate myself before the proverbial sunset.

OK. Down to business. Lovely sari silk from The Good Yarn Stall is the main character in this pouch story. I adore this colour!
It's SOOOOOOO zingy!

And the highlight of yesterday was Nativity at my daughter's school. The Angels rocked!

Day 9 - The Liberty Pouch

2008-12-09T11:25:00.010+01:00

I am on the roll with this blogging Advent thing. I even saved a draft of a message for today's post yesterday. Completely unheard of! I admit, the title of the draft read "Day 9 - " and there was not a single word in the message box, but nonetheless I feel very accomplished for managing that!
The reason there was only half a title there was simply because I had no clue what today's pouch might be about! And as it happens the idea crystalized in an organic process - completely naturally and spontaneously...

You may have noticed (or not, as the case may be) that there is a new item on the dashboard as of today - an article about fair trade and textile industry. I researched, pre-digested and edited this for your benefit and with raising awareness of its impact (or the impact of its absence as sadly is mostly the case) in mind. My interest in this subject dates a long way back. The thought - or maybe I should call it a vague notion, a pre-sentiment, an intuition - was nurtured through the heart and mind expanding dialogue work and a whole lot of soul-searching and looking for something that would be a true reflection of who I am and what I want my life to be about.

You may ask me where it all leads... It leads home. The reason I chose knitwear design is that it is like my second nature and I am free and at ease with it. I know it is an area in which I can excel and achieve and I truly feel that - given that I put work and strong commitment into it - there truly is no limit to my self-expression through this medium. AND it does not require the smallest compromise on my part as it fits perfectly with other commitments in my life. Phew! There it is!

But of course there is more. My perception of reality has been irreversibly altered by the dialogue work I have been (and still am) part of and as a result I find it much easier to act from a less selfish place when it comes to my choices in life. This extends into putting some effort into understanding how stuff works; stuff like trade, like our human micro (friends, neighbours) and macro (nations, races, cultures) interrelations.

And I now know that - if I am to be true to my heart - I cannot expect any other human being to aspire to less than I do, if they so choose.

I want my family to be happy and I want the best for my children - I want them to be healthy, well educated and able to realize their full potential in life. I want myself to be fulfilled, happy and healthy and my work to be appreciated. Why shouldn't a woman born in a remote part of the world and in poverty, who is - as I am - full of love for her children and dedicated to her work, not be fulfilled and rewarded by it, just like I am!?

Let's face it - the old trading model belongs with the dinosaurs!

So there I was, getting a feel for this lovely hand-spun alpaca produced by a Chilean co-operative, by means of turning it into yet another Advent pouch, and I meditated on the subject of LIBERTY, also known as FREEDOM. Freedom to be aware and generous and caring, and freedom to, ultimately, contribute to someone else's freedom. When I opened my ribbon box the first ribbon I saw was this...

Perfect!

Day 8 - My Grandmother's Rolling Pin

2008-12-09T00:45:00.007+01:00

Whenever I need to be quick 3mm DPN's come out and the number of stitches plummets. Today's pouch is Habu Uran again, this time doubled up with Debbie Bliss alpaca and silk blend. And the reason today was busy is that Christmas knitting projects are now on the needles, and my grandmother's rolling pin was out tonight, as I was making a mountain of gingerbread biscuits. The family tradition of biscuit baking goes on - to children's delight.

PS: I forgot to mention why on earth my grandmother's rolling pin was given such prominence in today's post. Well, one of my very earliest memories is that of me climbing on my tiptoes in my grandmother's kitchen to put my chin on the surface of a large wooden table and seeing her rolling out the pastry for biscuits with that very rolling pin! I must have been 3. Today my youngest child was playfully stroking the smooth wood of this old family heirloom and listening to the stories of my childhood. This month is the 13th anniversary of my grandmother's death.

Day 7 - The Sheep-Inspired Pouch

2008-12-07T21:31:00.005+01:00

Today's pouch is made of double strand consisting of Stitchville's fair-trade silver grey hand-spun alpaca and Uran in natural white. It brings to mind fluffy clouds and countless sheep on jade green welsh pastures. A happy thought :)

The day of rest perhaps it was not, but I am committed to - at least - getting an evening of rest, so I will keep this post prompt. Something I would like to put on record before I go is that this Advent project is proving to be an excellent exercise in disciplining myself to be consistent and steady. And it makes it very unlikely that Christmas will take me by surprise this year!

Day 6 - On Christmas Cards

2008-12-06T22:02:00.003+01:00

An article attracted my attention in today's Guardian. It is featured on the front page of their Money section. It is full of very enlightening information on how the charity cards' business works.

For example, did you know that "some charity cards now selling in Harrods give just 3.9% of the sticker price to charity."

"The Charities Advisory Trust advises to seek out charities' own cards, which donate at least 40% of the sale price, but now you can go as close to the full 100% as possible. The Sreepur Village outreach project is offering handmade cards produced in and around their village, 40km north of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. The women make the cards at home using paper made from locally grown jute. They are paid a fair wage, and it allows them to earn an income without having to leave their young children."

The cards can be purchased here.

Harrods does not need my charity, after all.

Today's pouch is made of Bee Sweet yarn.

Day 5 - On Stockings

2008-12-05T21:25:00.013+01:00

This pouch has been knitted using leftover silk from the project pictured below (Silk Hose), which is going to be referred to in some length tonight...

As I have mentioned in yesterday's post, today I will tackle a long overdue subject closely related to stockings. (The timing is neat, although I am not talking here of your regular Christmas stockings!) Some months ago I received a parcel with (over) half knitted stockings and a brief note basically saying "Help!". I have a professional relationship with the person who sent it and was obviously keen to help out. Months went by and in several brief sessions, spread over a long period of time, I tackled the tangled threads, the fallen out needles, and having re-gained some visibility started examining the situation. The remaining part of this post is addressed to the maker of the stockings, but do read through it if you are curious about my troubleshooting methodology.

The problem was that the number of stitches in both stockings was incorrect, and the reason for this has managed to elude the knitter(s) who has/have been attempting to put things right before the whole thing got referred to me. One of the reasons it has taken me such a ridiculously long time to perform "the fix" is that I have promised a thorough written explanation of what and where went wrong. My diagnosis is as follows:

Stocking 1

52 sts in total – 2 sts too many compared with the pattern* instructions

When looking at the stocking positioned such as the faggoted (lace) section is at the bottom you can see that 14th decrease to the left (LS) and to the right side (RS) of the fagotted (lace) panel at the back are missing. I have marked this with red dots. This explains why there are 2 sts too many.

REMEDIAL ACTIONS:

We have a couple of options here.

1. We could frog all the way back to the missing decrease and correct the mistake. This option is preferred by perfectionists. The pros are that you will end up with a piece as close to perfection as is humanly possible. The cons are that it's a lot of work to correct a detail that most of the population will not even be aware of (even if you put it right under their noses and point to it!)
2. We can discreetly decrease these 2 sts.

Now, if these were my stocking I would frog. No questions about it. However, bearing in mind that they are not my stockings I will errr on the safe side and suggest that we discreetly fix the problem without wasting so much work. Think of your work (particularly at such a minuscule gauge) as knitted fabric and this will not bother you too much.

I am picking up the work right at the base of heel flap. However, as there are 2 sts too many as a result of missed decrease, I have “engineered” 2 decreases 3 rnds below the current rnd and fudged the excess yarn into the neighbouring sts. I could do this as the last person who worked this stocking got a little carried away and worked several more rnds without shaping after the last decrease than indicated by the pattern. I now have 50 sts, as required by the pattern.

Heel flap can now be worked as instructed in the pattern. I have done this and I have also worked Rnd 1, 2 & 3 of Gusset section. 52 sts (54-2) as in the pattern (as I have decreased 2 sts in Rnd 3). You are now ready to work Rnd 4 of Gusset section.

Please note that sts on needle 3 & 4 in the pattern are in fact on one needle here, which is due purely to insufficient amount of DPN's! Please remember this when continuing the work.

Stocking 2:

51 sts in total – 1 st too many compared with the pattern*

17 decreases (marked with blue dots) are detectable to the left and to the right side of the faggoted section, whereas there should be 18. However when measuring both stockings against each other it is clear that Stocking 2 is one decrease section shorter. So, if we were to follow the pattern, there should be 52sts at this stage. This means there is one st to few.

REMEDIAL ACTIONS:

I have identified that the next rnd of fagotted section is dec rnd and have worked it accordingly. Due to some inconsistency in the way the decreases have been placed in this stocking this means that decrease is perfectly placed on RS of lace, but is 1 rnd out on the LS of lace. This is not visible and can only be spotted when counting rnds carefully, hence we will leave it at that.

I then have proceeded to complete this section of work by knitting further 6 rnds without shaping, and working further 2 rnds as described in pattern (bottom of first column on page 76).

I am now ready to work the heel flap. However, as you will remember, before I have carried out the last decrease I had 51 sts on the needles. Now I have only 49 sts – 1 st is missing.

I have examined the stocking carefully and can say that the fagotted section and decreases appear to be correct (although - as I have already mentioned - the placing of decreases is a little inconsistent). Increases (marked with black dots) are fine too. This leads me to believe that the mistake is most likely somewhere in the plain st.st section of work. My guess would be that a st was unintentionally decreased. As it would be very time consuming and difficult to find this I will recommend the following solution that bypasses this investigative work.

Having arranged sts as described in the Heel Flap section (2nd column on page 76) I have 11 sts on one of the instep needles instead of 12. To adjust this I will increase by 1 st between needle with incorrect number of sts and needle holding 26 sts of heel flap.
I now have 50 sts, as required by the pattern.

Heel flap can now be worked as instructed in the pattern. I have done this and I have also worked Rnd 1, 2 & 3 of Gusset section. 52 sts (54-2) as in the pattern (as I have decreased 2 sts in Rnd 3). You are now ready to work Rnd 4 of Gusset section.

Please note that sts on needle 3 & 4 in the pattern are in fact on one needle here, which is due purely to insufficient amount of DPN's! Please remember this when continuing the work.

I have marked the beg of rnd on both stockings with a pink ribbon.

* When referring to 'pattern' I mean the pattern for Silk Hose from Stitch Style Socks, p. 74-77.

HINTS:

Several simple precautions can be taken to avoid mistakes and they are well worth following religiously.

- Work stages in one go wherever possible. When a stage is too big to be worked in one session take careful notes of where you have paused.
- Always place markers to denote decreases/increases.
- Work in well lit room.
- Be vigilant.
- Be vigilant.
- Be vigilant.
- Did I mention no wine rule?

If you are a purist you will obviously frog all the way to the mistake (provided that the mistake can be identified).
If you are not bothered by a small flaw or time is of essence, make maths work discreetly and go on!

Bon courage!

The colour combo is great, BTW :)

Day 4 - The Turquoise Cloud

2008-12-04T21:04:00.004+01:00

Today I ventured even further into territory of texture and tactility with one of my gorgeous Habu gems capable of turning anything into an art piece.

You may remember yesterday's pouch...

... silver silk and light brown Habu mohair loop.

Today I indulged in the more voluptuous version of the subtle mohair loop - also known as Uran. Gorgeous stuff. Knits up very beautifully doubled up with anything. I used 3mm needles this time and cast on fewer sts (18 to be precise). I have pretty much repeated yesterday's pattern, and presto - a little while in the waiting room at the clinic a couple of rounds on the bus and a cup of green tea later I have this:

Although I have doubled up Uran with Debbie Bliss turquoise pure silk, it is not very obvious, but adds a bit of weight and density to the fabric, which is good, as the pouch is full of treats!

I am loving this project. Not only did it inspire me to use up some beads, I am now a threat to my ribbon collection too :) But I am going on a tangent here...

I would actually like to prime a subject scheduled for tomorrow, very much related to the afore mentioned Debbie Bliss silk. It was a leftover from a project I have designed and made some time ago now, which can be found in this book. And tomorrow all about putting projects gone wrong right. A well overdue article.

PS: Did I mention that the kids absolutely love the Pouch Calendar, as they call it. Every day they spend a little while looking at it and gently stroking it, brimming full of anticipation and imagining the treats inside.

Day 3 - When I Give Myself An Evening Off

2008-12-03T21:58:00.001+01:00

Day 2 - About Being Deluded

2008-12-02T22:19:00.009+01:00

Well, I had a very productive day today mostly consisting of actions that were space clearing in nature. It feels very good to have done that. The things I have accomplished today proved to be rather time consuming too. So it follows, the intention for today's pouch was to make it quite quickly. I have picked some vibrant Debbie Bliss pure silk leftover. Hooray! This pouch will put that meager ball of yarn out of its misery!!! It may be the case, however, the unforeseen bit is that trying to put it out of its misery made me quite miserable! Oh, irony!

I ambitiously set my heart on using the thread up to the very last bit. Finding the increase and decrease rate that would allow that to happen has eluded me for some time, and several times I have come pretty close, but not quite close enough...

Need I say that it was not a quick one at all - quite the reverse :|

I have learnt something: I am just making cute pouches. I am NOT trying to put my leftover yarns out of their misery.

Day 1 - Anatomy Of The Heart

2008-12-01T21:41:00.015+01:00

Today I have managed to give myself a day off!!! I have been promising myself that for ages, and have been failing to fulfill on it. I have spent all day in the kitchen drinking tea and being creative.

First I realized that I needed a starting point for my Advent Calendar. I have been rather busy during the weekend (with the Oggle Christmas thing) and didn't have much head space to think about it in more detail - I had a rough idea of what it would look like.

So I started experimenting with some wire, wanting to make a star above the hook but - let me tell you - bending wire into a star is not easy. I have made three attempts, and at best my star looked like a weird flower... So I decided to try something else and promptly came up with a simple heart shape. That was good. I have made a discovery by accident. Wire painted with glossy nail varnish looks rather good (and I found some use for my red varnish, as these days I have no time to varnish my nails). Whilst varnishing my wire heart I pondered the weirdness of the whole nail-varnishing phenomenon...

Then I remembered my bead bonanza and was enlightened by an idea. The good thing about this approach is that I have made a tiny "dent" in my huge bead collection. The red heart was given to C and another one was expertly (I am a quick learner) produced.

I used some antique heishi beads (white), fair trade shiana silver beads and silver tibetan beads (arranged randomly), and just a few Russian blues. The red bead is an antique glass tomato bead of venetian origin.

The hook will hold the daily pouches of treats.

Pouch 1 is now ready. Here is how to make it:

Cast on 21 sts and distribute evenly onto 3 DPN's (3 x 7). I used 2.5mm needles and Debbie Bliss silk.
Set up for working in rnd and mark beg of rnd.
Work 7 rnds in st.st.
Next Rnd (Inc): Work to last st on needle 1, K&P into last st. Rep on other 2 needles. 3 sts inc'd.
Next 3 Rnds: K.
Rep last 4 rnds until you have 42 sts in total.
After last inc. work 8 rnds in st.st.
Next Rnd(Dec): [K5, k2tog] x 6. 6 sts dec'd.
Next Rnd: K.
Next Rnd(IncDec): [K4, k2tog] x 6. 6 sts dec'd.
Next Rnd: K.
Next Rnd(Dec): [K3, k2tog] x 6. 6 sts dec'd.
Next Rnd: K.
Next Rnd(Dec): [K2, k2tog] x 6. 6 sts dec'd.
Next Rnd: K.
Next Rnd(Dec): [K1, k2tog] x 6. 6 sts dec'd.
Next Rnd: K. 12 sts rem.
Cut long tail and pull it through all open sts and secure.
Weave in all tails.

First lot of treats is in!

Simplicity Is Where It's At

2008-11-27T10:19:00.006+01:00

In the whirlwind of daily life and all busyness that it entails, I love to work on simple projects to relax, to meditate (cannot do the classic style meditation where you sit still - although garter stitch allows me to achieve perfect inner stillness, I am not kidding you), and to enjoy the texture and softness of wool. This is precisely why I came up with this scarf design.

I have plied together Stitchville 1-ply alpaca in charcoal and light brown minute mohair loop from Habu. To add a finishing touch I have worked a sequence of short rows at the end and when I have reached the point where you start going 'sideways' I have switched to mohair loop in cream, which resulted in a contrasting triangle.

It was a true "vegging out on the sofa" sort of project. No complications, no challenges, no fuss - just straight forward garter stitch... et c'est tout!

If there is anyone out there interested in joining in the Advent Calendar knit along here is a few thoughts on that subject.

1. I am trying to identify a wall in the house, which would display my knitted Advent Calendar to its best advantage. It needs to be good size clean and clutter-free space. 'Clutter-free' is the easy part, as generally there is not much going on on our walls. However, 'good size' is a different matter. Options are few and far between. Another consideration is to display it in the strategic place, so that we can all keep an eye on it and share kids' anticipation as we're getting closer and closer to the Christmas holiday (this is exactly where the appeal is for me!).

2. Depending on the chosen spot I will then settle on suitable scale. The great thing about doing things this way (as opposed to just buying a calendar and then finding a spot that will accommodate it) is that in my case these two are interrelated and are dynamically influencing each other, as I obviously have a concept for the calendar and know roughly what shape and form it will take!

3. Think about your favourite yarns (preferably left-overs). Dive into your stash to fill in the gaps. Get a 'bouquet' of needles handy. We will also need a crochet and a large simple hook in the wall where the calendar will be displayed.

I am aware that I have used the word "calendar" quite a few times in this post and am hoping, against the logic, that I am not fixing your expectations too much. Remember, this ain't just any Advent Calendar - it is its contemporary counterpart.

My Kind Of Pet

2008-11-25T12:43:00.004+01:00

This pet is currently on the needles, becoming... Ouch! This sounds a bit sadistic. Don't you worry, I'm just teasing you!

Advent Calendar KAL

2008-11-21T21:17:00.005+01:00

Today I was browsing through a children's mail order catalogue particularly interested in Advent Calendars. We haven't done this ever as a family and I do need to pull myself together, because if I don't kids will grow up and it will be too late to provide material for some fond childhood memories. That will not do! (I do treasure mine.)
I saw some really cute ones and some ordinary ones too (mostly wooden)... And then I thought to myself

"Silly you. You can make a better one than any of these! And of course it must be knitted!"

You are invited to join in, you knitters out there...

There will be an Advent Calendar KAL button and N is going to make it! So watch this space. Ideas are brewing here. This is so exciting! I just love the idea of making a family calendar that is OUR advent calendar and it will be unique and wonderful. But that is not all - the grand plan stretches over 3 years so that every child can claim their own calendar in the future (it will come in handy if they decide to start a family one day).

Part 1 starts on the 28th of November when we (it would be so much more fun if others cared to join in!) find out - in detail - what we will need for this project (as it is not hard to make a rough guess given that knitting will obviously be involved:)

The Knitting Extravaganza report to follow shortly, as I forgot my camera and am waiting for the pics someone else has taken (lucky some people have their heads screwed on more firmly than mine is!) May I just say that it was a fantastic night out. I'm going to let you in on a secret here. Cocktails at Hakkasan are just out of this world. Pleasure enhanced by talking to a fellow knitter whilst sipping them, and yes, we did manage to touch on other topics than just knitting!!!

It's so dark, I cannot possibly take a decent photograph of my favourite skein of yarn of the moment (you know, I'm a changeable creature). It's gorgeous, I repeat, GORGEOUS skein of bright orange sari silk from The Good Yarn Stall (but of course!) and I already know what it's going to be. Not telling though.

Knitting Extravaganza

2008-11-13T21:43:00.006+01:00

A knitter's life is quite simply not complete without at least one Knitting Extravaganza in a while. Well, if you haven't made it to one yet (and they are not terribly in the mainstream, you know?) than here is your chance to do it in grand style!

Where?

Jarndyce
46, Great Russell Street
(opp. British Museum)
Bloomsbury,
London WC1B 3PA

From the doorstep you will see:

Yes! The British Museum (although not exactly from this angle).

Jarndyce is a fantastic place with bags of history...

"No. 46 Great Russell Street was built c.1735 as part of a development by the Duke of Bedford and stood opposite the late 17thC Montagu (or Montague) House, the site of the present British Museum.

At the time of its construction, it was on the edge of Central London; to the north there was little development. A map of 1755 shows ‘Southampton Fields’ surrounding Montagu House. No. 46, like its neighbours, was built as a private house and would have only come into use as a shop in the 19th century.

During 1825-1850, the new British Museum building was under construction and No. 46, along with its neighbours, was given a face-lift. The fronts were rebuilt and stuccoed to make them uniform and fitting neighbours for the new building opposite, but the interiors remained untouched, retaining the original panelling and other features." cont'd.

Well, once a year this antiquarian bookshop becomes the home of The Knitting Extravaganza. The event is organized by The Good Yarn Stall and Stitchville will be there too!

And this means that there will be A LOT OF YARN!!! And this is the whole point!

I'm getting a little carried away here. No point in telling you how wonderful it will be if you don't know...

When?

Thursday 20th November
6.00 - 8.30pm

The last question is:

What am I going to wear?

Stitchville Yarn Boutique Now Open

2008-11-13T01:02:00.004+01:00

In case you were wondering where have I been and what have I been doing...

Stitchville has now its very own yarn boutique, which... Well, if you want to find out more have a peek. And yes. The deed pretty much accounts for my prolonged absence. But I have returned with renewed enthusiasm and plenty to write about, and apparently much more able to love myself (as in "not beat myself up" for being a dreadful blogger over the last couple of months:)
It seems that there is time for everything (as poetically stated in one of the biblical poems), and my blogging time is up again!

Pleased to be back from the land of servers, code and rather generative (read "not very structured") management. I need tactile things to recover from all this.

I am able to type at this wee morning hour (!!!) thanks to a quadruple coffee I had YESTERDAY afternoon, but even that is wearing thin now so I'll finish with an image and off I go to B.E.D.

The Natural Dye Day Otherwise Known As The Perfect Occasion To Get Intoxicated On Crème de la Crème of Natural Yarns (forget the opium, Pierre)

2008-09-30T21:44:00.009+01:00

What can I add... The title says it all!

It was a fantastic day out. The weather was splendid (and don't you dare to challenge me on grounds: "if it was so great why is she talking about the weather?" If you live in this Sunforsaken country you will know exactly what I mean and if you don't I will not even try to explain), the yarns were gorgeous, the visitors were many, knitting went on and on. And it was so good that there may be a reprise, so if you have missed it do not make the same mistake twice - and you will prove yourself to be a fast learner :)

I snapped a few photos for your benefit...

Naturally dyed wools by The Good Yarn Stall (the host and initiator of the Natural Dye Day).

Pet Alpaca spun from the fleeces of the two cute alpacas in the photo! I forget their names - never been good for remembering names (humans, alpacas - it's all the same).

Absolutely gorgeous hand spun limited edition Loch Sunart rare breeds... To dye, eeer sorry... die for!

And to top it all off was the exuberant atmosphere of Spitalfields Market on Sunday.

Laying Around...

2008-08-13T21:08:00.007+01:00

... are these beauties.

All courtesy of The Good Yarn Stall. I'm dreaming up ideas for these to be made up into things/patterns. It's very lovely, having these beauties hanging around.

However, these gorgeous children...

... are keeping me rather busy, so not much happens in a way of knitting at the moment. It's a well known syndrome called 'summer holiday'.

To tell the truth though I have been kept more busy by my seasonal renovation project than by my children who are roaming around in a little gang, most of the time not wanting anything to do with me and my 'boring' activities. Except for when they get hungry :)

And here is one of the tops from the little collection I am putting together to support The Mirasol Project.

Sans Cuture, bien sur.

2008-08-08T22:35:00.002+01:00

"Hilda was always at his side in union meetings, with her tireless knitting needles in hand and her knitting wool in a bag in her lap. While her husband harangued his comrades, she drifted off into a secret world, savoring her memories, embroidering affections, reliving her happiest recollections, totally divorced from the clamor of the political discussions. Through a long and gentle process of purification, she had succeeded in erasing most of the privation of the past, and guarded only the happy moments."

Isabel Allende, of Love and Shadows

Influenced

2008-07-23T21:03:00.001+01:00

...by my children, clearly.

Beautiful Yarn

2008-07-08T21:11:00.002+01:00

Holiday Knitting

2008-07-02T22:10:00.001+01:00

Yes. I know. It's not good for my sight, but what does one do? Not knit? Please!

I went to Stoke Fest...

2008-06-27T15:18:00.003+01:00

... to teach knitting.

But of course!

Sunshine Deficit...

2008-06-04T13:11:00.004+01:00

...is showing in my knitting:

(Unblocked, but otherwise ready) Summer Sweater, 2008.

In A Full Swing

2008-05-22T20:26:00.002+01:00

I've done it again!
I was resolved to stop neglecting my blog and I plainly did not put quite enough energy into it... I tend to give myself tough time over things like this and am noticing a temptation to berate myself for it, but I'm just going to notice and let go instead. Uff.

Well, if you think this means that I have commited knitterly 'high treason' and ditched the needles and abandoned all projects... Stop there. No, I have not. Quite the contrary. I have been so busy recently that I barely had time to do anything else other than knitting. Today I worked on this:

In fact I have a new project every few days. And YES they all do get finished before I get onto the next one. The secret is their small size - all kids things, and all knit for a purpose (not least stimulating being the one called "deadline looming"). In fact, I have been taking a new project to every session at O's playgroup (2 sessions a week) these last couple of weeks. Like this one:

And this one (currently soaking, nearly ready to block):

The other mums must be thinking that I am on something, and they probably are right, as I have done the most amazing thing recently - I have been spring cleaning my stash (and must have breathed in very potent wool fumes). I haven't gone mad, oh no... It's just that I have ordered so much new yarn and soon I will have to store yarn in places that are far too obvious - and the risk is that N will find out how much I really have. There just simply is some stuff in there (meaning my enormous chest of drawers full of yarn) that I know I will not knit up. Reasons vary - too little left for what I would like to use it for, gone off the colour, decided not to knit the thing I bought it for, and so forth... It certainly feels good to have somewhat "rationalized" my mountain of yarn :) I can't believe I am writing this! The great thing about it is that I feel no guilt whatsoever when I look at this (arrived today!):

The most gorgeous hand-spun goatland and silk blend for a Stitchville pattern for this autumn. More can be found here.

There is loads more to tell, but I have promised N that we shall spend some time relaxing tonight (we both have been working like there was no tomorrow these last few weeks and I do need to work on doing what I said I would (see top of this post).

Ciao!

Second Attempts

2008-05-13T17:24:00.002+01:00

Some things just won't do. I had to frog this neckline detail, as it wasn't good enough. Second attempt underway.

Revealed

2008-04-08T21:56:00.002+01:00

Luscious Tweed Tote lined in Venetian blue velvet, 2008.

Tweed Knitted Fabric Slowly Reveals Its Secret

2008-03-28T10:57:00.001+01:00

The World Of Nature Translated Into Wool

2008-03-27T22:49:00.004+01:00

Knitted tweed fabric, 2008.

From Stitchville... to you

2008-03-27T01:23:00.002+01:00

Off to the book-making place.

Knit After Nightfall

2008-03-08T01:11:00.000+01:00

There is WOOL in Newtown

2008-02-29T01:39:00.003+01:00

Indeed. And I've been meaning to tell you that since August 2007...

Nothing fancy, but if you find yourselves in these parts and accidentally loose your knitting needles you do not need to fret. Just go to Caroline's at 5 Market Street (Powys SY16 2PQ).

The Good Yarn Stall

2008-02-27T20:54:00.004+01:00

A little treasure I was recently reminded of is The Good Yarn Stall at London's Spitalfields Traders Market.
Open every Sunday from 10am 'till 5pm and full of gorgeous yarns. You'll find there beautiful organically dyed cottons, yarn spun from banana fibres, amazing cashmere, sari silk and more...

Knitting in Venice

2008-02-13T23:53:00.004+01:00

I went on a totally indulgent knitting trip to Italy, with my knitting friend. I had so much good coffee that, technically speaking, it should keep ma awake for the rest of my life. I knitted pretty much all the time: on the plane (there & back), in varous cafés, restaurants, on public transport, in the hotel...
Actually, this is exactly why I have turned into such a dreadful blogger - too much knitting. Luckily this is a rather good excuse for someone publishing a knitting blog!
I woke up this morning thinking "If I don't manage to put the needles down for long enough to post quickly I will sure get kicked out from all these lovely knitting blog-rings I took so much trouble to join!"
And here I am: knitting out of my reach, typing away... and actually enjoying myself.
Pleased to be back.

I've got loads to show for my long absence and promise that I will get organized and keep you somewhat better posted in these coming weeks.

Here is a sculptura free form muff, which kept my fingers toasty on Murano island.

Infinite Projects*

2008-01-22T13:47:00.000+01:00

*Projects that take forever.

Finito!

2008-01-11T19:42:00.000+01:00

Alpaca Scoop Neckline & Bell Sleeve Top, 2007-8.

In Progress

2008-01-07T18:57:00.000+01:00

Do Siego Roku*

2008-01-04T12:38:00.001+01:00

*Traditional polish New Year's greeting.

Autumn YCK Gallery

2007-12-17T17:07:00.001+01:00

Following Covetable Socks workshop there was a lot of sock knitting going on during the latest series. Believe it or not, these were knitted by a beginner, whose first-socks-ever came off the needles no more than 3 months ago!

A lovely example of Pod Socks (size M-L):

Tricky green socks which proved to be a bit of a curse (won't go into details):

And more Pod Socks (unblocked):

One lucky dog called Biscuit got all these:

And this is what I worked on:
Opulent Silk Cardi, 2007.

Sensual Scoop (nearly there!), 2007.

Every Girl Needs One Of These:

2007-10-27T22:07:00.000+01:00

A Fluffy Bolero.

This one was designed by Erika Knight and features in her book "Simple Knits For Little Cherubs".

Oliver Heart His Socks

2007-10-22T23:14:00.001+01:00

Recycle Yarn Like A Pro

2007-10-16T20:42:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I indulged in sharing my thoughts on the subject of conscious evolution and explored what sustainability means to me. Today I want to follow this philosophical article with a pragmatic one.
Recycled yarn is sustainability in practice. It's fun and so in vogue these days! Look around. Is anything you see begging to be frogged and re-invented?

Well, here is how.

This unwanted wrap was stored in various "out of the way" corners of the house for years until finally I decided to put it out of its misery.

Once frogging begun I started turning the endless spaghetti of yarn into neat skeins with the use of a swift. This can also be done with the use of niddy noddy.

Whilst at it, I gently skimmed the fuzz created by the last hand-wash of the garment.

The frogged yarn is a bit curly. Don't worry about it. It will relax in the soak.

I couldn't believe how much yarn was stored in that wrap! I frogged and frogged, and couldn't see the end of it. We are talking Rowan chunky wool here. 10's of GBP worth of it...

Once I produced several skeins I prepared some tepid water with a drop or two of Imse Vimse wool shampoo.

I than gently immersed wool in the soapy water and left soaking overnight.

When the soak is finished gently squeeze the excess water and wrap your skein/s into a clean fluffy towel. Place the towel on the floor. Have a stroll on top of it (if you happen to have a toddler around he/she will gladly assist in that).
Once that's accomplished hang out the skein/s to dry. This can take anything from one to few days depending on temperature and humidity.
Note: if you are soaking more than one skein at the time take care as tangling them up is easily done.

Wind the skeins into balls, double-checking for any overlooked bits of fluff.

Et voilà!

Speaking of recycled yarn, do check out Susan the Recycler's eBay store for a selection of lovingly recycled yarn.

And finally, my first knitted cushion for home is ready, and it is made of recycled sari silk hand-spun in Nepal.

The blue wool is for a small collection of hand-knitted cushion covers. Look out for them!

Conscious Evolution

2007-10-15T15:52:00.000+01:00

Today blogs team up to help environment. As sustainability is a matter very close to my heart, I simply cannot resist joining this initiative.

Sustainability is a much heard word these days. It would seam we are waking up to the importance of being responsible inhabitants of this planet. Good for us!
The whole notion of "saving the planet" strikes me as a major misunderstanding though. The planet Earth existed long before humans appeared on Earth and, as I imagine - in the worst case scenario, it will exist long after human race is extinct.

We are facing big issues. The climate is undergoing a dramatic change, and it appears to be a threat to us, but - really - should the worse happen, the life in its simplest manifestation will go on. That's why I'm not concerned about the planet being saved. I feel that we simply need to take care of ourselves. Maybe the time has come to replace self-centered, egotistic, reckless behaviours with ones that are expression of care. Care of which foundation is a REAL, cellular-level understanding that everything is interconnected and we all are an integral part of the world we live in. That by taking care of ourselves we will also take care of everything that needs to be taken care of, because they are different facets of the very same thing.

I think that there is a lot of emphasis and reliance on our intellectual ability to comprehend what is at stake here, in the present moment of the relatively short existence of the thinking and feeling creatures that we are, and an essential lack or deficit of a sort of understanding that springs directly from a fundamental shift in the way we perceive ourselves and the world around us (which includes other people), and the relationship between the two.

It might sound complicated but simply boils down to the inability to look at stuff with our hearts. Our minds rule, quite literally. Hence, another challenging issue on our hands is an escalating conflict between different cultures. We fail to acknowledge what we have in common and choose to focus on imagined dissimilarities.

If we don't evolve we will become extinct species. It's as simple as that. And it strikes me that it is our consciousness that needs to evolve, not so much our bodies.

There are conscious evolution curricula out there available to all those wanting to deepen their understanding of 'the bigger picture',explore ideas of how we got to where we are now, as a human race, as a civilization, how to get to see the paradigms we are operating out of and which our culture is based upon, how to make conscious choices in life, rather than mechanical ones.

I can recommend a handful of organizations based on my own experience.

First of all Concord Institute (formerly Community Health Foundation) with their brilliant curriculum integrating healthy eating, bodywork and an array of conscious evolution programmes.

Do check out Landmark Education with its inspiring vision (and a very convincing track record) of powerfully transforming people's relationships with themselves, others and life.

There also is Kindling Point, which is

"an educational initiative fostering awareness of the non-separate nature of life and supporting the unfolding of human potential".

Kindling Point is my personal favourite. It is a community based international organization the work of which I find to be right at the forefront of today's transformational work. Boldest, most courageous, most beautifully embracing the spirit, most heart-felt, most powerful - in my experience.

For me sustainability is a factor of love and knowing oneself. I can only be sustainable if I care with all my heart and don't give in to futile trains of thoughts "thinking" that I cannot possibly make any difference, and who am I anyway?

I am an expression of life on this planet. And so are you. We have hearts. We can choose.

Alpaca de Valparaíso

2007-10-14T20:26:00.000+01:00

"The ship dropped anchor in the bay amid the thousands of gulls shattering the air with their tremendous wings and ravenous screeches.Countless small boats bobbed on the waves, some filled with huge live conger eels and sea bass flopping desperately for oxygen. Valparaíso (...) was the commercial emporium of the Pacific: in its warehouses were stored metals, sheep and alpaca wool, grains, and hides for the world's markets."

Isabelle Allende, Daughter of Fortune.

Phantasmagorical Yarn

2007-10-12T12:22:00.000+01:00

Both skeins by Pluckyfluff, the ground breaking spinner and the author of Handspun Revolution.

Considerate Director?

2007-10-11T11:28:00.000+01:00

I am so proud of myself! I have managed to get children into a very neat bedtime routine, which means that they are dispatched off to bed at 7pm these days! I love this time of year - it doesn't take much convincing that it's VERY late when it's all dark outside. Hence, my peaceful evenings have expanded, and I'm getting back on track with the world of blogging knitters (I've got my priorities right, non?). In a successful attempt to avoid sorting out the paperwork for the accountant, I was surfing the net yesterday evening and found Penguin Horde, which diverted me to Personal DNA site.

I went off and did the test and was defined as a

Considerate Director

I must say I tend to take this stuff with a generous pinch of salt, but this time I was impressed by the accuracy. Nick read the results laughing and repeating "This is so true!" Good entertainment/distraction, if that's what's required.

Top three highest scores were in the area of "Trust in others" (which I tend to express as "Trusting Life"), "Aesthetic" and "Attention to style". Lowest score of all was in the area of "Masculinity".
I must say it does explain how I ended up doing what I do.

Covetable Socks

2007-10-10T15:02:00.000+01:00

I only have a minute to let you all know how fabulous the last sock-making workshop was. Can I just say that I am impressed by the work produced by all the sock-making virgins. You can take my word for it - people arrived looking slightly apprehensive, unpacked their countless double pointed needles and, having had a cup of tea, braced themselves for whatever might come their way.

And lots did come their way. These weekend intensives are not called that for nothing!

I've managed to snap a few shots, so that I can show the world how the creative juices flew and what came into being.

These socks feature Partridge heel and a star toe:

The blue sock's twin is still on the needles. Lovely example of Dutch heel and toe:

The red socks are already famous. Click here to visit Miho's socks in a virtual gallery.

Long live the socks!

Prick Your Finger

2007-10-05T20:13:00.001+01:00

About 6 weeks ago children and I went to Victoria Park in East London to have a picnic. On our way back we stumbled upon this lovely shop.

Thought I would let you know so that you too can check it out. Well worth your while :) Run by Rachel and Louise. Can be found here

Be warned: we walked out with a bag full of wool.

Knitting As Usual

2007-10-01T19:59:00.001+01:00

In The Mood For Blogging

2007-09-28T14:15:00.002+01:00

This beauty is off to be auctioned at the charitable event at the Claridges next week. The event is being organized by the fundraising team at St. John's Hospice. It will hopefully fetch a tidy sum for the hospice and find a good home.
I just adore this beret. It is 100% finest Mongolian cashmere, and I seriously suspect that I won't be able to make it through the winter months without one myself!

Pod socks were a hit with Pod and I am pleased with how they came out. Currently working on the pattern, which will be available soon at Stitchville!

I found this ball of sari silk, hand-spun in Nepal, in the massive stack of yarn in the store room (yes, I need a store room for my yarn, that's a fact). I decided to make a cushion cover from it and made a start on it already.

I like the complete lack of restraint of this yarn, both colour and texture -wise. It would intimidate a bird of paradise, I am sure, it is so bright and soft.

This whole cushion thing leads me on to another thread of tale, which is that today is a special day (well, for me at least) as tonight I am hosting an inaugural social event here, in my house.

I had this idea some time ago, and it stuck around for long enough to become an item in my diary. I will be inviting a bunch of local women I know once a month. Some of them I bump into on the school runs, some are neighbours, some are my knitting students, and some are friends (and some are more than one of these at once!)
We will be meeting in my sitting room on every last Friday night of every month, to have a cup of tea and a catch up. A project of sorts obligatory (can be knitting, crocheting, sewing, embroidery). A sort of revival thing, inspired by the times past.
I'm curious how it will do in these busy times we live in. I'm hoping that it will be an opportunity for myself and all these busy women to relax in each other's company and enjoy ourselves thoroughly whilst being creative. We shall have open fires and mulled wine when the winter closes in on us. I am really looking forward to it, and so wish that some of you, dear fellow bloggers, were a bit closer so that I could include you in this invitation! Yes, I am hoping it will be terrific!

And this is where the sari silk cushion comes in! I've decided that I will follow a theme through these crafty nights. I am planning to make a large collection of soft, textured, unique, knitted cushion covers for home. Brainless knitting and will benefit the space too.

Persona Non Grata

2007-09-27T16:00:00.000+01:00

A main character in this story is Emilia. She is an avid knitter, who has fallen into the knitting trap so far that, in order to make things work, she ended up arranging her whole life around her passion. Luckily, this approach really worked, fitting perfectly with her artistic ambitions as well as her aspirations as a mother.

Emilia was delighted to find out that a new yarn boutique opened in a vicinity of her husband's office and became a regular customer and an enthusiastic fan of this Knitting Temple.

As seasons changed Emilia's vision slowly became a reality. Now she taught knitting and spent all her free time designing. Her work attracted attention of publishers. Her classes allured keen people wanting to learn the craft. She was in her element.

The Knitting Temple was owned and run by Sarah who was bent on making it a great success and who went about it in a very matter-of-factly fashion.

At the beginning her manner around Emilia was perfectly pleasant. However, as the months went by and it became obvious that Emilia's knitting classes were becoming an attractive alternative to the classes offered by the shop, shop-owner dropped her attempts at civility without further ado.

At first Emilia thought that maybe she was becoming overly sensitive and decided not to take any notice of this. After all, it would have been very presumptuous to think that she or, indeed, anything she did was a cause of Sarah's odd humours.

More time went by and more awkwardness stifled the air during subsequent visits to the shop. Sarah would flee from view when she saw Emilia coming in, and on few occasions when she was at the shop on her own, made every effort to attend everyone but Emilia.

Emilia ignored this, as she was optimistically inclined and thought Sarah a little extravagant, maladroit even, but definitely not vicious!

One day Emilia found herself near the Knitting Temple whilst out with her baby, and decided to dive in hoping to find a particular needle for her new project. As she entered, she noticed that there was only Sarah at the shop, which was otherwise deserted. She was working busily at the till and acknowledged Emilia with a reluctant nod. Emilia had a quick look at the needles on display and couldn't see the size she needed. She browsed quickly through a shelf stacked with colourful skeins of yarn. Little boy grew impatient and started whining. Emilia took her chosen skein of yarn to the till and waited patiently to be served, but Sarah appeared determined to take no notice of her customer. Emilia stood there, holding a skein of gorgeous alpaca yarn feeling heavy, weighed down by growing sense of unease as uncomfortably long minutes stretched into eternity.

Meanwhile Sarah was tapping away on the keyboard and happily talking to someone on the phone about bright jackets and her website, completely ignoring Emilia and her baby boy's loud protests.

How much more evident could Emilia's presence be? Barely a couple of steps away from Sarah, there was a storm of emotions surfacing within Emilia.

She put down the skein of yarn she was holding and walked out of the shop pushing the buggy with a disconcerted boy in it. As she was closing the door she saw a satisfied grin on Sarah's lips.

The Last Knit

2007-09-27T12:17:00.001+01:00

Something to cheer you up. x

Stupendously Fabulous YCK

2007-09-22T18:57:00.000+01:00

It's hard to know where to start when there is so much to tell, so I uploaded the pictures randomly and now am going to follow through to tell you the fabulous tale of the You Can Knit course just past.

There was a small camp of "expecting" and "baby-adoring" participants, who were very much interested in creating gorgeous knits for the babies. Just look at this lovely cardi-to-be by Elie,

or this little baby tunic-to-be by Michelle - fit for an angel!

This little baby wrap top-to-be was only cast on in the session last week and is coming on very well. I believe it is destined to end up in a little wardrobe of gorgeous Teresa, who was a delightful participant of the August PicKnit and is very lucky indeed to have a passionate adorer in Stephanie, who happened to be on the course!

And here is another creation by Stephanie:

A fabulous scarf made of Noro silk blend - a short number to be worn with a glamorous pin (many more scarves were produced in the early stages of the course, all gorgeous and very different and very absent at this improvised photo shoot).

And below is the source of Pod's bewilderement in its early stages, to which I claim credit:

Barely one very busy week later it transformed into this:

Look out for proper pictures of these beauties, as well as the pattern which I am currently working on.

And below is the peplum for Kam's ambitious second project (after a lovely scarf she has produced at the beginning of the course) - a fab and ultra-complicated cardi.

This vest was produced in a couple of versions by one of the speediest participants and its twin is in Japan now (totally by accident via China), shipped as a gift for a very special person:

This cabled vest is just fabulous and in the fervour of today's session I missed my opportunity to photograph it on its maker!

Next comes an opulent silk cardi for Clara, which I am currently working on (look out for the free beginner-friendly pattern on Stitchville):

And here is a lonely wrist warmer - its mate is still on the needles and due to go to my wonderful mother-in-law tomorrow (yes, yes, I know, time is running out!).

And if all that was not enough, we were also treated by Stephanie to a delicious home-made carrot cake to mark the last session.

It's hard to believe that for most participants this was the very first encounter with the knitting needles , but it actually is the case! Amazing progress has been made by all and I am so very impressed by all the work that has been accomplished (I smile thinking of my very first projects).

Hip hip hooray for all of you! It was so much fun working with you all - keen, ambitious and fabulous people. Hope to see you around and keep it up with the knitting thing!

:)

Bewildered Pod

2007-09-21T12:32:00.000+01:00

A precious moment in a wonderous life of a knitter:

I was on the phone yesterday evening when Pod brought back children, and I nearly missed the only opportunity before the deadline to take the measurement I needed to finish the thing.

I tried to come up with a plan to measure Pod's hand without him noticing, as to preserve the total surprise factor of the upcoming event. I thought about it very hard for quite a while and ultimately had to admit myself completely defeated.

Back to yesterday.

Engrossed in a phone conversation I caught a glimpse of Pod headed for the front door, panicked, apologized to the person I was talking to for an unexpected squeal I let out and warned him that I would not be paying much attention to him for a minute or two, asked his forgiveness, grabbed the measuring tape (thank goodness I could place immediately this elusive object hardly ever there when needed!) and run after Pod - all in about 30 seconds.

I caught up with disappearing Pod on the doorstep and hastily asked him if I could please measure his hand.

I have known Pod for nearly 10 years now, and I think I can safely say that I have never seen him more utterly bewildered than in the short moment that followed.

He obligingly extended his hand.

8.5"

"Thanks Pod. See you Sunday."

Now, Pod is not a fool. He can put 2 & 2 together: she's a knitter & she needs my hand measurement MEANS I'll be getting gloves.

Ladies and Getlemen, 2 + 2 doesn't always = 4.

TBC.

Key:
deadline is "the Sunday party"
thing is "the knitted gift"
event is " producing an exquisite box encasing "the knitted gift" and presenting it to Pod

Slowly But Surely

2007-09-17T21:10:00.000+01:00

First things first. This went off to Sarah on Friday, to celebrate 30's:

And inside was Jade Sapphire 2-ply silk & cashmere blend. (BTW, the quote was from "The Cat In The Hat Comes Back"). Well done Sarah!

Other than that I was busy producing samples last week (deadline met :) Sorry, pics are mediocre. Please note that I had to fend off little Oli whilst I was taking these pictures as he has recently developed a camera fixation.

My two favorite ones were Chunky Harris Tweed organically looking (hard to photograph) fabric above and one of my favorite patterns ever in fabulous Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, below.

I know I've been quiet recently - knitting furiously, holidaying and launching my new website. I have to get back into my blogging routine!
So far I have missed my 1st blogaversary, which was sometime in June or July, as well as the Rockin' Girl Blogger badge I was given by Sarah ages ago and didn't even say "Gosh, I'm speechless" and "Thank you!" Until now, that is.

Thanks for putting up with my very slow self.
I bumped into my friend in the street the other day and she asked me how I was. The closest analogy that came to mind was: "Like a computer which has all its applications open". That about sums up being a working (and blogging) mum.

Knitting Romantique

2007-09-12T21:08:00.000+01:00

"After nightly prayers we would go back with our candles to the large sitting room to have café con leche while the women knit or embroidered and we children listened, terrified, to the ghost stories our uncles told us."

Isabelle Allende, Portrait in Sepia.

Primed & Ready

2007-09-10T14:36:00.000+01:00

Amongst the one zillion things that happened last month was PicKnit No.1, which happened to fall on Bank Holiday Sunday. The weather was gorgeous - clear blue sky scattered with flocks of light and fluffy clouds. The company was of finest sort, coffee was strong and ice creams - delicious. We spent all afternoon there thoroughly enjoying ourselves!

Titus posed for a picture with the socks I was knitting :) Does he not look convincing? You would have no clue at all that he is not of a knitting sort if I didn't let you in on the secret...

PS: Kids were up a tree, hence only represented in the photos by gorgeous Teresa, who was simply charming and I am sure will make a wonderful knitter one day.

Windswept Beauty

2007-08-21T09:29:00.000+01:00

Just gotten back from the windswept and heathered crags. Unpacked. Going through the mountains of laundry to re-pack and be gone again in few days' time.

Here are some pictures of beautiful Snowdonia for you:

Knitting is omnipresent, but too much of it to go into details now. Will cover it all when properly back home.

PS: The picnic on the Heath still on. Praying that the weather will get a grip by Sunday. Will think of a back up plan in case it doesn't!

I wish I wasn't so very distracted from this:

2007-08-07T22:37:00.000+01:00

Summer without a picnic is...not a summer!

2007-08-02T12:25:00.000+01:00

Knitting

on the Heath

is a fine thing.

I Just Love This Place! Look at the gorgeous Garden House! All those flowers bring to mind Kaffee Fassett's knits ;) I shall report on the progress on my Fassett cardi soon.

I like to combine my favourite pursuits to enhance the amount of pleasure I get from them.

And therefore I propose a picnic on the Heath with an open invitation to all knitters who can be tempted.

When:
Sunday the 26th of August, kick off time - 2pm, wind down at 7pm.
Sunday the 16th of September, kick off time - 2pm, wind down at 6pm.

Where: We meet on Hampstead Heath (Kenwood House bit) by the lake (weather permitting).

What to bring: needles and your favourite/current/easiest to follow project, a blanket, a knitting friend or two, a few knitting-friendly munchies (you know, nothing that would threaten our fine knits), change - so that we can treat ourselves to delicious ice creams and coffee, and OF COURSE our families (were applicable). Maybe we could set up a picnic for blokes/kids near by so that they can enjoy a fantastic day out, but do not risk being stabbed by a stray needle :) We will thankfully accept offers of foot rubs and quiet admiration (perfect for those moments when one needs to re-count the stitches). Let me know your thoughts re: this particular issue of non-knitting partners and tiddlers, so that we have a plan that really works. Frisbees, balls and such should help to keep them entertained.

If you have a willing friend, who would like to learn to knit bring them along! With so many knitters around they won't be able to help it but pick up the whole knit & purl thing and join in the fun.

PS: An afterthought.-) we might well be able to tempt our lovely partners and older kids to join in the knitting thing. I'd give a lot to see/have a photo of Nick knitting!

SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Roofs of London

2007-07-27T17:32:00.000+01:00

We have a house guest this week. She is a Parisienne.

Roofs of Paris are much talked of and much depicted too (Hermès carré by Dimitri Rybaltchenko from the S/S 2006 collection called Les Toits de Paris, just to mention a fairly up to date example).

In fact, when I lived in Paris I could get out of my room (through the window, oh yes - these were the days!) and have a picnic on the roof of l'immeuble in which my apartment was situated. I have some very fond memories of warm summer evenings, gentle breeze, flocks of clouds and endless sea of roofs stretching as far as the eye could see. All this accompanied by a glass of wine, a baguette from the local boulangerie, delicious cheese and grapes... And, of course, a bunch of friends.

Many years on.

Because roofs of Victorian houses do not afford such views, we had to use

Getting Into Slow Lane

2007-07-16T10:41:00.000+01:00

Nick & I used to be really good at spending time together and chilling, especially on weekends. Nearly 10 years into our relationship and three children later, it looks very different. Most of the time we run around frenetically, determined to keep up with our impossible stacks of to-do lists and barely allowing ourselves a moment of rest, except for the blessed moment when we finally drag ourselves to our bed at night and exhausted drop onto our pillows. Chilling became a foreign concept, an abstract word that lost its meaning.

Last weekend was different though. Saturday morning was time out for me, as I had the second You Can Knit session of the summer course for beginners to facilitate. Afterwards I swooned at a very low pace around Upper Street (totally out of character, as I am known to be one of the fastest and most passionate walkers on the planet) and did some shopping. A bag of 100% sport weight alpaca in gorgeous silvery hue of gray found its way into my bag. I swear I have no idea how that happened! Well, OK, there was a promotion on at Loop, as they have celebrated their second anniversary, so it was a bit of a bargain. I think it might have weakened my already feeble resistance.

When I got home I found a little gang of kids running around, squeaking for joy and having great time (good friends of Louis & Clara came over to play). I actually did not accomplish anything else that day, except for sipping some supremely delicious Black Cherry wine from Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard and reading. Oh, nearly forgot to mention this:

I wound first skein of Noro yarn for Clara's scarf into a ball!
And promptly made a start on it:

Sunday was a continuation of this slow-paced bliss. We went on a long family walk, had lovely lunch on our return, listened to thunderstorm outdoors, read, slept and drunk delicious hot chocolate.

I'm so pleased I can still "do" chilling!

PS: Randomness, part 7:

Gosia's Delicious Hot Chocolate:

Heat up 2 espresso cupfuls of milk in a pan and then add 3 squares of bitter cooking chocolate (Lindt or Green & Blacks is perfect) and a tea spoon of maple syrup.
Froth with milk frother (I find that the battery powered one is better than manual for chocolate as it produces much lighter and more airy mixture).
Pour into espresso glasses and enjoy.

Touched by Wool

2007-07-10T21:12:00.000+01:00

There is absolutely nothing the matter with my will. It is, in fact, rather reliable. I can say to myself:

"No splashing on shoes or bags, girl."

And it works. In most cases. I haven't bought shoes in I don't even know how long and am not even remotely tempted. Same goes for bags (with an exception for Nivaldo de Lima bag but that was strictly work related, as I have outgrown my knitting bag. I have to get a whole load of yarn and stuff to the sessions after all AND it was a bargain on eBay - the thing needed loving home, clearly, or else I would have not fallen for it).
Anyway, this will of nearly iron-like strength doesn't seam to cut it where yarn is involved. I am completely at its mercy. The effect of this weakness is that I am regularly "mugged" by gorgeous skeins/balls of soft yarn.
Reasoning is to no effect. I could be telling myself for eternity:

"Darling, you have enough yarn to knit even if you were to make it your main occupation for the rest of your life. You REALLY don't need another bag of it"

It just doesn't work!
Someone asked me recently how much yarn I had. I thought to myself:

"If I tell the truth they will think I am touched. Better to stay on the modest side."

And so I did. Even though I didn't own up to how much yarn I REALLY have, the person who asked me couldn't stop laughing with disbelief. Just think what would have happened if I admitted to what's so yarn-wise?

Oliver and I went to town a couple of days ago and came back with this:

Green NORO (col. 15) wool, kid mohair, silk & nylon blend:

Purple NORO (col. 17) wool, angora & silk blend:

Ps: Talking of weakness...
Randomness, part 6 is this:

Green Tea Pocky.

In Life's Current

2007-07-09T20:49:00.000+01:00

Whole of June has been very busy here. You might or might not know about the No Face project and how it nearly brought me to my knees and made me weep with exhaustion and despair. Tough times. I'm so relieved No Face is gone. However difficult it might have been with it around, I must acknowledge that after No Face's departure the house is simply transformed! It's such a pleasure enjoying the new space and it seems there is so much more of it now!

Towards the end of the No Face project I managed two whole days of escape to the wonderous land of sock-making. Socks, socks, socks has come and gone and - let me tell you - it was a hoot!

We indulged in fabulously colorful and soft sock yarns...

and delighted in making loads of socks.

At times it looked as though I was handling weapons, not innocent socks on DPNs!

The picture above shows an emerging peasant heel.

Than there was my birthday (thanks a bunch for all birthday wishes:) and I celebrated it surrounded by friends and family (the shrug to the left was hand-knitted by Iwona - a proud example for the You Can Knit gallery)

and pirates who drunk loads of orange rum and made a racket (whilst searching for the treasure) to create much desired effervescent atmosphere (actually, I was a discreet pirate too as you might have spotted from my head dress, and one in favor of wine rather than rum I must admit. DO NOT be fooled by the fine gauge knitted dress!)

Flowers arrived from my dear friends who couldn't be there (and were awfully missed).

I feel so fulfilled being 30, a mum to three wonderful kids, in a great relationship AND knitting for living. I feel positively blessed. I know it might sound a touch odd, but I am really pleased to be 30 and over the stormy formative years.

To add to the excitement, the summer series of You Can Knit begun last Saturday and we had a very productive first session. I am really looking forward to seeing projects fly off the needles!

"But that is not all!
Oh, no.
That is not all..."

Yesterday I made a start on a new project. It's cotton and it's color work and it's great fun.

I must say that I rather do like my new office. Don't you love the fashion monsters?!
Thank you, No Face.

The quote above is from one of Louis & Clara's favorite (children's) books. If you recognize it please e-mail me and you will take part in a luxurious skein of yarn draw at the end of August (just perfect for extravagantly fine socks!).

TO CELEBRATE 30s.

PS: Randomness, part 5

The family myth says that I have picked up knitting whilst in my Mum's womb. You might think that it's unheard of, but hold your horses and figure this (I can't help thinking that there is something in it):

My Mum first learnt to knit when she was expecting me. About 5 years later I picked up needles and being fleetingly shown how to do knit and purl was sent off to become my doll's knitting slave. I actually do not recall being properly taught knitting ever! I just did it. As I grew older and more inquisitive I leafed through knitting books asked my Mum millions of knitting related questions and painstakingly honed my skills (those long and freezing cold winters were a great incentive). These days my Mum says she has nothing to teach me and my Dad says that I have knitter's mind. Which, of course, I do.

Lastly, photo by Clara.

Randomness part 4

2007-07-03T22:53:00.001+01:00

Today is the last day of my twenties.

Color Therapy

2007-07-02T16:25:00.000+01:00

"No Face" Project

2007-06-20T12:28:00.000+01:00

If you haven't watched Spirited Away yet, DO! It's such a wonderful story and it's beautifully done. I think it is my favorite animated film ever.
In this story there is a character, who at first looks just like a regular customer of the bath house, and a very wealthy one too. However, when he is allowed in, he turns into an enormous and terrifying monster called No Face, swallows three spirits and makes an awful mess of the whole place.
Well, this is pretty much how I would sum up my renovation project. It started innocently and then turned into a monster of gigantic proportions.
This is our living room in its monster-like glory. This picture was taken just a couple of days ago.

Actually I think that No Face is beginning to get better and am hoping to be rid of it in about 2 weeks time. Everyone is involved in bringing this about!

Luckily No Face doesn't mind socks, so this is what I have been knitting to keep my sanity intact. It's perhaps not much of a surprise given that SOCKS, SOCKS, SOCKS! workshop starts this Saturday and I need some sock models.

Every now and then I manage to escape No Face and I seek exile in places like The Duke of Cambridge, where I met Iwona yesterday for our first session of her second round of the knitting course. She's just come back from one of my favorite places (here comes 3rd portion of my randomness): Tatra mountains.

It was so lovely (for the thunder storm was raging outside!), sitting there knitting a sock, keeping an eye on the shrug and sipping deliciously zingy lime drink, and chatting.

Sheep Lane, E8

2007-06-11T21:27:00.000+01:00

On my way to last session of YCK I saw this:

The session was arranged to take place in London Fields, to honour the World Wide Knitting in Public Day on 9th of June. I must say, it was an extraordinarily productive last session (Iwona's shrug is nearly finished!!!) It was such a pleasure to knit outdoors. We were chatted up by people, asking us about knitting or telling us stories (about great aunt knitting Shetland sweater on 8 DPNs).

Afterwards we went to Fabrications...

...where I bought this:

Lovely recycled DK wool by Annie Sherburne. I just love her stuff!

Isn't this horse magical!?

After that I was picked up by Nick & children and we went off to...

Kenwood House!

Heath is such a wonderful place!
L&C had a photography lesson from N and these are pics of the trees by them. The last one really reminds me of a painting rather than a photograph.

(Randomness contd.) I went to Liceum in Opole.

Opposing Forces?

2007-06-04T10:22:00.000+01:00

I have been totally distracted from knitting lately and throwing huge amounts of elan at our lovely Victorian house, bits of which are begging to be restored.

I have recently tagged myself after reading Sarah's post on Randomness and wonderful post by Kendra on secrets.

The rules:"Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog."

Well, the thing number 1 that you don't know about me is that as a child (and before it occurred to me that knitting is a pretty damn hard thing to quit) I entertained an idea of becoming an antique paintings restorer. I imagined myself restoring ancient works of art and remember thinking that it would be a rather cool job to do. Actually, when it comes to think about it, the thought still appeals to me. Who knows? As it is at the moment, I satisfy my need to bring the inner beauty out of things by stripping 100 years' worth of layers of paint from period cupboards, sash windows (having undone them first!) &ct.

To Be Continued (read: I will cover the 7 random things in the course of this month.)

Whilst I restore the house to its former glory my beloved daughter is busy adorning it as best as she can:

This, I think, might be an elephant of sort, but cannot be sure. ON A KITCHEN CHAIR! (Sigh) Dear.

These remind me of Beegu - first one on the tall plant stand and the second one on the wall, by the focal point fireplace in the sitting room. She knows her strategic places, does she not?

I think I might have grown a little artist.

PS: It takes 2 pairs of medium sized men's socks worth of time to strip one tall period cupboard, one room's worth of skirting boards, one door frame and one sash window. I cannot decide whether it's a good or poor result?

Knitting Is Like Music

2007-05-22T17:44:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday I was invited to accompany Iwona (who is attending YCK course) and her wonderful Mr A at the performance titled "Ligeti Remembered 2" by the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank.
The performance was excellent. The Chamber Concerto struck me as a metaphor to my state of knitting at the moment. Well, it is a peace of music which, in my humble opinion, has every appearance of total chaos, abounding in almost unbearable moments, but - get this - it has a really powerful undercurrent of harmony and is amazingly structured throughout. Chaos is in fact an illusion. EVERY note is perfectly timed. The effect is just incredible! The similarity between this piece of music and where my numerous projects are at right now was something of a discovery and a very valuable realization. I can now relax, as I am reminded to trust the creative process and am in fact choosing to let go of my habitual desire to control this very process!

BTW, have you heard Steve Reich's Sextet?
Well worth checking out.

Operating Theatre

2007-05-21T19:44:00.000+01:00

I've been up to some beading and had a few nerve racking moments whilst at it. Just look at this:

This is 2 ply Mongolian cashmere, just a notch stronger than a cobweb. This knot is as tight as they come. To untangle this I will need the finest needle in the house. One wrong move and it all goes to pot! Meaning having to re-thread about 900 glass beads. Ouch!

Luckily, mostly in situations like this I can count on my nerves PROVIDED that no one breathes or moves and there is total understanding amongst all present that it's not much different from being in Himalayas AND right on the edge of a 10,000 meters drop with strong wind blowing like there was no tomorrow.

It's also a matter of being totally relaxed and in a state of utmost serenity to achieve this sort of untangling. One's mind must be quiet. (Does this explain why do I like transformational work so much? Nothing like it to regain some control over one's mind!)

I just don't get people who think that knitting is boring!

Oggle is from ???

2007-05-14T11:15:00.000+01:00

Hand-dyed shawls from my collection. (From left to right: silk dyed in cochineal, silk dyed in indigo & safflower, and linen dyed in safflower.)

Yesterday I was at Oggle, which turned out to be a good experience, although a tad on a quiet side. The weather was appalling, which did not help! The market took place at Abney Public Hall in Stoke Newington.

I had pleasure to meet Caroline and Mel, who are the combo behind Oggleeverything. The little creature in the middle is Oggle in his/her very own person (when it comes to think about it I have no clue as to what gender this creature is!) I got to admire his/her fine features close up. Oggle is made by Paula Wolfenden who is promoted by the company Kitch-en See.

They struck me as a really wonderful team. Figure this - they were so in tune with each other that they both bought independently these two bracelets with gorgeous antique tomato glass beads (both designed and executed by my humble self, 2006).

One of the highlights of the event was the artisan chocolates stall just next to mine. I spent some time chatting with Kirsty, who... now, hold your breath... is a chocolate designer, and has recently set up Perfectly Tempered. I got a glimpse of what's it like to make bespoke chocolates. Fascinating! Especially her Rosemary Chocolates sounded rather alluring to me, but unfortunately she didn't have any of those with her. So, we tasted some yummy truffles instead!

There was a lot of beautiful things around and I met and chatted with many interesting makers.
The real treasure I found was a beautiful collection of wall plaques by Naomi McILroy. I love her work. It's just exquisite.

It won't be a surprise than if I say that those beauties below are now adorning the kitchen wall of my sweet home!

Reduced to Swatching

2007-05-09T12:05:00.000+01:00

I don't know what's the matter with my brain. I've lost my creative flow. What with all these holidays, traveling, Oggle (do come and say hello if you please), taking my focus off knitting, cooking enormous lasagna and (actually) feeling quite exhausted. Nearly forgot about 3 demanding children here!
I'm gradually regaining some ground with the surprise project, but it's so multi-fold that I'm struggling to embrace the scope of it.
What I tend to resort to when I'm gone "to pieces" like this is swatching. It really helps me to get my teeth back into projects and to get some creative flare going.
I used to hate it when I was a kid. I just saw it as a nuisance delaying the thrilling moment when I was ready to cast on a new project. Now that I'm a bit older I came to appreciate it as a tool of a virtuoso, an important stage in the creative process, a means to "knitting without swearing". I swatch with great pleasure these days, sipping some herbal tea and inhaling yummy smell of eggplant lasagna or banana tea bread!

Life In Bloom

2007-05-08T11:45:00.000+01:00

These last few days were so full of fun and rich experiences I don't know where to start!

On Friday I met with Iwona and we had an informal session at Giraffe on Upper Street. It so happened that I had to take Oliver with me, which was an "out-of-ordinary" experience, and worked surprisingly well considering attention span of a 1.5 yr old!

Iwona just came back from her holiday in States and it felt great to be catching up and seeing all the progress made on various projects, and even new projects on the needles, like this scarf, which I totally adore. Don't you?

It's bulky Noro wool & silk blend. I'm in love with colors and texture!

We mostly worked on her shrug, which is an ambitious first project. It is being made of Debbie Bliss 100% silk in an edible rich berry color. Very well chosen, but not the easiest of yarns to be working with.

After that I visited Loop and bought some Noro silk, kidmohair & wool blend (easily influenced!) and a new book by Claire Montgomerie, who also works at Loop and had a chat with Stephan, who was busy knitting union jack tank. I was actually quite frazzled and this little errand lifted my somewhat lowish spirits.

Off home to finish packing and go to lovely Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales to attend Kindling Point Annual Dialogue. Just got back yesterday evening and am still in sheer awe of what a marvelous experience that was! We met with some dear friends we made through participating in courses run by KP over many years - from Italy, States & UK. The place itself was just stunning and oozed fabulous energy. Oh, the birdsong!
I am very interested in dialogue (as described by David Bohm in his wonderful book "On Dialogue", which is an absolute must read) and passionate about what's possible when people engage in a true dialogue where there is responsiveness as opposed to reactiveness, and listening as opposed to righteousness. I'm inspired every time I have an opportunity to engage with others in such a way. The weekend event we went to was about that and it left me feeling revitalised and stimulated.

It was a great distraction from work and knitting. I took a sock in need of finishing with me, but didn't get to knit even one stitch!

Just before I went away I got an e-mail from Sarah and she has put her stake in for the sock-making workshop. I am very much looking forward to meeting a fellow knitting blogger in person!

PS: I did some swatching last week and experimented with Grecian plait pattern.

Can you see the difference between the two pictures below?

I think today will need to be yet another day off knitting duty. I need to relax and gather myself.