Jazzyknits

Like loosing a limb...

2006-06-26T07:11:00.000+01:00

I have been without t'internet for a while, and when I got it back, I spent all day yesterday trying to get back in here!! As well as several other places!

Still I am here now and shall be posting a plenty once again.

Phew!

doesn't time fly...

2006-06-04T23:23:00.000+01:00

..whether you're having fun, or not. Actually I have, the kids have been off school again for half term. We've not done anything particularly special, but since the weather turned we spent most evenings on the beach. But I am pleased they go back to school tomorrow!

Needless to say, not a great deal has been done on the knitting front. I've been concentrating on getting Father's Day cards made, which I'm selling before I can get them on my online store!
I also have 2 orders for the felted bag below.
My tired, sore, sticky finger's need a rest!

I'm contemplating visiting mid wales soon for the Wool and Willow Festival which looks like it could be fun.

anyone else going?

I know, I know...

2006-05-24T04:19:00.000+01:00

I should be knitting my Aran as that's the one that's gonna bring some money in but....how could I resist using my new extention to my stash... Noro Kureyon. I blame you all for raving about it, I had to see for myself how good it really was.

this is what I made....

...using Noro Kureyon Col. 52 and Stylecraft Gypsy Col. 5117 Horizon (the link for the pattern is on the right). I got started and finished yesterday so I can take it into town with me tomorrow!

Now..on with the stuff I should be doing!

I am soooo tired...

2006-05-20T06:08:00.000+01:00

...the kids took it in turns to get up in the night (thursday) I got so fed up with getting in and out of bed, I decided to get up in the end, tidied up a bit, did the ironing and finished "Mavis"

I'm quite pleased with it, the armholes could do with being shorter as it's quite a heavy fabric, but really slinky, it moves well (if you know what I mean) I might try another in your average cotton and see how that looks.

I'm going to attempt circulars this week. I'm terrified of them! The last time I tried, which is some years ago now, I ended up twisting it all and creating......what could only be described as.....well.....a mess, and a big one at that. Still, they say you get wiser as you get older!

and add another....

2006-05-18T04:04:00.000+01:00

Another Aran that is, in a different colour, plus make some cards, so all in all, it's been quite a productive beginning to the week. I tried my hand at dying with Kool-aid on Saturday. I haven't photographed the result yet, so I shall post that next time!

I recieved the first package from my One Skein SP...

Some Jaeger pure wool and some Kool - aid. How cool is that!! The paper that it was all wrapped is is great too, it will make a great backing on some cards.
Time for some felting soon methinks.

Thank you, thank you, Oh Secret One!!!

I've yet to send mine, I've oredered it from my LYS, and am still waiting. There's this thing here called the "Pembrokeshire Promise" i.e, "It'll be here by Wednesday" (they never say which one!). Still, I've got a couple of weeks til June....haven't I?

I spent most of Sunday in the garden. It was a right mess when we first moved in, bindweed everywhere! We've been here 2 years now and still struggling to keep it under control. But on a good note...

The apple that was planted last year is doing very well. and so is my rockery of Blue Grass and various Alpines and Heathers, next year it should be a blanket of blues, pinks and purple.

The Lavender ("Fat Head" I think) is doing well too and smells divine. I also have a blue Lavender waiting to be planted. Also some Night Scented Stock seedlings which are just coming up.

On the Knitting front....I've been busy mainly with "Mavis". I want to get it finished before I start on the next Aran.

I decided in the end to do the skirt in st st, a border of eyelets and then the bodice in a Diamond Lace. I like it, and the "Needles" yarn is great to knit with. I hopefully should have it done by the weekend.

cross another one off the list...

2006-05-13T02:26:00.000+01:00

...it's finally finished!

The Aran jumper is done. I had finished it ages ago but a few changes needed to be made to the shoulders, they were too small and therefore the neck too wide, and then I added another inch to the bottom. Still it's done now and I can get on with the other stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed writing the pattern and kniting it. I think the best bit is getting stuff wrong and being able to fix it, does that make me a freak?

This one is for Big J. He's been pestering me for a jumper since we were married (that's 6 yrs in August!). I did start one a few years ago, but the yarn I was using really made my hands itch and so knitting it was a chore. This time I'm using "Wendy Aran" shade 588 which is a lovely colour green. The pattern is from Rowan Knitting Magazine 19 Spring/Summer. "Nautical Twist" by Louisa Harding. It's really easy, once you get passed the moss st......uurrgghhh!

The other project on the go is a jumper for Little J, who was looking throuh my patterns one night and said she wanted this one...

Luckily you can't see the picture very well, I hate it! I took her to the LYS and she picked out a yarn (with a lot of direction from me). The main body will be knitted in Sirdar "Cool Kids Chunky" Shade 949. A lovely light blue colour with bits of pink, green and yellow. That saves me having to knit dots and carrying yarn across the knitting. For the panel she chose a pink Patons "Cotton DK" and then for the intarsia hearts we're not sure whether to use the blue again or to use another colour. We shall cross that bridge when we come to it.

I'm also making a dress for M, in the "Needles" yarn, in a previous post, with a lace skirt and st st bodice, short sleeved. Hopefully I'll get it done before the summer ends!

One Skein Secret Pal Exchange

2006-05-11T07:16:00.000+01:00

woohooo!! I'm really excited......can you tell?

the questionaire wotsit :-

1. Which yarn is most like your personality (you can be specific or general with your answer- brand, type, color, fiber, whatever)?

I would say, a busy yarn boucle with slubs or feathery and ribbons and beads!! with lots of colour and really soft!

2. What is your favorite color yarn to knit crochet with?

Deep reds, orange, blues, greens are my favourite colours, but I would say that bright colours are my favourite to knit with, they make me feel bright, colour therapy and all that!

3. Have you ever used variegated, or magic, yarns?

uhhhhhh......about 90% of the items I make are variegated...I haven't attempted socks in self striping sock yarn (I'm terrified of DPN's and Circulars!) but I have made other items.

4. Do you tend to favor certain fibers when choosing yarns?

Yes, I do prefer something which has a bit of real stuff in it, wool, cotton, linen etc. But I do tend to use yarn that doesn't take too much looking after for baby and children's clothes.

5. Do you prefer to work with center-pull or traditionally wound balls of yarn?

Doesn't make a difference to me!

6. Have you never worked with organic yarns or are you interested in trying them?

Nope, but I'll give anything a go.

7. How many and what projects have you made in the last year?

I've made about 3 items this year. I only started knitting again recently after having the twins. I've made 2 baby girl cardigans, a celtic knot cushion cover and about to finish my 4th which is an Aran jumper someone has asked me to design for them.

8. Will you be knitting any gifts this year?

The baby cardigans were gifts, I most probably will do more yes!

9. What is your favorite one skein project?

I quite like the circle rug, the felted bowl looks cool too!

10. How much yarn do you have in your stash and how do you store it?

Oh! Tons I have four collapsable stacking baskets in my bedroom, sorted out into "Baby Colours", "Natural Colours", "Bright Colours" and "Other Colours" there must be about 30 balls in each. Plus the stuff on cones too!

11. Do you have yarn in your stash that you love so much you can never use it or part with?

Yes, I have two, I don't know what they are as I have lost the lables now. It's a black yarn with really big slubs, one ball in orange and red and the other is in blue and purple. I've had them since I was at college, about 13 yrs now and I just can't bring myself to use them!

12. Do you knit less or differently in the summer?

I probably knit with brighter colours in the winter to cheer myself up a bit!

13. Do you belong to any knitting groups (online or offline)?

I'm thinking about starting an offline group in the family centre.

14. Pal, please confirm for me your mailing address (some East Coast zip codes may have lost the beginning Zero value and appear as four digits, and some pals were in the process of moving when they registered).

I'll answer this one directly to my secret pal!

I'll put some more knit stuff on later, my Aran is at last finished, gotta tidy it up a bit first!

oooooh fluffy!

2006-05-08T05:23:00.000+01:00

Yay! it's arrived

a whole bunch of yarns! Goodness knows what I'm going to do with them, but I fancied something different. The top three are Stylecraft "Gypsy" DK in "Storm", "Envy" and "Horizon". They are incredibly soft. The grey I can use for a little crop cardigan my sister wants me to knit for her. The next row is Four Seasons "Lulu Color" you can say that again! Then the last row is Needles, it's a cottton and nylon blend, very shimmery! I think M would look good in this one. I'm really excited about getting started on these, just need to find the perfect pattern.

On a hunt for patterns I found these...

...in three diffenrent charity shops (Ipractically live in them!). 2 Debbie Bliss books, 2 Harmony books (the knitting stitches one I already have but I mentioned in an earlier post, it's completely battered!) and an Alice Starmore "The Celtic Collection".....drools Homer style!

The best bit is I paid £5 for the lot!

Little J was poorly yesterday so I couldn't wander very far, which can be a good thing as I can get a fair bit of knitting done, but on the other hand....we all get cabin fever!

This is the baby cardigan. The fabric is a bit similar to a seersucker. K 2 rows on 4mm needles (green), inc sts by knitting 3 times into one st, K4 rows on 6mm needles (pink) then change back to 4mm and dec by K3tog and so on. It's growing quite quickly, just the sleeves and the yoke to do now. This is knitted in Stylecraft "Gypsy" Seabreeze. It's a wonderful mixture of greens, pinks and blues. I'm not sure what the pink is, a polyester blend, with white slubs. It's really light and soft.

Big J was working on a project of his own, stripping down an old oak bereau (sp?) that we picked up in a boot sale last week. He's lovingly taking apart a broken leg that was bodged back together and fitting it properly, stripped the varnish, and now wondering what to do with it and where we'll put it.

yes, yes, yes!

2006-05-04T04:52:00.000+01:00

....as much as I love the little munchkins, I am so glad that they are back at school, well two of them anyway but two is far better than none.
Now is the time to get down to some serious knitting. I have a few projects lined up, once I've got this Aran out of the way, which is coming on fine....no more tearing it off the needles and starting again. I now only have half the front and a sleeve to do. Apart from the baby cardigan, I have two orders for handbags, and I've just ordered some great yarns, some eyelash, gypsy and another but I can't remember what that one was called.....I'll post a pic when I get them, the colours are gorgeous....just need a pattern! I managed to find them on ebay for a decent price. The only thing with living in the middle of nowhere is the price of yarns, when you find somwhere that stocks recent ones. There used to be a great little shop here, but it closed down last year. I almost begged the owner to let me run the shop for her.....but she had made the desicion to pack it all in.

Well it looks like spring has sprung at last. The plus point to living in the middle of nowhere is the fantastic scenery. I'll have to take my camera out with me from now on....the air (and the ground) is buzzing with inspiration. I'm desperate to get out into my garden but the twins hate the sound of the strimmer, so I discovered last week. O wasn't too bad but M really kicked up a fuss!

The last bit of news is Big J, my husband was off on a poetry gig last night with Rob Gee, in Cardigan at the Castle Cafe. I was really annoyed that I couldn't go, but it's too far to get back in the evening, and I can't leave the kids with someone else overnight, I wouldn't wish that on anyone!! No doubt I shall hear all about it when they both get back.....probably this afternoon!

So it's off to grab a quick coffee before the troops start getting up.....bye for now.

Tenby Beach

The end is nigh.....

2006-04-28T04:11:00.000+01:00

Only 5 days to go and I shall only have half of my children at home, most of the time at least as D is only in part time until September. I'll be able to concentrate on my knitting then without them trying to "help"! In fact M has taken to putting it away, whilst I'm knitting!
The Aran that I was asked to knit is coming along, now that I have worked out the first repeat, the rest will come easy. I'll put the pattern of this one on my site once I have sorted out the neckline and sleeve (I don't know how it's meant to be done, but I tend to write the pattern as I go along).
Aren't those "Harmony Guide to Knitting Stitches" fantastic books. Mine is truly battered now, I've had it for years so could do with getting a new one soon before I start loosing pages to little hands (destructive ones at that!)

Right, my coffee is finished, time to get on with these cards. I do quite well in the summer months, must be a good time for birthdays. I know all mine are in the summer, infact 70% are in September and most of them are on the same day!

Quick note!

2006-04-27T12:35:00.000+01:00

My friend had a baby girl this morning (yes, she's been in labour for this long, on and off!). And she is beautiful!

New Cards

2006-04-24T11:38:00.000+01:00

I took the kids out for dinner yesterday, to while away this very long, stressful holiday (i think I may go insane very soon). Whilst the kids played with their new toys, I flicked through May's Issue of "Quick & Crafty". I don't normally buy magazines (apart from knitty ones) mainly because of the price, but I thought I'd treat myself, and treat myself I did! As I turned to page 18, it was there, like a bright shining light, cards for knitters! I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before!
Obviously I have added my own touch and developed them further...let me know what you think!

They are actual pieces of knitting, with machine knitting yarn on very small needles, 2mm I think (who invented those!?) and then carefully slipped onto cocktail sticks and mounted on various cards and papers

So even my Aran jumper has been put on hold for the time being, which has been unravelled 3 times so far. I'm really nervous about knitting for people who knit themselves (but the person in question doesn't have the time), I feel my knitting is inadequate, although deep down I know it's fine. I'm just a bit of a perfectionist.

right, off to prize the kids off each other!

No time.gotta knit!!

2006-04-22T21:57:00.000+01:00

My friend who's gonna get the cardi has gone into labour!! I'm so excited, probably more so than her! She was told she's gonna have a girl, hence the girly yarn, but as Sod's Law states, if I'd knitted it up before, she'd have a boy, so I'm waiting in anticipation, and getting speedy with this Aran jumper!

At Last!

2006-04-21T06:57:00.000+01:00

It's finished....Yay! Couldn't tell you what it's knitted in. I had a loads of odd balls of yarn given to me when my MIL passed away, and all the blues just screamed out tank top! They are just your average DK, although the grey yarn in there is a cotton. It's my first own design (from scratch) that I've actually finished knitting up. Good job too, I was asked last night for a boys Aran Jumper......so that horrid coat
will have to wait, oh well!!

This is what I have for the Aran, it's a Patons Diploma, High Performance Aran (above)....it had better perform! I'm excited about this one too, I love a cable, the more intricate the better. And for the next baby cardigan I have these on the right. The white is a Sirdar Tropicana Cotton effect 4 ply. It feels gorgeous, really soft. The contrast colour is a Sirdar Dune which looks interesting.
I was in a newsagents in town which sold Bob The Builder toys, so my son insisted that we had a look! Tucked away in a corner in the back of the shop was a stash of yarns for £1 a ball!! Thank you D!! I will definately be going back there!
Well, my fingers are itching to get started on these so, TTFN!

k1,p1 the bain of my life!!

2006-04-19T22:41:00.000+01:00

arrrggghhhh!!! really really wanted this tank top out of the way by today but the neck line as taken me ages, not that I've had a great deal of time to get on with it today. Ferrying kids to parties and trudging through miserable UK weather. You'd think it was October out there not April!
I'm desperate to get going with a baby cardigan that i've been asked to do, but I have so many ongoing projects I wanted to get at least one of them out of the way.
Another is a baby girls coat which seemed like a quick and easy one to start with. It's a Debbie Bliss pattern, in garter stitch, (with a touch of my own...I just can't leave a pattern alone!) but it's so simple it's bored me to tears...talk about TOAD!

Well, my fingers are hurting, must be getting old! So off to bed and will finish off the armhole ribbing with refreshed eyes. Goodnight.

So close yet so far!

2006-04-19T00:37:00.000+01:00

I really wanted to get this one finished today, it's been driving me mad since I got to the last inch or so. The kids have been bothering me at every given moment, particularly when I picked my knitting up! But it's 12 am now and I really should try to sleep. The twins have both got colds so no doubt they with spend the night bothering too......poor little sausages!
Goodnight and sweet dreams x

Input, I need Input!!

2006-04-17T22:56:00.000+01:00

"Gerty"

This one was knitted recently for a friend, using oddballs of pink, peach and white DK

After trauling through the net.......hmmmm ok that makes me sound like a fisherman!! I sat here in my little kitchen in awe at the site of all the gorgeous knitting that goes on around the world.....and socks!! I've never seen so many socks!! I myself have never knitted a sock, though there seems little point as I very rarely wear them!

So, what do I knit? Mainly childrens clothes, God knows I have enough of them, kids that is, although, just about as many clothes although I only have pictures of the most recent.

Seeing all this knitwear has inspired me anew, now that I have a spare hand or two (if I'm lucky) every now and then, I decided the time was right to start again.

This is one of the sweaters I am working on at the moment. It has a touch of celt about it! The yarn used is a grey aran and navy shetland, knitted together on size 4.5 needles. Both of the yarns were bought on ebay....i love that site! It's quite a thick fabric, and gorgeous to touch. I'm really pleased with the knot, I hadn't done intarsia for a very long time and was quite nervous, but excited! This, when I get it finished will be a little hoodie for a 3 yr old.