Puppies 2.0

Esmee has had her second set of puppies.

6 bundles of joy.

3 blenheims and 3 rubies.

5 girls and 1 boy.

Mother and pups are all doing extremely well. It’s going to be a busy few weeks. Wish me luck!

FO: Zick-Zack Tunic

I use my trips back to the UK as a fashion guideline sometimes.. I seem a little out of touch here in Germany! What I mean by this is that I look through my sisters’ closets and work out what the new ‘in-trend’ is. This Christmas, I did the same and found that everyone seems to be loving the leggings or skinny jeans paired with a tunic or short dress.. I love this style. I love my skinny jeans and the tunic sounds great, so I started trawling through some patterns and found the Zick-Zack Tunic by Melissa Wehrle. It’s published in Interweave Knits Spring 2009 and having had a subscription to said magazine for a while now, I knew I had this pattern somewhere!

Yarn: Middlearthknitter Yarns laceweight BFL in a very bright red!
Pattern: Zick-Zack Tunic by Melissa Wehrle
Needles: 4mm and 3.25mm circs.
Modifications/Notes: I swatched on 4.5mm as the pattern called for, but I found it too gappy for my liking, so I went down to 4mm. Then I decided that I didn’t like the original zig-zag lace pattern so I spent a couple of evenings flicking through my stitch dictionaries and eventually found this one in the Vogue Knitting dictionary. Love it so much more. I had to fudge the numbers a little to make it work as well. Also, I knit this mostly in the round because I’m lazy and don’t really like seaming. At all. So up to the sleeve shaping, it’s worked in the round.

The pattern is well written and easy to adapt if the stitch pattern isn’t to your liking. The ribbing on the bottom hem and sleeves and cowl neck are all worked with the yarn held double and the rest of the pattern is single thread. It’s still a little gappy, but honestly this will make a lovely summer cover-up.

I’ve worn this multiple times since I finished it, so I’m really pleased. Also. it hasn’t been blocked, but with it fitting the curves so well, there doesn’t seem to be much need!

Would I make this again? Yes, I think I would, but in a heavier weight yarn and maybe I’d stick to the original Zick-Zack pattern!!

Q & A

First of all, thank you for all the lovely messages with regards to the loss of Ruby. They mean the world to us. He was a special little chap.

Now to the actual post itself. The lovely Kate from Confessions of a Graveyard Gypsy has asked that I answer some questions with regards to knitting and me.. to be honest, I’m a little scared! I haven’t really thought about why I knit recently, I just know that through all the rough times knitting has kept me sane. This should be fun!!

1. Of all the projects you’ve knitted for yourself, which is the one that you wear most often?

Hmm.. I would say that there are a number that I wear the most and probably equally. The first is Kaleidoscope Cardigan where I first tried knitting with two different yarns and alternating rows. The Mrs Darcy cardigan is another and I love this as it’s made from so little yarn and still makes me smile with joy. Francis Revisited is another… love love love. And out of all of these Audrey is the least worn, mainly cos it slightly felted in the wash right near the beginning. I would wear it more often if not for this.. Huldan Takki Cardigan, Rocky Coast Cardigan and Zick-Zack Tunic are my last few knits and already I know these will be staples in my wardrobe.

2. What item would you never knit, even if you were offered a million pounds/dollars/euros to make one?

Oh my, this is a hard one. If you’d asked me last year I would’ve said a dress or a skirt.. but I’m starting to look at patterns for both of these recently.. hmm. Ohh I know. Underwear. Or bathing suits. Not happenining. Ever. And clothes for dogs… seriously. *shakes head*

3. Do you have a favourite place to knit in your home?

The corner of my sofa. It’s my place and it’s where all my knitting ‘essentials’ are kept on the coffe table next to it. I actually, rarely, knit anywhere else inside the house.

4. How long do you spend knitting per day?

There is no set amount of time. It’s pretty much any spare time that I have. Every time I sit down with a cup of tea or turn the TV on is knitting time. Thankfully!! I probably spend about a couple of hours every evening and more on the weekends.

5. Do you have a favourite knitting (or other craft) magazine?

Not really. I love Interweave Knits and Spin-Off from the same company. But I generally like lots of others as well, like the e-mag Knitty.com. And Twist Collective. Whatever catches my eye to tell the truth!

6. Have you ever used knitting needles for something other than knitting?

Yep. To check whether my cakes have cooked through and to put up my hair. Oh and once to tie up a chilli plant and keep it growing straight!

7. Have you ever – successfully – taught another person to knit?

Yes! And that was a complete thrill. There were 2 people. One no longer knits, but has the knowledge and the second still picks up the needles every now and again when she has the time.

8. What is your favourite flavour of crisps?

Hah!! I’m boring when it comes to crisps. My favourite above all else is Ready Salted. That’s it. It’s the taste of the actual crisp as well as the Flavour that I like. My second favourite is Salt & Vinegar, but only if I can’t get any Ready Salted! And the crisps in Germany taste so different from those in the UK.

9. Have you ever given up knitting for a long period of time (more than six months)?

No. Spinning, yes. But not knitting. This is the one thing that keeps me sane. Calms me down when I’m stressed and gets me all excited when I find something that ignites my imagination. It started when I needed something to ‘re;ax’ my brain after working in front of the computer for hours for my job. Now it’s so much more than that. So much.

10. What makes you laugh?

Lots of little things. Ollie when he’s being funny or moody. The dogs, when they’re being silly. Life. My friends. The animals that frequent our garden and the cat, when he wants to play with the dogs.

11. What is your favourite book?

I’m a voracious reader, so I don’t have a favourite book really. I have favourite genres and authors. For sci-fantasy, the authors I turn to are Robin Hobb and Terry Practhett. For romance, it’s Judith McNaught. But give me a book and I will read it.

12. Do you accurately know how much yarn you own?

Maybe not to the last yard, but yes. I have everything catalogued and that’s the way I like it. It stops me from spending more and makes me want to use what I already have. It was hard though to catalogue it all. I realised I had more than I could ever, ever knit… oops.

Well, that was fun!! I’m supposed to pick people to answer some questions as well, but I think I don’t have enough readers for that, so I’ll put the questions up and if you fell like answering them, then please do and let me know so I can read your answers!!

My questions:

1. What’s the knit that makes you feel the most like yourself?
2. What’s your favourite yarn or blend to knit with?
3. My favourite garments to knit seem to be cardigans, what’s yours?
4. Who is your knitting idol?
5. Who’s stash would you like to swap yours for?
6. What other crafts would you like to try, but haven’t yet?
7. Your favourite flowers are….
8. What’s your favourite type of book to read?
9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
10. What are your guilty pleasures? Keep it clean though!!
11. What is your most proudest knit?
12. What have you knit recently that a few years ago you would never have knit?

Have fun peeps!! I’m looking forward to some interesting answers!

Ruby

Ruby
August 13th 2009 – February 25th 2012

You were the youngest
You were the smallest
You had the largest heart of any dog
You were our sweetest

You will be missed and you will always be loved. RIP my little man.

FO’s: Rocky Coast Cardigan and Kindle Cosy

It’s been a busy couple of months and I’ve completed a few projects, but the weather’s been a little uncooperative and the light hasn’t been good and I know I’m making excuses!!

I finished the Rocky Coast Cardigan in January and I even blocked it! Woohoo! I’ve been wearing it on and off since its blocking and I love it loads. I feel though that it could do with a harder blocking to make it a little larger. I would love to use this more as a layering piece but the sleeves are a little tight, so they need blocking wider as well. Anyway, I’ll do that some point in the future.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lanaloft Sports Weight
Pattern:
Needles: 5.5mm KnitPro
Modifications/Notes: My guage was off, so I used the 40″ instructions for a 36″ fit and it’s worked fine, but I want it a little larger, hence the ‘want’ to reblock. I actually picked up more stitches for the actual sleeves and it’s still not enough.. reblocking will help a little.. I have huge upper arms!!!!

I really love this cardigan. I like the look and feel of it. But I think that I could lose a few kilos and it’ll look so much better.. that’s the aim now, so we’ll see in a few months!

It was my birthday at the weekend and one of my gifts was a Kindle… :love:

Obviously, I couldn’t have my Kindle getting cold, so I made it a little cosy…

Yarn: Tess Dawson Baby Alpaca DK
Pattern:
Needles: 5mm KnitPros
Modifictaions/Notes: No changes to this pattern and it fits like a glove!

I love this cosy and so does my Kindle. I’m a complete book person and I always felt that reading physical books was the only way. It’s not. I like that I can read multiple books on the go, without having to carry the actual physical books around and for travelling, I can see all the advantages of the Kindle. Even if it’s just leaving the house for a few hours. This is one of the things that I now put straight into my handbag, when leaving the house, like my little knitting project.
At the moment, I’m reading on the Kindle and it’s great, and I’m still reading a ‘real’ book at the same time. I love my books, I love my Kindle..

Let me know your thoughts whether you’re an avid reader or not… I love to hear them. Oh and Happy Valentines everyone.

Bringing in the New Year

I spent Christmas with my parents and siblings in the UK and we had a great time. It was spent eating and drinking and reminiscing and catching up on the latest family gossip and news.

My sisters and brother are fab. One sister is married (to a fabulous guy), another is getting engaged next year (which we spent oodles of time talking about!) and the third is looking for love. My brother is sweet and caring and spent time telling us all how he would need to have a ‘chat’ with my sister’s fiance-to-be!

To close 2011, here are a few shots of the yarny goodness my sister got me for Christmas.

And it all came in a lovely Ted Baker bag which will be used for knitting projects!!

It was great being back with the family. But I have to say I’m glad to be home. I’ve spent the last few days pulling out the staircase in the living room as we have two and this one is surplus to needs. It will open up the living room dramatically and I can start painting and reorganising and sorting out what should go where. I may even reclaim a crafting area!!

So here’s to a bright, new, happy, healthy 2012!

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,400 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.