Tag: Noro

Knitting Update…

Owl Wrist Warmers

The run-up to Christmas is always the same for me. Deciding far too late that I want to knit something far too ambitious, and then wrapping it up in such a hurry that I forget all about taking photographs. This year I did remember to take pictures of a couple of things, so here they are!

These are the Owl Wrist Warmers from issue 21 of Mollie Makes. I’m not a regular reader of Mollie Makes, but I saw this pattern on the front and knew it would make a lovely Christmas present, so I snapped it up. They’re made from one ball of Sirdar Click, and the only alteration I made was to mirror the cables on each cuff. (I’m fussy like that.) The hardest part (apart from wrestling double-pointed needles, which I still dislike) was sewing on the little buttons so that the owls didn’t look too cross-eyed!

Childry Shawl

This is Childry, from Issue 100 of Simply Knitting – well, from the booklet of extra patterns that came with it. The recommended yarn is Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-ply, which I didn’t have, so I went for 2 balls of Regia sock yarn in one of the Kaffe Fassett colourways. You can wear it either way round – with the point at the front it’s ideal for filling in the annoying little gap at the top of a coat.

Childry Shawl

This way round, it’s held together with a sparkly little hairclip from Accessorize. I must admit that I thought I was going to die of boredom while I was knitting this. Because it all garter stitch all the time, it’s wonderfully easy and the self-striping yarn does all the work of making it look pretty. But the row where you start with 250 stitches and then work k1, yo, k1 into every stitch, leaving you with a count of 750… that ruffle took some getting through. And then, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to do a picot cast off! Which looks lovely, and I’m very pleased with it, but it took three evenings to get the shawl cast off and finished.

And of course, being a sucker for punishment, I immediately cast on to make another one for myself. Mine will be made from some Mystery Colinette that I’ve tried to knit a bunch of times without success, but which I think will be perfect for this.

7/07/2012

I also finished knitting these socks…

Stripy Sock

and these socks…

Noro Kureyon

but not these socks. I’m about half way through the second one, and they’ll hopefully be a birthday gift if I can get them finished in the next ten days.

Currently on the needles are:

  • The Noro socks above
  • The aforementioned Mystery Colinette Childry shawl
  • A black and silver sparkly cardigan
  • A complicated lace jumper that I can only knit when alone in the house
  • Two horrible peach shawls that I’m probably going to unravel soon

That should keep me busy for a while… until I decide I’m bored of them all and cast on something else!

Noro Kureyon Sock

Noro Kureyon

I’ve been knitting rather a lot of socks lately, mostly with Regia yarn, because that’s what’s easiest to get hold of at my local shops.

I’ve been resisting the lure of Noro Kureyon sock yarn for quite a while now, mainly because it’s usually out of my budget. But the colours are just lovely, so as soon as I spotted some in the John Lewis sale I couldn’t resist.

When I was winding the skein into a ball I thought I’d bought the impossible – a ball of Noro without a knot in it! Sadly with a mere five grams to go, the inevitable knot appeared. But at least there was only one, which is a massive improvement on any other ball of Noro I’ve ever bought. It’s still full of bits of twig though, which seems ridiculous. If I’ve spent all this money on a ball of  yarn, I don’t want to be picking bits of vegetation out of it as I knit!

It’s also really oddly spun. Very thick and very thin in places, which makes it impossible to achieve a nice smooth fabric. This is going to be one lumpy sock. So twisty, too. The yarn is full of energy, and absolutely desperate to ply itself as you knit. And then there’s the texture. So rough! Having just worked on one sock with some scrumptiously soft String Theory Colorworks yarn, this Noro feels like horrible scratchy rope.

Everyone who’s seen me knitting this sock has been absolutely entranced by the colours, but immediately disappointed as soon as they’ve touched it. I’m assured that the socks will soften once they’ve been through the wash, and I really hope that’s true! I was going to give them to a friend as a Christmas gift, but I don’t think “I thought you’d like a pair of scratchy, lumpy socks” is quite the message I want to convey!

Sock Addict.

Stripy Sock

I always thought it was a bit silly when people learned to knit socks and promptly gave up knitting anything else. I’ve made a few pairs for other people over the past couple of years, but it wasn’t until I made a stripy pair for myself that the bug really bit. As soon as I’d cast them off, I started the toe of this one straight away.

This is another Regia colourway, and I rather like the pink, red and orange stripes. I couldn’t tell from looking at the ball quite how the pattern was going to develop, but I’m pleased that it’s turning out so regular. I’m using my usual toe-up pattern with a slip stitch heel, and I’ve just reached the stage of increasing for the instep. This means I’ve just realised that the stripe pattern’s going to be disrupted as I keep increasing and when I work the heel. I’ll find out how much that bothers me as I go along. One solution would be to work the toes and heels in another colour. This avoids the pattern disruption to a certain extent (although the stripes will still get thinner as you work the gusset increases), and it also means that the toes and heels can easily be pulled out and re-knit when they start to wear out.

I have plenty of stashed Regia waiting for me, most of it earmarked as Christmas Socks for friends and family. I’ve also thought of a few basic pattern variations, so I don’t go mad from knitting the same socks over and over again.

I’ve also started looking at different sock yarns, although there’s not much available in the shops where I live. Noro sock yarn feels kind of scratchy, and I’m not sure I’d like to knit with it. I’m looking forward to seeing how my Schoppel Wolle Flying Saucer comes out. I’m on the hunt for some extravagantly purple sock yarn for a friend (recommendations welcome!), and I’ve spent a while looking for the perfect green-and-white self-striping yarn. Thanks to the Yarn Harlot I found it this morning, and have now ordered the last ball of Clorophyll from String Theory Colorworks. I also picked up a mini skein of plain white, specifically designed for the toes and heels.

So, I’ve just spent twenty-five pounds on the materials (and international shipping) to make a single pair of socks. For a friend who hasn’t asked for socks, doesn’t know they’re getting socks, and has no idea how long a pair of socks takes to knit. Clearly this isn’t a gift for them, it’s a gift for me.

I’m turning into a sock addict.

A couple of scarves

Loopy Cowl

I think this is the last project I finished in 2011. I started knitting it on Christmas Day, having been asked by my mother-in-law to bring a pair of 5mm needles to dinner with me. Somewhat confused, all became clear when I opened my gifts to find two balls of Rowan Felted Tweed and two books of knitting patterns!

This is Loopy Cowl by Rachel Proudman. It’s made up of eight strands which aren’t i-cord, they’re simply knit flat and allowed to curl up on themselves. All the strands are seamed together, then the seams are covered by another strand. I think you’re supposed to wear it with the seams at the back, but I quite like it at the side like this. Even better with a blingy brooch pinned to it, I think.

You need two balls of Felted Tweed because you’re knitting with two strands held together, although you only use around 70g of yarn. Not quite enough to risk buying only one ball, but enough left over (hopefully) to make a pair of matching gloves, or perhaps a little hat.

Moss Stitch Scarf

This enormous beast is the biggest scarf I’ve ever made, and also one of the quickest. Knitted in Rowan Big Wool and Noro Blossom on 15mm needles, I finished it in two evenings and it’s more than two and a half metres long!

Should you happen to need a pattern for a giant moss stitch scarf, I’ve added it to the tutorials section. Perfect for the silly snowy weather we’ve got going on at the moment.

Noro Clapotis

Noro Clapotis

Every time I knit a Clapotis, I complain all the way through.

“It’s boring!”
“My hands hurt!”
“Maybe I could make it shorter…”
“How much further?”

But every time I’ve finished knitting a Clapotis, I can’t wait to start another one.

This one was started in July, as a birthday present for my mother-in-law. But her birthday came and went, and I was still knitting, so it became her Christmas present instead. It’s made from five skeins of Noro Cash Island, a lovely soft blend of wool and cashmere. It’s beautifully soft and drapes beautifully.

Thankfully it was extremely well received – my mother-in-law is also a knitter (and a much better one than me!), so she appreciates the time and effort that goes into making a gift like this as much as the finished piece itself.

And I may have had a little accident in the John Lewis sale, and bought five skeins of Rowan Silky Tweed, to make a pretty grey one for myself…