Random interesting thing

I found this page http://www.43things.com/things/view/2879236/read-the-list-of-books-that-matilda-first-read-roald-dahl and wondered how many of Matilda's book I had read too!

Here goes:

Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens - READ

Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens - READ

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte - READ

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - READ

Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - READ

Gone to Earth by Mary Webb 

Kim by Rudyard Kipling - READ

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells - READ

The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway - READ

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - READ

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - READ

The Good Companion by J.B. Priestly - READ

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene - READ

Animal Farm by George Orwell - READ

Okay, so what does this say about me?  I read too much?  Probably! But it is fun :-)

Morgman

Snow!!

It's snowing!!! Unheard of here :-)  Note the little cat's opinion of it all...

Stash acquisition

I admit to acquiring new yarn recently: some from lovely Bevy in a swap, and some for a manly gift project which has been rumbling along unproductively for quite some time now!

More Garden Pix

I spent a little more time enjoying the Indian Sumner in my garden recently :-)

Sunseeking Cats

The furry feline flatmates caught enjoying a precious patch of late summer sun.  Prrr prrr...

The last roses of Summer - and some daisies.

 Dublin Bay

 Double Delight

Shasta Daisy Banana Cream

 Pink Flower Carpet

 Unknown :-)

Another unknown

The title says it all really.  We have had a lovely Indian Summer after a less than wonderful summer, but the weather is going to break soon, I am sure, so I took a quick look at the last pretties in my garden.

Mattie's Blanket

Finally sewn together, just some ends and the border to do: woohoo!!

My Mum knitted the squares before she passed away 18 months ago, and it has taken a while to be able to bear to do it, but the worst is over and the end is within reach :-).

Baby Blankie

These are the first 2 squares in a 6 x 4 baby blankie for my new niece. It is a made up pattern comprising ideas from several different patterns, but I am pleased with the way it is working out. Can't say the same about some peach/apricot wool I recently bought to use: it simply screams at the other colours! Back to the drawing board...

Cloth Pattern

Angel Wings Wash or Dish Cloth

Pattern Stitch:

I started with the broken cable stitch pattern used it in a cloth and as I was knitting it I thought of how I could change it to look like wings, so I tried it and it worked. :-)

The pattern has 10 stitches and 26 rows, so to make a reasonably square pattern I cast on 46 stitches to do 4 repeats across, and 2 repeats vertically. I made a border of what NZ knitters call moss stitch and US ones call seed stitch, but you can use garter stitch if you prefer. I just happen to like the look of the moss stitch, though it slows up the process a little. I made the border 4 rows at the beginning and end and carried 3 stitches up each side. I also did 2 rows of reverse stocking stitch (stockinette) at the top and bottom, as the pattern keeps at least 2 stitches of this up each side. Special Instructions: C3B - Cable 3 Back. Slip next 3 sts onto a cable needle and hold at back of work, knit next 3 sts from left-hand needle, then knit sts from cable needle. C3F - Cable 3 Front. Slip next 3 sts onto a cable needle and hold at front of work, knit next 3 sts from left-hand needle.- then knit sts from cable Instructions: CO 46 stitches Work 4 rows in border: Moss stitch/garter stitch Work 2 rows reverse stocking stitch, keeping first and last 3 sts in border pattern R1 (P7 K1 P2) four times R2 AND ALL WRONG SIDE ROWS P the P stitches and K the K stitches R3 (P6 K2 P2) four times R5 (P5 K3 P2) R7 (P4 K4 P2) R9 (P3 K5 P2) R11 (P2 K6 P2) R13 (P2 C3F P2) R15 (P2 K6 P2) [This is correct, it allows the twist of the cable to shape up properly] R17 (P3 K5 P2) R 19 (P4 K4 P2) R21 (P5 K3 P2) R23 (P6 K2 P2) R25 (P2 K1 P4 K1 P2) [Start of next pattern block. The wings overlap slightly and "look" in opposite directions] R27 (P2 K2 P6) R29 (P2 K3 P5) R31 (P2 K4 P4) R33 (P2 K5 P3) R35 (P2 K6 P2) R37 (P2 C3B P2) R39 (P2 K6 P2) R41 (P2 K5 P3) R43 (P2 K4 P4) R45 (P2 K3 P5) R47 (P2 K2 P6) R49 (P2 K1 P7) Work 2 rows reverse stocking stitch Work 4 rows moss stitch/garter stitch border. Cast/bind off. You've done it!

Random drive by visit

I came across this lovely calendar through a link from Tipnut http://tipnut.com/november-2nd-2011/ and tried to add the button. I am so uneducated in bloggery that I don't know how, so I am posting it instead :-)

I hope you like it as much as I do! Kudos to all involved in the project.

Things I have learned

I have a couple of things that I want to record and sort out in my head in the process, so I am going to try to do it here :-)

Thing number one is how to make a flat crochet circle. I came across some gorgeous potholders in a second hand shop, simple double woollen circles crocheted together round the edge in lovely colours and I decided I would like to make some like them. This required working out how to make flat crochet circles, and this is what I now know: to make a flat crochet circle you need to increase on each round by the same number stitches as are in the first round.

For example, if your original circle has 12 stitches, the next round will have 24, the one after 36, then 48 etc. This works with 16 stitches too, but is a bit inclined to wave. That said, I have just made a water bottle cover using 16 sts in the first round and it has turned out very nicely, firm enough to soak up condensation and keep my desk dry :-) (Picture later I hope)

The second thing I have learned is Feather and Fan or Old Shale Stitch. I have been fascinated by this stitch for several years and have looked at different ways to make it.

The typical pattern you will find will read like this:

(K2 tog) x3, (YO K1) x 6, (K2 tog) x 3

or

(K2tog) x2, (YO K1) x 4, (K2 tog) x2

now these look lovely, and you can see that their repeat is a multiple of 3 times the number of YO's (or holes), so 18 for 6 holes, 12 for 4 holes or if you were to get really expansive, 24 for 8 holes.

But - there's always a but, isn't there - when you look at these patterns carefully, they are slightly lopsided as there is a K stitch at the end but not at the beginning of the YO's. So to make it symmetrical, you can add a K before the first YO or remove the K stitch at the end, it's up to you, but I take the K out, leaving 17, 11 or 23 stitces in the repeat. I also make sloping decreases to open out the fan and make the feather more feathery.

Thus: (K2tog) x 3 (YO K1) x 5, YO, (SSK) x 3 and similarly on the 4 hole or 8 hole versions.

You can also work this pattern entirely in garter stitch, in stocking stitch with a garter ridge by knitting on the wrong side in the row after the pattern row. or you can work it in stocking stitch all the way for a beautiful smooth lacy look.

I googled for feather and fan stitch, and found heaps!!

Here's the link: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=feather+and+fan+stitch&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

It's Spring

and I am a daisy! How appropriate for such a fresh and growing time of year!

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

Umm

I went away for the weekend and I bought: all this!! I am supposed to be on a yarn diet, but I got a weekend away and went a little crazy!! I can't wait to play with the stripes and bright colours, but the darker ones are designated for upcoming birthday gifts, so you can guess what comes first. The luscious chocolatey pinkish brown tencel/acrylic is to be a lacy scarf for DD#1, the dark blue possum/merino beside it in the main picture is for a seaman's scarf for her "young man" and the dark looking Merino yarn is for a hat and scarf set forDD#2's young man. Sigh, the joys of having daughters!!

Gold!!

I did it, I did it!! Yesterday I finished my Olympic knitting project!!

I was starting to feel as though I'd never finish it, but mid afternoon yesterday it was cast off, and not an inch too soon: the goal was to knit as far as the yarn would stretch. I have just enough left to weave in, and not a millimetre more.

I am very pleased with the pattern which I ended up making up myself as my head was too dull to work out the original pattern I'd chosen, so I went ahead and made an Olympic G0ld dishcloth from it as well, and am now klicking away at a sleeveless pullover for DD1 for the winter. I hope I have enough yarn, as there's no more to be had ...

Knitting olympics

Well, it's been a while since I posted here, in fact I have to admit that I'd forgotten that I'd started this blog at all!

Life has been very busy and rather stressful at times, but I am still knitting, albeit not always as fast as I'd like.

However I am trying to knit faster this week because I am trying to do this:






Am I going to make it? I am hopeful and trying hard. I may even have a picture later :-)

Gotta sleep now, g'night!!

I feel so cool, I got such a lovely quiz result, I've copied and pasted it to show off.


Guardian

Class: Archangel
Alliance: Light

You are a caring soul and somewhat of a people
person. You are very concerned about others and
about the world around you. You like connecting
with people and always want to be of help. As a
guardian your role would be to watch over the
human souls on earth and help them when they
are in trouble.

Your Angelic Name: Raphael


Which Warrior Angel are You and Whose Side are You On? (With Anime Pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

Ramblings and scarves

Well, I'm back again, and it's not even been a week! It's been a busy week, though. We are one person short at work, and in a small team, you really miss that person! It's also school holidays now and that always ups the tempo for us. To add to that, my DD left at 4.15 A.M. yeaterday to go to a Sci Fi/Anime convention. Arrrrrgh, I'm exhausted!!

Good things for the week include the acquistion of two wonderful books: The Encyclopedia of Knitting by Lesley Stanfield and Melody Griffiths, and The Knitting Stitch Bible by Maria Parry Jones. They are both excellent books, but I think I'm in love with the Knitting Encyclopedia. There are many stitches in it that I will use, and at last I have a resource that explains such arcane practices as the Channel Island Cast On.

I must aplogise for the absence of pictures here: my scanner isn't working at present, but we are trying to get it back in action :-(
On the actual knitting front, I have made a hat and frogged a scarf. I started a Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf in some random dyed yarn, thinking it would be very interesting to look at, but the pattern broke the colours up so much it just looked wishy washy. I had started a hat to go with it which has come out far better, so I may just have to make more hats out of this yarn and forget the scarf idea.

I am also working on a scarf for my sister's Christmas parcel. She wants a very chic one (she's a chic girl) so I am looking at two from the free patterns on ChicKnits She wants a black one, so it's just as well summer is coming with lots of wonderful natural light. I think I'll go play with some yarn, needles and my new books: lots of ideas are running round my head!

First day!

Starting this blog was an entirely random decision, made when I visited Celia's blog and accidentally found out how easy it was to set up an account. The hardest part was choosing the page template, and I'm not sure I made the right decision, so look out for more changes ahead.

I don't really know what I'll put in here: I love to knit and also crochet and cross stitch etc, so I'll probably talk about them a fair bit, but who knows?

Today is my day off, and I have undone and fixed a hat that I made a few weeks ago. I used a nice textured diamond stitch pattern on it, but made the wrong decison when I chose to make the shaping unpatterned. It just looked strange, so I pulled it undone to the end of the pattern and reworked it, continuing the pattern to the end. It looks heaps better, now I just have to work out why the scanner isn't working and fix it so I can put up some pictures!