The neverending KAL.

Between the two of us, my mother and I must have at least 70 years of knitting. Or perhaps closer to 80. In that time, we have churned out countless FOs. Jumpers, socks, cardigans, hats, scarves and shawls – you name it, we’ve done it. We’ve knitted for ourselves and each other, for friends & family as well as complete strangers. We knit at home and away, in private and in public, on our own and with others.

So, you get it: we can knit, and we do knit.

However… there’s one project we seem utterly incapable of completing: our sock KAL. We kicked it off FOUR YEARS AGO. We started off strong, feeling very excited about it all – until we started knitting and promptly discovered that both of us hated the pattern. That wasn’t a big problem, though; as we all know, false starts are part and parcel of knitting. So we unravelled, picked a different pattern, and cast on anew. This time, we persisted and each completed a sock before too long.

Fast forward a few years… and we each had one completed sock. Determined to finish this KAL if it was the last thing we did, we picked up our hibernating UFOs and started knitting on them again. And realised that the reason we hadn’t been working on them was that 1. the pattern was not enjoyable and 2. the finished result was not that pleasing. Well, life is too short, right?

So – we unravelled once more, picked a new pattern and set off again. Given our track record, I’m hesitant to make any predictions about whether we’ll finally complete our KAL socks… so I’ll settle for saying that so far, we’ve had no major mishaps.

Third time’s a charm..?

Colour matching.

There’s nothing quite like starting off my day with some colour-matched knitting and music.

Viola.

I’m working on a new cowl design – after lots of swatching and sketching and planning, I’m now knitting up two final samples (in different yarn weights).

My grandmother’s middle name was Viola. I’ve always thought it a beautiful name, but my grandmother hated it. Ok… hate is perhaps too strong a word… Let’s just say she disliked it. Very strongly.

Another thing my grandmother disliked was scarves and shawls around her neck. Especially when placed there by well-meaning friends and family who insisted But it really suits you! She wasn’t going to let others decide what she should wear. My grandmother had a strong sense of personal style, and knew what she liked. And what she didn’t.

So it seems rather befitting to name my new cowl after my grandmother. She probably wouldn’t have enjoyed wearing it (although she would have appreciated the craftmanship), and she never liked the name – a perfect match. Or something.

Erase and rewind.

One of the most amazing things about knitting is the option to unravel your work and start again. (Unless you’re working with mohair or something that fuses together as you knit… we’ve all been there, right?)

A while ago, I thought I needed a plain, basic jumper. So I got some lovely yarn and started knitting. When I was nearly done, I decided I wasn’t that keen on a plain, basic jumper after all. Oh well, these things happen.

The other day, I decided I just had to make myself a second Scout jumper. The first one had been so very enjoyable to knit, and I was really happy with the finished result… so although I’d planned to finish off some other projects before making myself another jumper, I made a deal with myself and decided it was ok to cast on for a new Scout, as long as I used recycled yarn.

I started off by making some edits to the design…

… and then I got going. Say hello to Jean Louise.

Yummy knits.

I always enjoy checking out what my fellow knitters are making – and for an extra treat, I head to Ravelry and have a look at the wonderful stuff people have made from my patterns. Here are some of the 1158 (!) pairs of Yummy Mummy wristers that Ravellers have uploaded. Enjoy!

(Copyright, top left to bottom right: Kaskadia, IsAMom, KristinKnits,
Schnitterling, Jacquimee, Kottby, LiseLore, Kiisska, Kmonokwe.)

Want to make your own? Click here to download the pattern for free!

Pink.

I’m working on a new design: the Schyman Mitts.

The problem is, I’m really enjoying knitting these… so instead of writing up the pattern and getting it released, I just keep making more. I think I’ve made at least half a dozen pairs by now. Ehm.

Goodbye, Scout.

Or perhaps that should be: “See you again soon, Scout!”

This WIP is now well on its way to becoming an FO: the knitting is all done, yarn ends have been woven in, and after a nice soak in grapefruit-scented Eucalan, Scout is now drying on the blocking boards (aka giant kids’ floor jigsaw puzzle).

Part of me is a bit sad that I won’t get to knit any more on this jumper, because it was such an enjoyable project. But mostly, I am really excited about getting to wear it soon – yay!

 

Mark my words. Or… stitches.

One of my favourite ways of enhancing the knitting experience is to throw in a bunch of stitch markers. These little guys come in about a gazillion shapes and sizes (not to mention all the fun colours!), and are generally pretty inexpensive. And as if making my knitting more fun and frivolous isn’t enough, there’s also the fact that stitch markers are really rather useful. Sure, I can knit perfectly well without them, or use a piece of waste yarn or something… but it’s just not the same. I love carefully selecting which markers to use for a specific projects – it’s part of the enjoyment of planning a new project. Different types of markers serve different purposes, but I also enjoy picking markers in a colour that matches (or contrasts) the yarn I’m working with. It’s like jewellery for my WIPs!

If you’re new to stitch markers: Congratulations! You’re in for a treat. To get you started, let me give you a quick introduction to the main types and how to use them.

SOLID RING MARKERS

What’s the deal? This is the simplest kind of stitch marker – it’s just a little ring. Solid ring markers are placed on your knitting needle, before and/or after a stitch, to mark a place in your knitting. For example, your knitted piece may have a section in plain stocking stitch, and then a section in a lace pattern. Instead of having to pay close attention the whole time you’re knitting so you know when to change between the two different stitch patterns, you place stitch markers between the sections and simply work away until you reach a marker. At this point, you then slide the marker from the left needle to the right, and make whatever change the marker is indicating.

It can also be useful to place stitch markers between repeats of more involved stitch patterns, to make it easier to check that the stitch counts remain correct. And if you need to start a project by casting on hundreds of stitches, adding a stitch marker every 50 stitches or so makes it easier to keep track of how many stitches you’ve cast on.

My faves: The soft rubbery ones from Clover.

TRIANGULAR MARKERS

What’s the deal? Triangular stitch markers work in the same way as regular solid ring markers, but their shape makes it a little easier to get the right needle tip into the ring when you need to slip it. Oh, and they look really cool!

My faves: The Clover ones.

SPLIT RING MARKERS

What’s the deal? These are slightly more versatile than plain solid ring markers. They can normally be used in the same way as solid rings, but they can also be inserted (or ‘hooked’) through a stitch in your knitting. For example, used them in a cable-knitted WIP to mark the row where you’ve crossed your cables to make it easy-peasy to count the rows to the next crossing. Because the rings are open, you can insert them and remove them as you go.

Personally, I’m not so fond of split ring markers. Because I’m usually lugging my knitting around with me a lot, there’s the risk of them falling out. For more stationary knitters, they work just fine, though.

My faves:  The KnitPro split rings.

LOCKING STITCH MARKERS

What’s the deal? Locking stitch markers work like little padlocks, and are really versatile. Like split rings, they can be inserted through stitches in your knitting – and the locking mechanism means they won’t fall out. Which is great for those of us who subject our WIPs to a lot of carrying around and pulling out of bags and shoving back in… They can also be used for clipping knitted pieces together in preparation for sewing, especially if you get the larger sizes.

The jumbo ones work well as mini stitch holders, such as for holding the thumb stitches when making gloves.

When not in use, store your locking stitch markers in the open position – this helps them keep their shape.

My faves: The heart-shaped ones from Tulip! (And the jumbo-sized Clover ones.)

Finally… a little tip: I like to put a few ring markers onto a large locking stitch marker and attach it to my project bag, a belt loop or my bracelet. That way, I’m prepared for any unforeseen stitch marker emergencies – like those inevitable times when I drop a marker or two as I walk along the street…

A break from knitting.

Hastings cowl

I’ve got a new pattern, yay! You can get it over at LoveKnitting.com.

 (www.loveknitting.com/hastings-cowl-knitting-pattern-by-alexandra-brinck)