knitting neels

Things have been going really well. I used to think that once I didn’t have to practice the piano so much I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, but as it turns out, I’m now busier than ever before. I’ve started on the Christmas presents – the less essential are first and will be given before I go home for holidays. This one worked up so quickly that it didn’t have time to be a work in progress!

Moebius, Craftspun Handspun

If you have yet to discover the joy and wonder that are Moebius scarves, I hope this gives you the impetus to find out more. A moebius is a maths concept; a one-sided circle; a representation of infinity; a multi-purpose scarf/cowl/wrap. For this one, I cast on 30 stitches on 8mm needles and knit every row until all my wool was gone. Then I put in the twist and sewed it together (I ended up doing this because I forgot to start with a provisional cast on which would have resulted in the far more enjoyable finish of grafting the two ends together). It took me an evening and a bit.

On Friday, I picked up some stuff to make other presents. Once my teacher, John, found out that I knit (the thing in the paper etc etc) he requested a pair of socks.

Matchmaker Merino 4-ply

As I told Lisa, he’s a guy that gets funky with his ties…. but not socks. So I’m going to play it safe and knit a pair of black ‘lozenge’ socks from Barbara Bush’s excellent Vintage Socks. They’re quite plain but have a diamond pattern outlined in purl stitches to give a little texture.

I have another teacher too. I see Thérese every week when John’s away (which is a lot). She’s into her style and glamour so I thought a sparkly wrap might suit her better than some socks.

Rowan Kidsilk Night

I think a basic rectangular shawl with a pretty stitch pattern on large needles will do the trick for this. I’m going to start both of these today because time is of the vanilla essence.

In other news, I confronted my mum about whether or not she really likes the aran cardigan I’d started for her: No. She’d prefer something more soft and squishy. This made me pretty happy because I had lost the love for the cardigan. A good idea maybe, but not this time. We settled instead on an plain knit cardie that just fastens in the middle with a button or shawl pin. I predict a top down set in sleeve, steeked up the middle, short seed stitch bands and hems, fancy pin to fasten it. Yummy!

I’ve been spinning too. I plied my first little ball of tops (the rainbow coloured one) and the other stuff I spun and plied has dried out too.

I still have lots more of the brown and beige to spin so hopefully I’ll have enough to make a hat. I think the beige would be cool for a zig-zag pattern.

I have been sewing too, but I don’t have any photos yet because all I’ve done is cut out some lining for a wool skirt. I think it’ll be really nice! It’s a basic A-line skirt with a recessed pleat at the front. Speaking of sewing, you know Hickey’s in Stephen’s Green has shut down? Now there’s only Hickey’s on Henry Street and their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I picked out my pattern and fabric and made sure to get the right size pattern – the lady assured me that a UK 10 is the same as a Butterick 10. She really was certain of it. I got home, pulled out my pattern and decided that I’d better compare my measurements to that of the pattern to be sure of what size to cut out. It turned out that I was a Butterick size 14 and that size wasn’t covered by the pattern. Sigh. I brought the pattern back the next day only to be told they didn’t have the larger pattern size and to pick another one. No apology. No refund. Just pick another one. So I picked another Simplicity pattern that required the same amount of fabric. The woman went to ring it up without even letting me see it or check the sizes! She was extremely unhelpful. It was very off-putting and I’ll probably buy my patterns online now instead. It would probably work out cheaper – the Butterick pattern I bought initially was €10 and I had to pay €2.60 more for the Simplicity one. I can’t wait until I’ll be able to make what I want without needing a stupid expensive pattern.