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One of my latest projects has been a double-breasted hoodie in moss stitch that I was hoping to complete in time for the birth of my new baby nephew Xavier. Not only did I not finish in time to make this a gift at the time of his birth but I also had my own Knitter's Nightmare and ran out of yarn when I was 90% through. When I had purchased the Naturally Merino 10 ply the lady in the shop told me that it was the last 4 balls they had, but I didn't realise that it was a yarn from 2002 that I couldn't find any where.
After searching every online yarn store that I could find without success, I finally searched on Ravelry and found it in someone's stash. It was the same colour but a different dye lot, but it was my only chance. So I emailed the owner and asked if she could spare a ball. My new firend Joyce from Odessa, Missouri sent me 2 balls and saved the day. Today i sent her two skeins of yarn (below) hand spun by my mum. Now I just need to finish the jacket before it is too hot or Xavier is too bog for it.
After finishing Nina's mittens I decided to make something for myself; a pair of fingerless mittens to keep my hands warm whilst working at Wentworth Falls. It should have been a pretty straight forward project. I found a pattern on Ravelry for fingerless mittens in a feather and fans lace stitch, knitted flat and then stitched up the side leaving a hole for the thumb. Having already knitted the fan stitch sample square back in May I didn't think I would have any problems.
I first came unstuck with the pattern when it called for me m1 (make one). I am by no means an expert but as far as I can gather there are many different ways to m1. My bible on these matters, the 'Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlecraft', describes 8 ways to increase by changing yarn position. The pattern also asks me to do yo (yarn over) increase, after a knit stitch and before a knit stitch, which again is omitted from the Guide.
In a fit of frustration I decided to scrap the project. I was not that passionate about the pattern and thought that I could improvise a similar pattern with a stitch I hadn't tried before; the Diamond Fern Stitch. Referring once again to my trusty Needlecraft book, I cast on for the third time (there was also a case of rib gone wrong) and knit the 8 rows of 1:1 rib and the first 20 rows of the lace stitch pattern. It was at this point that Jamie said to me "but the diamonds aren't going to match up!". And he was right. The stitch pattern in my trusty book started with the solid part of the pattern and finished with the open lace part.
CO #4 - I try to wing it, adding an extra 6 stitches to the CO and hoping this will complete the half diamond at the end. Something goes very wrong (I actually think I dropped a stitch to tell you the truth) and my lace starts going haywire.
Finally, I decide to get myself a pad of graph paper and draw up a stitch chart (below). And what a revelation! I am a very visual person and with the help of the stitch chart I could finally make sense of the relationship between the stitches and the pattern, and was able to complete the missing half diamond correctly.
Unfortunately the first prototype turned out too big, even for my wrists. They even fit on Jamie's calves. I didn't even bother sewing up the second one or photographing the finished one. But I am determined not to get despondent, and will revisit the project soon (after a few baby presents are knitted). Not too bad for my first attempt at an improvised pattern. 
I have finally finished my 1-month stint of working full time and can now dedicate some more time to my knitting projects and blog posting.
I recently subjected Nina to a photo shoot to show off her new beret and mittens ensemble. Unfortunately I couldn't catch her with both on at the same time, and she's not very keen on wearing the mittens.
Nina and I recently joined the library and today I came across this lovely picture book, 'Milo Armadillo' by Jan Fearnley.
I was drawn to it by the gorgeous illustrations, which combine drawings with a collage of textures, scanned fabrics and knitted panels. Particularly one where Gran is pictured in an armchair knitting furiously with her needles going "clickety-click" (very much like Nina's own Granny).
It wasn't until after we got home and I put a tired and grizzly girl to bed that I was able to read the story, which is that of a little girl named Tallulah, who wishes for a pink fluffy bunny but her Gran knits her something very different.
I was even more delighted to discover that you can download a free pattern for Milo Armadillo.
I'll have to put this one on the queue. Meanwhile, I have had a week of disappointment with my attempts to knit a pair of fingerless mittens (it really shouldn't be this hard!). Tonight I cast on for the 5th time! A tale for another time...
...or Thin and Sad Vs Fat and Happy. It had been some time since I had made a pom pom, very possibly decades. I remember making them in primary school, so approached my first pom pom making project this century with a high level of confidence. how hard could it be? On top of the years of life experience I had gained since primary school, I had also purchased myself a dedicated "Pom Pom Maker" - so self explanatory is the task that the packaging does not bother to include instructions!
My first attempt took at least a couple of hours. I used my pom pom maker (below) and thinking I wanted quite a large pom I left the 3 coloured rings joined together and proceeded to wind my yarn in a radial fashion using a tapestry needle. I wanted to use a solid pink yarn to compliment the flecked hot pink yarn, so I painstakingly alternated the colours, winding only a single thread at a time. Increasingly I found it harder and harder to fit the needle through the centre of the pom pom maker. I had a bad feeling about this pom...
...The result is the emaciated, scruffy-dog excuse for a pom pom you see on the left of the top picture. What a blow! But I was not to be defeated, failure is after all the best way to learn. On attempt #2 i really smartened up my game. Using only the yellow rings of the pom pom maker, I thread both colour yarns through the needle at once and used them doubled over. What a brain wave! I'd quadrupled my productivity before I even started!!
The result is a fat and bouncy, heavy-weight pom. Almost a little too heavy to be attached to the beret, but it will go there anyway. He could still do with a hair cut, but I'm afraid that I will get carried away, so I have put the scissors away.
For my second project I wanted to tackle knitting something on four needles (having tried and failed in the past) and decided to knit a baby beret. I used a pattern that Mum had used to knit a couple of berets for Nina last winter, although Mum knitted hers in stockinette rather than garter stitch.
I definitely got the hang of the four needles by the end, and am happy enough with the result even though I had a few issues with the increasing and it looks a bit dodgy if you look close enough. It also sits a bit differently to the ones Mum made, in that it is quite wavy, but this is how it looks in the picture on the pattern so i assume it is right. Perphaps it doesn't have the same stiffness when knitted in stockinette?
Originally I planed to make it for my niece Charlotte's 2nd birthday. Nina's berets are quite big so I thought I could get away with using the 6-12 month sizing. I didn't finish in time for Charlotte's birthday and it is too small, so it will go to my muse Nina (though it won't fit her for long either).
I am very proud to have finished my first project within a week. I actually finished knitting them last Thursday but only finished sewing in the threads yesterday. Being the novice that I am I wasn't sure how to actually do this and was waiting for mum to get back from a road trip to Brisbane. Yesterday was so cold that I couldn't wait any longer and so with the help of a video tutorial on expert village I finished it off.When I put them on Nina this morning I discovered that they are more "doodle tights" than "pants". Not the most flattering but comfy and warm none the less.
I definitely made some errors along the way (namely the ribbed waistband knitted with the wrong gauge needles!) but I have already learnt many new things: Kitchener stitch, how to knit and I-cord, how to knit a short row and how to weave in loose threads. I think the best way to get over the disappointment of one project is to move quickly on to the next, so I have started project two, a baby beret knitted on four needles.
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