Update

I've been fighting with the fair isle lately and made a huge error which means i need to rip back about an inch
I'd never made a top in the round before so it didn't occur to me it went flat at the vee, go figure

so in bad temper i've been doing human knitting
i made a pair of slippers and a bag





genuinely nothing complicated, the bag took 1 day and the slippers 1 day each
mind you my arms ache now but lookit I made something

baby rattle

Because I've been working on larger projects and was feeling down that none of them were even close to being finished I kinda lost the rag
I wanted something quick and easy and when Let's Knit arrived on my doorstep this morning with two balls of neon yarn and some quick easy projects to make with them I dived right in

To whit I made a baby rattle
why, because it was the least offensive really, they were all bright yellow or green socks or vile bonnets and this at least seemed practical for yarn that wasn't very nice to wash (imagine giving baby projects for hand wash only yarn!)

Sure it's not the most fabulous thing I've ever done, but it does rattle and waggle and do what it's meant to, and in nice wool it might even some day be attractive

I just wonder and perhaps it's rhetorical should we use hard to launder yarn for projects that are going to get a lot of wear or bite the bullet and use the horrible squeaky stuff that can go in the tumbledrier, questions, questions...

Fabulous fair isle

Obviously I was a wild child, I tried making a pair of socks and it was boring, I couldn't do it
so I frogged them
and decided I know I'll make a lace weight fair isle on 1.75mm dpns in the round with Steeking.
it's turning out lovely, no really, all 12 rows of it so far, but it's so delicate that I'm terrified I'm going to ruin it
it's going to take an age
and there's not enough of it to take a photo yet, it's less than an inch long. I'm going to have to make Belle a white blouse and grey skirt to go with, or maybe grey pants, definitely grey
I'm using baby pink, rose and pale grey as the base. I'll show photos when there's more

Baby Blanket Free Yo-Sd sized pattern

This pattern is for a hooded blanket with pockets to keep your little one warm

It's an absolute beginner pattern, there is no fancy shaping or tricks, in fact if you can k2tog you've got this sorted




It is knit on 4mm needles with any fuzzy DK yarn. Baby wool is ideal. It has no guage but the trick is to get a yarn with no stitch definition. I used Sirdar Snuggly Bubbly.

Cast on 1 stitch
Rows 1- 6 knit into front and back of first st, k to end of row (7 st at end of row 6)
Row 7-39 k3 m1 k to end of row (40 stitches at end of row 39)
row 40-41 Cast on 12 stitches for pockets, k to end of row (64)
row 42-47 K
row 48-49 BO 12 stitches at beginning of row (40)
row 50-61 k2 k2tog k to end of row (28)

shape hood
this is a square hood
row 62 k2tog across row (14 st)
row 63 knit into front and back of each stitch giving 28 st in total
row 64, to make the hood dense k1 s1 to end
repeat until hood measures 4" long
Bind off.

Fold over hood and sew at sides

fold pockets along the side of the blanket (or if you prefer fold over to make paws on the blanket) and stitch in place

weave in ends!
embroider as desired.

On a pale horse

I am assured that all knitters have the occasional nemesis, a pattern that for some reason, no matter how they try, they just can;t get right, or if they do, they run out of yarn and have to frog it anyway.

Mine is called Horace the Horse aka Binky
he was a free pattern
http://www.vintage-knitting-patterns.com/support-files/ezine/ezine105-creeper.pdf
that a pregnant friend of mine asked if I could make for her
the pattern was originally in a magazine pull out and had been "converted" for modern readers
the horse looked like cthulhu's pet, and so he was frogged. Because it was a vintage pattern I went looking for the original

I have tried 4 times to knit this accursed creature! and last night, whilst watching list programs on channel 4 I finished one side and it was right (something that never happens) so goddammit I picked up the yarn to cast on the second side
and there was no way I had enough yarn left. It had been eaten by the yarn eating monsters that live in my stash bucket. I was using a soft off white, and I had white, and there was only one thing to do
the angry goblin dance of IFRICKINGKNEWITIHATETHISPATTERN and pick up a ball of white DK from the same manufacturer and hope that the unborn child will not notice

I am NOT doing this pattern again
the thing is, when it works it's so easy. When it doesn't look like the elder gods could use him for atrip down to the shops (his front legs were coming out of his back)
I'm going to finish it in the white and embroider patches on him so no one will ever know!
If at first you don't succeed, redefine success

Knitting Commissions

I've been asked to re open my commission list
now all patterns are available for sale (or should be soon enough) on Lulu but this is for those of you who cannot knit or simply don't want to.

I am offering 5 commission slots, this is because I don't want to overwhelm myself and have someone waiting for ages for their item

the prices go as follows.

70cm - plain £25 + yarn (you choose) and shipping
SD - plain £20 + yarn (you choose) and shipping
MSD - plain £15 + yarn (you choose) and shipping
yo-sd - plain £10 + yarn (you choose) and shipping

for intarsia or heavy cables there will be an added cost but it will be agreed before the commission is accepted.
For example this kind of complicated fair isle
http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/seraphimgrace/17555552/picture058_square.jpg will cost more than a single cable down the front. No pattern will cost more than £35 + yarn and shipping.

if the pattern is very simple you may recieve a reduction but you will be informed of this in the early stages of accepting the commission. Ie the grail sweater uses very little yarn and takes half an hour so it will cost £10.

All shipping is fixed in the UK at £1.50 and £2 international.

the yarn you will be given the weight and a list of websites where YOU choose colour and texture, ie you want plain double knit acrylic it'll cost a lot less than an expensive hand dyed cashmere at the same weight.
You will also be told if it will take 1 or 2 balls (I've never needed more).

I am taking 5 commissions at present
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

if you have a human sized pattern you wish to have made for your doll and you have the pattern this can be arranged. If you would like one of the simpler sweaters in a complicated pattern this can be done.

To order simply tell me which pattern you'd want in which size with a reply and I'll take it from there, the gallery will be available here..... http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/seraphim_grace/knitwear/

how to knit, basically,

this is the advice i gave to a non knitter about how to knit - I'll do this better another time with diagrams and things, but for now....

I was like the anti knitter for a long time, I couldn't get it, no matter who tried to teach me and then another knitter explained it in terms I could get behind and from then on it was easy

you have to remember you're not adjusting fabric, you're making it, and you're doing this not by weaving, which is one over one under, but my making loops, then you feed the loops through the ones, that's what the needles are for, to open up the loops
you can make two basic stitches, if the loop is facing you it's a purl stitch and if it's away from you it's a knit stitch

now comes the tricky bit
the story of a particularly cunning fox
in through the rabbit hole, around the big tree, out through the rabbit hole and off goes she
what they dont' tell you is that the fox knocks on the back door.

what knitting is is a series of interlocked loops - think chain mail (it's made the same way the only difference is that those circles are complete where in knitting it's one great thread)
so you have two edges (these are called the posts) one going up the front of the needle and one going down the back, to go in the back door with the fox you go in behind the first loop on the front of the needle. (in through the bunny hole)
To do this you push the needle through, then taking the loose yarn you make a wrap around the needle (around the big tree)
now carefully pull the new loop you've just made through the old loop (out through the bunny hole) and push the old loop off the needle. (and off goes she)
that's a stitch.
to do a purl you go in through the back of the needle.
if you see the abbreviation tbl you then go in through the front door.

to cast on you just don't pull the old stitch off, you put it back on the needle
to cast off you just pull the last stitch you completed over the new one

but for the first couple of rows I can assure you you'll be sat going "in through the bunny hole, around the big tree, out through the bunny hole and off goes she" with every stitch
it does help