Back to London

Hello world
I'm back in London. Arrived in late on Friday and I've been settling back into life with the kids. It's amazing how much I've missed them in a LONG week. Well of course I've missed hubby too, but that's different.

Yes I know, I've taken almost a week to update my blog. Sorry!!!

Now where shall I start with my news?!! There's no change in my grandmother's status, which is good and bad. But, let's move on...

There's been lots of knitting while I was in Malaysia. I've finished hubby's ribbed socks (finally). I've restarted and almost finished Sizzle. I've started a second pair of socks. I've finished a scarf for my mum's Indonesian maid, who is returning to Indonesia to get married. I've made floral corsages and knitted jewellery.

There's been a huge amount of swearing today. I'm getting reacquainted with my sewing machine. I'm finally sewing Aidan's quilt which I started a year ago. I'm not the best at sewing...... I'm also not the most patient...... The squares aren't quite squares and I've tried to make them squares... but no joy. So I'm just going to carry on just to finish this project.


I also went to Ally Pally on Sunday with Kate. The only problem was that I made a promise to hubby that I won't make anymore yarn purchases. So I only bought 1 hank of yarn - a Sweet Gergia demon sock yarn from Kerrie (so yummy!) My joy - I've bought a wool winder and an umbrella Swift, a few magazines a pair of extreme knitting needles. I've played around with the Swift and wool winder. Wow!! It's saved so much time already.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of pictures, but I'll be back with more soon.

Thank you

This is just a very quick note to say a BIG Thank you to everyone for their kind words and wishes. My grandmother is doing better, not great but better. It certainly made me feel a lot better being here with her and my family. Here is a picture of her on her wedding day ( she had an 18 inch waist!!)
On good thing about being here in KL with no kids, I am getting quite a lot of knitting done. More about that soon.

On my mind....

A few things are troubling me at the moment. The small stuff - I've finished the fronts and back of Sizzle and tried it on and it doesn't fit right. I've frogged it. I'll make it again. It's only a few tweaks but it needs to be reknitted.

The big stuff - for everyone who lives far away from family will know, you always dread the telephone call, you know the one telling you someone in the family is ill. Well, I got mine yesterday. My grandmother (the one who taught me to knit & crochet among other things) suffered a massive stroke yesterday. The prognosis is not good. I am 6,500 miles away and I feel so helpless. She's 86 years old and has been more frail over the years. I have been mentally preparing for bad news, but it's still a shock to the system when you get the news. There isn't much I can do, but I've decided to go back to KL to be with my family and to be there for her. That's it for now.

Latte cardigan

The Latte cardigan or more correctly "Kay" from Rowan 40 is finally completed. It was not without some frogging and reknitting. Here let me show you in pictures.


I followed the instructions to the letter and found that the neckline was very floppy and just a little too wide. It's more obvious in the picture below. The pattern calls for 9 stitches to be cast on for the button and buttonhole bands. But that was just too much.
So what am I to do?? Frog the collar and the button/buttonhole bands and reknit the whole darn thing. Instead of 9 stitches I made the bands 7 stitches. I also incorporated 8 knit togethers (evenly spaced through out the neckline) on the row after picking up the stitches for the collar. Much happier. The collar is definitely less wide and floppy. Now I have to find 3 buttons and block the cr*p out of the rolling button bands. I'm sure it's a design feature but it's annoying me. Sorry for the crap photo but it's been pouring in London during today.
Pattern notes
Pattern - Kay from Rowan 40
Yarn - 6 balls of Rowan Big Wool in Latte, pattern calls for 7 balls
Modifications - described above. I also don't think I'm going to put in the leaves from the pattern.

Overall - pretty happy with this knit, especially with the weather turning decidedly wintery!!

Where to buy the T-shirt

This is for Becky and Kim
You can get the T-shirts in adult sizes here - www.snuglo.com. They have lots of lovely baby stuff too. My favourite baby shirt is "Mini-me", which both my kids wore as chubby 6 month olds.

My parents have gone back to KL and I have (finally) discovered some "me" time again! Don't get me wrong, I love having my parents visit since they only do this once a year. But it is really nice to get back to our routine. My mum and I are very similar, which means when we get on, we get on like a house on fire, but when we disagree........ all hell breaks loose. We also aggravate each other. So 10 days is probably our limit.

Anyway, now for the knitting content -

1. Progress has been made on my Latte cardigan - back, fronts and sleeves are knitted and blocking. Thank goodness for chunky yarn and big needles and sport on TV to make progress. (Wasn't the Ryder Cup exciting!!)
2. I'm also progressing on the second sock and Hubby's cardigan. This progress is slow.

3. I'm itching to start Sizzle for the SKC's knitalong, but I'm going to finish a few things before I start another thing!!!!

4. I also have my ticket to Ally Pally. I'm going with Kate on Friday the 13th! I'm so excited. Anyone else going on Friday????

That's all for today.

Almost no knitting content

It's been such a busy week here in Casa Ling. My parents are visitng from Malaysia. My in-laws here from Switzerland, along with other friends and family. Thankfully, they are not all staying with us. But it has caused enough disruption to my knitting time and rythmn.

Over the weekend and early part of this week, I made a little trip to Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon. The only knitting-worthy news was that I made it to Web of Wool in Leamington Spa. What a gorgeous little shop! The only problem was that I had 2 impatient children and 2 impatient parents. I think if I had more than the 3 actual minutes in the shop, I would have purchased more yarn.

Here's a few photos for distraction.

MORE SOON!

** Blushing** still

I have been having an amazing week. While reading my usual daily read of blogs, I found Becky (someone I have always read, but never commented, because I'm a little bit shy and in awe!!) about to rip out a partially completed project because she had run out of yarn. The yarn in question was Rowan Cork in Mouse. I had some in my ever growing stash, so offered it to a knitter in need. I have been amazed by the gratitude and recognition (check out her blog). (And also by the speed of Royal Mail - I posted the package on Friday, and it arrived in France on Monday. Wow, who knew Royal Mail was actually efficient!). I am ever thankful to the internet and blogland for making new friends! My visitor stats will probably soar this week!

While in my hunt for the said Rowan Cork, I found a bag of Rowan Big Wool in Latte. Being inspired by Becky's love of neutrals, I decided to cast on for new project. I love 2 of the Big Wool cardigans/jackets in Rowan 40 - Pampas and Kay. I haven't got quite enough wool for Pampas, so decided to cast on for Kay. I have practically finished the back in one 2 hour sitting. How's that for instant gratification! Talking of instant gratification, I've also started on Fetching from Summer Knitty. Here's one fingerless glove completed. The yarn is Malabrigio in purple mix. Love the yarn and the colour. Unfortunately, it's still a little bit big for my hands. I figure it can be my early start for Christmas presents.
Kim - Thanks for your tip on the Lady E. In my yarn hunt, I found that I have 11 balls of the Noro Silk Garden. No worries about running out of yarn, I just need to get my b*tt in gear and start knitting!!!

Kate's back

Kate is back from her holidays to the USA. She was travelling during the whole palaver with flight restrictions. What a nightmare, especially with one toddler and one baby!!!

The kids and I made a visit to her new house on Thursday. They were in the midst of unpacking!! What a beautiful house. It will look gorgeous especially once Kate finishes with the decorating :)

Look what exciting things she brought back for me. 4 balls of Peaches and Cream in Winterberry to make lots of Mason-Dixon dishcloths and some very yummy woolwash called "Soak". I was so excited about new yarn that I've decided to cast on pretty much straight away and a few hours later, dishcloth completed. Instant gratification - what more could a girl want.




Also - thank you everyone for the comments on the sock and for all the help on the pattern interpretation. I had decided to stop the knitting on the left front, put the stitches on some scrap yarn and started knitting the back piece. I think the first option is right too, but just to make sure, I'll match it to the back. That should work, I hope!!! I hate frogging!!!

ONE SOCK finished

I have one sock completed. Hurray!!! Hurray!!! And to ensure that the dreaded Second sock syndrome doesn't set in, I have cast on for the second sock and knitted 3 rows while watching the kids at football today. I am a bit fearful of knitting at football, as one of the kids (not my own!) broke my glasses last week. Football kicked into face = broken glasses. As hubby said, they are only 3 year olds, maybe 4, how can they do so much damage. Well they can. Anyway, movin on........

The sock doesn't look too bad at this angle, although there are a few biggish holes in my heels for the short row shaping. I think it's the p3tog thru the back loop that's causing it. I'm not too worried about it.

Again, here is a shot with the kids waiting to get into the action.......


On other knitting news, I am struggling with the instructions for Cambridge Jacket, Interweave Summer o6. When shaping the armhole, the instructions state -
" BO 5 sts once, then BO 4 sts once then 3 sts once. Dec 1 st at armhole edge every RS row 2 times".

Does this mean BO 5 sts, knit the rest of the row, purl back, and then BO 4 sts knit the rest of the row and then purl back etc....
OR basically bind off 12 sts (WHY didn't the pattern just say so!)
OR some other permutation that I haven't quite realised!

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Tempting II finished

I have finally finished my SKC knitalong - Tempting II. Here it is in all its glory.


Pattern notes:
Pattern - Tempting II from Knitty Winter o5
Yarn - Rowan Calmer in Coffee bean (as modelled in the same issue - how unoriginal of me!!!)
Modifications - k2tog instead of k2tog, k1 at the neckline as recommended by the SKC
My thoughts - I love this!!! The fit is great. The sleeves are just the right length. I even found a diamante buckle for it for a little bit of bling. The yarn is pretty yummy too - very soft and kinda spongy. Love it, love it, love it. However, I don't think I'll knit this again - 1x1 ribbing is killing.

Here is the close up of my diamante buckle.



What better time to start a new project. I have been making things for the kids and myself, so I thought I'd make the next project for dear hubby. I'm making the Cambridge jacket from Interweave Summer 06 in Cascade 220 in mid grey. I know I have tons of other things to finish up, but what can I say, I have startitis.......
Last weekend, we decided to take the kids to Richmond Park for a pony ride. Little man had a gift voucher for a pony ride from his last birthday and 10 months on, here we are. Doesn't he look adorable!! He went with his little friend, Oscar and they both loved it. Two little faces light with up joy every time the ponies went on a trot. They were so CUTE!!! (Hubby at this point is thinking - please don't cultivate an interest in riding, it's going to get bloody expensive!) The pony is called Scooby-Doo.

Sock yarn stash enhancement

Remember not so long ago, I was just lamenting about the fact that I had too much yarn........ well more yarn arrived at my doorstep today. (It's a sickness, I know).


Here is a picture of my current sock yarn stash - including 3 skeins of Opal Rainforest - Tiger, Zebra and Flamingo, some Regia and Schanenmayr stripey socks.....).


Question - how many pairs of socks have I knitted? Only one toddler pair so far. One adult pair is on the needles and going well. But what possessed me to order another 9 100g balls of sock yarn is really beyond me. (Actually, it was because they were only 3.75 - 4.50 Euros each) But here they are. (I have to be thankful for one thing, I haven't started buying the expensive sock yarn - like Lorna's Laces, Posh yarns, Fleece Artist, Socks that Rock - YET!)

Here's my progress on my current sock knitting. The yarn is Regia Mini Ringels in blue and the pattern is Tech Guy from Magknits. It's a fairly straightforward knit 3x1 ribbing. I've only ever knitted a heel flap, so I was interested in learning a short row heel. Very interesting and easy. Hopefully, I'll produce a PAIR of socks soon.

Lortop bag

I bought the Cornelia Tuttle Noro Revisited book just for this pattern. I saw an advert in one of the American magazines and thought, I love this bag and I must get the pattern. Bought the book. Dug around in my stash (there'll be more about my stash!) and found 3 skeins of Noro tubu (long discontinued) which was perfect. Dug around for size 12mm needles. A few nights later. Bag complete. Love it. Used it today but the strap has stretched loads. Maybe I should felt it?? (Hmmm, must use proper sentences!!)


Now, I'm going to write about my stash. It's huge. It's even bigger than I remember. I have spent the last 2 or 3 afternoons photographing and cataloguing and I am nowhere close to completing the task just yet. I have a lot of yarn. I need to knit a lot faster. I need to stop buying yarn. I must have 300 balls of yarn. I need to join Yarnaholics Anonymous. I'll show you the evidence when I finish. Oh dear....

Keira, my 2 year old, has been refusing her afternoon nap for a few months now. It has been fine for her, not so much for me as I still look forward to a power nap for me. Now with 2 wide awake monsters, oops sorry, children, I don't get a chance to nap. But sometimes, she gets so excited and runs arounds so madly, that her batteries just run out. Just like that. Here she is collapsed on the chair when I had my back turned for 2 minutes. Aidan just wanted to get in on the picture!!

Converting the masses

I have converted one ex-knitter into a new very interested knitter. Hurray me!!! My sis-in-law was watching me knit every knit for the last 10 days and decided to get in on the action too. After one little swatch, she was hooked. She decided that she would like a cami, something like the Honeymoon Cami. So I set her up with some blue Cotton Fleece which I had in my stash and she's making progress.

The one good thing out of this knitting encouragement, she lives in Hong Kong (with cheap yarn) and travels a lot to Japan (lots of Japanese patterns and yarns like Noro!!) and China.

I'm making very little progress on the rest of my WIPs. I have finsihed 2 beanies in Rowan Big Wool but forgot to take any photos before they were gifted. Sorry for the lack of photos today.

The one good thing about this cold spell we're having, I really want to make some lovely, comforting knits. Roll on winter....

Hectic week

I am officially exhausted!! The in-laws descended last Wednesday, renovations in their new place are running into overruns, so they are staying with us. When I say in-laws, I don't just mean my FIL and MIL, this includes Bro-in-law and wife. 6 adults and 2 toddlers is just too many people in the house. The madness will, thankfully, end this Sunday.

I think because of this, I have been unable to focus on anything for more than 3 seconds! I started a bolero/boobholder thang for a friend. Its a top down raglan and knitted in Debbie Bliss Cathay in black. Makes for a very uninteresting photo.
Next up, I've started on my second pair of socks. I'm using Regia Mini Ringels in shades of blue. I'm knitting it in a basic ribbed pattern. As you can see, progress is slow.
As you know, I've also joined the SKC knitalong over a month ago. We're knitting Tempting II. This is an extremely slow knit for me, 1x1 ribbing is not my best friend. Having said that, I'm almost at the sleeves. Watch this space.



I've also managed to finish 3 lil items as well. 2 beanie hats from Rowan Plaid collection. One adult sized for FIL who's going through chemotherapy at the moment and one matching kiddie sized for Aidan. I was also going through my stash and found a small mountain of odd balls which I bought off ebay years ago, for making dolls and dolls clothes. Here's the first item of clothing. The doll is Vanessa, a Groovy Girl.

Another FO

Well, it's actually an almost FO. It's the Lotus Blossom Tank. I've made a few modifications to it. I changed it from this


to this.

Basically, I got a bit fed up with frogging and re-knitting the top. I know my gauge was a bit off, so I did the maths and adjusted the stitch count. But it was still too big - like 3 inches too big. After the second rip, I decided to cut my losses and made it into a strappy tank instead. I've crocheted some straps which I will attach it properly and sew up the last few ends. Overall, I'm pleased with it. Pattern notes:
Pattern : Lotus Blossom Tank, Interweave Knits Summer 06 ("some modifications")
Yarn: Rowan Linen drape in Reed shade 845. (A friend described it as "washed out & murky", but I like it!) 4 balls used.

On other news, I have been going a bit mad with the stash enhancement. I got a whole bunch of stuff at Get knitted (which I will have to show at another time - there was loads!!!!) and recently, even more stuff at Celticove.

Here's the close up, - Rowan All Seasons cotton in Misty shade 170 (14 balls -something for hubby), Mocha choc 212 (12 balls - something for me!) and Blackcurrant shade 211 (5 balls - something for Keira) and Rowan Wool Cotton August in shade 253 (10 balls - something from Rowan 40 for me I think!)


Here's the mountainous shot. Question, where am I going to hide this from hubby?!!
Other news, I received my new Rowan mag on Saturday. Totally out of the blue and I was very impressed with the new collection. There's loads of this which I would make (hence stash acquisition!). On my shortlist:
Dew
Eva
Cobweb
Sorrel
Anna socks (although I think I need to be a whole lot taller and have skinny legs - otherwise I'll look like I have stumps!)
Sadie
Kay
Juno (the cost of 17 balls ofwool cotton would be off putting for this!)
Pampas

Check it out here at
Rowan

What can I do??

To all the experienced knitters out there, I have a small plea for help. What can I do to a top that is looking rather shapeless. I finished my Prairie Tunic which was a fairly easy knit. The problem I have is that it has no waist shaping whatsoever. So I look like I have a big tummy on me. How can I add some shaping to the waist? Can I sew in some shaping? I'm not sure I want to rip out the whole thing. What can I do???

Lotus Blossom is progressing

The weather here in sunny London is not being very conducive for my knitting. Hot and sweaty = not a lot of knitting.

Having said that, I've made a bit of progress on the Lotus Blossom Tank (LBT), knitting in the wee hours of the night. I'm done with the lace part of the knitting. Hurray!!! I'm looking forward to the boring knit every stitch part of the knitting. The lace knitting got a bit easier after the second repeat. It suddenly made sense what the yo, ssk, ss2k2 where supposed to look like. There are one or two "design elements" in lace repeat 3 and 4. I couldn't face any more ripping. So it's going to stay this way.
In other news, I had Kate and her family over to lunch last Saturday. Being the wonderful blogger that I am, I forgot to take any photos of the day. DUH!! But we had a nice time - the kids played together. Hubbies had a chat. Knitters shared current WIPs and finished products and books. We have to organise another time to have a look at the stash because my hubby was around!!! One weekday soon. The only photo I remembered to take was one of the kids. They insisted that they wanted to be tigers for the day. So here they are. Everyone say ROAR!

Knitting, ripping and more ripping

A few days ago, Kim started her Lotus Blossom Tank. I did say that if she started hers, I would start mine too. I do love the design. However, progress has been slow. 4 days ago, this would have been the picture of the progress. 2 days ago, the same picture would have worked too. Yes you guessed it, its been ripped twice. The first time, I didn't notice that I'd messed up some of the lacework. The second time........ never knit when drinking more than 1 glass of wine. That's all I'm going to say. Third time lucky (I hope). I'm progressing past the first repeat. Here's a close up.
On the other knitting, I've finished the knitting portion for my Prairie Tunic. I just need to sew it up. I'm tryng to get my motivation for that. I also haven't bothered taking a photo of my progress on Tempting II. 5 inches of 1x1 ribbing is not very exciting. More about that soon.

My first PAIR of socks

Another milestone has been achieved in my knitting exploits. I have completed my first pair of socks. Hurray. The second sock didn't suffer as much. In fact, it didn't get ripped back once. Smooth sailing all the way. It took a quarter of the time of sock number one. Here it is in all its glory.

PS - please note, it's only a toddler pair!!!

Update from the week

I am at the moment suffering from a lot of things. Hayfever for one. Streaming eyes and nose. Itchiness. Sore throat.

The other thing I'm suffering from is startitis. Here's my WIP list. I have finished the back of my Prairie Tunic and 75% of the front. I have also started the second sock. I'm now at the heel flap stage. There's another WIP but I can't remember what it is!!!!! Here's the front piece of the Tunic.


But here's what I started in the mean time. I finished the first hexagon of the Baslt Tank from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. It had to be ripped back halfway because I can't count. Duh!! Not the first time I can't count.

I've also just realised it's July 2. This means the SKC knitalong has begun. I've also just casted on for Tempting II. It's not actually worth photographing. 160 stitches of 1x1 ribbing in dark chocolate brown. I've done 2 rows. So there.

Stash enhancement news. The Liberty sale was disappointing. I don't know what it was like on the preview Wednesday, but on Thursday, there was practically nothing left. Not anything I wanted anyway. But there was some lovely fabric which I bought. But can I sew. No. No yet.

But Kate and I had a lot of fun visiting Stash. Michelle, one of the owners, was really nice and knowledgable. The yarns available were so yummy. I could have spent a lot of money but I was very restrained. Here's what I went away with. 4 balls of Lana Grossa Binario in pink and grey and a bit shiny and the new Knitscene magazine. While we were there, we also met another fellow blogger, Ruth. "Hi. It was nice to meet you." I love meeting new people.