December is here

It is Monday, it is December, and it feels like things are starting to fall into place (somewhat).

The Christmas stocking has about half the backstitching done now, and I am hoping to finish by the end of the week. It won't be made up for this christmas though, I'm planning to just pin it to a pillowcase. I have started knitting myself a new hat, which I would like to finish before it is suddenly summer again.

We have a stack of Christmas cards to write in and post, with any luck we haven't missed the Christmas mailing dates already. Had a bit of a glitch in failing to find somewhere to print some photos I was aiming to send - apparently people don't print photos here or something? Yesterday I hunted for the right spices for the Christmas baking, and ended up with 'gingerbread spice', so it will be interesting to see how that turns out. Next step will be finding time to actually do the baking...

I think we're doing pretty well on the gift shopping front too - the boys are mostly sorted, just need to order a drink bottle for the changeling (Life Factory glass bottle, he loves his brother's one, and it will be better for long plane trips than his tiny sippy cup). We haven't got everything we'd like to find for people back home, but we either know what we're looking for and where to get it, or have no idea. There will be Christmas markets to explore throughout the month anyway. I would also like to buy some tree ornaments to bring back - until now we've had a chipmunk on top of the tree (I don't want a star or angel), but here the thing to have is apparently a spike. (What else could it be, in this city of spiky spikiness?)

The weather forecast keeps threatening snow in a week, which never quite happens. I hope we'll see some at some point during the month.

Bother.

I have 1.5 grams left with which to do at least 16 more rows. I have a funny feeling that's well short of plausible.

New plan: finish the ball, then calculate how much smaller it needs to be, then rip back a bit and try again. I may block before ripping too, in case I suddenly decide I hate it.

It's not my normal knitting, but I'm surprising myself by really liking it so far. Here's hoping I still like it after I'm fully satisfied with how the design works.

Anyway, it's getting cold here, and I want to use that knitting needle to make a nice warm hat!

Wednesday again - and I noticed this time!

Not only do I have a stocking update and a cardigan update, there is also a new design that decided to jump into the needles. It is destined to be a scarf or stole, and is being made from some Zealana Kauri fingering (60% merino, 30% possum, 10% silk) that I bought for a different design where it didn't want to cooperate. I'm much happier with this incarnation so far.

The heel of the stocking is now nice and clear, just the rest of the foot to go.


You can almost see the knit/purl chevron pattern on the back of this if you squint enough.


This is so beautifully soft, I'm loving it so far.

How did that happen?

Somehow Wednesday last week snuck by without me noticing, I suspect it was related to the range of illnesses we managed to work through in the last week. Happily everyone was fine by Friday, so we headed off to Dresden for the weekend.

I have now finished the first 200g skein of the cardigan, and will try to get a decent photo (light permitting) in the next few days. The stocking is also progressing well, and there are more knitting plans afoot.

Second page of stocking done

In the weekend I finished page 2 (of 3), this is the progress as of Wednesday night. The obvious line on the snowman's body shows where the page ended.

How is it Wednesday again already?

This week I would like to introduce my cardigan WIP. Pattern is Woodstove Season, by Alicia Plummer. Yarn is a wool/hemp blend that I got from the mill in Milton a year ago. It feels a little harsh, but not actually scratchy -I'm assuming that is the hemp making itself known, and I hope it will soften in time. Even if it doesn't it will be fine, as I'm intending this to be a loose cardigan to throw on for around home and going to the playground.

I am finding the knitting to be a little bit of a slog already, I think because the hemp means the yarn has a bit less give than wool, and is less flexible. I hope I will get used to it because I don't really want to end up giving up on it. I am using 4mm needles, which is giving me a slightly smaller stitch gauge than the pattern says, but the row gauge is good. I'm compensating by making the next size up, which I think should turn out about right. (I have checked the numbers, and they look pretty good).

(Apologies for the terrible photo, today has been miserable and our indoor lighting is somewhat suboptimal.)

I am nearly halfway through the yoke increases, so I think this will take a long time to finish. Maybe I will aim for next winter...

WIP Wednesday, stocking again

I feel like I've definitely made some progress from two weeks ago, I don't think I would have realised how much without this record!

WIP Wednesday, mitten edition

The weather is definitely cooling down here, and I only have one pair of small mittens for two little boys. Clearly this won't work, so last week I started on another pair. The pattern is The Stay Put Mini Mitts by Jennifer Alexander, size 3-4. Yarn is Schoeller + Stahl Limbo, a superwash wool. I am using 3.25mm needles, which is smaller than what the pattern calls for, but is giving me a nice dense mitten.

I have actually finished the thumb now, next photos will probably be of the pair though.

I started these on Saturday, and would probably be further along by now, but for the last 4 days we have all been working through various stages of a stomach bug. Everyone appears to be on the mend now, The Changeling is the last to be laid low and I think the fact that he is still breastfed has helped a lot. He does have some pretty nasty nappy rash at the moment, but we have the medications and routine sorted from when he had issues before so fingers crossed that he will bounce back pretty quickly.

WIP Wednesday

For ages I have seen people posting works in progress on Wednesdays, and thought it seemed like a nice idea. But by the time I would take a photo, extract it from the camera, and formulate a post it would almost certainly not be Wednesday, and absolutely not the one on which the photo was taken.

Just this last weekend I decided I wanted to track progress on the Christmas stocking, I remembered the WIP Wednesday concept, and realised that I have a smartphone with a passable camera at the moment. I've only been using this phone for 3 months so far, I work these things out eventually.

I will aim to post a single WIP photo every week, which means I will by cycling through projects, depending on whim. To kick it all off, here is the current state of the stocking. Apologies for the sidewaysness!

Knitting progress

I thought that my general knitting speed was around 25 stitches per minute, but discovered yesterday that it is more like 35. This doesn't really mean except I will have a new cardigan slightly sooner than I expected. I started it last December, and am expecting to finish it just in time for it to be too cold to wear it...

I have also finished a shawl that must remain secret until later in the year as it is for a luxury yarn club, and failed to finish a sock. The construction on the sock is a little interesting, and consequently the fit is not quite what I would like. When it has had a wee rest I will rejig the numbers in an attempt to make it work better.

Putting the sock aside has also given me more time to work on the Christmas stocking, which may actually stand a chance of being finished in time. I don't think it will be an actual stocking, I may just pin the embroidery onto a pillowcase this year...