Knits

My knitting-fu is still off. I got the mittens done which are for a one-year old and being handed over today. I knit the largest size in the pattern so the kid could wear them for some time. It’s a really simple pattern, but actually having never knit an entire project in garter stitch, I struggled to get good row gauge. Now the pattern didn’t actually indicate row gauge, but did indicate the length of the finished mitt… I was over 2″ off! I had already started the second mitt on the same needles, but hadn’t got very far so it wasn’t too painful to rip. I ended up going up two needle sizes in order to get the correct finished dimensions lengthwise — I hope the width isn’t too enormous! I added an icord to them for stringing through coats.

The pattern is the Lobster Claw Mitts from Morehouse Merino Farms and came as part of a kit (yarn and pattern). I would never knit with this yarn again; it is awful. It breaks so easily and when you are trying to make sure there aren’t holes in your ‘make one’ increases, it’s difficult since a tug snaps the yarn. If you’re after something to felt, well I suspect that this yarn will do a fantastic job because it is sticky hence the slight pain in ripping out the gloves, but otherwise a big thumbs down from me. No doubt these mittens will become felted mittens in no time.

I ran out of yarn when knitting the second Little Cables hat and I’m debating whether I buy another ball or rip it out and do it the same way I did the first. Very annoying as it sort of leaves me without something to give as a gift today since the mittens are sort of half a gift since I didn’t purchase the kit (not to devalue my time).

I got the yarn for the C. It is very soft. The colours are a bit paler than I expected (not that you can tell from the picture — it’s just been so dark here already!), but I haven’t started knitting yet so we’ll see what happens. Otherwise, no other knitting has gone on. The cardigan still waits to have the second sleeve added and the bottom of the waist. I started the second ball of yarn on My-so called scarf last night, but was obviously too tired to be doing so since I managed to knit two rows and lose half my stitches. I plan to actually focus on getting the scarf and cardigan done, but I will cast-on for the C probably tomorrow night. I’d like to get it done by the end of November, but it might just have to wait until Christmas.

In other news, I’m looking at getting another cat in December. I saw a very nice looking cat on one of the local rescue sites, but haven’t rang yet since I can’t adopt until December. I should ring as they may be willing to hold on to him. Obviously I need to meet him and find out for sure if he’s okay with other cats. He’s not the ginger cat I always dream of getting, but I know that when it comes down to it, I will take any cat that I take a liking to regardless of its markings.

I’ve managed to destash a handful of skeins of sock yarn and hopefully some bulky yarn (my first luxury yarn purchase). I’ve signed up for a secret santa swap (UK-only) to destash a skein and receive a skein. I’ve also signed up for the Socktopus sock club — my first ever club sign up. She’s offering three levels of subscription depending on how many extras you want to receive. It runs for a year with six mailings. She’s also offering a Stitch Marker club if anyone is interested in handmade stitch markers.

Also, The Boy and I split up. No condolences necessary (or whatever it is you give people when they break up). It’s something I’ve been struggling with for a couple of months now and finally came to a decision. He’s a good guy — kind and generous — but at the end of the day we really didn’t have much in common which makes it difficult to maintain a relationship. We’re hoping to come out of it as friends.

Now I’m off to shower and get ready to head to London for a one-year old’s birthday party — Doctor Who themed! Sadly, I don’t think David Tennant will be making an appearance, but there will be Tardis cake.

 
Trigger is vicious. Or maybe doing an imitation of me laughing at her w/ lobster claw mittens.

Not knitting. Not yet anyway. My flat is really tiny. I’m actually really lucky that there’s a big storage cupboard as most flats don’t have any storage whatsoever. My previous flat found large plastic boxes with rarely used content stacked behind the sofa and on this sort of unusable space next to the stairs which I think was actually intended to be used as storage.

Anyway, I used to be a super neat person — a place for everything. Then I had this boyfriend who was at the other end of the spectrum. We lived together for about four years and my neatness slid because it was too much trying to keep his mess to himself (in the end, he had his own room and OMG was it ever messy). When I moved to the UK I discarded (via garage sales and donations) 75% of my possessions. I had a lot of possessions you understand because I was living in a very big 2 bedroom apartment with tons of storage space in the way of hallway closets, a big utility room and a very, very large one car garage. It was embarassing how much “stuff” I had because when I moved into that apartment I actually had very little beyond some books, CDs, a bed, and a kitchen table. I filled that place to exploding. It was a bad time in my life. Moving on…

It actually felt great to get rid of all of that stuff. A huge weight lifted. Living in a small space and having gone through packing up my life and moving abroad has made me better about collecting. [Hello, knitting hobby, not helping.] Not having places like Target nor a car also help, tremendously. But I got a bug in my ear because lately it’s been difficult getting at things that I sometimes need and then putting them away. It’s even been difficult putting away things that I do use often. So I decided to have a clean out.

I know this is not a sexy picture, but FOUR bin liner bags, a rubbish bin, and a giant poster frame. Yay me.
 

This is just from the storage cupboard and my clothing. I don’t think there’s actually much more to add to this, but I was going to go through my kitchen cupboards as well. There’s still some clean up to do from all the stuff I pulled out. There’s some yarn. I’ll take pictures of it and see if anyone is interested. Some of it I’ll send on to whomever wants it if they cover the postage. Others of it I’d like to sell.

 
See the flickr pictures for fuller details of how much yarn there is and what’s for postage, what’s for sale ’cause this is just a teaser.
 

So now there is more room for more yarn, but the fact that I have it coming out of my ears and nothing to show for it means that I won’t be adding to it. Not much anyway.

I can’t believe I’m saying this…

I went into my stash to get out some dishcloth cotton and unearthed things I’d forgotten I had. I actually felt rather anxious about how much yarn I have and no projects to go with *any* of it. I need money for a couple of trips in my near future so I am starting to de-stash… which is weird since I plan to add to my stash, but the additions have projects attached. A lot of what’s in my stash is stuff I bought when I first started knitting because I liked it. I live in a small flat and really don’t have the room to keep this stuff! In a couple of weeks I’ll add more.

All prices include postage in the UK. Outside of UK contact me and I’ll get the shipping costs for you. From a smoke-free home.

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Back when I started knitting I received a whole bunch of wool to practice with. This wool ranged from some fairly chunky stuff to lace-weight and acrylic to mixed-fibres and sort of novelty yarns. They’ve sat in my stash for well over a year now and I’ve used bits and pieces here, but for the most part, a lot of it is stuff that I’m not ever going to use because it’s not my style / colours. I offered it up on a knitting community and only one ball went so maybe I actually have some readers who are interested in the other stuff.

100g blue acrylic - DK weight

300g dusty pink superwash wool?? - fingering weight. I wanted to use this to felt with, but after washing it two times, the only thing that felted is the ends that I didn’t weave in. I did a double stranded swatch (see below) and it did soften up quite a bit (I found it pretty scratchy when I was knitting with it) and has a nice halo to it. However, I still can’t think of what I might knit with it (I’ve come up with perhaps a bathmat double stranding with the below which is not very glamorous).

250g sage green superwash wool?? - fingering weight. Same description as the dusty pink above. I’ll add that both of this and the pink look to maybe be hand-dyed as they are slightly uneven (maybe a re-dye?) which I do rather like about both.

Here’s a sample swatch of the pink and green double stranded. I forgot what gauge I got so I can remeasure. This is a photo of the swatch after a second wash.

So I am willing to take a trade (I’m especially after sock wool or wool that will felt) or money (paypal) so let me know if you’re interested! No restrictions on where I can send it!