Challenging resurrection!

Hello! Long time no see......isn't that a strange phrase? It's a phrase I use occasionally but I can't remember ever having seen it written down before and it looks really odd. Maybe it's missing some punctuation, a comma perhaps? Anyway, it's not nearly as affective in writing as it is in person.

I have been thinking recently about starting a podcast. I'm still thinking about starting a podcast but meantime I thought I would resurrect my blog which has been sorely neglected. In fact it's more like a secret room in an abandoned house, covered in cobwebs and dust so thick I could write my name in it. I will have a good spring clean and tidy up and do my best to visit more often :-)

I have recently become hooked on watching podcasts. I have my favourites and occasionally add another to the list. Truly Myrtle, Tilly Trout, Little Bobbins, Sockmatician, Knitting Expat, Kill to Craft are some of the ones I enjoy. I quite like podcasts I can watch from the beginning and seem to be put off those that have hundreds of episodes because I know it will take me ages to catch up. I'm also partial to British ones although I also enjoy Susan B Anderson, she has a lovely tone and very soothing voice and Wonderwolle is another non British one I watch.  Podcasts help me feel really connected to the knitting world and maybe that's why I like the British ones best, I love to hear about the places I know, love and have visited or lived in back home (NZ is home now, we love it here and we don't plan to move back to the UK but it will always be referred to as 'back home' for some reason!)

So while I ponder filming a podcast I thought I would bring you all up to date on my current challenge. It seems a long time since my last yarn diet challenge and I've set myself another one. After attending Knit August Nights again this year I decided I wanted to have another year off from purchasing yarn. I don't have a huge stash when compared to some knitters but it's all relevant to each individual hoarder haha. During my last challenge I was surprised how little I actually used and how much I enjoyed the focus of not buying more but making what I had work for me. This time I added a twist...........

I purchased 9128 metres of yarn at this years KAN. I am challenging myself to knit at least that amount by next years retreat at the end of August 2016 using only stash. I won't limit myself to yarn I purchased during that weekend, I will also use current stash. I have set up a project page for the challenge which will calculate my yardage as I knit my projects (isn't Ravelry fantastic??!) you can read about the challenge here and follow along with my FO's here. I posted about my challenge in the Knit August Nights Forum and I have been really encouraged to have quite a few people join me with their own similar challenges. There is only one other Raveller who is also doing the no new yarn challenge with me but it's exciting to see others knit their way through the amount of yarn they purchased and I love having the support of others. So far so good :-)

My latest cast on is an Askews Me shawl by Stephen West....this is an addictive knit and I can see it won't take me that long to finish it.  I was tempted to try the single pass technique that Nathan of Sockmatician uses and has made a video of but I think I will save that for the next project.

Well, that's it for now...I will bring you up to date on my latest WIP's and FO's in the next post.  Thanks for catching up :-)

Late to the party....

...but Happy New Year ;-) My blog has been a bit neglected recently but I'm back on track now and getting stuck in to some new plans and projects for the year. After all my gift knitting I am planning some knitting just for me this year and I also want to knit some items using new techniques that I haven't tried or that I need more practise with.

I have cast on a pair of toe up socks. Although I have used a similar cast on before for a different project, I've never knitted a pair of toe ups. I'm also a bit lazy where sock patterns are concerned and so far have mostly knit the Opal easy peasy sock pattern. I want to knit more patterned socks and also make some using stranded/fair isle knitting - a technique I haven't done for years and a good size project to practise on.

I have been spinning regularly too. I have quite a lot of work on and have been using spinning as a bit of a 'break' occasionally during the day. These are December and January's skeins, I am really happy with them and can see a big improvement over the past year.

Sweet Georgia Falkland, Navajo plied (3 plies)

Unknown rainbow fibre, 2 ply.

Fibre 2 Go merino, two different coloured braids, 2 ply.

And here is where they are residing in my craft cave, I love having them on show ;-)

One of the projects I have planned for the year is a 'Year in temperatures' scarf. So far I have 10 colours chosen and the idea is that you knit two rows in the colour assigned to that particular temperature for the day. Some people have used the daily high and low temps and one that I love uses double knitting in two colours with a couple of horizontal stripes. One side uses the high temp colour and the other side the low. The stripes on each side show the opposite colour. Anyway......planning to start in June so my darker colours are at the beginning and end of the scarf (winter colours). 

I also have a few WIP's to finish this month as well as the Ysolda Teague mystery to keep up with (I'm knitting two) and working on some travelling socks as part of a group swap. Oops, almost forgot the mystery sock I have signed up for in February too! I'm going to be busy!!

We had a lovely day out at the Turakina Highland Games last weekend, I placed an ad in the programme and have had a couple of enquiries already so that's good. 

My labels have arrived and I am very pleased with them. I ordered them on etsy and was a little nervous but they are fine.

Head over to my Kilt'd Facebook page if you are interested in any more Highland games photos. If you want to like my page while you are there that would be great too ;-)

I'm off to get ready for the day and do some work.....I'll be back soon.

Me, myself and mine.

After spending the past 5 or 6 months knitting for gifts, it is nice to cast on something for myself....just because I feel like it. I love knitting for others, it really gives me a lot of pleasure but apart from the Westknits mystery in September and the very quick beaded necklace, I haven't made anything for myself for ages. 

Now I feel like casting on all the things! And spinning all the fibre! I have been spinning a little bit every day and am motoring through this beautiful hot orange fibre........

It will be plied with this.........

I'm not sure what I will knit with it yet but I'm thinking a Haruni. Or maybe a Summit stole. Or perhaps a Holden shawlette....who knows?!

I cast on a Spectra in two different Noro yarns. The first and only Spectra I made was a shop sample and wasn't in colours I loved. I really liked the idea of two different coloured self striping yarns with long colour repeats. It is an easy mindless knit and doesn't require much concentration or the following of a pattern as you just repeat the wedge over and over......over 80 times! So far I like how it's turning out.

I have also cast on for my first Citron. I can't believe I haven't made one of these yet...after all, it was the pattern that led me to Ravelry! I bought a bag of merino 2ply cone ends from Anna Gratton about 4 years ago at Dunkleys craft fair and I love the colours. I joined and wound them all with the wool winder and now have one huge ball. I will just knit until I either run out of yarn or it is big enough.....or until I can't handle hundreds of stitches of yarn that is as thin as thread! 

It's amazing the difference lighting makes, the true colours are somewhere in between both photos. I'm using 2.75mm needles and I could still spit through the fabric lol, but it will be beautifully soft and light. I want this to be large!

As you can see I am making up for lost time! I have also been making some fabric items but i forgot to photograph them before I wrapped them up! I will take photos when they have been gifted. 

I have had quite a bit of work flowing in and so will be spending quite a lot of time in my sewing room over summer. If you are interested in following my progress then search for Kilt'd on Facebook and look for a picture of a brown tartan below (weathered  Henderson for those of you who would like to know). For some strange reason that only Facebook knows, other pages show up first that aren't called Kilt'd....no idea how they prioritise their search engine!

Finally, just to show you how the view from my craft cave has changed since the last photo in the spring.

Until next time, I hope you all have a great Christmas and get to spend some quality time with your family and friends.

P.S. I have stuck to my stash challenge and haven't bought any yarn but I was delighted to receive this gorgeous skein in the post the other day from a fellow Raveller who I sent some fibre and a spindle to earlier in the year. The colours are perfect for me and I am looking forward to knitting it up.

Gifts, gardens and gowns.

Phew, my needles have been busy! I've finished my gift knitting that needs to be posted and now it just needs to be wrapped and sent off to the various destinations (which will cost an arm and a leg!) to be there in time for going under the tree.  I don't want to give too much away but here is my pile! I must admit I love gift knitting, especially as I only knit for those I know will appreciate it.

I still have a few more gifts to knit for friends and family here in NZ so my needles are still hot. Like most knitters I also have a queue a mile long so I will never run out of things to knit.

When I decided to start my year long challenge at the end of August I remembered that I had signed up for Sweet Georgia's fibre club - after consultation with a few of those who had encouraged (almost dared!) me to start my challenge, they decided that as I had paid for it well before the idea of the challenge was formed that I was safe and wouldn't have to feel I had broken any of my own rules. Phew!

So I thought I would share the first two months. Bearing in mind I love brights and peacock colours I have to confess to being a little disappointed in the first colour way. Autumn colours, while lovely, are not really my thing. The fibre itself is a beautiful soft merino/nylon (85/15) and it is beautifully dyed, I'm sure it will have someone's name on it. If not, I take part in a few fibre swaps over the course of a year and having a stash of fibre that isn't only in my favourite colours makes it a lot easier.

The November fibre arrived today and it is much more 'me'. The teal in it is intense and I think the rust will spin out to be a lovely soft orange - although I am a fairly new spinner so, it may not! It's also a gorgeous mix of BFL and Tussah silk.

It's really interesting to see and feel the difference between different fibres. It fascinates me that the different breeds of sheep and the addition, or not, of other fibres can have such different properties. I have decided that I am far too impatient to wait 20 years to gain the experience of working with different fibres and finding out how and why they are suitable for different projects, so I am going to take the Creative Fibre spinning course next year. A couple of friends have also decided to take part so we will have our own little support group to bounce ideas off.

I almost forgot to show you my new summer dressing gown! I have quite a lot of quilt fabrics that I have collected over the years (owning a quilt shop for 7 years may have something to do with that!) and I know I don't want to make loads more quilts. I have needed a summer dressing gown for years and decided this was the perfect time to make it. I used various fabrics for each piece and I'm thrilled with the results!

The fabric on the back is the same as the sleeve bands and the belt is actually the border from the bright pink fabric which is an Amy Butler fabric reminiscent of a Sari. I popped on one of my new labels for good measure :-)

My challenge is going really well and I have only once missed not being able to buy new yarn. In reality I have used very little of my stash and will be very picky about my purchases at KAN next year now I realise how much I have and how long it would take me to knit and sew it all up!

I have also been enjoying our amazing spring weather and getting out in the garden. There is always something to do, even if it's sitting on the deck with my knitting - if you look carefully you can just see my project bag and drink on the table ;-) We have made a few changes in the few weeks since this was taken and I will share them next time.

Mittens and Mysteries.

I didn't realise it had been so long since I blogged!  Time flies.

I have been working on my Christmas gift knitting.  I love these quick and easy Owl mittens and eventually found the perfect tiny buttons for the eyes - that was the hardest part!  They knitted up very fast and I would definitely make them again, even if I substitute another pattern on the back.  The thumb shaping and increasing is easy and looks really neat, its a great shape to wear too. All in all a BIG thumbs up for these.

The yarn I used was Misti Alpaca Tonos Worsted. Lovely and soft and hopefully warm to wear.

The next pair of mittens weren't quite so quick and sadly the pattern had a mistake in the repeat sequence.  On the first mitt I thought it was me so I tinked back but could see afterwards that I still hadn't managed to put it right.  When I made the same mistake on the second mitten I read the pattern more carefully and noticed that the 4 row pattern sequence was wrong on row 13 so a row of the pattern was missed out.  Next time I will just follow the sequence myself - which is easily memorised, K 2 rows and then K2, P1 for 2 rows.  I wish I had knitted the thumbs before carrying on with the rest of the mitten as I can clearly see where it was picked up but at least both thumbs are the same.  These took much longer to knit but are sturdy and a nice subtle and textured pattern for a guy.

The yarn is Naturally Drift 10ply and is a slightly felted yarn which knits up really nicely.

I finally finished my Westknits Mystery!  I have never knitted such an unusual item nor taken part in a mystery that was mysterious right to the very end! What helped was that there were so many stitches it couldn't be opened up (without using a bazillion extra cables!) to see the shape.  The cast off was over 800 stitches!!!  Of picot!!!!  I can see me getting a lot of wear out of this but probably won't be making another one for a long time.  It took almost 3 full skeins of yarn for a start!  I think it would be nice in a 2ply or light fingering yarn to give a smaller, lighter shawl but really, one of these is enough. It's too distinctive to have more than one of.....in my opinion anyway.

I have spent a little bit of time in the garden lately, planting a hedge with a lot of help from my generous sister-in-law (she did most of the heavy digging as I've been feeling so crappy lately).  I need to go and get a few more plants as I miscalculated the amount I needed but they won't take long to plant now the trench is done.  Next on the list is planting a bay tree and getting some more herbs in.  My herb garden grows every year and I love stepping out the front door for fresh herbs when I'm cooking.

Itching to knit

I was looking back at my first post and at this photo......yum!

I am really itching to knit up some of those new yarns!  I thought I would share with you what my plans are for some of them (no, they don't all have plans....shhh!).

These three scrumptious skeins of Fyberspates are going to be a Netty Cowl Knit a Long with three of my best friends who, luckily, also happen to knit ;-)  We have decided to make this a New Year project once we have all finished knitting for others over the Festive Season.  I am really looking forward to using this yarn....it is so soft and shiny, shine always looks luxurious.

I bought these two skeins of Vintage Purls specifically to make a Summit stole. This pattern had been in my favourites for quite a while but it jumped to the top of my queue after seeing this version by StokesVegas when we bumped into her while we were checking out of the hotel after KAN. She used slightly smaller needles than the pattern suggested and it made for a stole/wrap with a bit more structure. It looks even more amazing in real life.

This gorgeous, vibrant orange - although the word 'orange' in no way describes the stunning colour of this yarn - by Fibre2go is already in use in my Westknits Mystery.  While I adore the colour I have to say the yarn is a little bit splitty.  I can live with that for the stunning colour though. By the way, your guess is as good as mine as to what shape this will end up being....one thing you can be sure of with a Westknits mystery is that you won't know until the final clue - that's the best type of mystery for me!

I also have some of Fibre2go's fibre to spin up although I have no idea what this will become.  Every now and then I take it out and stroke it and dream about what I will spin with it.....again, the colours are so vibrant and alive, they truly make me smile :-)

Hmmm......definitely a theme developing here - these are the colours I love but sometimes I think I should break out and try something different. Then again if I don't love the colour how can I work with it or wear it once it's finished?!

Over the weekend I finished the Gap-tastic cowl too....another gift to tick off the list. This yarn is so soft and squishy. I was a bit worried when I blocked it as it lost its definition at first but was fine once it dried.

Next onto my needles is the second 'sister shawl', Sweet Dreams. I also want to knit 3 face cloths and two pairs of mittens, plus two pairs of socks and 4 shawls...all by Christmas! A bit ambitious maybe??

I love a quickie

.....project that is. I have been working on the Westknits Mystery this past week and so my Noro striped scarf has gone on the back burner. I did manage to sneak this cowl in though.

I think it took me all of 5 hours knitting in total. The Spud & Chloe Outer is absolutely the softest, squishiest yarn I have ever knitted with and I love it! It's also the thickest yarn I've ever knitted with and it took a bit of getting used to the 10mm needles after the 4mm ones I'm using on my Westknits! Look, they are almost as thick as my index finger!

I bought this yarn at KAN from Tash and I think I might have to get some more for myself once my challenge is over...this one is a gift. This will count as my second project in stash yarn, even though it is new stash from just before I set myself my challenge.  I am looking forward to using some of the older stash. 

My eldest son (25) has requested some new socks as he has holes in most of his.....he prefers to wear them over anything else!  I think I will go down to a smaller needle size for future socks so they don't stretch so much and are harder wearing....even though using size 2,75mm needles I already have to knit 70 rows for the foot!!! I dread to think how many rows once I go down a needle size :-/  I will be sure to let you know!

Two of my knitting friends - well, they aren't just knitting friends, they are friends who knit - are also knitting the Westknits Mystery and we decided that each Tuesday we would get together somewhere sociable and compare notes...well, shawls. Mine is the orange and purple one, Claire's is the grey and denim and Debbie's the green and lime green. I can't wait to see what happens next because this is unlike any project (let alone any shawl) we have ever knitted! Maybe it won't be a shawl at all!?

I also finished some booties this week. These were a gift for friends who have just had their second baby boy. I spent about half an hour carefully sewing up the first bootee with an invisible mattress/ladder stitch only to find I had sewn it inside out! It took me almost as long to unpick it as I had hidden my ends so well. This is a great pattern and its free on Ravelry. I was also heartened to hear that the young Mum had looked out and washed the blanket I made for their first son, lovely to know they obviously liked and used it.  

Next up is to finish the striped scarf and crack on with my other Christmas gift knitting.