WIP Wednesday

Remember how I had that cunning plan?

The one where I would only make small projects that use up stash and can be finished in a weekend, avoiding WIPs and mid week distractions?

Well, yeah, that might not have totally happened (I am guessing you may have seen that coming).

So here are my current WIPs

The sock yarn blanket. This is really excused WIP status as I am expecting it to take the next five years. It is only a WIP if the is a square mid way through being made. I did spend about three hours sewing in a bunch of ends last night which made me feel all virtuous.

Mr Greenjeans cardigan. The top part is done, but I need to change needle size, the needle I have to use is broken so this has to wait until I buy a new one (wait, does that mean this is technically hibernating and not a WIP at all?!)

A sock yarn cuff/bracelet/wrist warmer thingy that I cast on because it is not possible to go on a bus without some knitting to do. Sitting down doing nothing causes my brain to erode and fall out of my ears, true story.

Some socks, that are not even stash yarn. I was told about a bargainous deal on some Regia 6 ply. I bought lots to make boot socks for work, so now I have socks on the go. I might need some plain for the heels as self striping makes messy heels.

Camo hat thingy using free yarn from a yarn tasting. I was going to make a hat for my niece as there is pink in the colourway. Unfortunately it is knitting up to be more camouflage and less pink, which I suspect will be declared "yucky brown". Any suggestions for patterns to use this up would be great.

I took the picture at the weekend and have since added some monster chunk feet that need a body, great for using up scrap yarn, I may be making lots of these. There will be casting on tonight or tomorrow too for a project I have been holding off on for AGES. I am excited by this and will not allow the WIP pile to deter me.

Rip it, rip it good

Rip that knitting just like you should!

Because sometimes we know that we need to rip something out, but are reluctant to do it.

I have a bit of a backwards WIP Wednesday this week. Apart from my sock yarn blanket I have no WIPs that are going to be finished, just ones that are headed for the frog pond. By the end of today they should all be gone!

First a tank top in baby bamboo, I will not have enough yarn to complete this, so away it goes. I am a bit short of ideas for this yarn, I have seven balls in two shades of blue. It was a sale bargain so I don't want to buy any more, does anyone have any suggestions for using it up?

I have been wearing my Wendy Happy socks recently because they can be thrown in the washing machine, however I put this one on today and realised it is way too short. I think I ran out of yarn and just closed the toe! It is never going to fit (feet don't shrink) and doesn't have a partner so I am going to rip it and put the yarn in my sock yarn blanket.

This is a one skein cowl that hasn't made it onto the blog yet, lovely yarn and pattern but it needs to be smaller but deeper and maybe have a different edging to reduce the rolling. It will probably go on the Christmas present pile. On another note, why can I occasionally take super photos like this one, but not consistently?!

Finally, I have already ripped these out three times but I am going to do it again. I have been using handspun alpaca and merino to make tops for the slipper soles I bought, following the free Regia pattern that comes with them. I don't like them, I want proper shaped socks with a heel so these are being frogged too.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrip!

Yarn Along, WIP and books

More reading, more knitting, you might notice that there is a self banned book in the photo.

That's right, I caved and started a fiction book. I do have a reasonable excuse, I was reading it while I supervised an exam, for which I get paid (paid to read = awesome, where can I find more of that!). I did do some knitting during the exam, but was worried that my metal needles were making too much noise.

Moving pictures is (I think and am too lazy to check) the 10th Discworld book. I am trying to collect the whole series, preferably from second hand shops to make it more affordable. After a huge score at a used book stall a few weeks ago I am down to seven missing, plus the new one out in October. I got some funny looks buying fifteen books and they were scooped up by my brother who is giving them to me for Christmas. It seems fair, he found the book stall I just picked the ones I needed. The next book in the series is in the pile, so I am safe from the Discworld for a couple of months at least!

I suspect the Discworld books are a bit like marmite in a love them or hate them way. I enjoy them, although I have to admit some are much better than others although I can't explain why. I do think the first two are not the best, so I suspect quite a few people have been put off the series by reading. I particularly seem to enjoy the ones featuring witches, I don't know why, usually I have no preference for either gender in my characters. I am putting "Moving Pictures" in the enjoyable pile, worth a read. For the most part they can be read independently of each other, although characters might be in multiple books you don't really need to know the history to enjoy the book.

The other three are not really books, but I have been reading them this week. they are plant and seed catalogues. I am not a great gardener, but I do enjoy trying to grow things, unfortunately I often forget to water the garden at some point in the summer and a lot of the plants die off. We have installed an automatic watering system this year though, with a nice timer to avoid using too much water, so next year I should be able to grow things that survive. I have loads of seeds left from this year, so it might just be some new strawberry plants this time, it is still fun to look through though. 

Knitting wise I am knitting something flat, with stripes and sparkly bits which is quite a change for me and has reminded me I don't really like knitting flat. If you are desperate to know what it is you can check out my projects page on Ravelry, if not I shall leave it as a bit of a mystery. I have done a little more on it now and it does look like it might be heading for a frogging, if so I shall do a post to share it in more detail in its funny looking glory.

WIP Wednesday and Yarn along

I really enjoyed talking about what I was reading last week, so I think Yarn along will become a regular meme for me. I hope you all don't mind as the books will be random, not necessarily knitting related.

I have been looking forward to this post as yesterday I went into The Works (discount UK bookshop) and picked up some super bargains.

First up the knitting- I am working on a boot sock. It was supposed to be part of my Dad's Christmas present, but I worked a short row heel and decided that it was too tight when I tried it on on a similar sized foot (clean). I am making them shorter so they will either be for me or go on my Christmas present pile. This is the second sock and I have just gone past the heel. I also havve my sock yarn blanket, which is now part of one a day and my Year of Project knee high sock on the go, but they get their own posts.

The reading, as you can see I bought a couple of books yesterday and was tempted by more. The Works (at least, the one in Loughborough but maybe others too) have lots of knitting and crochet books in at the minute. Several that would be great for beginners and some that have more advanced patterns. Because I have a tiny brain (more on that later) I can't remember the titles, but it is worth a browse. I was also tempted by a load of other books on all sorts of things, but managed to restrain myself to two.

Anyone who has counted will point out that there are three books in the picture, "The Marine Aquarium handbook" came from a charity shop. I picked this up because we have a poorly fish and the disease section is far better than in the fish keeping book I already own.
This is where I confess to my tiny brainness- I don't have a marine aquarium, I have a freshwater aquarium. And it took me until I got home and was looking at the book again to register that it said marine, even though I can read and I know that clown fish are marine fishes. In my defence I had flicked through the disease section and it looks like both sorts get similar illnesses. Based on the book I think the fishes will be fine.

Oh look, another cookbook! I really do love cookbooks, although I have to admit I don't use them all that much, I just love to read them. This one is called "The takeaway secret" and the title is pretty self explanatory really. It tells you how to cook meals in the style of takeaways, I am quite pleased with this because I do love a takeaway and they can get expensive. Another bonus is that I can make them with ingredients that I choose, rather than the iffy ingredients used by takeaways, chicken in particular (I overlook the lack of free range chicken in order to enjoy takeaways but I would prefer not to).
The book is divided into sections covering the different types of takeaway- burgers; kebabs; the chip shop; Indian main meals; Chinese main meals; pizza and pasta; sides, salads and sauces; breakfast and lunch and drinks and desserets, so as you can see, pretty much anything you fancy is covered.
The recipes look straightforward with enough detail that you know what you are doing. No pictures and the paper feels a rather cheap, but that is ok because I know what these things look like, and it was a cheap book (£1.99). I am thinking about getting it spiral bound as it will not lie open.

Finally, "Big girl knits", a total bargain at £4.99. Possibly if I didn't eat as many of the takeaways mentioned above I would not need this book, but I would have bought it anyway because there are some super patterns. Oddly I thought I had flicked through this before and been unimpressed, either I was blinded by my sock obsession or I was looking at some other book because I am already a big fan of this and I have not read it properly, just flicked through.
I will do a proper review of this once I have read it in more detail since it is a crafting book but in short- There is a handy section at the start which talks about choosing patterns, sizing, measuring, and adapting patterns to fit curves. The writing is amusing and easy to follow, written by people who know what they are talking about.
There are twenty five patterns to choose from, obviously no one will ever love all the patterns in a book, but I can certainly see some I want to make- Lift and separate, Curvalicious cardigan (I prefer the pictures in the book where it is a cardi) and Bombshell top my list and I am looking forward to patterns that have boob room. And three patterns out of a £5 book seems reasonable, especially when you add in the handy advice and the other patterns that I like.

Wow, I have talked a lot there! Did I mention that I love books? In fact if I had to choose between books and yarn I think my head would explode. (Actually to the suprise of everyone I think I would choose books, no wait, yarn, no wait, books)

WIP Wednesday and Yarn Along

I was taking some photos yesterday and happened to have my current WIP and a book to hand, so I thought I would take a photo for Yarn along and WIP Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday is self explanatory, Yarn Along requires a photo of the book you are reading and your current fibre WIP, so here they are:

The blue sock is my R sock for the A-Z sock knitting challenge, I am making Rick by Cookie A which is going ok, but is making slow progress, more details when it makes it to FO Friday, hopefully next week.

I have some other knitting WIPs, but they were not to hand when I took the picture since I had a tidy up at the weekend. I still have my YOP kilt hose, a pair of boot socks, a top that needs to be frogged and my sock yarn blanket on the needles.

Bookwise I have just finished reading Shelters of Stone, which is not in the photo, it is part of a series but I have not read the others (picked it up in a charity shop), it works ok as a stand alone book and was a good read, I did think the ending was lacking a dramatic finish though. I would read the others in the series, but probably wouldn't rush out to buy them at full price, at 780 pages it was a hefty book though, so you do get your moneys worth. I have to avoid reading fiction at the minute as I will often read until the book is done, ignoring everything else that needs attention, so a fat fiction book is now a rare treat.

Since I have a personal ban on any more fiction for a while I thought I would share my latest cookbook purchase. The River Cottage cookbook is not a new title, in fact it is dated 2001 so it was first published ten years ago. That does mean it is from the earlier episodes of the TV series, which I much preferred, when it was just one family doing the country life thing on their own small holding rather than a big business with a restaurant and large second farm.

There is lots of interesting information about all kinds of food and meat, including sourcing and growing your own. One of the main reasons I bought it (for a bargain price in T K Maxx) was the cuts of meat are shown for each animal and ways to use them are discussed. Making ham and bacon is in there, which I would love to have a go at. There are some tasty looking recipes too, but I think this will be more useful for the information than the recipes.

The spinning from last week's WIP Wednesday is all spun into a single, it is sitting waiting to be wheel plied, then I will start the second half of the fibre. I am trying to stick to only one spinning project at a time.

WIP Wednsday

On the needles today I have.....

... Nothing!

That's right, nothing, nada, zip!

After my post about my huge pile of WIPS a few weeks ago and a few comments about how I don't like having too many I have been on a big finishing streak. I have some ends to sew in and a lining to make but nothing actally on the go as far as knitting is concerned.

Of course I have my forever project of a sock yarn blanket. It has grown a bit since I last shared it so I thought a new picture is in order.



Still a long way to go, but I have some more yarns for it thanks to the A-Z sock project. It is now too big to fit on the large sheet of white card I use for my photos, so you get to see my dining room floor. I guess that makes it about A1 paper size along its longest edge at the minute.

I also still have my orange spinning project, but I am happy to have that on the go for whenever I feel like doing a little spinning. It is helping me to avoid breaking into my tour de fleece stash and filling the spindle and bobbins I have emptied in preparation.

WIP Wednesday- How many items can you spot?

I didn't want to lay each item out for the photo because they look too close to how they will appear when they make it to FO Friday. So to keep the surprise I squidged them all together, so what can you spot in here? 

Obviously there is a lot of blue, for some reason blue is featuring a lot lately, I don't know why, I like it but I think I may have to make an effort to find something different soon, maybe bright red.

Project wise there are:

Two pairs of socks, both for Christmas presents.

A cardigan, which will probably be the only big thing I make this year.

A spindle of orange possibly merino, can't remember.

A spindle of white banana fibre.

Not in the photo I have made a needle pouch that needs to be lined.

I realised when I was making my Tour de Fleece plans that both my spindles are occupied, I have been working on the orange but there is masses of that to go so I think I will have to work on finishing the banana instead.

I also had a realisation about where the extra WIPs come from, it is to do with having a WIP for every occasion. I needed something I could take into uni and work on while I invigilate exams. Neither the cardigan (too big) or the two at a time socks (too awkward and hence noisy) were suitable, so I cast on some more socks. Repeat for a few different scenarios and that is how the WIP mountain takes over the World!

WIP Wednesday- What's in the bag?

I have lots of WIPs on my knitting plate. I think I have decided I don't like having too many, I always feel like I should be working on a different one.

I upended the bag that I cart around with my most active WIPs in and took a photo for you:

I seem to be on a blue kick at the minute.

In there you can see- 

One finished sock and the yarn for the second (frogged after 10 rounds when I realised I had done the wrong rib).

One part way done K sock, about half way down the foot.

The first ball of the chunky cardigan, this should really come out of here as it is way down the list of things to work on.

Some flowers that I am working on for a group project on Ravelry

General knitting bag detritus- tape measure, stitch markers, ball bands etc.

I really love this bag, it seems to have some kind of tardis magic!

I also have another pair of socks on the go, but they are for Christmas so no rush there, they live in a different bag.

Spinning wise I have three projects on the go and one I really want to get started on. I have told myself the new one can't be started until I have finished at least one of the others, plus maybe the knitting that has deadlines.

Non fibre wise I have lots of uni work as always and I think I may have picked up a bug at a meeting last weekend. This is a very good reason for being a hermit and not seeing other people, avoiding the germs!

On the upside this week we have a bank holiday and a three day weekend, so I am hoping to get some things finished up. Maybe in a week or so I will be down to one simple project (for knit nights), one more complicated project (most likely socks) and one spinning project (ok, well maybe two).

WIP Wednesday- Sock skills

I do not usually do WIP Wednesday posts because small projects like socks don't look att that different between being WIPs and being finished, so I tend to save the suprise for a big reveal at the end.

Today however I have an ongoing project that I can talk about- Two at a time socks, yeah baby! (Sorry Austin Powers moment there)

In an attempt to get the festive season under control I have started the Christmas socks and it seemed like a good opportunity to try out two at a time (TAAT) magic loop style.

I have magic looped socks before, and generally prefer dpns. This is a first for TAAT though, and so far it is going well. It is a thick yarn so quick to make, meaning I should not get bored that it is taking twice as long. I suspect the final tada moment will be good when I realise that I don't need to start a second sock.

I have also added a WIP widget to the blog, I was just looking through Ravelry and spotted it so thought I would give it a go. I need to take more WIP photos though.

In computer news it is still playing up, but I have found a way round it that lets me post on the blog. More seriously yesterday it would not let me buy yarn! That being the final straw I whinged about it until my OH looked into it (He is much more computer minded). There verdict is that it is an issue with java and I will have to wait until the computer wizards fix it. That is one way to stick to a yarn diet!