December last year was bitterly cold. This year it has been very mild - so the garden is far greener than usual at this time of year.
2011年12月28日水曜日
Braving winter
I went out to see what was flowering in mid-winter and nearly missed this little flower.
Winter flowering
As someone who only feels really alive in a hot summer, I have huge admiration for those plants who come into flower in the depths of winter - and look so pretty with it.
Winter view
At this time of winter the view from my window can often look like a charcoal drawing, but today there was enough weak sunshine to give a little colour.
Cardigan - abandoned
Sadly, I have had to abandon my cable cardigan and will frog it in due course. I just didn't have enough yarn and couldn't find a fudge I could live with. However I love the pattern so will try again with a different yarn - once I can decide what to use!
2011年12月25日日曜日
Cardigan -sleeve started
I've started the sleeve using one strand of the body yarn together with the soft white cashmere I have. It is not ideal though the effect varies according to the angle and the light. But I don't have enough of anything to knit the whole cardigan - the cables really eat yarn! And I am housebound and not fashion conscious so no one much sees me. And I badly need a warm cardigan. So this seems the best fo some not very good options. I do find that once the oil is washed out and the yarn has been washed a few times the colour generally softens a good deal - which would be a good thing in this case - fingers crossed!
Cardigan - both fronts finished
I've got both fronts finished - and I most definitely do not have enough yarn for the sleeves. Grrr!
2011年12月20日火曜日
2011年12月15日木曜日
2011年12月9日金曜日
Changing sheets - with help
I was changing the bedding when Sunny decided to help me. That is the clean duvet cover she has burrowed into!
Cardigan - first front finished
I have finished the first front and attached it to the back. I slightly altered the neck line to suit my figure better. The one problem is that I am using a lot more yarn than I expected and am not going to have enough. I can certainly finish the other front and then I will need to decide what to do about the sleeves - I will need to add some other cashmere yarn, but am not sure which yet.
2011年12月5日月曜日
A reminder of summer
It is a cold morning after a wet night, and with a storm promised. So here is a reminder of tranquil summer days.
Fisherman's Cardigan - first front started
Here I have started the first front. I like the integral brioche stitch band.
There are several different things going on at different rates - which is why I have 3 different colours of markers. The band has short rows after every 6 rows. The green markers mark pattern where the cables cross on rows 5 and 11 of a 12 row repeat, the purple markers mark a pattern change on rows 2 and 8 of this 12 row repeat. The 12 row repeat and 6 row repeats are out of step with each other.
And I want to work 107 pattern rows, so I have a peg board with 3 different count-ups going on at once. Top left is the 6 row repeat, bottom left the 12 row repeat and bottom right the total starting above the rib section.
I have made one change, starting all the cable patterns at the same point instead of having one start part-way up the ribbing.
Fisherman's cardigan - back finished
I have got the back finished, lengthening the upper section to accomodate my spinal curvature. It is going to be lovely!
2011年12月1日木曜日
I thought I was ready for bed
I thought I was all ready for bed. I'd checked the back door was locked and the gas was turned off. I'd brushed my teeth and my hair. I came in to get into bed and found I had a problem!
Doesn't Tigger look comfy! I love the way he had managed to turn back the duvet to provide a pillow.
My husband's orchid
My husband bought this orchid in flower in the spring. When it finished flowering he was determined to see if he could get it to flower again - and here it is, this morning, in flower again!
2011年11月27日日曜日
Cable Cardigan progress
I am making progress with the Mari Dembrow pattern. This is the back and as you can see I have got past the armhole shaping.
Normally I would add short rows at this point to accomodate my dowager's hump, but the pattern means that this time I will just work the upper back longer than normal and ease the excess when I pick up for the sleeves.
Neutered cats don't fight?
Ginger came home yesterday having been in some sort of fight with another cat. His ear is quite a mess, but he is being so smug I think he must have been the winner.
Pockets
Because I walk with elbow crutches, carrying things is difficult, so I make large poachers pockets and sew them to the inside of all my cardigans. Why the inside? If you are not very mobile, pockets on the outside of garments can too easily get caught on things and pull one off-balance.
These are the pockets for the inside of my cable pattern cardigan. The cardigan is knitted with two strands of yarn held together, so the pockets are done with one strand to reduce bulk. Stocking stitch flops too much to be convenient for big pockets, so I have made a corner to corner garter stitch square and then picked up along one side and worked a garter stitch hem on fewer stitches than normal. This pulls the top in and stops things falling out of the pockets.
Another tatted mat
This is another pattern by Iris Niebach. Her patterns are always interesting to tat.
2011年11月12日土曜日
Memories of summer
It has been a rather bleak, foggy, grey, cold week and I was in need of a cheer-up, so here are a couple of memories of summer.
Oyos de Dio
I haven't made one of these little decorations for years, but they are very simple. I used a pair of wooden cocktail sticks and some thread.
Beekeepers progress
I decided to sew together the hexiflats (unstuffed) that I had made so far to see how they would look. I think they will look good, but there is a very long way to go yet.
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