A couple of posts ago I mentioned dabbling with the 'dreaded circular needles'... I would hereby like to retract that statement - I have since fallen in love with knitting in the round and have even bought two more pairs of beautiful (and slightly pricey) Knit-Pro Symphonie Interchangeables for further projects. If I wasn't a poor student I would have the complete set of symphonie needles, hooks and any other accessories that I can get my hands on but sadly I can't justify it... one day maybe...
So as I say, busy weekend. I started knitting my first hat in the round early last week and finally finished it on Friday night, I have named it 'Raspberry Swirl' and I am reserving it for my Christmas stall next month along with everything else I've done these last few days.
I realised on Saturday that I was actually running low on commercial wool for knitting with (something that I never thought would happen) and so I went for a wander with my friend Ty down to the wonderful local wool shop in Aberdeen, Wool for Ewe on Rosemount. I was a bit worried about him getting bored but other than telling me to stop asking his advice about needle sizes he was actually pretty enthusiastic, particularly when he noticed the buttons - anything shiny eh, Ty?
Despite falling desperately in love with every beautiful yarn I came across and having buttons that I just HAD to have thrust upon me I managed to remain slightly under-budget so we then headed down to Bead Crazy to spend the change on more sparkly things!
I came home with lots of goodies to play with and immediately set about knitting a hat with the beautiful multicoloured chunky yarn I bought. I decided to wing it and didn't follow any pattern (a little headstrong for my second circular piece) but I am proud of the result I achieved. Because of the many colours I decided early on that there was no point in knitting anything too complicated as cables and lace would be too fancy and would possibly become an eyesore so I kept to a slightly slouchy beanie shape using just rib and stocking stitch:
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| I'm blaming the bags under my eyes on my inability to put this yarn down... |
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| The colours are slightly different to this in real life but I like the almost self-striping effect. |
In addition to all of this I have at last made some progress on my other projects - Kez's fox hat now has two slightly squinty ears and I have finally purchased some eyes even though I have yet to attach them. Also, I have hopefully decided on a pattern for Jamie's Under the Sea Scarf after getting knitters block earlier this week... At my friend Ele's suggestion I have found a lovely loose wave-shaped pattern on Ravelry and will be adjusting and extrapolating it to suit my project. Fingers crossed it will work!
This evening, once I had finished sewing the buttons to my latest knitted creation, I got the sewing-box out and started making a few sets of stitch markers with the beads that I bought yesterday. For anyone who doesn't knit, stitch markers are used to highlight areas where the pattern changes or to show the beginning of the round when using circular needles. They come in very handy, particularly with larger projects and I've been meaning to get the pliers out for weeks now. I have to admit that I'm not very impressed with my current crimp tubes as the silver plating falls off as soon as you touch them but I will buy some more for future sets.
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| Set 1 - Suitable for small to medium-sized needles up to 6.5mm |
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| Set 2 - Better with thinner needles due to their light weight - up to 4 or 5mm |
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| Set 3 - Designed for big needles and chunky wool - shown on 10mm needles |
I have also come across half a dozen pairs of unfinished earrings that I started making before going on my year abroad, once I find some decent crimps I'll finish them all and could maybe make some more - in colours other than purple! - to put on the Christmas stall...
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| It's amazing what you find when you go rummaging through your sewing box... |
Current Total: £142
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