Frog in knots

Knitting, knots and frogging.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Escaped mental patient

You'll have to excuse the lack of decent blogging recently and the time it's taken me to get round your to your blogs to comment. As well as working on a submission I've had a load of hospital appointments recently and have been a bit preoccupied (Nout to worry about, just a bit of general maintenance). I was a bit miffed actually. Not only did they stick a camera up my nose (how far?) but I was trotting into the hospital wearing my beautiful new sandals - the most elegant things ever to grace my lumpy old feet - and the toe post snapped as I went through the main entrance. It was dangerous to walk in them so I took them off and was left padding barefoot about the hospital like some sort of escaped mental patient. Not a happy bunny, but the shop was in the same town and took them back even though I didn't have the receipt on me. I've replaced them with some right grannie like sandals that could survive a lot more abuse. It's a sad (albeit sensible) day when you choose your shoes for comfort not style.

Despite my shoe acquistion not going exactly to plan, I've got my sticky little mitts on some lovely yarn and patterns recently. I found some black 4 ply, the bane of my life because I can never find it. It's Sirdar Country Style 45% acrylic/40% nyon/15% wool and feels lovely. I got a bag of 600g for just under a fiver. I've cast on for the SK lacy top but I'm not convinced I want to make it anymore - I'd have to break into my black mohair for it too and I've been saving that for ages waiting for the right pattern. I fancy a sweater out of the Sirdar but don't have anything in mind.

I also saw these cones of mystery yarn and wasn't sure of the thickness or amount so I bought 3 (£1 each!). There's 500g on each cone so a big project can come out of it. I quite fancy making a replica of a sweater I bought from H&M that's looking a bit scruffy these days. It's blues, purples, pinks and a yellowly green.






Plus this gorgeous Filatura di Crosa 'Love' in a deep terracotta shade. There were only 2 balls but I figured I could get a scarf out of it for my Mum. It's her favourite colour and this is so soft and warm it's perfect


As for patterns I found Debbie Bliss's 'Nursery Knits' which I've been after for ages. My local library had 'lost' it and now I know why, the one I found in a charity shop is the library copy with a 'withdrawn for booksale' stamp in it. It's got some lovely patterns in it which I can't wait to make. I also bought Knitability by Linda O'Brien which is 80s-tastic but some of the motifs for the sweaters are really cute. I got a few loose patterns too including a great hat pattern that I really want to make.

As for actual knitting, it feels like I haven't done much for ages because I've been working on things I can't show you. Some of my gift knits have now reached their destinations so I can let you take a peek at them. You may remember the fantastic parcel stuffed full of lovely yarn from The Domestic Overlord, I finally got a parcel sent off to her which included a bag I made.
I was a bit lazy and swiss darned the motifs on it as my intarsia patience for that month had been well and truly used up on another project. The bag pattern is my own and I used the motifs from Hello Yarn's Skull Tote and Zombies Need Not Apply from Magknits. I crocheted the handles on and sewed in a lining mostly by hand as I got a bit carried away on the machine and made a right mess of it.

I was very naughty with another one of my gifts. When Nanatoo sent me the beautiful Clapotis she warned me that I musn't send her anything in return - so I didn't. I sent some things for her daughter instead. I made an Odessa from 100% cotton, I modified the sizing quite a lot as it was coming out enormous even for my giant bonce and I may have been a bit overzealous. I worked 90 sts instead of 110 and made it 1" shorter in the main section. I dont know if anyone else who's made one had the same problem as me with it, I found the yo and the SSK created a gap (bigger than I expected) which stretched out to a big hole which no amout of tweaking would draw in. It may just be that I used cotton and it was too rigid. If you have any idea about it I'd appreciate pointing in the right direction. I also made her some little wrist warmers from the left over camo yarn I had. Again my own pattern, but nothing too exciting, just 3x1 rib.

Other than that I'm working on the green cabled cardi that I started in February (pre-olympics). It looks great but It's boring me to death so I may have to start something else that isn't cabled. Too much yarn, too little time. Please tell me I don't want bright yellow yarn. I hate yellow, I never wear it and wouldn't dream of knitting in it for myself. Despite that I have seen the most beautiful shade of yellow I have ever clapped eyes on and feel compelled to buy it. It calls to me every time I see it. I also want to make something that would involve me working in moss (seed) stitch for a week or more. Maybe she poked my brain too hard with that camera...

31 Comments:

At 12:30 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad to see you back! Too bad about the shoes, but I laughed when I pictured you walking through the hallway barefoot like the escaped mental patient. That must have been a sight.
The bag turned out awesome! DO will love it.

 
At 1:33 pm, Blogger Seahorse said...

Oooh, I thought I was pretty good at getting good knitty deals but I cower in your mighty bargain hunter shadow!

The bag is fantastic and I love the things you made for nanatoo jr.

 
At 2:24 pm, Blogger T said...

Contrary to popular belief, I only ever wear sensible shoes ;)

A bargainous time indeed - but go see penguinhorde.blogspot.com for yarn to make your eyes water!

I LOVE DO's bag and will have to try darning skulls instead of intarsia, as I NEEEEED one ;) Nice work.

DD STILL has wristwarmers on and it's warm here, lol. Bless your heart Rainy-Rain. Dreamcatcher knows a lot about Odessa, maybe she can help.

You don't like yellow? The Clapper was so yellow, lol.

 
At 2:26 pm, Blogger turtlegirl76 said...

Oh that sucks when new fun shoes break. Sorry to hear that.

Your present to DO is just wonderfully appropriate. Especially since RTK isn't using the skull computer back she worked so hard on for him, now she can rub it in with a bag of her own! Ha! Wonderful.

Nice yarn scores too. Gotta love good coned mystery yarn, don'tcha?

 
At 2:37 pm, Blogger Jerry & Maxy said...

Comfort shoes, particularly sandals, are the way to go!

Awesome bag!!! Perfect for DO.

You always find the best yarn deals.

 
At 3:48 pm, Blogger Bezzie said...

I had the sandal thing happen to me at a bar once, so I did the barefoot thing, and they kicked me out! The nerve!

Oh well, sensible shoes means they won't break and in the long run this will save you more money for scoring more yarn!

 
At 4:54 pm, Blogger Rain said...

I've certainly learnt my lesson with the shoes, although I won't be throwing out my death defying heels just yet.

I'll pop the pattern for the bag up soon and Nanatoo Jr's wrist doodahs.

I think I'm just lucky when it comes to cheap yarn that a lot of yarn places near me have great bargains. I buy it in and worry about patterns later, at those prices it's silly to leave it behind.

T - strangely I think of the clap as mostly pink/purple although I know there is a lot of green/yellow in it. It's fine mixed in with something else but on it's own makes me look washed out and ill.

Bezzie - How rude!

 
At 5:07 pm, Blogger aija said...

Hope you're doing okay!

I saw that bag over @ DO's blog-- too cool.

 
At 6:33 pm, Blogger Charity said...

Love your newest acquisitions! Nursery Knits is a great book - what a lovely find!

 
At 9:41 pm, Blogger KnitPastis said...

I can just see you walking down the hallway barefooted. That's ashame about your shoes. You always find bargins!

 
At 10:13 pm, Blogger Knittypants said...

Ahhh! It's good to hear from you again, I kept peeking thinking bloglines may be misbehaving, but then I realized you were probably living your outside knitty blogland life and would get back to us eventually.

Camera in the nose sounds yuck!

Nice new yarn, I love hearing of the projects you are planning to knit up with them.

 
At 4:07 am, Blogger knitfriendly said...

I love your skull bag! I am amazed everytime I read about your yarn deals. I just tried to talk my dbf to move to England but I am not succeeding....

Have you thought of making a bag with the yellow yarn? Then you can enjoy the color and still not have to wear it? Saturday Market Bag from the new Magknits could be an option..

 
At 10:38 am, Blogger Rain said...

Thanks for the compliments about the bag, I had a great time making it, except for the bit where the sewing machine ran away with me. I know what I'm doing now when I make my Wool of the Andes bags...I think...

Areli, it's good to be back blogging properly, I just had a crazy time whan I was so busy. Projects galore coming up.

Knitfriendly, I think it will have to be some sort of accessory Aas it's a bit bright for anything else. Lol, I want to move to the US for the cheap yarn there, with the likes of Knitpicks and Elann I'd be in my element. Here it's just lucky if you find something good.

 
At 10:48 am, Blogger KnitYoga said...

Sorry to hear about the nasty hospital investigations but glad it's nothing to worry about. I did have to smile the way you described yourself walking around the hospital barefoot. That shoe snapping thing's happened to me before, too. Well, it's not as if people go everywhere with a spare pair of shoes in their bags in case of mishaps is it!? ;-) Good job we don't live in days of yore when it wasn't all that uncommon for your knicker elastic to snap. Now, that would be embarrassing to suddenly find yourself with your knickers around your ankles. LOL

I love that bag. You're so inspirational!

 
At 12:47 pm, Blogger dreamcatcher said...

Good to see you posting, hoping the hospital stuff wasn't *too* bad, but somehow camera-up-the-nose doesn't sound nice!

LOL @ the shoes incident (although not quite as funny at the time, I expect), escaped mental patient indeed :-D And LOL @ Hazel with the knicker elastic comment, what are you like! :-)

I LOVE the Skully bag, and the lovely things you made for nanatoo's DD :-) Can I ask what the camo-effect yarn was? DH is after a camo cowl/snood.

Re Odessa in cotton - it definitely looks more "open" because as you say the cotton isn't stretchy or springy. My first one was in mercerised cotton and it was quite obvious where I started the decrease rows too. Using cashsoft you get a very different effect, you still see the little YO holes/eyelets but not to the same extent. Odessa looks great whatever it is knit in though, cotton just gives you a "lacier" effect which is very nice.

Great yarn acquisitions, Sirdar CS-DK is excellent stuff (made the Dr Who scarf in it last Christmas). I want to see this amazing yellow yarn too :-D

 
At 6:07 pm, Blogger Batty said...

That is such a gorgeous bag! Skullies on the front and on the sides too! You're a very generous person.

Sorry about the shoes, it's happened to me too. And I've even had sensible shoes break on my, so there's really no way to avoid this kind of mess. Oh, well.

 
At 8:30 pm, Blogger reluctantMANGO said...

Ohhh. Lucky DO! Love that bag...

 
At 8:36 pm, Blogger Zonda said...

Great deals there!! Whew for a minute I thought maybe you were being stalked by an escaped mental patient..hehe..

The purse, hat and wristwarmers are really nice, great job there you! :)

 
At 10:07 pm, Blogger Rain said...

Knityoga, if the knicker elastic thing were to happen to anyone it would be me.

DC, the camo yarn was Patons Fab in shade 02325, it was in 100g balls for about £1.50

Zonda, sometimes I feel like an escaped mental patient and then I remember it's the rest of the world that's crazy.

 
At 10:32 pm, Blogger Heather said...

Ey up!
Love the skull bag!
(I'm also a sensible footwear person - girly shoes look daft on me elephant feet!)

 
At 6:13 am, Blogger Stefaneener said...

A sunny yellow throw will make gloomy winter days seem brighter? At least it's a thought.

The people around you are so fortunatel that you have "gifty" needles. Lovely bag.

Sorry about the feet. I only go for horribly sensible shoes, so what do I know?

 
At 7:47 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry about the shoe thing..that will teach you. Always wear sensible shoes (must remember to take my own advice sometime)
I love love the bag. Not being one for the sull thing on the whole but I do like it..another project that I must try before i am 90!!

 
At 12:52 pm, Blogger acrylik said...

Glad to hear you're doing OK, I really don't like the sound of the camera up the nose, so I'm glad to hear it's nothing to worry about.

I really feel for you about the sandals - having too long feet myself I know what it's like to finally find a pair of lovely shoes that fit me - and to have them break is just awful!

The skull bag is fantastic, I just love it. And what excellent yarn bargains you found there, superb!

 
At 6:09 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

what an awesome bag! I love the skully goodness!

 
At 10:24 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent yarn purchase there!

And moss stitch, yes, beautiful moss stitch! I made a cabled cardigan for a baby which had moss stitch sleeves and I loved it!

Funny what yarn can do to the brain eh? I think yarn is imbued with mental telepathy or something! That's why I've got a stash that is never quite big enough! I say buy the yellow yarn!

I do hope you are well health wise, I believe you when you say its nothing to worry about!

Happy knitting!

 
At 7:33 am, Blogger Dina said...

Good thing Nurse Ratched didn't get to you first! What a sight that would've been! But yes, when all else fails, sensible is best ... and I hope all goes well (owie on the scoped nose!).

I do agree ... you are THE bargain hunter. Enjoy DBs Nursery Knits, I love paging through that book.

Lovely knit gifts! The skully bag is way cool!

 
At 3:00 pm, Blogger Samantha said...

Great deals!

I love good deals, especially on books. :)

 
At 9:30 pm, Blogger Melissa said...

I was rolling laughing at the thought of you padding around barefoot.
I love the yarn and the bag. You did a great job on the bag! :)

 
At 10:00 pm, Blogger DomesticOverlord said...

I am quite lucky, I love that bag!

Rain is too modest the lining is totally fine.

I was wondering how you did the handles they look fantastic.

 
At 11:43 am, Blogger Rain said...

Thanks folks.

 
At 5:01 pm, Blogger allisonmariecat said...

I have a cute strappy pair of sandals that I cling to desperately, even though they give me hideous blisters every time I wear them. That's my last holdout pair! If I give up on them, I have only sensible shoes left...

The bag looks fantastic! Good on you for avoiding the intarsia nightmare. Blech.

 

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