Owls everywhere

If there's one thing that's finally a bit organised in my life, it's my knitting basket. I know, this does not tell great tales of organisation but there's considerable satisfaction in knowing that I have enough projects at different stages on my needles that I can just pick something up, knit in the car, or knit in front of the tv. Those projects at the stockinette stitch phase are the ones for car journeys (I can't read patterns or I'll get motion sick) or subtitled films. You know, one of our treats is getting rented DVDs of obscure art house films and watch them at the weekend. Much more convenient and cheaper than hiring a babysitter to go to the cinema. And as I can't be bothered to get the log in details to add to our wish list, I get kind of landed with whatever hubby puts on. This is generally ok, but I must say he has a tendency of going going for foreign language films, which is a bit of a nuisance when you're trying to knit while watching a film. I know, I know, this is blasphemy from the mouth of a foreign national, linguist and bilingualism promoter, but it has to be said, subtitled films get seriously into the way of my knitting. Maybe I should establish a rule that we can only watch German or Spanish art house films and Texan films are out too, sorry L, I may understand you no worries but those southern US films... Also, I may have had years of French tuition but still can't understand a word of French films, as if French is a code that is beyond me to crack. Let's not even go into all the other languages.

So, having an organised knitting basket means more knitting gets done. Simple projects for car journeys and subtitled films, more complex patterns for nice, preferably northern British or German films. Or films I'm totally not interested in (which does happen, perhaps because I don't exactly contribute to the wish list).

The nice side effect is that I'm making progress on quite a few projects, some are even big ones (adult size) or small ones with really small needles (everything smaller than 4mm is classed as really small needles, because not so long ago I vowed I'd never knit with anything smaller as it just took me too long).

In case you're still with me and wonder why I'm rambling on about such minutiae of the knitting basket, worry not, I won't bore you much longer. Here's the latest instalment of one of my favourite patterns, owlet. It was knitted in between my other 3 projects as I found out about a certain girl's 4th birthday being just around the corner and something quick had to be whipped up. I like it because there's minimal finishing and it knits up quickly, with a nice unisex yet cute design that is timeless. This one was knit with Rowan felted tweed DK which is not the recommended yarn weight at all, but I just knew this one was the right yarn, so I doubled it (still not really heavy enough) and hoped for the best. Knit in 3-4 years but for a girl who is a small 4 year old, so I'm pretty sure it'll be just right for the winter. I love the yarn, it looks so cosy and warm. I have almost enough for another one...

Finished Object Friday: It's getting repetitive I know

Guess what.
I've finished another owlets jumper!
I know I know, it's been only a week since the last one but hear me out there's a story to this one.

It was actually the first owlets that I started. It was knitted for Cubling, in size 4-5 years. Knitted on a long car journey to Skye and back, plus a couple of weekends after, it was a very quick knit on 6.5mm needles and with Rowan Little Big Wool. I was about 6 or 7 months' pregnant at the time.

Now look at that baby - it's 17 months and I've finally finished it. Why? Well, I kind of finished it when pregnant but it was more than obvious that a) it was far too small for Cubling who wasn't even 4 yet, which was just as well because she told me in no uncertain terms she did not want to wear it anyway and b) something just didn't look right.

So I looked at it, and looked at it some more in that stashed basket. One day, the penny dropped. I must have slipped sizes at the very start, the body part was simply too short. Which is kind of rubbish when the jumper is knit from bottom up. No way Jose was I going to unravel it all again. Thankfully, Ravelry folk came to the rescue and explained how I could save the owlets. pick up stitches and go for the cut, then knit some more and rejoin with kitcheners stitch. I admit I didn't like the idea of cutting my knitting, but it did work. With just about 20cms of yarn left, this is as long as I could do it with the yarn I'd left over, and it means it's a bit shorter than I'd hoped. But still, body and sleeves are much more in proportion.

How convenient I have a younger child who promptly modelled it, and though a tad big, it's actually already a pretty decent fit.

5 years? Hm. Never mind. Snowflake is very proud of her new jumper. That's my girl. And this is probably the longest I've ever taken over knitting a kid's jumper.

Finished Object Friday: Owlets all around

You know you're taking owls to Athens (that's the German version of "coals to Newcastle") when you knit a baby jumper and the recipient recognises the pattern. Well not the recipient strictly speaking, because he is only a few months old and may be more busy with things like learning how to wind everyone around his little fingers for sheer cuteness than knowing knitting patterns inside out.

How fitting then that it is indeed an owl jumper, owlet to be precise. Funny though that his mum is making one for herself; even with the same style adaptation of short sleeves...
Ah well, I love this pattern and the yarns used are so must touch all the time soft that I'm sure baby J will be snug and comfy.

This owlet jumper has been sitting for a while because I thought I had enough yarn of the first instalment for a second. But no, I didn't do my sums right and there it was sitting run out of yarn and it took me ages to find a yarn that could be used to finish it off. Bright red just doesn't go with many colours. Eventually I found katia merino sport (that's the grey bit 401 colourway, made in Spain - the red is Lana Grossa Nico) which I think is pretty much an ideal complement colour.

I knitted size 6-12 months - the yarn is quite stretchy though so that I'm sure it could fit up to 18 months (which is good as I'm currently trying to save another owlet which turned out waaaaay too small). There's meant to be 13 owls but it turned out with just 12 - having a 6 months break before finishing off meant I wasn't quite clear what size and stitch number I was on, and while I'm not sure where I went wrong, it turned out looking just right. Hm.

While I love this pattern, somehow I'm not very successful managing to make one for my own kids. Cublings turned out too small and simply wrong, this was meant to be Snowflake's and I ran out of yarn (and by the time I had found the right yarn, it was too small). Just as well there's still lovely new babies being born who need to be clad in handknits.

Busy Needles

New babies, growing babies, growing children. So many reasons to knit. It also keeps me sane to make things, not sure why, it's like a drug. So my needles have been busier than usual, with the typical breaks, because my teething baby struggles to stay asleep at times.

Cubling had been due a cardigan for a while, as the owlet jumper I knitted for her turned out just very wrong (I now know where it went wrong but unsure how to fix it, must consult someone more knowledgeable on the knitting front if there's anything to be saved), and as 4 year olds no longer wear what their mummy picks, I let her choose her favourite cardigan out of all my knitting books, plus the colour scheme. It's the Heart-motif Cardigan, the main yarn is Rowan Milk Cotton which is very light and drapy, great for the breezy summer we tend to get here. The yarn for the hearts is a mix of various cottons I have in my stash, which makes for a bit of bumpiness/relief, which if unintended, is quite nice. My favourite bit of the cardigan is the frilly edging. My least favourite part: weaving in the many ends, 2 per heart plus the usual suspects. I made it size 4 years with a slightly bigger gauge than in the book, so it should last her two seasons I hope.

And for new baby C., I whipped up this simple vest which is such a quick knit and looks rather adorable methinks. Ideal for quick knitting satisfaction - I managed to do this in just 3 days. I used Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed Duck Egg as the main yarn (it's a contender for my favourite yarn ever, it's unbelievably soft) and added a thread of Rowan Kidsilk Haze to the garter stitch parts of the vest. The sizing is for a one year old, but as you can see, it looks quite nice modelled on a 7 months old. I have a feeling that I'll knit another one for Snowflake because she just looks fab in it and I have just about enough yarn leftover to make another one, now if that isn't a sign I don't know what is.

Finally, I just had to knit the Owlet jumper again, just to show that I can do it. While it's made using the owlet pattern, size 6-12 months, I decided to make a short sleeve version for the sake of variety, but also because I found the arms a bit tight for my liking when I knitted it a while ago. I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I like the pattern because it looks as nice on a boy as it does on a girl, and there aren't many patterns out there that do! It'll clad a baby girl yet to be born (when knitting it I didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl), and I hope it'll keep her warm this winter and maybe even next, as the yarn is quite stretchy. I used Lana Grossa Nico for this, which I picked up in a German yarn shop. It didn't catch my eye instantly but came recommended and it definitely is easy to knit with and just perfect to show off the owlets. It's a very soft cotton yarn - classic, easy wash and bold colours.

And, believe it or not, I have exactly enough yarn left to knit another one. Which leads me to think that maybe I should because it's unlikely the yarn would be just right for another project. After all, there are another two babies on the way, so it all makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

Oops, how did that happen?

Shoot scheduled posts. I realised yesterday that my title was utterly inappropriate - a post on remembrance day on my daughter's developing memory, big oops. My excuse is that I only get time to write posts occasionally, and I write them by the bulk (err, 2 or 3 at a time if Snowflake sleeps long enough on nursery days) and I didn't realise that it was scheduled to go up on remembrance day.
And yes, we remembered and paid respect, even though Cubling would not be silent for 2 minutes, that IS asking for a bit much. She tried though.

On the topic of oops, how did that happen? - here are my latest knitting endeavours. Well, latest is stretching it a bit. I started the Owlet jumper on our trip to Skye in August, and finally I finished this winter jumper for Cubling.

You may be able to see from the photos that it is on the small side. Far too short, a bit too tight. I knit it following size 4 (or was it even 5?) years... Just as well we have a younger princess waiting to grow into it. Which leaves me without a winter jumper for my big girl. The plan is to knit her another owl - a bit ambitious, maybe I should knit it big enough for next winter. I'm a bit baffled though by her reluctance to even try this one on. She can't possibly already be getting too old for mummy's knits? Does she not know that knitting is groovy???

Continuing on the knitting fails theme, this is a picture of Snowflake in her winter beanie:

Yes, I do swatches.

And this is Snowflake in a cardigan I knitted a while ago, and hurray, it fits:

Ok, everybody refers to her as "he" when she's in it, it may need some pink embroidered flower. Not that I care, I'm so seriously sick of light pink that I think she looks just adorable in this jumper, and I'm so pleased that it fits just perfectly. The knitted cat and mouse come courtesy of J. who also blogged about the lovely gifts she made for Snowflake. And her knits are definitely knitting successes!

PS the Beanie pattern and lots of other fab hats can also be found in A Hat in Time, which is a book I pulled together last year and sell in aid of Save the Children's work. I still have about 20 print copies left, and you can also buy it as a pdf download through Ravelry or Lulu. The book makes a great stocking filler for any knitter ;). To get your print copy, please use the "order copy" tab here, or email me blog at cartside dot co.uk.