The Plan

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Hoxton

The Charmed Sweater has begun. I have swatched, I have measured the sweaters in the boy’s wardrobe (which, thankfully, were pretty consistent in their 4″ of positive ease, despite slight variations in weight/style). I have cast on the hem and so begun the long haul of knitting 194 sts per round for 17″ in stocking stitch.  19″ if you include the hem. And that’s before we even get to the sleeves.

For most of the year, I am an entirely selfish knitter, making things for my own wardrobe. My queue is ever-growing and I am constantly itching to cast on the next thing. I am often an end-product knitter, rather than a process knitter. Not only is this sweater going to be fairly dull to knit until I reach the yoke, it’s also going to take a lot of time. So, to keep me sane (relatively speaking, I mean, some ships are long gone at this point) I have decided I need a plan.

Part I of said plan, will be to keep myself entertained whilst knitting around and around and around and around. The advantage of all that stocking stitch is that you don’t have to pay too much attention to it, so this is the perfect opportunity to follow some Danish subtitles and catch up on Borgen, which I have been stockpiling on the iPlayer.

Part II of said plan is to have a little side-project on the go for myself. A 44″ sweater is not something I can carry around on the Tube, so a couple of small, portable items will be more practical and help to ward off a severe case of startitis. I’m thinking fingerless mittens, maybe a simple shawl/scarf, preferably something that isn’t entirely stocking stitch.

But by and large I’m going to need to hunker down and just knit this thing. Like a crazy person.

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Charmed Sweater

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Hoxton

I have decided that my boyfriend’s soon-to-be-knitted jumper will now be referred to as the Charmed Sweater, in honour of its defiance of the sweater curse and general kickass mojo. By the time I’m done, I fully expect it to ward off evil spirits, destroy any moth that comes within three feet and, in an emergency, repel zombies.

My yarn arrived from New Lanark yesterday; a lovely mid-brown aran   wool that’s suitably sheepy, but still soft. (And can I just say again how much I love New Lanark – 1400 yrds of British wool for under 30 quid. Brilliant).

I have pretty much settled on a plain Seamless Hybrid, with a shirt yoke. As this will involve me doing all the maths, rather than following a detailed pattern, and as I’m only used to winging it on garments in my size, I am taking an unprecedented course of action.

I am swatching.

Not only that, I am swatching in the round.

My gauge is going to be calibrated with nano technological precision. Take that, Sweater Curse.

Of course, even with the right gauge, I still need to pick the right measurements. I’ve taken his actual measurements, and next I’m going to measure a couple of his jumpers to get an idea of how much positive ease to add. He doesn’t like them baggy but, equally, a fitted jumper in aran weight won’t be very comfortable. I’m thinking I’ll need to add 2-4″, though on 5mm needles it should be a relatively stretchy fabric so I don’t want to over-compensate. Does anyone have any thoughts on ease?

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Breakfast Bars

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Hoxton

I am not very good at having breakfast before I leave the house. Staggering around in a caffeine-deprived haze, grunting monosyllabic responses to any question, gathering a ridiculously vast number of belongings into my bag and then bracing myself for the onslaught of my commute, is about as  much as I can manage before 8am.

Which means that by 10am I am absolutely starving. In some offices it is possible to stash a box of cereal or porridge for such occasions, but I have now discovered an even easier alternative: the breakfast bar.

There are a multitude of these in the shops, but they’re not particularly generous, often packed full of not-so-great ingredients, and can be an expensive habit. The homemade variety are incredibly easy to make and of course you choose your favourite things to go in them. The recipe I used is from Nigella Lawson and makes a pretty big batch. I couldn’t get hold of exactly the same ingredients, but I really don’t think it matters, so mine were made with cashew nuts and raisins and the only seeds I had were sunflower. But they were delicious nevertheless:

I’ve already made some more, this time with peanuts and mixed fruit, and I have a packet of dried cranberries at home waiting for batch No.3. The only warning I would give is make sure they don’t over-cook, otherwise they go very hard.

A brilliant breakfast/snack on the go!

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Defying the Sweater Curse

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Hoxton

No doubt you are all familiar with the notorious Boyfriend Sweater Curse, which dictates that any attempt to handknit your beloved a sweater will result in said other half dumping you at the exact moment you complete your woollen labour of love.

I am not generally a superstitious person by nature, and although I have no wish to incur the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing, I refuse to bow to apocryphal scare stories. So, I am knitting my boyfriend a sweater.

Now, in spite of what this may lead you to believe, I’m not an idiot. And, tempting though it is to surprise him with one of these:

Because every jumper needs a belt.

I’m hoping to avoid the curse, rather than invoke it at the first stitch, so the boyfriend and I have been discussing the sweater and trying to decide which pattern he might like.

So far we have established that he would like a proper woolly jumper which, thankfully, means I won’t be trying to knit a 44″ chest on 2.5mm needles. He has a frankly inexplicable interest in getting up at 6am to watch whatever cricket match is playing in another hemisphere before he goes to work and our living room is often chilly in the early hours. He is also going skiing at the end of February, which meant I briefly considered this:

'Dashing through the snow...'

Before regaining my senses. Also, I doubt I’ll finish it in time for his holiday, but we’ll see.

He likes cables and textured stitches, but I think this might be overdoing it:

Sleeves big enough to store a cricket bat

The pattern that seems to tick the most boxes is Devon, however, it’s knit in a chunky yarn which might be a bit heavy, and if I knit it in the suggested Peruvia Quick it would cost £100. Plus, it’s worked in pieces and seamed, which I detest.

So, I’ve ordered some lovely aran yarn from New Lanark and it looks as though Elizabeth Zimmerman will save the day with her Seamless Hybrid. I have attempted to knit one before, which was not a total disaster, but not quite right either. However this time I will have the recipient close to hand for measuring and trying-on which I think is going to help a lot. Plus there’s the added bonus that he’s a maths whizz and can help me check my pattern calculations. I’m thinking it should be pretty easy to add a simple cable to the front (maybe off-centre, up one side?) but otherwise I’m going to try to keep it relatively uncomplicated. Watch this space and wish me luck…

Have you laughed in the face of the sweater curse? Or fallen foul of it? And what’s your favourite men’s pattern?

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Start of the Stash Bust

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Hoxton

I know you’re all dying to see evidence of my stash busting, and I feel I should prove that I’m trying to practice what I preach, so here’s a glimpse of my progress so far.

I started off with various bags of yarn like this:

Which were tipped into a pile like this:

Which had me hyperventilating. However, I gathered a few likely looking suspects:

And got busy with the ball winder:

Well, it’s a start, right?

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Monster Threads

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Hoxton

Ok, so this may not be knitted, but I reckon it’s the next best thing:

My new sweatshirt, and what you may not quite be able to see in this picture, is that the wolf is made up of lots of little printed knit stitches! It’s from Monster Threads who feature quirky designs from around the world on their t-shirts, sweaters and bags.

This design only comes in one size, which I’d say was a medium (I’m an 8-10 and it’s roomy but not ridiculously baggy on me, it’s also quite long in the body). But the t-shirts and hoodies come in a range of sizes.

Perfect attire for lounging on the sofa with my knitting over the weekend!

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New Year

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Hoxton
Knitting designers have been busy in the last few weeks it seems! So here's a quick round-up of a few patterns that have caught my eye.
The beautifully textured Cara by Gudrun Johnston.

The oh-so-cosy Top Down Biggo jumper from Amanda Lilley.

The stylish Friday Again sweater by Fallmasche.

And the sweet and stripey Manayunk cardigan by Kate Gagnon Osborn.

The hardest part is deciding which one to knit first…

5_medium 023-1_medium2 Cut53_medium2 Manayunk_cardigan_4_medium2
See the full gallery on Posterous

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Episode 88: Stash Bust 2012

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Hoxton
 

The Sheep returns as we revisit the stash, hopefully without too much of a bust-up, and a new plan for 2012. Plus there are fabulous new patterns from my favourite knitwear designer and my favourite yarn shop, and a terrible Crime Against Crochet…

Brooklyn Tweed – Wool People Vol.2

Juju’s Loops

Criminal Crochet

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Damson Gin

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Hoxton

My Mum knows me well – look what she had waiting for me under the Christmas tree:

This is homemade Damson Gin. I say homemade, it’s not homebrewed, but it has been infused with real damsons (and a lot of sugar) at home for several months, which means it’s utterly delicious. There are various recipes online for flavouring your own gin (or vodka) and it’s very easy to do. But if you simply can’t wait, I recommend purchasing a little Sloe Gin, which has a similar taste.

My other half has headed out for a poker game with the boys, so this is my plan for Friday night:

Maybe not that exciting to some, but pretty much perfect for a cold winter’s evening as far as I’m concerned…

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Disaster

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Hoxton

This is a post I started writing recently:

“I finished this cardigan at least a month ago, but I wanted to mention it on here because I’ve been living in it ever since.

PB131188This is partly down to the yarn, Quince & Co. Osprey, which is fantastically gorgeous stuff. Smooth, soft, lightweight, with excellent stitch definition and elasticity. It’s in a colourway called Petal; a very very pale peach which often looks more like a creamy natural shade.

PB131190The pattern is the popular Aidez, available for free, which I followed pretty much to the letter, though I adpated it for knitting seamlessly. The perfect cardigan to throw over almost anything, soft and cosy on a chilly day, it’s one of my all-time favourite knits.”

And now I am having to update it with sad and terrible news.

I have FELTED my Aidez cardigan.

wails with despair at own stupidity

I know, I know, how could I have done it? The knitting gods obviously decided it was high time they had a little fun with me, and then did it just as I was washing some of my most beloved knitwear. This is the first time I have ever ballsed up the washing of my handknits, despite a somewhat cavalier attitude. You see, I machine wash most of my knitting. Understand, I don’t just fling it in there with a handful of Daz, but I realise this is still considered madness by many knitters.

What usually happens is that I put a few things in on a cold handwash/wool cycle, at a low spin speed, with some Woolite, and everything always turns out fine. However, we have a relatively new washing machine, and whilst the wool cycle is fine, its default temperature setting is 30 degrees, which is stupid. And so, on this occasion, I forgot to manually change the temperature to a cold wash.

Now, it wasn’t a total disaster. My Aidez has felted, but most people probably won’t notice. The yarn has lost much of its elasticity, the fabric is stiffer and the stitches in the narrow cables on the front much less defined. It’s shrunk about an inch all over, mostly lengthwise, but the armsyce (which was already fairly narrow) is now tighter. So it’s still wearable, as long as it’s over a thin layer, but it’s not quite the perfect, luxury, go-with-everything cardigan it once was and it seems such a waste of an expensive yarn.

The other item that was in the same load was my Festive jumper. I know, I know! This also has pretty much survived. I’m amazed the Lanark wool didn’t felt completely, but it actually looks fine. However it has definitely shrunk. Again, this was a fitted jumper to begin with, so not ideal. Still wearable, but no longer the perfect fit. Then again, as a Christmas jumper, it’s use is more limited anyway, so I’ll try not to worry about it until December.

I’m just so annoyed at myself for making such a stupid mistake. And typical that it would happen with the two sweaters that I was most proud of and enjoyed wearing the most. Ah well, live and learn. And of course at least the beauty with knitwear is that, if it comes to the worst, you can always make it again.

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