finished knitting

Two finished projects in one weekend, the 'sox on two stix' in alpine pearl malabrigo, and the v&a birthday card inspired 'romantic style' bag.

I'm so pleased with the bag, even though the stitches do pucker ever so slightly round the intarsia (or is it fair isle?). The grey wool is so soft and supple, and the malabrigo so exactly the right shade of blue I wanted. I used 4mm needles for the whole thing to accommodate both wools. I'll finish it off with a pleated lining in this liberty fabric so it's roomy inside.

I knitted up the socks on a whim, my slipper socks are wearing through and its distinctly autumn now. I used Knitty's 'sox on two stix' method, but made them ankle socks with a standard k2 p2 rib, just cos' that's the way I like to wear them, and even though the wool is plenty soft I find some cotton ankle socks worn underneath is good too. I used 4.5mm needles throughout, left out the suggested thread for heels and toes, then seamed with mattress stitch. I'm not too sure about the graphic look from the way the wool is dyed, but then the colours are nice aren't they? btw, a good way to knit quickly without trying is to put on a tense film like 'master and commander - far side of the world', anyway its a good film.

I'm knitting this weekend...

...Knitty's 'sox on two sticks' in alpine pearl malabrigo.

My latest knitting book!

It smells totally of new bookishness. yum.

Jean Greenhowe Dolls

The v&a birthday bag is winding up, I've blocked, mattress-stitched, and knitted handles, and once the handles are sewn in all that's left is the lining, which means learning how to use my sewing machine properly I guess.



My new project is a Jean Greenhowe knitted doll. The plan is to make the basic doll, with knitted underwear for modesty, and then to knit a range of dresses inspired by the topsy-turvy doll dress designs, and my favourite period dramas. First up is the green dress Molly Gibson wears in 'wives and daughters'. The dress has been made, and half the pantalets, I need peach and white wool to make the actual doll, and then I'll make a set of accessories to characterise the doll, in Jean Greenhowe style. The current 'molly gibson list' is;

bonnet with ribbon ties
gardening apron
science book
poetry book
(and if I can manage it) map of Africa

Then as an alternative dress I might make the white ball-gown she appears in towards the end of the series, with white flowers for the hair, fan and puffed sleeves. Of course 'molly' will have dark brown hair. My grandmother used to make these dolls all the time for me and my cousins, I have the Cinderella topsy turvy doll, and my sister has the red-riding-hood and old mother Hubbard topsy turvy doll.

the v&a birthday card bag

This weekend I've been working on the grey bag from 'romantic style' with an intarsia candlestick design copied from a v&a birthday card. I worked out a pattern to fit the dimensions of the bag, 40 stitches across and 51 stitches top to bottom, the drawing above shows two different 'sides' and I decided to go with the right hand side stick on both sides. I knit the grey body of the bag in ryc baby alpaca dk, and the intarsia in the malabrigo, on 4mm needles. To get the contrast I skipped the light blue bits of malabrigo and just used the dark blue, which has lots of variation in shade. Its made the back rather messy, and the front is a bit bumpy, but some blocking and lining fabric should hide this.

On some of the lighter blue shades I've gone over it in darker wool with needle and thread to make the silhouette shape clearer, including the middle flame. I'm now knitting the plain back, and then the handles. I might knit one long handle to go from side to side rather than two small handles on each side, in garter stitch as in the pattern.

malabrigo

On the needles right now is the 'architect's scarf' from 'greetings from knit cafe' in gorgeous 'black forest' malabrigo, fresh from the amazing Get Knitted store in Bristol. Its a real treat to find such a big, airy, inviting, fresh and well-stocked knitting shop. I like their comfy sofas.

I bought two hanks of malabrigo in green and purple 'black forest' for the scarf for my homely hero (it'll take till october to finish it), blue 'alpine pearl' malabrigo and grey RYC baby alpaca dk for the 'romantic style' bag, and a hank of brown, red, gold and green 'loro barranquero' malabrigo for my stash.

a blanket and cranford

On the needles right now is the huge triangle shawl from 'Greetings from Knit Cafe' and has been since christmas. I'm doing it in 4ply wool so its taking a bit longer - I'm only a third of the way through and counting 200 stitches a row. But 'sheepish' cream coloured wool is too good to resist, it's gorgeously variegated, its 'oh so soft', and at £2.50 a ball its a bargain. I'm on my 3rd ball and have five more, and the wool store that sells them is over 200 miles away so it might be 'big' rather than 'huge'. I think I'll leave off the fringe though, and add a small fabric label near the apex on the inside, using some grey fabric with navy flowers on it.

I think the book is really fresh and has lots of realistic designs in it, I've already done the computer keyboard cover in red, and the socks, scarf and sweater are very tempting. I've already attempted the 'classic sweater for guys' and come foul of gauge problems, but with the right wool (big wool) I'll be having another go.

Huzzay for the new bbc mini-series this autumn - the cranford chronicles. I really love that both the 'miss brownings' actresses from wives and daughters will be in it, and of course michael gambon who played 'squire hamley'.

http://www.knitcafe.com/index.html

http://cranfordchronicles.com/

drink of the week: non-alcholic mojitos ~ lime and mint thirst-quenching heaven