What do you call half an Outfit-Along?

Seriously. I don't know!

I really wanted to take part in the recent OAL hosted by Lauren of lladybird and Andi Satterlund of untangling knots. But did I really want to make a dress/skirt/top that would fit me for all of half an hour before little baby moo puts in an appearance? Waste all that lovely fabric? I think not!

So instead I just did the knitting part. Except I still didn't finish that on time for the deadline, ha ha!

I made the official OAL pattern, Andi's Myrna cardi, which I had been stalking a bit anyway. So when she did an offer for 20% off at the start of the OAL I just couldn't resist. It's so damn cute!

I used cascade 220 superwash yarn which was fab to work with, really soft and squishy and the resulting fabric is lovely to wear too.

It took me 13 days to knit in total, working on it every day. Well, I am a "lady of leisure" at the moment while I'm on leave waiting for the baby to arrive (hurry up now please!). If I'd still been at work I think it would have taken me at least double that...

I made couple of changes, the main being lengthening the cardi as I don't think anything cropped that finishes just below my current ample bosoms would be that flattering! I also did all the ribbing in a contrast colour - but that was because I ran out of the brown wool. Actually I'm rather pleased with the two colour variation, I wasn't sure it would work but it looks fine.

The best bit (I think) is the keyhole at the back of the cardi - which I also edged in the peach colour to give it that extra little pop.

I still haven't put any buttons on (I don't have enough that match) but at the moment I won't be buttoning it up anyway - it won't do up over the bump! But I do know that the fit should be perfect after I get back to my pre-preggers state. Ravelry notes here, including details of my cock-up.

I don't suppose a shop-bought dress that matches is allowed...?

So yeah, that's it. Thanks to both Lauren and Andi - I hear there will be a knit-along this autumn and then anther OAL is planned for next summer - I am so there!

Owls knitalong: knitting in the round with DPNs

So I've finished the body section of the owls jumper and am just starting the sleeves using double pointed needles.

Front and back divided

When I first heard of DPNs I was quite scared of them. But after knitting my Miette cardi sleeves on them,  the fear factor was removed so I'm not sure I'll bother to learn the newer alternative Magic Loop method. Anyway, just wanted to share my experience and a great resource for those of you who are thinking of taking the plunge...

When I did my Miette sleeves, I was working top down and just had to transfer the top part of the sleeves from a circular needle to DPNs which was very straightforward. This time, however, the owls is worked bottom up and the sleeves are knitted separately and then joined and grafted onto the body. So there was a lot of head scratching (and maybe a bit of swearing...) when I tried to work out how on earth to cast on to DPNs. Luckily YouTube came to the rescue and I remembered this video from Gail that is excellent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13W0z2FK-Zw

Transferring the cast on stitches between DPNs

Basically I followed her advice and cast all the stitches onto one DPN then just slipped them onto the other needles to distribute evenly. I feel a little bit cackhanded knitting with three needles rather than one circular but it really is quite simple when you get going.

Here is also another video that shows just the casting on method in a little bit more detail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcb9kR_7yT0

The start of my sleeves

Seriously, though, Gail's video is everything you ever need to know about knitting on DPNs, I'm not even going to try and show you myself as there is no point when a master can show you so clearly...

What it looks like side on

Go and watch it then you're ready to conquer the world of DPNs!

Oh yes, just one more little thing -  I was gobsmacked to discover that I now have 100 followers on Bloglovin' - so I'll leave you with this:

and this:

Owls knitalong - knitting in the round with circular needles

Hello all! I'm so excited to say that the owls jumper KAL is underway! It's being led by Kat and myself and we have four other lovely ladies joining us. If you are not in the least interested in knitting then switch off now!

The pattern is owls by Kate Davies:

Beautiful isn't she?

I have to confess I'm a bit late with this post - I'm already a little bit behind everyone else as  I had to wait for my yarn to arrive so I'm not sure my contribution is even needed! But I thought some links would be useful.

I spent a large part of Sunday gone making gauge/tension swatches and trying to work out what size jumper to knit. The recommended gauge is 13 st x 20 rows over a 4" square. Now the recommended yarn is a bulky one and I've gone for Cascade Eco+ which claims it's bulky but actually I think it's more a heavy worsted/Aran (ie thinner). My gauge using 6mm needles was 15.5 st over 4" (working out to 3.875 st per inch). If I had got the correct gauge, I would have knitted the size 2 jumper as written in the pattern, but alas it always seems more complicated than that! Using Gail's amazing Miette KAL posts I did some maths to work out how many stitches my gauge would give me for my desired bust measurement and compared it to the owls pattern. To do this I took my desired bust size (32" when taking into account the 1-2" negative ease) and multiplied that by the number of st per inch that I got from my gauge. I came up with 124 which is only 2 st away from the 126 st mentioned for the size 4 jumper. Therefore if I knit the size 4, it should give me a finished result of a size 2 jumper....

The colour is cinnamon, a lovely rust
colour in real life, not as bright orange
as it appears here

Everyone with me so far? Let's just hope I've worked it out correctly!

Anyway, back to my take on knitting in the round. It's actually very simple once you get the hang of it. I've used the long tail cast on method, just because I find it neater than the knitted on method. Here's a link to how to do it:

www.knittinghelp.com/video/play/long-tail-cast-on

Once you have cast on, make sure all the stitches are even distributed around the needle and not twisted. The loops should be on the outside edge of the needle and the cast on edge should be in the middle, like you see in my photo:

Sorry, it's a little more blurred than I thought...

One thing to mention is that circular needles come in a whole variety of lengths (as well as the standard needle sizes) and ideally you need to pick one that is shorter than the circumference you want to end up with. This is because otherwise the stitches won't be evenly distributed along the needle and the whole thing will end up stretching and becoming misshapen.

To join in the round, you pick up your needles so that the needle with the tails of the yarn is in your right hand, put a place marker at the end of the needle then pick up and knit the first stitch on the left hand needle. For the first couple of stitches I used both tails of the yarn to knit with and then dropped one to carry on knitting with the working yarn (which is the yarn attached to the ball). I knit in the English method but if you work continental, you may use the opposite hands for all of this!

I've added links to a couple of videos which should show things more clearly than my garbled explanation and also some still photos if you prefer that to videos.

www.blog.tincanknits.com/2013/08/17/casting-on-to-circulars/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0avXwdPJBW8

https://www.stitchdiva.com/tutorials/knitting/on-circular-needles

Once you've joined the two ends, it's as simple as knitting round and round and round and round.... you get the picture! If you want to do stocking stitch, you just knit all the time, there's no purling at all which makes it so much easier. Every time you come to your place marker (PM), you can think of that as the end/beginning of a row (although in reality, you are knitting a spiral and instead of calling it a "row", you call it a "round"). The best bit about it is that you end up with a seamless tube that you don't have to sew/seam together. Simples!

So, that's my mini guide to knitting on circular needles - written as a relative beginner so forgive any glaring mistakes please!

Right, let's get knitting!

Finally I've made something - my Miette cardigan

This post has been a long time coming... It's been nearly three months since I last blogged! 

It's not because I haven't bothered to make anything. It's because I've not been up to making much recently due to feeling unwell.

I started knitting the Miette cardigan back in October with a deadline for the New Year, but alas I had to stop working on it for two months over winter as it was taking all my strength just to go to work and back. Most nights I was fast asleep on the sofa by 7 o' clock!

Luckily I started feeling a bit better a couple of weeks ago so I finally have a finished garment to show. And I am so chuffed with it - my first, proper knitted garment!

I made a few modifications with the help of Gail from gksagenda - without her, I don't think I'd have even got past the first few rows so a big, fat THANK YOU!! And thanks also to Jo from makingitwell for the inspiration and tips!

- I moved the bust darts to the side seams (I'm very glad I did this as I think it may have looked a bit weird worn unbuttoned with the "bust cups" on show!)

- I lengthened the body and the sleeves a little (I wish I'd made the sleeves longer; even tho I tried it on as I went along and thought they were full length, they've turned out to be three quarter length)

- I did plain 2x2 rib rather than the twisted rib in the pattern

I learnt so much new stuff doing this - new stitches, how to make buttonholes, how to make changes by calculating the differences between what the pattern recommends for gauge and what I actually knit, how to use DPNs (double pointed needles), how to steam block and lots of other new techniques.

Talking of buttonholes, I made them just as told only to find that the cardi doesn't actually do up as it's a teeeeny bit tight across the bust. Oops! So I only put the top button on. To be honest, it doesn't matter a jot as I never wear cardis done up anyway.

I love this cardigan, it's great for wearing with dresses and skirts and very comfy. I think I will almost certainly be making another one in a different colour! Oh yes, the yarn is Kirkton House aran weight, funnily enough from Aldi of all places!!

Right now I'm making myself a new hot water bottle cover (my current one is a bit holey) while I wait for some yarn to arrive. Kat and I are going to do a little knitalong together next month using the awesome o w l s jumper pattern from Kate Davies. If anyone else fancies joining in, let us know!

At some point I will do some sewing too but I'm easing myself back into crafting with knitting at the mo... I have some plans which I will share over the coming months!

Itty bitty kitty booties

My friend's baby came early. By about 3 and a half weeks. I hadn't even started knitting the booties that I had planned, thinking I had loads of time, the baby was bound to be late, right?, seeing as it was her first... How wrong I was! So I had to rush. And I made mistakes and had to start again. And again.

The pattern is a freebie on Ravelry and lots of people have made it already. Everyone said theirs turned out way smaller than they thought - as in too small for a baby and only just big enough for dolls! So for my first attempt, a practice run, I tried bigger needles and Aran weight yarn. I only did a few rows and thought, "this looks great, I'll start the proper ones now". Or, as the case may be, I didn't think...

I used a lovely green tweedy yarn with flecks of pink. Gorgeous. And 5.5mm needles. No, I don't know why either - I'm a newbie, I wasn't thinking! I got two thirds of the way through knitting the first boot and realised it would end up being big enough for a two year old! I had to frog...

For the final attempt, I switched to 4mm needles and the result is so much better. The buttons are my favourite bit - tiny, little, pink kitty faces that perfectly match the pink flecks in the yarn. They were only 15p each from the rag market!

How cute are they? I'll definitely be making more, they're perfect for new baby gifts.

Now to get back to my cardi...

Knitter's paradise

Simple boot toppers - chunky

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of wool

I take a look at my life and realise it's so full

Cos I been sewin' and quiltin' so long

That even my hubby thinks that my mind has gone

Baby booties for my friend's newborn

But I ain't never crossed a yarn that didn't deserve it
A newbie like me, it's all about the 'crylic

I better watch how I'm slippin' and how I'm purlin'

And get myself used to those blasted DPNs

Oats cowl for me in Merino wool

I really hate to tink but I gotta, yo

As it unravels I see myself goin' with the flow, fool

It's the kind of K all the crafters wanna do, like

With my circs in my hand try-na knit in the moonlight...

Gauge swatch for Miette cardi

This knitting lark is pretty addictive (and there's some sewing too)

My knitting is coming on in leaps and bounds! I've finished my first ever in-the-round make! Here's the Oats cowl, pattern courtesy of Tin Can Knits.

 

It was my first foray into circular knitting and I must say I'm hooked! I found some Addi bamboo circular needles at Yarnsmith for a very reasonable price and got the yarn (aran weight, a mixture of acrylic and wool) from a local (very friendly) wool shop called Christine's in Bournville. It's really soft!

The cowl is for my sister as a birthday present - which isn't till December so shhh!

Oh and guess what? I had a day off today so I actually got my sewing machine out and started the beginnings of a dress! Reckon it's going to be slow going as I'll only be able to work on it in dribs and drabs but even still, I feel like I have my sewjo back...

AWOL and a knitted headband

Hi all, just a very quick check in. It's been a bit quiet on here recently mainly because we're going through a bit of a stressful time at the moment with a family illness so I haven't been in the mood for sewing or blogging. I'm not sure when things will settle down so I may be away from here for a while.

Although my sewing machine hasn't seen the light of day for ages, I haven't been entirely craftless as I have been knitting instead. It's relaxing and therapeutic and very portable which is great seeing as we've been up and down the country a fair bit due to the family situation.

I made a knitted headband a good few weeks ago which is atrocious quality (I misread the instructions, oops!) but it will do to keep hair out of my fringe when I'm running...

And I've made a really good start on the Wheat scarf, the first of the learn-to-knit series of patterns called The Simple Collection from Tin Can Knits. The photo below was taken about two weeks back and I've done a load more since then - I'm about three quarters of the way through in fact!

So hopefully things will be returning to normal fairly soon but in the meantime I'll be abandoning the blog for a little while. I'll still be putting wip photos on Instagram and Ravelry (miniandmerky on both) no doubt so keep in touch!

I can knit!

I can now say I've knitted an actual, usable thing!

Yes, it took me nearly three whole months and yes it's full of mistakes but it's still wearable. I present to you (...drumroll...) my wrist warmers!

 

I started these back in June when I took a beginners workshop at Guthrie & Ghani and continued little by little, adding a row or two at a time. I even took it on holiday with me!

The yarn is Rico Design Fashion Garzato Super Chunky knitted on 9mm bamboo needles. The finished wrist warmers are so soft and cosy! You can see the mistakes and also where I went a bit wonky but I reckon they'll be great for autumn when I don't need full blown gloves or mittens but my hands feel a bit nippy.

I'm really pleased with them and am planning some more soon. I've started my next project (an easy knitted headband) and it's sloooooow progress but I'm carrying on as I want to get good! You can see what I'm up to on Ravelry (I'm miniandmerky). I'm also going to be following along with the learn-to-knit Tin Can Knits Simple Collection series...Wish me luck!

Miles and miles of bloody Africa...

Dofu

First of all, thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post and sorry I haven't responded to anyone else's posts for the last two weeks. You see, I've been on holiday - on safari to Kenya!

And it was bloody brilliant!

Simba

I took mainly me-made items to wear for the entire trip. In the few weeks before we went I scrambled around making loads of lightweight summer tops to wear with shorts in the daytime and I took a handful of dresses for the evenings.

But guess what? I was so captivated by the scenery and animals that I only got ONE photo of me wearing anything me-made. Yes, one measly photo, that isn't very good...you can't even see the wildebeest in the background!

T shirt made with leftover
butterfly fabric

Anyway, despite the lack of sewing-related photos, I had a fantastic time. We went to a fair few different game parks and nature reserves all over Kenya and got to see loads of animals and birds. The game drives were awesome!

Elephant train

I don't have the "official" photos yet (we had one proper camera between all of us) so here are just a selection of some that I took with my iPhone camera. We were lucky enough to see all of the Big Five (elephant, lion, buffalo, rhino and even the elusive leopard!)

The Great Rift Valley

Sausage tree

One of the highlights was getting stuck out in the bush in the middle of a game drive, in the middle of nowhere! We had to get out of our minibus and help dig out the sand from under the van then push with all our might to get it going again. It was exhilarating, especially knowing that there were wild animals that could attack us at any moment!

Mr Sabs making himself useful

And here's a photo to prove that I did take some crafting with me. 

Practicing my knitting beside the pool

I'm now going to spend the long but enjoyable task of reading through all the blog posts that I've missed while I've been away. Enjoy the sunshine everyone!

**Edited to add**

I forgot - I bought some fabric in Nairobi! I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't the huge amount of fabric that I was expecting in the markets but I liked the bright blue of this one. It's not wax fabric but printed cotton and I'm thinking it will make a nice dress with a border hem...

Re{sew}lutions DONE!

At the end of last year I made three resolutions. I later added an extra one for Karen's jar (finishing all my seams). I've been steadfastly sticking to my plan. So far, so good. But there was one that I hadn't really addressed...

Well, I can officially say that last Thursday I ticked off the final one - I learnt how to knit!

I persuaded my friend Tian (who is my brother-in-law's girlfriend) to come along to a beginner's workshop held by none other than Lauren of the Sewing Bee at her store, Guthrie & Ghani. There were five of us so it meant we got loads of one-on-one teaching and could take it at a really slow pace. Which was perfect as we all got a bit confused at one point or another!

I had actually been taught how to knit before, years ago when I was very little by my aunt. But I hadn't kept up with it and reading through the knitting book I got for Christmas just left me feeling clueless. It all started coming back to me though once Lauren went through it. Her method was great - she made us stand behind her and copy exactly what she was doing so that we could get all the hand and wrist movements. Then it was practice practice practice!

Look at all that yarn in the background!

We learnt all the basics - how to cast on, the knit and purl stitches, casting off and seaming. The aim was to make chunky wrist warmers so we utilised what we learnt to do some ribbing and stocking stitch. (Get me, all down with the terminology!) All this while drinking tea and dunking biscuits. Although not too much chatting as we were way too busy concentrating on getting our moves correct!

Oh, by the way, I gave up a works night out to go to this, much to the amusement of my junior doctors, who told me I was turning into a boring granny. Whatever!

Here's what I did during the evening. Yes, it took me three hours, but look! I'm knitting! I can't tell you how excited that makes me. If you look closely you'll see that I put some, ahem, extra design features into the ribbing. It was deliberate, that's all I'm saying.

And we all got to take home our chunky bamboo needles and yarn so that we could finish off our wrist warmers at our leisure. I tell you, if you take into account the whopping ma-hoo-sive needles, the ball of Italian wool and three hours worth of teaching, £30 is a bargain! I know a lot of sewists already knit but I would urge anybody who doesn't but who is thinking about it to go along to Lauren's class, it's well worth it. I'm planning on taking everything with me when I go on safari later this year to keep me busy when we're travelling between the different camps. Not, I hasten to add, while I'm out on the game drives, I'm not crazy, people!

Talking of safaris, I bought a satchel to take with me. My hubby said he wanted a new messenger bag as his canvas one was on its last legs so I couldn't pass up the opportunity either! I've always wanted a leather satchel and I've been looking at all the lovely ones on t'interweb - but as much as I loved their shiny looks, they looked a bit new and I wanted old school. So when I discovered Scaramanga, I knew that was it! I bought the mini wide satchel (they have loads of different styles and sizes). It has a distressed leather finish which makes it look a bit battered, as if I've owned it for years. A vintage look, shall we say. It's fabulously made with lots of pockets and a nice green canvas lining (my hubby's lining is a brilliant bright turquoise!) They're not made in the UK, which is a bit of a shame, but I suppose for me it's the next best thing, India, as that's where my ancestry hails from. The only frustrating thing is that Mr Sabs has banned me from using it until the safari. Gutted. I'm already thinking I may have to buy one of their smaller satchels to use as a handbag!

I'll leave you with a completely unrelated photo of Mini trying to get my attention from our apple tree. The little rascal.

Ps just to let you know, I wasn't approached by or have any affiliations with Scaramanga, in case anyone thought I was asked to write a review or something, I just love my new satchel!