Sunday 26 September 2010

Billie and Some Little Things

That was a long silence. I think a lot of it was down to the fact that I've mostly been working on Billie, which is very nice for me but not hugely interesting for a spectator. I just keep accumulating more and more pieces of greyish bluey green knitting.


When I finished the armhole shapings on the second front I realized that I'd misunderstood them and on checking I discovered that I'd misunderstood them on the first front too, in the same way. The armholes are followed by a huge section of hood so I decided to press on and leave them both wrong but not impossibly so, rather than re-do both of them. In addition to that, the sleeve caps don't seem to be very roomy, not as roomy as I would expect a jacket or cardigan to be, so this gives me quite a lot to worry about, although I test-sewed the first sleeve when I finished it and it s-e-e-m-e-d to be OK.

The cuffs on this are ribbed so I borrowed the sleeves from Georgie instead (the two are startlingly alike, apart from the yarn and the tension). The Georgie sleeves are rolled and have a join formed by casting off and picking up again, which I really like the look of. I'm on the second sleeve now, the last bit, so I'm alternating between looking forward to having it finished and dreading the possibility that either the bits won't fit together or that it won't fit me. I'll find out soon enough.

I've been really surprised by how I've kept going with this. I thought I didn't do that sort of knitting, that I needed to be kept amused. Although I did knit five Harry Potter sweaters some years ago, for the nephewlets and niecelet, and when one of them went in the drier (the largest one, of course) and shrank, I knitted another without complaint so I must have more endurance than I thought. The yarn has a lot to do with it, and with that in mind I've bought the latest Kim Hargreaves book, Touching Elegance. It has a lovely sweater called Isadora, made with Kid Classic.













I expect it would seat quite a lot, but that doesn't really matter with that ballon shape. I'm very tempted and there are some other nice things in the book. I'm very taken with Lois.

I finished another Looped Bracelet in the leftovers from the Beachy Blue Swallowtail. This knitted up much faster than the Koigu, within a day, but the result is a bit floppy.


I haven't finished the bunny I had started in my last post. I made one of these a few years ago, before I started the blog: it's Debbie Bliss's Small Rabbit with Sweater. It's a very clear pattern and there's enough going on that I don't get angry with the fiddly bits.

This one had two sweaters.


I always find with this sort of knitting that the first half takes an evening and the second part takes a week, but I've exceeded that this time. The bunny's done, but her sweater is nowhere near finished, and I want to knit her another sweater too so that she has a change. But Billie keeps seducing me away.

A special occasion sweater with two strands of Kidsilk Haze.


I finished the Blue Jeans Pinwheel with the pink border. I didn't block it, but I gave it a gentle wash and dry. I have to confess, I'm thinking of making one of these for me, without the pink.

And I made some wash cloths from the leftovers.

I expect Baby can't have too many wash cloths.

6 comments:

Mary Lou said...

I stopped making Rowan sweaters because they never fit me. You would think after two, I would learn, but it took three. Lois looks good and would be quick, if heavy to wear.

Susan said...

That "Lois" is tempting. it would be a great sweater for the office.

Mette said...

Can´t wait to see Billie. I imagine how you wrap it round you and enjoy a cafe Latte.

amy said...

hi its amy again--i follow your blog alll the time, although i have no idea how to knit/sew anything:: but i find your writings interesting--glad u r ok--i was worried about u with the looong silence:: i check every day for a new post.. :) what happened to your weather pixie, she doesnt come up anymore?? have a good day luv.. amy cntry3778@yahoo.com

Knitting Linguist said...

I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything works out with the sweater - I recognize the mixed feelings of that home stretch! The bunny is absolutely darling, you may convert me to toy knitting, something upon which I have yet to embark. Finally, I,too, have been wanting to make myself a pinwheel blanket for a while, it seems the perfect size for a winter lap blanket. That may, in fact, become my next meeting knitting project.

Donice said...

I am in a similar situation with a Fylingdales nearing completion; I think that blocking will make it work, my swatch tells me so, but I won't believe it unti it does or doesn't happen. Usually I would not say "Oh well, if it doesn't fit me it will fit someone", but I have enjoyed knitting it so much that I almost feel that way. Almost.