“Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well...”

“…I'll most likely kill you in the morning.” 

As expected, here is the other half of my special commission:

I think I forgot to mention in my last post - this pattern is Wedding Mice by Amanda Berry (Ravelry link here). Although I hate making fiddly little things Amanda Berry's patterns are very comprehensive - they walk you through line by line and include lots of pictures for reference. Unfortunately even with the best pattern I still have to rely on my wobbly finishing skills...

I still can’t look at either of them without seeing a million bits I dislike, but I have to bear in mind that people at the wedding will just look and go “aww isn’t that cute!” and then help themselves to food. No one will be looking as critically at these critters as I will.

Another annoying thing is that I’m pretty sure the real, human groom is wearing a blue suit and a green tie on the day, but I don’t have any wool that will work and I refuse to buy two new balls for such a tiny project which will be in use for just a few hours.

I love my friend, but I don’t love this project!

*Quote from William Goldman

"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart…”

“…it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude." 

Recently there was a topic on Ravelry which asked who the most knitworthy person in your life was. For those not in the know, a knitworthy person is someone who appreciates the work and time and love that goes into a knitted item and wears/uses said item with love and pride.

Not everyone is knitworthy, sadly. Some people view handmade items as tat, and would much prefer something shop-bought. That’s fine, everyone is entitled to their own preference, but it’s good to know these things so you don’t spend hours on something you think of as extra special but they think is a bit rubbish. Feelings get hurt that way – both sides in fact, as the knitter feels their work is undervalued, and the non-knitter feels they’re being given half-arsed presents.

The  most knitworthy person in my life is CB. He is an absolute star.

The first thing I knit was a scarf for him. It was lumpy, uneven, and had numerous holes and mistakes. I can’t look at it without cringing, but he dutifully wore it all winter and only retired it once I had knitted him a replacement. He’s still wearing the hat I made him, despite the enormous seam up the back!

He encourages me, he supports me, he listens to me babble on about problems or patterns. He dismisses any shame I might feel for spending money on yarn and knitting paraphernalia, and he proudly sits next me at social events where I’m sitting there knitting like an old lady.

But despite being my knight in knitted armour, I rarely knit for him. Other than those two scarves and one hat, all he’s received are promises of future knits.

I have the wool all ready for a pair of socks and a jumper, but people keep having babies or weddings etc., and I bump CB to the bottom of the list.

To be fair to me, it’s because those projects are time-sensitive whereas his projects aren’t, but the result is still the same. I’m neglecting my most knitworthy person.

I’ve decided to rectify this and have started knitting him some socks. These will have to be done at the same time as other knitting, but at least he’s being prioritised as much as anyone else.

*Quote from A.A. Milne

“Inconceivable!"

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” 

I mentioned a little while ago that I had been tasked with a very special commission. Well, I’m now half-way through that project and thought I’d let you in on the secret:

My beautiful friend is getting married soon and asked if I could make her some knitted mice to top a cheese cake being served (not the main wedding cake! Do not fear Philly-fans!).

Now we know I am not the best at the finishing touches on projects (remember Griff?) and you may have noticed that this is ALL ABOUT the tiny fiddly details and finishing touches.

But I think she looks okay!

Now on to the Groom…

*Quote from William Goldman

"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”

“…Don't let the bastards grind you down."

I finally finished my Peloponnese cardigan.

The pattern is by Sandi Rosner (Ravelry link here).

The wool I used is Paintbox Yarns Baby DK. I wouldn’t recommend it for a project like this as it’s not got great definition, but it’s blocked up nice and soft so I have fewer complaints than I thought I would.

I picked up more stitches for the edging than the pattern directed (as I normally end up with puckering if I stick to what the pattern says) but that has meant I have a slight ruffling effect. Not great but I don’t think you notice when you’re wearing it.

I also didn’t put buttons on it. I bought buttons, lovely tiny shiny ones, but I couldn’t face trying to line them all up on the riffly-ruffly bands. Plus I knew I would never button it up while wearing it. If it does stretch enough that I’d want to button it, I can always add them on later as the button holes are there.

One point of sadness – the first day I wore it out, no one mentioned it. I know that’s very immature of me – if I want to talk about it I should just raise the subject myself – but I can’t help it. I promise I’m not fishing for compliments, it’s just I only work with a small team who see me wear the same things over and over and who know I knit.

I think I just have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about my place here. I don’t feel like I fit in or that I’m ‘one of the team’ in the same way everyone else is, and the fact that no one notices or cares about me wearing what is obviously a handknit jumper…well it just confirms the apathy with which they view me!

Luckily I have got a new job (as has CB) so it will only be for a few months more. Then Peloponnese and I will show off to a whole other office (who will hopefully giver her the recognition she deserves!).

*Quote from Margaret Atwood

“The sun, -the bright sun, that brings back, not light alone, but new life, and hope, and freshness to man-”

“…burst upon the crowded city in clear and radiant glory.”

Oh my god, it’s been sunny lately. I had kissed goodbye to any hopes of warm weather ever arriving, thinking perhaps this was the price to be paid when living Oop North, but I was wrong – it is here!
So what do you do to celebrate? BBQ, obvs.

But also, you sit in the sunshine knitting a jumper.

Yeah, I got pretty sweaty. But you’ll notice the strong progress on Peloponnese – and I’m further along than that photo shows too! Squee!

I’ve also set myself a challenge of baking my way through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. It’s not a new idea, it’s been done successfully by others, but that doesn’t make it a less worthwhile ambition. It doesn’t make it any easier though either…

I’ve already made a few things, so I went through and ticked off previous bakes (shout out to the old faithful Fork Biscuits!) and have tried a couple of new things.

Gingerbread (which was lovely and only improved throughout the week!)

Eccles cakes (which were lovely but I had too much pastry on the bottom so it didn’t cook through properly. Good laminations though.)

Uncooked

Cooked!

I’ve also made some chocolate chip cookies and some cheesy biscuits, but for whatever reason I didn’t photograph them.

Next up I really want to make jam. It’s not in the Baking Bible, but I just have this craving to make it…

So will next week be a FO or pictures of jam?
Watch this space…


*Quote from Charles Dickens

“No colours any more…”

“…I want them to turn black.”

Mikael is done! 7 weeks before the due date as well, which is nice.

Also nice is that I have a whole ball of the black MillaMia merino leftover, and a little bit of the Putty Grey. No idea what I’ll make, but that’s beside the point.

As ever, I struggled with the joining. For some reason I am incapable of getting a professional looking finish when I join the different bits together. Still, practice makes perfect, right?

I took two attempts to make the front band. Originally I picked up the number of stitches as stated in the pattern, but it pulled at the fabric and made it bulge. I assume I didn’t meet the gauge, at least on row height, and had more rows than expected. In any case, I had a bit of a tantrum, ripped it out, and came back calmer the next day and just picked up every stitch. Much longer process (it was about double the amount of stitches it should have been!) but the result looks far better.

It did mean I had to wing the placement of the buttonholes. I think they went alright, could have been better on the top button, but nothing I’ll lose sleep over.

As this baby is being born to some Very Cool People (seriously) I added a couple of cute quirks – an odd top button, and some geography-teacher-chic elbow patches.

Along with the hat it’s a pretty dapper outfit, suitable for a boy or a girl I think.

*Quote from The Rolling Stones

“But that is another story…”

“…and shall be told another time.” 

Never fear, Philly-fans, despite having a fair few weeks without any knitted-related content, I have indeed been continuing to knit behind the scenes.

Unfortunately my Peloponnese (Ravelry link to pattern here) has taken a back seat yet again. I’ve knitted both sleeves and the body, but the yoke and finishing will have to wait a bit longer.

I’ve decided instead to focus on knitting the Mikael cardigan (Ravelry link to pattern here) for my friend’s baby.

© MillaMia 2009

I think I have enough wool to finish this, but I would also like to add pockets and/or elbow patches to up the adorability factor. I therefore wanted to give myself enough time to order new wool should it turn out I don’t have enough in my stash box.

As ever, the MillaMia wool is lovely. Springy, soft, good stitch definition. I will definitely choose this again for projects, it’s worth the slightly higher price tag. In fact I should clarify that it’s still very much an affordable wool as compared with other, luxury types, it’s just that I’m a cheapskate thrifty.

In other news, I have been commissioned to do super special project, which has shot up to the top of my to-knit list. No details as yet as the concept is still pretty woolly (I’m so sorry), but watch this space…

*Quote from Michael Ende