"Okay, campers, rise and shine and don't forget your booties..."

"...'cause it's cold out there today!"

Oh we are moving now!

As you know I’ve stated Navigate again (Ravelry link here), but this time I’m taking no chances. I’m reading the pattern a few times before knitting, I’ve reprinted the chart so it covers the entire jumper front, and I’ve colour-coded the cable instructions. It’s a large-scale operation now:

But (touch wood) it seems to be paying off. The knit makes sense to me. I can read my stiches quite well, and I seem to be staying in the right place on the chart.

And it’s looking fab:

I have concerns about the drape of the resulting fabric; I think the final jumper might be too thin and maybe too holey. But I’ll make my mind up on that once I finish the front. It might work in CB’s favour if it’s thin as he runs so hot usually and I know he’ll want to wear this as much as possible.
I think I’m going to knit the collar up an inch or two more, in the pattern photos the neckline seems to be a bit far down the shoulders which, although lovely, isn’t the look I’m going for.

I won’t lie, I’m not finding it easy. I have to concentrate quite hard and I worry about how to fix things if I do mess up. I worry my stitches are too loose or they’re inconsistent. This is a high profile and high pressure knit, and I really want to get it right.

Originally I thought I might be able to get this finished in a month or two, but I’m thinking it will be a long-term thing. I just don’t want to rush and make mistakes. I think I was right to keep it as a separate New Year Resolution!

I just hope it will be done in time to be worn come winter!

*Quote from Groundhog Day.

“And I've made up my mind…”

“…I ain't wasting no more time.”

Here we go again – welcome to 2019!

Let's look back on the resolutions I set myself in 2018

1. Read 26 books (one every fortnight).

Smashed it.

2. Knit myself a jumper.

Smashed it.

3. Knit CB a jumper.

Started it in August but found it too stressful and gave up. Have cast on again now so hoping to get this done early in the New Year (read: before April....maybe?).

4. Knit myself a pair of socks. 

Smashed it

5. Knit CB a pair of socks. 

URGGHH! This was infuriatingly difficult, I just had no motivation to pick them up. I did however have a day or so of dedicated knitting just before Christmas and so I can confirm I smashed this.

6. Remain the right size to fit into my wedding dress.

I should probably check this….I’m roughly the same size so I’m calling this a smasher.

7. Moisturise after showering.

Most times. Counting this as a smash.

Overall:

• I read 58 books 
• I watched 74 films 
• I knitted 16 items

Very happy I’ve trounced the book score – I do take a lot of enjoyment from reading, but it’s one of those things that I find surprisingly easy to fall out of habit doing. I’m keeping it as a resolution this year because of that reason.

Films are much of a muchness. I’d like to go to the cinema more regularly I think. It’s not the cheapest, but I really enjoy the experience.

Knitting is yet to find a state of equilibrium. I like to keep up with it, but my finger really needs a break! The skin is pretty hard and kind of swollen…

So, now we’re well and truly finished with 2018, let's have a think about what we want to achieve this year:

RESOLUTIONS

1. Read 52 books (one every week).
2. Bake the American Wedding Cake from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible.
3. Knit 12 items (incuding finishing CB’s jumper).
4. Go to the cinema 12 times (once a month). 
5. Generally take care of my skin and hair. 

*Quote from Whitesnake

"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves..."

"...and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

Finally finished my Viktoria cardigan!

This pattern (Ravelry Link here) is by MillaMia Sweden and it was a really quick and fun project.
I particularly liked that you knit the borders of the front while you knit the main panels, so it reduces the number of stiches you have to go back and pick up. The neck band was a little tricky, but if you read it carefully and think about it, it does make sense.

I did run out of the cream wool I was using though. I could have bought more, but as the whoel point of doing this was to use up stash wool I really didn't want to ultimately be in the same position I was when I started.

Instead I used another ball of creamy wool I had lying around. MISTAKE.

The new wool is horrid. Very plasticky feeling and an odd drape. I also had a clear delineation between the two. Now, for the record, I know I should have just ripped it out, bought more of the original wool, and re-knit. But I didn't. Instead, I knitted a little pocket to disguise the mis-match. I mean...it's a jumper for a newborn.It will be outgrown in the blink of an eye.

The pocket looks quite sweet I think. It takes attention away from the yarn change, which is what I wanted it to do. It was more work than just buying new wool though and if I could do it all again, I'd probably just buy more wool. But at the same time I have no regrets.

Anyway... to go along with this bad boy I swiftly crafted a little hat to go with it:

This pattern is called Sea Monkey Baby Hat (Ravelry link here) by Kelly McClure and I think it's adorable. I knitted it flat, then grafted the top so it would be seamless, though I seamed the back (it lays pretty flat though).

I think I gave it too much height, or maybe I didn't make the ears big enough? Either way, again I remind myself that baby will outgrow this faster than the time it took to knit it. And it was a very quick knit!

*Quote from Antoine de Saint Exupéry

"Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot..."

"...Them heavy people help me."

A terrible thing happened.

I was a happy little thing knitting some mittens for CB, when I open my bag one morning and see that my project has gone from this:

to this:

My needles have snapped and half the stitches fallen off. Not even gonna bother watermarking that one. Luckily I still have these guys to get along with!

Happy Knitmas everyone!

*Quote from Kate Bush

"I would rather dance as a ballerina, though faultily..."

"...than as a flawless clown."

They’re done. They’re finally finished. They need to be blocked, but I’m counting them as done.
And they’re beautiful. There is a slight hole where the neckline joins the neckband, but I think blocking will smooth that, and it’s really not noticeable unless you’re me.

I feel such relief getting these done. It was quite a stressful build up. I have other things to finish/start and finish before Christmas comes, but I feel as though the lion’s share is done now. My mountain has been climbed. My fingers can regrow the skin around the knuckle without fear of being immediately rubbed away again.

I love how the cables meet at the joins, and although you’d never notice it, I love how the increases on the sleeves look running along the bottom of the arms.

I take my hat off to knitting designers. A lot of time and effort go into designing these little details and you wonder if half of them go without being noticed. Plus it would be very easy for me to go wrong and mess it up, either in the knitting or in the joining.

I really enjoyed making these (other than the deadline stress). I like the pattern and I like the wool. The pattern is interesting enough to keep you going, but simple enough that you can commit it to memory and knit away happily. The finished jumpers are lovely and soft, but they have some heft and mass to them. Lovely cuddly squidgy things.

I would definitely knit more of these in the future – depending on how these two wear. I’ve heard that they can stretch quite a lot sideways so we’ll see.

*Quote from Margaret Atwood.

“Examine for a moment an ordinary mind…”

“…on an ordinary day.”

I’m currently writing this with four projects still on the needles. I am hoping to get them all finished by the 
middle of December (the only trouble I think I will have is summoning the willpower to continue those socks for CB) and I can’t help but think of my next lot of projects.

Obviously I still owe CB a jumper. I have a lovely pattern for it (Navigate - Ravelry link here) and some lovely wool (Cascade Yarns Heritage in navy). This will be the next thing I cast on.

It would also be a snip to knit up a couple of baby hats. That will allow me to give the most recent new mothers in my life a little gift, but not mean I am once again putting off Navigate. I should also be able to use up some of my stash on them, which is always a nice feeling. 

But then what?

My queue will then be empty. A bizarre occurrence. Obviously I have plenty of patterns in my favourites, but I have to actually decide what to make. And buy some wool.

The only reason I feel I should make this decision now is because I can buy the wool for the next few projects at a reduced cost in Black Friday sales…but it seems a little premature. It feels disrespectful to the projects I need to finish (and start!) first. 

So what’s on the long-list at the moment? Too many similar things!

Not including Navigate or two baby hats, I have 39 faves:

• 17 jumpers
• 6 cowls/scarves
• 2 things for CB
• 6 knitspo
• 4 baby things
• 3 tops
• 1 hat

From those numbers I’m think I should knit a jumper and a cowl. 

And always something for CB. Even if it never gets made...

*Quote from Virginia Woolf

"You can catch more flies with a drop of honey..."

"...than with a barrel of vinegar."

I don't think I ever posted about the Honey Cowl I was knitting for CB (blogged about here).

Well I did finish on time, casting off literally minutes before going to meet him from the station after work, before we flew to America the next day.

As you can see, it turned out really well. I have messed up a few lines so the pattern sort of flips on itself, but honestly you don't notice it unless you really look up close and hunt for it you can see it in the picture below actually). And even then it doesn't look bad, just a design feature.

The texture is really nice too:

As is the drape of the resulting fabric. I did run out of the Rowan Summerlite DK I was using (colour is Ocean if you're interested) when I was casting off, so we do have a darker wool right at the very end. This is hidden, however, as the edges curl in on themselves. Can you tell how smug I am for getting away with this?

It was a nice little pattern and the wool is lovely to work with. And as CB has worn it every day to work since flying back from the States, I call this a success!

*Quote from an old proverb.