Watching Britain Knits

Do you like watching documentary programmes? In this household, we do. I am not sure where I get this penchant, because my parents would skip documentaries and watch soap instead. I am glad I don’t share telly with them anymore.

We watch documentaries of any kind. History, war history, pre-history, architecture, art, science… sometimes even nature. My husband likes nature documentary better than I do. I like it when it is related to human, and human body… not so much when they’re talking about critters. It gave me uneasy feeling.

So, I was excited when I recorded this particular documentary from BBC. Fabric Of Britain — The Golden Age of Knitting. Seriously… watching it wearing handmade knitted dress, while finishing up an FO… so much satisfaction.

However, I enjoyed it not because I am a knitter — although it did give me a smugness feeling when watching it. It was a great programme in itself. Even husband watching it with me, could not move from the sofa — partly because I was leaning on his arm too.

I think you can still access the documentary through BBC iPlayer. I am not sure if you can access it if you are not in the UK, though. Yeah… That’s the other thing that annoys me too when I am on holiday in Indonesia, and wanting to access BBC telly programme, and couldn’t.

Aanyway… back to my own golden age of knitting… This time, I did not forget to sew the buttons on. Ha!

x ❤ x

P.S.  Hubby commented during the documentary, that knitting is quintessentially British. Well… then, I am ready to take the citizenship test anytime.

While Blocking…

This pattern doesn’t have blocking instruction, but I think I could do with one just to loosen it up and see its shape before attaching buttons. Don’t know if that’s the correct way to do it…

Oh… the Tubular Bind Off is fab! After awhile, I don’t need to keep referring to the youtube video to make sure I was doing the correct move, and it became quite easy to do. The result was a smooth ridgeless, seamless edge. Love it very much, and I think it works wonderfully with k1p1 ribbing.

While waiting for the blocking to finish, I continue on my other WIP.

Remember this cute one I started as a project on the go, when I went to Edinburgh not so long time ago? I tried it, and I have to say that it does not feel too snug, although I am pretty sure that the size is slightly smaller than what was mentioned in the pattern.

Few more triangles, and I will have another FO! Yay for the productive Piggy!

x ❤ x

Which One is Better?

It is always great when you have an FO, especially during weekends. It does make you feel like you have achieved something while doing nothing.

Previous FOs waiting for buttons

Unfortunately the buttons I have been waiting for haven’t arrived yet. So now I end up with three very cute lacy baby cardigans, without buttons 😦 Oh well… not much I can do about it. I’ve been thinking of doing something else after this, at least until the buttons have arrived.

Talking about FOs… I do really like the white cardigan. I think I like it more than the yellow one. What do you think? Which one is better?

Steady On!

I quite like it when the project just goes smoothly. Which means no frogging, nor pretending not to notice that I have accidentally skipped one yarn over in row 14 — or trying to convince myself that every tiny mistakes in handmade stuff is what makes it unique. Yes… that defines a good day for me.

In those kind of day, I would end up with FO, or at least something that resembles an FO.

I would love to call this an FO, mainly because I have done all the important things. I have knitted all the pieces, and sewn them all together. I have tidied up the loose dangling yarn, and it actually look finished for me. Problem is…

It doesn’t have buttons too!

I have ordered buttons for the previous almost-FO, but the buttons haven’t arrived yet. Now, I have two almost-FOs, waiting to be buttoned up. Of course, I am not going to let the buttons situation ruins my day… I don’t think you would let that either. Instead… I am starting another WIP…

Don’t you think this heart lace pattern looks good with white wool?

x ❤ x

 

One Last Spurt…

Anyway… Last weekend was really stressful as it is getting closer and closer to the appointment for my visa application. I think it is helpful to have something to do during the weekend. Much better than letting the mind wander to somewhere murky and scary. Pink*)… is how you do it…

I finished the main part quite easily. Like I said, with st st, it is hard to screw up. The difficult part is the crochet bit. I had to frog 3-4 times before getting it right.

First mistake I made was the stitches to pick. The pattern said that I had to pick the stitches from the back (wrong side), and I was not used to do it so it was really slow first attempt. Then, it is about finding the correct tension as crochet and knitting has different gauge. In the end I found out that picking two for every three rows with smaller hook is the best way to get it right.

Now… there you go…

I don’t have buttons yet. I will let my mum choose it later. Mum has her own garment factory in Indonesia, so she has better and larger selection of buttons than I do. She could do it better than me. So… I am done with this for now 🙂

x ❤ x

*)PS. I love doing this jacket while listening to Pink by Aerosmith. Ah… Bliss…

Love It!!

It does look really pretty… I wonder if I could do it with different colour, and different motifs next time. It is very easy and quick to make, but definitely not boring at all. I wish I have more nieces, so I can make more of these.

I showed it to mum, and she said it would be nice to be worn by my niece when she is being christened later. I hope she is not growing up so fast that the cardigan would not be big enough for her to wear at that time.

Anyway… Since I am still on fire, I think I should use this opportunity to make more knitting stuff…

New WIP next is going to be a hat. It is going to be small and quick, because I need two of these to be done before Christmas. I will send this to my friend in the Netherlands. Anyway, does anyone know how, and how much it is to send a package to the Netherlands, from the UK? Is Royal Mail the cheapest option? And how safe it is to send packages there?

x ❤ x

Weekend Push, and an FO

I am not sure why it is called “Weekend Push”. I mean, it is a weekend.

Like every weekend, it is so easy for me to be lost in the project. It seems that I don’t need to really push anything to get a project going. Like the repairing project I’ve been doing for my sister in law, for example.

I was unravelling, and crocheting, and replacing the fraying bits of the blanket. And, when I finally finished the project, I just realised that it was way past midnight.

Phew.

before

after

But anyway… I just finished a project.

I followed some of the suggestions to use the wool anyway, and it definitely work. You can’t see where I have replaced the wool, and where I have made the repairing work, can you? I mean colour-wise, it definitely blends well with the original colour. I have to say that I am quite pleased with the result.

Now that it is done, should I just give it to my sister in law? Or should I wait until Christmas for an additional Christmas surprise for her?

x ❤ x

One Little Ducky

Modifying the hat to make a completely different hat is not as difficult as I thought it would be. Maybe because I have done some amigurumis in the past, so it might be helpful to know the basic crochet technique to make half a sphere shape.

Making the beak, however is a complete try and error process. While I used treble crochet to do the hat, I used double crochet (UK term) for the beak. I found it easier to shape, and I also found it sturdier with DC, I need it to be sturdy, because the beak would serve as the hat’s brim too.

I made two of them with the lower part of the beak to be slightly smaller to imitate real beak, and I think it does look alright.

I wasn’t really sure how I would like to do the eyes. I mean, I have seen some projects on ravelry to get inspiration, but I really didn’t want to use buttons nor safety eyes, because it would be slightly uncomfortable to wear. And it could be slightly dangerous too, just in case it got loose and got eaten by the baby.

So I decided to go back to basic, and made crocheted two circles using black yarn. I did try to use it together with white yarn to make them look more like an eye, but DH said just the black would give more cute effect. So I did what he suggested.

Tada!

Let’s hope it fits…

x ❤ x

 

I Am Seriously on Fire!

It is summer, and it is hot. I am not supposed to knit warm things like socks. I should crochet bikini or something.

Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of confidence. The idea of showing my tum and thighs to the world to see is quite daunting. Hey, maybe next year when I finally get on with the bikini body thing… not.

I’d rather stay inside the house knitting than roasting myself out there half naked. The hotter it is outside, the more unwilling I would be to expose myself to the sun. I mean, hasn’t anybody heard about skin cancer and melanoma?

Anyway, socks is the new summer fashion.

No… not really. I am just making that up. However, I do embrace the spirit of summer in this pair of socks. Light blue and cream, it looks bright and happy. Like summer. Even my husband who is naturally grumpy couldn’t look too grumpy in these socks.

He is still a willing socks model. How awesome is it to have someone who is constantly enthusiastic in supporting your hobby like my husband?

I like making these socks, it is quick to make, and not too difficult that I have to concentrate too much. I am glad I chose to make it in stripes although the pattern wasn’t on stripey pattern. The yarns are Robin Bonny Babe, one of my favourite budget yarns that I have work with.

Anyway, I have to say it to make it official: I have an FO!

x ❤ x

Our Family Is Getting Bigger…

I am not sure if I have told you that I am going to be an aunt in about three months. It is exciting,  but at the same time feels like an emotional roller coaster for me.

Not that I want a baby or anything like that. I am quite happy with my family of two, but I have seen my dad’s face gleamed with happiness when my sister told him that she was pregnant. I am still haunted with the feeling of guilt that I would never be able to give the same kind of happiness she did for him.

But enough with sad and guilt. It is not my fault. I can only hope that one day my father would get over the fact that he might never be able to have a mixed race grandchildren. Now, though… time for celebration 😀

My sister is having a baby, and the doc said it is going to be a baby girl! So… I am making this oh-so-cute converse baby booties pattern I found from ravelry.

The pattern is not suitable for me though. I could make a pair — in the end, but I ended up with another pair of wonky ones that my husband decided would look cute as a car decoration. He might send a wrong message to people who see it from our car window, but he wouldn’t care.

Even the second pair were slightly wonky too. I am not sure how I did it wrong. Maybe because I used double baby yarn for the sole instead of worsted weight as mentioned in the pattern? Or baby yarn instead of DK yarn? I am not sure about the difference in yarn weight — I found swatch and gauge is more confusing with crochet than with knitting.

Anyway in the end, I love it.

Oh yeah. Yellow for girl? Why not?

Yellow is my sister’s favourite colour (other sister — I have two. One loves purple, the other one likes yellow). And it is not gender biased. And yellow is bright and cheerful. And it does look incredibly cute, don’t you think?

x ❤ x