WIP's

I thought it was about time I update you all on my progress on WIP's - I seem to have had far too many things on the go recently and just no energy to do any of them at all. I have just finished another baby cardi that I forgot to photograph ! The friend that I knitted the two recent cardi's for is going to lend them to me tomorrow so that I can photograph them ! so updates to follow.

Apart from those I have been doing my diagonal front cardi - well I haven't done anything on this for ages, but I'm hoping to finish it before I go home for the summer as I think I may need it being as the weather is so hot here at the moment - I think the UK even in summer, is going to be a bit of a shock to the system !

Anyway - here's the pink dream so far.



It's very pink indeed and a bit of a statement - but I'm hoping that with a suntan, my pink Birkenstocks and a very large tummy that precludes good taste, I'll be able to carry it off !

We also have Ballerina - which is a Hanne Falkenberg kit that I bought last year. This is being knitted for my Mum, it's for her Birthday and Christmas last year - so it needs to be just right. I am a bit worried about this one I have to say. I have put a lot of work into this and I recently measured the back to find that it is about 20cm short - this is going to be disasterous if it's the final measurement. It's never going to fit my Mum and it's going to be another wasted knit - oh yes I've knitted things for her before that she never wears ! My gauge seems to be just fine, so I am hoping that there is lots of stretching going to be happening during the blocking process, but can I really increse the back length by 20cms ? Anyway, as luck would have it, my Mum is coming out for a visit next week - which we are very excited about, so she can see it herself and see what she thinks - I'm hoping I'm not going to have to undo the whole thing and start again - this has been a big challenge for me - circular, small needles and a pattern that, well, leaves a lot to be desired - the first half is very detailed and not to difficult and then it more or less says, the second half is a mirror image of the first - get on with it ! - aghhhh I'm hoping I'm not going to mess it up too much.

Anyway, here it is.



The pale blue bit is a provisional cast on, which is something that I have never done before - there are lots of things on this cardi that I have never done before and I have to say that the lack of good information throughout the pattern - like stitch counts after you have done something major - has not made it the easiest of learning processes. Still I'm proud that I have managed to get as far as I have and I'm hoping it's not all going to be wasted - I think I'll have to cry if I have to undo it all. It's going to be quite hard to get this one finished being as I feel so sick ALL THE TIME - still I am determined that Mum will be wearing it soon and so I must get on with it. Turn up that A/C, Ballerina here I come.

I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with some piccies of the baby bits I have just finished.

I know .......

.....that you have all been waiting with baited breath for my return - and - well, here I am !

I am afraid things went a little pear shaped for a time here. Well pear shapedish ! I found out two days before the knitting olympics began that we are expecting another junior mooknit in October of this year - which is wonderful news after two years of trying, but unfortunately had adverse effects on my knitting - in that I sadly failed to complete my Olympic project. The fatigue and general restlessness seemed to settle in pretty much immediately. On top of that, we were house hunting and that was hard work - we then found a nice new place, which we had to move in to. Not only did we have to organise all our bits from the UK being delivered, we had to move all our gubbins from the other house in Muscat and I can tell you - it totally wiped me out. I have been sick as a dog - some days not being able to get up out of bed and so tired I can't tell you. I have discovered though, that if I eat about every half an hour and rest plenty I'm just fine most of the time ! So that is what I have been doing !

Not much knitting has been done just recently round our way. I completed a little cardi for a friend's baby - but it was off the neddles and wrapped so quickly I didn't take a piccie - I am doing another for her at the moment and I will take a picture of this one before I hand it over.

I am slogging away on Ballerina - which is coming out very small - I mean about 20cm shorter than it should be - has anyone else knitted a Hanne Falkenberg jumper and found that it needed to be blocked to high heaven - my gauge is right, it's just a lot shorter than the given measurements - this not good, 'cause if it doesn't block to the right size, it's going to look dreadful on my Mum and will have been a total waste of time. Please reassure me someone !

I have done quite a bit of my Olympic Diagonal Front Jacket - but I discovered that I do not like knitting on circular needles in a chunky yarn, it just doesn't look as even - still I am nearly at the armholes where I can transfer to straights and then it shouldn't take me long to just get it done and dusted. If I ever suggest knitting another garment in the round - please beat me about the head !

So, I have at last some pictures of the finished Manhattan. This has now been received and worn by the lovely Sam and she says she loves it - I'm just waiting for a photo of her wearing it - which I will post when I get it. In the mean time, you will have to make do with sofa shots I'm afraid !

So here she is in all her glory




And photo the second is of the crochet edge, which was a mamoth task I can tell you. Once I'd got the hang of it, it wasn't difficult at all, just time consuming. This baby went everywhere with me, including the beach, where I got some very funny looks whilst I sat on my sun lounger crocheting - well I got it done and it looks fabulous. But just one point, the amount of wool that I needed for this jumper was out by FOUR balls. Count them - FOUR balls. This is not a cheap yarn, and that made this cardi, not just a bit of an expensive project, but a very expensive project. I mean, it looks fab, but really - unless I was sharing the cost with someone as I did this time around who is going to spend that kind of money on yarn to knit a cardi ? I had to order the extra yarn to be sent to me in Oman - I was only going to order three balls, thank god I didn't - four were definately needed and I couldn't believe that the pattern could be so out - the size of it is perfect and my gauge was spot on - so it's nothing to do with that. Also, this is the small size - who knows how much it would be out by on the bigger sizes - so instead of using 14 balls, this used 18 balls - that's lots in anyones book. Anyway enough ranting from me - it's done, it's fab and Sam is a happy bunny - I love it when a plan comes together as that man from the A-team would say. By the way, the colour is more accurate in the first photo.



So I'm not going to promise to blog more often from now on as I am well aware that I have done that before and then totally not done it, so all I'm going to say is that - we now have a computer at home, the camera is all set up and I know how to use it, so lets just see what happens. As long as I don't feel so sick that there is no possibility of doing any knitting, I should be around a bit more.

Ta ta