This isn't really blogging

Have a verrrrry scarrrrry Halloween.

We'll be back, after ... a while

I'm taking a little blog leave. Nothing catastrophic, but I just am going to experiment with a no-blog-writing life for maybe a month.

I wonder what will happen if I don't post for a month -- probably nothing at all! But let's try...

Make me a colourway like this

My knitting energies today were mainly spent on trying to get 12-year-olds to progress beyond the cast-on row. Jeez, the little kids I knit with last year were keener, I think! How do I get these dopey boys to want to knit?


Arthur and one of the girls have got it down. I must persevere with the others, since they want to make a blanket for charity this year.

Anyways, on the way home from my slightly frustrating knitting session at Arthur's school, I saw lots of slightly turning leaves.


The sky was blue, grey, white... The leaves were gold, bright green, reddish, orange, brown, dark green, yellow...

When in doubt, find a UFO

I have a request out to a friend for an old VK pattern that might meet my requirements for a Kureyon sock yarn sweater, but she is being dilatory. Also, I haven't made my mind up about anything... Here are two crazy options, both Ravelry links: Lace Panel cardigan, and the Short-Sleeve cardigan. That last is tempting, but would it look like I was stretching my buttons to have that zig-zag edge in the front? It would get the stripes going all directions, which I like. More pondering...

But meanwhile, I have found my old friend, the denim mishmash cardigan.


I have progressed a bit further than that, and will likely have two complete fronts by the end of the weekend. Maybe even by the end of this evening if things go right! I'm thinking of simplifying life by making the back rather... simpler... than the fronts. Maybe do the leaf pattern from the sleeves up the back?

Tomorrow, if it doesn't continue to pour rain, I shall take the bits outside to the natural light and take a few photos. But for now, hmmm, what shall I show you?


How about Door #4 at the Wychwood Barns? From a few weekends ago, a sunny Saturday when we went to the market there.

Thinking about the Noro cardigan

Now that I have my striping Noro yarn, and my resolution to make a sweater out of it, I am reminded of why I haven't done this before... Those stripes kinda annoy me!

If I make a top-down raglan -- which is simple, not much sewing, sizing easy to figure out -- I'll have a yoke of narrow stripes that go all the way round, then a bit wider stripes on the body, also the same all round, and really wide stripes on the sleeves, and those likely won't match. I think it'll look odd.


If I make it in bits, I can mismatch things with a bit of planning, and even do the Rosedale thing of sticking a block in somewhere to break up the stripes. More work, likely more to my taste when done.

Do I make it with patterned raglan sleeves, like this sweater that started this whole train of thought?

What if I do a bit of a chevron stitch to give some movement to the stripes -- would that make the sleeves ridiculously fiddly to attach to the body? Should I do the whole thing in the same slightly chevrony stitch?


And the big question, to which I already know the answer: Do I really have to make a proper swatch? Can't I just make it up as I go along?






















Right. I'll keep going for a bit!

Ready for Halloween

I made a Hallowig.

I ran out of my glow-in-the-dark yarn.

I had some fun fur.
Now I have a glow-in-the-dark, slightly mohawkish headdress for Halloween.
I wonder if either of the kids will dare to wear it!

Lots of things to blather randomly about

That is the latest from Stephen.

This is the latest from me:


Do we notice that the lapels are two slightly different browns? No, I certainly hope not.

Room to grow! She'll need a wee neckwarmer, perhaps!

I spent Sunday afternoon at a baby shower. It seemed the walls were dripping with estrogen... I had wine, strong coffee, and the house was catty, so my head was swimming and my eyes were streaming after a while. But it was great fun, and how often are you invited to rant on about birth stories and nursing trials and triumphs? And I got to show off to a woman from Twickenham, when I actually knew where Twickenham is, thanks to my watching of the Richmond Upon Thames Daily Photo blog.

I gave the mom the lovely but somewhat problematic, because not machine washable and sooo heavy, log cabin blanket, garnering oohs and aahs from the crowd! After a while we all realised that no one was taking pictures, and someone finally dug a camera out. If I get a picture of the blanket at the shower, I'll show you -- I think there was only one picture taken, of two knitters trying to figure out how it was made... Trust the knitters to turn it over and look at the underside!

I am swatching and pondering about the Kureyon sock yarn cardigan, and am keen to get going on that, but am amusing myself at present with a Hallowig.



I'm not sure about the glowing in the dark business. We've tried, but the results have not been impressive. Also I don't have 5 mm dpns, so who knows how I'll manage the top decreases. Likely I'll find a melange of 4.5s and 6s, and see what happens...

Setting monthly goals

A new month, a new list of things to knit.

I have one easy one, and that is to finish Zack. A few seams and some buttons, and that's done.

I also notice that this is October, and if I'm ever going to make a Hallowig out of my glow-in-the-dark yarn, now's the time.

As well, it's Socktoberfest time. I do have two partially knit pairs of socks lying around the house and I could use this group energy to get them finished.

But I also have two sweaters in mind and want to get going on one! What's a mother to do?

I have no pictures to show you now, which is a disappointing state to be in. Very soon, though, pictures of the finished Zack, and perhaps of some action on something else!