FO Friday 61: Hat Trick

My title just goes to show how side-splittingly witty I am. Just in case you hadn't already realized. 

The first of today's Finished Objects is - FANFARE - that blimmin' Vintage Cabled Sweater that lasted for nearly ever:

I am so glad that I simplified the sleeves and just had one cable running down the centre; if I'd knitted it exactly to the pattern,. ie. cables everywhere right up to the edges,  I would still have been knitting this at the turn of the next century - and it's only for a 7 year old. It's made using the fabulously good value Stylecraft Life DK in the colorway 'Crocus'. It's washed, dried and awaiting Xmas wrapping paper.

A quick and easy yet impressive-looking knit was the Seriously Simple Shawl:

Made from one and a teeny jot balls of Regia Hand-dyed Effect by Kaffe Fassett in the colorway 'Rubin', to which the photo does no justice at all. This too is washed, blocked, dried and folded awaiting Xmas wrapping for my MIL.

And finally, the Hat of the Hat Trick:

Not my photo, so this time I'm not taking the blame for the fact that this too doesn't show the fabulous warm earthy colors of Patons UK Colourwork Aran in the colorway 'Terracotta'. The pattern was the Irish Hiking Hat; all I did different was to lengthen the ribbed section to make a turn-up brim. It was a birthday gift for my BIL, for when he walks this:

OK, there isn't any Irish involved with that. Or hiking, as it happens - apart from anything else, they live in the Fens, which is flatter than Holland. But there is Outdoors, so that counts, right ?

Over at Tami's Amis are lots of purty things to look at ......

WIP Wednesday 66: Hiatus

I've two things to show you today, one of which will amaze you because it's so nearly done that it is surprising that I didn't stay up even later last night simply to be able to say ''it's done, at last'':

All that needs doing is the side and sleeve seams to be sewn up. I had to buy another ball of the yarn yesterday as I ran out with the collar yet to knit ....

And speaking of planning fails, another project came to a shuddering halt - halfway through a row, too ! Again, because I ran out of yarn in row 21 out of the final 26 rows .....

The internet is great for 24/7 shopping, and so yesterday morning another skein of this yarn dropped through my letterbox from the friendly and efficient Sheila's Wool Shop ....

As Mini Diva's school had a teachers' personal development day yesterday, we popped into town and amused ourselves by buying bits and bobs for her Operation Christmas Child box (which we couldn't have done if the kind lady in the Shuropody shop hadn't given us a shoe-box). It is a Christian organization, but for us, sharing and giving is non-denominational.

Over at Tami's Amis, you will find other progress reports - I'll have to catch up with you all after my guests have left and I have quit panicking about the broken washing machine ....

WIP Wednesday 65: :Better Late

.... than never.

So all my plans yesterday fell apart and on top of that, the washing machine broke: the drum does not go round. I just ran out of time, energy and will to blog yesterday. So I'll make up for it today instead.

As you'll recall, I have been working on the Vintage Cabled Sweater for at least a century, and at the last check, only had about maybe 3/4 of the second sleeve to go. Now I have about 5/8 of it to go:

It has progressed so little because I have been led astray by this:

I found this at Wibbling Wools in Bury St.Edmunds when we were there at the weekend: Regia Hand-dye Effect by Kaffe Fassett. It is being turned into the Seriously Simple Shawl pattern, another lovely creation of Wendy D.Johnson.   

I think this is a far more enjoyable photo even though you see a lot less of it :

                                                           Moonheart in Dr.Jekyll mode

Less tardy and less lazy people's work can be seen at Tami's Amis ......

WIP Wednesday 64: Canine Caper

You already know that I don't really do cooking - so why the Whimsical Tarot card illustrating the Knave of Hearts ? This:

This used to be about 1 lb. of lambs' livers; the bowl is my seasoned flour ready to coat it before pan-frying, and then casseroling in yummy gravy gently with smoked bacon and sliced onions. I had walked through to the front room to see how Mini Diva was doing with her homework, and returned to find a thief had been and gone. A tidy thief who had left not even a blood trail.

 sleeping off the aftereffects of the heinous crime ?

Hmm. Let's line up the usual suspects for a food robbery. Three cats and a dog, you say ? Jewel and Inky never get on the counter under any circumstances, as they are rescue cats and thus are careful of their manners. Moonheart, Mini Diva's mercurial cat, both wanders the counters, sleeps on top of the microwave and kitchen cupboards, and has been known to steal before (whisker-prints in the butter); however, her alibi is granite solid, seeing as how she was outside prowling the neighborhood at the time.

Which leaves this laughing larcenist:

So anyway, I can't show you pics of my BIL's scarf until Friday, but I can show you this kind of odd picture of Mini Diva's Xmas shawl:

Go me ! But makes for a kind of empty WIP Wednesday, as I'm back to this: only the sleeve, sewing up and neckline to do ...this last bit just seems to drag on forever....

Don't forget to hit up Tami's Amis to see Art and Craft rather than crime scenes .....

WIP Wednesday 57: Twiddling

...my thumbs. Short and sweet post today, as you won't believe how much time twiddling sucks up.

Mini Diva went back to school yesterday, Destructo Boy today. I popped into town to remedy the parenting fail discovered this morning: no new school socks for Destructo Boy. This - of course - led me to also top up their stash of pants and vests - it's been all too easy to believe in the arrival of autumn with the recent gales and winds; it's the earliest that I remember DH being winded off at the port, too.

I've been pretty consistent with my efforts, so that I've now completed one sleeve of the Vintage Cabled Sweater; I modified it so that there is only one cable framed either side by a mock cable, rather than a full repeat of the front & back pattern: I thought this would be quicker, easier, and also, if done in the full pattern, when put together, the whole effect might be a little ... too much:



And I may just complete UberCool Brother's scarf this week too:



Let's just pretend that the bottom of the photo being missing is totally on purpose. There's some great photos of things to look at over at Tami's Amis ....

WIP Wednesday 55: Weekly Ramble

So this week is feeling very odd - the kids are at their Nanny's (my MIL), DH is (of course) at work, and the house is terribly quiet, as it's in the nature of all three cats to be generally noiseless, and Sebastian is unusually subdued - there's no itching and scratching, and a huge improvement in his skin, as he is back on antibiotics and steroids. I think he may be missing the children. I almost wrote 'as well' at the end of that sentence, but caught myself just in time.

I have indulged myself with grown-up food; I have stayed up very late to see the end of a film: 'Something's Gotta Give' - I kept waiting for Jack Nicholson to break into his old, tired mad/crazy persona, but he didn't. This film was refreshing just for that. And my goodness, does Diane Keaton ever play a woman who is not nice, and does not scream and wail ? I have watched trash TV: 'Teen Mom' and 'Teen Mom 2', which make me wonder exactly how Americans bring up their children so that they end up without boundaries, discipline or respect: Jenelle and Amber, I'm looking at you.

But this is not an essay on what is wrong with modern youth, but rather a show-and-tell: first, the usual suspects:

We have just shaped the bottom of the armholes of the front.

And Uber-Cool Brother's German Herringbone Rib Scarf:

which is probably about 1/3 of the way through.

As if these weren't enough to be getting on with, last night I cast on for a beret for Mini Diva, using the ball of Robin Piccasso Chunky left over from her lacy vintage sweater . (Yes, Calophi, I had totally forgotten to post the pattern as I promised: it'll be in the mail today). It's the Beret in Fisherman's Rib with Picot Brim, and I wish I'd read the project notes of the other people who have knitted it before I started: it is not written very clearly, especially considering the version of Fisherman's Rib used is rather unusual - Google is my friend, and it turns out that this version is German in origins. We will persevere, and see how it goes:

And I suffered a couple of 'moments' because I simply could. not. remember where I had put the skein of Madeline Tosh laceweight in 'Briar' .... so spent some time running around the house like a complete nutter searching for it obsessively ....



I advise you to head over to Tami's Amis where there are sane people ....

WIP Wednesday 54: He Haz Sadz

So all my timing has fallen apart: no FOs for last Friday, but have completed one since, and I almost had only two old faces to show for WIPs today. With this whip cracking almost audibly behind me, last night I cast on for Uber-Cool Brother's second birthday scarf.

I spent some time yesterday evening trying stuff out - otherwise known as swatching. Yes, I have trouble believing that myself, and I was actually there ! I tried out the Dragon Skin stitch, but it didn't 'pop' enough; then I tried out the Ribbed Leaf stitch pattern - twice, with a different amount of cast on stitches - but that also didn't come out as well as I thought it would. So I let my fingers do the walking through Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury, and ended up with German Herringbone Rib, which I am quite liking after 3 or 4 pattern repeats:

This is the 'Squash' 4ply superwash merino from the Skein Queen in the colorway 'Aunt Betty's Pond', as selected by Uber-Cool Brother himself.

In addition, we have made some progress with the vintage cabled sweater for my youngest niece; each 8 row pattern repeat seems to take ages, I think because it's in DK ...



The furry head is Sebastian getting in on the act, feeling sorry for himself because he lost the battle royal on this occasion and so ended up being showered/bathed in his special shampoo. He lost, but I am the one sitting here in wet clothing ....



This is the 'I am clean, feel way better, but am compelled to guilt trip you in spite of all cuddles and treats' pose. I can tell you it's pretty effective. We are back to the vet tomorrow morning.

Over at Tami's Amis, as usual you'll find many interesting and beautiful projects, but I doubt any will be quite so sorrowful-looking ....

Blue & Birthdays

Well, having nothing better to do yesterday, I changed the batteries in my camera, and - Lo ! - a miracle ! It worked for about 10 minutes: long enough to rush outside where it was grey but dry and take pictures of 2 out of the 3 FOs. I couldn't take pics of the 3rd because I'd forgotten I hadn't weaved in the ends yet.

So here is the cabled sweater for Jasper's 1st birthday present, knitted in Stylecraft Special DK in blue marl as selected by Destructo Boy, brilliant value and machine washable too:



Having bought two balls, I had tons left over, so found a lovely pattern for a cabled hat (SmarieK's 3am Cable Hat) , which I adjusted for size, casting on only 96 stitches instead of 108. I also knitted it flat and seamed it, which meant adjusting the instructions somewhat backwards for the even rows, as the pattern is written for knitting in the round. All done and lovely, I think, ready to be wrapped and taken down to Kent the first weekend of half-term for his birthday party:


I feel that the cabling is a bit lost in the marl of the yarn, but seeing as how Destructo Boy chose it, what could I do ? Well, yes, I could have knitted a really plain design, but how boring that would have been ....

I had a lovely surprise yesterday - Mini Diva had gone to tea at her friend's house, and when she returned, she was bearing this:


My friend Karen felt sorry for my plan-less, celebration-less birthday, and had made this marvellous gooey chocolate birthday cake for me. We had some for breakfast today, simply because. I'm blessed to have such thoughtful friends.

Destructo Boy asked me a few days ago, would I be moving out on my birthday ?
''Where to ?'' sez I.
''One of those places where old people live when they get smelly and old''.

Since old people need their sleep, I am going back to bed.