Knitting and Illness

| Elanor

So I’ve had a flu, not even a particularly bad one, just 3 days “off” and today I declare myself well enough to try and get back to it, albeit at half speed.

I find myself having to apologise to patients before me, to whom I have suggested doing some knitting until they’re back on their feet. I see knitting as so relaxing, that surely it’s an ideal thing for ill people to do. Wow. Stupid or what? I forced myself to do a few rows on day 1. I have a self-imposed deadline for the end of the month for the jumper you may have seen me talking about in other blog posts. The concentration it required, and the pain in my fingers, wrists and arms when I tried to manipulate the needles, were just not worth it. Plus, I will have to tink back those rows when I pick it up later this morning because the tension is way looser than it should be. Days 2 and 3 saw the project languish in its basket. So, sorry guys, those disbelieveing dagger-eyed looks you gave me were well deserved!

The problem is, as a freelance knitwear designer, there is no-one to pick up the slack. If you don’t work one day, you don’t earn that day. I was looking after my sick menfolk before I got ill myself, so all-in-all it’s been an entire week since I made any real progress. I will fiercely be playing catch up. Let’s see how it goes!

Moral of this story: wash your hands really well!

Please don’t catch flu this season. If you’re vulnerable, such as those who have pre-existing medical conditions or are pregnant, go and get the flu jab. Stay well!

Diary of a Design: Day 7, what happened there?

| Elanor

Oh dear, not much at all this weekend… I finished the back and did a row or two of the front.
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And what I’ve done here was cast in at the doctor’s surgery this morning- my youngest has ear lurgy. He’s on antibiotics now and is completely wiped out, but we’ve had a couple if all-nighters this weekend. Poor little tyke. For the record, I don’t take antibiotics lightly. Without going into the gory details, this is definitely a bacterial infection, and I’m not taking chances with his hearing.

That said, I may have had a little go at writing up a different pattern on Sunday evening…

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The yarn is 24 karat gold. (In colour)

Abbye is back and better than ever

| Elanor

A couple of days ago I was chagrined to report that I had got my maths wrong on the sleeve cap of Abbye.
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Well I’m now happy to say an update has gone out to all customers with the corrected (and re-TE’d) sleeve cap, and the pattern has been reactivated.

Although I was most ashamed to have to fix an erratum, I am nonetheless proud of the fact that I got the corrected pattern re-released less than 24 hrs later.

I am very grateful to the customer who found and reported the error, and I was very happy to refund the price of the pattern to her. She is going to unravel the tops of the sleeves and redo, and I can’t wait to see the finished cardi.

If you find an error in one of my patterns, please let me know so I can fix it for you and any other knitters who have the pattern. As they say in business, if you got a problem with my products, tell me, if you like my products, tell everyone else!

Happy knitting,
X
E

Diary of a Design: Day 4, now we’re getting somewhere!

| Elanor

I got a fair bit done yesterday, all the cables are completed and I’m on the Rev St st bit heading for the shoulders. I’m about 3 cm from the shoulder rise. Here it is lying on top of another design, Biennial, for comparison.

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There’s more ease in this new jumper, but it won’t show till it’s blocked. The armholes are a little lower for roomier sleeves too, but otherwise the backs are quite similar shapes. I’ve used nearly 3 balls for the back so far, so it looks like the whole jumper will be 12-14 balls to make.

 

So, of course you’ve figured out by now that this design isn’t 5 days old. It started at Unwind in Brighton, actually, when I met Sonja from Blacker Yarns and got a ball of the lovely, lovely Elegance from her. I started swatching on the beach on the Sunday!

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This shade is silver, which is white with just a hint of black running through to give the grey effect. The yarn is not dyed at all and the various shades are made by spinning in the naturally coloured alpaca fibres. Corriedale fleece itself is always white and makes up 80% of the base. The addition of the alpaca makes the yarn smoother and softer. Overall it has fab bounce and I’m definitely enjoying working with it. The jumper is going to be super-warm too. So a big thank you to Blacker yarns for providing the yarn support!

The yarn I’m using is Blacker Elegance DK in Silver (pale grey). It is also available in a 4-ply weight and the natural colours are white, pale and darker grey, pale and darker brown. It sells at £6.50 per 50g ball of high-quality British yarn.
Today’s Saturday, so I’m not sure how much knitting my young family will let me do today, I’ll be sure to keep you updated tho!
Have a lovely weekend,
X e

Diary of a Design: Day 3, just keep trucking

| Elanor

Yesterday saw a few more cables added. Because these cables are graduated, every other one is .75 the number of rows of the previous one. So my sections are speeding up.
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I have about half of the back done now. You can’t tell from the pic above, but there is a change in size in the width of the piece, which will give flattering shaping to the finished item when worn.

I have to show you where I’m keeping the project and yarn when not in the hands:
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Isn’t it a lovely basket? I got it at a wedding in Ireland at the end of last month and had a divil of a time getting it on board the flight home. It was my “handbag” (I already had carry on)!

Diary of a Design: Day 2

| Elanor

Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans, or so the saying goes. My first erratum is what happened last night. (Hangs head in shame.) turns out the sleeve cap on my Abbye Cardigan wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I fixed the error in my calculations and have rewritten the pattern. When my TE has had a chance to look at it, I’ll update the pattern on rav. For now, it has been temporarily deactivated.
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That said, I did manage to work to the next cable on my jumper

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And today will see some more cables, all going well.

X e

Diary of a Design: Actual Knitting, Day 1

| Elanor

Well actually, I started knitting it on Friday, but decided to frog back yesterday.
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The photo above is what I had Tuesday night at knit club. I asked the others there their opinion and they were frank enough to point out that the cables didn’t join up well with the ribbing. To be honest, I knew the moment the question left my lips that a certain amphibian would be making an appearance. This is what I have now and I’m much happier.
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It’s got flow now, and so it’s knitting up much faster. I want sneak a row in on it all the time, whereas yesterday I kept putting it down because I was doubting it. It has meant a few extra swatches though! IMG_6127.JPG
These are just the ones I had handy!

Splish Splash

| Elanor

It’s Autumn, ’tis the season for splashing about with your wellies on, catching the falling russet leaves. Add a bright splash to your outfit on dull days with a Splish Splash Shawlette.Splish Splash Shawlette

A simple garter st shawlette with a raindrop fringe. This shawlette is a great way to show off a skein of hand-dyed or self-striping yarn. The pattern is easily memorisable, so you can take it to the pub or work it up in front of the TV. It widens slowly, which makes it long and narrow, perfect to wrap around your neck a good few times and stop up any gaps the rain might find.

for £3.00

Sizes

Size will vary depending on your tension and the amount of yarn you start with. The sample measures 26cm at the widest point, and the wingspan is 132cm. It was made with 2 balls (100g) of Regia 4-ply, but not to worry if you have more (or less) yarn: just increase till you have used up half your yarn, then decrease with the other half.

Yarn

Regia Colour 4-ply (4-ply; 75% wool, 25% nylon; 210m/50g balls)
Pink/Purple/Green 2 x 50g balls

Needles and Accessories

1 pair 3.25mm (UK 10/US 3) knitting needles

Tension

27 sts and 44 rows to 10cm over garter stitch pattern

Abbreviations

K: knit
Kfb: knit front and back
Rep: repeat
Rem: remain
St(s): stitch(es)

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