The Crafty Girl's Road Trip

In one of my many trips to the local library (I shall wax lyrical about Auckland libraries at a later date - but for the moment we shall just say I adore my local library and visit at least once a week), I discovered this book:

It's brilliant. It gives details of craft shops all around New Zealand - knitting, quilting, scrapbooking. It even includes suggestions for sightseeing and places to eat. 

We do a lot of driving with G's hobby, so it's a great addition to my usual method of spending a couple of hours on google finding out about where we're going and hoping to stumble on a craft shop. 

There's only one problem. It was last updated in 2004. Things have to have changed since then. 

Then the very clever D suggested on twitter that I update it myself. So here is the introduction. As I visit all the places, I'll report back on whether they are still there, or if things have changed. Gives me something to focus on when we're travelling around, and lets you all see the wonderful craft shops around here. 

First up, Hamilton & Cambridge (Part 1)... soon.

And then, I'll have to find my own copy of it. There's only so long I can keep this copy out of the library! 

Accountability

There's a lot that needs to be blogged. And a lot that happened so long ago that blogging about it seems a little silly now... a baby, packing up a house, shipping two lots of furniture in different directions, Christmas at home, and another move. Some of it I may get back to. But first.... accountability.

Tomorrow we will be hopefully heading to a woollen mills in Rotorua. There will be yarn purchased. So, before I loose the run of myself completely, I'm reminding myself of my stashdown rules and putting them here so that I can be reminded of them if I stray too far from the path. Being finally in the land of merino sheep and what seems like alpacas at every turn, I couldn't commit to a "pure" stashdown of buying no yarn. So... the rules:

Rule 1: One in Two Out: For every ball/skein of yarn purchased, two must leave my stash in some form.
Rule 2: Antipodean Yarn Only: The only yarn I can buy must come from the southern hemisphere. So, in reality, NZ or Australia. Although, on a technicality, I'm leaving myself a little wiggle room here... in case of urgent need for Malabrigo!
Rule 3: Souvenir Yarn Must Be Local: And by that I mean, very local. Farm shops, local mills etc.

Exception 1: Souvenir yarn doesn't have to follow the "One in Two Out" rule, but should at least be bought with a project in mind.

So, there we are. The Rules of Stashdown 2012. Let's see how far I get!

A bright spot in the week

It has been a  bit of a hard and frustrating week - false labour, back pain and generally feeling the size of a house, combined with missing the Little Whirlwind, who is currently keeping her poor grandparents busy (and worn out).

But there's always a bright spot, and this week it arrived via the postman.

I arrived home one day to find a package sitting on the doorstep, and when I opened it, discovered this package from the lovely Sinead.

There was a half second of "goodness, the baby isn't actually here yet, so should I be opening this" which was followed swiftly by "for goodness sake, the crib is made up in my bedroom and I've bought everything, this is no time to be superstitious". And thank goodness for that, because the contents of the little package really brightened up my week.

Firstly, there was a beautiful handmade card.

And then, the knitting. Oh, the lovely knitting.
Booties

A little jacket (and it's so soft and cuddly...)

A bib. When DH saw this he asked me was it not too pretty to actually use. I nearly agree with him - except it's so lovely and soft and cute that it would be a crying shame not to put it to as much use as possible.

And, the final breathtaking piece.

How beautiful is that? It is so soft and delicate. Sinead seems to have unconsciously known that I've been having trouble knitting a 'coming home' hat for this baby. Nothing I cast on seemed to be quite right. Well, I don't need to worry now. What little bundle wouldn't be happy to come home from hospital being kept warm by this?

This is one very lucky baby. And I'm a very lucky and grateful Mum, with a truly lovely knitting friend.

Thank you Sinead.

How it all started

I was reading Doogarry's blog the other day - more specifically this post, and it got me thinking about how I got started - and re-started - knitting.

Like Doogarry, and I'd say most our our generation, I learnt to knit at primary school. I wasn't particularly good at it. In fact, my brother was significantly better. That was usually the way - I was the book worm, he was the practical, hands-on person. For a long time my creativity was channeled towards the written word, anything artistic or creative tended to be beyond me, and I felt more in control of pen or the keyboard than needles or paintbrushes (we will gloss over the apron I was forced to make in 1st year of secondary school, and my dreadful attempts in compulsory art classes).

I picked up the knitting needles only once in my teenage years. There was a rule in our house that TV could only be watched in the daytime if you were doing something constructive at the same time. I was a football fan, so the household ironing usually got done on a Saturday afternoon as a result. At one stage, there must have been either a lot of football or not a lot of ironing, so I picked up the needles again and made a teddy bear. He's still around somewhere. When DH saw him for the first time he nicknamed him "roadkill teddy". I was in my mid 20s before I knit another stitch.

In 2005 I was living in Vilnius, Lithuania. I was on duty over the Christmas period, so couldn't get home. My parents decided they would visit me instead. I was all set for their arrival - with one difficulty - they were getting in at 3am. Local television (even when I could understand it) wasn't great after 10pm, and after about midnight turned a little "blue". I needed something to occupy me so I wouldn't fall asleep waiting for them. I spotted knitting needles and cheap acrylic in the supermarket and embarked on a scarf. It kept me awake for the evening, and reignited my knitting knowledge. A friend showed me how to cable and knit in the round a few weeks later, and my first 'grown-up' FO was born - a hot water bottle cozy. Alas the scarf never made it... tiny needles and squeaky acrylic, I was never going to finish it.

When I returned to Ireland I discovered This is Knit - sock knitting classes, lace classes, hauling myself into Blackrock when heavily pregnant, and later using my precious hours of 'me-time' to slip back in and replenish my stash. And now, scheduling trips in there when I'm back home, because it wouldn't be a trip home without a visit.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that while I may be more comfortable with the written word, the stitch-by-stitch nature of knitting means I have discovered some practical creativity. I've learnt things about colour and texture and materials I thought I would never grasp. I've made some incredible friends - some of whom I have yet to actually physically meet.

It has been a very interesting journey.

FOs: Eyelet yoke cardigan and Drops baby cardigan

It's been a productive week.

Three and a half hours spent sitting at the local hospital having blood tests to rule out gestational diabetes meant lots of extra time for knitting. Add that to an enforced deadline of Wednesday night for one of the baby cardigans and you get two FOs within the space of just over a week.

FO 1: Eyelet yoke cardigan (Rav link) (pattern link)
This was a gift for A's teacher. She's due her second around the same time I am, and as school finished on Thursday, and Belgians aren't quite as superstitious as the Irish about giving baby gifts so early, I decided I'd do a little baby cardigan for her. Of course, I only decided this on Saturday evening.
It turned out quite nice. I wasn't 100% happy with it - once again I neglected to calculate the gauge properly (you'd think I'd have learnt by now), so it turned out huge. And there was no indication of dimensions or length in the pattern so there was a bit of guess work required. Overall, though it made a cute cardigan, it's a lovely pattern and I suspect it may make an appearance again. Madame S seemed to like it too.

I found the buttons in the depths of my knitting basket. I'm sure I got them for some specific purpose ages ago, but they seemed made for this little cardigan.


















FO 2: Drops baby cardigan (Rav link) (pattern link)
My first attempt at a drops pattern. It felt a bit like the knitting equivalent of riding a bike without stabilisers for the first time! As @bioniclaura told me on twitter... more like guidelines than a pattern. Well, the guidelines worked wonders. I did have to resort to pen and paper to map out the yoke, just to be sure I had it right. I'd grabbed some lovely cotton/milk fibre yarn (Linea Pura Latte from Lana Grossa) as I was running out the door to the hospital on Wednesday, so had to cast on with what I had. The stitch gauge was right, but I'm not sure the row gauge was. Something went wrong with the neckline in any case. But I love it. If the yarn blocks as nicely as I expect it to, I'll be doing a few more of these - I bought quite a bit of the yarn a while ago, but never quite figured out what to do with it.

Next up? A hat to match the drops cardigan (already cast off). And then, when I get a quiet evening, finally plucking up the courage to do that steeking I've been putting off...

Clearing the decks

I think this must be some sort of knitter's version of nesting (in which case, baby: it's a little early just yet, how about you stay put another few weeks), but recently I've felt the need to work my way through various WIPs that were in various stages of completeness.

With the result that...

 I finished off my Centrique in Scrumptious DK from Fyberspates. After getting inexplicably stuck halfway through it was amazing how quickly I finished it once I sorted out the problems

 I did the seams on my February baby sweater. It still needs to be blocked and have some buttons sewn on. I love this pattern and will have to find a lighter weight yarn to do a smaller version

 I grafted the underarms on this little Owlet that has been sitting in my WIP pile for months. I'm not 100% happy with it, but I'm sure when it's actually on a baby it will look cute.

And I weaved in ends on two baby blankets.

The striped one still needs a backing sewn on, but the cabled blanket (based on This is Knit's Cuddles and Cables Blanket) just needs to be blocked.

All of which means, I've only got WIPs left that are either completely ancient, or just started. And it also means I may not be able to put off steeking the baby cardigan for much longer.

Taking a leap...

I have just cast off my 'self-designed' (based mainly on Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage system) baby cardigan. 

I can spot a few issues straight off... I think the ribbing is too deep, and the arms are a little long (although the cuffs can be folded up), and the body a little short. It's not completely awful though, which leads to the big issue. 

You'll note that there's no divide in the front, no button bands or place to put them. This is all because I had the crazy idea that I would steek this cardigan. Yes, take a scissors to my knitting and merrily cut up through it. 

And now, it's almost time. I can put it off just a little longer - weave a few ends in, graft the underarms, give it a good soak and block it. But very soon I'm going to have to bite the bullet and just do it. 

Or perhaps I could wait until after this baby comes so at least I could have a stiff gin to help me on my way.... 

2010 Round-up

2010 was a good year. There was very little drama, other than the usual family complications. It was a year of new friends, new challenges and wrapped up with some lovely news (which I'm not committing to writing just yet).

Some of the highlights of the year:

* Knit Nation: There are not enough words to describe what a wonderful weekend I had. Firstly, there was the joy of the solo trip. I used to travel a lot by myself before the Little Whirlwind came along, but trips these days are usually a family affair. Equally entertaining, but very different.
Then there was the yarn. Oh, so much beautiful yarn. My half-empty suitcase did not stay that way for long. I was lucky I'd set myself a budget or we'd still be eating beans on toast to compensate. I went to two great classes, but the real highlight was the people I met. Sinead and Laura - Irish knitters I'd 'known' through Ravelry for a while, and new friends Gail (Flibbertygibbet) and Chalyn . Living here, isolated through language and other factors, it was so lovely to sit and knit and get to know people.

* Discovering a local craft fair. There may not have been much yarn, or many people crafting. But it was a craft fair where you could get beer and schnitzel. I shall be returning.

* Twitter. Sinead convinced me that I had to give in and try it when we met at Knit Nation. I've been hooked ever since. I've had virtual knit nights (#twitknit), met some new friends. And finally, during the chaos that was  the European snow storm and my epic fight (and failure) to get home for Christmas, I'd have been lost without it, both for the support and the information.

* And finally, a highlight that snuck in right at the end of the year. With my Christmas holiday shortened, I didn't think I'd managed to fit in any knitting time, when someone suggested an impromtu Twitter/ knitty meet up in Dublin. I packed DH and Little Whirlwind off to the zoo and got myself into town. What a wonderful afternoon, seeing old friends, meeting new ones and finally being able to put faces to names, especially @alifeofherown (who has a standing invitation to really come and have those mince pies) and @undermeoxter (who it was a real joy to finally meet, and who seems to have forgiven me/the Belgian Postal Service for her Secret Santa gift last year arriving so late).

So, farewell 2010, you were pretty good to me really. I wonder what 2011 will bring...

Outgrowing a name

When I started this blog, the title was apt - I was trying to get back into writing, I was knitting regularly, and I was wrestling with the joys of having a new baby.

Now, the only part of nibs, needles and nappies that features regularly in my life are the knitting needles. Little Whirlwind has been out of nappies for months, and I've nearly given up on finding my writing groove again (it seems that, when I'm happy, the need for writing fades. I suppose not writing is a good sign in some ways...).

So, even though I'd love to get back writing again, and (all going to plan) there may be nappies in my future again at some stage... the blog name just feels wrong.

I wonder, do I change, or wait until it hopefully reflects my life again...

A Sunday outing

Today I had a 'day pass'... husband took Little Whirlwind out for the day, and to avoid sitting at home all day and being tempted to do housework, I decided to see where I could go. And I struck gold. The Hobby Salon was on in Mechelen.

So, I packed my knitting in my bag (EZ February Baby sweater), grabbed my dictionary and headed for the train. And it turned into one of those days where life in Belgium is pretty great. First of all, there was a deal - train ticket, plus shuttle bus to the venue, plus entry, a grand total of 14.50 euro. Considering entry alone was 10 euro, and parking would have been 4 euro - taking the train was an incredible bargain.

And then,  the fair itself. It's the sort of place that the Knitting and Stitching show in Dublin could take lessons from. Every stand seemed to be craft related. None of the usual stain remover/kitchen knives/magic something-or-other, no-one shouting from the stands - all good quality craft materials or craft-related things. There wasn't much yarn, it seemed to be focused more on quilting and scrapbooking, but there was enough to keep me occupied, and I spend quite a long time staring at the beautiful quilts on display wondering if I could take up yet another craft. I never got elbowed out of the way, never had to fight to get to a stand even though the place was very busy. Most importantly, I was actually able to walk around the hall without getting overheated and claustrophobic.

The layout of the hall was great - all around the sides were different food options - coffee and cakes in one part, sandwich bar in another, full meals in another. And then, on one side of the hall a "beer hall". Schnitzel and beer. Bliss. Not cheap, but not too expensive, and the portion could have fed four people.

What, did you think I was going to finish without showing you my haul...?

First up, beautiful shetland yarn in lovely heathery purples from Klazien's Kreatie.

.

And then I came across the Tucana's Dream stand. 

 If the yarn knits up as well as I think it might, I think I'll be a regular customer. I got this lovely brown-gold sock yarn.

The colours are beautiful, and the skeins of sock yarn look generous too, so I got another one, in my favourite colour - teal.

.

Finally, a lovely red yarn caught my eye. So a skein of merino-cashmere made it into the bag too.

And, to finish the lovely day, Little Whirlwind is sitting at the table happily getting herself covered in (washable!) ink using a set of farmyard stamps that I just couldn't resist from one of the scrapbooking stands, and Himself is happily tapping away on his computer.

Sundays rarely get much better than this.

Sitting on my hands

I'm avoiding emailing, calling or otherwise contacting my family right now. I think someone has been spectacularly selfish, and I'm afraid I'll just explode if I talk to anyone about it.

And the stress is playing havoc with my knitting tension...

I need a swift...

... or a lot more patience.

Little Whirlwind was being put to bed, so I had a child-free and husband-free half hour. And decided it was time to get ready to knit the lovely Lava Flow (it's meant to be a Ravelympics project, but I'm not sure I'll hold out that long). I'd decided on a lovely skein of Manos silk blend which has been languishing in my stash for about two years now.

All of which meant I had the time and need to finally use my ball winder.

It was working so well for a while. And then, suddenly, it all just started to go wrong.

And I was left with this:

and this:

2 hours later, having cut the yarn twice (thank goodness for spit splicing), I finally got to this:

I would have been quicker winding it into a ball by hand. Oh well.

Mismatched socks

I swear, I've knit the same pair of socks about 3 times...

Basic stocking stitch cuff-down in self patterning yarn. A Christmas present for my Mum. Nothing difficult, just a nice easy sock for knitting on the train. Or so I thought...

- Start sock 1. Get to heel. Heel flap. Don't like it. Frog it. Redo it. Finish sock 1. Still not entirely happy with heel.

- Start sock 2. Get to heel. Heel flap. Make a mess. Frog it. Attempt short row heel. It miraculously works. Finish sock.

- Return to sock 1. Frog it. Restart using short row heel.

- And we won't discuss the kitchener issues.

... and that's where I am at the moment. And I'm sure when I finish the heel, I'll decide that, now that I have practice, the heel on sock 2 looks better than the heel on sock 1 so I'll have to go back and re-do sock 1 again.

*sigh*

And I thought I'd get these finished quickly so that I could start on knitting something for my Dad.

The 20 hour day

I swear, someone has to have taken at least 3 or 4 hours off the standard day recently. Otherwise, I just can't explain how I'm getting so little done.

The Little Whirlwind is now 15 months old, and walking. So she's clearly taking up lots and lots of time. But then the little cuddles and kisses make up for that. As does her hugely expanding vocabulary - interestingly, every animal appears to say 'quack'. Her little friend apparently thinks every animal says 'moo'.

But I still can't figure out where the time is going. I haven't written anything in months. The house is a disaster and I'm lucky if I manage to cook one proper meal a week.

But somehow, in all the chaos, I'm managing to make great progress on Rogue. I put most of the progress down to Aileen and the This is Knit Sweater Help class. I mean, she even managed to convince me to try steeking...

New skills learnt just by doing Rogue:
- spit splicing
- new cables
- double increases
- and, hopefully, by the time I'm finished - steeking

And that's before I even finish the body.

Hmm... perhaps I've figured out where those extra 4 hours a day have been going....

Under Pressure

I like deadlines. And not even in the Douglas Adams way of appreciating the whooshing noise as they go by. I work well to deadlines. This has been useful in previous jobs where deadlines were set completely in stone - well, if you are organising something for someone coming into town, it kind of does need to be organised before they arrive. I write well to deadlines. I even prefer to clean my house to deadline, which is why my parents get invited to dinner every month or so.

But...

I don't knit to deadline. I don't even knit well under pressure. My stitches get tighter, my knitting gets slower and I make more mistakes.

Which is why the end of the Ravelympics are approaching and I have yet to complete a single event.

It seems that, having taken up knitting for relaxation purposes, I can't quite convince either my brain or my body to do it at anything other than a gentle ramble.

Do you think I should start on my holiday knitting now...?

Mods or mistakes?

I'm currently working on Helena from Knitty. I've loved doing this pattern, but there have been a few parts that I have changed, and I can forsee at least one other change that may have to made so that I can finish it and be happy to see it worn.

I accidentally used 3.5mm needles instead of 3mm for the sections that required smaller needles. I could blame the fact that I have a husband who likes to watch TV in the dark, or that I was too excited to get on to the next section. Whatever the reason, it worked, I like it, and I decided not to change it.


I picked up extra stitches under the arms when I was starting the sleeves. I did this semi-intentionally. I felt there might be gaps otherwise. And, I was concentrating so hard on the actual picking up of the stitches that I didn't start counting until I was doing the second section of pick-ups.

And, finally (for the moment, the cardigan is, as yet, unfinished, after all) I did shorter 'skirt' section. Just 4 repeats instead of the 6 (or 7?) specified in the pattern.

The purpose of all this rambling is this... I consider these 'mistakes' - mostly. I have done things that could conceivably be considered 'wrong'. After all, I didn't follow the pattern. But I know some people would call them mods.

Are they only mistakes if you didn't consciously choose to do them at the time? Do they become modifications if, after making the mistake, you decide to keep them? Are they mistakes if you don't know what you did, but modifications if you can identify the change you made?

Does it actually matter and is it all just a matter of the way you approach you knitting and your pattern?

Starting... finally

I'm Viola. I live in a small town with my husband and daughter. I write, I knit, and I try my best to be half-decent mother. I'm at various stages of learning about all three things...

I write fiction - mainly historical, but with the occasional contemporary short story. I've been writing as long as I can remember. One day I'll actually be happy enough with something to submit it.

I started knitting (again) about 3 years ago. I enjoy challenges. Nearly everything I knit is a challenge!!

I've been a mother for a year. It's the hardest thing I have ever done. And the best thing. Medalklector (my husband) is a great father. But the learning curve is steep!

We shall see how often I manage to update this....


And my current status is:
Nibs: No writing at the moment. Many ideas, haven't quite got them on to paper yet
Needles: Helena from Knitty is nearly finished. There are many other things languishing on the needles
Nappies: Recently, there have been many, and they are unpleasant. But our sick little girl is getting slowly better. She was well enough this evening to decide it was more fun to play than sleep.