red_swirl

Merry Christmas everyone! All of my family just got over being sick, so I didn't get to complete the Advent Birds ... still, I reckon 19 is a pretty good effort ;)

Posted by red swirl at 21:49 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 21:21 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Currently, I have half a sleeve and most of a back for this jumper; a whole sleeve and most of the back for Squiggle's Devan. I tried giving the Endpaper Mitts a go, but the combination of a new cast-on method (Italian tubular) and the new-to-me Magic Loop concept was just too much - hence my little pile of abandoned cast-on attempts. Oh, and I misread the pattern a couple of times for good measure ;)

So what did I do in my jumpy mood? Try to design a new! different! colourwork project, my own pattern - sure to be easier than following a pre-tested pattern ... NOT!

P.S. I'll give the Endpaper Mitts another go with some DPNs, and if any of my other projects turn out, I'll let you know.

Posted by red swirl at 22:24 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 21:20 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 22:24 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 22:12 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 21:57 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 20:24 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 20:02 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 21:18 | Permalink | Comments (0)

But then I saw these on Whipup, and I liked them a lot. And the designer, Eunny Jang, suggests the Endpaper Mitts "would be an excellent first project for a novice colorwork knitter" ... that'd be me ;) I mean, I chose Devan because I really like the look of Fair Isle/ Nordic knitting/ colourwork (whatever it's called). But I do feel that pre-striped yarn is ... ah ... sorta cheating. And I don't like cheating. So I though I'd redeem myself by having a go at the Endpaper Mitts. They're not sooo big that I'll be angry at the waste of wool if I stuff them up completely. Also, Eunny Jang's site seems to have lots of helpful explanations. And much though I love looking at the patterns and colours in Nordic knits, they look kinda hot ... particularly as I live where it never snows!!

So.

I joined the Stranded: The Colorwork Challenge to give me a nudge and a help along. The introductory questions are:

What are your projects for this knitalong? Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts. Yes, I did notice the plural in the question. Frankly, I'll be very proud if I get one mitt done, and absolutely astonished if I make two. However, if I were to finish 2 Endpaper Mitts, I might consider attempting these. Note my use of the conditional in the last sentence ;)

Is this your first colorwork project? Yup.

Posted by red swirl at 12:05 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Posted by red swirl at 21:52 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 21:31 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 20:14 | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the meantime, my tastes changed. I've got to admit, I rather like "What not to wear" with Trinny and Susannah. Sure, I understand the criticisms of it, you get a glimpse of far bigger problems in people's lives that a new set of clothes won't fix and why does every woman have to look feminine anyhow? But I agree that you feel more confident if you think you look good, and there's no point emphasising your ugly bits or hiding your best features. And I r.e.a.l.l.y like the concept that you don't need to diet down to stick-thin model size or have plastic surgery to look better, you just need to select your clothes more carefully / cleverly. Whatever your price-range.

I think I'm usually pretty ok in my clothes choices if I can try them on, but until I started watching the show, I hadn't thought about general principles of what looks good on me (the 'rules'). When I thought about this wool and the patterns I'd chosen I realised they'd make a garment that was exactly the opposite of what looks good on me.

I also realised that really thick, chunky wool isn't that popular in craft/knit blogland. It sorta isn't 'real' knitting. The colour's still ok, 'tho.

So I started searching for a better pattern. With chunky wools, it's seems patterns are either for flash-dance-style crop tops or heavy-duty tents. Oh yes, I could make a heap of hats and scarves with 10 balls, but I couldn't wear them all!! Finally, I found this. At least it has some shaping, and a hint of neck.

There's so many other knits I'd love to work on (I might still start them), but I feel I should put a bit of time into this. Oh, and the fish are just for fun.

Posted by red swirl at 10:31 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mood: Guess who suddenly started thinking "We bought a reasonably modern camera, it really should have some sort of macro function ... yes, it's been a l.o.o.o.n.g year.

Posted by red swirl at 20:09 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 20:41 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 22:35 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 19:23 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mood: We went to an Advent service yesterday, because my favourite Christmas carol is for advent: O come, O come, Emmanuel. I love the mixture of assurance in the words that Emmanuel WILL come, combined with the doubt in the music, expressed in a minor key. And yes, the service was lovely and Squiggle enjoyed the music enough to be mostly quiet ;)

Posted by red swirl at 14:15 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, and I think I've given up on photographing the birds where I'm actually hanging them, on the front window.

Posted by red swirl at 06:42 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 22:18 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 20:21 | Permalink | Comments (0)