Elephant dreams...

Why hello here!

I am so sorry I've been absent... and so soon after starting this little blog! What can I say? Work has been bonkers busy leaving me with very little time for yarny endeavours. The few knitting projects that I have found time for are winging their way across the world as part of swap packages so I didn't feel right writing about them yet. On top of it all, the Sydney summer has hit and in the heat and humidity,  playing with yarn hasn't been high on the priority list...

Luckily, I have found another little creative outlet lately... making these little guys!

Elephants are my absolute favourite so I was totally smitten by this pattern. It's the Effie and Ollie pattern by Heather Bailey.  I bought it at a beautiful little sewing shop in Milton, NSW but it's also available online here. The fabric came from my stash, I think they were both originally from Spotlight. The pattern says you need fat quarters but I just used some leftovers... They are also reasonably quick to sew up. The little elephant made of polka dot fabric (named Dotty) took me about 2 or 3 hours... the pink one, probably a little less...

As these little guys are my first tentative attempts at hand sewing, they're absolutely riddled with mistakes and little "ugly bits". I'm still learning to make my stitches even and the importance of carefully lining the pieces up properly before sewing them together. I also found sewing something 3 dimensional to be a little bit of a challenge (especially as I'm still very new to sewing)! You can see how the stitches on the head aren't very even and want to pop out and there's also some insighly puckering but if you look past that (and the crummy smartphone pictures) they're pretty irresistably cute (if I do say so myself)!

These are quick, easy and adorable. I can definitely see myself making many many more in future. Maybe a set of four made into a baby mobile as a baby shower gift? For now, we'll start with one... this squishy little guy is going to live with a colleague of mine, one who's been having elephant dreams since she first saw a picture of Dotty on Facebook :)

Bye for now,
B

The Cursed Sweater

Most knitters know about the sweater curse but just in case you are new to the curse, I will explain.  The superstition goes, if you hand knit a sweater and give it to your significant other, they will break up with you.  Now that's a pretty serious thing to gamble with, but in my typical bullish style, I've ignored the curse and started a sweater for my boyfriend anyway.

Notice how I used the word "started" instead of "finished" or "completed"?

Well, this lovely pile of yarn has been in the progress of becoming a sweater for over 2 years now! 

The yarn is Cascade 220 in a colourway number 2404. I bought it on destash for an amazing deal.  I think I got 10 skeins for about $40 plus shipping! The pattern was from the lift out of an Australian Women's Weekly and it's called "Jumper with saddle shoulder".  

Here's a better picture of what it looks like...

I'm determined to have it finished before next winter meaning I have about 8 months to knit 1.5 sleeves, a teeny button band and collar.  Easy, right?!  WRONG! I can never motivate myself to knit on this project.  I've used every excuse under the sun "my needles are blunt" so I bought signatures, then "the yarn is too hot to knit in summer" so I waited until winter... nothing works, not even the constant ribbing by the boyfriend.  I think I've figured out some reasons why this sweater is just so difficult to knit on, even though I'm on a major sweater knitting kick and here they are:

1.  I chose a pattern that is not on Ravelry. This was a big mistake.  Especially for a novice sweater knitter like me (this is my first man sized sweater and probably only my second or third adult sized garment).  There have been SO MANY times in knitting this sweater where I've gotten lost or the numbers looked wrong.  Had it been a Ravelry pattern, I could've contacted the designer or asked fellow knitters for guidance... Instead, it has just been me, bumbling away... ripping back and reknitting :(

2. Not only did I choose a pattern that is not on Ravelry, I chose a yarn that was a different weight and I "fudged" the sizing to make it work.  The result is that I think the sweater is going to be ENORMOUS on my boyfriend... it looks far too wide and is at least 5-10 cms wider than most of his other pullovers. Oh no!

3. I think there are some pretty serious errors on this pattern and yet, I've just kept soldiering on instead of abandoning ship and starting with a new pattern and now, I've just let it get too far.

4. I made too many alterations on a garment I did not understand.  The pattern says to knit the sweater flat and in pieces, I decided to alter it to knit in the round. But when I decided to do that, I hadn't fully understood the structural importance that seams play in a sweater (especially one that's this heavy).  I also did not understand seam allowances adding to the "the sweater is going to be enormous" concerns. 

5. Although I reduced the number of seams by knitting the body in on piece, I still need to do some seaming and that scares me... a lot!

6. I might be a little scared of the sweater curse.  Maybe.

Lazy Saturdays...

Happy Saturday!

Despite the long list of chores and the pile of dishes in the sink, I couldn't resist the call of yarn this morning.  So this is what my morning looked like...

The latest issue of Frankie which I greedily unwrapped from its plastic as I made my coffee, my favourite current project, Indicum which I'm knitting out of some of the most delicious yarn I have ever encountered, Wollmeise (the Merlot and Mont Blanc colourways) all the while, playing some knitting podcasts. Otherwise known as: bliss.

Normally, my boyfriend would be a little cranky if I covered his side of the bed with knitting, girly magazines and coffee but he's away visiting his parent this weekend so for now, it's all me and my yarny indulgences :)

It makes me wish I was more organised in the mornings and I could spend a couple of hours like this every morning... but then again, I think there's something special about the weekend that makes mornings like this so delicious.

Oh no... technical difficulties

As I was sitting down to write my first substantive knitting post, I got this annoying and very unwelcome message on my laptop.

My laptop is only about 2 months old so I am not at all impressed :(

Oh well, here's hoping it's an easy fix!

Introductions are in order

Why hello there, and welcome to my very first blog post.

My name is Bee and for the purposes of this blog, I am a knitter, beginner sewer, amateur photographer and leisure baker.  But mostly, I'm a knitter.  

I have started this blog as a way to encourage myself to find more time to knit and record my adventures, misadventures and general thoughts along the way.

I'm sure that as I get going, many other aspects of my life will pop up on this blog as well. I'm so excited and I can't wait to get started! 

I hope to get a substantive post up by the end of the week!

If you'd like to reach me, I can be found on Ravelry as "stealthknits" and can be reached on email at stealthknits at gmail dot com.

p.s. the layout of the blog is still a work in progress.  I hope you'll be patient with me!