Monday 31 December 2012

2012; A Knitting Retrospective//Knit Life

I can hardly believe that today is the last day of 2012; tomorrow will be a new year - and that brings new knitting challenges and new life goals. But before that can begin, I felt a retrospective look at 2012 was in order. I thought I had finished alot more projects that just these ones this year; however some of these were big projects and obviously I was sick for a portion of the year. So here are most of my FO's and one of my YOP's (knitting in public):
I'm actually really proud of myself for knitting this much in 10 months; I started this blog back at the end of February. I've fallen really in love with knitting; and I'm starting to like crochet a little - although it's slightly more complicated than I expected. Knitting has thrown up some complications, and I have much to learn but I love to learn and grow in my hobbies - so it's pretty perfect.

Lastly I want to say thank you for reading/following my little blog; I reached over 10000 readers this month - which is amazing. I hope you continue to stop by in 2013 - I have alot more to give: interviews, knitting goals, WIP Wednesday's and hopefully at least a few FO Friday's.

So I guess the (actual) last thing to do is to say a big HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all; I hope your 2013 is knitty.

V xo

Monday 24 December 2012

Christmas//Life

Well it's officially Christmas Eve here in Scotland, I can't believe how quickly December has gone in. I have been knitting like crazy to get my Gran's shawl finished - it's pretty much done and I'm really happy with it. I'll be sharing pictures in the next week or so, I promise. I will also be looking for pattern testers for this knit before I release the pattern in the New Year.

I just really wanted to pop by and say MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my lovely followers and readers - I'm so excited for 2013 and the direction of my blog.
V xo

Friday 7 December 2012

Knit Plans//Year of Projects

Ok so in all honesty I've been pretty bad at keeping up with my year of projects, um project. Thankfully this runs from July to June, which still gives me over 6 months - great huh??? So I think my first goal is to get all of my current WIP's finished!!! At the moment I am working on a shawl for my gran's birthday - I shared that on Wednesday. So here are 4 WIP's I want to get done in the next couple of months:
 
This has actually grown since I took this photo, it's such a pretty pattern - and I'm going to work away on it once the shawl is done - I want to wear it this winter!!!!
High Plains Drifter
This too has grown since this photo was taken, I'm really excited to get this done and posted off as it's for a good friend of mine:
Owl Poncho
I was really enjoying this knit before things got hectic and I got sick. I'm about halfway done though so I want to get it done - I really want to wear this before winter is out too:
Sylph
This is my first and only lace weight project; it's super fun to do but quite complicated. I hope to get this done so I can wear it in spring:
Of course if you look at my project page over on Ravelry; you will have realised that I missed a project, yup my come josephine afghan. I'm still loving this project but it's going to take ages to do and it's a pick up when I feel like it project - I don't feel like I need to rush getting it finished:
I'm quite excited to get these projects finished, so I can complete at least a couple of my goals from my year of projects - wish me luck.
V xo

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Queen of Hearts//WIP Wednesday

I started this shawl earlier this year, but now I've decided I want to give it to my Gran for her birthday (she's 79 at the end of December) so I'm knitting like crazy on it. I'm really proud of this shawl because it's my own pattern (which I will be releasing next year). It's knit in Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo which is just a gorgeous yarn to work with; it has gorgeous movement to it - I can hardly wait to get it finished and wrapped up!!!
 Here is a little bit of a close up on the detail; it's not great - the light in our living room is odd right now:
 In other news, last month I won some yarn and pretty buttons over on Life and Yarn or Yarn and Life in her anniversary giveaway. The yarn is super gorgeous, I'm excited to find a pattern to knit this into; any ideas? It is The Spun Monkey, DK, 300 yards:
Lastly it's been super hectic here lately, we finished painting the living room; got a new 3-piece suite and decorated for christmas. I also spent this morning at school helping with last minute bits for the christmas fayre this afternoon. Holly is continuting to do well, she has a new playpen (Santa came early for her) and is loving all the attention from the cats. I'm now off to start baking for our after school's club tomorrow.
As usual I am playing along with Tami and Ginny; I'm excited to see what everyone is working on - this season excites me!!
V xo

Friday 30 November 2012

Agnes Hat//Review

When the lovely Faye, over at Buttons and Beeswax, asked for people to knit some of her designs, I jumped at the opportunity. I quickly decided on the Agnes Cabled Chunky Bobble Hat!!!
 I admit that I was freaking out when I printed the pattern, I was scared that this pattern was going to be too complicated for me; it took me over a week to actually cast-on. Then I got to the end of the brim and noticed a quite large mistake - therefore I had to frog the whole thing and start again. I was beginning to feel that this hat had something quite major against me.
 However I cast on again, and got cracking - it took me 11 days but I got it finished at the beginning of this week - and I LOVED knitting it; it knit up beautifullly, and although it was complicated, Faye's pattern writing is excellent - I cannot fault her at all. I'm excited to knit my next pattern of hers, and I urge you to go take a look at her patterns over on Ravelry and knit something of hers RIGHT NOW, go on - I know you want to .
 I guess all that's left is to say a huge thank you to Faye for letting me knit one of her gorgeous patterns; I need to decide what I'm doing next.

Lastly I thought I'd share another picture of Miss Holly, I accidently dropped mealworms on the bed -you would have thought it was christmas, she was so excited!!! We love her so much, she's the perfect addition to our family:
I'm excited to see what everyone else has finished this week; so I'm playing along with Tami!!
Have a great weekend, V xo

Monday 26 November 2012

FO and A New Baby//Knit Life

Ok so I will be doing a proper FO post on Friday as I want to do a review of the pattern then - so come back to get the low down on this excellent pattern; I  had a great time knitting this hat and my lovely wife has claimed it as her own:
 Ok so a new baby? Not an ACTUAL baby but this little pretty:
 So I had my name on the list for a pygmy hedgehog from a fabulous breeder in Edinburgh; I was expecting my email sometime early next year telling me she/he would be ready - however a couple of weeks ago I got an email saying that this baby was available now and would I like her. My wife and I had a discussion and decided that I could be her mummy. Her name is Miss Holly Marie, and I love her so much - she's got a lovely personality; she already loves my boys, some of the cats and her nana (my MIL). She is obsessed with dried mealworms, eats dried catfood and has tried apple (she's not sure). Here she is in her home:
Note the cute log cabin; she loves it in there!!! The purple fleece is a bag for her to sleep in - she is crazy about it. And she loves pushing her toilet roll tubes around and playing on her wheel. I am so in love with her.

Thanks for stopping by; let me know what you think of the hat and Miss Holly.
V xo

Wednesday 14 November 2012

The Bad Knitter//WIP Wednesday

So since I came out of hospital back in September, I have barely done any knitting - to be honest doing anything has been really difficult. I have been seriously lacking in motivation and direction so when I went to see my consultant on Monday we had a good chat and made some goals!!!

My goals for the next 2 weeks are:

1. Buy a diary and write down what I do in a day, this should help me feel motivated. So yesterday we went and bought me a diary in paperchase, this is the one I chose:


2. Make christmas cakes! I have several to make as gifts for teachers and family, so I really need to get a shift on; I have found some really cute cake toppers in Lakeland so making the cakes means I get to go shopping.

And finally I needed to (start and) finish my Agnes hat; so I've made a start and have almost finished the ribbed band - I'm really pleased with myself and I really want to get it finished:


I have another appointment with my consultant in about 13 days time so I want to take with me my diary, photos of the cakes and my finished hat - writing it here is going to help me feel motivated also so I hope you don't mind!!!

I'm playing along with Tami and Ginny this week; hope you are all well and I'm looking forward to seeing what you are all working on this week.
Vicki xx

Saturday 3 November 2012

Currently//Knit Life

This past few weeks have been super busy, so I thought I would quickly catch you all up!!! Firstly I had a hair cut, I had it cut super short and I LOVE it:
 We had Halloween and I carved these 2 fun pumpkins:
 And I started knitting this hat (photo courtesy of Buttons and Beeswax); the lovely Faye is asking people to test some of her hat patterns and I chose this one - it's super cute and I'm knitting it in cream:
I'm also still knitting on my High Plains Drifter shawl, it's getting really big, it's super pretty and a lovely pattern to work from. What are you doing right now? I hope wherever you are, you are keeping safe.
V xo

Wednesday 17 October 2012

High Plains Drifter//WIP Wednesday

I've started organising my WIP's for 7 wips in 7 days - it's going well although I haven't done a whole lot of knitting this week, both myself and my lovely wife came down with some kind of evil cold thing so it's really taken all of our energy to be awake, let alone knit!!! Anyways here is a little WIP to share with you:
 
This yarn was cast on 3 times for the dragonette shawl - it was driving me insane, it just wasn't working. So I went on a hunt for another shawl pattern - and found High Plains Drifter, it's so pretty and such an easy rewarding knit, I cast on straight away:
 
 So what about reading? Ok so I stayed up until 1.30 this morning to finish this:
Yup I have finished the Hunger Games series, it took just over a week - they were all equally awesome, I've loved reading them and now I'm a little sad that it's over!!!
 
What are you reading and knitting this week? I'll be back in the next few days to share my 7 WIPs/7 Days projects!!!
 
I'm playing along with Ginny and Tami this week.
V xo

Monday 8 October 2012

Autumn Lusts//Knit Life

Autumn is definitely a time for a new lusts list; I have so many things in my library and in my queue over on Ravelry - I really need to take some time out and sort through what I'm REALLY going to knit - and take out those things that are just a dream. Anyways here is my autumn lust list:
 
 
I love this shawl, it's free and I could see it in some yummy autumn colours - maybe a rusty orange? It's a nice simple knit too!!!

Terra
Terra has been in my library for ages, it's such a gorgeous knit and is by the ever fabulous Jared Flood - who doesn't like his knits?
These mitts are so beautiful, and by the lovely Ysolda Teague - I love the lace detailing on the cuffs, and the extremely cute little buttons.
 Big Honkin' Bag
I NEED this bag, it's so beautiful - and BIG. I have a thing about big bags, I can't help it and I certainly won't apologise for it. I have to knit this, soon!
So what are your knit lusts for this season? I'm so excited and ready for autumn; I smell a giant batch of pumpkin jam in my near future.
V xo

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Luxe Hooded Scarf//WIP Wednesday

Firstly, thank you for the lovely comments on my last blog post - it was really sweet of you all to welcome me back after such a long absence. I haven't quite sorted out my WIP's yet but I have started something new, as I need 7 WIP's to join in on seven wips, seven days (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). I found the pattern for the luxe hooded scarf in the gift knits booklet that came with my Knit Now magazine for the month - I fell in with it and cast on just after coming out of hospital - 3 weeks later and I've not done much, so I have it out right now, as my Wednesday project:
I love the colours through this yarn, it's going to be really pretty when it's finished. Go check out the pattern and see if you want to knit one!!! Tomorrow I'm going back to knit night, I'm taking my camera as I've just started my latest OU course - digital photography. This week I am playing along with Tami and Ginny. Also right now I am reading, Moranthology by Caitlin Moran - it's an awesome book, really funny (with a few serious bits) and you'll particularly love it if you've read her first book, How to be a Woman (you can get it really cheap on Kindle right now).
What are you knitting right now?

V xo

Monday 1 October 2012

I'm Back//Knit Life

Hey all,
I'm back, I know I haven't blogged in like 6 weeks. Reasons? Okay so I spent 4 weeks in hospital, I got pretty sick but I'm doing ok now - not great but ok.

I've been home for a while now but I haven't really done much knitting, I started a couple of new projects from the new Knit Now magazine, but I just haven't felt inspired to knit - until now. I found a nice new(ish) group on Ravelry called 7 wips in 7 days; it's awesome. You have your 7 works in progress organised in bags, and work on a different one each day. So I'm just organising what I'm going to do on what day; it should be a nice simple plan but I have a relatively busy life with kids in school, and after schools groups etc. So I'm going to spend the next few days organising my WIP's and I'll hopefully be back on Wednesday with some organisation and a little WIP Wednesday.

It feels great to be back, I hope you are all well.

V xo

Sunday 12 August 2012

Mitts and Winner//Ravellenic Games, Knit Nerds

I finished the mitts (wooot). What do you think? I took mitt 1 apart because I hated the strap across the front - it didn't work with the yarn and it was a little uncomfortable. I love the mitts, they are super cute and will work really well for winter. I'm so pleased, that's 4 projects over the course of the Olympics, I'm sad to see it end but kind of glad to get myself back to my other projects - I plan to finish at least 1 of my WIP's before starting something new.
In other news........ I got my lovely wife to choose a number between 1 and 31 at random (a few people commented twice so those entries were removed) and she chose............

NUMBER  12 which is Minxy of MinxyMakes; Minxy if you could contact me on ravelry within the next week with your contact details that would be great :D and I'll pass them on to Kate. Once again thank you to all who entered, it was nice to see such a positive response.

Have a knitty closing ceremony, V xo

Saturday 11 August 2012

Modular Relay//Ravellenic Games

 You see the 5 squares on the right of the top photo? They just won me a medal in the ravellenic games - I decided to work on some more squares for my Come Josephine afghan - so now I have 20, therefore I am a 5th of the way in. It's so exciting!!!
This photo was just for fun, just to see how well the colours work together, what do you think? I'll have alot of cream squares in there too.
Have a knitty weekend,
V xo

Friday 10 August 2012

Lenny the Elephant//FO Friday

I finally finished Lenny!!!!! Isn't he a cutie? I knit him using 100% merino candy skein yarn - it's so delicious and worked really well for this:
 I'm not keeping Lenny, he's already gone to his new home with a baby named Aaron; he has been welcomed with open arms and is already so loved. I hope he goes on to become a well loved toy. Here he is with his special welcoming tag ready to go:
I would definitely knit another one of these, infact I'm thinking about knitting one for myself, I loved knitting it so much. I've got more of Rebecca Danger's gorgeous patterns in my queue, I think I'm making a dinosaur next!!!
What have you been finishing this week?
V xo

Thursday 9 August 2012

Chunky Hat//Ravellenic Games

I decided to do up a quick knit for the Ravellenic Games, I had a wee look through my queue on Ravelry and decided on a chunky hat - it's quick, it's easy and I'm into hats right now. What do you think? Isn't she lovely? I love the yarn I used for this, it's so squishy, I managed to use just 1 ball - it was quite tight but I got there. The only sad thing is this hat is supposed to be slouchy, but it's definitely not on me - maybe my head is too big? LOL. I still love the hat and I will wear it but more in autumn than winter.
V xo
PS - check back tomorrow for a little look at Lenny!!!

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Fable Mitts//WIP Wednesday

I only have one WIP to share with you today as I have 2 finished objects - yup 2!!! I'll be sharing one tomorrow as part of the Ravellenic Games but the other will wait until Friday - yup that's right, Lenny the Elephant is finished.

Anyways here is my WIP for right now:
I'm still working on my Fable fingerless mitts, they are going well - one is completely finished and just needs blocked and the 2nd one is on the way. I'm loving this yarn too, it's scrummy and soft - I almost can't wait until winter to try them out.

What are you working on right now? I'm playing along with Ginny and Tami this week, go check out what everyone else is working on.
V xo

Remember to check out the interview and giveaway by the lovely Kate Heppell (editor of Knit Now magazine), on the blog RIGHT NOW.........

Monday 6 August 2012

Kate Heppell/Knit Nerds

This week for Knit Nerds, I've managed to get the lovely Kate Heppell who is the editor of Knit Now magazine; Kate has been editing for just over a year but knitting for a good portion of her life. Here she is:



1.How long have you been knitting and who taught you?
I’ve been knitting since I was about 11. There was a project at school to knit a bear to send off to a charity somewhere, so we all had to learn. I was staying with my Nanny Sylvia (my mum’s mum) and Grandma Alice (Sylvia’s mum) at the time, and they take joint credit for the teaching. Grandma Alice should actually take most of the credit for the actual knitting too – I was very very slow so she had to finish my bear for me! After that, I dipped in and out of knitting for a few years but really got going properly when I was at uni, and I’ve not looked back since.

2.What is your favourite thing to knit?
This changes all the time. At the minute, I love stranded knits. I made Kate Davies’ Sheepheid at Christmas and that was so much fun. I’m slightly allergic to sheepy (as in, quite raw and still full of lanolin!) wool though, so that did get in the way of my enjoyment a bit.



3.Who is your biggest knitting inspiration?
I have a huge amount of respect for Woolly Wormhead. She’s a super-talented designer and also a fantastic human being. But when I grow up, I want to be Shannon Okey (of Knitgrrl/Co-op Press/all-round-awesomeness fame).

4.What is your favourite finished object of your own?
I’m really proud of my Batik (Kitman Figueroa), which I knit in some gorgeous Dream in Colour yarn that I picked up at iKnit London. I’m usually a bit of a slob with my knitting, but for this one I forced myself to rip back and fix any mistakes and I’m so glad that I did because it’s absolutely perfect. I loved it because it’s knit bottom-up, so you start with the long rows (when your enthusiasm is at its peak) and the rows keep getting shorter and shorter, faster and faster!
On the other hand, the FO which sees the most wear is probably my Everglade (Woolly Wormhead). It’s knit in Sirdar Escape DK which is completely indestructible, it’s worn and worn for years and is still perfect. I love the way the leaves gradually get smaller up to the crown, such a clever design – and it was part of one of Woolly’s Mystery KALs, so watching it grow without knowing how it would turn out was loads of fun.



5.What inspired you to become the Editor of Knit Now magazine?
I was in a relatively boring job in communications in the NHS when I was contacted by Practical Publishing and asked to send in my CV. I didn’t think I stood much of a chance, but I was really passionate about knitting, and writing – and pretty organised – so I gave it my best shot. Two telephone interviews and one (very long!) face-to-face interview later, and I was offered the job. That was just over a year ago now, and I’ve not looked back. I do have a lot of respect for some of the other magazines on the market, but I think there’s room for something younger and fresher.
I’ve never been much of a garment knitter myself, so the concept of Knit Now, being all about small, quick knits is perfect for me. Mostly because I’m a yarn snob and I can’t often afford a whole me-sized jumper in the yarns I want to knit with – but I can easily manage a shawl or a pair of socks. I also love that this job gives me the opportunity to promote up-and-coming designers and independent yarn producers.



6.If you could give 3 pieces of knitting advice, what would they be?
Find a knitting group that suits you. Honestly, it’ll be the best thing you’ll ever do.
Nothing is ever as difficult as you think it’s going to be. So many people are scared of lace, or cables, or colourwork and really, it’s all just a matter of taking it stitch by stitch and not rushing yourself.
Invest in good, well-written patterns. Particularly for beginners, a poorly-written pattern can be the thing that stands between you and your FO.


Kate is giving away a copy of the latest Knit Now magazine as well as some yummy yarn, to win these prizes all you have to do is leave a little comment - PLEASE PLEASE leave your ravelry name or email address so I can contact you for your details.
You can find Kate as kathleenalice on Ravelry.

V xo

Friday 3 August 2012

Pixie Hood//FO Friday

Okay so I didn't finish either of the projects I had intended on finishing - shocking huh? However I worked late into Wednesday night to finish my pixie hood. I then did a little photoshoot by myself to get the best photos of the hat:
 It's a super cute, and very comfortable hat - plus it's easy to use and the 3 needle bind-off makes it look really great:
 I would recommend this knit to anyone, although it's simple you do learn a little and it's a nice potato chip project in that it takes no time at all to complete and you don't have to be paying too much attention!!! I also used my kindle for this pattern, I simply downloaded it and away I went. This photo was just for fun:
So what do you think? I entered into various "sports" in the ravellenic games - I'm really enjoying it. My 2nd mitt is coming on well but I just want to get Lenny the Elephant finished - just one arm to go then he'll be done too.
Make sure you stop in at Tami's to see what everyone else has finished.
V xo

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Progress?//WIP Wednesday

So there are a couple of projects I'm not sharing today because I'm hoping (keep your fingers crossed) to have at least one of them finished by Friday!!!


In the meantime my Come Josephine afghan now has 15 squares, she is growing really quickly because each square takes less than half an hour. I'm so in love with knitting this, I've started to think about how I'm going to join the whole thing - any ideas?

So here is the blanket, sorry about the photo quality this week, it's raining and really dull everywhere in the house - and this was taken with lights on:
 Secondly I may *cough* have casted on a hat -  I couldn't help it. I'm taking part in the ravellenic over on Ravelry so I need to cast things on. Right now I'm working on some mittens which I shared on Monday I think and this cute little hat. I'm about 4 inches in, and the whole thing just needs to be 9 inches so I'll get it finished quite quickly - I'm trying to do quick knits for the ravellenic games so that I stand a chance at actually getting some points!!!:
Make sure you stop by Tami's and Ginny's to see what everyone else is working on.
V xo

Monday 30 July 2012

Fable Fingerless Mitts//Ravellenic Games

So the Ravellenic Games are finally here, I've been waiting semi-patiently for a while now. I cast-on on Friday night whilst watching the questionable opening ceremony.
I decided my first project would be the Fable Fingerless Mitts, this fits into both mitten medley and single skein sprint - which is great, lots of points and some cute mitts too. I have already finished mitten 1, and cast on mitten 2:
I am already completely in love with these, the variagated yarn makes the mitts looks fair isle and they fit perfectly. They will need some blocking, so once mitt 2 is finished I'm going to wash them and pin them out - hopefully that'll make them perfect!!!!!

I have to say a HUGE thank you to all who recommended the book Finishing School to me, I bought a copy and I already feel like I've learned so much and that I'm finishing things with much more passion and care.


Are you taking part in the ravellenics? What are your projects? If you're not taking part, what are you knitting right now?
V xo

Sunday 22 July 2012

Knitting in Public//Year of Projects

So one of my challenges for year of projects was to knit more in public; alot of people in my area don't knit so it's nice to see a few people appreciating that someone does. So this past week I knit at a hospital appointment, I'm just knitting squares for my Come Josephine afghan, I got almost 3 done in the waiting room:
 And I also knit at the beach, this was lots of fun; some people watched as they walked by and others just didn't bother at all. I find it interesting to see different reactions to knitting:
What have you done for year of projects this week? Have you passed any of your goals?
V xo