Sunday Stitches – Mini Horseshoe Lace and Zig-Zag Lace

Hello,

This week I would like to share 2 lace patterns – the mini horseshoe and zig-zag patterns, taken from The Stitch Library by Claire Crompton.

Mini Horseshoe Lace

Worked over multiple of 6 stitches + 1.

The sample shown is worked over 37 stitches.

Row 1 (RS): K1, [yo, k1, sk2po, k1, yo,k1] 6 times
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K1, [k1, yo, sk2po, yo, k2] 6 times
Row 4: Purl

Repeat rows 1 – 4

Zig Zag Lace

Worked over multiple of 10 stitches.

The sample shown is worked over 40 stitches.

Row 1 (RS): [K2, p3, k2tog, yo, k3] 4 times
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: [K1, p3, k2tog, yo, k4] 4 times
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: [P3, k2tog, yo, k5] 4 times
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: [K3, yo, ssk, p3, k2] 4 times
Row 8: Purl
Row 9: [K4, yo, ssk, p3, k1] 4 times
Row 10: Purl
Row 11: [K5, yo, ssk, p3] 4 times
Row 12: Purl

Repeat rows 1 – 12

Stitch Abbrevaitions

k– Knit.
p – Purl.
yo – Wrap the working yarn over the right needle, from front to back (counter-clockwise).
k2tog – Knit 2 stitches together
ssk – Slip 2 stitches knitwise, then knit slipped stitches together
Sk2po – Slip 1 stitch, knit 2 stitches together, pass slipped stitch over (2 sts decreased)

Happy knitting! x

A Post About Knitting. And Cats.

I had set myself a deadline to finish my C&G module by end of November and I am tantalizingly close to the end, just a few more colour samples to knit and a bit of typing to do…but I have to admit defeat and push my deadline back a couple of weeks. Meh. The last couple of weekends have been really busy seeing friends and family and this weekend the wonderful Mr. A has announced that he is whisking me off to London. And who am I to argue with that?!

For some reason I find it hard to work on the course in the evenings, I think I need to be in the ‘zone’, which I find so much easier to get into at the weekend. Mr. A doesn’t argue with my need to knit at weekends, he is a keen musician so it means he gets to retreat to his man cave studio and work on his projects too. It’s a happy balance!

During the week I work on stitch samples, ongoing projects and designs. One ongoing project I have yet to cast off the rework of the mobius cowl I seem to have been working on forever.

Only 4 more rounds to go though and it’s already twice as wide as it was before so that’s a good sign surely….I did the rework in the Roman Stripe stitch I posted about on Sunday.

I have also been inspired by the wonderful blogging community this week. Firstly, if you haven’t read the Contented Crafter’s recent post on Sharing the Love, you really should. It’s a wonderful and thought provoking post on just how powerful the blogging community can be. Pauline offers the chance to take part in two random act’s of kindness and it’s so inspiring that my next project is going to be dedicated to one of them. At the moment my work is taking me to London a few days a week and thanks to Ravelry I have found the perfect project for this that will accompany me on the commute.

I have also been inspired by the Twisted Yarn’s wonderful Christmas Trees. Living in a house with 3 cats it’s not feasible to put up a real tree as it will just get demolished so I have decided to knit one. It will probably still get batted over by curious paws but it’s a risk I am willing to take! Today I went to my LYS and stocked up on supplies.

Speaking of the devil’s please let me introduce you to ‘they who like to sit on anything knitted’ – Micicles (Mike the small one), Pea (the great big doofus) and the sinister grumpster herself…Moomins (The Mooms).

These 3 are the reason why we can’t have a big Christmas tree, however it doesn’t stop me dreaming….

Sunday Stitches – Roman Stripe and Fluted Rib Stitch

Hello! The stitch samples I would like to share with you this week are two patterns taken from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G Walker.

Roman Stripe

Worked over an even number of sts

The sample shown is worked over a cast on of 26 sts.

Row 1: K1, [k1, yo] 24 times, k1 (50 sts).
Row 2: K1, p48, k1 (50 sts).
Row 3: K1, k2tog 24 times, k1 (26 sts).
Row 4: K1, [k2tog, yo] 12 times, k1 (26 sts).
Row 5: K1, [yo, k2tog] 12 times, k1 (26 sts).
Rows 6-7: K26 (26 sts).

Repeat rows 1 – 7

Fluted Rib Stitch

A simple, reversible knit and purl stitch pattern, which when left unblocked falls into soft wide ribs.

This is the pattern when blocked.

Worked over a multiple of 8 stitches + 1

The sample shown is worked over 33 sts.

Rows 1, 2 and 3: P1 [k7, p1] 4 times.
Row 4: K2, [p5, k3] 3 times, p5, k2
Row 5: P3, [k3, p5] 3 times, k3, p3.
Rows 6, 7 and 8: K4 [p1, k7] 3 times, p1, k4
Row 9: Repeat Row 5
Row 10: Repeat Row 4

Repeat rows 1 – 10

Stitch Abbrevaitions

k– Knit.
p – Purl.
k2tog – Knit 2 stitches together.
yo – Wrap the working yarn over the right needle, from front to back (counter-clockwise).

Happy knitting! x

Sunday Stitches – Checkerboard Mesh and Zig Zag Ribbon Stitch

I love to swatch, I really do. I try to find time in the week to try out a couple of stitch patterns so I thought I would create a regular feature on this blog to share them. Welcome to Sunday Stitches!

The 2 examples this week were taken from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G Walker.

Checkerboard Mesh

Worked over a multiple of 10 sts plus 4

Row 1: P34.
Row 2: K1, [k3, yo, ssk, k1, [k2tog, yo] twice] 3 times, k3.
Row 3: P34.
Row 4: K3, [[yo, ssk] twice, k1, k2tog, yo, k3] 3 times, k1.
Row 5: P34.
Row 6: K2, [[yo, ssk] 3 times, k4] 3 times, yo, ssk.
Row 7: P34.
Row 8: K1, [[yo, ssk] 4 times, k2] 3 times, yo, ssk, k1.
Row 9: P34.
Row 10: K2, [[yo, ssk] 3 times, k4] 3 times, yo, ssk.
Row 11: P34.
Row 12: K3, [[yo, ssk] twice, k1, k2tog, yo, k3] 3 times, k1.
Row 13: P34.
Row 14: K1, [k3, yo, ssk, k1, [k2tog, yo] twice] 3 times, k3.
Row 15: P34.
Row 16: K2tog, yo, [k4, [k2tog, yo] 3 times] 3 times, k2.
Row 17: P34.
Row 18: K1, [k2tog, yo, k2, [k2tog, yo] 3 times] 3 times, k2tog, yo, k1.
Row 19: P34.
Row 20: K2tog, yo, [k4, [k2tog, yo] 3 times] 3 times, k2

Repeat rows 1 – 20

Zig Zag Ribbon Stitch

Worked over a multiple of 10 stitches

Row 1: P30.
Row 2: [LI, k2, ssk, k5] 3 times.
Row 3: P30.
Row 4: [K1, LI, k2, ssk, k4] 3 times.
Row 5: P30.
Row 6: [K2, LI, k2, ssk, k3] 3 times.
Row 7: P30.
Row 8: [K3, LI, k2, ssk, k2] 3 times.
Row 9: P30.
Row 10: [K4, LI, k2, ssk, k1] 3 times.
Row 11: P30.
Row 12: [K5, LI, k2, ssk] 3 times.
Row 13: P30.
Row 14: [K5, k2tog, k2, BLI] 3 times.
Row 15: P30.
Row 16: [K4, k2tog, k2, BLI, k1] 3 times.
Row 17: P30.
Row 18: [K3, k2tog, k2, BLI, k2] 3 times.
Row 19: P30.
Row 20: [K2, k2tog, k2, BLI, k3] 3 times.
Row 21: P30.
Row 22: [K1, k2tog, k2, BLI, k4] 3 times.
Row 23: P30.
Row 24: [K2tog, k2, BLI, k5] 3 times.

Stitch Abbrevaitions

k– Knit.
k2tog – Knit 2 stitches together.
p – Purl.
ssk – Slip 2 stitches knitwise, then knit slipped stitches together.
yo – Wrap the working yarn over the right needle, from front to back (counter-clockwise).
LI – (Lifted Increase) Insert right-hand needle into the front of the next stitch in the row below and knit; then knit the stitch on the needle.
BLI – (Back Lifted Increase) Insert right-hand needle into the back of the next stitch in the row below (i.e. from the top down into the purled loop behind the stitch on the needle) and knit; then knit the stitch on the needle in the usual way.

Happy knitting! x

A Mobius Fail, a Knitting Group and New Needles!

It’s been a busy week this one but I have still found time to whip out the needles when I can. My mobius cowl didn’t turn out quite to plan, I cast off at the weekend but it soon became clear that I had cast on far too many stitches and after 2 hours of binding off I was left with a cowl that hit the floor when I put in on! I thought it was a bit too thin just before I ran out of yarn and cast off but I convinced myself all would be ok. But it went from this…

….to this! I may be smiling here but inside I was preparing myself for the frog! Oopsy!

So anyway, frog I did and recast on with a lot less stitches. Fingers crossed for attempt no.2!

I am really happy this week as I have found a local knitting group 🙂 Through the powers of Ravelry I found out that there was a group not to far from me, so on Weds evening I packed up my newly cast on cowl and headed down to meet some fellow knitters. There were only 3 of us knitters on this occasion, plus 2 other halves but everyone was lovely and I felt lucky to have met some local like-minded knitterly people.

I have also had a few ‘presents’ through the door this week. During the recent knitting weekend in Ammerdown I was introduced to some 6″ knit pro needles, perfect for swatching! I ordered some from the Knitting4fun website just to try them out. A perfect size for handbags, they are going to be brilliant for knitting swatches on the go.

Speaking of handbags, one of the ladies at Ammerdown was in possession of this little beauty, the Thames Knitting Bag . This is so on my Christmas list!!

I also ordered a fixed Addi Lace needle after hearing some good reviews. I have yet to try it out though.

The other purchase was a Fair Isle knitting book.

So I have lot’s to keep me going. Plus this weekend I really need to knuckle down and finish module 4 of the C&G course. After stalling for so long and seeing what is coming up in the next module I have set myself the deadline of the end of November to complete it. And now I have said it, it has to happen!

It’s Getting Chilli!

The nights are really drawing in now and after last weekend saw an unseasonably mild start to November the temperatures have taken a turn this week. Yep, defrosting cars is back on!

On Wednesday it was fireworks night, although you wouldn’t have known it round here as it was pretty quiet (which pleased the cats!) I imagine there will be quite a few displays going on this weekend.

We did get a little firework fix last weekend though at our annual friends Halloween party. This year the theme was tube stations….which is actually a lot easier than it sounds! We had King Cross, Angel, Shepherds Bush, High Barnet, Elephant & Castle, Kew Gardens, Holloway, Baker Street, Paddington, Wimbledon and  Waterloo (ok, so it was me and my best friend dressed as the Abba girls – but you get the idea!)

It was a great night! Below is an obligatory firework photo, and also see if you can guess the tube station from the ‘tubebat’ which was part of a quiz our friends put together.

(the answer is below)

Needless to say there were a few sore heads on Sunday….but nothing that a berocca and a bit of comfort food couldn’t solve 🙂

Speaking of comfort food, now Autumn has officially made herself known I have been inspired to get back into the kitchen and try my hand at some new recipes. It’s out with light summer salads and in with the sausage and mash (bye bye waistline…see you next Spring….hopefully!)

I mentioned in a previous blog post how Mr A and I were having fun trying to incorporate chilli’s into pretty much anything we cook. My favourite’s so far are our home made Chilli Sauce (recipe from the One Pot Chef on YouTube) and a variation of Thai Chicken meatballs.

So on Wednesday when the air was biting and I was thinking about chips, the Young & Hungry blog post for Chilli Con Veggie hit my blog reader. I had no choice but to hotfoot into town to get the ingredients.

Made with sweet potato, butternut squash, chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers, onion. spices and chilli’s, it was the perfect solution to a chilly autumn night. I served with a few potato wedges (not home-made I am ashamed to say but hey, one thing at a time!) and didn’t make the guacamole to go with it but it certainly went down well with Mr. A, he was most impressed when he walked through the door! It was so tasty, so tasty in fact that we had it again last night 🙂

You’ve probably guessed by now that I am not a fan of the cold, but the longs nights do have their upside…I no longer need to get home from work and feel the need to ‘make the most of the sunshine’, instead I can get home, put on the PJ’s, pour a little glass of wine and settle down with my knitting. Bliss!

I am currently working on a Möbius cowl, it’s been a fun knit and I will do a separate post about this soon.

Bye for now!

And the answer to the Tubebat is of course……..Finsbury Park!