A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 5

A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 5

Now I am going to have to do something I really hate - Picking Up Stitches.

Picking Up Stitches

I am now going to be working in the Opposite Direction. That means having to Pick Up the Black Stitches. This time is particularly difficult as the Super Chunky has a tendency to Split. Not only that it is a real pain trying to get all these Stitches onto the Needle.

Nevertheless I eventually Picked them Up. I had originally Cast On181 Stitches. I normally lose some when trying to Pick Up. However in this case I managed to end up with more. 184 Stitches in total.

Yet Another Yarn

I am using yet another type of Yarn. This was kindly given to me during a Craft Swap. I am changing the Colour Pallet.

First Row

I am adding the New Colour. I have marked where I am beginning from as I will need to know it for the next part.

Hole lot of Stitches

After one complete row. I start adding more Stitches. Now there are several ways of adding Stitches. You can pick up a Loop, Knit through the Front and Back of the Loop or Wind the Yarn over.

I am sure one of these doesn’t leave a hole. Unfortunately I picked the wrong one. Picking Up a Loop does leave a Hole. Since I made a Stitch roughly after every 5th Stitch there are a lot of them. I now have 210 Stitches on the Needle and I will need to increase again.

A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 1

 A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 1

Apologies if this blog might be a bit wordy in places. I had such a struggle that I didn’t take as many pictures as normal.

Lots of Balls

Right. After doing so many projects for myself and others I have ended up with Lots of Balls of Yarn. I say Yarn in this case as although I use Wool for myself I do use Acrylic or Blended for other people.

First of all I sorted all the Yarn into there respective materials. Since I might want the Wool for a project for myself I put that aside.

Adding Grey

I am afraid that I have jumped a great deal here. The Yarn was so tight that I was really struggling to Knit at all. So to Back Peddle naturally the first stop after sorting the Yarn was getting a suitable Knitting Needle.

This was my first problem. I decided that I would Knit in the Round so needed Circular Needles. I had several large Needles but unfortunately these were all accompanied by extremely short Circular Cords. Therefore I had to go down to a Smaller Size. 

I believe the Size I was using was 5 or 5mm. This was better but the Cord was still shorter than what I would like. This was because I was Casting on 201 Stitches. It is an uneven number so I would not lose any Stitches when I joined together.

Six and a Half Cm

I started off with Black Super Chunky Yarn which was left overs from projects where I had made my boyfriend things. See below for details. I Cast On 201 Stitches.

I immediately found that apart from the amount of Stitches on the Needle I was also was having problems with the Yarn itself. It liked to Split and even when Knitted it had lots of Fuzz all over the place.

This made extremely slow progress and the Needles were digging into my Fingers. To my mind it wasn’t so much Knitting as Alligator Wrestling. However I got to the End of the Row and Knitted 2 together to make the Join. After a long while  I finally got to the End of the Black Yarn and started with the Grey. This was the same type and just as difficult.

I decided to measure how far I had got. It was only 6.5 Cm but I decided I was going to start Decreasing anyway. I Decreased roughly every 4th Stitch until I reached 180 left on the Needle.

Argh a Twist in the Tail

I carried on Knitting a few more Rows then held it up to see it properly. To my Horror it was Twisted. One Twist I could cope with but with this I had no chance. The only thing I could do is Undo it all and start again!

Previous blogs

Nott’s County Hat

24/03/2022

https://lady-jane-quirky.blogspot.com/2022/03/notts-county-hat-2022.html

31/03/2022

https://lady-jane-quirky.blogspot.com/2022/03/notts-county-hat-2022-problem-with-pom.html

08/04/2022

https://lady-jane-quirky.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-problem-with-pom-poms-2022-solution.html

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 33

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 33

Annoyingly because I have been let down by somebody I cannot get to what I need. Therefore, I am having another swap around. Therefore, this will be a short blog

Adding Stitches

 

I am starting on the Other Side of the Bag. I have currently picked up 58 Stitches. I need to add 2 more, one at either end on the Knit Row. I then continue with a Purl Row.

Selvedge

 

I have decided to add a Selvedge... I have used these before. However, as a bit curious I decided to look up what this particular Style of Selvedge is. This is what I found.

French Style

On the right side slip, the first stitch knit -wise knit to the end. On the wrong side slip the first stitch purl-wise and purl to end.

Cast Off and Tails

The Selvedge did not flatten the work as I had hoped. Perhaps I should have used a different type. On the other hand, maybe it will be fine once pressed. In either case, I have now Cast Off and need to Sew in the Tails.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 24

 Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 24

Had to admit defeat. I cannot use small Thread to continue Sewing Backing on to Strap due to my continued mouth problem. I have had to jump across to a different part.

Noodle Aliens

 

It is late and I am struggling to write the blog. In desperation, I turn to my boyfriend for help. I ask him what does this look like to you? His reply I kid you not was Noodle Aliens having a fight.

Not sure, whether I should be checking his food for E Numbers or what exactly is in the herbal tea! However, it is a good description for how my brain is currently feeling.

Pressed Leaves

 

I have now washed and Pressed what I have Knitted and sorry to disappoint but they are not Aliens –Noodles or other kinds but a Leaf of each Colour that is in the Bag.

 All Sewn Up

 

I simply could not sort out what I was putting where. Normally I would leave some of the Tails to use to Sew together. The way things are going, I am going to have to play it more like the book. Have to stop again now as late. 

Will be checking for Noodle Aliens under the bed.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 18

 Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 18

This blog is a bit of a bust. Most of my photographs seemed to have either disappeared or great quality. So apologies but I have done my best with what is left.

Securing

 

The problem with changing colours so often is that it can leave loose Stitches. This will become a major problem once I have started using it and the Weight will naturally drag it Downwards.

I have begun the process of going over these areas. In the above photograph you can see where I have gone along the edge of the Orange to Secure it.

Blurry Blue

 

This was a very difficult photograph to take. I wanted to show how the Holes are so much bigger where I picked up Stitches. I have held the Knitting up in front of my computer screen. Therefore the Blue of the screen can easily be seen through the Larger Holes.

Brown Blur

 

Another difficult photograph to take. Once again I am holding it up against the screen. Now I have gone through with the Brown Wool the difference is much Smaller.

Red Top

 

There are many Straight Edges that you do not find in Nature that I need to tackle. Here I am Changing the Shape and also I fixing Holes at the same time.

Leaves and Orange

 

I have added 3 Leaves to the Second Strap. However there was a bit of a gap so I have embroidered some Orange in it. Much more to do so need to carry on.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 10

 Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 10

Finally on to the Decreasing of the Strap Stitches

Decrease to 28 Stitches

 

I Decreased the Stitches by 1 either end on the Knit Row.  I then Knitted 28 Purls Stitches. I turned the Bag around and did the same on the other Strap.

End of Decreasing

 

I changed Straps again then did another Row of Stocking Stitch. I repeated this until I had 20 Stitches left on both Straps

Straps coming along

 

Once I had 20 Stitches I carried on Knitting. I would Knit a Plain Row on one Strap then swap. I Knitted a Plain Row on the other Strap then Knitted a Purl Row on Both Straps.

The idea was by doing it this way I would keep the Straps even. Needless to say I got engrossed watching a programme and found that I had forgotten to swap. Therefore I had to put both Straps together back to back in order to measure the difference.

I had to add a couple of Rows until they were even again. The use of Stocking Stitch was causing the Straps to Curl. This will be sorted when I add the Backing.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 9

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 9

Time to tackle the other side.

Using a Needle

 

Instead of mucking about with Stitch Holders I am going to try using another Needle to take the Stitches Off.

Five at a Time

 

To make things easier on myself I decided to Knit Five Stitches at a Time. It might be slow going but at least I am not going to Stab myself with a bunch of Stitch Holders.

Three Needles

 

That being said I now had 3 different Needles in the Bag. One in the big loop. One with the 30 Stitches on and One I am currently Knitting with.

Another 30 Stitches

 

Finally another 30 Stitches. Next I shall do the Purl Row so it matches the other side. I also need to remove all the Stitch Markers as I don’t need them now.

Nott’s County Hat 2022

 Nott’s County Hat 2022

This blog is a follow on from the Nott’s County Scarf 2022

Black and White

 

I have a habit of over buying Yarn. My principle is I would rather have too much than too little. There is nothing worse than running out and not to be able to match the dye lot.

Hat Pattern

 

Since Covid hit we are unable to return unused Yarn. Therefore I asked Danny if he would like a Hat to go with his Scarf. He replied in the affirmative and therefore we went Pattern hunting.

It was amazing how difficult it was to find a simple Mans Beanie Pattern. In the end I bought a ladies one and would have to adjust as I went along.

Ribbed Stripe

 

My first adjustment was the Needle Size. I needed to make the Hat big enough for a Man. Since I didn’t want to muck about with the Stitches as it was a Ribbed Pattern I went up a Size and Knitted quite Loosely.

I was so intent on adding the first Stripe that I forgot to change Needles again. I didn’t realise until I had done that until the second Stripe. With this in mind I decided the best thing to do was to keep trying it against my boyfriend’s head.

Decreasing

 

I tried to keep the Stripes equal in Width whilst Decreasing. I decided to end with a Black Stripe to match the Bottom.

Hat Knitted

Once Knitted I had to Sew it up. I made a slight mistake Sewing up as I forgot to Reverse it on the Bottom for when it is Folded. Now I had to make a Pom-Pom. That is another story.

Pattern and Wool from Button Moon

https://www.facebook.com/buttonmoonarnold

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2019 Toggle & Loops

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2019 Toggle & Loops

With so many projects on the go it seems that I never have time to finish the one I started a few years ago. This is quite annoying as it is getting so close to being a finished item.

Toggles Badger Side

For quite some time I have been unhappy with the Toggles on the Interior. I have difficulty keeping one Tied whilst trying to do the next one.

I also haven’t as yet decided how to Tie the Interior further up. As you can see in the photograph above only 4 Toggles are Sewn on.

Unravelled

I decided to make some more I-Cords. These were to be used as either replacements or as additional securing. However since they are Knitted on Double Ended Needles whilst travelling this particular one decided to completely Unravel.

4 I-Cords

I Knitted 4 I-Cords. Since this was going to be a Trial and Error basis I didn’t measure them. They are roughly the same Length as a Motorola G Mobile for those who are technical.

Testing Tie

I next Tested the I-Cord for Length. I wanted to make sure that it would Tie after it had been Sewn on. If they were massively to Long I could simply Unravel and make Shorter Ties.

The next step is to Sew one Tie into place and decided whether to use the Toggles or to Remove them from the Interior.

Vhere there is a Vill there is a Vay! 2019 Part 4

Vhere there is a Vill there is a Vay! 2019 Part 4

Finally I have finished Knitting the Adjusted Pattern.

Loose Ends

Since the Pattern is now finished I need to start the tidying up. There are quite a few Loose Ends that need sewing and trimming.

Beginning of Rib

Once all the Ends were taken care of I could start on the next part. This was to add a Rib to finish the Top off. I had to work out what Rib Pattern to use.

I had 69 Stitches on the needle. I intended to keep the Selvedge’s so that left 65. I wanted to have both ends the same so I used a Rib Pattern of 5 Knit and 5 Pearl.

Top Rib

I did 10 Rows then Cast Off in Rib

Curling Bottom

If you look at the above photograph you can see the Bottom of the Blanket. It is curling over. This is why I added the Rib at the Top.

Before I can start the Rib I need to pick up the Stitches. This is the part I hate.

Autumn Cape A Long Term Project - 2018 More Hood Part 1

Autumn Cape A Long Term Project - 2018

More Hood Part 1

I know it seems like forever since I blogged about this project but there are several reasons for this one being the time of year. It is very hot and playing with this much wool just isn’t fun.

Another reason is I am at a difficult stage in the project and therefore do not want to rush. Last but not least since I have no pattern to work from I need peace and quiet in order to do so and frankly with my neighbours being so noisy I cannot concentrate.

Daytime Hood Pick Up 42 Stitches 

I have to admit I have been dreading this part. If there is one thing I hate it is picking up stitches. This is particularly difficult when it has been cast off but I fought through it and picked up 42 Stitches on a 5mm circular needle 

Daytime Hood 2 Rows Rib

The section I have picked up is from the Daytime Front Piece. I am using Dark Brown wool so with luck it will mimic a branch. The idea is to add a few rows of Rib and then slowly decrease at the open edge and pick up and knit onto the Hood.

Before starting the Rib I need to be at the correct place. I therefore have purled across so I am starting at the open end.

1^st Row

Knit 2 Purl 2 repeat until the end

2^nd Row

Purl 2 Knit 2 repeat until the end

Night Time Hood 2 Rows Rib

I am simultaneously working on the Night Time Front Piece. I again pick up 42 Stitches on 5mm needles and using Dark wool.

However in picking up I have ended up at a different starting place therefore this time I Knit until the end of the Row. This side I use the following formula

1^st Row

Purl 2 Knit 2

2^nd Row

Knit 2 Purl 2

I now need to check how much Rib I need to Knit