Sunday 26 February 2012

The "Long Thing"

I have a ongoing project that was inspired by a friend of mine.

She is taking all the random bits and bobs of yarn from her stash and knitting them into a "Big Thing".

And when she says "Big" she means it!

Her tag-end-eating monstrosity was well over 200 stitches per row the last time she was brave enough to attempt a count. Each row is so long that it takes multiple sittings to complete, and sometimes the old yarn runs out and new has to be brought in at least twice midway.

I wasn't quite brave enough to attempt something of that magnitude, but I did need something to up all my tag-ends of yarn on since I'm too lazy to turn them all into Magic Balls. The situation in my stash was getting a little desperate, with an entire shoebox full of bits and pieces far too short for a project of their own, but too long to be shredded for stuffing.

From this crisis, the Long Thing was born.

I took a pair of knitting needles that I inherited from my Grandpa, some shorter bits left from one of his post-clip-dog-vest projects, and cast on.



The Long Thing has accidentally become a kind of history of projects and people. A few sections come from donations from people in the Knitting Squad, many stripes are left-overs of my own. A precious few come from my Grandfather's stash and quite a few sections were purchased at Op-Shops specifically for inclusion in the Long Thing.

Hmmm, I guess it kinda defeats the original purpose of the Long Thing if I go and get yarn specifically for it ^.^;

~Topaz

Monday 20 February 2012

My Very Own Beanie

I liked the hat I made for Mum so much I decided to make myself one!

Using the same pattern, which has become known in the NEV Knitting Squad as the "Boyfriend Hat" (Aren't those decreases absolutely divine?) and some utterly adorable Magic Garden Classic Prints baby yarn that essentially started dancing a little cabaret on the shelf singing "You want me, you know you want me!" when I saw it. (You know that feeling, when you see a really pretty ball or skein and you ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE IT, right?)

It is warm and bright and cheerful, the perfect pick-me-up hat for a walk to work on a cold winter's morning.



Yes, that's me at 6:30am on a chilly Saturday morning. There is a good reason why I dislike having my photo taken!

~Topaz

Wednesday 15 February 2012

The Many Stages Of My Mother's Hat

So, for Mother's Day last year I decided to be nice and make my Mum a hat. I figured that winter was just around the corner, and she'd probably need something to keep hear head warm whilst walking the animate mop she calls a dog.

(Mono is a wee white West Highland Terrier. Cute, but a little on the short side for full 'Dog' status in my books)

Mother's Day happens to fall near my paternal Grandmother's birthday, and we were planning on driving up to Christchurch to celebrate with her. My partner was driving, so this guaranteed me five or so hours of uninterrupted knitting time in which to make Mum's hat.

I wasn't entirely sure what colour to make Mum's hat. Naturally all her clothes are different colours, and I didn't want to get something that clashed horribly with 90% of her wardrobe. I found a nice shade of grey to execute the project in, and then I consulted Ravelry for a pretty beanie pattern I could pull off in the car. Something that looked nice, but wasn't too complicated in execution.

I fell in love with this pattern. The decreases are wonderful and make a monotone hat into something a little special.

After disturbing some poor hitchikers with the sight of a young female happily knitting and talking away a long car trip, I presented Mum with her hat.

She liked it! *Smug face*



(That's her 'I like my new hat, but why do you need a photo?' face)

At Nana's party we caught up with one of my many Uncles, who had come over from Australia for the Birthday Festivities. Canterbury is a darn sight cooler in climate than Queensland and my uncle was as bundled up as he could be without getting hassled by his brothers and he STILL looked cold. Mum very kindly leant him her brand new hat for the night, since a grey beanie is a "manly" way of staying warm.

The hat is now in Australia, probably stuffed in the glove box of his massive B-Triple truck.

Mum was a little bit pissed off by this hat-theft, so I offered to make her a replacement hat. Mum agreed, on the condition that SHE got to pick the yarn.

You know what happens when a non-knitter is allowed an unsupervised yarn-buying trip? You get a ball of overpriced, inferior quality wool yarn that has KNOTS halfway through which COMPLETELY CHANGE the colourway and provide a point of potential unravelment during hard wearing.

Oh well, it was a very pretty colourway. I would have been all over it if it was on sale too ^.^;

The placement of the knots in the ball of yarn Mum chose for her hat meant that it was about 5cm too short for Comfortable Ear Coverage, so I picked up around the bottom seam and added on a few extra rows of ribbing with some Barbie-Pink yarn to give it a bit of a boost.




There, now she can walk Mono in stylish comfort. You'll definitely see her coming at the dog park!

~Topaz