socherryknits

[Yay! It let me post pics] This is how far I've got with Under the Hoodie from Stitch n Bitch - the tension square magically worked itself out once washed. I barely had to pin it - it just 'went' to the right gauge with little prompting. So I cast-on and am really enjoying this. It's my first time with Addis, and knitting something 'proper' with circs - they really make knitting more portable, although as a 'pit-knitter', I struggled a bit initially. Brenda Dayne's podcast this week had loads of fun ideas and news that grabbed my attention; like Innocent [the ethical smoothie-makers] requesting tiny hats for their bottles in order to raise money for Age Concern this Christmas - I think I'll take part in this - there's a pattern to knit them up with DK yarn. She also podcasted about Knitting Pattern-a-day looking for designers for the 2007 edition of the pattern-a-day calenders . This looked like something I could definately get into, espe...

Since blogger is being a git and refusing to upload some pretty pics, you're just going to have to put up with a dull text post instead. So - I've just ordered the first copy of a new UK knitting magazine "Yarn Forward Magazine" Since Kerrie Allman of Magknits is behind this I'm very excited to see what pops through my door! I could lie and say that Blogger won't let me update this weeks cupcake pictures - Rocky Road Cupcakes - from Cupcakes Galore! but the truth is Evil Estrogen and her pal PMS sabotaged my efforts. They were supposed to take 20 minutes to bake - after 40 minutes they still weren't ready. I'm afraid I lost it a little and 'punished' them to death by burning them into rocks. I was found by the boy in the kitchen crying and knocking on them to illustrate their rock-like state. He still ate them though - bless him. I ordered the yarn for Central Park hoodie - Cascade 220 in shade 9430 [see below post's pics], which looks ...

Woo-eee! Blogger let me post more pics! Bracelet above is me in an extremely autumnal mood - Plastic and glass beads on a jewellery-quality aluminum 7 inch chain with gold-plated extender adding another inch of length. It could also be shortened. Fishy bead on a phone / zipper / bag charm - I LOVE this bead, it's so creative - made of glass with accent green seed beads at top and bottom. This is a more modular piece - made with a large orange anodized aluminum jump ring on a silver-plated snake chain. The small purple jump rings are also anodized aluminum, with a big purple plastic rectangular bead and light amber faceted glass bead to the left. I'm going to be taking lots for photos to list these for Etsy - so if anyone wants more pics / prices etc please don't hesitate to email me ! I forgot to say - for giant, clear pics --> click on pics and they will open in a new window. Move arrow off pics then over them - an icon will appear in the bottom right of the pic - cli...

I've had a very productive weekend preparing for my next stall - the spiderman iPod cover has a darker more black/purple spider (the camera wasn't playing!) and is £7.50 / $13.65 - mail me if you would like it, as I'm not listing on Etsy until after the stall. The top earrings are made using gold-plated earrings & findings, vintage metallic bronze 10mm beads and Swarovski citrine 4mm bicone beads. I love the autumn-al feel to these earrings. I haven't decided a price yet, but feel free to mail me . The blue/green beads are made with silver-plated earrings & silver-plated & sterling-silver findings. The green and blue shapes are glass beads that I totally love for their eighties retro feel - I have a few more of these style beads and am planning a necklace to match. Again, no price yet, but if you want them mail me !

Thank you everybody who responded on my blog and the many forums that I cried for help on! I have done much researching of substituting and the muddy fog has cleared to a bright sunshine day of understanding! This is what I have learned: Key C220 = Cascade 220 / TDT = Tahki Donegal Tweed Substituting - tips for success: Weight - Stick to the same weight yarn [i.e. stay with aran / worsted / DK etc] for maximum ease and avoidance of extreme maths in pattern alteration. C220 = worsted weight / TDT = worsted weight Check! Yardage - This one foxed me the most! How could something with the same stitches per inch, same needle size and same weight have a different length!? Explanation - different wools, cottons, blends etc are heavier than others. So althought they are both wool - they are from different animals - TDT must be from an animal with a heavier coat as there is less yardage per gram! Different yardage to the gram means that the FO will be physically heavier or lighter - the great...

Ok .. I'm having a tension nightmare! No. 1: Under the Hoodie [SnB] - my first venture with the Addi Turbos [so divine to knit with it brings tears to my eyes!] The tension required is 19 sts to 10cm with 5mm. I have 20.5 sts to cm. I have done a tension square ... but I haven't washed it yet. Should I go through this process, or should I get 5.5mm addis and try again? The sleeves I knitted from scarf style with the same yarn [Kid Classic] 'grew' on me quite a bit. I can fix it with blocking, but not much. I dont know what to do when the tension doesnt match! It was much less stressful when I didn't swatch ... but Rowan Kid Classic costs so much I can't afford not to! OK - tension headache No. 2 concerns Central Park Hoodie (pictured below) from this seasons Knitscene - I saw this pattern within it's pages at Woolfest and snapped it up, knowing I had to make this! It calls for Tahki Donegal Tweed : 183 yd (167m) / 110g - Tension 17 sts & 24 rows = 4 i...

Just because he's so cute, and he hasn't been well for a couple of days and I was worried about him and couldn't get him out of my mind. (He seems OK now - yay!)

Some fabby Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks , courtesy of my American yarn-enabler Lasandri [check out her site - she has a crocheted be-heading necklace - when worn it makes you look like your head's been severed - genius idea with Halloween just round the corner!] $1.79 per 50 gram ball - worsted weight 100% Peruvian Highland Wool - isn't that insanely cheap! It's lovely and soft too - I bought it thinking about a bag, but now I'm thinking mittens or armwarmers. AND ... my first Addi Turbos! Woo-woo! they are so beautiful to behold - I can't wait to cast-on " Under the Hoodie "!!

Well I turned on my iMac at the weekend to print up some more buttons - nothing. Press the button - no response... Checked the plug, connections etc. etc - no response. My baby has had a little question mark on start-up for about 2 years now - guess the battery finally gave up the ghost. It's the first ever Bondi Blue iMac so it's served me well - but I do feel a little emotional. Did I back up everything? Of course not. Most of it - but the badge images? Nope. The boy has a later iMac, so I checked the mains leads but no change. So I'm going to take the battery out and replace it with his - grab all my stuff of the hard-drive then it's probably recycle city for my baby :( I'm a bit scared about replacing the battery - full instructions came with the iMac so presumably it is safe, otherwise they wouldn't have provided instructions - right? But it is filled with bolded type throughout the instructions saying things like: Do NOT move around the room in case you bu...

No cupcakes last weekend - evil migraine took up my weekend. I just defrosted the rest of my Lamingtons instead - they froze very well. Tasted like I'd just made them once they were defrosted. So this weekend it was Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman [p. 26] It was a humid day on Sunday. Step 2 involved placing 'lemon cream' in a glass bowl over a pan of bubbling hot water and stirring constantly for 20 minutes until 'smooth and thick' ... 20 minutes later lemon cream still has consistency of milk and I'm roasting and muttering to self " define 'stirring constantly'! is that stir fast or stir slow? " It seemed to thicken slightly if I stirred slowly, so I tried that for a bit. Then I stirred slower, taking quick 10 seconds breaks for ice lolly as I was sweating by now standing over the hot cooker with the preheated oven below giving it's own heat. Another break to remove socks and then jeans. With nowhere to tu...

The boy put up some shelves in my studio and so I organised my supplies - see all my beads and beading supplies below the b&w knitting poster [rec'd from my Secret Pal ] So I'm feeling all 'feng shui'd' and ready for the push to my next stall. Miso Funky Craft Fair - 9th September, Hillhead Library, Byres Road, Glasgow 2 new iPod cosies - £7.50 / $13.65 each. Will fit: iPod Video 30GB dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.1cm. iPod Video 60GB dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.4cm. iPod Photo 20 & 30GB dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.6cm. iPod 20GB (4th gen. click wheel) dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.4cm. iPod 20GB (3rd gen.) dimensions: height 10.4cm, width 6.1cm, thickness 1.6cm. I'm probably not going to list much on my Etsy shop until after the fair so I'll just upload new items here, and if anyone sees anything they would like let me know !

Oh yes! The blanket is 'officially' done! It is currently blocking [a practice I can rarely be arsed with, but this is a present for a baby ... ] using a method that a fellow SnB'er found on the Yarn Harlot's blog called: "Walk around the Block" I did briefly think of not bothering with this - sewing a thread up all the edges *sigh* and it took so long that I thought the blanket was going to be dry by the time I finished. I was halfway through when I had a panic about the pastel green cotton that I was using - what if it bleeds with the damp blanket? Those knitters who do tension squares probably would have had the patience to pull out what they had done and re-thread the blanket using white cotton instead. I couldn't face it. Goody-two-shoes knitter on my shoulder was whispering 'it took you so long to finish this blanket - are you really telling me that you're prepared to risk it all over the 30 minutes it'd take to start again?' Lazy-ar...

The first sock done! DK pattern and Schoeller & Stahl Limbo Color Col: 2539 - bought from Web Of Wool at Woolfest [they have just updated their website by the way - it's great] I'm totally in love with this yarn! It's like TV white snow but in glorious technicolour. It pains me to stop halfway through - although I have cast on the second sock and done a few rows just to avoid SSS. As it's DK yarn it goes so much faster - and is lovely, cosy and autumnal. The middle pic is my very first shot at kitchener stitch ... it was doubly-hard as I didn't really understand *what* kitchener stich is. I didn't realise until I saw a finished pic somewhere on the internet that it's a stitch that makes it look like there is no join - just knitting continued around the toe. Mine doesn't look like that ... But it's fantastically comfortable, and sock #2 will be better!

My next project is going to be 'Under the Hoodie' from Stitch n Bitch I have waited a long time for John Lewis to start stocking their winter yarns as I have [had!] a voucher from my work colleague for my birthday just waiting to spend. Well I popped into JL last week for some electronic scales for my cupcakes - after picking myself up from the floor after reading the price I thought I'd amble up to the yarn section. I believe I may have lost my senses and my mind a bit - I saw some sparkly Rowan Romance , some Rowan Tapestry soy yarn in self-striping colours. I cannot find a nice internet pic of Tapestry but I can assure all of you unable to *touch* it that it is about 300% lovelier in the flesh than any picture on the internet. I have little recollection of the visit, other than occasionally moaning to myself as new and glorious yarns appeared in my vision. When I came to I had an arm full of Kid Classic and had lost the ability to do the maths required to figure out ho...

And I received my final SP parcel this week! Yay :) Some beautiful Surina 8mm - nice and long for a 'pit-knitter' :) and some Australian 4mm needles "hand crafted from a unqiue blend of all natural materials to create the luxury and feel of real ivory" which look like a dream to knit with - I'll keep you posted. I've never seen needles like these before - see here for the website. She also sent this poster entitled "Scots Fisher Girls Great Yarmouth 1902" which is inspired considering she is from that area and I'm a Scots girl. I have hung it up in my craft room above the table I work on. Brilliant ideas - I am ever so grateful to you SP for all the hard work and thought that has gone into spoiling me. Despite my unexpectedly receiving a SP from England, I have received SP gifts that I would have never been able to get myself or even have seen before! She has gone out of her way to ensure that I am spoiled rotten - I can only hope that my SP is a...

My latest iPod Nano mitten cosy - inspired by the recent heatwave it's knit in hot summery stripes - click here to buy $17.00 / £9.95. I'm having great fun knitting these, and think they will make great Christmas pressies [oh yes I am already thinking about Christmas!]

I had an 'accident' in Amazon - I blame the 'One Click' system that they have for making it far too easy to purchase yet more knitting books. Yarn Harlot : The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee had me in absolute stitches. Lying in bed reading about her adventures upon finding a moth had me laughing [under my breathe as the boy was sleeping] so hard that the entire bed was shaking ... a total hoot. I also got Hot Knits which is full of funky [and also a few not-so-funky] jumper designs - my fav by far is a green intarsia jumper - although I have yet to tackle intarsia without crying & frogging, but soon... And finally, a big thank you to Kathleen for finding these adorable cupcakes papers - I can't wait to find the right cupcakes for these - I think Christmassy ones will be the ones. They're fabulous!

Opal sock yarn, sea salt soap bar, Surina dpns and amazing gift tag. Thank you thank you Secret Pal for my giant box of goodness that arrived this weekend - I love the colourway on the sock yarn very much, and Surina dpns!! I coveted these deeply at Woolfest but resisted - and as we are prone to do - regretted not purchasing them on the journet home. And attached to my lovely Surinas was this adorable gift tag - this sock is THE cutest, and I have planned a knitting bag for my meets that will contain a clear pvc panel at the front behind which will lie this teeny-tiny sock. It must have taken ages and huge amounts of patience to knit. I also brought the beautiful scarf along to my Stitch n Bitch group meet this afternoon and everyone ooh'd and aah'd over it :) Thank you again SP - you've made the experience so enjoyable for me :)

This weeks featured seller is my fav of all - Sea Breeze Studio! Her bags are amazingly well-made, and I can't speak highly enough of them. If you don't believe me, check her glowing well-deserved feedback :) Here are a few of my personal favs below [descriptions relate to image above]: Drawstring closure bag - Vintage Kimono - click here to buy $40.00 Pochette - Retro 70s vintage -Lyons- with beige base - click here to buy $30.00 Granny style tote - Rio - click here to buy $38.00 Granny bag - Blossom cranberry and matching cell phone pouch - JUST SOLD ! She has more bags with different patterns currently for sale. She also does custom orders if you see something you like that has sold. Speaking of custom orders .... this was my custom order to Sea Breeze Studio's. I use this bag all the time, and totally love it. It's the granny bag in a canvas spirograph pattern [I love retro!] with a zingy lime lining and matching iPod / phone pouch that looks just fab attached ...