Knit Club

(for some reason I feel this post has a dreary tone. My apologies to those who usually pop 

by for a giggle. It's the damn mojo problem I fear)

It's like Fight Club only we brandish kniting needles rather than fists. It's great. I love it.  It's only once a month for a few hours on a Saturday morning and I look forward to it immensely. I've only been going since March (I think) but everyone is so welcoming that I feel like I've been attending for much longer. I met Helen and Jo, fellow bloggers, there too who are super lovely. But it's a bit wierd when real life collides with cyber. They know so much about me!!

Debbie Bliss. *Sigh* Purchased from The Wool Sanctuary.

Suzie who owns The Wool Sanctuary where Knit Club takes place is bonkers in the bestest way ever. Never ask her for diet tips for she will tell you to aggressively eat a doughnut but chew then spit don't swallow. I kid you not!!! She is a skinny minny so maybe that is the answer...hmmmmmm...

I stole this fab pic from Suzie's blog. Watch out Suzie I WILL steal this
frock of yours on Saturday!!

The Wool Sanctuary is like the bestest part of John Lewis, rammed to the rafters with Debbie Bliss and Rowan yarn and some other scrummy yarn. So inspiring to be able to sit amongst the yarn and knit. Also there's the added bonus of having a group of women there who are ready, willing and able to help me out when I get stuck....every five minutes when I've lost count of rows......every ten minutes when I've dropped a stitch. I am hopeless. It's so hard!!! I can remember my Mum teaching me to knit as a child. I took to it ok. I would chant "up the little rabbit hole, round the little tree, up pops he and off goes she" so that I could remember the moves but I ended up with a triangular shaped piece of knitting that looked like the front of a pair of knickers and it was holey like the moths had had a nibble.

I know you have heard me grizzling about knitting in the past but I have hope that I will conquer this knitting thing. I did think I was a Natural Born Knitter. Rather smugly in fact. I cast on easily. No problems there. I knitted. I purled. I cast off. "Cor!" thought I "What's the big deal! This knitting is easy peasy!" but then I started doing patterned stitches where each row is a bit different or the stitches alternate on a row and that is where my problems start. I simply can't count my rows unless they are all knit or all purl. If I drop a stitch I can't pick it up according to the pattern sequence. I end up with a mess and the air turns blue. I have no patience with knitting and I get in a nardy strop and start frogging and frogging and rabbiting as Alice calls it. Alice has even given me very clear instruction on how to pick up stitches as has Sandi but alas, if it's a patterned piece I have no choice but to frog the stuff right back to the slip knot because I also find it hard to pick the stitches up again and even when I do I get them twisted  (even if I could pick up each stitch I'd still have no idea where I am in the pattern as I cant count rows) and I always have a dropped stitch or eight which I can't pick up. See? Soooooooooooooo frustrating. Cue frenzied frogging. Imagine Animal from The Muppets on the drums and you'd not be far off.

 I was saying all this at Knit Club during 'Show and Tell' or 'Woe and Tell' as far as I'm concerned, one of the ladies, lets call her Genius Girl, said I should run a peice of yarn through the stiches on my needle at strategic points so if I go wrong I can frog to there and the stitches will all be on the yarn marker and they'll all face the right way and wont get lost. When I'm done I can them just pull the yarn marker out. It works a TREAT! She really deserves the title Genius Girl. I've found using embroidery thread in a contrasting colour works best.

This is the free yarn and it's a bit too rough and squeaky for a nice blanket

I have been practicing basic knitting by making these Innocent Smoothy hats which you can read about here. In short people like me knit these little hats and send them to Innocent Smoothy Head Quarters where they get plonked on a bottle and sold in the shops. For each be-hatted smoothy that is sold 25p goes to Age UK. There's a crochet pattern here but I reckon an egg cosy would work too. If you want to make some then either get in touch with Suzie or Innocent Smoothies for details of where to send them.

this is NOT the free yarn

For the smoothy hats I've been using the free yarn that came with the above knitting monthly magazine which promises to teach you to knit by creating a different square using a different technique/stitch each week.

The first few squares of the blanket

It wasn't going well what with all the frogging and the mental block. I said as such on my blog a while back which prompted Wendy to leave me a message to say she had a fab book that taught her to knit. She told me all about it and then asked me if I'd like it. Of course I said YES!!!

Lovely lovely Wendy (who is a bonkers prolific crafter and does some aMAYzing stuff) posted it to me and it has totally cleared up a few of my smaller issues and reassured me that my bigger issues will go with time and practice. There are some great patterns which expand your skills as you work through the book. Edited to add: do pop over to Wendy's today for she has a very funny post up about the woes of crafting.

Wendy sent a gorgeous book mark and card too. Look at how neat her stitches are.

I think I'll have a go at these projects:

But maybe I'll not try this knitted tie, not sure Mr C would be very kind about a knitted tie.

Once I am done with the book I am going to offer it out to a fellow blogger who wants to learn to knit. I shall pop Wendy's blog details and my own in the front and whoever receives it after me is to do the same. Once they have learned to knit they are to send it on to another fellow blogger.  A bit like a library book with provenance. I love the idea that this book will gain more scribble through out it, more notes and ticking off of rows to go along side my own and Wendy's.

Wendy's ticks

At the beginning of Knitty Gritty it is advised to knit on large needles so I made a snood from a pattern from The Wool Sanctuary....




.....except I had trouble wealding the large needles and my usually tight tension became way too loose and the size is all wrong. It doesn't fit like it should. I should have done a tension square. But I will still wear it as I can wrap it around twice so all is not lost. Tis also a perfect excuse to buy more yarn in a different colour for I have changed my mind about the bright pink....I think a softer colour next time.

It's been a busy old time in the nest of late (Mini is ill) but I have been trying to make the most of it since the boys return to school next week. I figure I'll catch up with myself and all of you then. Until then I shall enjoy having the kids to myself and not having to do the school run twice a day. Before I go I must acknowledge the fact that I won a giveaway over at Sew Sweet Violet. I am beyond chuffed and want to spend a little longer waxing lyrical about the heavenly bunting I won and I shall do so in another post another day. But for a little peek go over and have a look at this and all the gorgeous stuff Jooles is making.


xxx

ps. The Yicks are doing very well. The Biggun's are loving having a free pass to piddle all over the enclosure and so far no fox has been spotted. We get two eggs a day and they come running over for a cuddle whenever I go out there, the chickens, not the eggs. Eggs can't run about. Oh how I love those Yicks!!! They come over and let me pick them up so there will never be any problems putting them to bed. I can pop them in whenever I need to rather than waiting for them to go to bed as the sun sets.

pps. My delight with Mollie Makes magazine continues (apart from one issue which I was disappointed with) especially as they have done away with the crappity crap horrid felt free gift. The material one is much better. I mention this as MM has just plopped into my post box so I will be even more quiet as I hide in the utility room having a read but pretending to be sorting out the washing. Ha ha haaaaa!