GROW YOUR BLOG!

Today marks the 'Grow Your Blog' party, organised by Vicki at  '2 Bags Full' so, as per her suggestion - 

'Welcome to my blog!'

 (and if any of you are new here then I hope you find plenty to interest or amuse you!)

Perhaps I'd better explain my blog's title (no, I do not go around stabbing people with my knitting needles or garrotting them with yarn!). One of my other blogs 'I Refuse To Go Quietly!' is where I tend to put my fiction works, amongst other items. The name 'The Knitting Assassin!' was bestowed upon me by a writing buddy there because I have, on occasion, written crime flash-fiction with knitting as part of the story. (try 'Stitch'n'bitch' for example)

Anyway, aside from writing I DO love to knit. (keeping my hands busy gives me time to mind-plot stories, too!) I've been knitting since I was a small child but in the last few years I've really been doing what I term 'chain-knitting' - constantly having projects on the go! Since I recently took early retirement from my job in the local town library, I now have more time to indulge my passions, both literary and yarnwise.

Sadly, although I live in a medium-sized town  in the heart of the UK, we have very few outlets for yarn! Most of it is very basic - to purchase more 'interesting' stuff requires a trip to village nearby (and even then there's only a limited range) so I usually trek over to the nearest city where I can at least have more choice!

We are also close to Toft Alpaca farm  - fun to drive along the country roads and spot the Alpacas grazing away, converting grass into woolly yarn!

I like to think I'm a fairly frugal knitter - I really can't afford expensive yarns, so I will usually substitute yarn if I can. Like for this 'Tilt' jacket:

The original pattern required Noro, but would have cost me about £120 to knit - so I substituted a similar but cheaper yarn and it came in at about £35! (and it's a really lovely soft and snuggly jacket!)

Over the years I've knitted all manner of things (including adapting a pattern for baby bootees to resemble a pair of 'baby' Doc Marten boots, for a 'goth' friend's new baby!) - if you trawl through my blog you'll find some of my later projects (and a few pictures, below).

I've recently started investigating how to design my own patterns and I'm always on the look-out for new ideas. I discovered it is possible to 'hybridise' quilting and knitting and found a blog/website with turtorials on how to achieve a knitted 'log cabin' quilt - so of course I had to have a go at that! (see the pink and green 'block' in the pictures below)

Continuing with 'hybridising', I would like to try achieving this lattice smocking:

 - but using yarn.......! I expect it's already been done (there is nothing new under the sun!) but I think it could make an interesting knitted fabric, all the same!

Of course, I also love spending time looking at what other knitters and 'yarn engineers' get up to and some of my favourites are on the blog-roll on the left of this page - try them out for size if you have time!

Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by - please leave a comment (and a link back to your blog!) so I can return the compliment. Remember - we're all in this together! ;-)

~~~oOo~~~

(pics from some of my previous projects.....details are scattered though my blog!)

                

                      (.....and when I'm not knitting....!)

A New Year - a new project (or three.....!)

I decided to rummage through some of my old knitting patterns over the Christmas holidays and found one that bears a dual pricing note, (both £sd and 'new' decimal currency), thus dating it to the early 1970's!

I fancied a simple long waistcoat so this morning, when DD and I went to our nearest wool shop, in the quaint village of Dunchurch, with it's lovely thatched cottages, I bought some simple grey DK yarn.

This is Dunchurch - gorgeous, isn't it!

A visit to the library, a little later, meant I came home with a pile of knitting books and a new list of projects to attempt!

I particularly like a number of designs from this one:

(link)

......and have already earmarked this for a future project:

Meanwhile, I'm still adding to the patchwork bedspread (although I need to order a few more balls of yarn to complete it) and I'm battling with a navy blue 4ply sweater for my husband (just basic stocking stitch, boringly simple but great for doing while I'm watching TV!) 

I also dug out another project that was on 'hold' - a cream lace shawl - and added a few inches to the outside border:

I've just passed the midway point on this edging, so it will be a while until I get to the end, let alone pick up the stitches and knit the main part of the shawl! (I could be in my dotage before it's finished!)

Merry Christmas - time for hunkering down!

I realised it's been a few weeks since I posted here - mainly due to the demands of life in general and also the fact that I have been too busy knitting to have time for blogging! (Indeed - I actually have callouses forming where I hold my needles!)

The weather here in middle England is dreary, drab, damp and cold - we shall most probably be having a wet Christmas, not a white one. So, all the more reason to grab the needles and keep at it!

The mitred-square blanket is still in progress (see pic above) and is coming along nicely - I will have to order some more of the Crofter random-dyed wool to finish it though. I think it is going to look splendid when it's finished, here it is so far:

I've also been fascinated by trying out a patchwork 'log cabin' pattern, as shown over at verypink.com where there is a very easy-to-follow tutorial. I hunted around in my scrap stash and came up with this:

I have sufficient yarn to make several patches which might make an interesting cushion cover; this gives an idea of how it might look:

I think I might edge them in black to make them stand out more. I certainly plan to do a full sized blanket with this method at some point in the future.

The 'Blue Wave Wrap' has been finished  (or rather, the two balls of yarn I purchased have been completely used up!) with just enough left to cast off!

It is very light but warm, ideal for staying snug when the weather is not quite cold enough to justify having the heating on.

Finally, for this post, some UK readers of a certain age may get all dewey-eyed and nostalgic - but look what I rediscovered when I looked in one of my blanket boxes the other day:

I found my complete 6-volume set of Golden Hands crafting magazines - circa late 1970's! The fashions are a sight to behold, but I think I'm going to enjoy looking through some of the old patterns (and maybe trying out a few!)

If all else fails, I suppose I could always try to flog them on E-bay - you never know, they might be worth something! ;-p

This is probably my last post here before the festivities start - so thank you to all who
have dropped in and left comment here at the Knitting Assassin; may I wish you all a 

Merry Christmas and a hope-filled New Year!

(I look forward to seeing what other bloggers received from Santa and the new projects planned for 2013!)

For that smart dog-about-town...!

The dog-sweaters are done! 

In my previous posting I said I was trying to get some dog-sweaters done to help with the 'Hope' project - working with people living on the streets with their canine companions (see here ) - well, last night I finished the sixth one! I would have liked to have done more, but the deadline is in a few days and I had to allow time for them to be delivered. Still, there's always next year!

Although this 'Argyll'-patterned one is my favourite, it took a bit longer than I would have liked - and doing the front shaping whilst keeping the pattern correct is not something I should like to repeat in the near future!

Anyway - they'll be wrapped up tonight and in the post tomorrow - I hope the canine buddies they go to will appreciate the gesture! (and more importantly - I hope their human 'companions' will soon be able to find permanent accommodation and shelter out of the cold, wind and rain!)

Quick update - and new project!

Tadah!
The multicoloured jacket (now nicknamed 'Joseph' - as in 'technicolour dreamcoat) is finally finished. That's the front view, above.

From the back, the diagonals really show up on the yoke:

I just need to put some buttons on - then it will have it's first outing tomorrow! :-)


Since I last posted here, I have been furiously knitting dog sweaters for the Dogs Trust 'Hope' project - I've done three and am now onto my fourth - would like to do at least 6 before the deadline of 23rd November (well, a few days before that, to allow for postage!)
Here's one of the finished ones:

The current sweater is going to be particularly seasonal - 

- but it doesn't knit up as quick as using random-dyed wool! ;-p

So, everything else is on 'hold', temporarily, while I get these doggy-warmers done!

(Knit 1, purl 1, woof 1.....)

This 'n' that

What is it with us knitters - we HAVE to start new projects even though there are others already on the go!
;-p

Well, in my last post I mentioned that I'd fallen in love with the pattern for a jacket using random-dyed wool and knit on the diagonal; well, as soon as the yarn arrived I was hunting out the needles.....

And here it is....not quite finished, just the front bands, collar and sleeve seams to do!

I had to do a bit of 'engineering' to get the stripes to match:

Meanwhile, I'm adding to the blanket, nearly a third of the way through now!

(good job I have a fair bit of catch-up TV, as this is my go-to project when watching...!)

Of course, visiting yarn shops, one can't leave empty-handed and a recent trip to my LYS in Coventry forced me to purchase this 4ply cotton - the colours in the picture don't do justice to it, as it's a lovely green/gold and a lighter matching shade.

I have absolutely no idea what I shall use them for, but one must always keep up the stash! (my excuse, anyway!)

Then a surprise package arrived:

Compliments of  Let's Knit! magazine, because I'd tweeted on their Twitter feed a few weeks ago, on National Poetry Day:

Alas, alack, my yarn's run out,

I'm nearly in a fit;

My other project's at an end -

I've nothing left to knit!

Now I'm pondering a project to use this lovely, squishy, chunky yarn.......I'll report back, later with the results! :-)

It's Autumn! Time to wrap up in wool!

It's been a while since I posted updates here, but I have been knitting quite a lot - really!

Now it's suddenly turned colder, I'm really feeling the benefit of knitting this bed-cover - even as it's being created! ;-p (yes, those are my toes poking out - have rediscovered all my snuggly hand-knitted socks after going barefooted through the summer!)

The cover is about a third of the way through,

 but although the idea was to use up some Sirdar Crofter yarn that was formerly a jacket that looked lovely (but not on me!) once I started this project I realised I'd have to buy more. I've started the last 50g I had and now I'm rationing my knitting as I wait for more to arrive (any day now, I hope!)

Another yarn 'adventure' still on the needles is the blue wave lace wrap:

I wonder when I will ever finish it..... it is much-travelled, having accompanied me up to Scotland on holiday a few months ago.

Plenty to keep me busy, then, but I've already decided on my next project:

I saw this  TILT jacket on Ravelry and fell in love at first sight! However, the original yarn, (Noro 'Silk Garden') makes it prohibitively expensive so I am substituting James C Brett's 'Monsoon', in shade 3:

Pays to shop around, sort of - my LYS stocks Monsoon at £4.99/100g but their online shop offers the same at £3.89! For the amount needed I qualified for free postage (it will have to travel all of about 6 miles!) Still, it keeps the postman in work, I suppose! Given the weather, I will no doubt be ripping open the package and knitting as soon as it arrives! Brrrr!