So what's a knitter to do when she's home from work in a heatwave?

Knit icord.

Lots of icord.

And embellish with stashed buttons to make jewelry.  Can I call it jewelry?  Certainly they are accessories. Meh, whatever, they are pretty and achieved not only from stash but from scraps.  That must score off the scale on the thrift-o-metre!

Here TOF's nameless childhood teddy models Garbo Garnets made from scraps of 4ply maroon wool left over from a matinee jacket and booties set.

I bought the yarn in a HUGE bag of industrial leftovers from Marrickville Reverse Garbage 12 or more years ago.

The buttons on the necklace came from a shirt I picked up from the free bins at the Green Shed recently.  The button on the bracelet is from button stash.

The yarn weighed 6 grams and there are 3 grams left, so more bangles may be in order.  The necklace is 57cm long, the bangle 19cm long.  Both are finished with a button loop.




































This necklace, Noose, is from scraps of Woollen Rabbit Pandora (Wool/bamboo/nylon blend) in the colourway Robin's Nest.  The button is from my mother's stash.  Originally I had planned to embellish this all the way around with pearl buttons, but I really like it this way.  It will look great against my predominantly black wardrobe or over a white shirt.  The sheen on this yarn is delicious.

The necklace measures 240cm and also has a button loop. The yarn is left over from a shawlette that is currently blocking and there are still 9g of it left.  I think I will make another pair of Saartjes booties from it - this yarn doesn't feel like it wants to be bangles.

Camera Cosy

The digital camera accompanies me most days - you just never know when you'll need to chronicle the day with an image. Although there is a good case that came with the camera, it's too bulky in the handbag. Most of the time the camera gets chucked in unprotected.

Now I have this. It's based on the 'phone sock made in February and the method of working it out was really scientific. I compared the camera to the phone. The camera is roughly one third larger than the phone. For the phone sock, I used a 5ply wool on 3.75mm needles over 32 stitches. 1/3 of 32 is almost 11. 32 + 11 is 43, but need multiples of for for double rib, so the magic cast on number was 44. I grabbed some 5ply crepe (vintage Patons Treasure - 60% wool, 40% nylon) and knitted in double rib for 46 rows (measuring against the camera as I went) and magicked a three-needle cast off.

The result was a not brilliant. The yarn was a little thinner than that used in the phone sock so tension was a bit loose, the sock was both a bit wide and a bit long. The camera did not fit snugly.
As it took less than 2 hours to knit, I cast on another one on 3.25mm needles over 40 stitches and 40 rows and 2 hours later I'm much happier with the result.

For the record, the camera - an Olympus something or other, is 10cm long x 6cm wide x 2.8cm deep. The sock is 11.5 cm long and 4.5cm wide.

Scrap Happy

I love using scraps of yarn - makes me feel extra specially thrifty. I also think of it as housework because I'm tidying away all those scraps. "No, I'm not sitting here knitting, I'm tidying up" - totally believable.

Socks for Aneka and Chris's baby, 10g Patons Dreamtime 4ply on 2.5mm bamboo needles

A pair of socks for a baby due on Friday. I prefer to make a pair and a spare of baby bootees/socks, but was 1 measly gram short of three socks in this yarn. Fear not, the last 4g are going to be contrast heels and toes of another set. This is the Left Over Baby Sock pattern by Matthew Hesson-McInnis.

And then there's a 'phone sock. Not entirely sure how this happened - I was playing around with the idea of a toddler sized sock out of this small amount of hand painted 5ply crepe and was suddenly seized by the need for a 'phone sock. The yarn is just too pretty to give away.

For my old Nokia. 32 stitches in double rib for 48 rounds and a three-needle cast off on 3.75mm dpns.

It's all about the journey

Until very recently I'd never heard the terms "process" and "product" knitters, or thought much about the concepts.

Like all of us, I'm a little bit of both, but in the "process" end of the spectrum.

How do I know this? Unlike some people that I know and love, sewing up and blocking hold absolutely no delights for me.

Case in point. This Clapoteenie, knitted in a Happy Spider experimental dye job (go ask her, it's fascinating) has been finished for over a fortnight, but didn't get the 3 minute block it needed until just as I was racing out the door to meet Spidey. She's been very patient.

While the ironing board was up and the iron actually turned on, I blitzed the lace headbands knitted this week for my nieces. Part II of their birthday present for next month.

The pattern is Molly's Headband by Pam Allen from Interweave (free online) knitted in a 4ply instead of the light 8ply of the original. I wanted something smaller and finer that would use left overs. 11-12g of sock wool is what it used.

On the left, Happy Spider Sock Yarn in Kelp Forsest self-striping colourway. On the right, the left overs of the Stanbridge Sock. It's an easy and quick pattern and I'm still not loving the lace.

And the obligatory beanie was finished earlier in the week. Recycled 12 ply in a quite violent orange based red which works quite well with this example of my nephew's art. Poor little bugger had his appendix removed this week, so mock if you must but gently.

TTWC 2008.06

Completely Cosy

I loved doing the Coffee Couture so much, I turned around and did it all again but bigger and redder.

It's Dad's birthday tomorrow. 67 he'll be and finding a gift is increasingly difficult. His plunger is the 12 cup size, so I did some maths and added two extra cable patterns and cast on 100 stitches. I did an extra half a pattern repeat in length as well.

This yarn wasn't as thick as the first lot, so the cosy is a little more stretched out. After sewing the ribbing together I picked up 22 stitches along one edge leaving a little room for the handles, double ribbed for 5 rows, chucked in 3 yo button holes in the next row, then two more double rib rows and cast off in rib. This band could have been a little longer, but it will do.

I finally got to use these very cute wooden Scottish Terrier buttons again. I bought a heap of them at the Lisa Ho factory outlet in Sydney years ago and the last time I used them was on cot doona covers for the twins who turn 13 next month.

A workmate pointed out today that we could use a cosy on the plunger at work. Do you reckon I could just knit these until the end of the KAL?

Also finished yesterday was a Time Thief Watch Cap. I'm reusing a photo of one I prepared earlier to save hassle.

TTWC 2008.005 Recycled yarn.

Cafe society

Item 5 for the Yarn Knit Along, Coffee Couture by Megan Longhurst from Yarn 6.

MATERIALS: Just under 50g of an 8ply recycled from an op-shop jumper.

ALTERATIONS: None, but I'm tossing up about picking up some of the side stitches and making a button placket for added warmth.

It's a lovely quick knit. Perfect for last minute gifts. Not that there's anything last minute about this one - it's a 2008 Christmas gift for coffee loving friends. Oh, and I've added the pattern to Ravelry if you want to queue it.

I had some help. One of the blokes at work wanted to learn to knit. He did most of a row of double rib.

A larger version for Dad's birthday on Thursday has been cast on. Fingers crossed I got the numbers right.

Flick o' the wrist

7am, Messy Room, Pearce

Pattern: Earthy Computer Mouse Pad Wrist Pillow by Jennifer Tallapaneni of Pie Knits

Materials: So proud that this is completely UWYH.

• Small amount of 8ply cotton left over from the Christmas wash cloth extravaganza
• Cardboard reinforcement for the bottom is from a block of Lindt 85%
• Stuffing - two stockings irretrievably laddered and waiting patiently in the busy box. I use old stockings, knee hi-s etc for tying up new plants and other garden and household uses. Actually, the uses for stockings and pantyhose that can no longer be worn are plentiful and will be the subject for another day.

Too much data entry at work on a poorly designed database meant I was a bit sore in the arms last night. NOT a good thing for a knitter. I was too sore to pick up my current project and using the mouse at home was hurting, too. What I really need is a wrist rest. Almost as quickly as I thought - "Hey, wonder how I could knit one of those?", I found a pattern on Pie Knits' site.

This knits up in an hour. You can't get more instant knitting gratification than that.

When I knit this again, I will use 3.5mm needles rather than 3.7mm and I think I'll use a combination of wheat or rice and lavender for the filling so it smells nice and supports my wrist better. I'll probably have to sew a lining though.

The Finishing Post

Much to report for a week of non-blogging. Well I tried to blog but blogger buggered it up.

I may have fallen off the Use What You Have Month (UWYHM) wagon, but I've still completed several projects from what I had.

We have, for your viewing pleasure:

The Knitting Cape

The pattern is A capella from Knitty.com. My version is not elegant but it's serviceable.

No, knittydoll, unfortunately the Knitting Cape does not confer on the wearer knitting super-powers, like the ability to knit lace in an instant with no tedious unraveling when a YO has been missed! It does, however, keep this knitter toasty warm without all the bulk around the arms that too many layers of clothes adds.

This was knitted from two strands together of the homespun donated by my SIL's godmother in February. It used about 400 g. I will admit to buying the buttons ($1.80 from Big W) because I had no suitable ones at home. You can't see them in the pic because I hadn't sewn them on at that point, but they are now firmly secured and are a lovely mother-of-pearl finish, very thin and about the size of a 10c piece. There are four of them. I added the ruffle on the bottom, knitted in garter stitch with increases in every 4th stitch for 4 rows because cr****t and fringes are forbidden in this house.

I will admit to not really liking this wool when it was donated, but knitted up it's just lovely. The pearly grey colour gives way to mauves through to indigo with some pale pink and crimson.

Java Jarmies, Versions I and II

We rise early in the Taphophile household. We like to greet the day slowly and with generous doses of caffeine. Now that the weather has turned in Canberra, my early morning plunger of coffee is usually tepid after the first cup and stone cold by the third.

As I was finishing the ruffle on the Knitting Cape, I pondered the problem and immediately solved it. What was needed was a cosy for the Bodum. A few calculations later and we have Java Jarmies Version I.

It's double rib with the homespun knitted on two needles with a button hole flap to accommodate the handle and a v-shape in the centre front to accommodate the pouring lip. The bottom 3cm is stitched together.

Version I didn't have quite enough length in the button hole flap (only 6 stitches). Version II has 12 stitches which is too long. Version III will have 8.

Now there's one for work and one for home and have to create them for the other sizes and styles of coffee presses in the house. It works really well and the coffee stays at a drinkable temperature for about an hour, even in the arctic reaches of the kitchen.

Cap for Claire

A member of my work team loved the donated yarn so much she demanded I knit her a cap. She also demanded a jumper but that was never going to happen even had there been enough wool.

I used the Mark Thrailkill's Watch Cap pattern again and it worked a treat. The model here is Baby Chrissie. There's about 150g of the donated handspun left. Not sure what it will be yet.

Matinee Idols

The handbag usually contains a matinee jacket or other small and portable item of knitting. These two are the latest versions.

The aqua is sweet and the yellow is really very buttery. There will be more of these in the months to come as they are knitted in one piece from the top down on a circular needle and after the sleeves it's all plain sailing. Also, stash contains an awful lot of 3ply.

Beau's Beanie

Beau is the boy-manager of the Starbucks which is the SnB and BookCrossing venue. He is a lovely man who is very supportive of both groups so I thought he needed a little knitterly gift. This was knitted from the leftover Wedding Hat yarn to Needle Beetle's Sea Cap pattern.

He whipped it out of the bag this afternoon and stuck it straight on. He appeared delighted with it and it fitted quite well. Don't know about you, but I get very nervous giving knitted gifts, so his response was quite a relief.

Several things have been started, unravelled, restarted, unravelled and chucked in a box and some progress. More later.