Showing posts with label Tivoli Whirl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tivoli Whirl. Show all posts

Friday, February 10, 2012

Knitting Nirvana - Crafty Books, Done Deals and WIPs

Modelling my frilly ChaChaCha scarf
I know, I know, I promised to  be a more consistent blogger in 2012 and I'm already falling by the wayside. I am writing this on Martin's lovely iMac with a big screen and a sleek brushed steel frame, with the iconic Apple and no big tower like in PC world! I'm sorta minding it for Martin but hopefully he'll not be able to fit it in his suitcase when he comes home for Shayne and Jany's summer wedding! Then I'll get to mind it for a bit longer, and will by then have figured out all that I've forgotten about Apple Macs and their quirkily intelligent Operating Systems. 

Already the keyboard is toast, as Martin spilt tea on the lovely slimline objet d'art before  heading to Australia, rendering 5, T, H and N useless and by extension the whole bloody keyboard - *ry worki*g wi**ou* **ose and you'll soo* fi*d out how much you use *hem! So I'm using a clunky old Dell Keyboard - functional but with no aesthetic properties whatsoever! At least the Apple Mouse is still working, except for the scrolldown button. Which I can live without.

This is a little post on recent knitting I  have done. I joined the Knitting Circle at Angela's Design Workshop last year and thoroughly enjoy it. It's on twice every Tuesday in Lismore, and I go to the evening session as being a wage slave prohibits my attendance at the morning session - that's peopled by a number of retired women including a few retired Public Health Nurses - knitting nurses being quite the thing. It certainly whiled away a few quiet nights for me on agency night duty back in the 70s and 80s - yes, even nurses had quiet nights in some of the smaller private hospitals.

Apple iMac - a thing of  beauty!
Rathcooney Mitts in cotton blend - now in Oz!
The knitting circle is a nice social outlet, people meet to chat, share patterns and ideas, and help each other out with tips on patterns and problems , and even do a bit of skill-sharing - some of us who can crochet gave a demo on making Granny Squares a few weeks back. We have tea and coffee, cakes and biscuits and a good laugh is guaranteed. There's something very cosy about a knitting circle, and it's a great leveller as everyone brings something new and we all gain from it, from absolute beginner to experienced returnee  - which I consider myself to be as I only came back to knitting about 3 years ago after a lifetime away from it - probably over 20 years. 

Book Token buys!
My Christmas Wish List this year was books - Knitting and Crochet books - and I had great fun self-selecting on Amazon. I got two wonderful books - Carol Feller's Contemporary Irish Knits and Stitch'n'Bitch Superstar Knitting. The boys and Anne (Shayne and Jany's Au Pair) gave me book tokens for Easons and Waterstones. I still have the Waterstones' one (no shop nearby) and two weeks back spent a blissful hour browsing the Craft Section in Eason's in Dungarvan - where they have thoughtfully positioned tub armchairs for enhanced browsing - and came away with two great books - The Knitting and Crochet Bible, and The Happy Hooker - Stitch'n'Bitch Crochet

Mitts I made to match my cowl Knitmas gift
Great series of books!
I've  been making lots of little things since Christmas - fingerless Rathcooney Mittens from Stolen Stitches Blogger Carol Feller's book being a firm favourite and I made a couple of pairs as presents for friends. I made a matching hat too, and a cowl in Feather and Fan stitch which was like the one I got from Caroline (@scattyhats on Twitter) in the Knitmas Secret Santa which I mentioned in a recent post. I sent some things off to Cathy (@cathyqtpi on Twitter) for her Knitmas gift.  
Rathcooney Mitts for a piano-player friend - Merino wool
Best Irish Knitting book of the year! 
iPhone Cover from Monika on Ravelry
I made some frilly scarves for friends and one or two  for myself - and I have been asked to make some for other people! I made some iPhone covers from Ravelry - which is a fabulous resource for anyone interested in knitting - and right now I am patiently working in painfully slow fine 2-ply Noro Sekku yarn (no 7) - a delicious blend of Cotton, Silk and Wool, which I also got from Caroline for Knitmas. I am doing a Feather and Fan lacy scarf which will take forever as I can't give too much time to it, what with work, baking and blogging amongst other things, and I have other knitting fish to fry as well.

Tivoli Twirl scarf made in car en route to Dublin, gift.
I'll link some of the books and show you some of the photos of the projects.  I hope you get inspiration from this post to try your  hand at knitting - and indeed crochet - and remember start small, you don't have to knit a jumper, something small or baby clothes will give you great satisfaction and you'll have something very special to share with the world - or at least your friends and family!
Modelling my Rathcooney Knits