Winners!

What a fun week Knitting & Crochet Blog week 2012  turned out to be! I hope you enjoyed it too. I'd like to say a great big thank you to everyone who visited Truly Myrtle! And, I'd like to welcome all the new followers! It's lovely to have you. If you want to catch up on any of my posts, you can see them all here. I've also popped my DIY knitting needle tutorial onto my patterns & tutorial page. If you make some, be sure to post a picture to the Flickr group - I'd love to see them!

But, before I go any further.... I have to let you know who won the colourful needlecase don't I? What a great turnout - 109 entries! Well, I have been enjoying my needlecase - the little zippy pocket and the stretchy loop to keep it all closed are my favourite parts. I do hope the winner enjoys using hers too. Like usual, I used a random number generator to select a winner and I'm excited to tell you that Lisa has won! Congratulations Lisa! Email me your postal details and I'll whizz your needlecase off to you. 

And, the other piece of news is the result of Select-A-Sweater. It was a tough competition wasn't it? So many lovely choices, I'm pleased that all of the sweaters got votes. From the start two sweaters held the lead. Ingenue and Lanata were in the front all the way... Ingenue sat at first for ages.... then they were neck and neck... but what was this?! In the final hours Narragansett leapt up to second equal.... I was on tenterhooks... what would happen? Would I have to knit three? I think the photo has given it away hasn't it?  In the end Lanata won! So, come the summer sweater knit along, it's Lanata I will knit! Thank you! Once I've bought the pattern, my hunt for the perfect yarn begins! 

I've got so many new things I'm itching to knit and sew... I can't wait to get started! In the meantime, I'll leave you with a little peek at what is happening behind the scenes at Truly Myrtle...

 

my buttercup, new bags!, fab fashionary sketchbook, new fabric, more new fabric!!!

See you soon!

Egg Carton Sewing Box

Welcome to the last day of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2012! I've had a great week. It's been such fun putting my posts together and I've really enjoyed visiting lots of new and lovely blogs. I hope you've enjoyed it too. I have to say a big thank you to Mr Myrtle and the kids. They've been very patient with me tapping away on the computer all week! Next week I think I'll have a bit of a rest... Well, after I let you know who has won the needlecase giveaway and which sweater you've chosen for me to knit! Oh, and updated you on my new designing adventures....

Today's theme is knitting vs. crochet. As you have no doubt gleaned, I LOVE knitting. It is my hands-down winner.  It makes me feel very excited and I'm a fairly animated person at the best of times. I'm told I talk quickly and walk fast. I'm chatty, and my head fills with creative ideas far more quickly than I can make them. Well, multiply all that by about 100 where knitting is concerned. Right now my hands are zipping all over the keyboard and my heart is beating fast. Knitting! Yippee!! What is there not to love? Yarn, patterns, crazy techniques, fabulous creations... bliss! 

But, I am also an intrepid adventurer, especially where crafts are concerned and I don't like missing out when something seems fun. Have you seen some of the amazing crochet creations about? I want some of that too. So, I've had a go at crochet.

I started with this wee egg. Cute isn't it? All through March I saw lots of sweet little eggs being made for Easter. Knitted, sewn, felted and crocheted. Eggs galore! I thought they looked delightful but didn't make any because I needed a reason to use my egg. I'm working at it, but I'm generally hesitant to make stuff that isn't useful, pretty as it might be. It probably has something to do with the vast number of things my kids make, and my aversion to dusting! Anyhow, Easter came and went and I didn't make any eggs....

And then this topic for today's post was announced and my sewing kit idea was born. I could combine crochet, a cute egg and usefulness all in one go! My egg could be a pincushion! I grabbed an old egg carton and found the best egg pattern on Greedy for Colour. If you haven't visited Kate and seen her knitted, sewn and crocheted creations, you must! Her blog is fabulous.

The instructions were great and my wee egg didn't take too long. I used a cotton/wool blend from my stash and filled it with wool roving so it was nice and firm. I stuck it into the front of an egg carton with some super fabric glue so it shouldn't go anywhere!

The rest of the egg carton I filled with all those necessary bits and bobs. I'm giving it to my dear niece for her 8th birthday, so it is a starter kit. There are some small scissors in a little padded pocket, a thimble, cotton, buttons, a pretty pink tape measure and I made a tiny needle case with yellow wool felt. Don't you just love those dolly pegs for the cotton? Oh, I think they are soooo sweet!

I spent a happy afternoon with Nelly decorating the outside of the egg carton with tissue. We used lots of tiny pieces of torn pink and lavender tissue, layer upon layer, and lots of PVA glue. It really strengthens the box and the hinge, and adds a deep glossy colour. A bit more interesting than just paint.

But, it needed something more. So, I turned to the mother of all crochet blogs, Attic 24 for inspiration. And I found it! My lovely flower is from Lucy's flowers and leaves tutorial. Mine is a nervous little thing, a wee bit wobbly! I had to learn a few more stitches, but her instructions are fantastic and I got there in the end. I finished by sewing a running stitch in pink around the edges to pretty it up, and tie it in with my pink box.

And so, there you have it. A wee sewing box and my foray into the world of crochet! I would love to try more but I do have to work at the basics. It might be because I am left-handed, but I struggle with holding everything comfortably and achieving good tension. I knit right-handed and hold the yarn in my right hand wrapped around my little finger and over my index finger. With crochet, I hold the hook in my right hand and the yarn in my left. I find it really hard to get comfortable and let the yarn smoothly feed through my fingers. 

I'd love your help! Do you have any tips? Is it just me, or just practice? Can you point me in the direction of some good instructions? You can give me all your advice in the comments bit at the bottom of this post. Thank you!

Well folks, we're done. It's the end of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2012. Thank you everyone who popped in to see what I was up to. I hope you enjoyed my posts. I've loved your comments! If you want to see what else is happening today search 3KCBWDAY7. 

XXX

Little Challenges

If you've visited Truly Myrtle before, you'll know that I sew as well as knit. I do use sewing patterns, but more often than not these days... I just make things up myself.... usually as I go along. On the other hand, when I knit I don't have quite the same confidence and usually follow a pattern, changing it only a little, and only sometimes... 

I have dipped my toe (albeit my littlest one!) into the world of knitwear design recently and published my very first (free) pattern Flower Power Headband, which was super fun, but aside from that, have experimented with pattern writing only a little. But, today, day six of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, I declare that everything is about to change! I am going to fetch my calculator, my yarn and my needles, gather my numerous books around me, ask lots of questions on Ravelry, and most importantly of all, ignore my fear and have a go at designing something lovely. Oh yes, I am.

Do you remember this lovely ball of yarn? It's Artesano 4ply Alpaca in Anemone from Peru. The ball is a little smaller now because I have knitted a swatch. This little swatch is the beginning of my challenge. To design something lovely. But what?

Maggie Righetti introduced me to the idea of listening to what my yarn is telling me, in her book Sweater Design in Plain English. I love this idea. It feels like such an organic approach and for me, removes some of the pressure to "get it right". So I knitted, and tried to listen. Sure enough, this yarn let me know what it needed.

It doesn't want to be knitted into a baby hat, like I had thought. It wants to be a wee summery cardigan for a little girl. Hmmm. Okay. What else? It wants slightly puffed sleeves, in garter stitch. It's happy for the rest of its body to be stocking stitch, provided it has a pretty, curved border. It's thinking moss stitch, or something like that. Maybe some eyelets. It might like a button closure, but only one, and it hasn't definitely decided that yet.

Pretty cool huh?! But now it's up to me to get this pattern rolling. To get started, my books tell me, I need to grab a ruler.

This is where I start to waiver. (And, looking at that photo, so does my knitting!) Am I counting correctly? It all depends on the swatch right? Accurate numbers and all that. I am more of a big picture, ideas person. Detail is not my strongest point. I am hoping to glean some knowledge from your experience. Will you help me learn? Will you tell me your design tips and let me know if I am going wrong!

Sorry to the folks who love inches, but I work in metric in my head and, as I'm feeling slight panic right now, to avoid any extra stress, I'm going with centimetres. I can convert it all to inches later... My blocked swatch tells me that in size 3mm needles, my yarn knits into a nice looking stocking stitch and its gauge measures 28.5 stitches over 10cm. So far so good.

It's slightly different in the garter stitch, where it measures 26 stitches over 10cm. It's fuller where there is garter, perfect for the sleeves. 

Lengthwise I have made a bit of a boo boo because I didn't knit quite enough, only 9.5cm. Whoops! Oh well, it's measuring 35 rows over that 9.5cms. Let's hope that doesn't totally muck things up... will it?

So, hopefully that's my first bit done. Swatch and gauge. My next task is to pin down the littlest person in our house and measure her. This sounds like the easy part. You might be surprised. I thought I'd make something for her for Project Run & Play this week. I know, am I crazy doing that as well as Knitting Blog Week, or what? Anyhow, it turns out I am. She flatly refused to try on the partly finished dress I'd made her out of beautiful red wool (more recycled Sweater... Earth Week, upcycling, my perfect challenge!) and I had to abandon the idea. If she wouldn't even put on the dress, there was no chance this two year old could be persuaded to pose for photos.

But back to my lovely design challenge. Given that I tend to invent stuff as I go along, I thought I'd make this challenge a little one ....that way there will be less to frog... And anyway, my yarn told me it wanted to be snuggled around a very little person.

If you want to see more challenging day six posts search KCBWDAY6. I'll see you tomorrow for the last of my Knitting and Crochet Blog Week posts for 2012. It's a knitting vs. crochet thing.... ever seen me crochet? In the meantime, don't forget to enter my giveaway or to vote in my Select-A-Sweater if you haven't already! X

Select-A-Sweater

A little bird told me that there will be another summer sweater knit along over at Luvinthemommyhood in a couple of months. Despite my "re-knit", I am really having a ball with the tops, tanks & tees knit along. It's great fun to be knitting with other people, I'm enjoying the chit chat on the knit-along Ravelry thread and it's certainly keeping me at it. So, I'm definitely joining in next time. Oooo la la! More selfish stuff. You know it's just what I love, but shhhh, don't tell the kids.

So, because I just can't help myself... I've started looking for a pattern already. Choices, choices! I can't cope. I've managed to narrow it down to TEN lovely sweaters. Okay, nine lovely sweaters and a capelet (does that count? Oh well, it's in). Now, I need your help. 

Will you please pick the sweater you would like to see me knit? Pretty please? They're lined up below for you to see and links to pattern details are below each photo. You can vote, in the poll on the right sidebar. Click on your favourite, or even favourites. Because I understand the lure of lovely patterns I'll let you vote more than once. Who knows? If there's a tie, I might have to knit two ;)

Voting will be open until the end of the weekend. I'll let you know which one has won next week, and then I'll start drooling over yarn and knitting my swatch!

So, here they are - the lovely line up.... in alphabetical order... 

Image copyright Caro Sheridan of Splityarn

Cranberry Capelet by Thea Coleman

Flowing Lines by Veera Välimäki

Ingenue by Wendy Bernard

Kerrera by Gudrun Johnston

Laika by Ysolda Teague

Image copyright - Jane Heller

Lanata by Amy Christoffers

Image copyright Caro Sheridan of Splityarn

Narragansett by Thea Coleman

Image copyright KGS on Ravelry

Romy by Ankestrick

Twiggy Cardigan by Jane Richmond

White light by Veera


 Aren't they just fabulous?!

Right, let the voting commence!

Thank you X






3KCBWDAY5

Knitting - whatever the weather

Well, I don't know about you, but I knit whatever the weather. Hot, cold or in between, click, click, click go my needles. One very hot summer a few years ago I knitted beside beaches and swimming pools all over Europe. I did get a few funny looks, but I hid behind my sunglasses and managed to get a bunch of cardigans and sweaters finished for my two big kids, ready for their first cold English winter. 

Usually I knit according to the weather outside. Or at least I save bigger projects for cooler weather. Last year I knitted a couple of pairs of socks while we were camping. In really hot weather they are the perfect item to knit. Light and small, quick satisfaction. In contrast, during the winter, nothing is nicer than a lap full of scrummy warm wool.

So, what is on my needles during this wet and chilly spring weather we're having now?

My "main" knitting is my silver Buttercup for the luvinthemommyhood tops, tanks & tees knit along. To be honest I have had mixed feelings about this knit. I started with a hiss and a roar; zooming down from the neck, joining it in the round, enjoying the lace along the front and then splitting the body from the sleeves. And then I tried it on and... it was too big! 

You see, I am at the bottom end of one size, but the next size down is just too small. I contemplated going down a size but then thought to check my gauge. What was this! I was off.... by TWO whole stitches!!! How did that happen? My swatch was okay... I even did the fancy swatching in the round technique suggested by Jane Richmond. In the end, I decided it was the toddler's fault. She jumps on and off my lap in the evenings and my knitting goes all lax.

So I frogged the lot. Went down a couple of needle sizes and started again. I am using my metal tips this time and although they are faster to knit with, I've made slower progress. I think it is because it's the second time round and I've lost my va va voom. I'm finally just past the point I was when I unpicked the lot. I'm heading down the body again. Setting aside that niggling thought that I should be finished by now.... I think I'm starting to feel the love again...

My Wispi is also still ticking along. It's on a holder right now because I've pinched the needle tips for my Buttercup. But it is slooooowly growing. I did say this would be background knitting, and it is! I pick it up when I don't have something else handy... I'm still loving the colour!

So far, I've made it down the arm and am working my way across my back. Remember how I had plans to adjust the pattern? I want longer, fitted sleeves and I've knitted them in the round. So far, my number crunching is working out okay. I'm knitting the Women's medium size and I cast on 52 stitches instead of the 78 required. I popped a stitch marker bang in the middle and knitted in the round,  increasing either side of the marker every 8 rows, until I had 78 stitches. I've used the Elizabeth Zimmerman M1 increase which looks great. Once I reached 78 stitches I tried the sleeve on and decided that I wanted it even longer, so I kept knitting round after round, trying it on, then knitting more and more, until it was as long as I wanted it. In the end I have a super long sleeve, 53.5cm/21" from my armpit to cuff.

Now I am following the pattern, knitting flat, till I get to the other side of the back. Then I have to remember what I did for the first sleeve.... and do it backwards. Wish me luck!

3KCBWDAY4