Knitting Pretty

Nap dreams and Sleep dreams

noreply@blogspirit.com (Elle) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:54:00 +0000

I’m still sick. I feel awful. I am a big mess on the couch, buried somewhere under a dressing gown and a quilt. That stomach virus thing has really hit me hard. Because I’m not eating enough, due to the whole vomiting thing, I feel soooooooo lethargic, even sitting up is a bit too much to ask for longer than fifteen minutes in one go. I am sure, as I write this, I will have to go and lie down every now and then. It’s sort of funny, and sort of really damn annoying.

Anyway, whilst I am sick, I am having all sort of crazy nap dreams. Now, a nap dream is different from a sleep dream, because they seem to last about five seconds, and are completely lacking in story line. For example, here’s a dream I once had…

The scene, a beautiful valley, verdant and lush, high altitude, it leads to a waterfall. Smooth grass meets the bank of a stately river flowing through the centre of the valley. There is a small water mill on the river, and beautiful fish in the water, they aren’t overly large. Two men, clothed roughly, as labourers, stand by the mill. They have just found out that a special function is to take place in the valley. A fishing contest. They know special and important people will be coming. One of them takes the lead in deciding what will have to be done in preparation for this event. The man complacently tucks his thumbs in his belt-loops and says, in regard to the fish, “From now on, they’re Pike”. His satisfaction at this deceleration evident in the smug smile he beams down on the other man. “Right, Bill” says Tom. Bill issues “The next man to talk goes over”. “Right” Tom replies, ducking a nod in acquiescence. “Right. Over you go” says Bill, jerking his head at the waterfall. “Oh” Tom replies…

See, that is a real dream. And a funny one too, I woke up giggling. My fiance and I still joke ‘From now on, they’re Pike. A nap dream, now that is just totally absurd, and far too rapid. For example, yesterday afternoon I dreamt…

My fiance and I had decided to buy a house in the Philippines…

That’s it. That’s it? Yep. Well that sucks. I even went and looked up whether you can even do that form overseas, apparently you can, I found a site about Philippines real estate, but I wouldn't want to live there anyway.

Ugh, too much for now, I’m going to go back to bed. But first, today’s knitting pattern! It has to be sleep oriented, so a pillow with a picture of a cat sleeping on it! That’s awesome!

P.S. That laughing emote makes me want to hurl, it's too happy.

Themed posting - Leaves

noreply@blogspirit.com (Elle) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:03:52 +0000

Along with my regular posts, I am going to be including a set of themed entries, which include a heap of knitting patterns on that theme. I may even include links to other items that fit with the theme. I was inspired to do this after the fun I had writing about Harry Potter inspired knitting patterns. So here goes! Today's theme is 'Leaves' because I love leaves, and think they are a great motif to see in pretty much anything.

First off, lets start with scarves and shawls. I have this love of oak trees – and acorns! – so I have to start off with a shawl from Elann.com that has an oak leaf motif. It is very pretty, and I think I would like to have a go at this someday, though I would like to make it wider than the pattern currently is. Another absolutely gorgeous shawl with a leaf pattern is called Diana, and is just such a marvellous creation, I can’t wait to try my hand at it!

Now I am going to move onto hats. These two are both for babies, but the fun thing with knitting patterns is it isn’t too difficult to up-scale the pattern so you have the right size for your very own bonce! Here is a particularly cute hat with leaf crown motif, it is just so pretty, and this is one of those that I have to make larger for myself. Next is a berry hat, again for a baby, that just has such a good quality look to it. One of those patterns that has just worked really, really well.

Next up, cardigans! I am not entirely sure if this is a leaf motif, but it came up when I was searching and has the right ‘feel’ to it. I think this is a very pretty cardigan, that I am considering making. This cardigan is also quite pretty, and I just adore the little leaf ends on the ties. So cute!

Lastly some odds and ends. This is a pattern for a pretty leaf, you can do 101 things with it, I’m sure, so its a good pattern to have on hand. Next up is a cute toy that has a leaf attached, a pretty peach. Lastly, here is a really groovy handbag – or laptop case, etc – with a lovely leafy vine feel to it. Seriously love this thing!

I hope some of these patterns inspire the knitter or handcrafter within you, and you get cracking on something special! I know I will!

Are you pregnant?

noreply@blogspirit.com (Elle) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:35:19 +0000

When you are a young woman, and you are in a steady relationship, if you express the fact that you are nauseous to anyone, they immediately ask 'You aren't pregnant, are you?' I always feel rather frustrated by this, as if it is expected of me to have unplanned pregnancies. I don't know, I just find it irritating that everyone's first assumption is that you are with child, rather than just have the flu.

Yesterday or the day before, I can't remember now, I came down with something. I was so nauseous, I eventually lost my lunch, and have been going through the sneezing, coughing, asthma, and strangely enough, ringing ears. That's a new one for me, well, in regards to having the flu, anyway. So I feel terrible, just awful. I got up in the morning today, and it seemed okay. I had breakfast, and about 20 minutes after I knew it was a very bad mistake. I have spent the larger portion of today, curled up on the couch in my dressing gown, holding my poor stomach, fighting to keep down lemonade and dry crackers. Yep, that's what is has come to.

I am also dreadfully tired all the time, too lethargic to even sit up for long periods of time. I have to lay down regularly lest I feel utterly exhausted. As if that wasn't enough, last night as I sat there on the couch, my girl cat ran across my lap. Nothing unusual there, but because I moved, she totally freaked out, and clawed my legs. Nothing really unusual there, either, but this time, she managed to slice one of her claws into a vein in my leg, and puncture the other side of the vein. So not only was my leg bleeding, but it was also bleeding into the tissue around it. Now I have red areas where she punctured my skin, and dark blue-black bruise like marks around the red ones. It truly looks horrible, and I am such a baby about that sort of thing. I had a similar incident happen when I had a blood test, once, and the resulting bleed out into the tissue nearly sent my into a panic. Of course, at that time, I didn't know what it was.

Okay so before I fall asleep again, here's today's pattern. It had to be something soft and cozy to snuggle up in, so of course it is going to be a shawl or wrap of some kind. I am going with this one because it would be good for sitting around in, and because of the button you don't have to keep it on you, it will just stay. Like a bed cape.

Off for naps now.

Getting Ready For Hogwarts

noreply@blogspirit.com (Elle) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:52:06 +0000

So on the 20th of June, which was a Saturday, I was all excited. I was all excited because I was getting ready to go out to the cinema and watch the new Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Now, anyone who's in the know about this film will have realised that I was off on the release date by an entire month. That's right, until I was looking up movie session times on the website for my local cinema, I thought that the release date was 15th June, not 15th July... I felt like such a mushroom bonce.

So, now we are only eleven days away from the release, and I am really excited. I love the books, I think they are very well written and heaps and heaps of fun! In anticipation of the film, I thought it would be only be right to do a post here with a bunch of free HP knitting projects!

Okay so first off, one of the best free patterns for anything Hogwarts related is this wonderful set of fair isle purses which depict the mascots of the four Houses. The Gryffindor purse looks especially good, if you ask me. Next we have a group of book marks, or book scarves, actually, which also show the four house mascots... well sort off, for some reason Hufflepuff's book scarf has badger tracks, rather than a badger. Then there are four sock patterns - I personally don't knit socks, but I know a heck of a lot of knitters do - one for each of the houses. The Gryffindor pattern looks good, the Hufflepuff pattern looks great, Ravenclaw's is actually in the correct colours for the book rather than film, and Slytherin's works well too.

Now here are some items that aren't house specific, but rather are more tie-ins to the HP world. This is a fabulous felted bag, which happens to have some groovy quazi-latin saying on one side, and embroidery on the other. The embroidery is supposed to be personalised, so don't worry about the lettering on the front. Next is an illusion dishcloth. I have been meaning to do up a few illusion pieces to do an entry about them, but yeah, still working on those acorns. This particular piece is showing Hedwig, and as she is such a pretty bird, I thought I would include it here. Plus, out of all the projects I have listed, this would be one of the easiest and quickest, and those sorts of projects are always appealing to this lazy knitter. On the other end of the lazy spectrum, we now move onto a wonderful felting project - for those who haven't tried their hand at felting before, you have to knit your item a heck of a lot bigger, no really, huge in comparison to the size you want it in the end - of a beautiful witches hat. I have to say, the original is so inspiring, I love the vine motif on the hat. This is one of those projects I will someday put a lot of heart and soul into making, because I have always loved this pattern. The last little dainty for today has to be one of the most iconic images from the series, a Golden Snitch.

Well I hope that some of you are inspired to go and knit some of those awesome patterns up, because they are really all quite fun. Except the socks, but that's just my personal preference. Until next time, keep the magic flowing!

Yarn I Want

noreply@blogspirit.com (Elle) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:23:00 +0000

I have been knitting for a few years now, I would say four or five, and I think I will always knit. During this time, though, I haven't really bought all that much yarn, especially not yarn to just put away, or really high quality yarns. My current stash - a knitting term used in reference to the yarn we have, that isn't for a particular project - is largely thanks to a kind woman I used to work with, who donated parts of her stash she no longer wanted. I like to buy natural fibres, so I mostly find cheap yarns that are pretty and made largely of wool. This has been working pretty well, though I do buy some acrylic as well, here or there, but I personally much prefer wool. Today I thought I would talk about those lovely yarns that are so pretty, and expensive, that they inspire a certain amount of drool.

Now, I am going to start off with yarn that I have always wanted, yarn that as soon as I saw, I knew someday I had to knit something with it! Karabella Fur, which is made from rabbit hair, and looks superbly fluffy and soft. Unfortunately, this yarn retails for about £52 for about 9 meters. I am not kidding, it really is that expensive.

Okay so another yarn type I have always wanted to knit with, is a really lovely, bulky, almost roving like 1ply wool. Roving is when a fibre has been prepared to be spun, so combed, maybe dyed, and in a long and narrow bundle. Like this! I love yarns that have that soft, fibrous look of roving. This is the sort of yarn I am referring to, and you can do some really great work with it. I would love a heap of really soft, super bulky, 1ply, wool yarn to make this vest with on my speed sticks.

Then there is the other side to that equation, I would love to work with amazingly beautiful silk yarn, and with that amazingly beautiful silk, I would have to knit a fabulous shawl. Something so very pretty, that I would love forever. So of course that shawl would have to have a leaf or vine motif, so here is the shawl I will someday knit up with that wonderful silk yarn. The Woodland Shawl by The Thrifty Knitter.

Toys I'd like to knit

noreply@blogspirit.com (Elle) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:53:19 +0000

On and off for the past couple of days I have been knitting little acorns. I think they are adorable, and I am still playing with the pattern to find the exact right way for me. The original acorn on Pea Soup's blog looked fantastic, but my yarn stash is a little limited so I have to alter the pattern just a little bit here and there to get the right effect.

I have also really been wanting to try out the Bunny Nuggets that can be found over on Mochimochi Blog, but I have been telling myself I have to get more of the acorns done before I can move onto something else. Plus I am still a little confused about the magic cast on, and I know Knitting Help can help me... because it says it in their title! But seriously, there is a video on there about it, but for some reason the other day when I went to play it there was no sound, so I have just been too lazy to go back since. I will get to it, though, right after my next few acorns...

Anyway, this has gotten me rather excited to try my hand at knitted toys. But what to knit? I mean, I don't want some honking toy hanging about, because I won't actually play with it, so it has to be small and unobtrusive so it can sit on my desk somewhere. Or I can place it in funny locales around the house... Last Easter my fiance and I got little egg baskets from his mother, she had gone to the trouble to put cute little yellow fuzzy chicks on them, so I got into the habit of putting them in different places in the house, and seeing when my fiance noticed them. I used Blu-tack to stick them on the walls, under arch-ways, on top of the television, pretty much anywhere I thought they would eventually be noticed and laughed at.

I am going to link to a few cute toy patterns, ones that I can either see myself making, or think are odd and cool enough to be here. First off, back to Mochimochi's blog for some Grass, because it is just so cute. I want to knit a few of these up and just place them around the edges of my desk. I have always thought this little storm cloud is cute, and think he could be part of a great mobile for a baby's room. A white version without the lightning, and then this one, and two other variants, like a grey one, and a white one with snowflakes. This little milk and cookie pattern is cute, if completely useless. I don't know, I think it would just be nice to have on one's desk. Continuing with food, I think knitted onigiri (Japanese rice-ball) would be nice to have around. You could even put a rock in it and use it as a paper weight. Lastly, I want to link to this pattern just because I have mentioned the book that inspired it here before, The Stinky Cheese Man.

So those are the toy patterns that appeal to me today. But as I said, many more acorns to go, and a horde of Bunny Nuggets too!

The Island of the Wild Things

noreply@blogspirit.com (Elle) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:46:13 +0000

Sometime this week, I was pottering around the interwebs (you have to say that word in a funny voice because it is, really, quite silly) and somehow I managed to stumble upon a movie trailer for a live action version of Where The Wild Things Are, that wonderful book by Maurice Sendak. I think most people in the English speaking world have heard of this book, if not have actually read it.

WTWTA is a great book about an angry little boy named Max. He misbehaves - in some really cute ways, like growling at his mum - and gets sent to his room without any supper. When there, Max manages to travel to an island - by boat - where the wild things are. He becomes their king in a sort of staring contest so then he gets to run around with them and have a generally good time. But soon he feels homesick so he sails home to his room, to find his supper all warm and waiting for him. It's a really good story to read, even the American President, Barack Obama, says it's one of his favourites! He read it out to a couple of thousand people at the White House Easter Egg Roll this year.

Something I like about the book is how well it works on multiple levels. The book clearly addresses anger in children, which I am happy about because the wonderful little people in our world feel the same range of emotions as us adults, but it is so much harder for them to undestand, and express themselves. Max's adventure in the books is delightful on the entirely superficial level also, and I am sure that children who read the book, whilst may not be aware of the psychoanalytic implications of the book, are still nonetheless affected by them.

If someone had asked me if this book would ever be made into a live action film, and if that film would be good, I would have said no, but honestly, the trailer looks amazing! There are a few sets of WTWTA toys out there, some are plush, and others more action figureish, but of course, I want to know about knitted ones! And yep, there is a knitted Wild Thing up on Ravelry and a pattern on its way, here is the link to where it will be posted,