Have you seen the September 2010 issue of Yarn Forward???

(yes, I KNOW it’s only the middle of July… and YES… the SEPTEMBER issue IS out already)

Anyway… it features one of my knitting patterns!

I’m such a newbie to the world of print publication… and this is all so wildly EXCITING to me!!! The hard part though, is keeping it a secret until the magazine is published. It’s months and months and months from the time a submission is accepted by the magazine, until it actually appears in print. And all that time, I have to keep it a secret from you guys!!!

Which is insanely difficult – because I’ve become quite accustomed to sharing my crafty exeriences with you. I tell you guys EVERYTHING!

Almost impossible to be designing… and drafting… and stitching… and photographing… and pattern writing… and NOT breathe a word about it to anyone.

All the while, I am totally ecstatic about it – and have no one to share the joy with. Mr Goldfish is a a gem, and he really tries to be supportive, but he just doesn’t get the whole craft thing the way that you do.

Can’t wait for my contributor copy to arrive…

Here’s a preview of the magazine.

And here she is… my kokeshi doll…

but he’s equally as uncooperative as his brother when it comes to having a photo taken!

Here’s an idea of how it looks:

It’s actually black, with a light green contrast for the skulls… but you can’t really tell that from the photos. They look almost white!

Still love the pattern. It’s available as a free Ravelry download here.

This time I have modified the decrease shaping, more in line with a regular beanie (the original shaping is here if you want to refresh your memory) I’ve just decreased by one, at eight different points around the hat. It’s a shocking photo, but it’ll give you an idea of what I mean.

Free Range Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

I’ve been wanting to take a look at one of Stephanie’s books for a while now… and I’ve finally managed to sit down and have a bit of a read.

It took me a while to get into it, but I think that might be more of a reflection on my reading skills than her writing skills. Over the years I’ve become quite a lazy reader. I favour books with lots of illustrations, and simple point format. So sitting down to a novel was a bit of a challenge.

There’s so much to relate to in this book. For example, one of the early chapters is a letter of apology, addressed to a designer. Any designer, really. Just a generic apology for the author’s compulsion to modify patterns. No matter how well written the pattern is, she feels a need to personalise it, and not necessarily for the better!!! Stephanie explains this compulsion as being like a disease for which she cannot be held accountable, and begs forgiveness from the designer… I can totally relate to that! As you would know, I very rarely manage to follow a pattern precisely. I am compelled to give everything the Goldfish Touch!

Anyway, loving the book… but I still have a fair way to go with it.

You might be interested in checking out the popular blog which Stephanie Pearl-McPhee writes… she is the Yarn Harlot

but he doesn’t love standing still while I take photos!

Actually…
I think that maybe he doesn’t actually KNOW how to stand still…

Never mind, I should be used to it by now!

Here’s an idea of how it looks:

Love the pattern. It’s available as a free Ravelry download here.

One thing I don’t love is the shaping at the top. It’s all boxy like this:

That’s BOXY… not POXY… or maybe both!

I could see from the pattern that the decreases were going to work up like this. I haven’t ever made a hat with this type of shaping before, so I figured I would give it a go as written.

Ugh.

Don’t… like… the… shaping…

At all.

So I’ve made the other ones differently. Will try and get photos of them over the next few days for you

It’s hardly a pattern really… but here’s how I made it:

Start by collecting a bunch of scraps. Word your crafty friends up so that they can collect scraps for you too. That’s how my scarf came together – my friends saved their scraps from the bin, and passed them on to me.

Now I’m talking about absolute scraps.

Not partial balls, or anything like that.

Just the stuff that would otherwise be thrown out. All those little lengths. About 4-12 inches long. The leftover pieces you have after weaving the ends into a finished project. Save them from the bin!

I find that anything much less than about 4 inches is just too short to join… but I keep those pieces too… because I WILL find a use for them one day.

I save my ends in an old biscuit tin:

Then when I’m feeling industrious (or just want something to keep my hands busy with while watching a movie) I start joining them together. There’s a few closeup shots to show you what my joins look like. Just did a quick google, and discovered that it is called a one-sided overhand bend which makes it sound way more complicated than it actually is!

Okay.

Pieces are joined and it’s time to start knitting. You won’t need any fancy stitch patterns – the yarn is busy enough just as is.

Use a pair of 4.5mm needles. Or 4mm or 5mm. Or whatever you please – this is your scarf!
Cast on 15 stitches.
K every row until scarf measures 2 metres long.
Cast off.

That’s it! Easy, huh?

This will probably be the most boring project that you ever see me working on…

Mostly because of the colour.

Navy.

(not that there’s anything wrong with that)

But it’s JUST navy. Not navy and this, or navy and that. No colourful trims or embellishments. Just a plain navy cardigan.

To be honest, I don’t know if I will have the stamina to see this one through – I get bored REALLY easily!

Why am I making it then?

Well… today was a big day in the Goldfish Household.

I went back to work. Actual permanent work.

Let’s just say it’s been a while! I’ve done casual bits and pieces here and there, but it’s ELEVEN YEARS since I left my last permanent position. That was before kids!!!

Anyhow, I need a navy cardigan for work. Just plain navy. I’ve started a few already, and then changed my mind and frogged (unravelled) them.

This one is called Hermia. It’s a free online pattern, available here. A while back, I made my daughter this jacket here called Helena… well Hermia is an adult version of the jacket, written by the same designer.

I’m still kind of undecided about it though.

It is worked top down. My plan it to knit it as written until just below the arms… and then maybe modify a bit. Basically, I’ll just play it by ear, and if I don’t like how it is shaping up – ‘rip-it’

Wish me luck… with the job AND the jacket!

This started out as a project to prove to myself that I CAN work with circular needles.

Plus I was feeling a bit bad about the fact that I so rarely make anything for my boys to wear.

So I’m working on this skull beanie. The photos are a bit average, but I have the base of the beanie done, and am now working on the head shaping.

This one, with red-on-black is for Master Ten…

Master Eight has requested orange-on-black for his version…

and Master Fifty-Two (that would be Mr Goldfish) has put his hand in the air for his very own skull cap – the first time that he has EVER asked me to make him anything!!!

I love the way this looks on the couch!

Pretty pleased with myself for sewing a zipper in, too!

For the first time ever…

Usually I would just sew the cover closed around the cushion, but I really wanted this one to be removable for cleaning when necessary. So I just unpicked the zip from the original cover, and handstitched it into this new one…

Here’s a link to the ‘pattern’ details

Remember that cushion I started working on a while back?

I loved the way it was knitting up, but man – it took forever to get through! I thought I was never going to get it finished…

Then I was so fed up with it, once I finally had it off the needles… I packed it away and started something new.

Well – now is the time. This week I will be finishing the cushion, and putting it to use on the couch. There’s not an awful lot to do. Just add a zipper and finish the bottom seam. More than likely I will be trimming the tassels a little, but I’ll decide that for sure as the week goes on.

Best thing of all?

This one isn’t going to require much thinking – unlike that exasperating bag from last week which drove me insane.

Check back on friday for the finished results.

So this bag is one that I would have made a few years back. Definitely before I started blogging, anyway.

Yes. There was life before blogging!

So it’s been in hibernation for quite some time. Again, all it really needs is ‘finishing off’… a lining and some embellishment should work nicely.

I’m not all that jazzed about the stripey lines going across the middle. They obviously seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I’m not so sure. Hopefully I will be able to add something to the bag, to draw your eye away from the lines. And how about that colour??? Bit bland for me, isn’t it?

Make sure you pop back next friday… for FINISHED OBJECT FRIDAY… to see how it turns out.

And if you don’t see it next friday, BOMBARD me with messages demanding to know why it isn’t done yet!!!