Stitched Science

I would like to draw attention to something that Stitch London are up to in conjunction with the Science Museum in London for an event in June.  Basically they are combining stitching and science into one weekend of awesomeness.  I am desperate to be there!!  They are looking for volunteers to stitch anything inspired by science.  I thought I'd share my first contribution since I was lucky enough to be in London last week to drop it off with Deadly Knitshade.

Crocheted chemistry set anyone?

Of course, I have an astronomy-related idea up my sleeve as well, but I've got a couple of things I want to finish before I start on that!  For more information on how to join in check out here!

Try, Try, Try Again or How Perfect Is Perfect?

A spate of startitis and perfection has hit.  I really try not to have more than 1 or 2 things going at the same time, but recently I seem to have been struck down with the need to start EVERYTHING!  Unfortunately, this has also been accompanied by the need for everything to be absolutely perfect.

I must confess that I'm a selfish knitter and at least 50% of all the things I make are for me.  Why must they be absolutely just so?  They're just accessories for me; why should I care?  Why must gifts be absolutely perfect?  Well because they're gifts, obviously, and I want to make them nice for people.  It doesn't matter that a little mistake here or a slight glitch there gives it a hand-crafted quality that no shop-bought item could ever replicate: if it doesn't look exactly like the example in the pattern then I'm not happy.

For example, I'm making a pair of simple lace socks at the moment.  I have done something absolutely stupid to one repeat on one half of one of the socks (I'm knitting 2 at a time) and I cannot for the life of me work out why the pattern isn't working properly.  It's just a repeat 8 stitches!  Even I can count that high without getting distracted by something else (oooh sparkly yarn!).  I know that if I don't fix this it will mean I will never wear the socks once they're done.  I've already frogged them both once and I really don't want to start again, but I'm going to have to do something drastic to fix what's gone wrong.

I've also completely frogged the crochet cowl I was making because I didn't like the way it was joining in the round.  A quick cry for help on the crochet forum on Ravelry and I know what I'm doing now.  But instead of just carrying on the new way or knowing better for next time and hiding the slightly weird joins under my hair when it's done, I've ripped the whole thing out to start again.  Guess I know what I'm taking to my conference next week to keep my hands busy during all the talks!

Am I alone in this?  Are there knitters and crocheters out there that look on their finished objects which aren't 100% like the picture in the book with pride?  Is this something I can find in my local yarn store?  If so, please let me know where I can get some as I would really like to wear some of these cold-weather items before spring truly arrives for good!

Success!

I have finished my first crochet project!  Well... I've finished the crochet part.  It's the "Fit To Be Tied" bag from Debbie Stoller's crochet book.  I'm actually really pleased with the way it's come out.  It's very simple - there's just one stitch to do in a rectangle, except for the two handles and the eyelets which are optional - but it's mostly very neat and tidy and there are only a couple of holes.  I just have to line it and find a nice ribbon to tie through the eyelets, but that shouldn't be to difficult (she says).

I'm quite enjoying this crocheting lark.  All those knitters who say that they can't learn to crochet should just try.  I think it'll be ok.

Firenze

I took Tuesday off work this week and went to Florence.  It's just under an hour away from Pisa on the train so it's very easy to get to and somewhere I really ought to go to more often.  I met up with some friends and we had lunch, a walk up to San Miniato and then went to the Palazzo Vecchio which was absolutely beautiful.  Here is a photo from outside San Miniato al Monte looking down towards the Duomo:

 

As you can see it was a beautiful day and the view from the top was well worth the walk straight after lunch.

But what does this have to do with knitting you might ask?  Well hidden in via Folco Portinari, just behind the Duomo is, frankly, my idea of knitting paradise.  Number 23 is home to Campolmi Roberto Filati.  It is the most amazing yarn store I have been to.  The company has been making and selling yarn for over 50 years now and really make good-quality stuff in a vast variety of fibres and weights.  I believe that they own or rent the whole 4 storey building the shop is in and it is filled with yarn.  The public can only go into the ground floor, but even that 1 floor has enough yarn to keep even the most dedicated knitter going for decades!  I have to be very restrained when I go there and usually try to ensure I'm accompanied by at least 1 other person to stop me from diving right in and coming away with more than I can carry.

At Campolmi, you can feel the samples of the different yarns, see how the self-striping (fantasia) colourways knit up and then once you're ready to buy, just give someone a list of which yarns you want and in which colours and they'll disappear upstairs and come back to you in a few minutes with it all.  And because you're buying direct from the maker it's much cheaper than anywhere else.  The range of colours is fabulous, particularly if you just want solid colours, and they're very friendly.  They are particularly good about being patient with my terrible Italian.

I have to go there was a strict list about what I am allowed to buy.  This time I wanted cotton for a crochet bag, yarn for a cowl and yarn for a shrug.  I've already made the crochet bag (more on that another day) in a bright blue to go with a dress I have for weddings.  The cowl I will make in 50% wool 50% acrylic pink tweed and the shrug in some much finer 50% merino 50% acrylic cream DK.

I was inspired by this week's Hoxton Handmade podcast to try and incoporate some non-wool fibres into my knitting.  Acrylic is cheaper and more robust than pure wool, particularly if like me you're obsessed with the 100% superfine merino that's so lovely to knit with, but not so lovely on the bank balance if you're making anything bigger than a scarf.  The shrug I'm going to make will (hopefully) look like it's worth much more than the €15 I will have spent on the yarn to make it.  That's certainly a lot cheaper than the cardigan I recently made which is ever-so soft and warm, but needed 13 balls of rather expensive wool to knit up!  The less I think about the cost of that the better frankly.

So if you ever find yourselves in Florence and you're tired of the wonderful churches and museums, you've stuffed yourself full to bursting with gelato and you've had so much coffee you're bouncing off the walls, visit Campolmi Roberto Filati for a bit of a shop.  And after all, a couple of 100g balls aren't going to make that much of a dent in your luggage allowance for the flight home!

A Whole New World

I treated myself to (amongst other things) a copy of Debbie Stoller's introduction to crochet book in the hope that it would succeed where others (my mother and the Ladybird book people) have failed.  So the other day I bought my first crochet hook from our LYS and gave it a go.  The early signs have been quite promising.  Here is some of the progress so far

Here we have the book itself and my very first square.  I've just been mixing the different stitches and things so it's nothing exciting

I did a rectangle because I figured that even I have the attention span to focus on 10 stitches and make sure I start and end with 10.  That's what I've been finding a bit tricky so far

A circle. This was employed as a wine coaster on Thursday night at Knittable Pisa!

V stitch. This hasn't come out too well and I didn't do much of it, but you can sort of see some of the V-shapes in the stitches.

The thing that's worrying me a little bit is reading patterns.  I had a look at the patterns that come in the book and it's a completely different language.  I suppose I felt like that when confronted with my first knitting pattern too (a Louisa Harding hat that I still wear to this day).

I'm also slightly confused about the difference between the American and British ways of describing stitches.  When you knit, knit is knit and purl is purl regardless of where you are.  Or at least they have sensible translations like dritto and rovescio in Italian (front and back).  For crochet it seems that, once again, the waters of the Atlantic have divided 2 great nations and the terminology is totally different.  What Americans call a double crochet is totally different in English and vice versa.  It's all rather confusing, but I suppose that once you have worked out which language your pattern is in you just follow the instructions.

I've decided what my first crochet project will be.  There seems to be a very nice looking small clutch bag that you can make of basically just one stitch in 1 piece with some gaps for handles.  Then you just fold it in half and sew the sides up.  I suppose if I was feeling adventurous I could line it as well, but I think I might skip that bit!  We shall see I suppose.  I've got a bit of a knitting queue to get through first before I get to this, but meanwhile I'll keep practising and see how I go!

Spreading the Word

I've developed something of a reputation.  No, not that sort of reputation.  In the past year or so I have taught a number of friends to knit and I actively try and get them to come to our weekly meetings.  Yesterday I took my latest student to buy her first wool and needles and we went and sat in a comfy bar to start everything.  I love teaching people how to knit.  They get a wonderful expression on their face each time they master a new thing.  My pupil is making a 3x3 ribbed scarf, a nice easy project to start with, but it gets you learning to cast-on, knit, purl and eventually casting off.  I also think it's a good way to start because you have to get used to reading your knitting to work out which kind of stitch you want to do next after you put it down and pick it up.  We had a very successful time yesterday and I have high hopes for her.  We also had excellent nutella crepes as a reward for our hard work.

If anyone is interested the scheme for the scarf is:

• cast on a multiple of 6 + 3 stitches
• RS: (K3, P3) to last 3 stitches, K3
• WS: (P3, K3) to last 3 stitches, P3

Easy peasy!

Obviously yesterday when we went to the yarn store I couldn't leave empty handed.  I got a couple of balls of lovely discount merino to make some brioche fingerless gloves and something to make a quick gift for a friend.  But most importantly, I bought my first crochet hook and I am determined to make something with it!  I've ordered a copy of Stitch n Bitch Crochet in the hope that it will set me in as good a stead as the knitting book did all those years ago!  I had a sneek peek at what patterns I can expect and they all look excellent, so we'll see how this goes.  Maybe I won't end up with a giant knot like I did last time!