Miss Jane Cardigan

I did it! I made something!

 

And not only did I make something, I made something that fits!

 

I’m soooo super proud of myself as you can imagine

 

This time last year I wasn’t interested one bit in knitting, but a workmate of mine was on Ravelry and I started to properly look at the beautiful things she had made for her children

 

I started to be really jealous so I got my Mum to teach me how to knit (again)

 

I sort of knew what to do from when I was about eight and Mum taught me the basic knit stich

 

Back on viewing Ravelry, I realised all the things she made that I loved the most were designed by Tikki

 

Going off topic here for a moment, I need to let you know that I organise our office Secret Santa, I had heard from staff that the previous person in my role always asked someone to be their ‘not-so-secret’ Santa because if someone pulled out my name, I was sure to get groans of disappointment in the fact that I would know who they were

 

Straight away I thought of my knitting co-worker and I asked her if she wouldn’t mind

 

I of course, knew exactly what to get her because she had been talking about wanting to make it for her little girl

 

She surprised me last Christmas by buying me the Miss Jane cardigan pattern

 

At a first glance, the pattern looked hard

 

 

Really hard

 

But as a wise knitter told me, only read one row at a time and I’ll have no trouble at all

 

So I did, and boy was it easy peasy!

 

Somewhere along the way I had to rip out about 15-20 rows *cry*

 

And drop a stitch on purpose to fix a problem I found a few too many rows down

 
 

I learnt the hard way not to play yardage chicken with my rows, and in doing so also learnt how to start a new ball of yarn part way through a row

 
 

And hide the dangling yarn from the cat who likes to chew on my needles

Oh no wait... that's every time!

 

It’s been a great experience making this and one that I thoroughly enjoyed

 

 

 

What do you think? (of the cardi, not my Husbands photography skills)

Hat Marathon

I’m going to start a Hat/Beanie Marathon once I finish my current project – a cardigan which I shall show you in a few days because ITS ALMOST FINISHED!!!

I’m not a fast knitter, but I have a lovely little lady who has requested a hat (and once wrote me a beautiful card saying I was her best cousin – we aren’t cousins, I married her cousin and she was a very confused child when we got married thinking her relatives were marrying each other) Anyway, I’ve held a special place for her since receiving that card, she is a real sweetie and I actually feel very loved with her request for one of my hats

The conversation went like this, after showing her my Ravelry page one day when we were bored

Kate “Do you make hats?”

Me “Yes, they’re really easy once you know how”

Kate “Oh” pause “My hat is getting too small for me”

Pause

Me “Would you like me to make one for you?”

Kate “Yes Please!!”

It was a set up and I fell for it

She requested her hat to be purple

Thats my favourite colour so I'm super exited to make this hat perfect for her

Then after measuring her head, I realized her little brother was following us and hanging onto our every word

I think he wanted one too, he didn’t say anything, but I thought I can’t very well make one for Kate and not him

They have another brother; this means I really shouldn’t make two without making a third hat or it wouldn’t be fair (or very nice of me to only turn up with two hats)

I figured if I’m making three hats I might as well make some stash busting hats

I haven’t been knitting long, but I have started accumulating one random ball here and there and the only way to use it up is on single items (like hats)

I’m hoping to make one hat per week at least

Wish me luck!