Looking back through some old photos that I had, I came upon this ony. Here's Paw-paw in Joker from Rowan's Tiddler and Tadpoles. I made the largest size, big enough to fit a 10 year old and as luck would have it, a petite 80 year old. (She might look tall in this photo, but she was just about 5'1") She passed away 2 years ago but I still expect to see her whenever I go to visit my family. I like to think that she's still with us, if not in body at least in spirit. This new year was particularly poignant, because it also happened to be the second anniversary of her passing.
The yarn is Rowan's long discontinued chunky tweed, in black with brown flecks. I knew that Paw-paw would like such a sensible, stain resistant colour. The buttons cost more than the yarn. (Do you have any idea how much good buttons cost?) The yarn was on sale, but I wanted to choose the prettiest buttons that I could find... and pretty buttons from Liberty are often very expensive.
This is a pre-blog project, so I didn't get the detailed photos that I try to do now. The camera was also new, so I hadn;t worked out how to focus properly, but focusing in dim light was always a challenge. This colourway is so difficult to photograph. If you think photographing red is a challenge, try and capture texture in black.
I remembered that the yarn was a bit harsh, but after a few washing it was much softer, and Paw-paw was able to wear it without a silk scarf around her neck. Paw-Paw worn this sweater all the time. I would like to think that she did because I made it for her, but I'm inclined to think the stain resistant properties, coupled with the pockets (always full of tissues) and it's warmth were the real reason. (She really felt the cold in her later years, eventhough my dad kept the the house in sub-tropical temperatures).
It's a rather nostalgic photo for me... she was posing with the sweater, minutes after I sewed in the last thread. (She'd stayed up way past her bedtime thinking that I was going to be done at any minute, I had to modify the sleeves sllightly to achieve a better fit and sew them in, which took more than 2 hours. Sewing in dark yarn at night = yuck).
For the chinese readers, Paw-paw was my dad's mother. Technically, we should had called her Mar-mar, but in my father's village, the custom was to use Paw-paw... so we follow this custom (and confuse a lot of other Chinese people).
The run-up to Chinese New Year is very busy. It's not just about getting the chores done and the house cleaned, it's also about getting the right foods to prepare. How you behave on the first days of the year will set the tone for the rest of the year. It's important to eat well, do good things and be nice.
The Year 2006 (Fire Dog) is the 4703 year. (The first king of China is the Yellow king, who began his reign in 2697 B.C. 2697+2006 = 4703). Dog year is yang ('masculine' and attributed with structure).
People born in dog years are attentive, well meaning, helpful, warm-hearted, altruistic, modest, devoted, philosophical, dutiful, discreet, intelligent and enthusiastic. They can also be nasty, mean-spirited, disagreeable, bad-tempered, self-righteous, judgmental, quarrelsome, accusing, nervous, anxious and impossible to live with. Hmmm, I'm not a dog but some of those traits describe me to a 't'!
Chinatown was prepared for the festivities. The lanterns were all hung with great care, all in red and yellow, in readiness for tomorrow when the festivities begin. Most of the shops will give a red envelop to the dancing dragon that will come through the shop for good luck in the new year.
The delivery trucks were in full force. This is a big shopping time, to buy all the goodies that you need. We started early to get the freshest things and to avoid the crowds.
The streets were still fairly empty at 9:30am and I was even able to take photos.
You need to buy some roast meats too. The french call this roast duck, canard lacqué. It's really apted description since the duck does look lacquered.
We could see the streets filling up with crowds as we left the shops, successful with our purchases.
May your new year be filled with prosperity, happiness and longevity.
Don't forget your 'Gung Hay Fat Choy!' and don't forget to ask for your lai-sees... because all unmarried people get to prosper in the new year.
Just because I couldn't find all the yarn to finish my New Year's resolution knitting, don't believe even for a minute that I'm not going to eventually find the yarn and eventually finish it. I can be a bit stubborn and mulish about giving up on goals. I still have 11 more months to find the yarn and as long as I finish my socks in pairs, I'd be golden.
So what have I been doing with myself recently? Well, I took a work trip up to glamorous Glasgow. It's the first time that I 'd been to Scotland, ever. Interesting trip, Glasgow is a much more charming town that I'd imagine. As I was in the office during all the hours of daylight, there were no photos of the town. We had a lovely meal at La Bonne Auberge and even with wine, managed to keep the bill under £25 a head.
My trip there was not uneventful, I had a bit trouble getting through airport security. This incident resulted in my wheelie suitcase going through the x-ray machine 4 times, and my knickers, toiletries and bits and pieces also making multiple trips through the machine in small trays. There were also a few rounds of questions, has my suitcase been repaired recently? Are there secret compartments that I know about (well if I did does it count as being secret? and honest, that fine powder isn't potasium nitrate, it's just dust!), Why was I carrying all those wires for my trip (wires, those are cables!, one for my ipod, one for my digital camera, one for my mobile phone, one for my blackberry and finally one for my laptop, ok so what is so suspicious about bring a laptop mains supply without the laptop? It seems perfectly natural to pack all this for an overnight trip and laptop mains without laptop just indicated a person in a great rush grabbing all the cables and forgetting the computer.
Something just seems wrong, to have men old enough to be my father, pawing through my suitcase, next time, I'm going to ask for a woman to do it. I'm sure she's not going to give me sly glances when she picks up my dingy whites.
Just as I was convinced that the only way that they were going to let me on the plane was with my underwear in a bin liner, they handed over my suitcase and let me go, just confiscating my addis. I'm sure that this was out of spite, since I can garrote anyone with my cables much more effectively than with my 24 inch addis and my 2.5mm addis were mush less pointy than my .5mm lead pencil? So relieved that I would be permitted to board my flight and put away my underthings, that I was thankful, inspite of my humiliation . I didn't feel safer though, as I knew that they'd wasted precious time checking me. Not to mention, if they really thought that I was a serious threat, they would had also checked my boots.
So, if you're planning to flying internally (i.e. London to Glasgow), do not pack knitting needles in the carry-on. There is a good probability that they would be taken away. I have taken these same needles to the US, Prague and Turkey in my carry-ons without any problems, but it seems that whether they are permitted or not, is entirely on the discretion of the security person. You can reclaim them for a £6 handliong fee, seems hardly worth it, when you consider the price of the needles.
So here's what I'm working on now. Well, I'm on the second sleeve from this project started in 2003. You didn't hthink that I was only going to knit socks in 2006, did you?
Because the husband wanted some thicker socks to go with his boots, I dug out my Dale Tiur, thinking that it was DK. In fact, it's sportweight. The husband actually chose this colour, thought the yarn suitably soft and wanted a pair of limbos for himself. But with the gauge difference, rather than test knit the pattern, I've ended up knitting this with 66 stitches. (which would be fine for a woman's sockweight sock but this is perfect for a man's US 11.5 feet)
I'm going to admit that working with this yarn hasn't been fun. (Please don't drum me out of the Scandies Yarn lover's club) For some reason, it's a really slow go and as I'm using smaller needles on a fluffier yarn, I'm finding that I have a tendency to split it, not notice it for 10 rows and the ripping back a stitch to fix it. The sock is pretty dense, I'm working them on 2.5mm. In hindsight, 3,00mm would had probably been fine, but as the Tiur did not have any synthetic in it, I thought that a tighter gauge would give better wear. Now I've noticed that these are also going to have to be hand-washed. (What did I get myself into?)
In case you were wondering, no I didn't find the yarn for the other sock. However, rooting around for it, has unearthed a few UFO's that I've forgotten all about.
About that hat.. here's a few close-up:
It's got a funny construction on the back.
Almost helmet like from the side
The top decreases are not symmetrical. The op isn't perfectly round, it's oval.
This is #3 of the 4 single socks that I'd resolved to finish before casting on any more socks. I'm still going to complete my resolution, provided that I find the yarn for the 4th socks. It seems to have gone walkies.
Not such an interesting socks, so I treat you to more photos of Prague. I'll take some photos of that hat for you over the weekend. Yes, it's a handknit but not knit by my hands.
So, why would anyone leave the relatively balminess of Britain to venture somewhere cold, snowy and ... in one of the busiest travelling times of the year?If you have been reading about Phyllis and "Magellan's" hilarious trip to Europe, you might want to skip the text and just look at the photos....
One of the really, really nice things about living in Europe, is that you don't have to travel far to be somewhere completely different from home. Whilst I'm not the most gregarious of people, my mama did not raise me to be a shrinking violet either. So this year, the husband and I decided to have a short break, just before Christmas to Prague to visit the City of a Hundred Spires, attend a few concerts, visit the Christmas markets (and to sample it's finest Gluhwein).
First off the bat, it cold. How cold? Really, really cold. I brought along Benny and was even forced to wear it for fear of losing my ears to frostbite. ( I needed these ears in tip-top condition as I was planning to attend the Christmas concerts.)
After a day, the husband bought me a new hat. This one has earflaps... (very useful) and is a looser knit. I still had hat-head, but I looked so silly with this hat on, that I couldn't decide if hat-head or hat on head was a more ridiculous look. (I think he bought me this hat because he was tired of walking around with a Benny look alike)
Let's just say that my scarf from the SYNO knitalong saved my neck. Thanks to Kristel for making this such a stylish and warm accessory. (It was admired and fondled when I was in a Czech yarn shop)
There was so much to see and so much to do in the few days that I was there. I'd only wished that it wasn't so cold, since it made me somewhat unwilling to fish out my camera for photos.
A few days before Christmas, the streets are filled with large tubs of live, swimming carp. You can buy it for approx 75 CZK a kilo (that's about £2.00). You pick the carp that you want, and it'll be weighed and cleaned for you on the street. This reminds me of Chinese restaurants, where you get to pick the fish that they'll cook for you.
These characters were there to entice you to try their restaurants of choice. Austrian dumplings don't taste anything like Czech Bread Dumplings (Houskove Knedliky). I came home and looked up the recipe, convinced that the restaurant had dropped a loaf of stale bread into hot salty water and sliced it for me. Honest, that's how it really looked. I'm inclined to think that 'real' Czech home-made bread dumplings are delicious and the restaurant was serving tourist fare. If you're an affectionado of Czech food, please point me to some good recipes. I would love to know if 'real' Czech cuisine is like that which we ate in Prague, otherwise a visit to the Czech and Slovak Club will be required.
Just about every single restaurant we visited had goulash, bread dumplings and strudel on the menu. The Czech Republic is land-locked, so seafood is a luxury. I'm told that food has vastly improved and vegetables are now served with every meal. The only evidence that I saw of this was a few wilted leaves of iceberg lettuce or a bit of pickled cabbage. Although the food was heavier than that which I'm used too, it was good, in a comforting way for the winter (you need fuel if you're going to spend the day shivering). The strudel was magnificent.... the coffee was foul. I don't know why even the expresso tasted like Nescafé... me going through caffeine withdrawal is not a pretty sight.
Although a meal of goulash and bread dumpling enabled me to drink my gluhwein and not have the effect hit me im.. ..me...........diately (hic).
Did I mention that the Czech really know how to celebrate Christmas? The probably weren't worried about the lawsuits with having a manger on display.
Did I find yarn in Prague? Do fish swim? I found not 1 but 3 yarn shops and I'd managed to buy from 2 of them. I also stumbled upon a bead shop. (purely accidental, since it's located at the end of an easily missed passage.)
Here are a few yarn shopping tips for Prague.
(1) Patterns - none. I didn't see any patterns in the shope, certainly none in English.
(2) Yarn types - tends to be aran or thicker. More novelty types than standards. A lot of synthetics mixed in. The better yarns in shops like Galanterie are kept behind the counter and you need to ask to see them. The only problem is, they don't speak English and can appear a bit off handed... but hey... can any yarn seller not be infected from my enthusuasm, coupled with a determined glint to purchase? I saw a lot of finer yarns plied up to aran weight
(3) MarLen is the 'deluxe' Czech brand. Lots of very interesting textiles, not just yarns, but fabrics and ready-mades. The shop is an Aladdin's cavern.
Textilni Galanterie
Trzište 6, 118 00 PRAHA 1
Open 10-5pm Mon-Fri
This shop is in the center of Prague, in the Mala Strana - or Little Quarter - district. It's not far from the Charles Bridge and is across the street from Aria Hotel. It's the smallest of the 3 shops that I'd visited. I was really disappointed by my first visit, although the yarns are a very good (ok, cheap by western European standards) price, the synthetic content was alarmingly high. It was only on my return visit, that I'd realised that the good stuff was behind the counter and you'd have to ask for it.
Given my non-existant command of Czech and the vendor's non-existant command of English, it took some time to win her over ;-). Of course, she was won over, every fibre fiend can recognize a kindred spirit.
This is a small haberdashery shop, so there were lots of ribbons, buttons and crafty thinks aside from yarn. It's a good place to visit on the way back from Prague Castle. (The Aria Hotel has a detailed map of the area.
MarLen
Karolíny Světlé 12
110 00 Praha 1
tel.: 224 236 728
e-mail: praha@marlen.cz
Open Mon-Sat: 9.00-18.00
Map Shop not far from #17.
All the other shops stocked a bit of the MarLen yarns. At MarLen, you can buy yarn in skeins or off the cone. The girls there were very helpful (I can almost say friendly) and all spoke some English. In addition to yarn, there was a ton of fabric. About 25% of the shop was yarn, 25% of ready made and 50% fabrics. I could had stayed there forever.
The ready-mades were large bulky sweaters, hats, gloves and scarves.
If you only had time to visit one shop in Prague, go to MarLen. Eventhough it only sells the MarLen brand, it is the most interesting. Karolíny Světlé is just south of the Charles Bridge, not far from the National Theatre, in the New Town.
Galanterie
Spálená 35, 110 00 PRAHA1
M-F 9-5
Sat 9-1pm
Map
This shop is slightly off the tourist track, so you probably won't stumble without knowing where to find it.
On our last day in Prague, we walked through the New Town and waled right passed this shop. (I did a double-take... Hello .. is that yarn?) It's a pretty big shop and I noticed that they had some German yarns as well. I really wanted to invesitgate further but it was just a few days before Christmas and the shop was packed. I didn't have much of a look but did notice they had Gedifra and Schachenmayr, along with Marlen and Storex and lots of other brands that I had never heard of... and would take a lifetime to find the right ascii symbols.
StarBeads
Passage Palac
MetroNarodni 25,
110 00 Praha 1
M-F 11-7pm Sat 1-6pm
Tel: +420 271 743 391
Fax: +420 271 743 398
Interactive map found on the site. It's a very good map. The shop is not far from Tescos in the New Town. (The Tescos are more like department stores than supermarkets and yes, they do sell yarn and have a reasonable haberdashery department.)
We had bought tickets to a concert in St Martin's on the Wall and had 30 minutes to kill becore the concert started. We wandered into the passage and at the passage, lite up like a beacon, was Star Beads. The owner is a nice Japanese man who thought that I might have some Japanese since I certainly didn't have any Czech. (He speaks fluent English). Anyway, great shop, small but has lots of different beads. I wish I took some photos of my purchases but I wrapped them all up and gave them away as stocking stuffers.
So that was the yarn crawl in Prague. I must point out that my intention was to visit MarLen. I didn't have any of the other shops addresses written down. I know that the husband doesn't believe me when I say so, but we literally walked past a shop and saw yarn. But now if you're in Prague, you don't need to rely on luck, you have the shops and a map to get there ;-)
Other Prague Knitting
I did get to do a spot of knitting while I was there. I finished these socks up to the toes. Mostly knit while on the plane, waiting for the plane, or in the evening. We walked a lot in the city and I was really knackered every night. It was too cold to sit and knit outdoors and we didn't stop much in the cafés.
I thought that another picture was required. The mossy socks and me with the Charles Bridge in the background. Yes, people did think that we were nuts ... but you must remember, I'm a brazen American... and a few moments of embarassment is OK for a good blog photo.
Finally, I saw this and thought of all the Liberty Rowanettes. It's not quite the Art Bar Cafe, but it is close, isn't it?
Art Cafe Bar.
After a visit to Mr Photoshop...
Another pair down and just 2 to go. Let's be honest, these socks are not much to write home about. They are a 2x2 rib in Regia's Jacquard in black, white and grey. Despite their boringness, (we were all taught 'beauty is skin-deep', but how often do we need to remind ourselves of this?), they are very utilitarian and will be perfect for my dad. He likes boring. He likes black, grey and white, especially when they are all mixed together.
Of course, the artsy shot... with a bit of green. I'm always amazed at how hardy my lawn is.
To make up for lack of inspiration, I've posted some photos from my trip to Prague in December. I would had taken a lot more photos if it wasn't so cold. We walked around a lot and one of the most interest areas that we'd visited was the Jewish quarters.
Jewish Quarters
The Old-New Synagogue in Prague is the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe. Located on Maiselova Street in Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague, it was built to replace the 'Old' Synagogue, after the 'old' synagogue was destroyed by fire during the seige of Prague Castle.
Altneuschul, which is German for old-new-school because at the time that it was completed in 1275, it was the Neuschul or New Synagogue, but by the 16th century when other new synagogues were built in Prague, it became the Altneuschul or Old-New Synagogue. German was the official language in Prague until 1860.
The Czech call it is call Staronova. Maiselova street was once the main road of the Old Jewish Ghetto. Franz Kafka, attended this syngagogue when he lived in Prague and his bar mitzvah was held here. There are varying beliefs as to how old the synagogue actually is. One reference states it is the oldest synagogue in Europe perhaps dating from the 11th century although the present building is probably of the 14th century”. Another reference state that the synagogue was built sometime in the 11th century and was restored by Samuel Mizrahi in 1142 or 1171. It is believed by some that the synagogue was built in the middle of the 13th century. As the builders of the synagogue didn't follow a particular style, it is much harder to determine the precise age.
Clock on town hall, the one in Hebrew has a reverse mechanism and run counter-clockwise.
That the Purling P's have declared 2006 to be 200Sox? the year of the socks? oh dear, I couldn't help myself, so count me in. Come on, who are you kidding, you know you want to knit socks in 2006....! There's also opportunity to have warm feet and maybe win some yarn .. is that incentive enough?
and ... the French Market Bag? There's now a Version Français , translated by the lovely Elisa, who's probably forgotten more English than all the French that I have learned. Isn't that exciting?
>
and .. if you're still keen on those garter stitch rib socks, I've written up the pattern and posted it my sidebar. Click on Limbo Socks. I have to knit them twice more to proof the pattern, so that will leave me with 2 pairs of socks... why? because I'm not doing single socks in 2006 and as I have written the instructions for magic loop, 2 circs and 4dpns, I need to proof each set.. (oh my head... it's much more difficult to write instructions for the circular methods...so it might be incomprehensible to anyone but me!)
I've fixed the broken link. Thanks Bettina! NB: do not update site late at night, when I am starting to feel sleepy!
Finally, the Kiri Shawl with the scalloped edged.... the instructions are in the 3rd proof. I need to knit once more to make sure that the numbers are correct.
New Year Resolution Update
Well, here's the preview of my first FO of 2006. I started these because I had some old Annabel Fox yarn that had been sitting up in my loft for about 10 years. They were the leftovers from Wessex and there was about 1 and a half skeins of the Loden, so I used some contrasting aubergine for the heels and toes. I found these long lost yarnsm when I went on a yarn hunt of some Rowan DK Tweed for Ben a few weeks ago.
Now, it has been 10 years, although sealed in a cotton bag, I went through a few precautions before I started knitting it (in case there bugs, yuck). I put it in the microwave for 1 minute. Since the yarn is 100% wool, noithing melted. (I should had checked that before I put it in)
So here goes, I reknitted the socks that I did in the Limbo yarn so that I can write up the pattern. The Annabel Fox DK were the same weight and tension as the Limbo yarn. I weighed the socks and these are 98g. (The Limbo socks were just 2 meters short of 100g so tension-wise, etc. it's the same.)
Pattern for Limbo Socks
I cast on using 4.00 mm needles but I used 3.0 mm needles for the knitting.
Cast on 54 stitches, join carefully as to not twist.
Gauge : 13 stitches over 5cm/2 inches.
Cuff: 10 rows 1x1 rib ( *k,p*, repeat * to *)
Leg : 5 inches garter rib
Round 1: *k3, p3* repeat * to *
Round 2: K
Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until there are 5 inches of garter rib.
Start heel.
Heel Flap on 29 stitches:
divide the stitches for the heel flap so that you have 1 knit stitch on the beginning and 1 knit stitch at the end of the heel flap. (This centers the pattern on the instep and heel flap, but also enables you to carry the garter ribging down the side of flap)
Row 1: sl 1, K3, *with yarn in front sl1, p 1 * repeat * to * until 5 stitches from the end, with yarn in front sl1, k4
Row 2: sl 1, k until end
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until heel flap is desired length. (My flap was 2.25 inches long)
Use your favourite heel turning.
I uses a round heel turning.
(I'll update with the precise incstructions, I do them instinctly, but this makes it exceedingly difficult to write without working through the numbers)
Gusset:
Pick up gusset stitches proportional to heel flap (I picked up 15 on each side)
Decrease on foot until 52 stitches remain, continuing with garter rib on instep and stocking stitch on soles.
Toe:
All toe pattern worked on stocking stitches. (You knit all the stitches)
Start toe decrease 1.5 inches from desired length.
I used a wedge toe.
Decreased every other row until 24 stitches remain, then decrease every row until 12 stitches remain.
Graft the 12 stitches together.
NB: I'll work the pattern in more details for 2 circs, 4dpns and magic loop methods for any beginners if required. I did mine by magic loop but that's because I could only find one circular needle.
So new year, new resolutions... I seem to make the same resolutions every year and it can be disheartening when I don't achieve them entirely. I always set some easy ones and some stretch ones, so I can beat myself over the head when I don't achieve them. It reminds me that we are all human and without the failures, how can we appreciate the successes?
happy new year everyone!
Knitting Goals
1. Address second sock syndrome, tout de suite. This is absolutely shameful to end up with one sock when I need 2 for a pair. I must mate these up as soon as possible.
when I'm done with that, I can treat myself to starting something from this.
or this Alcazar, The Moorish Palace, by Hazel Carter. I've loved this particular shawl for a long time.
or this, Joan Schrouder's Oregon Shawl. It's so lovely but I will definitely not knit it using the Douceur et Soie recommended.
These lace projects all need a bit of commitment but they do look fun and interesting.
2. Finish my sanquhar gloves. It would be a shame to have these as UFO's in 2007
3. Knit some more challenging projects. There's going to be a Poetry sweater in 2006 and something Starmore. I'm thinking about making Secret Garden for my god-daughter.
4. Knit something for my husband. He deserves it, I haven't embarassed him in a long time and the last big project that I did for him was in 2004. I'm hoping that he'll pick something in DK weight but it'll probably be 4 ply.
Stashing
1. Reduce stash. I'm going to keep a record of incoming and knitted up by weight and meterage to see how I do for this whole year (let's see how long that will last).
Personal
1. Wean myself off pain au chocolats, no more than twice a week, in hopes of reducing weight by 10 lbs. Drink at least 1 litre of water a day.
2. Stop procrastinating and get on-top of paperwork Answer emails and mails when they arrive. Work on de-cluttering. (OK, Geek, you can pick yourself off the floor, I know that this one is on shakey grounds, but I had to set a stretch goal)
