Eight Acres

I've been doing a bit of crochet lately.  Mainly because I've been working on a lacey alpaca shawl and the pattern is so complicated that its not really fun to knit.  I love the way it looks, but I don't really enjoy the stress of getting the pattern right.  This leads to procrastination, which leads to a simple crochet project (or two.. ok three). front post crochet in my ear warmer A friend asked for a baby hat as a baby shower present, and when I was looking for a suitable pattern I found this textured toddler hat , which uses a front post crochet stitch.  It took me a few false starts and unravelling (and finding it on youtube - this is a good link too ), but eventually I mastered the front post and finished the hat (and forgot to take a photo of it, I didn't have a suitable model, so you'll just have to take my word for it and maybe we will get some pics when the baby fits the hat!). ear warmer As I was still not feeling like finishing the shawl...

I finished my pair of crochet socks, using some lovely New Zealand wool.  I found that crocheting socks is easier than knitting socks.  I do really struggle to get knitting started on three needles and I didn't have to worry about dropping stitches.   Here's my knitted sock pattern in case you prefer knitting .  For the crochet socks I used this pattern , and I mostly followed the instructions.  I hate having to follow them and not really knowing what will happen.  Turning the heal was a wild ride on the first sock, I just had to trust the pattern and I had no idea what would happen! To make things a bit easier for myself next time I want to crochet some socks (and for anyone else who wants to follow that pattern), I made another sock with different coloured wool for each section so you can see how the pattern forms into socks.  It reminds me of an Ugly rugby jersey  with all the different colours.   Step 1: the ankle This i...

I put my knitting away over summer because its just too hot to think about wool, and usually with the longer days there's not much time so spend sitting around.  Now as we come into winter (although our forecast is for 28degC today!  But I will pretend it is getting cooler!), I have sorted out all my half-finished knitting and crochet projects and I'm ready to start working on something again. Crochet ruffle scarf I find knitting and crochet relaxing.  I like to be doing something with my hands while I watch TV or talking in the evenings and I like to be producing something useful (I love sewing, but its a bit anti-social and loud).  I am currently working on a pair of crocheted socks from this pattern .   Fiona from Arbordale Farm gave me some lovely bright NZ wool when she came back from holiday last year and I thought it would make a nice pair of socks, but I also didn't feel like knitting ( see my knitted sock effort here ), so I found this crochet...

I only learnt to crochet a couple of years ago, and last winter I really wanted to improve my crochet skills to the point where it was an unconscious movement rather than a very concious and laboured effort.  The best way to do that (possibly the only way) is repetition, so it made sense to make something large.  I decided to make a rug. As I was intending this for practice, I didn't know how it would turn out and I didn't want to buy new yarn in case I wasted it, so I decided to use some of the yarn I had been hoarding wisely buying from the markets.  As I didn't really known how much yarn I had and how much rug I wanted to make, it was difficult to find a pattern to use. I didn't want to make multiple granny squares that would have to be joined together later (I can picture a stash of squares waiting to be joined).  I also didn't want to make one of the pretty patterns that require you to decide the length of one end of the rug and work backwards and f...

Over the past few winters I've been practicing my knitting .  I was taught to knit originally by my granny when I was younger, so I knew the basics, but I had never really practiced until I became interested again a few years ago.  I have been buying wool and needles from markets and op shops and teaching myself using youtube.  I never like to spend time practicing something just for the sake of it, I like to make something that I can use, so I have been trying to find things to make that help me to refine my technique, but are also simple and ultimately useful.  Obviously I can't launch into huge projects while I'm still struggling to knit consistently and neatly, but I managed to find a few small things to knit that have really helped me to gain the confidence to make something larger. This is what I made this winter to practice before I make something bigger. Here's what I have come up with as suggestions for beginner knitters to practice: Headband or e...

Since I've got more confident with knitting, I've been thinking I should learn to crochet too.  I did make a couple of finger crocheted rag rugged after a lady at our local permaculture group gave me a quick lesson, but I had not yet mastered the crochet hook.  I had the basic idea though, from all the finger crochet, so I really just had to sit down with some wool and a hook and one of my many crochet books and figure it out. My first grannie squares If you want to learn to crochet, I recommend finding someone patient to show you, even a quick 15 minute lesson is better than nothing.  At least you will have the feel for it.  I spent ages looking at diagrams in books, but I really needed someone to show me how to hold the yarn and the hook before I could follow the diagrams.  If you can't find anyone to show you in person, here is a really good youtube tutorial .  This is also a good refresher to help you remember what you learnt.  I like the w...

I'm really enjoying knitting this winter!   I made a pair of arm warmers last year and I wear them a lot.  I don't know what I was thinking making them from white wool, they are getting a bit grubby, so I thought I would make some more and keep the nice ones for "best".  The first pair were quite complicated because they had a thumb, so I wanted to try making a simpler version with just a hole for the thumb instead.  And this time I used black and grey yarn that I got from the market. I knitted these on four double pointed needles.  I cast on 40 stitches and worked around until I had the length of stripe I wanted.  If you're not sure how many to cast on, my wrist circumference is 16cm, and the widest point is around 20cm, so if you measure your hand, that will give you an idea of how many you need.  Do not be deceived, I always think that the circle of yarn is going to be too small, but are you knit up, you find that it is wider than you realis...

I was lucky to go to school while the importance of teaching kids such life-skills as cooking, sewing and constructing things from wood and metal was still recognised. We spent several weeks in each class, several hours per week. I believe that many schools no longer teach these skills, which is a real shame, and the subject of another post entirely. My point here is that I learnt to sew when I was 11 and I got a bit of practice making different things. The school had the same sewing machines as my mother’s Bernina, so I was able to practice at home as well. My parents gave me a new Brother for my 21st birthday. I am not a brilliant sewer, but I am comfortable with cutting out and sewing fabric, especially simple projects like curtains, which can be pretty handy for making what we need and saving money. While I learnt to knit around the same age, I never practiced much had never learnt to follow a pattern or any fancy stitches. I did not (and still do not) feel as comfortable with k...

Since I started knitting a couple of years ago, mostly using wool from the cheap haberdashery stall at the Nanango markets, I’ve gradually been tackling more difficult projects and gaining confidence in my knitting abilities. This year at the Nanango Show I decided to treat myself to some lovely smooth alpaca wool. It came in a hank, which is basically a long loop lifted straight off the spinning wheel and twisted into a pretzel. The lady at the stall (who had spun the wool from her own alpaca fleece, wow!) told me that I would have to wind it into balls. Here's the finished balls This is the first time I had thought about the forms of wool, here is a great post that explains the names of all the different “wool bundles” . And here is some instructions for transforming an unruly hank into tame balls of wool. Here's the neatly wound hank pretzel I don’t have a spare patient person to hold the hank, but I had no trouble draping it over a chair, which I placed in...

Now that I have mastered socks , I decided it was time to start on the vest that I have been wanting to make since I started knitting a few years ago.  I have been collecting vest patterns from the op shop, this booklet was 20c. cheap knitting pattern booklet There's a few things to look for before starting a new pattern.  First look at the sizes and figure out which size you will be knitting.  I then go through and underline the stitches for the size I'm making.  Next check that you have everything you need.  This pattern specifies 8 ply yarn (the ply is the thickness).  The ply should be written on the wrapper, if you buy yarn from the market like I do, and it doesn't have a wrapper, you can work it out roughly by wrapping the yarn around a needle and measuring the width of a set number of loops, for example here .  This pattern also uses 4mm and 3.25mm needles, you can check your needle sizes with a ruler.  The most important part though ...

Around this time last year, Linda from the  Greenhaven Goodlife  kindly sent me some wool and needles to make socks as part of her  one year anniversary giveaway  following on from Linda's own  sock knitting successes .  I made several attempts to start the first sock and I got this far before I put away the knitting in summer.  When I pulled out the sock to start again, I tried it on and realised that it was going to be one very long sock.  I think I added a lot of stitches as I went around and got all mixed up with ribbing the fine yarn.  So I unravelled the whole thing and thought about starting again. The first sock was going to be very long But this time I thought I'd better find the right pattern.  I was trying to use the pattern that was on the yarn label, but that was for five needles and Linda only sent me four needles.  In hindsight it probably would have been easier to just buy myself five needles, but I ...