Oliver Boliver

Meet Tabitha - a free kitty pattern!

I hate throwing things away. I just can't bear it. There's always a chance that It could be useful at some point in the future and I will be Very Glad that I didn't get rid of it. Knitting just makes my hoarder nature worse. I have never used up the entire skein or ball for a project and so there's always half a hank here or 15g of sock yarn there. I look at the tiny insignificant ball of yarn and see a rose tinted promise of projects to come. However, I can, hand on heart, say that I Have Never Used Up Those Tiny Bits of Yarn.

That is, until now.

This was the premise that I began to design Tabitha. I had a sacred tiny ball of sock yarn left over from my recent Knit Love club socks and had the desire to use up every last precious scrap. (Of course I no longer have any spare yarn for fixing any holes but I'll deal with that crisis another day!). So far I've knitted her in 4ply, DK and Aran/Worsted weights and I can't decide which I like the most. I've noted a list of approximate yarnages and sizings below as it's too dull to pop in the middle of a blog post. ;)

She's knitted in the round and her ears are knitted directly to her head. In fact the only sewing you need to do is to attach her paws and tail in place. Simple! And, best of all, because you're only using tiny amounts of left over yarn, not only will you finish her in the space of an evening or two, you're going to start wading through all those tiny tangled balls of forgotten stash, putting them to good use.

Your knitting bag will never be the same again.

You can download her for free at Ravelry. Just click here for the link to the pattern. Please also join the Oliver Boliver group on Ravelry and show us your finished Tabithas (or Tom Cats). If you add Tabitha to you projects page we can build up a list of all the different yarns used for her. I can't wait to see her in lots of different yarn weights and colourways.

She's already in the Hot Right Now patterns on Ravelry at number 13 and considering Knitty's spring and summer collection was only released a few days ago that's Very Exciting! 

I am a very happy little birthday bunny!

Enjoy! xx

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4ply Tabitha 

- Sokkusu Original in Thunder & Blazes approx 12g/44m

- 2.25mm needles

- 10 cm high

 

DK Tabitha

- Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend in Orion - approx 15g/41m

- 3.25mm needles

- 14cm high

 

Aran/Worsted Tabitha (pic to follow)

- Artesano Aran in Deep Teal - approx 50g/66m

- 4.5mm needles

- 20cm high

 

Please do allow a few extra grams/metres in case your tension is a little looser than mine

 

Birthday Preparations

Image courtesy of neichan

Remember when you were little and birthdays always seem to take forever to come round again? Then you get older and you wish that they didn't come round such as often! I'm now at that age when I'm nearer to 40 than 30 and naturally everyone keeps reminding me. I get ever closer to the 'big four - oh' this Friday. 

The nice thing about birthdays in my family is that they seem to cluster together. Mr C, Ollie, Zac and Grandpa's birthday are around Christmas time and mine, my brother's and my step-son, Alex are all this weekend coming. Everyone else slots nicely inbetween which is very considerate of them.

My brother was born on my 3rd birthday and it was noted at the time I wasn't very happy about that. I might have mentioned around about the time of his birth that 'he was the worst birthday present I'd ever had', much to the amusement of my parents.

Looking back I always liked sharing my birthday with him as it meant that we always got presents on the same day and our parties were always a big shared affair. We even had a shared 18th & 21st in my university union bar which turned into a very crazy night with more than a few shandies. My brother is a self confessed party animal and always gets a bit silly after a few drinks and his company can be quite addictive. However, that night is definitely not the subject of this blog post!

So as birthdays are for sharing I'm just putting the finishing touches to a free toy pattern which I will make available via Ravelry from this Friday. I'm not giving any secrets away as I have a strict no-peeking-policy when it comes to birthday presents!

Pen x

Sock Fest (No Spoilers)

I joined Socktopus' Knit Love Club as a little Christmas treat to myself and I am such a happy knitter having done so! I've knitted lots and lots of things over the years and I love the challenges that knitting presents even after years of doing, principally, the same thing. I realise I can knit without joining a club but I wanted a 'look forward to' and element of surprise that being a member of a club brings. I was also excited about the challenge of learning some new techniques. Every day's a school day, or so they say.

Essentially, the club involves 6 hanks/skeins of hand dyed Sokkusu O in surprise colours and 2 patterns per hank delivered at about the same time, every 2 months across 2012. It's very cloak and dagger for the first few weeks of receiving the yarn and pattern and spoiler shields must be used on your Ravelry projects page to keep the yarn colour and pattern a secret. It's ok to post pictures of your yarn and WIPs behind the shield though. Phew!

Spoiler Shield for Knit Love Club Projects

I was so excited to find my silvery packet of yarn delivered at the beginning of February and even put the kettle on and made a ceremonious cup of tea before I opened it. It was like being a child at Christmas I can tell you! The pattern was delivered a few hours later through Ravelry and I couldn't wait to cast on! I had a serious case of startisus and immediately shelved my Mr Tumble socks which I'd been knitting for Alex. (He understands. He has the same approach to girlfriends! Teenagers, eh?!)

Mr Tumble socks, shelved for the moment...

The Club yarn is so lovely although I would say not quite my colours of choice. If you haven't knitted with Sokkusu O before it's really worth trying. It's feels really slick to knit with and has a lovely sheen and fantastic stitch definition. The knitted fabric created is lovely and soft although I'm thinking durable enough to handle the hardwearing punishment that socks require. The proof of the pudding will be in the wearing, of course.

I'm just finishing the second sock now and have been hooked with the pattern from the start. It's tricky enough to keep you on your toes but sufficiently repeats itself so you can fall into a rhythm even watching tv. And to boot I've learned to make a different style cuff to my usual 2 x 2 rib and a new stitch, perfect for variegated yarns.

I won't spoil the surprise by posting pics here but you can see the yarn and pattern on my projects page under Fanque's Circus Sock if you like. Even Mr C is coveting them. And we all know that the way to Mr C's heart is with a pair of hand knitted socks. Just not this pair.

xx

Hello - is there anyone there?

It's been a while since my last post and I'm not sure if there's anyone still out there?

I've had some health issues to deal with and so had to take some time off from blogging which made me very sad. Thankfully, I was still able to get some knitting in and joining the Socktopus - Knit Love Club as a wee Christmas-pressie-to-self gave me a January look forward to. More on that in my next post!

I've not been able to reply to all your lovely comments of support over the past few weeks/months and so here is a very public but sincere thank you for your continued support and warm reception back into the fold.

Knitters (and crocheter's of course) are just the best!

xx

On the needles.... Oh no - not another Beekeeper's Quilt!

It's been a while since my last On the Needles post, primarily because I've been busily knitting about 8 pairs of socks which will be gifts for various lucky recipients. I've still not had chance to take a picture of them yet but will try to do so asap. Soctober certainly lived up to it's moniker!

I've recently caved in to peer pressure and started a BeeKeepers Quilt. I think I may be the last one to join the crazy cult of hexipuffers. BUT If I'm not the last and all this makes absolutely no sense to you then here is a picture of the designer's Beekeeper which looks so cute...

 
Image courtesy of Tiny Owl Knits - Beekeeper's Quilt

It's made using a very simple hexagon pattern, knitted in the round using 4ply. You then stuff them with toy stuffing, chuck them in a large bag or box somewhere and wait until you have enough to make something useful. The brilliant bonus is that you don't even need to sew the little blighters together. Tiny Owl Knits shows you in her lovely pattern how to tie them together.

Image courtesy of Tiny Owl Knits 

I've seen on Rav that some knitters are using DK and slightly larger needles which should yield a slightly heavier quilt but which will knit up faster (as you need less hexipuffs). There's a KAL (knit-a-long) on Rav if you want to join the party. But with my 1-a-day hexipuff prescription I think I'll be at this party for a very long time!

Seeing as I can't knit more than 2 hexipuffs in a row without getting the sinking feeling that "I'm-looking-at-another-blanket-project-that-I'll-never-get-round-to-finishing" I've decided that I need another project to keep my spirits lifted.

I thought about knitting the infamous French Press Slippers...

 

Image courtesy of Melynda Bernardi

But I'm a bit scared about felting. It's something that strikes the fear of god into me. The thought of purposely shrinking my handmade lovely just doesn't feel right. And not to mention that you don't have much control as to how much the flipping thing will shrink. I don't think I'm ready for that kind of disappointment.

So I carried on searching Ravelry for other slipper type patterns and out popped this lovely.....

Image courtesy of Cocoknits - Prairie Boots

These have got my name written all over them! The pattern is called Prairie Boots by Cocoknits and is downloadable from Cocoknits' website. I suspect that they'll be a relatively quick knit too. I'm thinking about using some worsted/aran yarn held double but I need to do the maths before I launch into knitting them. 

Bring on the cold weather, I say!

Have a happy weekend and stay safe this Bonfire Night.

x