Protector of Pots and Alpacas

Ahha! There I do do some art! The art side of the blog has been somewhere between limp and non-existent so I thought I'd use what I'm working on at the moment as a background.

Anyway this is a general kitchen surface protector / pot holder / whatever. I saw these in the ikea catalogue and thought they would be useful and I could make them for cheaper (especially as the cotton I'm using has been sitting in my stash for the last year or so). It's just a simple DK white cotton knitted in Fisherman's' Rib to make it thicker. I think I'm only doing it because I feel a huge urge to knit. I sold my first hat on Etsy (Yay) the other day and I've had the huge urge to make more but I've so much college work to do that it's impossible right now. So this little project I can do in between paint drying and such adn it might stop me being crazy.

I've been experimenting with different knitting techniques lately as I bought a new book The Knitters Handbook which has been useful. Although I was instantly put off it when it described Alpaca yarn as being hair from the llama. Its not. Llamas are cousins of Alpacas and although their hair is used for yarn they are primarily for meat and carrying stuff. Alpacas are smaller and primarily bred for their lovely soft hair. Other than that the book seems fine. A little confused as whether it's concentrating on stitch techniques or generally about the basics (or not so basics.) It teaches how to turn a heel in a sock, knit a pocket in a jumper and do invisible casting on. These are all slightly random and isolated and it's possible that they are there simply a reference and not to show anything new, like the irritating how to knit section.

After that's nicely cleared up. I love alpacas and I want some some day - It's a shame my parents wont let me keep some in their back garden (I'm sure alpacas and chickens get along fine)

Time Off

I'm still here really I am. The past month has been a bit of a 'personal journey of discovery' and I didn't want to bore people with self-indulgent rantings.

However since I've been away I've discovered that I'm not ready to give up on art. Which is comforting to know. I've also been making things! A new knitted hat for my Dad. The pattern is here but I just used a ball of blue King Cole Aran 30% wool 70% acrylic. And I've been collecting plastic shopping bags, cutting them up and stringing them together into yarn. Its for a laundry basket for Simon as he complains that the last laundry basket can't be carried around (well it was from the £1 Shop) It's really labour intensive getting bags as I don't really shop an awful lot, (If I could afford to shop a lot I would have enough money to buy a laundry basket) but its really satisfying that I'm recycling what would normally be thrown in the bin and its going to end up being free. Free is the best price.

Cheap is also good. I found some charity shop treasures recently including some awesome vintage red pink and Orange striped curtains (£2) and a 400g cone of buttercup yellow yarn (£1.99) I follows the knitorama method of working out what fibre it is by setting fire to some of it (very safely of course) and I think its a blend of mostly nylon or polyester with some animal hair in it. Its about 2ply weight so don't expect to see any projects with it in for a while.

I've been really enjoying buying Christmas presents this year. Mainly because I decided that instead of getting people one thing they want I would make a goody bag of things they like but don't normally buy. For example so far for my Mum I've bought a bun tray made of silicone. I recommended silicone to her ages ago but there is so much difference between the good higher priced ones and the cheap floppy crap ones. So I got her a good one. With that I bought yesterday a jar of lovely piccalilli from the farmers market.