Victory

It appears that I’m not the only person aggrieved by eBay’s unfair charges. They announced via email this week that the mandatory Free P&P charges for the Accessories section was to be replaced by a Maximum P&P as is already in place for things such as books. Common sense prevails!

eBay charges. Are they fair?

There are only so many hand-knitted hats that even the most ardent fashionista can accommodate in their wardrobes and drawers, so I decided it was time to sell some of my surplus if I wanted to continue with my hobby. The natural choice was eBay as I’ve successfully used it during the past year when I was clearing the house out. However I discovered that Free Postage & Packaging has been imposed in some categories, such as Accessories, apparently in reaction to customers being deterred by excessive P&P charges. Absolute nonsense! First, you have to increase your start bid to cover your costs. This makes your item less attractive at the start of the auction. It also incurs a higher insertion fee which you pay regardless of whether the item is sold or not. eBay also take a percentage of the final bid so you are effectively paying them a percentage of the overheads that you incur to package and post the goods. On more expensive items, this probably doesn’t make a huge difference but on items that are relatively cheap anyway, P&P costs are a bigger percentage of the overall final bid. I’m not averse to paying eBay a fair price for using their facilities but this makes me feel I’m being ripped off.

So what is the casual seller who wants to sell excess items to do? I’m not a sweatshop churning stuff out so the cost of hosting my own website just to sell the odd item is prohibitive, as is paying for a table at a craft fair to sell a couple of items.

I’d be interested in finding out what other knitters do because I’m sure I’m not the only person with this dilemma.

Teddy Bear Instructions

I haven’t started a new knitting project yet but I did come across the instructions I’d written in a notebook to make the teddy shown in the header picture. I also found the scribbled instructions, definitely written on the hoof, to make his little jersey, but they are going to take rather more deciphering so I’ll leave that to another day.

Teddy needs a 50g ball of eyelash or some similar fancy, fluffy yarn (you can normally pick them up in the market or £1 shop pretty cheaply), a set of 3.5 needles (but you may need to adjust according to your yarn), a handful of kapok stuffing,  a preformed nose and a set of eyes. Apologies if the quality of the instructions isn’t up to Paton’s standard but it’s such an easy pattern it’s hard to get wrong. It’s knitted in one piece so is easy for beginners, especially children.

Leg 1 (front): Cast on 3 stitches. Rows 1 -3 increase by 1 st at each end. Knit 18 rows. Leave on holder.

Leg 2 (front): Cast on 3 stitches. Rows 1 -3 increase by 1 st at each end. Knit 18 rows then transfer stitches for Leg 1 to needle.

Body: Knit across 18 stitches for 9 rows. To make the front of the arms, increase by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Increase by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows. Knit 1 row. Decrease by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Decrease by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Then knit 38 rows (this forms the head). To make the backs of the arms, increase by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Increase by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows. Knit 1 row. Decrease by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Decrease by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Knit 9 rows.

Leg 1 (back): Knit 9, turn, then knit 17 rows. Decrease 1 stitch at each end of the next 3 rows, then cast off.

Leg 2(back): Knit 18 rows on remaining stitches. Decrease 1 stitch at each end of the next 3 rows, then cast off.

To make up: Fold and sow around edges ensuring you leave enough gap to turn teddy inside out. Turn teddy inside out. His head will look like a square. Make his ears by sewing across the corners, partially stuff his head then insert the eyes and nose. Stuff the rest of his head but before filling the body, sew around his neck and pull up like a drawstring. Secure fairly tightly then continue to fill the rest of his body. Sow up the remaining seam.

Teddy may not be a sophisticated bear with articulated joints but he is quick and easy to make, and can be made in a variety of yarns and colours.

Finis

The long, mohair stole has been completed at last, along with matching beret.

God knows when I’ll actually wear them. Possibly in the house, during a power cut. We tend to get them in winter. For some reason I’ve never managed to fathom, they usually occur on Thursday mornings.

I think that will be my final knitting until the nights start drawing in again. Actually, that’s on Sunday as it’s the longest day on Saturday! Doesn’t time fly …

You can’t turn back the clock.

They say that you should never follow a fashion if you’re old enough to have worn it the first time. This nugget of good advice also applies to knitting patterns. My mohair jumper has now been converted into the shawl collar cardigan below:

 

It doesn’t hang very well on a hanger, and it’s not a pattern by Alaia, but it is more practical and has had several outings to date.

 

I’ve also unravelled another mohair mistake, knitted to an eighties’ pattern (wouldn’t you think I would learn?) that became a noughties’ drawer filler.   This time it was a kingfisher bolero with a frill around the edge. I know it sounds absolutely awful, but the main problem was the way it hung at the back, far too much ‘swing’. I was tempted to stick to another tried and tested v-neck, long sleeved, plain knit sweater, but I’ve decided to indulge myself and create a lacy stole instead. I’ll probably rarely (never??) wear that either, but at least I can knit whilst watching the TV without having to follow a pattern and, let’s face it, lacy stoles aren’t really subject to the whims of fashion.

Don’t look back

Am I the only knitter who spends as much time unpicking as knitting?

When Elle UK was launched in the late 80s, I bought it religiously. One of my favourite features was the designer knitting pattern in the back and I cut out and kept each one. Over years of successive house moves and subsequent clear outs, my collection was whittled down, but one pattern I did keep was a stunning Azzedine Alaia jumper. As 80s styles made a comeback of sorts I decided last year, at long last, it was a good time to knit it. Unfortunately, as is often the case with old patterns, it required an obsolete mohair yarn, doubled. So I used a beautiful mohair / alpaca mix instead that roughly knitted to the same tension. The result was a rather beautiful geometrical garment, soft as a sleeping kitten to touch, but totally impractical. As the wool sheds rather a lot of hairs, I was told I could only wear it in the car if I wore a coat over it – impossible due to the wideness of the sleeves. It was also incredibly warm but rather short so prone to ride up and leave you with a chilly back. So after a few outings, mainly round the house, it became consigned to the further reaches of the wardrobe. Reluctantly I am now unravelling it. I’ve found a pattern for a cardigan jacket style that is more practical (I hope!) ironically in the same broken rib. Still, at least for a time, albeit a short one, I had an Alaia original. And no, I haven’t had the heart to throw the pattern away yet.

Hat’s enough!

That’s it! I’ve finished with hats for the time being. I need a new challenge.

For the record, here they all are, most of which will probably never get worn so I’ll just end up unpicking them to make something else.

So … what next? Mittens or socks? Socks or mittens?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The obsession continues …

New technique! A circular knitting needle and a double-ended needle! One of the problems with using two circular needles was that the pup had chewed one of them so the wool kept getting stuck as I was pushing the stitches down … Never mind, I’m happy with my new method. I was also unhappy with my cast on edge so I am now casting on to a straight needle – much easier to count the stitches – and then transferring the stitches to a circular one after a row of backstitch.

Jon has complained that I’ve spent all weekend counting, and does he really have to wear all these hats I keep knitting. I don’t know what he’s complaining about; I haven’t suggested he wears one of the berets … yet. I am currently trying to perfect a double layered hat as he thinks the single layers are too thin up in the mountains, so I’m only doing it for him, really.    

An all round success

I think I’ve sussed it! I found it easier to transfer a small section of the stitches, say twenty, at a time to the free needle, and work on them. It is rather time consuming but it doesn’t seem to stretch the stitches as much as trying to do half and half. I’ve included a photo to help fellow strugglers.

Knitting hats is becoming an obsession, a bit like Killer Sudoku. The piece I was previously working on, that I started some time last year, keeps catching my eye to be picked up but I pretend I haven’t seen it and pick up another ball of mohair. I bought some Moroccan Sand chenille last year when I was choosing wool for my winter wardrobe. I love chenille and decided to take a chance on a bin-end bargain. That’s the problem with the Internet: you can’t properly see or more importantly feel the texture or what you are ordering. I was expecting some lovely, soft, velvety wool; instead the yarn knits up so hard it could repel bullets. I’m now knitting a summery vest rather than the cardigan I originally had in mind as I couldn’t find any patterns that referenced the yarn and this was the nearest I could find. Still, it may look okay when I’ve finished …

Mobius Strip

Hmm. Spoke too soon. I still needed to use a double-ended needle in conjunction with the two circular needles to finish off the decreasing rounds. So, I picked up some brown mohair and went back to the instructions with illustrations to try to knit a simple column for a beanie hat. However, despite my best efforts, it kept ‘twisting’ and after the third attempt resulting in a Mobius strip -  symbolic and ironical – I gave up in despair. But I will not be beaten. Somewhere out there, there must be a website with the definitive guide to circular knitting and when I find it I will be sure to share.