Although it's three and a half years since I've posted in this blog, it seems that this is still the place where quite a few people are finding my patterns.  It's time to revive this blog!  I've renamed it to Wakeful Knits and I've changed the look a little bit.  I've added a tab at the top where you can find all of my scarf and cowl patterns. I'll gradually be adding tabs for other types of patterns too.
The latest project I'm working on is this slip stitch pullover.  Here's the completed back.  I'm partway through the front and hope to get a bit more done soon.
Welcome to my reactivated blog!

Slip Stitch Pullover Back

Determinism means never having to say "I hate myself".

I'm moving

Hi all,  just a quick word to let you know I'm moving.
My new blog is knits the journey
Hope to see you there!

Cushion Cover - Ready to Assemble

The knitting for my cushion cover is complete. All that's left now is to assemble it and sew on buttons. I haven't thought about what buttons to use yet.

I'll post again with pictures of the completed cover (with cushion enclosed).

I'm about to start work on an item for a magazine subscription. I won't be able to post about this, so blogging may be a bit sparse over the next month or so. No change there. :)

Cushion Cover progressing

The cushion cover is nearly finished. There's only one more repeat of each colour to go. My daughter asked me, "What is that? It's so long!". It does look very long, so I dragged out the intended cushion for a quick measure up. It still seems ok. It just looks odd on it's own. Keeping the faith.

Gauge (Tension) for knitting cotton: My 2 cents worth

Hello gentle reader. Yet again I'm knitting with cotton. Obtaining the correct tension/gauge seems to be a work in progress for me. My latest theory, which seems to be holding, is the following:

1. Wash and dry your swatch.


2. Out of curiosity, measure your tension/gauge in rows and stitches.


3. Hang the swatch for 24 hours, clipped to a coat hanger, a double pointed needle threaded through the bottom of the swatch, with a 50g ball of yarn hanging from the needle.


4. Measure your tension/guage whilst the swatch is still hanging.


5. Unhang (you know what I mean) the swatch. You'll find it springs back from it's weighted length.


6. Measure your tension/guage yet again.


7. Calculate the midway point of the tension/guage, between the hanging measurement and the post-hanging measurement.

For a garment such as a cardigan, this seems to be an accurate way to calculate tension/guage.

I'm currently working on a cotton cushion cover. As I'm knitting on smaller needles for a firmer fabric, and the fabric will be wrapped around a cushion, rather than hanging, I'm using the standard tension/gauge measuring technique. Time will tell whether this is the correct approach. Here's the tension square for my cushion cover.

The colour choice may seem strange. My original idea was for an intarsia cushion cover of a swamp hen on a green background. Either I'm very bad at intarsia, or one-stitch-wide legs are impossible to make look good. I wasn't going to waste this yarn, and if this colour combination is good enough for a swamp hen standing on grass, then it's good enough for a striped cushion cover.

Easterner Cardigan Pattern Available

My latest pattern is now available. The Easterner Cardigan....
A cardigan in wide stripes of colour worked in diagonal stitch, knitted on larger needles for an open texture, in cotton.
The yarn I've used is Rowan Cotton Glace which is a great summer yarn with beautiful stitch definition. The colour range is gorgeous. I've gone with earthy tones, but why not try blues, greens or your own favourite mix.

Easterner Cardigan

Knitting Pattern

Yarn Suggested: Rowan Cotton Glace or any other 5ply/Sport Weight cotton yarn. 50gm balls, 115m (126 yds)

Gauge: 22 sts and 32 rows to 10cm(4 ins) in Relief Diagonal Stitch

Needle Size: 4.5mm straight needles and 4mm 40cm(16 in) circular needles

Meterage: 1157 - 1682 m (1265 - 1840 yards)

- 2(2,3,3,3) balls Colour A
- 2(3,3,3,3) balls Colour B
- 3(3,3,4,4) balls Colour C
- 2(2,2,3,3) balls Colour D
- 2(2,2,2,3) balls Colour E
5 14mm (1/2 in) buttons required.

Sizes Available: 75 (85, 95, 105, 115)cm, 29½ (33½, 37½, 41¼, 45¼) in

This pattern is available to buy from Ravelry for $US 6.50

Easterner Cardigan nearing completion

I'm working on a cotton cardigan; the Easterner Cardigan. It's in Rowan Cotton Glace 5 ply, using earthy tones and a diagonal stitch pattern. I'm using larger needles to create a more open, summery knit. I'm having my usual plant-based-fibre tension/gauge issues. The back had to be knitted twice to get the expected length. I'm waiting to have the whole garment knitted and put together before I expound my theory on gauge for cotton. Bet you're waiting with bated breath!


Naturally I've run out of black yarn when there are only three more rows of it needed. I hope I can get more of the same dye lot, or that black doesn't vary much with dye lots.

So far, we haven't had too many hot, sweaty handed days where I don't manage to knit. I've been ploughing on. I've been doing a little sewing as well, and have a night dress completed, but for the hem. It's hard to see the point of buying such simple things, but it's hard to manage time for everything that needs to be done. The pattern also includes winter pyjamas, so maybe I'll make some of those when I need more! Thankfully no collar is involved. I find it a bit tricky to make sewn collars look good.