Hoo are you?... and a Bobble Cast Off Tutorial

What a week we've had! It's been really good albeit difficult, as Gerry has needed a lot of help with his fractured shoulder. However, it is healing nicely and I am glad to report that he has started moving his right arm a bit, all the while being back at work... He had another CT this week, with a 3D reconstruction to make sure that the fracture didn't extend into the joint. It's really quite amazing what modern medicine can do... (if any of you are interested I will upload a 3D reconstruction CT image to show you ), and I am endlessly grateful that almost any traumatic injury can be treated if therapy is started early enough...

I have had a good week and a sad week in the ICU. We are full (as usual), but this week saw some very sad situations.
Gerry was called to see a young boy who had tried to commit suicide, and although he tried everything possible to save the child's life (including extreme measures), the child died. It has caused tremendous upset and sadness for us, as well as the hospital staff involved . We learned that his friend had committed suicide the evening before, and that there had been a pact between them to do so. It's a desperately sad situation... On a more positive note, a sweet old lady who has been with us for over a month, and at one point critically ill, is ready to leave! She is now thoroughly irritated with being in ICU and scowls at us when we ask her how she's feeling :) (this is actually a good sign...patients who are critically sick don't scowl at anything...)

On the knitting front...I have been designing a fair isle pattern, and hope to have it finished for show and tell next week :) I am working on an African Flower Hexagon join-as-you-go Tutorial...hope to have it up soon :)

Right! Onto Hoo are you # 32...

What did you get/give for Valentine's Day?

I gave the girls some adorable soft toys , cow and horse little bags, and a cool muticoloured pen (you know the type...ten different coloured nibs in one...beats me but they loved them!) They made me an absolutely beautiful card with lovely tear jerking stuff written inside....
For Gerry, I organized to have an entry for an exclusive mountain bike race (unfortunately he will not be taking up the place ;) ). Gerry bought me an antique amethyst ring.

Do you have a vacation planned in the next couple of months or in the summer?

Yes, we are going skiing in France in April.

What is the one thing you do to pamper yourself?

Have a back massage...

What sparks your interest in other people's blogs?

I love to see a well laid out, clean looking blog. That's the first thing that catches my eye.
Regular posting is also important...I may feel that I am getting to know someone, and then look forward to reading more, and boom!...no posts for weeks! I love creativity... so blogs that feature creative elements are always a draw. I love humour, and honesty and positive attitudes. I also like to hear something of the blogger's life, their days, activities etc. And most importantly... a friendly disposition...


What kind of mood are you in today?

I am happy and incredibly grateful for the good in my life. That's not to say that I don't have some hard days, where maybe things aren't easy or understandable, but I am simply thankful that my problems are small in comparison to what some people are experiencing. I am grateful for health, healthy children, a wonderful husband, precious friends and family, and a new hope for every day. Unlike a lot of people in Africa, I have choices and options and my freedom, and I recognise that these are indeed precious!



Bobble Cast Off Tutorial

Right...ready to go? When you have reached the end of your project, and you are ready to cast off, proceed as follows...
Knit 2, cast off one stitch.


You have one st on the RHN.


Knit another stitch,

...and cast off a second stitch.


The next stitch will be the one that you make a bobble into. The bobble is made in exactly the same way as described in the Bobble Cast On Tutorial.


Above you can see the first row of the Bobble has been made...


The bobble has been made, and you will now slip the stitches to finish the bobble (exactly as in the Bobble Cast On Tutorial).


The bobble stitches have been slipped, you have 2 sts on your RHN.



Cast off the right sided st on the RHN off (over the bobble st), as seen above.


Above you have the bobble made and all sts cast off.



...next Knit a stitch...you have two sts on your RHN again.

Cast it off. One stitch on RHN. Repeat this so that you have cast off 3 stitches including that of the single bobble stitch. Make a new bobble into the next stitch on your LHN. Repeat until the end of the row and all sts are cast off.


A small note:
In the picture above you can see that the first bobble is smaller than the other two. I found that for some reason, (even using the same yarn and needles ), I needed to add an extra Knit row and an extra Purl row to the bobble, in order to make it the same size as the bobble made in the Bobble Cast On. I am not sure if this is just me, but if you are making something that has two bobble edges, you may want to experiment with the bobble size of the cast off, so that both your bobble edges match. The bigger bobbles were made with these extra rows, and they are the same size as in the previous tutorial.

I would love to see your projects that have a bobble or picot edge...please upload them to the Friday Project Share post next week :) I look forward to seeing everyone's WIP/FO's!

Have a good evening folks,
♥

Bobble Cast On: a Tutorial, and some thoughts on personality...

Today was a really hectic day, with a lot happening at work...in fact this whole week has been quite a handful. I had great intentions to post this tutorial earlier this week, but you know...the road to perdition and all... so after some delay, here it is...

I was thinking about our kids today, and how different they are in some respects. I have been doing homework in the afternoons with the little one, and the Afrikaans spelling is just a giant weight on her shoulders! She really doesn't enjoy the subject at all, and I again realized just how different they are...my older daughter is fully independent (and has been from a very young age), gets on with her work, plans by herself, is studious and self driven. She does well at school and I never have to check up on her school things...The baby on the other hand, is a free spirit, with a natural tendency to art, music, drama and all things colourful. She is very bright, and also very responsible with her school work (she nags me to death to get her projects done early...), but is the absolute queen of drama. Nothing is done half measure, and all situations can be exploited for dramatic purpose...yet both children came from the same parents (yes...I promise ;) ), have grown up in the same environment, and have the same amount of attention and encouragement, yet they are so different in some aspects of their personalities....

So in a nutshell...do you think it's nature or nurture?

Above is a picture of a visit we made to the Dinosaur Park in Mpumalanga. Take a look at who is doing what....



Notice the bottled water and chic outfit...and the knees.... :)


And now onto other things...

The bobble cast on idea has a bit of a history. Since I fiddled with the Picot Cast On with a twist,
I have been plotting and scheming on how to make a bigger , fatter "picot". The only solution in my mind, is to make a bobble, but when I looked for some idea of how to do this, I couldn't find anything on the internet or in my book stash.... I sat for a whole day, fiddling and trying to figure out, and (it must be said, my faculties have lessened in acuity somewhat, since I had my kids...;) ), eventually came to the conclusion that one has to first knit a row before you can go ahead with the bobble bit. Good, I thought, I have learned something :)

I phoned my good friend Dana later in the evening, and told her of my herculean effort. "Oh", she said, "I know how to do that, I have a pattern for that!" .... it must be said that Dana is singularly talented, and in retrospect, of course she would know how to do this... BTW, she is releasing her new book this year...I have seen what is in it, and I tell you, it's a sizzler! So keep an eye out on her blog...

So....what is this all leading up to? If I happen to be the only person out there who doesn't know how to do a bobble cast on, forgive me! :) If there happens to be someone else who hasn't been classically educated in the art of bobbling, this is for you....


This is what you are going to learn to do. The tutorial is probably over explained, but I like to do this so that newbies can also manage...




Ok, you can pretty much do this Bobble Cast On in any yarn, although perhaps laceweight yarn won't make a bobble, more of a full stop. That being said, the technique is the same irrespective of yarn weight.


Cast on the number of stitches that you need. I left two side stitches, as you will see later, because it gives the work a little bit of an edge before the fat little bobble appears, and just looks better.

Knit one row, and turn your work around. Above you can see that I have done just that.


Knit 2 stitches. Throughout the tutorial I will refer to the left hand needle as the LHN, and the right hand needle, as the RHN.


Insert the RHN into the next stitch on the LHN. You are going to knit into this stitch as you would normally, but you don't drop the stitch you have knitted into from the LHN. Just leave the loop of yarn on there .


Above, you can see that the new stitch has been made , but the loop of the old stitch is still on the LHN.


This knit stitch you have just made on the RHN, is the FIRST stitch of your bobble. You will now do a YARN OVER. What this means , is that you aren't going to make a real stitch, more of a little cheat by just wrapping the working yarn around the RHN, in the direction as shown above.


Above, you can see how your work should look once the yarn over has been done. It is so easy to do...it is essentially just bringing your yarn towards you through the two needle points...



Insert your RHN tip into THE SAME STITCH as in the previous photos, and make a new regular knit stitch. (Notice, how the yarn over will created a clearly seen stitch once you have knitted a stitch after it)


Knitting a new stitch as normal....


New knit stitch pulled through , but again DO NOT DROP the LHN loop. In the picture above, I have labelled the new stitch a "half knit" stitch because I haven't completed the knitting motion, by dropping the loop form the LHN. You have now made 3 stitches of your bobble.



Do a second Yarn Over, just like before....


Knit into the same loop on the LHN as before...insert RHN into same loop on LHN...





Pull the stitch through but this time, drop the loop from the LHN. You have made 5 stitches for your bobble.


You have 7 stitches on your RHN, of which 5 stitches make up your bobble... You will concentrate only on these 5 stitches for the next rounds, making the bobble come alive :)


Turn your work around...it should look like the picture above...


Purl the first stitch.


The next stitch was made in the previous round, by a Yarn Over, so I like to knit through the back of it, to give it a little twist . This " through the back loop" purling only happens on this row
, and only on the two stitches that were made by the Yarn Overs in the previous round.


Purling through the back loop...


Purl the next stitch as normal, then purl through the back loop of the following stitch and finally purl the last stitch of the 5 stitches that make up your bobble.
Your work should look like the picture above.


Turn your work around, and knit all 5 stitches. Turn your work around.


Now purl all the stitches of your bobble again., and turn your work around for the last time.


Knit the 5 stitches for the last time. If you push your finger into the back of the bobble to pop it out a bit, you'll see how nice and fat it is :)


Using your LHN, slip the 2nd st of your bobble, over the 1st st, as seen above.



You have a little gap that has formed where the 3nd stitch has been slipped over the first.


Slip the 3rd st of your bobble, over the 1st st, as before...


Repeat the above process until you have slipped the 5th st of your bobble over the 1st st. You should have 3 stitches left on your RHN, 2 knit stitches from tight at the beginning of the row, and the single stitch (1st) of your bobble.



Knit 3 stitches from your LHN, and repeat the bobble making process into the next stitch on your LHN. Repeat until the right amount of bobbles have been made. Carry on with your pattern.

I must say that I really love this bobble cast on (although strictly speaking , it isn't really a true cast on , as you have knitted one row before starting to make bobbles).

Hope you all make many stunning items using this cute Bobble edge, :)

Have a good evening,
♥