The temperature has dropped considerably this week and that always make me consider the need to wear a warm, woolly hat. There can be few hats cuter than this one,
It is the "Deer With Little Antlers Hat" by Tiny Owl knits. I found it on Ravelry, where you can download it for a very reasonable price. I really feel that everyone should be wearing one of these this Winter. My husband said that it made him feel like the fawn in The Lion , The Witch and the Wardrobe - he certainly didn't look like it! Anyway, the yarn was from my stash and proved to be absolutely perfect for this project. It feels like a Lopi yarn but there were no labels on it - another bargain charity shop purchase. 6 x 100g balls cost me about £2. I can easily get one of these hats out of a single ball so plan to make more of these for Christmas presents. The antlers are knitted from some scraps of Kid Classic which felted very well and stand up in a suitably perky fashion. I love this hat.
Next up is the Blackberry Beret designed by Linda Permann and also downloaded from Ravelry. It was very quick to make and a simple but very attractive design. You can't see the flower shape on top very well in my pictures as the variegated yarn is rather distracting. It looks very nice and is quite a firm fabric and good fit. The yarn is Patons Vintage, which is an acrylic yarn with a cotton binder on it, purchased on sale from Kemps Wools.
Also made from Patons Vintage is this second version of the Sage Remedy Top. I have worn the Sirocco version quite a lot and am equally pleased with this one. It is such a nice shape and works well in so many different types of yarn. I'm sure that I will use the pattern again.
I am making a real effort to use yarn from my stash lately - I had forgotten about some of the yarn that I have packed away in boxes. A long time ago, I bought some Rowan Big Wool and started making a very plain pullover that turned out quite boring and got frogged as soon as it was finished. Rowan Big Wool is quite expensive and should not be wasted so I have been looking for a pattern to suit 6 balls. I decided on the Tess cardigan from Kim Hargreaves' Dark House collection last week . Having cast on, I couldn't put this one down as it seemed to grow so quickly. Just three days to knit and sew up - although I haven't sewn the buttons on yet!
I am fairly pleased with this cardi. I think it will be quite useful.
I have been making lots of baby shoes for a friend who is expecting a baby boy in November. These three are from Sylver design and the patterns are available through Ravelry...
These little boots were a free pattern from the Bernat website. It was a lot of fun making these baby boots.
More stash yarn. This is the pack of Cashsoft Chunky that I bought in the John Lewis sale last year. The Liesl cardigan is ideal pattern when you are not sure how far the yarn will go. It looks good at any length and with any type of sleeve from cap sleeve to full length. It is a top down knit, so you can just keep going until you run out of yarn. This will need some heavy blocking when it is finished - hopefully later today.
Also on the needles is the Autumn Colours Cardi - another fabulous stash busting design by Jane Thornley. I really admire her work. It is inspiring. I may take a while to finish this as I am also working on a few more baby projects at the moment.
...almost forgot! Two more Cloud shawls. The first is in Blur and the secondis double stranded Kidsilk Spray.
