Scarves and Stripes

The weather has got much colder recently and I am feeling the need for warm jumpers. OK, so I do have a few jumpers tucked away in my wardrobe but lovely, fluffy , warm, new knitwear is required. The Patons Misty  is working up quickly and there is now just one small ribbed sleeve to knit before the dreaded sewing up can begin.  This jumper is very wide with tiny sleeves giving it a kind of batwing effect.  I can only hope that it looks as good on me as it does in the pattern.  It will, at the very least,be extremely warm.

Yesterday I finished the Sublime Lustrous Merino version of the Belmondo Shawl - I have lost count of how many of these shaw ls I have now knitted.  It really is a great pattern and only takes 2 or 3 balls of yarn to make a decent sized shawl.  The Lustrous Merino is a lovely shiny yarn and quite soft.  The shawl blocks out well.
 
This big cosy cowl  took an evening to knit from a single ball of Patons Big Fab once I had worked out what the free pattern on the ball band was going on about. It is a really simple design but the pattern was so badly written that it took several attempts to work out what was supposed to be happening.
 
The finished cowl is very wearable and versatile.  Big Fab is 100% acrylic and I am now wondering about making one of these from a more luxurious yarn.
I love cowls and have actually finished the Knot and Flower scarf from Toft Alpaca at long last.  It isn't actually a cowl but is designed to be worn like one.  You need to wrap it around the neck several times and then tuck the end in behind the pretty flower.
 
Drops yarns and patterns are amazing.  The yarn is good quality, really cheap and has excellent pattern support. I fell in love with the beautiful crochet cowl in the latest collection of patterns as soon as I saw it. It took a while to find the exact colourway of Drops Delight  that I wanted but I have now started on the project and can't wait to wear it. I need to make 24 little granny squares , join them together into a moebius loop and then just crochet round the edges.  It is really the colours of the yarn that make this cowl look so special.



When it comes to beautifully coloured yarns, Noro is very hard to beat. The Noro tee shirt is now sewn up and I am trying to decide whether or not to lengthen it a bit by adding a crocheted border.  The pattern instructs you to do a very short moss stitch border but this leaves it too short for me to wear comfortably.  I was thinking of using some sort of lace stitch pattern.



I am really hoping that I can finish my knitted advent garland by December.  I'm using the pattern from Regia's "Christmas Calendar" but am using the yarn single rather than doubled and knitting on smaller needles. I prefer the little socks, mittens and hats slightly smaller and more delicate looking - it also makes the project far less expensive.

Last but not least,here is my little guy wearing his Halloween outfit...