More Mitts!

 I have made about six pairs of these flower mitts so far and am still loving them. They are the perfect way to use up a single ball of dk - of which I have many! The embroidery is a lot of fun and makes each pair unique.  I found some tapestry yarn in a variety of colours in the local charity shop and find it very useful for adding colour.  Even the smallest piece of yarn can make a few french knots. Three pairs of mitts are waiting to be embroidered, so more of those in my next post.

I crocheted the Lollo Rosso shawl a while back after seeing the pattern on Ravelry and admiring the many gorgeous examples pictured there. It seemed quite small when I was working on it so I purchased an extra ball of yarn and did an extra repeat of the increases. As I was blocking the shawl I realised that this had probably been unnecessary - it opened out a lot! I used beads on the final row as recommended in the pattern but have to admit that it hardly seems worth they effort. They are barely noticeable and get completely lost in the ruffles. They are also so small that they don't really add any weight to the bottom of the shawl. Apart from these few points, it is a lovely shawl and I may well make another smaller version some time.

There are lots of projects on the go at the moment.  Mostly smaller projects - accessories and such. I am usually like to have a big jumper or something to work on as well but can't quite decide what to make next. I need to look through my vast collection of patterns and yarn for some inspiration.

Pretty Mittens

I whipped up these lovely little mittens last night, inspired by a pair that I saw on Ravelry called the Mayrhofen Fingerless Mitts .  I knitted the mittens flat and then sewed them up.  I prefer knitting flat but have to say that knitting in the round does give a better finish - and I do hate sewing up! I am already half way through another pair (in the round) and looking forward to embellishing them. I haven't really embroidered on knitwear before and found it both fun and effective.  My technique could probably be improved upon but even the simplest of flowers makes an attractive addition to these cute fingerless mittens. The wool is some old Wendy Merino dk which was included in a huge bag of yarn that I was lucky enough to be given by a friend doing some house clearing. There is plenty more - hurrah!

Another recent favourite is this amazing blue tit that I bought in kit form at the Spring Knit and Stitch Show at Olympia a few weeks ago. I couldn't wait to knit it up and managed to complete the project in 2 evenings. One for knitting and one for stuffing and assembly. It was a really fun knit and I just love the finished bird. There were also kits available for a robin and I plan to get my hands on this at some point. We had a little photo shoot in the back garden and big bird looked right at home in the tree.

A friend recently asked me if I would knit an aran jumper for her dad, who was missing a worn out old favourite that he had been wearing for years. I had forgotten how much I enjoy this type of textured knitting. The jumper was finished and with it's new owner in 2 weeks.  The good news is that he absolutely loved it and wears it a lot.

I am quite keen  make an aran jumper for myself.  I have the yarn.  I have the pattern.  Maybe my next large project?
I already mentioned that I hate sewing up my projects.  It is the knitting that I enjoy and I can lose interest once taht part of a project is finished. The knitting for this lovely fluffy jumper was finished within a week but it then sat in the basket waiting to get sewn up for a couple of months.  Finally got around to it and now have a lovely soft , warm jumper.  The pattern was a charity shop find which featured a yarn very similar in appearance to the Drops Melody which I was wanting to use.  The yarn was an absolute bargain, as always with Drops, and has knitted up beautifully.

On a final note, I made this entrelac beanie to try out a pattern that someone gave my husband in the pub. He said that a guy who knits hats was slightly baffled by the instructions and wondered if I could take a look. I guess entrelac seems that way at first but is actually very easy once you get into it.

Back to Blogging

 I was thinking about my blog earlier today and realised it has been an age since I last posted. I miss it - don't know why I have left it so long.  Certainly not for lack of items to blog about.  Since my last post I have made some great sweaters - not least of which is this beauty. It was a free pattern that I spotted on the fantastic Ravelry.  Here is the pattern link for the cream jumper

I used some lovely Sirdar Babouska which I had picked up at a fantastic bargain price from Kemps Wools. I wasn't sure if I would like this yarn and really bought it because it was a stupid 29p a ball at one point. This is not always a good reason to buy yarn but on this occasion it proved to be an excellent purchase.  It is over 50% wool and extremely light , fluffy and warm with very good yardage. Babouska was a perfect choice for the pattern.  The pattern was really easy with minimal shaping and a combination of knitting and crochet. Very pleasing result.

For a while, I became completely obsessed with mittens.  They are an ideal way to try out new techniques and are small enough to complete fairly quickly. I found that a few pairs of these mittens resulted in a huge improvement in my stranded colour work.  There are loads of free patterns for mittens that can be downloaded as well as some amazing patterns for sale on Ravelry.
This pair had a Christmas carol knitted around them, which was so much fun.

 I really enjoyed making these little gems and will probably knit a few more pairs throughout the year just for the fun of it.

I also made the first pair of socks in a very long time.

I wanted a chunky pair to wear with my Winter boots and have worn these a lot.  Sirdar Crofter may not be the most hardwearing of yarns for a pair of socks but they are holding up well.

As usual when the weather gets colder, I feel the need to knit a selection of new hats.  The Baable Hat is a free pattern, again from Ravelry, that knits up into the cutest of hats.  I used some Drops Alaska from stash for this one. Love this hat so much! I also made another Westie Hat.  I seem to have lost the red and white one that I knitted last year and was wanting to mkae another.  This time I used some Katia Alpaca which is supersoft and a pleasure to knit with and wear.
 
Alpaca is one of my favourite fibres and this lovely hat from Toft Alpaca was purchased as a kit at Knit and Stitch Show last year. I really like it .

Last year I wanted to learn something new and decided it was time to tackle entrelac. I have now knitted about half of this totally gorgeous wrap in Noro Silk Garden Lite. The pattern is the Lady Eleanor Wrap from Scarf Style, which has been on my to do list for ages. This project has been "resting" for a while but I am psyching myself up to finish it sometime soon. Entrelac is a lot less complicated than I had expected.
 
There have been so many projects over the last year that I can't possibly blog about all of them now. I will give a mention to Tiny Ted though as he is a particular favourite of mine.

I made him one evening out of a small scrap of leftover sock yarn and plan to knit him some friends at some point.
Currently on my needles are an aran jumper, a Lollo Rosso crochet shawl and a simple knitted fluffy cowl. More of these soon...