Lizzy knits

Happy Hexapuffs

2011-12-05T14:59:00.000Z

I finally got around to purchasing the fabulous pattern for the "Beekeeper's Quilt" by the wonderful Tiny Owl Knits. Since it was published knitters seem to have gone crazy for this simple but incredibly beautiful idea. The quilt consists of hundreds of tiny stuffed hexagons that are tied together at the corners. Each "hexapuff is about 3 inches across, so it will take lots and lots to make a decent sized quilt. They are fun to make and the designer suggests that you treat it as an ongoing take-along project that you work on in spare moments such as when queuing or waiting for a train. They are knitted from leftover scraps of sock yarn or 4 ply and the more colours you can throw in the better. There are even tiny chart available for intarsia designs that you can work into them. This is my tiny pile of hexapuffs so far. Many more to go!

The Killer Sweater

2011-12-01T14:52:00.000Z

Anyone who has watched the fabulous Danish thriller "The Killing" on television knows that Sarah Lund's sweater is a star in it's own right. The second series briefly features a new design - a red sweater with a textured snowflake design on the yoke. The Radio Times published a pattern for a similar "tribute sweater" and it has caused quite stir. I have chosen to knit it in double stranded Drops Alpaca. Mainly because the aran weight yarn had sold out in red - could this be a coincidence? So far I have completed the body and one sleeve. It is easy knitting. I am looking forward to getting to the patterned yoke. I expect to see a lot of these sweaters around this winter. Of course, I still would love to make the original chunky sweater from Series 1.

Also finished is my sparkly sequined wrap. The yarn was purchased from Yarn Paradise, a shop I found on Ebay, at a real bargain price. The yarn is soft and has plenty of sequins on it. It took less than 3 balls to make this huge fluffy wrap as I knitted it on size 10mm needles for a light airy look. It can also be scrunched up and worn as a scarf. I love this!

I have been having a real love affair with Drops yarn lately. It is top quality and about half the price of other yarns. My new favourite yarn store "Nest" in Crouch End stocks some of the Drops range and so I have added a few balls to my stash. The Alpaca Boucle is just about the nicest, softest yarn ever and is destined to become a snuggly poncho. Drops also has an online pattern database and they are all free. Eskimo is the superchunky single yarn that comes in a great range of colours and it took just 2 balls to make these simple slippers. I got the pattern from the Drops website and just made up the flower to use up the scraps. It is always important to remember that knitted slippers stretch when you wear them. Despite going for a snug fit I may have to a thread some elastic around the tops to keep them on.

Little Alfie loves these slippers - or is it my feet!

I have wanted to crochet some cacti for ages and finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately this project involves a lot of finishing - embroidering flowers, stuffing and sewing on cacti, brushing the yarn to make it fluffy.

As always, it takes me a while to get around to doing my least favourite part of a project. Anyway ,I did manage to finish the small single plant...

Finally, I think I have found the perfect sweater pattern for my husband. There is something about it - perhaps it is the way it is being modelled...

The never ending cone of yarn

2011-11-07T10:02:00.000Z

My recent obsession with the Crescent Moon Shawl shows no sign of abating. I have just completed this gorgeous cream cotton/acrylic mix version and am already planning another black and sparkly one. The yarn is Yeoman's Panama - I bought the cone in a local charity shop for £1 ages ago. Can't resist a bargain. I have now made the shawl, a doily, a tealight holder, and a mobile phone case from this yarn and there is still plenty left. I really like the way the yarn works up and think it will wear well.
The small items that I have made from the Panama are all from the book "Kyuuto - Lacy Crochet". It is a collection of Japanese style patterns that I bought on Amazon. The tealight holder is so effective. You just make a ring of filet braid to fit around your glass and it looks amazing when it is lit up.

I am still looking for a suitable clasp to finish off the mobile phone case and am finding it hard to get hold of anything small enough. I may need to take apart a keychain.

The doily was made from crochet thread in the book but my slightly chunkier 4 ply version made a nice decorative mat to put on my dressing table.

My monthly church knitting group has been making hats to give to a local homeless charity. They will be distributed to anyone who needs them during the coming cold Winter weather. I had a ball of Sirdar Denim Ultra in my stash and am very pleased with the way it knitted up.

This is a very simple ribbed hat with a turn back cuff so it will fit most sizes and can be pulled down over the ears for warmth. My husband reluctantly modeled it for me before I donated it. I hope to have time to make a few more hats for this good cause.
I recently discovered the amazing Yarn Paradise on Ebay and order some lovely sequined mohair yarn for knitting glam scarves with. The yarn is all extremely reasonably priced. I was amazed when my yarn arrived next day all the way from Turkey. That is great service for you! I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase - there are plenty of shiny sequins and it is very soft. I am using large needles (10mm) to knit a big, airy scarf/wrap.

This year, we had the best Halloween ever. Everyone in our neighborhood seemed to join in and enter into the spirit of the occasion. There were some beautifully carved pumpkins sitting on local doorsteps. Our simple effort looked great when we lit him up and attracted many more trick or treaters than usual.

This weekend we enjoyed the wonderful free firework display in Cassiobury Park. So glad the weather held out - it was a lot of fun!

Blooming Lovely!

2011-10-15T20:25:00.000+01:00

This week I have been working on my own interpretation of Stella McCartney's Falabella Bag. Ever since I first saw this gorgeous crochet creation I have wanted one of my own. The price tag was of course rather hefty but I thought it looked like something I could easily crochet.
I had a close look at pictures of the original and am crocheting similar types of motif to embellish it with. The key to it seems to be loads and loads of bobbles. Bobbles are a real pain to make but I am going to persevere. The yarn is Twilleys No. 1 Cotton - another amazing charity shop bargain! I have six hanks of it which gives a total of 960 metres. Should be plenty. The original bag has a pewter effect chain trim and straps which I also hope to use on mine. The bag will also be lined to help it hold it's shape and give it some strength. Maybe some inside pockets too.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Millie made these fab fairy cakes. They taste every bit as good as they look.

Crescent Moon Revisited

2011-10-10T17:25:00.000+01:00

I loved my recent version of the gorgeous Japanese pattern "The Crescent Moon Shawl" so much that I started another one in Rico Superba Poems sock yarn straight away. It is a beautiful yarn, single ply with a kind of handspun feel to it. The colourway I chose was called "Tropical". It is always a pleasure to work with space dyed yarns and I managed to complete the whole project in a couple of days.
The finished shawl looks lovely - slightly less bulky than my first Crescent Moon and so colourful.

I love the way you can wear this shawl like a scarf or as a wrap. It is a warm, versatile accessory and will get a lot of wear. Looking at other versions of it on Ravelry has inspired me to start another one. This time I am using a very thin cotton/acrylic mix that I bought in a charity shop ages ago - because it was so cheap! At last I have the perfect pattern for it. Actually, it is a very large cone and I think there will be absolutely loads left. The shawl will be thinner and more drapey. So far it looks good made up in just about any yarn.

My next project is a crochet cap that I whipped up in an evening from a single ball of Patons Shadow Tweed. The pattern was from Noro World of Nature vol. 29. I'm not sure the hat really suits me and am considering frogging it as I don't want to waste the yarn.

Blocked!

2011-09-28T21:37:00.000+01:00

The Crescent Moon Shawl looks lovely now that it is blocked.

I can't wait to start on another one in a finer yarn.

The Noro Kureyon sock yarn has blocked out nicely, feels a little softer and has stretched to a decent size. this is really wearable.

Crochet a Rainbow

2011-09-28T10:09:00.000+01:00

I love Noro yarns and would probably use nothing else if they weren't so expensive. The colors and textures are just amazing and guaranteed to make the simplest of projects look spectacular. I had a single ball of Kureyon Sock yarn in a wonderful rainbow colourway in my stash - bought it in a sale ages ago. A quick search on Ravelry brought up some lovely examples of the Eva Shawl crocheted in this yarn and my mind was made up. The pattern is very simple, just two rows of double crochet and then an eyelet row, repeated until you run out of yarn. It was quick and easy and looks great. The Noro yarn can be a little rough and I am hoping that it will soften up a bit when I wash it. It will be severely blocked to stretch it out a little larger. I hope to have some pictures of the completely blocked shawl soon.
Also ready to be blocked is the Crescent Moon Shawl. I didn't actually have the pattern for this shawl - it is from a Japanese crochet book and quite hard to come by. I love the shape and texture of this shawl and the fancy fringing is the perfect finishing touch. After examining lots of pictures of completed shawls I thought I should just have a go at it. This first attempt is made from some fingering weight pure wool yarn that I had in my stash. The yarn is very old - possibly from the 1960's or earlier. It was another of my amazing charity shop finds. The yarn is in good condition but feels very dry. Hopefully some fabric conditioner in the first wash will restore some softness to the wool. Some action shots will follow soon! meanwhile, Alfie has taken a bit of a liking to my latest creation...
I think what I have created is fairly close to the fabulous original and I am now ready to try it in a gorgeous space dyed yarn to bring out the full glory of the design. Two balls of Rico Poems Sock yarn should be arriving any day now in a lovely Tropical colourway. The yarn looks a bit like Noro but is considerably cheaper. Can't wait to get started!

Little Boy Blue

2011-09-12T22:40:00.000+01:00

I finished off two little coats for Alfie today! They are both so cute on the little fellow. Last Winter, Alf got very cold and shivery when he went for his walkies and I had to get him a little jacket to wear. He is a bit of a wuss really and often refuses to step outside on rainy days. So, this year he will be kept warm and cosy by a selection of handknits. The blue coat is from the book Vintage Crochet. I was not impressed with the pattern as most of it didn't make sense.

I checked on Ravelry and found someone else who had experienced problems with it. She kindly let me know how she had got around the lack of coherent instructions. I am fairly happy with the finished coat, although it has turned out a bit snug. I had to follow Alfie around for a while before I could get a good shot of him in it.
Alfie was also rather reluctant to model the Gidget Hoodie from "Doggie Knits" by Corinne Niessner.
It was easy to get him into it but he wouldn't sit still while I tried to do up the buttons. He then seemed most interested in attempting to eat the buttons. I will be making him a sweater next, as it seems that a simple pullover design might just be the easiest style to get him into.
In the kitchen this week...

Millie and I made cinnamon sugar pretzels. They turned out really great and were fun to make. You need to roll out the dough into long thin pieces and then shape them into pretzels. We found the copycat recipe for Auntie Anne's Pretzels on the internet - they are every bit as good as the real thing ( and so much cheaper!)

Wool left over from the dog coat worked up into a cute crochet beanie - I made this one up as I went along. The yarn was purchased in a charity shop some time ago. Not sure about the fibre content but it feels as if it is mostly wool. I still have 5 balls left!

The Valley Cowl and other things

2011-09-09T16:59:00.000+01:00

When I saw the pattern for the "Valley Cowl" by Doris Chan on Ravelry I thought it would be the perfect project for the yarn that I recently found in a local charity shop. Five balls of Patons Pure Wool Crepe proved to be more than enough. It took about three balls, so there is plenty left for a hat or some gloves to go with it. This is the first time that I have made a moebius scarf and I love the way it turned out. The twisted loop is interesting to make and to wear. I will probably make this again in a different yarn weight to show off the lace pattern a bit more.

I also managed to finish off some more bunting this week. I had made these triangles at the same time as I made the last lot but hadn't bothered to join them together

It didn't take long to crochet the joining chains and a couple of rows of dcs to make it a bit sturdier. I came across a load of snowflakes that I made last year recently and I want to turn them into Christmas bunting - should look really effective. I gave the pink triangle bunting to a friend at Knitting Club who just adores all things handmade.
Lately, I have been enjoying cooking and particularly trying out nifty kitchen gadgets. Millie and I spent a pleasant hour making these cute little vanilla cookies with our new cookie press. It really is great fun and turns out some great looking treats. It's important to get the dough just the right consistency or they don't come out so good. We will probably make ginger spice cookies at Christmas.
As we were having such a good time cooking we decided to try making potato latkes. This was also a fun process involving grating a ton of potatoes. Millie decided to wear her swimming goggles to prevent tears as she grated the onions - what a great idea!
We ended up with a very tasty lunch and will definitely be making these again.

The hexagons are coming along at a good pace. I try to make them in batches of about 10, working a round on each until they are all complete. Originally I thought it would take about 200 to make a decent throw. I am not sure why I thought that! After laying them all out on the floor today I have revised that estimate to about 600. There is obviously a lot more work to be done on this project.Here is what I have so far...

Hexagons

2011-08-28T13:10:00.000+01:00

A recent search on Ravelry inspired me to start a hexagon blanket using the free pattern from Lucy at Attic 24. There were so many beautiful examples and it seemed like a great way to use up all the bits and pieces of dk cotton in my stash. I am going to use as many colours as I can find and make it a really bright colourful project. So far, the pile of hexagons amounts to about 100!
So, only about another 300 to go if it is to be a good sized throw. Each hexagon probably takes about 20 minutes to make. The variety of colours keeps it interesting. It may take a while to finish this project but I am loving what I have already done. I have chosen not to join the hexagons as I go because I want to make sure that the colours are well distributed through the blanket at the end. Not sure yet whether I should do a final round of a single colour around each motif before I join them. What do you think?
Recently, I have had a bit more time for novelty yarns. I will admit that they have their place. This super frothy scarf was knitted in a couple of hours from a single ball of Katia Triana Lux which I purchased last week from "Mavis" in Bushey, my LYS. There were a few made up in the shop and I rather liked them, particularly the gorgeous colours available in this yarn. I chose this lovely green colour, although I was very tempted by the fabulous purple. It is a bit fiddly to knit and if you drop a stitch you have lost it for ever - but worth the effort I think.
My wonderfully creative Miss Millie has been to some kids animation workshops at Watford Museum during the Summer holidays. Last Friday, the kids made clay models and used them in a short film. What a fun thing to do! Her model, named "John" is the one on the left. He danced brilliantly in his first movie and is now having a rest on our bookshelf.

2011-08-01T19:52:00.000+01:00

After making the Ewa Hat so successfully in black cotton, I had another couple of attempts in other yarns and am equally pleased with the results. Firstly, a lighter version in Patons Dew,which is a firm crisp yarn and excellent for hats . This yarn has been in my stash for ages and I was pleased to have finally found the perfect project for it. I love the hat! So much so that I had to hook up another one straight away. This time I doubled up some Rowan Fine Milk Cotton that I bought in the John Lewis sale because I liked the colour. Milk Cotton is a very soft yarn and pleasant to work with but maybe not the ideal choice for a hat with a brim This hat is a little floppier due to the nature of the yarn but still lovely, especially trimmed with my purple flower brooch.
I've tried to finish a few projects that were in danger of joining the UFO pile this month. The crochet belt from Rowan's River Camp Knits is at last complete. It was a very simple item to crochet which did get a bit boring at times. However ,the finished result is quite pleasing.
Also sewn up at last is Sash, a Sublime pattern that I made up in Sirdar Recycled Cotton. The top is a little large, my fault for not checking gauge, but still very wearable. I like the yarn, it is very soft and pleasant to handle.
From the same Sublime booklet as Sash comes the Mimi Shrug. My version is knitted in Rowan Luxury Cotton. I have already worn this quite a few times. the pattern is very simple and straightforward. No shaping at all, just a long strip with ribbing at either end.
I started making the "It Could happen To Anyone" Bag a while ago and have just been making odd squares for it between other projects. I found the pattern on Ravelry (where else?) and loved it as it is strikingly different. It was designed by a girl who had lost a relative to cancer and each square depicts a famous person that has died from the disease. When they are all joined together the bag looks amazing. I am using Patons 100% Cotton dk. Progress is slow as you really have to concentrate when following the charts but I do hope to finish it eventually. So far, we have Audrey Hepburn, Joan Crawford and Bob Marley. I am half way through the Andy Kaufman square. Only 8 more to go!
Quite often when I find a pattern I like, I enjoy making several versions in different yarns. Dot's Little Ditty Bag is one such pattern. Another free pattern from Ravelry that I just couldn't stop making - it only takes a couple of hours to whip one up and then the fun is in embellishing it. Each bag takes less than a ball of yarn and is ideal for using up scraps. I'll probably make loads more of these. They are just the right size for keys, a phone and maybe some lippy. Very useful!

I found a really pretty pattern for crochet bunting on the website "Crochet with Raymond" and felt inspired to make some for the house. Each little triangle works up in a very short time and takes very little yarn. I bought a few nice colours of Patons 100% Cotton dk from Hobbycraft and have been happily crocheting bunting. The first string is now hanging in the kitchen window and I think it looks lovely. I have almost completed another length for Miss Millie's room. It is an addictive pattern. It would be nice in green and red at Christmas - looking out for appropriate yarn in the sales!
Pretty coat hangers are really easy to make. I just bought a pack of 4 at Poundland and covered then embellished them with flowers. I am so pleased with these and want to cover all my hangers.
I am particularly pleased with the second one I made, which was inspired by a hanger I saw in a Japanese craft book.
Let's Knit magazine gave away some free yarn and tea cosy patterns with it's latest issue. I felt compelled to make the Gumdrop Tea Cosy for own little teapot. I have yet to sew the bobbles on top but it is so cute that I couldn't wait to use it.
Speaking of cute.....
Alfie just gets cuter and more mischievous by the day. He has been enjoying long walks in the sunshine this last weekend.
I've been meaning to make the "Must Have Cardigan" from Patons for ages but couldn't find the pattern anywhere. A few weeks ago I discovered that it is available free on the Patons website under a different name. Happy days! I cast on with Rowan Silk Cotton this evening and have almost completed one pattern repeat on the back. The yarn shows up the cables really well. I think it will be a very good knit.

Back to hats

2011-06-22T14:16:00.000+01:00

I have always enjoyed making hats - and wearing them. This cute little cotton hat was from a free pattern that I found on Ravelry called the Ewa Hat. I particularly like the shape and the ridge details. The hat took 2 evenings to crochet. I used 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim Aran that I purchased in a sale years ago and found it to be perfect for this project. The flowers are ones I made a while ago from some Katia Degrade. I like this hat so much that I have started another in Patons Dew - also from stash.
I whipped up another couple of Peaches beret. This is one of my favourite Kim Hargreaves patterns and I have made many of these. I just like making them - not sure who they are for.
These pieces of i-cord are going to be an interesting necklace type thing. The pattern is from River Camp Knits by Amy Butler . I am using my Prym knitting mill , so this is a very quick and easy project. The yarn is a current favourite of mine - Sirdar Simply Recycled. It is a very soft yarn which comes in some nice colours and is quite inexpensive.
A friend gave me 20 balls of Rowan Luxury Cotton in a gorgeous lilac colour. I am using 4 of them to make the Mimi Shrug from Sublime's Bamboo and Pearls booklet. Should be finished
soon.

May Flowers

2011-05-23T14:10:00.001+01:00

Since I last posted, I have started my new job and have been quite tired. I never thought that I would feel too tired knit but the last couple of weeks have seen me retiring to bed without even picking up my needles on several occasions. I used to knit a lot during my working day in my previous job and quite miss that. So, I have been working on some small projects to give me the satisfying feeling that I have actually finished something. I am trying out various flowers and leaves and then combining them to make pretty brooches. The yarn I am using is Katia Degrade, which is a beautiful cotton with an interesting fadeout colour effect. I thought that would be ideal for making flowers in lots of different shades from just one ball of yarn. I love the way this has worked out. So far I have only got around to sewing together one of the brooches. Sewing up is never my favourite part of a project.
I purchased some more Stylecraft Kon Tiki yarn, a lovely cotton acrylic blend from Kemps Wools, with a view to making the tiered lace skirt from "Feminine Knits". I have wanted to make the skirt for ages so was disappointed to find that my yarn choice was not ideal. The Kon Tiki seemed slightly too soft and thick to produce the kind of skirt I was hoping for. After knitting about 3 lace repeats I decided to frog the skirt and use the yarn for a different project. Another pattern that I have been wanting to knit for some time is the Wakame Lace Tunic by Angela Hahn. I cast on and have completed about 5 repeats of the lace pattern for the lower body- so far so good.

I started to crochet the Skinny Dewdrop belt from Amy Butler's "River Camp Knits" several weeks ago using some Patons 100% Cotton from my stash. I got about half way with it and then got distracted by other things. It is quite boring with mainly plain double crochet for most of the project. I shall try to finish it soon.
Lately I've been seeing things on Ravelry made from tee shirt yarn or "tarn" as it is known. I decided to cut up a few old tee shirts that were too scruffy to wear any more and have a go. I produced just enough to make this small circular floor mat.
I enjoyed the process and would like to make more if I can find enough old shirts lying around.
Finally, here are a couple of pictures of our loveable little rascal. Alfie is loving being able to run around in the garden now that the weather is warmer. He likes to find a big stick, bring it into the house, then chew it to pieces and scatter it all over the floor. At least it distracts him from my wool!

Bags, Tops and Puppy Love

2011-04-29T19:39:00.000+01:00

Over the last month, my mission to use as much of my yarn stash as possible has been going well. I have managed to put some really old charity shop yarn to good use. This navy boucle yarn was purchased ages ago - 8 balls for just £2. It is called Calvados by Jaeger and I think it must have been discontinued a long time ago because I can't find out much about it. I found the perfect pattern for it in "The Knitter's Bible, Knitted Bags" which I recently borrowed from the library. This handy bag converts from backpack to shoulder bag with some clever buttons on the back and straps. It took very little time to knit, using 5mm needles and the yarn doubled. The boucle was quite hard on the hands, especially knitting at fairly tight guage, but it was worth the effort.
I like several of the patterns in the book and have started the Buttoned Bag in some Patons Touch of Linen. It is an interesting stitch pattern and should make a very cute little handbag.
I also used up some more very old acrylic charity shop yarn and 2 balls of Patons Cotton Colada to make this rather interesting Mermaid Scarf - a pattern I purchased through Ravelry. There seemed to be some errors in the pattern and it proved very difficult to get the tail fins right. I managed to work it out in the end but it was quite annoying. I am not the only person who has had problems with this pattern. The finished scarf is quite good, it was just a lot more bother than I had anticipated.
6 balls of Phildar Linbel from the bargain bin at Mavis, my LYS, knitted up into the Sassy Tank. This was a very simple in-the-round pattern from Cheri Christian, also purchased through Ravelry. I'm not sure that it was the best choice of yarn for this pattern but I am reasonably happy with the finished tank. It is perhaps a little heavy for the style. I will certainly try it again with something more Summery.
There have been 3 balls of Jaeger Trinity calling out at me from my stash for years. Ever since I picked them up for about 50p a ball in a sale just because they were so cheap. Who could resist yarn that cheap? I thought that it might just be enough to knit "Jordan" by Wendy Bernard. This is a really beautiful top knitted as a tube up to the armholes and then the sleeves are 2 rectangles sewn on to the tube. Really simple, no shaping but it looks amazing. It was also interesting to knit as the lace changes from panel to panel. I absolutely love this top.
The Skinny Dew Drop Belt from Amy Butler's "River Camp Knits" has been on my mind since I first flicked through the book. Using up those 2 balls of Patons 100% Cotton dk from my stash seemed like a good idea. I made up the dew drops first so that I could just keep going on the belt until the yarn ran out. It is almost finished but has got quite boring as it is really just a very long strip of double crochet. So of course, I had to start something else...
Just messing about with scraps and crocheting little purses. I've made a few of these and just need to sew them up - not my strong point!
Meanwhile, little Alfie is getting bigger and more mischievous every day. He is so adorable-apart from when he is running off with my yarn and weaving it around the legs of the dining table and chairs before I can catch him. You can't stay mad for long at a pup this cute...

Cupcakes galore!

2011-03-28T19:52:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday I went to "All The Fun Of The Fair", which is a lovely quirky little yarn shop just off Carnaby Street. Twinkie Chan was there signing books , crocheting cupcakes and eating cupcakes. Ever since I bought Twinkie's wonderful book "Crochet Goodies For Fashion Foodies" I have been on a mission to make just about everything in it. The patterns are simple but so effective - fun to make and fun to wear. I have never bought as much bright acrylic yarn before and actually enjoyed using it. Twinkie was so charming and really modest about her skills. The shop had provided yummy cupcakes from Candy Cakes for everyone to eat. Needless to say, I tucked in and enjoyed!
Feeling inspired to start another of Twinkie's designs, I purchased 2 balls of the brightest orange acrylic yarn ever and got stuck in to the Giant Carrot Scarf on the train home. It worked up really quickly and I had the carrot finished by Saturday evening. Unfortunately, I didn't have the right shade of green yarn for the leafy bit so that will have to wait until Tuesday. The yarn stall at Watford market has every shade of acrylic yarn you could wish for.
I knitted up most of the big furry jacket weeks ago and didn't get around to sewing it up straight away. So this weekend I tried to finish a few projects that were almost done and this one was first on the list. Knitted entirely from Sirdar Foxy, this is a seriously furry jacket.
I like the garment a lot . It is quite fun and should be very warm.
Next for long overdue finishing was the Commuter Knapsack from "Knitting green". I bought the book on the strength of this pattern and am not disappointed with it. It is such a lovely bag - I don't know why it has taken me so long to sew on the button and make the drawstring. I really love it and will probably line it at some point to give it more strength. The flap turned out a bit big and if I made it again I would adjust that. A few other knitters noted the same point on Ravelry, where there are some beautiful examples of this bag. I used KonTiki yarn, which is a cotton/acrylic mix. 8 balls in shade Paprika.

Rosebud

2011-03-24T14:52:00.000Z

I am so excited to have finished this beautiful sweater this morning. It is "Rosebud" from the very gorgeous Sublime kid mohair book. I fell in love with this pattern the moment I saw it and just happened to have enough white mohair yarn in my stash. This was a really easy knit that is made more special by the addition of the knitted roses. I love it! There are several other patterns in the Sublime book that I would like to make, in particular the Drama Queen cardigan. I have already cast on the Amour scarf with some Sublime Kid Mohair that I bought on sale from Black Sheep Yarns.
Also recently finished...

...another Sweet November. This time I used Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo which is a lovely soft, drapey yarn. I may try this pattern in a wool yarn next as I love the design and find it very wearable.
I've been working on some simple crochet coasters between projects using some old craft cotton . It doesn't take much time to whip up one of these and they will be pretty handy.
I finished this simple lace scarf knitted from 2 balls of Sirdar Just Soya a while back and forgot to take pictures. So here it is...
The soya yarn is nice to work with and very soft. I have a few more balls of this in my stash, also purchased in a charity shop for next to nothing, which will make nice scarves or gloves.

Knitting from stash

2011-03-16T21:33:00.000Z

It has been ages since I last posted, so I thought I'd include a few items I made for Christmas presents. Ever since I bought Twinkie Chan's brilliant book of crochet accessories, I have been digging into my stash in search of colourful acrylics and crocheting like crazy. I love these fun designs. I made the amazing Salad Scarf for Bear, who is studying dietetics and nutrition - she loved it.
The pear pins were single motifs from the pear scarf design which I joined together and stuffed slightly. These were made for Bear to give as gifts to some of the people she did her work placement with. I am told that they were very well received. I can thoroughly recommend Twinkie's patterns as they are easy to follow and you get a brilliant result even with acrylic yarns. So, not expensive either. These little gingerbread men were made for the knitting club secret Santa. We all make small ornaments and put them in a big Christmas stocking then take turns to pull one out.
The obsession continued with the Radish Lariat, which I just had to give to Bear because she always loves the things I make.
I always like to give my family interesting hats as presents and when I saw the Naughty Deer design it really seemed like the perfect hat for my nephew. Nearly everyone I showed this to took a few moments to realise what was going on and then laughed heartily.
Continuing with my mission to use up the monster stash that has built up over the last few years, I knitted up a pair of Gardening Mittens from Louisa Harding's lovely collection of patterns "A Gathering of Roses" using the single ball of Sirdar Baby Crofter that I bought to try ages ago. I liked the gloves a lot, it is a really simple pattern knitted on two needles and seamed up the side. Obviously , I had to make about 3 more pairs to use up some other odd balls of niice yarn that I had in stash. At the moment these pairs are still waiting to be sewed up and embellished.
Also from the Louisa Harding book is this cute beret...
I am well pleased with this headband that knitted up in an evening from an odd ball of Cashmerino Aran. It was a free pattern I found on Ravelry, the American Beauty Rose Headband.
When I was searching through the stash I came across a skein and a half of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece left over from a shrug I knitted years ago. I really like this yarn - it has the feel of cotton with a bit more springiness to it from the 20% merino content. I had been planning to knit the Sweet November Knit Shawl, another pattern I found on Ravelry, and thought this would be perfect. I knitted this in 2 days and have been wearing it often. Great pattern.
I bought this cute pattern for a hoodie for Millie and a lovely knitting friend of mine just happened to have the exact amount of the exact yarn I needed, Sirdar Denim Chunky. This turned out really lovely - I would like to make a bigger version for myself.
So far everything has been knitted from stash. I am particularly pleased to have found a good use for the 8 balls of Chat Botte Kid Mohair that I picked up in a charity shop for £2 about 3 years ago. It is a French yarn and I think probably quite old. It seems to be knitting up to the right gauge on 5mm needles to make the gorgeous Rosebud sweater from the Sublime Kid Mohair pattern book. Just one more sleeve to go...
Meanwhile, our cute little guy is getting bigger every day. He is just such a cutey. There must surely be some adorable knitted doggy sweaters in his future!

Eat My Scarf!

2010-12-01T16:52:00.001Z

After finishing my Cupcake Scarf, I couldn't wait to try some more of the fun patterns from Twinkie Chan's new book. First up is the Pear Scarf, which isn't quite as juicy looking as Twinkie's scarf due to the fact that I only had dk yarn in my stash and the pattern calls for worsted weight. It has been hard to find worsted weight acrylic yarn in a good range of colours. I checked out the market, Hobbycraft and John Lewis and didn't really find the sort of thing I was wanting. Even online yarn stores haven't got the colours I want. If only Lion Brand had more outlets in the UK. Anyways, I found some dk acrylic and decided to go with that. I made most of the pears whilst watching X factor last Saturday. They were quick to make and the pattern was easy to remember after making a few. I discovered that I quite like doing surface crochet as I.. embellished the pears. I like the finished scarf a lot. It is not going to keep me warm but it looks great .
Having enjoyed making the pears, I moved straight on to the Cookie Scarf. Again, I couldn't find worsted weight acrylic so used dk that I already had in my stash. Because the cookies came out smaller I crocheted an extra round to get a decent size. I loved decorating the cookies - surface crochet is great fun! The finished scarf is lovely, really bright , fun and eyecatching.
The pattern I most wanted to make from Twinkie's book was the Gingerbread Scarf, which consists of a whole load of gingerbread men joined together. Finding a yarn in a ginger colour has proved almost impossible. You can get all shades of brown except the gingery one. I think the yarn in the book is a superchunky, so I was thinking of doubling up something thinner if I had to. Couldn't even find a thinner yarn to make the scarf , so have had to content myself with a single Gingie made from some scraps I found. I am going to sew a brooch pin onto his back and wear him proudly over christmas. Still looking for enough yarn to make the scarf.
Meanwhile, there is no stopping me and I have completed about half of the Salad Scarf - Twinkie's patterns are strangely addictive.
Last but not least, here's little Alfie...

Cake!!!

2010-11-19T20:23:00.000Z

I am loving the Twinkie Chan patterns for foodie accessories. They are a whole lot of fun to make and to wear. I finished the Cupcake Scarf in a couple of days - yes, even the sewing up! The cake bases were a cheap acrylic that I already had in my stash and the icing is Sirdar Snowflake Chunky. Not sure what the cherries were made from but it was in my stash and was exactly the shade of red that I wanted. I haven't decided yet whether I should sew on some sprinkles. I checked out Hobbycraft and couldn't find any suitable beads. I must have some lying around somewhere.
I like the scarf so much that I thought I'd make the Cupcake Hat to go with it. The cake part is the same acrylic that I used for the scarf. The lovely pink top is Yarnfair Double Knitting, an acrylic yarn that I bought in Wilkinsons for £1.19. I wil be able to get at least 3 cake tops out of the one ball, so that is a bargain. Lately I have been coming around to the idea of acrylic yarn. It is really cheap and comes in some amazing colours. Twinkie Chan uses it a lot to great effect. I used a 4.5 mm hook for this one and it came out about the right size for Millie.
As it was such a quick crochet, I started another one using a 5.5 mm hook. Although the yarn is dk, it worked up as a really nice firm fabric. I love the shape of this hat. Although it is really simple with no shaping as such, when you put it all together it makes a really effective muffin shape. I took apart an old kids necklace and used some of the beads for sprinkles, because everything's better with sprinkles!

Slippers and cowls and a puppy

2010-11-13T08:51:00.000Z

Cosy accessories have been the order of the day here lately. I have been eyeing up the many gorgeous versions of Tiny Owl Knits' Amy March Slippers. It is a free pattern that I found on Ravelry -where else! Tiny Owl has designed lots of unbearably cute patterns, including the fabulous Deer with Antlers Hat of which I am so fond. Having read that the slippers can be knitted from a single ball of Rowan Big Wool, I though I might just squeeze a pair out of the almost a ball left over from my Tess Cardigan. Alas! There was enough for about one and half slippers. I don't want to spend another £7.95 for just a few more metres of yarn. A friend from Knitting Club reckons she migh have some scraps left over from a snood - fingers crossed !
I liked the single slipper so much that got stuck in with another pair straight away. This time it is Sirdar Denim Ultra, which I liked a lot. It's very soft and comfortable but a bit splitty when knitting. It's knitted on 6mm circular needles which gives a good firm fabric. Choosing the ribbon and lace ties for these was the best bit.
Just after finishing the Denim ultra pair, I found a single ball of Big Wool in a charity shop for 50p. Yay! What a bargain. I have wasted no time in making up another pair of slippers. I really do love these. There will be more. I can knit a pair in an evening so they are an ideal last minute gift.
Everyone loved the Deer hat that I made for Bear's birthday and I have enjoyed making several more versions, including a baby Deer. It just makes me smile.
I got my lovely knitting friend here to model the dark brown Lamb's Pride version in a woodland setting for me. Exceedingly cute!
The Incognito Cowl from www.knitty.com has turned out to be a big success . The first one finished up perfect size for Millie and she seems to like it.
I made a slightly larger one for me with some Cashmerino Aran that I found hiding in my enormous stash. I cast on 80 stitches - next time I would probably cut that to about 72 as one doesn't want one's disguise slipping.
Searching through the enormous stash I came across the huge bag of Jaeger Fur that was once a grizzly bear costume - well , actually, it was really a coat that just didn't work and got frogged. I knitted two lovely snuggly keyhole scarves in record time. Considering making a big fur hat to go with them. Maybe all that fur was good buy after all.
Speaking of fur...
We promised Millie a puppy a while ago and have been looking around for the perfect addition to the family. Today we went to see this totally adorable little Yorkie. He is just 6 weeks old and not quite ready to leave his Mum yet - but when he is, he is coming home with us!!! Can't wait.
I was excited to receive my copy of the amazing Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies earlier this week. I have been looking forward to this for ages - it is just so much fun. I had to start a Cupcake Scarf immediately. I am using a cheap acrylic from the market for the cake bases and some chunky Sirdar Snowflake for the yummy fluffy icing. These little cakes are flying off the hook! I am not looking forward to all the sewing up but am keen to see the finished scarf.

Halloween update!

2010-10-31T15:53:00.000Z

Today we had so much fun carving our pumpkins into Halloween lanterns. Ever since she saw a picture of one on the internet, Millie has wanted to make a puking pumpkin. I don't know why but it captured her imagination in a big way. This afternoon she carefully carved the beautiful pumpkin that we purchased in the week from Willows Farm and staged it dramatically on our doorstep. Good job, I think! It was such a laugh taking pictures of our handiwork and we even managed to get derek to pose as a scary pumpkin headed man. Millie had a go too, but she looked kind of cute.
This blog is supposed to be about my knitting and crochet adventures, so here is a picture of a work in progress. I recently picked up my Crochet By Numbers pattern again after a long break. It seems to be working up a bit more quickly now that I have got the hang of tying on the new colours as I go along. I am not going to reveal the subject of my picture until it is finished.

Getting Colder

2010-10-29T18:53:00.001+01:00

The weather has got much colder recently, but surely that is just a very good recent to dig out your fabulous woolly hats and scarves. And perhaps knit some more...
Millie and I are modelling some really furry, warm scarves that I whipped up from the Jaeger Fur frogged from my terrible fur coat effort of last Winter. The pattern was free on the Red Heart website - very simple garter stitch with a slit to pull the end through. I made the first scarf on Thursday night at knitting club and then another at work today - they are seriously quick. On 8mm needles with just 13 stitches to a row, it is possible to finish one in less than 2 hours. I haven't decided yet whether to go for a matching hat. There is plenty of yarn left to play with.
Keeping Millie's toes warm are these great little slipper boots. The pattern is the "Hexagon Boot Slippers" by Priscilla Hewitt - another great design that I got from Ravelry. I made a pair last year and they turned out brilliantly. For some reason these ones have turned out a bit smaller so Millie gets them. I plan to make another pair using a 5mm rather than a 4mm hook in an attempt to cover my own toes stylishly.
This rather hilarious fish hat is not really intended to be worn for warmth - it is more of a fashion statement! I plan to give this as a Christmas gift and am sure that it will get a good reception. Meanwhile, my Hubby kindly modelled it for me. It's a pattern by Christine Grant called the "Something Fishy Fish Beanie" If I made it again I would use a stiffer yarn as the acrylic crepe dk that I chose for this version is rather floppy. I don't like to buy very expensive yarn for hats that probably won't get a lot of wear.

I have been thinking of starting up my Etsy shop again and have been experimenting with some Irish Crochet motifs. The plan is to make some crochet jewelry. So far I am quite pleased with my efforts - this little flower brooch will probably be my first listing.Hope to have more of these to show in my next post.

Little things...

2010-10-08T14:11:00.000+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks I have been making smaller items. Some for gifts and some just to try out interesting looking patterns. I have been wanting to try these pretty crochet necklace patterns for a while now and found the perfect yarn in my stash when I was looking for some wool to make mittens with. This delicate one is called the Spring Flowers Neck Piece by Angela Best. It is a free pattern that I found on Ravelry.
I was very pleased with the way that this turned out so I looked around for similar patterns and came up with Flower Necklace Motifs by Elizabeth Lowe. It took an evening to make up the motifs and then another to join them together. Next time I will join as I go along to save time and effort. The yarn was another charity shop purchase, so the cost was almost nothing.
Baby hats are a real pleasure to make - maximum cuteness for minimum effort. These two were from Itty Bitty Hats, which is a lovely book by Susan B. Anderson. I used some Sirdar Snuggly dk from my stash. It is perfect for baby hats as it is very soft and is machine washable. Both hats are for Baby Benjamin who arrived one month early and is apparently very tiny.
Last Saturday I went to Mavis in Bushey, my LYS. They have some fabulous Katia yarns in stock and I just had to treat myself to 2 balls of Memory, despite vowing to use only stash yarn in the foreseeable future. The plan was to knit up some sort of cosy cowl for myself. I made up the pattern as I went along. It's just a simple stocking stitch tube with a ring of eyelets threaded with an icord drawstring. I love the soft, colourful yarn and am pleased with the cowl.
Found this free pattern for Coraline Mittens on Ravelry and just had to make them for Millie. she is a big fan of the strange , creepy, animated film "Coraline". I have finished the first mitten with the cat on it and have started the second which will feature a mouse and button key motif. They look quite cute so far and I am enjoying knitting mittens. There are several more interesting designs in my pattern file that I can't wait to try.
I recently recently crocheted a pair of Persuasion Fingerless Gloves, another pattern that I spotted on Ravelry, and gave them away before I had a chance to photograph them. I liked the design despite the pattern having a lot of errors and the fit being not very good. I have started another pair but got got distracted by other projects. The second mitten will get done sometime soon. Probably. Meanwhile, progress is slow on the Endless Knitted Cardi Wrap. I can't wait to finish this garment as I think it looks great - it is just so boring to knit. I have seen a new version of this design in broomstick crochet which looks like it would be more interesting to make. Perhaps I shall give that a go next.

Hats again!

2010-09-16T11:00:00.000+01:00

Lots of knitting and crochet going on over the last month - just not much blogging. It is so hard to find a quiet time to update without interruptions. No work this week , so I have managed to take pictures of the latest projects and am now ready to reveal them...
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.

Going green

2010-08-09T21:23:00.001+01:00

So I finally got around to finishing off this lovely mohair cardigan from Feminine Knits. It fits perfectly and is just about everything I had hoped it would be. 8 balls of Patons Misty , used double, have knitted up into a soft, fluffy , warm garment. The yarn came from Kemps Wools, so it was a real bargain too.
Also from Kemps, this Stylecraft Sirocco has knitted up beautifully. Sirocco is a cotton and linen yarn which is a bit harsh on the fingers when you are working with it but makes a lovely garment that feels pretty comfortable to wear. The colour is "pampas", a light green. The pattern was one I came across on Ravelry - the wonderful Sage Remedy Top. This top was great to knit. Just enough lace to keep it interesting and some stocking stitch to make it a quick knit. It also fits in all the right places and is slightly looser around the middle where you don't want it to cling. I like it so much that I am planning two more versions. I cast on tonight with some Patons Vintage and have another pack of Sirocco in a gorgeous purple shade for when that is finished.
I'm still enjoying making toys. I recently bought a copy of "Babes in the Wool" by Fiona McDonald, which I had seen reviewed online and liked the look of. My first effort has turned out quite well - although I haven't finished her face yet. A coat for the babe is half knitted and she really needs a skirt too. It was a reasonably enjoyable project so far but I always dislike fiddly sewing up. Not sure how long it will take me to finish her.

Lace and Cake

2010-07-31T08:21:00.000+01:00

The long sleeved shrug is now officially finished and it is even better than I had hoped it would be. The basic shape is really just a long tube with lace edgings but it looks far more complicated. I am pleased with the Rowan 4 ply Cotton which seems just about perfect for this project. It had been in my stash for ages and I had never really found a use for it - one of those yarns that you buy because it is on sale and then wonder what to do with it. I have quite a few packs of yarn in the stash that were bought on impulse and it is nice to see something put to good use. I think is will be quite wearable. I am thinking of making it again in wool as I think that could also work well. I particularly like the lace edging as it is so delicate and pretty.
Last week a lovely lady at worked asked if I would knit her a cake. She loves to have tea parties and had recently purchased a beautiful new cakestand. I knitted up one from a pattern I found on Ravelry and it was so much fun that I carried on...
The result was this fun box of cakes. I made up the Battenburg slice and am quite pleased with it. When I gave these to my friend she was absolutely thrilled with them. I love it when that happens. Knitting brings me so much pleasure and it is just wonderful to share some of that joy.
The lace front cardigan from Feminine Knits has been mostly finished for a few weeks now - as usual I dilly dally with the sewing up. There was only a little sewing to do on this one - just the sleeve seams. Last night I got my needle out and sewed up those seams and wove in the ends. The result is a very pretty cardigan. In all, this used up 8 balls of Patons Misty used double. The Misty was a real bargain from Kemps Wools. Doubled up it makes an acceptable substitute for Kidsilk Aura. Obviously not quite as soft and luxurious but much, much cheaper. I have still have ten balls of Misty in a dark green colourway in stash. This cardigan was a very easy knit and turned out well .
I am on a mission to use up my stash at the moment. Two days ago I dug out the pack of Stylecraft Sirocco, also a bargain from Kemps Wools, that I bought recently. I have decided to try the Sage Remedy Top by Sarah Shepherd. There are lots of lovely examples of this on Ravelry. Sirocco is a boucle cotton linen mix and I was worried that the lace wouldn't show up enough. Having finished the front I feel fairly happy that it will work ok. I am looking forward to wearing this top so it is full speed ahead...

Still shrugging!

2010-07-11T14:54:00.000+01:00

I have been wearing my green short sleeve shrug quite a lot over the last month and love it. So I thought I'd give another of Bernadette Ambergen's lovely patterns a go. I had 10 balls of Rowan 4 ply Cotton in my stash that I bought years ago in a sale. I used just over 2 balls on the small short sleeved shrug that I gave to Millie and thought the rest would be perfect for Bernadette's beautiful pattern for a Red Crochet Shrug. Mine will be a pale pink crochet shrug but every bit as lovely. I now have just a little lace edging on the second sleeve and around the front opening to finish. So far it is looking gorgeous and promises to fit perfectly. I have learnt a lot from these shrugs and feel I could design one of my own using the basic shape and my choice of stitch pattern then fitting on a lace edging. That's something I would love to try soon.
I recently bought the charming book Knitted Odd-bod Bunch by Donna Wilson from Amazon. I had seen some of the quirky little toys made up on Ravelry and thought they were adorable. It is also full of great projects for using up those odd balls that seem to accumulate in ones stash. My first knit from this book was the fabulous little character Rita Raccoon. She was easy to make and is a big hit with Millie. I used Rowan Designer dk 100% wool, one ball of cream and about one and a quarter balls of black. I loved embroidering the features and bringing her to life - we had a photo shoot in the back garden.
I so loved making Rita that I let Millie choose another toy from the Odd-bod Bunch and cast on immediately. She chose Peggy Long Legs. I just happened to have 2 balls of the exact same yarn in same colour as that used in the book and so have ended up with an almost identical Peggy. The body was knitted in an evening but the legs were a very long and boring knit that stretched out over a week. I love these unusual toys and will be making lots more - in fact, the Stick Snail is almost half way knitted.

Another pattern that I love is the Eden Scarf. I have made quite a few of these over the last couple of years. This latest is one of my favourite versions. I had 2 balls of Sirdar Escape left over from my Wavey Edged Cardigan and they have turned out to be perfect for this design. The colours are just right. For this one, I used garter stitch for the leaves and they don't curl up so much as the stocking stitch versions. I gave the finished scarf to Nicky, my lovely knitting club friend..

Speaking of knitting club friends, Tina and I have been working on Alan Dart's Chimps Tea Party for some weeks now. We decided to make it together to increase the likelihood of it all getting finished. Thanks mainly to Tina's superb efforts we finished this week. I intend to take a posed picture of the entire picnic later but I just had to share this photo of Millie when she first got her hands on them...

I think she likes them!
Another item that I finished a while ago is this simple and feather and fan scarf/stole that I whipped up from a single ball of Drops Vivaldi. It is a nice yarn, very soft and fluffy and quite reasonably priced. I love that I can wear this as a stole or scrunch it up and wear it as a warm scarf
Lastly, I purchased this cute kit for a crochet baby blanket in the John lewis sale a couple of days ago. What a bargain, it is reduced from £20 to £5. The colours are just lovely and it will be the perfect gift for a friend at work who is having a little boy in November. The squares are quite fiddly on a small hook and the yarn is a little splitty but I think it will be a beautiful little blanket. I need to keep myself motivated with project.

Girly Shrugs

2010-06-13T08:37:00.001+01:00

Two shrugs finished! I am not the best at finishing things, which is probably why I love things like shrugs that have minimal sewing up. I had almost finished this shrug in Rowan 4ply Cotton when I realised it was going to be far too small for me. Luckily it turned out to be just about perfect size for Miss Millie - and she actually likes it! The shrug took just over 2 balls of yarn and was crocheted with a 3.5mm hook.
I still really wanted one for myself so I got straight on the case with a 4.5mm hook and some green boucle acrylic that I was given recently. Despite being acrylic, it is quite a nice yarn and I love the delicate green colour. I didn't want to use any expensive yarn until I had sorted out the sizing issues with this pattern. The finished result is very pleasing. So simple but so pretty ! I spotted the pattern on Ravelry and fell in love with it - it is Bernadette Ambergen's "Pretty Short Sleeved Crochet Shrug" Fairly easy to follow and easy to adapt the size once you know what you are doing. We have both worn our shrugs several times already.
This gorgeous mohair cardi from "Feminine Knits" is almost complete but has "resting" over the last week as I got excited by some other small projects. I shouldn't take longer than 2 evenings to finish so hopefully there will be another completed project in my next post. The doubled up patons Misty seems to knit up like Kidsilk Aura, although not quite as soft of course.There are lots of wonderful patterns in Feminine Knits that I plan to make.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on a cute toy project - Alan Dart's chimps tea party. It is going well and has filled me with enthusiasm for toy knitting. Expect lots of toys soon...

Fluffy shawls

2010-05-23T08:09:00.000+01:00

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=24740181

Lots of finished knits over the last month - and a number of UFO's too, of course. I have been falling in love with mohair yarns lately. There is something special about this wonderful soft, fluffy fibre. Rowan Kidsilk would have to be one of my favourite ever yarns and I would probably knit with nothing else if only it wasn't so expensive. Four balls of Kidsilk Aura in Bronze that I got last year in the John Lewis sale have been waiting for a pattern like this to come along...It's Cloud by Kim Hargreaves. The shawl/scarf took just 2 evenings to crochet and I absolutely love it. It's a very simple mesh triangle with a picot edging. The edging seems to make the design a bit more special. The shawl is quite big and looks great either draped over the shoulders or wound around the neck scarf style as in my picture. I have seen a few of these made up on Ravelry and they are all wonderful. I liked the finished shawl so much that I rummaged around in my immense stash until I found some Chat Botte Kid Mohair that I purchased for next to nothing in a charity shop a few years ago. The yarn is a little thinner and not quite as soft as Kidsilk Aura. However, it worked up into a beautiful scarf which I gave to Bear when she visited last week.The Bear also went home with these...
This is the fourth pair of Lisa Van Klaveren's Rose Garden Ballet Flats that I have crocheted. I would really recommend this pattern. It is simple, well written and easy to follow - and you end up with the cutest pair of house shoes. I have made this in both cotton and wool and have been thrilled with both versions. This pair is crocheted in Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim Aran. It is a nice yarn that isn't too stiff but seems as if it will wear well.
This pretty shawl used up 2 of the balls of Regia Kaffe Fassett sock yarn that I bought from Kemps Wools at a bargain price. It was just £1.20 a ball. The pattern is called Tropical Breeze - I found it on Ravelry.I have almost finished this simple feather and fan stole that I am making from a single ball of Drops Vivaldi. This yarn is amazing! Soft, fluffy, great yardage and incredibly inexpensive.I have been wanting to try out this lovely mohair yarn for ages. It is every bit as good as I imagined and I can't wait to get hold of enough to make a cardigan with.
I have lots of knitting plans for the coming month, one of which is to use up some of the yarn purchased at last Summer's John Lewis sale before I go mad at the next one!

The Shrug

2010-04-02T17:08:00.000+01:00

Finished this morning! Veronique from French Girl Knits. This was a quick easy knit using some mohair that I bought in a charity shop. It is a lovely pattern which hangs nicely. the mohair I used is much thicker than the Kidsilk Haze recommended but I think it has worked really well. I intend to make another of these in a thinner yarn for evening wear.
My second attempt at Inga's bag has turned out very well. I used the 6 balls of Patons Vintage that I had in my stash and am well pleased with the result. I used a 4mm hook and the yarn worked up into a nice sturdy fabric. Should be a useful little bag. Again, this is a pattern I can see myself returning to many times.I picked up a couple of balls of cotton Sifa Silver yarn from the Stitch and Craft Show at Olympia in March. It looked quite interesting and I wanted to give it a try. I have used it to make a hat from my favourite knitted peaked cap pattern (Sirdar 8582). This is the first time I have done the cabled version. I just need to make the peak and sew it up.I recently ordered some Patons Misty from Kemps at a real bargain price - just 59p a ball . It is not as soft as kidsilk but the colours are lovely and it looks great knitted up. I've cast on the Soft Kid Bubble from Boutique Knits with the blue Misty - hopefully 6 balls will be enough.This one might take a while...

I'm Back !!!!

2010-03-24T12:31:00.000Z

It has been a mighty long time since I last blogged - mainly due to a very time consuming obsession with Ravelry. However, I have been knitting like crazy over the last year and thought I would update the old blog. I can't possibly mention everything that I have made since my last post so I'll just have to list a few recent items.
One of the items I love most of recent knits is the Opal Wrap by Kim Hargreaves. I had 4 balls of Aura that I purchased in the John Lewis sale in January in this gorgeous orange colour. It is a very simple pattern with a minimal amount of shaping and a lovely picot edge. The wrap is really snuggly and warm - it wraps around the neck in a very pleasing way.I liked my first version of this a lot and so had to cast on for another immediately. I used 2 balls of an interesting novelty yarn that I purchased from the bargain bin at Mavis, my local yarn store. I think it was called Avalon by Tootal. It is a sort of ribbon stranded with mohair. Not at all like Aura but it worked amazingly well. The finished scarf was given to Clare Bear on a recent visit.
Over Christmas I knitted up several pairs of arm warmers with a view to giving them as presents. Of course, I never got around to sewing them up. Last week I settled down to a sewing up and finishing off session. This pair is made from RYC Baby Alpaca dk, which is an incredibly soft yarn. The pattern was from a book of accessories by Sublime yarns.I love handmade slippers! I found the pattern for these ones on Ravelry ...This is Millie's pair. I think the yarn was Rowan Handknit Cotton. I have made three pairs from this pattern now and they are all just beautiful. I will definitely be making more of these. They work well in both cotton and wool and can be made to fit just about any size. The flower trim is the cutest finishing touch. Speaking of flowers...

My friend and I made this bouquet as a wedding gift for someone from one of our knitting groups. Most of the flowers are from Lesley Stanfield's 101 Flowers To Knit and Crochet. I would thoroughly recommend the book for it's inspiring patterns.
I love knitted flowers and have wanted to make the little posy brooch from Lucinda Guy's "Designs for Kids" for a while now. I picked up the book at the library last week and have already made 4 broochs. They take only a tiny amount of yarn, knit up in minutes and are just so darn cute. I have been using up some scraps left over from other projects for these.
I haven't done any colour work for ages so thought I would start with something small. The Totoro Mittens were a free pattern found on Ravelry which appealed greatly to me. I used Rowan Wool dk to knit up a pair for Millie -she loves them. I enjoyed following a chart and watching the picture form.

This top was from one of the Rowan Studio books and used 9 balls of Rowan Bamboo Tape and some scraps of Kidsilk Haze for the corsage. I had been told that Bamboo Tape stretches like mad and so opted for the smallest size which fits me perfectly - and I am not small! I like the yarn apart from it's tendency to stretch and have purchased some more in a lighter shade to make another summer top.
There are lots of versions of Inga's Bag pictured on Ravelry which I like very much and I managed to find some of the discontinued Anchor Magicline Cotton at a very low price to make it myself. It took 2 evenings to whip up this lovely bag. I am working on another in Patons Vintage.I hope to have some garments finished for my next post. There is a cardigan just waiting to be sewn up.

Summer knitting

2008-08-13T09:14:00.000+01:00

I have been knitting a lot lately and also crocheting, which I am enjoying a great deal. It seems that there are a lot more fashionable and wearable crochet patterns around these days. I found Doris Chan's free pattern for the "All Shawl" on Ravelry and really liked the way it can be made up in various sizes and gauges for different effects. I had a large ball of wool that I purchased in a charity shop for 50p and made up the scarf size first...
I love this little shoulder shawl/ scarf so much that I made another using the same yarn in a slightly looser gauge. This obviously finished up slightly larger than the first one and I was pleased with the looser fabric. There is enough yarn left for at least one more of these - what a bargain !
I had four balls of Rowan Cashcotton DK that I bought at half price in the fabulous John Lewis sale this year. It took about three and a half balls to make up the larger version of the All Shawl. The pattern is easy to memorise and works up quickly. I can see myself making many more versions of this.
I also made a couple of large, dramatic looking wraps from novelty eyelash yarn that I had in my stash. I made up the pattern - very simple wrap with big fun fringes. These worked up really quickly and look amazing on.

How could I have forgotten...

2008-06-22T08:57:00.001+01:00

It had been so long since I last blogged that I totally forgot to include some items in my last post. I made this great sweater from the Crochet Me book. It's from Debbie Bliss Merino Aran and I love it. I stuck to the same colourway as the book, so not very adventurous, but it is just a great sweater. The arms turned out really long but I stayed with that as it gives it a really snuggly feel. It was easy and fun to make and has lots of possibilities for customisation should you wish.
I had wanted to make the Meathead Hat for a while but didn't want to fork out for a book that had no other patterns I liked in it. So, when I discovered the pattern could be downloaded for free from the publishers website I was thrilled. I cast on immediately with some Debbie Bliss Soho from my stash, used double. An hour later, the hat was finished. Really simple but quite fun.
I knitted up most of the Central Park Hoodie in about a week but haven't got around to sewing up and knitting the hood yet. I need to do it, this is a lovely cardi - far too good to end up in the UFO pile. I've used Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Tweed. It's a lovely yarn, soft and bouncy.
Meanwhile , the Summer issue of Interweave Crochet arrived and I have had to cast on the Midsummer's Dream Camisole designed by Amie Hirtes - it looks beautiful. I'm using Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton 4 ply, which feels nice but splits a bit when you are working with it.

Too much Ravelry , not enough blogging...

2008-06-19T21:00:00.000+01:00

Despite spending about an hour a day on the awesome Ravelry site, I have not managed to update my blog in ages. I could browse the pattern database forever and my queue of projects is so long that it would take a lifetime to knit everything on it. So, I intend to make more of an effort to keep the blog up to date in future. I have knitted and crocheted plenty over the last month or so. I often don't wear the garments I make much, so I'm really pleased to report that my last three knits are being worn a lot. First up, the Coquette Top from Fitted Knits...
I used Rowan Cotton Jeans for this. Love the yarn. The colours are good and the yarn is nice to work with. I made i cord straps for a bit of added security. If I made this again I would go down a size for a snugger fit.
I had wanted to make the lace and rib top from Interweave Knits for ages, so I ordered some Cotton Ease from Banyan Tree Yarns and whipped it up in a few days. I really , really like this top. It feels great to wear and I have had many compliments on it. I have some white cotton in my stash and am considering making another - I have to love a pattern to knit it more than once. This was an interesting knit, with different lace panels and bust shaping.
I had 6 balls of Rowan Cotton Braid in my stash that I had been wanting to make into a top but couldn't find a pattern for so few balls. Then I was looking at the Cherry Twist pattern from Knitty and thought, why not? I particularly love the neckline of this top but made the bottom rib much longer as it was rather short. I want to make it again with a longer body and less rib.

Quick update...

2008-04-13T16:36:00.000+01:00

This is my second Chica wrap / belt from Afya Ibomu's Fly Tops and Funky Flavas. I would really recommend this book as there are some simple but very wearable items in it. I used Elle Escapade which is acrylic and comes in some great colourways.

I finally got the extra ball of Noro Silk Mountain that was needed to finish the boucle cap. I love the finished cap and there is enough yarn left to make some mitts or a neck warmer to go with it. I had a couple of balls of a cheaper boucle yarn that I'd found in a thrift shop and made up another cap - slightly less baggy. This one was pretty good too - Clare the Bear has laid claim to it already. It's a nice pattern, from the Noro Designer Mini Knits book, and quick and easy to knit. I also really like boucle yarn.

I recently purchased Louisa Harding's Knitting Little Luxuries which is a lovely book full of great patterns . First up was two attempts at the Cecily beanie. It was really fun to decorate the beanies with buttons from my collection.

A couple of bags from the same book. These used up some stash yarn. Firstly, the single skein of Prism Kid Slique that I bought in New York last September at String. I like the way this turned out. The yarn is wonderful.
Secondly, I made up the lace bag from some Debbie Bliss Denim Aran. The knitting is finished but I haven't got around to lining it yet.
These Turkish Slippers were crochet as a birthday present for my friend Jenny. They took a day to make - I know this pattern really well and have made many pairs.

The Betty Wrap made up in no time and I am very pleased with it. I wasn't sure about my choices of colour at first but when it was finished I loved the overall effect.

A post at last !

2008-03-02T16:36:00.000Z

Not much blogging lately - but lots of knitting, crochet and browsing on Ravelry. I made a hat for the DH but it turned out enormous. My fault for not checking gauge. I'm thinking of putting elastic around it and wearing it myself as a slouchy beret. I used 2 balls of RYC Alpaca Soft that I picked up in a sale. It's lovely yarn - knits up into a really soft thick fabric.
Finishing touches were completed on the striped beret from Louisa Harding's Gathering of Roses and the Half Pipe Hat from the Stitch n' Bitch for men book...

I like both of these hats very much. Also very cute is the First Hat that I made from a single ball of Noro Silk Garden. I liked the one Manos del Uruguay a lot and this one works very well in the striped yarn.
Two shrugs ! Yes two ! Each one took just an evening to knit in Rowan Biggy Print. The pattern is Bless from the new Kim Hargreaves book, Heartfelt. It is so easy to make and I think I will wear the shrug. Clare the Bear has already claimed the green/brown one.

I am loving Afya Ibomu's new book in the Get Your Crochet On series - The belt looked great in the Noro Daria from my stash. I got the buckle off a belt that I picked up for 50p at Primark. I've worn this several times. I used a ball of Elle Escapade to make the Chica belt type thing and love how it turned out. I've almost finished another one of these. The yarn is really nice for an acrylic and comes in beautiful colours.

Chanson en Crochet has turned out beautifully. I wasn't sure that this would be something I'd wear - I just fancied crocheting it. Now that it is finished, I love it and can see myself wearing it a lot.
I'm in a real crochet mood at the moment. I started the lovely sweater from the Crochet Me book at the last knitting club meeting. With just one and a half sleeves left to finish it is looking quite good.
The Cross Stitch Scarf is also complete - knitted at work over three days. I like the stitch pattern a lot and it shows up the colours of the gorgeous Manos del Uruguay really well.

Ravelry and hats

2008-02-11T19:52:00.000Z

I have been spending far too much time browsing on Ravelry and not enough blogging. I am totally addicted to it. It is so great to see what different knitters have made from the same pattern. There are so many talented knitters and crocheters around.
Clare the Bear visited on Sunday so i got her to model for me - she looks so cute in knitted hats. My favourite finished knit of the last few weeks has to be The Lady Detective Hat from Knit2Together. I made it from my last skein of Noro Iro . I noticed on Ravelry that some knitters had made it from just one skein rather than the two which are stated in the yarn requirements of the pattern and thought I'd give it a go. I was a couple of yards short but managed to find just enough to finish it in my scrap basket left over from the One Skein Wonders Sassy shawl. There wasn't enough for the hat band but it looks great without it. I like the shape and fit of this hat so much that I cast on another one in some Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury tweed. I doubled up the yarn to get a chunky thickness and it knitted up beautifully. The Luxury Tweed is a really nice yarn to knit with and I shall definitely use it again. This hat took just one evening to knit. I made the band this time but have yet to find a suitable buckle for it. I checked out the haberdshery department in John Lewis today in my lunch break but couldn't find one. Tomorrow , I may try Sewfine.
Another successful knit from Knit2Together was the First Hat. For this I used the lovely skein of green Manos del Uruguay that I purchased at Loop in Islington. The hat is very cute. It was fun to knit and I love the yarn. Knit2Together is one of my favourite knitting books - so many good patterns in it.
After a year in hibernation I finally finished off the Grown Up Bonnet, also from Knit2Together. I made one last Christmas as a gift and loved it so much that I started one for myself. I got distracted by other projects and put it aside. It took 2 balls of Cygnet Wool Rich Aran.
On the crochet front, I am about half way through the Chanson En Crochet from the Interweave Crochet website. I'm using Rowan Silk Cotton which is a very nice yarn.There are tons of errata for this pattern, which is a bit annoying. Why can't they just correct the actual pattern for downloading instead of adding and extra page of corrections to refer to ?
I've also finished an In Bloom clutch bag and a Half Pipe Hat - they still need sewing up so pictures next post.

Little things

2008-01-17T20:00:00.001Z

Lots of knitting and crochet going on over the last week or so. A few bits and pieces for my Blythe doll turned out quite well. I started out with some easy little beanie hats...
Then I progressed to the knitted coat - free pattern from Knitty. I was pleased with how this turned out but just can't find a small enough button to suit it. The search goes on.
I tried a simple top down raglan cardigan for Blythe next. I used size 2.5mm needles and Cygnet Wool Rich 4Ply from my sock yarn stash. I really like the finished cardi and will be making more of these for my girl. The top down method works really well for this sort of project. It minimises seaming and you can check the fit as you go along. I'd seen some lovely knitted doll dresses on Etsy and decided to have a go at making my own. It's almost done and looking quite cute.
The Gorgeous Corsage from Crocheted Accessories is one of my favourite flower brooch patterns. I have made up several of these and they all look really pretty. They are very simple to make but look quite special.
These Pocketbook Slippers knitted up in no time. I used some of my own handspun and am quite pleased with the results. The slippers probably look better in a more even textured yarn but they are still cute and cosy. A great way to use up an odd ball of wool.
I took a trip to Hobbycraft last week and picked up a scarf kit in the sale. I liked the colours and the wild fringing. This knitted up in about 2 hours on 8mm needles.
I am a big fan of Afya Ibomu and her books. I recently purchased Fly Tops and Funky Flavas, her latest offering, from Amazon. She is a crochet goddess ! The patterns are simple to follow but turn out so stylish and trendy. Her instructions are very clear and she encourages you to experiment with colours and adapt patterns to suit you. Since buying Afya's first book, Hip Hats and Cool Caps, I have become a fan of acrylic yarn. Yes, really ! I picked up a ball of cheap acrylic in this great colourway from Watford Market last week and have nearly finished a stunning pair of Nuff Gluvs. They are great.

I haven't done any more work on Zara from Rowan's Bigger Picture yet. The back is done and it won't take long once I get back into it. I'm liking the look of it so far.
Next week will probably be about more hats. Just can't get enough of hat knitting these days. I ordered Woolly Wormhead's new book "Going Straight" and it should be arriving any day. It has a terrific selection of hats knitted on straight needles. Can't wait.

Busy,busy,busy...

2008-01-02T09:53:00.001Z

December largely involved frantic knitting to try and finish all my Christmas gifts. Everything just about got finished and all the gifts were well received. Unfortunately, in my rush to complete everything I forgot to take photographs of several items. A lovely scarf knit from 3 balls of Rowan Big wool went to my sister - hopefully , I can get a pic of it sometime. It knitted up in 2 evenings and looked warm and trendy. Also, 2 crocheted flower corsages got wrapped and gifted without a photo. I was really proud of these as they looked fabulous. I had seen something similar in Loop when I went there last month. They were charging about £35 each. Being a knitter/crocheter, I do understand that there is a lot of skill and time involved in making these things. But, I also know that I can make one just as beautiful for next to nothing. I intend to make several more, so there should be a pic soon.
I finally finished the embroidery on the Jackyll and Hyde ski mask. It looks hilarious. I am reliably informed that my nephew loves it.
For Clare the Bear, I whipped up another Colinette Fandango Boa. The pattern is from their booklet Artyfacts. I've made many of these. It takes just one skein of Fandango and is a brilliant way to try out the fantastic Colinette colourways.
The Bear asked me to make her a couple of pairs of simple fingerless mittens to give as presents. This is a pattern that I bought from the knitting stall on Watford market - can't remember the details. I have made a few pairs and adapted it a bit to use up scraps of yarn. They don't look much until you put them on. When worn they are really cute.
Using scraps seemed like a good idea, so I dug out some yarn in toning colours to make this fun beret. The pattern is the Multicoloured Beret from Handknit Style. I saw a couple of versions made up on Ravelry. It looks very different according to the colours and textures that you use. I recommend this pattern. It's fun to make, uses up leftover yarn and looks great. I want to make many more versions of this.
The hat obsession shows no sign of subsiding. I had a couple of balls of SWTC Oasis, the lovely bamboo yarn, that I picked up in a sale. I decided to try it out on the free crochet hat pattern on Interweave Crochet's website. The result is very pleasing. It was a quick easy pattern and a pretty little hat. I think it is called the Lace Cap and is by Kim Werker.
Also finished in December was the black Punk's Not Dead Hat for David at work. It took almost 2 balls of Lamb's Pride Bulky. It had been waiting to be felted for several weeks. I am never disappointed with this pattern. The hat looks fabulous. David loved it.
I had been admiring the cute, photogenic Blythe dolls that seem to be so popular with bloggers for ages. So, I was thrilled to receive one for Christmas from Karen. She is called Mod Molly and is just lovely. I never really considered myself a "doll" person but these girls have totally won me over. I have been experimenting with tiny hats for Molly and made a couple of simple beanies before discovering that the Bunny pattern from Get Your Crochet On makes a perfect beret. I've also sewn a couple of supercute dresses using patterns downloaded on the internet. I see many miniature jumpers, cardigans and hats on the knitting horizon.
I almost forgot - I started a jumper in Rowan Big Wool. The back is done and then it got put on hold until the Christmas presents were done. I'll dig it out again some time this week. Christmas and New Year were a lot of fun in our house. Miss Millie is very happy with the Wii that Santa brought for her. It is surpringly fun.

Shrug !

2007-12-09T07:30:00.000Z

Last weekend I went away for a short break. The DH had booked a surprise minicruise to Denmark. Just 2 nights aboard ship and about 5 hours to walk around Esberg. We had a brilliant time - which , of course, included some knitting. I had been planning to make the Anthropologie Inspired Capelet by Julesy from the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky that I got in the John Lewis sale last January ever since I bought it. At last it is a reality...It took about two and a half balls . I like Cashmerino a lot - it is very soft. I like this shrug pattern as it is simple and effective. I may well make more of these. It is currently blocking and all it needs now is a pretty brooch to fasten it. Meanwhile, the simple lace stitch shrug from Designer One Skein Wonders is about to get frogged. I found the pattern largely incomprehensible and have ended up with with the lace pattern looking not as I would like. I am torn between giving up and starting again having learnt what I want to change from the first attempt.
My favourite finished object this week is the Noro Kureyon Long Stocking Cap. The pattern is by Nathalie Godbout and is available free on the net. I modified it slightly by knitting 15 rows between decrease rows instead of 19. This was an attempt to squeeze it out of 2 balls of Kureyon. I ended up buying another ball to finish the last inch and make a lovely big tassel. I love this hat. I immediately cast on another one which is or a Christmas present. This one will be slightly longer as I'm going to follow the pattern as written. There are so many fabulous hat patterns available for free. The Jackyll and Hyde balaclava from Knitty is one of my favourites at the moment. I am nearly finished one of these for a Christmas present. Just the mouth to embroider. I love the way it looks like a smart cosy hat and then pulls down into a hilarious scary ski mask. Another free pattern that I whipped up one day last week is this Robin's Egg Blue Hat. I used some of the Colinette One Zero that I bought at the Knit and Stitch Show in October. It took less than one skein. I am not too happy with the black button and am planning a trip to Hobbycraft to purchase a nice green one later today. I think that this wasn't the ideal yarn for this pattern as the seed stitch gets a bit lost in the thick and thin texture and variegated colourway. It is still a great hat though. Finally, here is a picture of Miss Millie disguised as her hero, Clare the Bear. She looks so grown up now.

Yet more hats

2007-11-25T08:46:00.001Z

This week has been all about hats again - some of which are destined to be Christmas gifts. I was lucky enough to get plenty of knitting time at work so these have been flying off the needles. I finished my second version of Ela's Favorite Hat from One Skein Wonders. This time it is knitted from a skein of Debbie Bliss Maya that I have had stashed for ages. There was enough yarn to make the tassels this time. I have worn the hat several times and love it. This is a simple pattern which works well in a variety of yarns. I can see myself making this again.

I also knitted a second version of Woolly Wormhead's Urchin Cap. I used a couple of balls of Wendy Moiselle from my stash. I love the shape of this hat. This version worked out a little larger than the Debbie Bliss Soho version. Clare the Bear has claimed it and it really suits her.

While the Bear was around, I got her to model my Chicken Viking Hat. This is a wonderful free pattern available on the web. I plan to give it as a Christmas gift. The original pattern is for a baby hat but I wanted an adult sized one. I used a cheap acrylic dk doubled and 6mm needles and just followed the pattern as written. The result was a delightful adult sized hat. This is just so much fun!

This little hat is the Edge of Lace hat from Designer One Skein Wonders. I plan to make the matching cuffs this week . It's another simple pattern that looks just great when it's made up. I absolutely love both of the One Skein Wonders books. They are full of brilliant projects, many of which are ideal for gifts. The one skein concept is also very appealing to me - my stash is full of odd skeins that I have bought from sales and bargain bins over the years.

Next up is another Iris earflap hat in Colinette Prism, Fiorentina colourway, to match the Iris mittens that I finished last week. This was a very quick knit. Love the pattern and love the yarn.

Last week I bought a copy of a new knitting magazine that I spotted in W H Smiths called Let's Knit . It came with a free pair of wooden 20mm needles and contained a selection of patterns that used them. I noticed one was a beret made from a single skein of Rowan Little Big Wool. There just happened to be a couple of these in my stash in need of a suitable project. I whipped up a beret in a couple of hours last night whilst watching a double bill of NCIS on the telly. I just got it out of one ball. After sewing up there was about 1 inch of yarn left - very close thing ! It's not a bad little hat. Not sure whether to use the other ball to make another hat or some matching handwarmers.

Sari Silk belt

2007-11-14T09:43:00.000Z

This week I have been playing around on the Ravelry site a lot. It's taking ages to upload details of all my finished projects from the last couple of years. I am quite enjoying reviewing them, although I have forgotten a lot of the details such as yarn colours and needle sizes. I used some of the Sari Silk yarn that I got at he knit and stitch show to crochet the Sari Silk Belt from Positively Crochet by Mary Jane Hall. I love this pattern it is easy to crochet and the finished belt looks really effective. Ideal for this type of yarn. I have yet to find a decent toggle or button but a temporary toggle is in place for the moment. Mary Jane sent me a mesage on Ravelry when she saw that I was making up this pattern. She is such a friendly and multi talented lady. I am probably going to make the Sari Silk bag to match my belt.

I made the Iris hat and mittens from Colinette Artyfacts a couple of years ago as a Christmas present using some Rowan Chunky Print. They turned out really nice. The recommended yarn, Colinette Prism, is less fluffy than Chunky Print but still turns out really well. Prism is one of my favourite yarns at the moment. This was a skein in the Forest colourway that I purchased at Knit and Stitch 2007. I love the hat and should be able to squeeze a small pair of handwarmers out of the leftovers. I decided to make a matching set with some of the purple Prism in my stash and have completed the mittens so far. I love them. They may get to be a Christmas gift if I can bear to part with them.

A single skein of Colinette Point Five knitted up into the Pansy hat from Artyfacts in jst a couple of hours. All the Colinette patterns seem to be knitted flat then seamed. I hate sewing up really chunky items, so I used circular needles for this. I had about two inches of yarn left at the finish of this one - extremely close ! I just love the colours of Colinette.

I tried out one of Woolly Wormhead's hat patterns with a couple of balls of Debbie Bliss Soho from my stash. She is an ace designer of woolly hats. This is the Urchin Cap. I knitted it up yesterday evening and it is now my new favourite hat. The shape is just great and works really well in Soho. I used 5.5mm circular needles. I like it so much that I've cast on another one using some Wendy Moiselle from my stash. This is slightly chunkier than Soho so I'm going up a needle size and making the smaller hat.

Super Speedy Chunky Jumper !

2007-11-07T09:38:00.000Z

I managed to knit up this little number in just 2 afternoons and 1 evening - it really did fly off the 15mm needles ! The yarn is Colinette Shimmer Five that I purchased at the Colinette stand at the Knit and Stitch Show 2007. I used the pattern "Sylvie" from the Colinette Shimmer Five booklet that came free with the yarn. It took just over 6 skeins. I am hoping to make a hat out of the leftovers. I really hate sewing up chunky garments as it is so hard to keep things neat. All in all I'm quite pleased with the finished jumper.
Mel's Funky 3-Way Hat is finished and I love it. It really is quite funky despite being incredibly simple and quick to knit. This may be largely due to the wonderful Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe yarn which was a joy to knit with and amazing colours. It is slightly lighter than the recommended yarn for this pattern so I went down a needle size and made the largest hat. It worked out perfect.

There was enough yarn left to whip up the Little Ruff from One Skein Wonders. This would be much better made in a heavier yarn as it turned out a bit floppy. I enjoyed practising short row shaping and would make this again with a more appropriate yarn.

I've had some skeins of Debbie Bliss Maya in my stash for ages that I'd bought on sale. I used two shades of blue to make up Kim's Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I made the version with earflaps in the largest size as it is for a man. I'm really pleased with the hat . I love the way that this pattern can be adapted. I can see myself making up variations of this to use up oddments of yan left over from other projects.

Sadly, Wilhelmina Witch did not get finished in time for Halloween. There is very little left to do but I just can't bring myself to make thise fiddly little trimmings and sew them on. I also don't like the feel of the acrylic yarn , although it is probably ideal for this sort of toy. I do intend to finish it as I've got this far...

I am currently making another Punk's Not Dead Hat from Pretty In Punk. I love this pattern it always turns out spectacularly. I'm using Lambs Pride Bulky in Onyx . I think it will look great in plain black.

Ravelry !!! and more hats...

2007-11-02T13:55:00.001Z

My invitation to join Ravelry came through and I have been playing around with the site for the last week. It's brilliant. It will take ages to load up details of all my finished projects but it will be worth it. It's really easy to see what other knitters have done with a pattern. Still lots of knitting going on ...

The Aspen Hat from Twinkle's Big City Knits knitted up in about an hour on the largest circular needles that I've ever used - 15mm. I found the buttons in my old button tin and they look great on it. I think I would prefer it in a solid colour and may try it again. I also finally finished the short sleeve ribbed cardi from Fitted Knits. Prism may not have been the perfect yarn for this project but I still very much like the finished garment. Again, I think that it would have been better in a solid colour to show up the detail.I used the ball of Silk Garden that I got at Ally Pally to make Ela's Favorite Hat from One Skein Wonders which is my favourite pattern book of the moment. There wasn't quite enough yarn to make the tassels on top but I still like it a lot.Also from One Skein Wonders and using Noro Iro from Ally Pally is the Short and Sassy Shawl. I did manage to get this out of one skein. It is a great scarf/shawl and the colours are wonderful. It makes me want to buy a ton of Noro yarn !I bought some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in a lovely shade of green to make the Twirly-Top Toque - also from One Skein Wonders. I like the shape of this hat and it was enjoyable to knit. The lace is easy to remember. It only took a day to finish. I cast on for Mel's 3-Way Funky Hat as soon as I'd finished the toque. The Koigu Kersti That I bought at String in NY is only a sport weight yarn so I used a smaller needle and made the large size. It 's almost finished and is looking very funky indeed. What next...

You can never have too many hats...

2007-10-21T11:29:00.000+01:00

Two more neck warmers have been added to my collection , just because I love knitting them. I've memorised the pattern and it is a nice project to carry in my bag - small but interesting.

I found a really simple pattern for these arm warmers on the knitting stall in Watford Market a few weeks ago. They are knit flat and then sewn up. This is always a dilemma for me. I may knit them quick but they are likely wait a long, long time for the sewing up. My pile of UFO's really doesn't need adding to, so I forced myself to complete them and am lad I did. They are really cosy. I had picked up another very simple hand warmer pattern at the same time . These are also knitted flat and then sewn up. They are a great stash buster - I got 2 pairs out of one 50 g ball of Sirdar Click DK. They look cute on , so I may try some more in a nicer yarn.A beret and curly scarf were next. These were crocheted from a couple of balls of Rowan Soft Lux that I picked up last year in the John Lewis sale. I love this yarn . The pattern for the beret was free - it is called Pretty Puffs Slouchy Hat. The scarf is one that I've made many times now in a variety of yarns.

I enjoy making this scarf and whipped up another from a fun ball of yarn that I picked up for 49p in a charity shop - what a bargain! It is a cheap acrylic, but the colours are great and it has a sparkle thread running through it.The Knit and Stitch show at Ally Pally was fabulous as usual. I must admit to a few additions to my stash. The Natural Dye Studio had a great stall and I purchased a kit for a fun pixie hat. I knitted it up in a couple of hours when I got home. The yarn is a fabulous hand dyed boucle, very soft and warm.

This crochet beanie is from Vogue On The Go Crochet Hats. I love it. It was a bit fiddly as you have to make the little squares separately and join them together later. It was well worth the effort. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino dk which comes in such lovely colours. It takes 5 different colours, so there is enough left to make another hat or perhaps a matching scarf.
I am about half way through making Wilhelmina Witch from Simply Knitting for Miss Millie. I am using the reccommended yarn which is a cheap acrylic. I don't particularly enjoy knitting with this stuff but it's a nice pattern. This has to be finished by Halloween !

New York and neckwarmers

2007-10-03T20:55:00.001+01:00

Firstly, I have to say that the trip to New York was brilliant. I think it is an awesome city. It was also a very relaxing and much needed break. I love the city...
and the way you can stumble across the most interesting things. We came across this amazing farmers' market just off 51st Street and were stunned by the beautiful produce . Just had to take a picture of these beautiful squashes, you don't see stuff like this at home. Of course, we went looking for a yarn shop. String. It was wonderful and run by a totally charming woman. We also found a delightful store called Tinsel Trading which was run by a very lovely lady called Terry. She was totally inspiring and really took the time to chat and show us around the store. She had been working on some altered books which she showed us and explained the techniques she had used. Karen is now keen to have a go at this. I made this silk flower when I got home after seeing some really stunning examples in the shop. Since returning , I have made no less than three versions of Urchin from the latest edition of Knitty. The first is my favourite, knitted from a ball of Jaeger Natural Fleece that I got in a sale last year. This one probably fits me best. Having enjoyed this pattern so much I immediately cast on again with some Colinette yarn that I have had in my stash for years. I had been wondering what to do with a single skein and this was the perfect pattern.

Having memorised the pattern I couldn't resist making another one with a skein of my handspun which was slightly thicker . The hat turned out very big and looks rather stupid on me - even allowing for the fact that oversized knitted berets are very "in" this year. I need to find someone with a very big head or some serious hair to give it to. This week , I have made another 5 Luxe Neckwarmers and am working on a sixth. I just love this pattern and they make great gifts and are fun to wear. I forgot to take a pic of the green and pink Sirdar Click ones but here are the two made from Denim Ultra, and the orange one knitted in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran doubled up.

Errata and hats

2007-09-14T07:02:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update as I'm of to New York tomorrow ! Yes, New York ! It's just for 5 days but I can't wait. I was trying to finish the Short Sleeved Cardigan with Ribbing from Fitted Knits to take with me. Unfortunately, I encountered an error on the sleeves and haven't time to fix it. I have searched the web to see if anyone else came up with this but it certainly isn't on the official Errata list for this book. I had started the Spicy Tee jumper from Fitted Knits and came across an error there too so started again with the Short Sleeved Cardigan. Very annoying. No time to fix it until I get back from New York. The Colinette Prism is looking quite good so I will probably persevere with the pattern.I am also half way through the Morehouse Merino Dragon Scarf.

I've wanted to make this for some time and finally sent for the kit. It is a fun knit. The spikes look great.

Another hat from Get Your Crochet On ! Since taking this picture I decided that it looked better without the brim and frogged back to the beret. It took a couple of balls of Rowan Calmer and a 5 mm hook.

The Shrug is finished

2007-09-04T20:54:00.000+01:00

I finally got around to frogging back the ribbing on the shrug and rectifying the small , but very noticeable, mistake that I made with the increase row. This sort of thing usually lies around for ever waiting to get done , but I really needed to finish this as I had promised Karen that she would have it before our impending trip to New York. The finished shrug is excellent - I may well make one for myself. The Cotton Fleece is a nice yarn to work with .I am really liking Stephanie Japel's patterns at the moment and am going to try something else from Fitted Knits. The Spicy Fitted V-neck Tee is looking like a good candidate at the moment. If I can get gauge with the Colinette Prism, this should work up pretty quickly.

I whipped up a little neck warmer from a single ball of novelty yarn at work last week. I want to attach a big button and a loop fastening somehow but haven't quite worked out how yet. I am thinking of doing a row of single crochet around it. It is really soft and fluffy.Speaking of soft and fluffy, I finished the LaLa Scarf from Greetings From Knit Cafe. It is smaller than I imagined it would be. I don't know why, I guess that I just didn't take in the measurements when I read them. It would be easy to knit it bigger and there is plenty of Kidsilk Haze left. It is a lovely little neck wrap though.Here is my final FO of the week. Another hat from Get Your Crochet On ! It is big and really meant for someone with huge hair but I love it and am definitely going to wear it . This one was made out of a really cheap acrylic yarn that I purchased from Hobbycraft. It is a dk used double. The finished result feels surprisingly good. It comes in some great colours and is ideal for these fun hats. Karen surprised me with this plastic head to model my hats. She got it from someone who had been on a hairdressing course. I think it's great - the DH thinks it's creepy ! OK it needs a slight makeover, but it will make it a breeze to get good shots of my hats.

Punks and flowers

2007-08-27T20:26:00.000+01:00

The blue and brown Punk's Not Dead hats are now felted and with their new owners. I am quite proud of these - they are magnificent hats and so much fun to make and wear. The brown hat has gone to my friend Fiona, who loves it and looks quite striking in it. The blue one is my lovely nephew Brian's new favourite hat.

I made these two slightly larger than the previous two and the general opinion is that bigger is better. The earflaps come down lower and the whole hat looks quite cosy as opposed to just decorative. I have ordered some black and some lime green wool to make another of these for Brian.

Sometimes when I find a pattern that I really like I get a bit obsessed with making multiple versions of it. So when I saw these amazing flower scarflettes on Craftster I knew that there were several of them destined to get made in this house. You can see the original designs and get a free pattern on http://nekoknits.blogspirit.com. I really love this girl's designs, she is very talented. She also sells her work on Etsy so you can actually purchase one for yourself.

I used some green Debbie Bliss aran wool for the base, stems and leaves and some of my handspun for the flowers. This is a great way to use up small amounts of yarn and I really love the colours and texture of this particular yarn. I have the base and another set of handspun flowers ready to sew up and another set of flowers in Debbie Bliss Rialto aran. The Rialto is a very soft yarn and I enjoy working with it.I also rediscovered the best part of a Magnolia Scarflette that I started months ago and blocked it. I just have to dig out the pattern and make the magnolia.

Long time no blog !

2007-08-20T07:33:00.000+01:00

It has been ages since I updated this blog and there have been several reasons for this. My trusty laptop has required some serious attention over the last month having had a few problems after a liquid spill over the keyboard and problems with the power supply cable. My access has also been limited by Miss Millie, who is on school holidays and reqquiring lots of attention. We also went to Madrid for a week. Rest assured that my lack of blog entries doesn't reflect a lack of knitting and crochet. I am as obsessed as ever. Most of the July/August output has consisted of hats. Having recently bought the wonderful Get Your Crochet On by Afya Ibomu I have been trying out some of the patterns in a cheap cotton that I had in my stash. I shall be revisiting many of them with better yarn in the future. I just love this fun, stylish collection of hat patterns.My first attempt was the Lively Up design in Brown Sheep Cotton F

leece. It came out a little on the small side for me but fits Millie perfectly. I have found that I need to go up at least one size hook to get gauge for these patterns.

Next up, I tried the O.G. using some acrylic camouflage yarn that I had in my stash. This still needs a couple of rows to finish it but I ran out of yarn in Madrid and haven't located the small ball that I know I have somewhere yet. This is quite good and the colours didn't pool too badly - a problem that I had with some of the cotton variegated yarn. I love the way that Afya shows you how to thread elastic around the hat and then crochet over it. It is a technique that I will certainly use when making hats in future. The shape stays in and the hat stays on ! The book also encourages you to experiment with colours and textures to achieve the look that you want. All the patterns are fairly simple and yet still interesting to crochet . I could really rave on about these patterns for ages. My next hat was the Soldier cap in the cheap cotton yarn. This is a nice style to wear. You crochet a wide band for the main part of the hat and join it at the ends before closing the top. The you add the elastic at the bottom edge and add a peak/bill.

The next FO is the Queen which is a sort of scarf with ties that you wrap around your head. It is really intended to be worn by someone with big hair but it kind of still works on those of us who only have a few tresses. This one was claimed by Karen who took a liking to it. After this came the MC, a really nice baseball cap design that I look forward to making again in wool. I think it would be great in some Noro Kureyon. Meanwhile, I was pretty pleased with the cheapo cotton version which crocheted up in no time. There was no stopping me at this point and I moved straight on to the Tam - a fuller design which would look great in stripes. The Tam pattern shows it with or without a peak. In a cotton yarn I felt that it looked better with one.

The last effort so far from this fabulous book is Mellow Moods. I really don't much like the colour of this cotton and can't see myself wearing this hat. However, I am convinced by the shape and will probably try again in a nice, dark, solid coloured wool.

After all these crochet hats, I started on a solid colour version of the Two Tone Shrug from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits. I'm using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. Everything was going really well until I noticed that i'd made a mistake with the ribbing increases. I'm not sure what happened but I need to frog about 6 rounds and start the increases again. I couldn't face frogging it so I started on the Spiderweb Cardi from Interweave Crochet that a colleague at work had asked me to make for her. I picked up some Jaeger cotton yarn in the John Lewis sale at a really bargain price. Pale blue was the requested colour and luckily there was plenty of it in the sale bin. I don't much like it myself - would have prefered this design in a much stronger colour like black. This one was crocheted entirely at work during spare moments. I had to modify the pattern slightly by adding extra pattern repeats to the width and the sleeve length. I Googled this one and found that other crocheters had the same problem with the sizing. It was easy to make and I enjoyed the pattern. The finished cardi looks much better on than it does off. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a modelled shot of it before it went to it's new owner.

After this little diversion, it was back to hats ! I bought Pretty in Punk by Alyce Benevides and Jaqueline Milles purely for the fantastic Punk's Not Dead hat. It is an amazing felted mohawk hat. I had loads of Lopi yarn that I had picked up for next to nothing in a charity shop and thought this would be ideal for the project. Lopi felts amazingly well. The body of the hat takes almost exactly one 100g ball of Lopi, so I had to use other toning colours in the fringing. This hat was so much fun to make. It looks enormous before felting but I still love it at this stage. After felting you need to rip the clumps of fringing apart back down to the knots which is really hard work - but worth the effort. I'm not sure that I would actually wear this hat out but I love to see it sitting on a hat stand. I do, however , know a girl that would wear it ! Clare the Bear set eyes on it and it was love at first sight. She has worn it to town and been showered with shouts of "cool hat" and "love that hat" all the way. She wears it well. I so loved making this (and it does use up those odd balls of Lopi ) that I immediately made another . Clare the Bear and Fiona kindly modelled them for me. Fiona really liked it and asked for one in brown. It took just one evening to comply with this request and one more to make up a rather fine blue one. They are going to get felted today. What canI say, they are just so much fun.

There are a few interesting patterns in Pretty in Punk. I like the arm warmers and the mohair striped sweater. There are also a lot that I can't imagine anyone wearing. It was worth it though, just for these brilliant hats.

OK, so I started something new ...

2007-07-11T20:38:00.000+01:00

Well, I finished the green Fun in the Sun Hat from Interweave Crochet. I much prefer the striped versions and the Rowan DK Cotton seemed to be not quite as sturdy as the DebbieBliss Cotton. However, Miss Millie does look awful cute in it.I made a small one for doll from some leftover pink cotton...The Seafoam Vest is now finished and I have to say it is a little "snug". I really hate Rowan Summer Tweed - it feels like rough old string and the finished garment is stiff with very little give in it. I read some reviews of this yarn on the internet and it seems that knitters either love or hate it. I saw a finished version of this vest made up in Lion Brand Cottonease and it looked really good, so I may try again as I love this simple pattern. I blocked the hell out of it and may just be able to carry it off. A modelled shot might be forthcoming sometime soon.Esme is also finished ! Again , the modelled shot will have to wait until I find something appropriate to wear under it. I love this top. The Rowan 4 ply cotton is a joy to work with and gives good stitch definition. All I need is some warm weather and this will definitely be getting worn.

I had promised myself that I would finish some UFOs before I cast on anything new. So, of course I couldn't resist the temptation to start a LaLa Scarf from Greetings From Knit Cafe. I am using Rowan Kidsilk Haze which I love.And a Spiderweb Cardigan from Interweave Crochet in Jaeger Aqua.And a Two Tone Shrug from Fitted Knits in Cotton Fleece.As if that wasn't enough to be getting on with, I am just itching to start something from one of these new additions to my knitting library. Hip Hats and Cool Caps in particular is an amazing book. I really recommend this one if you like the idea of really trendy fun hats. I want to make just about everything in it.

The new and the old

2007-07-01T07:56:00.000+01:00

Although I have been a bit of a bad blogger lately, there has been plenty of knitting and crochet going on. I finally finished the Hug Me Tight shrug from Knit 2 Together. This was a simple knit - just a big ribbed rectangle and a long strip of simple lace edging. It had been waiting to get sewn up for months but for some reason got forgotten. I love the finished shrug - it is both comfortable and stylish. I like a lot of the projects in this book and will certainly be making more. The felted slippers are calling to me !

Encouraged by the success of the Hug Me Tight I dug out Esme, the beautiful crochet halter top from Rowan. I have nearly finished since I took these pictures and hope to reveal the finished item in my next post.

Of course, I had to start some new things too. The sun hat from the latest Interweave Crochet looked like a great way to use up those odd balls of Debbie Bliss dk cotton that I picked up in the John Lewis sale a few months ago. This is such a great hat - I will so be wearing it if the sun ever comes out again ! I whipped up two at work and have almost finished a plain green one.

I am also making good progress on Interweave Crochet's Seafoam Vest. It's a very simple pattern and good for working on whilst watching telly. Pictures soon !

Lots of totally wearable knits !

2007-06-14T20:38:00.000+01:00

I have made a real effort to try and get some things finished lately and am pretty pleased with the results. My Indigo Ripples Skirt has turned out beautifully and I have to say that this is a great pattern. All the finished versions of this skirt that I've seen look fabulous and it suits almost any figure. Mine took almost exactly 10 balls of Rowan Denim yarn. I knitted the stocking stitch section about 6 inches longer than the pattern suggested. I was never a fan of knitted skirts before this but now I'm keen to try another.

Next item to get finished is Interweave's Summertime Tunic. My version is made from Rowan Damask. On reflection this may not have been the ideal choice of yarn. I had been wanting to try it for some time as I love the colours and texture. It knits up into quite a soft floppy fabric which doesn't look so flattering in this simple design. I do like it and will probably wear it but if I knit this again it will be in a crisper cotton tht holds it's shape better. I used exactly 6 balls of Damask.Whilst working on the larger garments I can never resist casting on for some small quick projects that don't require much concentration. I made 2 of these little neckwarmers in next to no time. The purple one is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran and the cream on is Rowan Baby Soft. Both yarns are very soft against the skin. My favourite model, Clare the Bear , posed for a few pictures before flying off to Australia this evening for a six week adventure. Lucky her !

A gorgeous skein of Colinette Giotto , which was give to me by the very generous Roo of Rooknits , proved to be the perfect yarn for this crochet hat from Candi Jensen's "Crochet Hats". The ribbon yarn works very well and the colour is wonderful. I love Colinette yarns - all of them !

Nearly a denim skirt -quick update

2007-05-30T19:45:00.001+01:00

I am now well into the lace panel of the Denim Ripple Skirt and am really pleased with the way it is turning out. I'm hoping that this will be a really wearable knit. I've seen so many lovely examples of this skirt on the net.I treated myself to these two amazing books this week. There are loads of projects that I want to make from Fitted Knits. I'm hoping to use quite a lot of my stash on these.

Back to blogging

2007-05-22T20:32:00.000+01:00

Despite the fact that there hasn't been much blogging over the last few weeks, there has been plenty of knitting, crochet and even some sewing. These crochet Mary Janes worked up in a couple of hours using some Lopi wool from my stash. The pattern was from a book that I borrowed from the library. They are quite nice and warm but nothing particularly special. I gave them to Clare the Bear, who rather liked them.

Three balls of Debbie Bliss Denim Aran crocheted up into this shopping bag. A free pattern downloaded from the Berroco site, which has loads of good patterns. It's not a bad little bag.
While I was in the mood for making bags, I whipped up this little cotton bag using a basic pattern from the same book that I got the slippers pattern from. It is in a 100% cotton dk used doubled up . I think it needs a flower or something to jazz it up a bit.

My Indigo Ripples Skirt is coming along nicely. I have knitted the stocking stitch section several inches longer than the pattern suggests and am just starting on the lace section this evening. I may do a few inches of extra lace too as I want a longer skirt. I have seen some fabulous finished skirts on various blogs and am looking forward to finishing it. I think it will be very wearable. The Rowan Denim yarn is nice to knit with but the dye does come of on your hands. The lace requires a little more attention than I am able to devote to knitting at work. That seemed as good a reason as any to cast on for a new project. I have been wanting to try the new Rowan Damask yarn for a while and had 6 balls in my stash just because I liked the look of it. Interweave Knit's free Summer Tunic pattern is a lovely simple knit and looks quite stylish. I'm pleased with the way the yarn looks and love the style of the top. Shouldn't take long to finish.

Miss Millie had to dress up for a Victorian Day at her school today. I managed to whip up this Victorian maid's outfit at the weekend. (OK , I know t shirts aren't exactly Victorian - you have to improvise a bit ! ) She loved it and had a great time.

More crochet

2007-05-03T20:52:00.000+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks, I have done plenty of crochet and totally neglected the knitting. First up is two pairs of the Turkish Slippers from Simple Crochet. The second pair still needs to have the edge trim put on - I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. The yarn is a dk cotton/acrylic mix that I picked up in the market for a bargain price. Both pairs from two balls and quite a bit left over. I love this pattern, it is quick, simple and the finished slippers are so wearable.

There seems to be a bit of a craze for crochet ripples in blogland at the moment. After looking at all the fabulous examples on the Ripple-along blog I felt inspired to start one of my own. It is a great way to use up leftover yarn - although I must confess to purchasing a few extra balls in colours that I thought would be good for it. It is great for working on when you can't be bothered to concentrate on a pattern.It is going to be a blanket for Miss Millie's bed.

A ball of Red Heart Camouflage from my stash worked up nicely into a neckwarmer. All that needs doing is casting off and threading some elastic cord through the top. I guess this one won't get worn for a few months yet.

I found this book at the library last week and liked a few of the patterns in it. This skinny scarf is great for adding a splash of colour to an outfit. One ball of Sirdar Vegas and a few hours work. I have ordered a couple more balls to make a few more of these.

I crocheted a bag from three balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim Aran and it is blocking at the moment, so pictures next post. I like the bag so I'm making another from some dk cotton that I had in stash. Yes, I'm making a real effort to use some of that stash.

Lastly, meet the latest addition to our family. Nipper the rabbit.

Phoebe - you are a disappointment

2007-04-17T20:23:00.000+01:00

Well, Phoebe has finished blocking and sadly I am not so pleased with it as it makes me look enormous. It is completely unflattering when worn - at least by me. I so loved this jacket when I saw it in the pattern book and I did really enjoy the crochet. I am just glad that I didn't fork out a fortune on yarn. I will have to find someone to give it to.

I loved this little scarf in Vogue Knitting Crocheted Scarves Two the moment I saw it. It worked up really quickly in Rowan Wool Cotton and is very cute.

I liked the finished scarf so much that I bought another ball of Wool Cotton in black and, using the green and pink left over from the cream version, have nearly finished another one .

Also almost finished is this little bunny from Lucinda Guy's " And So To Bed..." . I've never knitted toys before and enjoyed this project. All that remains is to sew up the bunny's clothes and dress it.

Another productive week

2007-04-03T17:53:00.000+01:00

First up this week we have the Lacy Scalloped Wrap, which was a free pattern that I found online. I can't remember where, but I'll post the link when I find the pattern again. I used three strands of Cygnet Aran to make a superchunky weight and it worked up quite well - not too expensive either. I plan to make this again, it was super easy and quick.

Still enjoying the crochet, I made a couple of these cute vase/pot holders from Rowan 41. You can get at least two of them out of a 50g ball of dk cotton, so they are great for using up odds and ends.

Also from Rowan 41 is Esme, this beautiful crochet halter top. I'm using Rowan 4ply cotton in the same colour as that used in the pattern. Not very imaginative but it just looked so perfect. This project is perfect for work. I like the way you can put crochet down and pick it up again later without losing your place in the pattern.

Phoebe is almost finished. Just a few ends to sew in. I am disappointed. For some reason I decided to give the jacket a really good blocking. What I should have given it was a light spraying and then pinned it out. Yes, you've guessed it, it is now huge ! All that chunky wool soaked up water like a sponge then seemed reluctant to give it up. It took ages to dry out properly. It feels more like a coat than a jacket now. I will try to get some modelled shots for my next post. I'm glad that I didn't spend a fortune on the yarn for this one - but then again, maybe the recommended yarn wouldn't have behaved like this. I did enjoy the crochet very much. It looked as if it was working up into a very wearable garment.

Also finished this week was another big shawl in Patons Fizz, identical in design to the green one that I made last month. It was a birthday gift for a friend and I totally forgot to take pictures of it before wrapping it up and giving it away. I also crocheted a small bag in Rowan denim which is awaiting a few stitches to attach the handles.

I leave you with a picture of my favourite girls, Miss Millie and Clare the Bear...

Aren't they beautiful !

It's all about crochet this week...

2007-03-22T19:23:00.000Z

This week I have neglected my knitting in favour of crochet. All the main pieces of the Phoebe jacket are finished and there are just a couple of metres of yarn to spare. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realised that I was just going to have enough. I then bought some Cygnet Aran to do the edging with and it looks a pretty close match. Hope to get this one finished soon. Meanwhile, a rummage through my stash revealed a few yarns that I had forgotten about. Ages ago I bought some Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora in a sale. I used 3 balls of this fabulous purple colour to make a curly wurly scarf and a matching hat. The scarf pattern is from the book First Crochet and the Cotton Angora is the very yarn used in the book. The hat is from Vogue Knitting Crochet Hats On The Go. The hat book is excellent and I plan to make several more hats from this one. I liked the set so much that I made another in pink. This one has also been gifted to a friend so there may have to be another for me. I enjoyed the crochet a lot and it inspired me to make something more colourful. This lovely scarf is the main reason that I bought Vogue Crocet Scarves Two. I need to make a few more flowers and attach them. Admittedly, the last little bit of any project always seems to be my stumbling block - but I am hopeful of a result on this one soon.I'd like to wear it before the warm weather returns.

Here comes Phoebe

2007-03-12T20:22:00.000Z

Phoebe is looking good - I think that I may just be able to get the main pieces done from my charity shop purchase of black wool. There probably won't be enough for the borders or belt but I think if I can find a close enough match it won't notice too much. I just don't want to run out with half a sleeve to finish. Being quite chunky, Phoebe is crocheting up very quickly. The pattern is simple but with enough changes to keep it interesting. If this gets finished it will be the largest thing that I've ever crocheted.

I did a little more work on my Grownup Bonnet. The recent spell of good weather has eroded my enthusuasm for this project a little. It will be finished ! I am determined not to add to my pile of UFOs this year

Oh no, not more neckwarmers !

2007-03-06T17:25:00.000Z

I gifted my last pair of Ladylike Lace Gloves to Clare the Bear and immediately had to make another pair for myself. I raided my stash and found some Cygnet 4 ply that was going to be for socks that never got knitted. So, here are my pink Ladylikes...

I love them - they are fun to crochet and great to wear. They took less than one ball of yarn.

I particularly like the ribbed effect on the palms.

I know that these neckwarmers have become a bit of an obsession lately but I just love them. Two more flew off my needles last week. The green one is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK used double. It is so soft and a lovely shade of green - this one is for me. The second is Sirdar Denim Tweed dk doubled up and is for Clare the Bear. There is enough left to make matching wristwarmers.

I have done really well for yarn in charity shops lately. Last week I found 8 balls of Lopi in my local Oxfam for a couple of pounds the lot. I have been meaning to make the lovely felted bowls from One Skein for ages and this stuff is perfect for felting. Once I started there was no stopping me and I made two large bowls and two small bowls from just two balls of the Lopi. I am planning to try a felted bucket hat with some of the leftovers. Another charity shop yielded a huge bag of black aran weight yarn that feels like pure wool. I am hoping that there will be enough to crochet the Phoebe jacket from Rowan's Arabesque booklet. It will have to be doubled up but I really hope there will be enough yardage. This is such a great pattern but would work out quite expensive if I purchased the recommended yarn. If I can make it from my £2.75 bargain wool it will be cause for celebration. Swatching tonight !

New FOs and some frogging

2007-02-22T19:57:00.000Z

First up this week was a simple but fun project - the Twitterpated Purse, a free pattern from Zephyr Style. I used two balls of Debbie Bliss Soho in a gorgeous purple colour. On refection, I think I would prefer this bag knitted in a more even textured yarn. I like it and will use it but think I may have another go with diferent yarn.
One of my sale bargain balls of Jaeger Natural Fleece almost became a hat, but has now been frogged as there wasn't quite enough to complete the project. I am now wondering what I could make from a single ball of this yarn. I actually have two balls but the colours don't go together particularly well.
Last night I finished this pair of Ladylike Lace Gloves from Happy Hooker. I used some wool that that I picked up in a charity shop ages ago for about £2 for a bag containing 12 balls. I thought it would be perfect for socks. These gloves took exactly two balls, so there is plenty left. The gloves were quite interesting to crochet but required some concentration. I have started another pair in a softer pink yarn from my stash.
The shrug is nearly finished. I only need to sew the lace trim around one armhole but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it.
A few people have asked where the pattern for the brown cap came from. It is Sirdar pattern no. 8582, which has several different styles to knit. It was really easy and I will definitely be making it again it a different colour.

Warm things...

2007-02-12T21:29:00.000Z

Yet another neckwarmer...

This one is for Karen and is knitted in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky. I'm not done with this pattern yet. There are several more planned.

This next knit was a very quick project in Rowan Big Wool. I got this ball reduced to £1 in the John Lewis sale and knitted up "Vinster" from Rowan's Big Just Got Bigger in just a couple of hours. I quite like it.

A big warm hat was just the thing as we woke up to this the day after I knitted it -

Much fun was had in the snow and we were sad that it melted so quickly. The school was closed for 2 days so Miss Millie's having an extended half-term holiday.
Next up is a scarf /shawl that I knitted from just two and a half balls of Patons Fizz. I got this idea from an entry on Glittyknittykitty. It's just garter stitch on size 20mm needles. It bunches up as a great fluffy scarf or opens out as a fabulous warm shawl, so it's really versatile. I love the way this turned out and it only took about two evenings of knitting. The colours of Fizz are lovely and I would make this again.

The Lacy Hug-Me-Tight shrug is nearly finished ! Unfortunately I have run out of yarn about 2 inches from the end of the lace border and will have to buy another. Hopefully this will get finished tomorrow.

Hooray for neckwarmers !

2007-02-03T16:15:00.000Z

There has been lots of knitting over the last week. The groovy brown cap got finished and is my favourite hat to wear at the moment. I love it ! It is warm, cute and easy to knit. I intend to make the cabled version at some point.
Also finished is the We Call Them Pirates hat. This was great fun to knit and has reawakened my interest in fairisle. The hat is very warm.
Next came a couple of quick projects that used up small amounts of leftover yarn. Another Calorimetry with the Silk Garden yarn left over from my Garden Scarf. Then, a pair of chunky armwarmers with the Rowan Chunky Print that was left after I made a hat and mittens set last year. Clare the Bear visited last week and went home wearing these. They suited her far better than me!
The rest of last week was all about neck warmers. I made a pale pink version of the Luxe Neck Warmer from Knit 2 Together out of Debbie Bliss Cashemerino Chunky and liked it so much that I immediately cast on another with a pale green acrylic/wool mix from my stash. Clare the Bear liked this so much that she had to have it and also asked me to make another for her friend. So we purchased more Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and I made one for Clare and one for me in a lovely dark purple. I then whipped up another in some pale blue Rowan Alpaca Soft - lovely yarn, both thick and soft. I was then asked to make another by my friend Karen , so I am casting on this evening in brown Cashmerino. It may not stop here - everyone loves the neckwarmer. I've memorised the pattern so it is a great project to take to work with me. Speaking of which , I started back at work again yesterday and am enjoying it a lot.

The hat obsession - latest evidence !

2007-01-24T10:02:00.000Z

Well, I just can't get enough of hats these days ! I joined the We Call Them Pirates Knitalong and cast on immediately. I am loving the pattern. It's fun to knit and the hat is looking great so far. This has renewed my enthusiasm for fairisle and I will definitely be doing more. The hat should be finished today - I just need another ball of the black yarn to finish the hem. I will probably get enough to make the mittens. Meanwhile, having run out of yarn last night , I cast on for this groovy looking peaked cap...
I am using the recommended yarn Sirdar denim, which is not particularly nice in my opinion, as it is cheap. If I like the style there is some Colinette dk in my stash which would look great. And that's not all ! I whipped up this super chunky hat from a ball of Sirdar Bigga in a couple of hours.
I gave this one to my friend, Karen, who has been wearing it during this sudden cold snap we are having. The pattern has a couple of other designs that I quite like - particularly the one with earflaps.
I really must crack on with the Swanderful Bag for the Bjork KAL before I make too many more hats.

Another hat !

2007-01-17T20:44:00.000Z

This is the Halley's Comet Hat - a free pattern from the talented Marnie Maclean. I whipped it up last night from a ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. It still needs blocking to show the lace pattern to best advantage but I just had to wear it today. This must be my favourite hat of the moment. It was fun to knit and looks really cute. The next hat on my list is the We Call Them Pirates design from Hello Yarn. I am joining the Knitalong for this one and bought some Cygnet dk this morning.

Meanwhile, the boring ribbed part of the shrug is now finished and I've started on the border. This is a little more interesting but there is 60" of it to go. I'm determined to have a finished shrug sometime soon.
I actually knitted this about two weeks ago and forgot to blog it. It's a little bag from the Glamour book by Erika Knight that I borrowed from the library. I had a skein of Sari Ribbon in my stash and knitted this up in an evening. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down a 6" purse clasp to finish it with. When I realised that this wasn't going to be as easy as I'd thought, the project ground to a halt. I'm still searching but can see this one getting frogged eventually. Tomorrow is Miss Millie's 6th birthday so there are presents to wrap before any more knitting gets done.

First FO's of the year...

2007-01-09T20:39:00.001Z

I made this hat on Sunday from a single ball of Rowan Soft Lux that I picked up in the John Lewis sale. I'd been wanting to try this yarn for ages and a 50% discount seemed like a good incentive. It is lovely - soft and slightly glittery. Knits up beautifully. The pattern is the basic cable beanie from Stitch and Bitch. I would have liked it to be a little longer and will do an extra repeat of the cable if I make it again. The other ball of Soft Lux that I got in the sale crocheted up into this little hat a few hours later. The pattern was one I found on the internet.
I am still in love with the Calorimetry pattern and made this one up from some Debbie Bliss Soho that I purchased especially - I know, it's supposed to be a stashbusting pattern !
The serious knitting this week has been on the lacy shrug from Knit 2 Together. The large piece of ribbing is rather boring and I can't wait to get to the lace edging. I think this is why I keep getting tempted to make hats. I had originally intended to stay faithful to this project. I really, really love the shrug.
My knitting plans for 2007 are as follows -
1. Make a serious dent in my existing stash
2. Finish some of the UFO's that have been lying around for ages
3. Knit more intarsia and fairisle - I used to be good at colour work but haven't done any for ages
4. Start my Christmas knitting much earlier than last year
5. Try some lace knitting
I also want to do a lot more spinning.

Happy New Year !

2007-01-01T19:49:00.000Z

On Sunday I made the effort to sew up my legwarmers so that they would officially count as a finished object for 2006. They are a bit baggy and I cant decide whether to leave them as they are or trim them down a bit with my overlocker. I guess they would look ok over jeans if I put som elastic around the top to hold them up. The pattern was from Simply Knitting and I don't much like it - definitely prefer a snugger fit.
Today I completed my first finished object of 2007...

Yes, it's yet another pair of Turkish Slippers ! There are several more pairs planned.

2006-12-30T20:01:00.000Z

Calorimetry has been such a fun pattern to knit and I love the finished headband. So far I have knitted five and there is one on the needles nearly finished. Millie's pink one is made from some Lorna's Laces left over from the One Skein Cabled Footlets that I knitted earlier this year - I knew I'd find a good use for it eventually. My blue one is from the yarn left over from the Grownup Bonnet. The other three are from some spare Kureyon that I had in my stash. One of these got gifted before I had the chance to take a picture. I like Calorimetry so much that I purchased a ball of Debbie Bliss Soho especially to make one as a gift and I should finish it by tomorrow.
This week I finally purchased a copy of Erika Knight's Simple Crochet. I had wanting to make the Turkish Slippers for ages but couldn't bring myself to spend the money on a book that had only one pattern that I'd ever want to make. Then it occured to me that I have bought many books with loads of great patterns in but never actually made any of them. So, perhaps if I bought the book and some yarn and cast on straight away.... So that's what I did ! Over the last two days I have made these.... and these...
and these...and these.....I love,love, love this pattern. The slippers work up quickly - just a couple of hours per pair. I've bought some more Debbie Bliss Cotton dk to make another couple of pairs. Just can't get enough of these !

Knitty's Calorimetry

2006-12-22T16:16:00.000Z

Last night I came across a thread on Crafster devoted to Calorimetry, the lovely headband from the latest edition of Knitty. They all looked so good that I felt compelled to grab my knitting needles and a leftover ball of Noro Kureyon and cast on immediately. I modified the pattern slightly after reading that most people are finding the original pattern too large. I cast on 80 stitches and did the repeat row 11 times instead of 15 - it turned out just about perfect ! This is a brilliant pattern. It's fun and quick to knit and takes less than one skein of yarn. The finished headband is also very wearable . If I get time, I will make a couple more as last minute Christmas gifts over the weekend.

Blogger has finally let me upload the picture of our Christmas tree !

Scarves Galore !

2006-12-20T16:07:00.001Z

The handspun scarf got finished with some funky pom poms this week. It's the first thing that I've actually knitted from my own yarn so I'm particularly proud of it. I hope to get much more time on my spinning wheel in the new year.
Last week or so at work has given me loads of knitting time and I have made up five keyhole scarves from the incredibly inexpensive fun fur yarn that I bought at the the local post office. These are mostly for gifts that Millie can give at Christmas - I like her to experience the joy of giving as well as receiving presents. I like these simple scarves as they are incredibly soft and warm as well as fun. There is enough yarn in my stash to make at least another four of these.

Also completed, in about two days, is the neck gaiter from One Skein. This was made from two strands of 4 Ply wool that I already had in my stash. It is also a present and I'm quite pleased with it.

I also started a pair of leg warmers in Colinette Skye. The pattern was in an old issue of Simply Knitting. They seem a little large but might look ok bunched up around the ankles. I'm racing through these and will easily finish them before the end of the week so they may get to be presents for someone. Most of my friends are getting something handknitted this year despite the fact that I started knitting gifts a bit late.
We are starting to feel quite festive now that we have put some decorations up. Miss Millie helped to dress the tree - my favourite part of Christmas. She is really excited. Tonight we are taking her to see a pantomime - Oh yes we are ! It is Aladdin at the Watford Palace Theatre and is rumoured to be very good. Should be fun.

Christmas knitting goes on

2006-12-09T07:46:00.000Z

The Christmas present knitting is still going on at full speed and there are still a couple of gifts needed. The Silk Sleeves from One Skein are finished and look absolutely beautiful. The Colinette Parisienne has made a good substitute for Kidsilk Haze. The colours are amazing and I managed to get away with using just one skein. Usually it would be necessary to use two skeins in imaginary stripes to stop the colour pooling. I took a chance with this and found that the colours came out ok. I have one skein of Parisienne left and may use it to make another pair of these for a gift. They took just 2 days to whip up on 5.5mm needles.
I liked the cheap fun fur keyhole scarf that I made last week so much that I knitted another in a turquoise and green shade. I made this, mostly at work , in one day. The yarn may have been super cheap but the finished item is just great. It's really soft and fluffy and fun to wear. I gave the purple one to Clare the Bear who loves it. I may keep this one for myself. These are such fun to make that I have already started another in white fun fur . I am using 6mm needles and casting on 20 stitches. Then I use moss stitch as this creates an extra fluffy fabric by bringing the pile evenly onto both sides of the scarf. After about 5 inches I made a hole by knitting 10 stitches separately for about 3 inches and then rejoined the yarn and knitted the other 10 stitches to match. I then kept knitting over all 20 stitches until the scarf measured about 30 inches. It only takes just over one ball of this yarn. I purchased a few more balls in different colours yesterday - it's such a bargain!

The reluctantly modelled Grownup Bonnet

2006-12-03T21:31:00.000Z

Miss Millie was in a very bad mood tonight - don't know why ! She sort of wanted to be my model but wasn't going to do it gracefully. The Grownup Bonnet is pretty good. In fact, I like it enough to make another one using some more expensive yarn. It will be warm and practical and does look quite fun. It was also very easy to knit. I used Cygnet Aran in a nice denim blue shade. It took only about one and a half balls. I have a few skeins of Debbie Bliss Maya in my stash that could look great as one of these.

Millie actually came home from a Christmas Fayre with her face painted last week and looking like this...Scary !
For various reasons I have been feeling very stressed over the last two weeks and haven't got a lot of knitting done. The need for some satisfying finished objects is now very great. With this in mind, I whipped up a little keyhole scarf from a ball of incredibly cheap fun fur yarn this morning. It took one ball on size 8 mm needles and only a couple of hours knitting. It's really soft and fun. There are several more of these planned for Christmas presents
I also almost completed a cute triangular scarf from some really cheap yarn that was going at 2 balls for a £1 in my local Post Office . Normally I am a yarn snob and would avoid this sort of stuff but the colours were particularly nice and it was so, so cheap. I think I am not going to be able to finish this one as I am about one ball short. My chances of getting hold of any more of this are slim. It may get frogged.

With Christmas presents in mind I have cast on for another pair of Silk Sleeves from my One Skein book. I am using the Colinette Parisienne Mohair that I bought at Ally Pally - they should look great.

Silk, handspun and other things...

2006-11-18T20:58:00.000Z

One of the skeins of Colinette Tao silk that I got from Ally Pally got knitted up last week. There are several one skein patterns in the Arboretum booklet that supports this yarn and it was difficult to decide which to make. I settled on the Sycamore fingerless gloves. The yarn is lovely and soft and knits up well but I feel that the colours looked far nicer on the skein than they do in the finished item. They look nice - just not special. At £13.50 a skein I want really special ! I haven't sewn them up yet. I also need to sew up a second pair of Sox on 2 Stix that I made at work.

This scarf is the first thing that I've knitted from my own handspun. I decided to just make a simple garter stitch skinny scarf. It looks quite funky and will have a fringe when it's finished. This was merino wool tops that I spun up into a chunky yarn. I like it. I'm now working on spinning a finer, more even yarn. It's not easy but it's fun trying.

I bought this book last week and it has some great patterns in it. I've made great progress with the Grownup Bonnet especially as I can only work on it when the person who will be getting it for Christmas isn't around. I also plan to make the lace edged shrug from this book and have purchased a yummy wool/silk blend to knit it with. I need more time !

Pink fluffy things

2006-11-07T20:45:00.000Z

My favourite model, Miss Millikins, kindly agreed to show off the Colinette Fandango boa that I made last week. This has already been gifted to my friend ,Fiona, who had a birthday last Wednesday. Millie loved it and I had to promise to make another one for her before I could get this one back from her. Luckily I have another skein in shades of pink that I purchased at Ally Pally. Fiona loved the birthday boa and I must say that it suited her well. This is a pattern that I have used about four times now and have always been pleased with the results. It only takes one skein so it's a great way to try out some Colinette colourways.

The second pair of Socks on Two Stix are very nearly finished. They came to a halt when I ran out of wool again and couldn't find any more of this colour at John Lewis. I will have to make them a little shorter than the first pair. It should only take about half an hour to finish the second sock and slightly shorten the first one. Finishing them off would be the right thing to do.... so of course I cast on something else instead !
The back and left front of Millie's fluffy pink bolero are finished. It is working up quite quickly and looks cute.
All in all, last week was very busy and not a lot of knitting got done. Halloween, school disco and firework night have cut severely into my knitting time - but hey! Millie has had a great time and will hopefully be in need of a few early nights this week.

Second post for Sunday

2006-10-29T19:15:00.000Z

Miss Millie went to a Halloween party this afternoon and looked so cute in her outfit that I had to take pictures. If I'd had more time I would have made the outfit myself - but you know how it is... We did find time to make the pumpkin lantern this afternoon before she went partying.

My thoughts have turned to sewing lately as I wonder if I will have time to knit all the Christmas gifts that I'd like to. Sewing gifts may be a quicker alternative. I recently purchased a couple of books from Amazon with this thought in mind. They arrived yesterday and here they are along with the copy of Knit Today magazine that I purchased in town. There are lots of good ideas in these books and I shall be having a rummage through my fabric stash this week. The sewing machine has been very neglected since I rediscovered my love of knitting. There are at least two quilts that need finishing in my craft cupboard

Blogger was playing up badly this morning and wouldn't let me uplaod all the photos that I wanted to share. So here is the planned pink and fluffy project for Millie...
And here is another pic of my gorgeous girl...

Socks on two sticks

2006-10-29T09:14:00.000Z

Desperate for new hand knitted socks , I decided to try Knitty's Socks on 2 sticks pattern. It was really quick and easy and the finished result is pretty good. Im not sure it was actually any easier than using circular needles but it just didn't require as much concentration and was easy to memorize. The sewing up was a bit of a pain but you can't feel the seams when you wear them. I used Cygnet Superwash dk and managed to get one pair of socks and almost another foot out of two 50g balls. I like them so much that I bought another ball and intend to finish the second pair at work this week. I have about a ton of sock yarn in my stash and am hoping that I will feel inspired to use some of it soon. Socks are pretty handy for a small portable project - ideal for work knitting.

Feeling a little guilty about the amount of new yarn purchased and the number of UFO's lying around, I decided to tackle a couple of those nearly finished projects. The Sweetpea Cardigan is now sewn up with the lace edging added to the hem and sleeves. It just needs the embroidery and I would have completed it if I could just remember where I put those embroidery ribbons and cotton perle. I think it is a cute little jacket but it is nowhere near big enough for Millie - she is seriously miffed ! This is not because my gauge was out ! I just misunderstood the nature of the sizes in the pattern. There were no age guidelines but the largest size seemed to measure the same as one of her existing cardigans but obviously it has a few inches of ease to it and crochet is not very stretchy. I would say this will probably fit a three year old. Miss Millie is nearly six. I will finish the embroidery and then try to find a good home for it. Meanwhile I have bought 3 balls of a beautiful fluffy yarn, Zanzibar, to make a little cardi for Millie to make up for the disappointment. Like I needed more yarn !

The Alien Illusion Scarf is also going well - just under one alien head to complete. I want it myself but think it would be a great present for someone I know with a birthday in December. Do I really want to knit a third one ? Maybe !

All in a spin...

2006-10-21T08:09:00.000+01:00

This week I spun the hand dyed Wensleydale up into this. I'm definitely improving on the wheel and the second skein, which is still on the niddy noddy, is even more even. Working with the space dyed stuff is great fun - much more interesting to spin as the colours keep changing. I am thinking of using this to make the Falling Leaves Scarf from the last issue of Spindlicity.

Eowyn and the Aliens

2006-10-19T17:11:00.000+01:00

As if I hadn't enough projects planned already .... I fell in love with the Eowyn wrist warmers in the free Rowan supplement that came with this month's Simply Knitting. So, of course, I had to purchase a couple of balls of Rowan Kid Classic. I knitted them up in an evening and blocked them over night ready to sew up next day. I absolutely love the finished items. There were a few problems with the pattern and a search on Google revealed that most people have been slightly confused by the thumb holes. The wrist warmers are only ever pictured with the lacey edging covering your hands but there are thumb holes at the other end in the pattern. I just decided to knit it as written and the wristwarmers look great worn either way round. The yarn is soft and warm and I enjoyed knitting with it. You use two strands knitted together to make a chunky thickness - one each of two similar colours for a tweedy effect. . I think I could probably make 3 pairs from 4 balls and may well buy some more to do just this.A couple more Alien heads have been completed at work this week, although following the chart has been hard with all the distractions. I'm looking forward to being able to wear this one - the WIP has been much admired !

I bought some Tao silk last week with a view to making the crochet necklace from the Arboretum booklet. Decided to try out the pattern with some Twilley's Goldfingering and am quite pleased with the result. It was fun to make and I think I would wear it..Last but not least.... spinning ! I've spun up some of the roving I bought at Ally Pally last week. It is much more fun spinning with the hand dyed stuff. Watching the colours change is a real joy. The finished yarn looks to be about a worsted weight. I'm not sure what to use it for yet. Oh, and I've signed up for the Bjork Knitalong and am just waiting for my pattern to arrive

Last weeks knitting pictures

2006-10-15T20:40:00.000+01:00

Well, Blogger has finally let me upload the pictures of last weeks knitting. I'm really making some progress with Madeline now that I've figured out the edging. It looks great and I can't wait to finish it. Distractions abound though,
in the form of dishcloths ! Two more of these little beauties in Rowan All Seasons Cotton. I like this design a lot and so does Miss Millie. The pink one I made a few weeks ago is now her very favourite facecloth. The Alien Illusion Scarf is also looking good and is mainly being knittedat work.
Meanwhile, I bought this month's copy of Simply Knitting and fell in love with the Eowyn Wrist Warmers in the free Rowan supplement. I knitted a pair yesterday and am just sewing them up and blocking them tonight. I also made a crochet collar/necklace from Twilleys Goldfingering using the pattern in the Colinette Arboretum booklet last night. It looks really effective. All in all a fairly productive week. Now I just need to work on using some of that stash.

Major stash enhancement !

2006-10-14T07:29:00.000+01:00

On Thursday I took a day off work and went to the Knit and Stitch Show at Ally Pally - highlight of the knitting year ! It was great - really inspiring. I came home exhausted and loaded with knitting goodies. Firstly, it was great to pick up some spinning supplies without having to pay a load of postage - and to feel the fibres first. I picked up some lovely soft wool roving in a natural cream, brown and some hand dyed. Also a bag of different coloured wool tops. I plan to get adventurous with my spinning wheel. I also found a niddy noddy for winding skeins - something I was particularly on the look out for. The Colinette stand is always a big attraction for me as I have long been a fan of these wonderful yarns in their many fabulous colourways. Two hanks of the new Tao silk are now in my stash and I am thinking of making a crocheted collar/necklace with one of them. Two hanks of Parisienne in a wonderful purple colour were also irresistable. These may be destined to become a shawl from the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts magazine. It seems quite like Kidsilk Haze and I cant wait to knit it up. A couple more hanks of Fandango for more of the boa scarves also made their way into my bag. Oh, and not forgetting 200g of dk in the Monet colourway. You don't often see the dk and I was tempted to buy enough for a cardigan but then considered how many I could already make from my existing stash. So, restraint was exercised and I am thinking maybe legwarmers and gloves. When I tore myself away from the Colinette stand there were plent more goodies to be found. I have been drooling over Nicky Epstein's Swanderful bag from her new book of felted bags for a few weeks now. It is such an original design and looks great fun. Jamiesons Shetland were selling yarn packs for some of the bags in the book and when I saw this one I couldn't believe my luck. I had almost ordered it online a couple of days ago at a considerably greater cost. I have ordered the book from Amazon and am looking forward to getting started. There is a KAL for this project and I might just join. The single hank of Noro Daria is to be a belt using either knittting or crochet. The flower kit is all I could afford from House of Hemp's stand by the time I reached it. I've wanted to try hemp yarn for a while. It is quite expensive and feels quite hard and stringy but it does take the colours beautifully. The woman on the stand was wearing a lovely crocheted waistcoat that I liked a lot. Perhaps if I had seen it before the Colinette stand I may have bought the kit. Oh well, I took a card and will track them down online when I have more money.

There has actually been some knitting going on this week. The Madeline Jacket is coming on great now that I have worked out how to do the edging. I'm about half way round and fairly pleased with how the whole thing is looking. Two repeats are complete on the Alien Illusion scarf - just four more to go. Two crochet dishcloths are finished . Blogger is playing up again and won't let me download any more pictures so I will have to try again later.

Madeline is back !

2006-10-08T21:09:00.000+01:00

I finally picked up the White Lies Madeline Jacket again. This is something that I really am looking forward to wearing. However, I was completely stumped when I reached the edging - the pattern made absolutely no sense to me. It was really frustrating. Eventually, I tracked down someone on the Craftster website who had posted pics of her finished Madeline a while ago. I emailed her for advice. This very nice lady (knitters always are !) had exactly the same problem with the edging but had figured it out with some help. When she explained what she had done it seemed to make a bit more sense. After a bit of practice with scrap yarn I have managed to proceed and it looks fairly ok. The rest of the pattern was quite simple and clear but I think that this problem would have caused a less experienced knitter to give up. Anyway, my plan to finish this jacket to wear to the Knit and Stitch Show at Ally Pally this week is unlikely to come off. Three more dishclothes flew off the needles while I was mulling over what to do with Madeline.

These latest three are all knitted from free patterns downloaded off the internet. I've actually started using some of these cloths - they are pretty good.
I've also started new project at work. My second Alien Illusion Scarf from Stitch 'n Bitch. The first one was a Christmas present for my nephew last year. It was such a fun scarf to make and to wear that I have been promising myself I'd make another for ages.