Warm Woolies

 
































The Alpaca Cotton jumper finally got finished. I had stalled a while back and got wrapped up in other projects.  The return of freezing cold weather recently prompted me to finish off the sleeves and sew up this warm, cosy sweater.  The pattern is "Nellie" by Kim Hargreaves and is a simple stocking stitch sweater with wide raglan sleeves and a deep v neck. I've worn it a few times already and love it.

 

The baby clothes are still on the needles and really need to be finished before they are outgrown. The little purple coat just needs the sleeves finishing and buttons sewn on. It was fun to knit and should look really cute.
 
 The Spanish Dress from an old issue of the Debbie Bliss knitting magazine is very sweet in moss stitch with tiny cables.  I am using Rowan Cotton Glace to knit the little bodice and will be making the skirt from some Liberty Tana Lawn in my stash. No hurry here as it far too cold to wear this yet and I have gone for the 6 months size so it will be just right for Summer.
I went to the Stitch and Knit Show at Olympia last Sunday  - it was great!  I was determined to use up some of the yarn that I bought at Ally Pally last year before I got tempted by a whole load more.  So, with that in mind, I whipped up this lovely Triangle Cowl from the Natural Dye Studio Dazzle dk that I had purchased there.  I wore it to the show and am quite pleased with it. Of course I was tempted by many beautiful yarns at Olympia and gave in to temptation to some extent.  One of my favourite buys was this ball of lace weight yarn from a German company called Schoppel.

I love the colours and am thinking that it will probably be good for a shawl. There are 800m of lace yarn on this little beauty so there will be plenty of suitable patterns to choose from.
The "Lunatic Fringe Shawl" from the new edition of "Knitty" really caught my eye recently.  I wanted to make it in a drapey yarn that would be suitable for Summer wear. Katia Hydra seemed to offer just the properties I was looking for and comes in some lovely pale Summery colours. It is a simple pattern but I am not as fast at knitting on circular needles and it seems to be taking me longer than usual to get this project going. I am going to persevere and not give in to the temptation of casting on with some of my lovely new yarn.
Here is Alfie watching me knit...


 
I would like to think he is fascinated by the process, but suspect that he actually just wants to eat my wool!

The Knitting Bag

I finished sewing up this lovely knitting bag this morning and am really pleased with it.  The pattern is the "Knitting Needle Knitting Bag" by Pam Allen. It's a free pattern which I found through the amazing Ravelry site - where else! The Rowan Colourscape is a lovely yarn which I enjoyed knitting up.  The finished bag looks great and is going to be a present for a knitting friend. I like it so much that I may have to make another for myself - plenty of Colourscape left in my stash. I got the wonderful old wooden needles for 20p in my local charity shop.

  
My alpaca legwarmers were finished and worn yesterday.  The Katia alpaca yarn is possibly the nicest alpaca I have ever used.  It is really soft and warm.  The pattern was easy to follow and I will probably make another pair in a cheaper yarn.  As far as I am concerned, legwarmers will never be out of fashion!

The Belmondo Shawl has been one of my favourite patterns for ages now and this version is just beautiful.  It is hard to go wrong with a yarn like Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend.  The blend of silk and merino wool is lovely and soft to handle and to wear.  The colours are also amazing.

This evening I started a new crochet project.  It's a simple bag made from Rowan denim.  I'm hoping it will be strong and practical.  It is a little boring so far - just endless double crochet. The simplicity of the bag is part of it's charm so I'm trying to finish it quickly before I get fed up with it.
 

Baby Hat Supermodel

Last week I got to see my beautiful new Great Niece for the first time - obviously I had been knitting baby hats for her for weeks.  She is just beautiful and already knows how to rock a hand knitted hat. This is her in the cute Cross Stitch Hat by Tara Murray, which is a free pattern that I found through Ravelry.  I love that you can customise this simple design with any cross stitch pattern that you like.  The possibilities are endless.
 be
Next on that sweet little velvety soft head is the Candy Cane Hat from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B Anderson.  I have made this one many times before and find it looks adorable in just about any combination of colours.  There are lots of great patterns in Itty-Bitty Hats. I found another little beauty on Ravelry and knitted in just a few hours from a single ball of Sirdar Big Softie. Can't wait to see this one modelled!  It is the LeLe Baby Hat by Vania Jenny. The enormous bobble is such fun.

I don't think I posted pictures of my chunky alpaca cowl when I finished it , so here it is.  It was a kit purchased from Toft Alpaca before Christmas.  I am loving alpaca at the moment and Toft sells amazing quality yarn from their own herd of animals. It is scrummy. The cowl is a simple circular knit in trinity stitch which is quite simple and gives a lovely textured look.

I found some more excellent quality alpaca in my LYS, Mavis of Bushey, last week and was unable to resist. The shop is the only one I know of around this area that stocks a good range of Katia Yarns. This pure alpaca in a range of natural shades is incredibly soft and not a bad price either. I decided to use it for a pair of crochet legwarmers and it is working up very nicely.  I hope to be wearing these soon - with more bad weather on the way they are just the thing for keeping the legs extra warm.  There are those who feel legwarmers should have been left back in the 80's but I love them and will continue to wear them however unfashionable they may be considered. Here's what I've done so far...

This second version of Kim Hargreaves beautiful pattern, Clarity, from her book "Cherished" is every bit as lovely as the first.  I used Rowan Alpaca Cotton again for it's softness and warmth but this time in the cream colourway known as "Rice." 
 
 
After these cosy warm projects I felt the need to start something from the latest Spring/Summer Rowan book.  "Kos" immediately appealed to me as an interesting project due to the variety of stitches used to create the lace patterned fabric. It is a simple shaped short sleeved top and should look stunning in this bright pink Paton's 4ply 100% Cotton.


I will probably take a while to finish this as there are still plenty of Winter jumpers to be worked on.  It can be a cheery distraction between other projects.  I recently knitted this gorgeous Klaralund jumper in less than a week from some Noro Silk garden that I was lucky enough to get half price in a sale. I have wanted to knit this for ages but was put off by the high price of Noro yarns. It is ok for small items like hats , scarves or shawls but usually very expensive to buy enough for a whole garment. The Klaralund is a very simple design constructed from 4 large rectangles sewn together - no shaping at all. Surprisingly it looks really stylish when completed.

I've already worn it several times and would consider it to be one of my all time favourite jumpers.
Still working on this Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend Belmondo Shawl ...

It's for a colleague at work. Must finish it this week!
What's coming up next? Well, I think I could finish my big Alpaca Cotton raglan sleeved jumper, finish a knitted bag that will be a present for a friend, maybe some gloves and of course more delightfully cute baby hats.

Killing Sweater!

 Well, I finished it! This is me doing my best Sarah Lund pose in my fabulous new sweater. It is a very close copy of the one Lund wears for most of Series III. The yarn and pattern came from Scandinavian Knitting Design - they also have a pattern for the chevron design from the first three episodes. Very tempting! I enjoyed doing the colourwork and am very pleased with the garment.
 
The Jan Sweater was knitted up ages ago but lay in the basket waiting to be sewn up for months. I am so glad that I finally got around to it.  This is a lovely design and a very good fit.  The Drops Baby Alpaca Silk yarn works well with the design. It is a good fit and very soft.

Yet another Belmondo shawl. This time it is knitted from a single skein of Manos de Urugauy Silk Blend. The colours are beautiful and it feels so soft and silky.
These little Holly Leaf pins are for little Christmas gifts.  They don't take long to make and are very cute.  I am using Rowan Fine Tweed as the colours and texture seemed just perfect for a slightly rustic look.

Crochet neckwarmer of many colours

 I am really proud of this spectacular moebius loop neckwarmer!  It was a free pattern on the Drops website that I fell in love with as soon as it appeared. It took a while to track down the Drops Delight yarn in this colourway (10) but I eventually managed to lay hands on some.  This colourway provides the most contrast within each ball and gives a really great overall effect.  It was really easy to make - took about a week. I had enough yarn left to make the matching hat, which is a fairly slouchy beanie style.
 
If I can get hold of any more of this yarn I would love to make the handwarmers that go with it.  Drops yarn is amazing as it is really cheap and such great quality.

The new series of Danish crime thriller The Killing started a few weeks ago and I am completely gripped both by the plot and Sarah Lund's latest sweater. As luck would have it, Scandinavian Knitwear Design have come up with a copycat pattern for this traditional Faroese style sweater and are also able to supply the perfect wool to knit up your very own Killing sweater.  I have opted to make it in dark blue and cream - much the same as Lund's.  It is knitting up quickly and I would hope to be wearing it when I watch the concluding episodes in a couple of weeks. Sadly , the pattern seems to have lost something in translation and doesn't entirely make sense so I am having to work out a few issues as I knit.
 
Finished and being worn is the Curio sweater that I knitted from the Patons Misty that had been hiding in my stash for years. This yarn was super cheap and makes an acceptable substitute for Kidsilk Aura when held double. The style of the sweater is very simple with minimal shaping but it looks quite good on and is very warm and soft. A success!
 
I have knitted the Lady Detective Hat from Mel Clarke's "Knit Two Together" several times before and very much like the shape of it.  When My friend from work asked me to knit her a hat with a brim I remembered this pattern and though it would be perfect.  I used Patons Colourworks Aran held double - being careful to try and match up the colour runs.

Scarves and Stripes

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

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



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



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

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

Alpaca, mohair and some Noro

Over the last couple of weeks I have been very much enjoying using some supersoft, cuddly alpaca yarn.  I had been admiring the "Clarity" scarf by Kim Hargreaves for ages and finally decided to have a go with some Rowan Alpaca Cotton that I picked up in a sale recently.  Just two evenings of work and I have ended up  with the most gorgeous, warm, snuggly scarf. As with many of Kim's accessories, this is a simple pattern that is easy to make but looks very striking. The Alpaca Cotton is perfect for this design as it is very light and fluffy but still has good stitch definition. I love the scarf and am planning to make another in cream coloured (or as Rowan calls it "Rice") Alpaca Cotton.
 
Thinking about alpaca led to me digging out a kit that I bought from Toft Alpaca ages ago - the "Net and Flower Scarf."  It is a long wrap around scarf crocheted in Solomon's Knot stitch and embellished with a layered flower.  I have never used this stitch before and am enjoying the challenge.  The lace is very open at the moment and I think it will be more effective when it is scrunched up and wrapped around the neck a few times.  I have done just over half of the scarf and look forward to getting to the flower part of the pattern.

In anticipation of imminent cold weather I have almost finished a sweater in Patons Misty, which is a very  nice mohair yarn. I am using the yarn double as a substitute for Rowan Kidsilk Trio.  It is looking pretty good. The pattern is called "Curio" and is from the Kidsilk Trio booklet.

Still working on the Noro Sekku tee, and there is just a sleeve and the bottom band to go.
 

Happy knitting in the sun

 We moved house recently - very stressful! Now that we have settled in a bit and I have reorganized what is left of my yarn stash, I have been spending pleasant hours knitting in the garden and enjoying the last of the Summer sunshine.

 
 I've knitted about 8 Belmondo shawls now and am loving how they look in various different yarns.  My latest effort is this one knitted from 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Aran which were left over from my Central Park Hoodie. It knitted up beautifully and has already been gifted.

 
The Oatmeal Pullover by Jane Richmond has been on my "to knit" list for a while now and I decided to try it in the Drops Symphony that I bought earlier this year.  It was a quick and easy knit resulting in a snug fitting and wonderfully soft sweater.  I have used just 6 balls for this and have another 6 left which I am seeking a project for.  Maybe a slipover, maybe a shawl, maybe a hat and scarf...
Last night at Tuesday Knitting Group I cast on with my Noro Sekku for a simple cuff to cuff tee
 shirt.  The pattern is from Rowan's Kidsilk Stripe pattern book.  It is very simple but I think it will be perfect to show off the gorgeous colours of the Noro lace yarn. So far I have almost knitted the first sleeve.  It is on smaller needles than I usually use and is growing slowly but I hope to have it finished soon and wear it before it is too cold.


My cute little guy had his hair trimmed today and is almost unrecognizable from the scruffy creature he was yesterday.  I think the extra short cut really shows up his handsome features.  He doesn't much like being trimmed and was shaking like a leaf when I left him. He was just fine when I picked him up and I have given him a tasty pigs ear for a treat as a reward for being so well behaved.