Oh no, not more neckwarmers !

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

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...

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 !

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 !

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 !

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...

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 !

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.

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

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 !