Still shrugging!

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

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

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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

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 !!!!

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

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...

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...

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...

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.