May Flowers

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!!!

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!