Goddess hat

This one's for me! Rattled it off today, in between hot toddies and turkey curry making LOL. My own pattern using up some odd balls of wool dyed with acid dyes, got from a charity shop in their naked state a few years back. Quite pleased with it - it'll be warm anyway, as the intarsia gives a double thickness fabric.

More F O s..............

Fulled slippers for me, and a nice fulled and lined bag to try and keep my crochet hooks all in one place (we'll see.............lol)

Knitted mini festive bunting

Sunday, 20 December 2009
Knitted mini festive bunting


I'm pleased with the way this turned out; it's for a forum swap, so I'll have to make another string for myself! It's a good way of using up little bits of leftovers - this one used some chunky red, handspun multi sparkly green and some really fun twinkly white, which I think give the whole thing a lift and a fun feel. The little triangles are knitted individually, then joined at the corners and across the tops with crochet; an alternative way would be to just take a couple of stitches at the corners. Add on a string to hang by at each end, and it's ready to hang up, or drape on the tree. Very adapatable - make the triangles any size you like, all different colours, all one colour, anything at all - can be adapted for seasons (eg browns and oranges for autumn), or occasions, eg baby colours for a newborn, pinks for a girlie bunting, etc.

I used 5.5 mm needles and chunky-ish wool, and knitted in garter (plain) stitch.

Cast on 12 stitches and knit 2 rows.
Next row: dec 1 st at each end of row
Next row: knit

Repeat last 2 rows until 1 stitch is left on needle, draw yarn through and fasten off. Darn/weave in ends.
Make as many as you need, then join in one of the ways described above.

Hat Trick hats

I managed to finish these two in time to get them off to Inverness for nieces' Christmas presents. Can't praise the Alice Starmore Hat Trick kit highly enough - top quality wool, gorgeous colours, well written patterns, just beautiful. Will be ordering another one soon.

Still knitting furiously...............

Two scarves that came off the needles yesterday. The brown is in the Manx Loaghtan wool, for a Christmas present, knitted in the Ringwood pattern. The other is from two balls of fancy stuff I picked up at a market somewhere, this will go for sale at the WI market. I have a few hats done that just need finishing and labelling, so they can go off too. Currently working on a tea cosy order,and need to finish an order of fingerless gloves - just the sewing up needed, and posting.
I have been right through the library's catalogue of knitting books and requested huge piles of them - a couple are worth buying, will post on them soon. Otherwise, it's a good way to "try before you buy", and avoid expensive mistakes, i fthere's only one (or even none!) thing you want to knit out of it. Need to crack on with Christmas knitting this week too.

Celtic cable neckwarmer

This is one I found on Ravelry; knitted for Bean I like it too, so will be doing one for me next!

http://thestormmoon.blogspot.com

More stash improvement!

The sparkly green is for a Christmas tree shaped hat for the guild competition - it needs livening up a bit, so I thought I'd make something daft! It's green Suffolk, dyed with acid dye and spun up with some sparkly acrylic (I think); pleased with the overall effect, looking forward to getting on with it this week.

This lot is for socks for OH, bought on e-bay; Trekking XXL and Opel, so nice wool, looking forward to this too.



This last photo is of the hat I knitted for the blog giveaway at Unbought Delicacies; K's lad chose the colours himself; turned out nicely I think:)

Gorgeous new arrival

This box of loveliness arrived yesterday morning. A slight hiccup in the ordering process was swiftly and nciely dealt with by Mairi at Virtal Yarns, the online shop of Alice Starmore. This is the box of hat Trick - wool and patterns to knit three of Alice Starmore's hats; two are destined for Chrismtas presents. The qool is top qulaity with beautiful, evocative anmes - Bog Bean, Kittiwake, Solan Goose..........the names perfectly suited to the colours. I was also delighted to see that it is made in Britain, which is important to me. I've a couple of things to be getting on with this weekend, but my fingers are itching to start with this lovely little lot. I'm sure I'll be ordering again................

More dyeing................

This is dyed commercial spun wool, slightly less than a 4 ply, but lovely to knit with. I'm using it in its original colour for the Sanqhaur gloves I'm working on, but it has dyed very successfully, better than I htought it would. Acid dyes in blue and yellow mixed. When this was done, I added more yellow and dyed the fleece in the post down there..... I suspect this might knit up nicely into a shawl, but want to do one of my own design this time, with a view towards a project next year.

Beret fest.............

I recently joined a Beret knitting group on Ravelry (yes, another group.....................lol); although I haven't yet knitted the designated beret from the group, I've done a couple since Thursday.
The pinky tweedy one is from the pink Suffolk and acrylic that I spun last week; very pleased with it, the wool suits the slouchy style of this quite well.

This one I knitted yesterday, using two balls from stash that I got in the charity shop for only 50p - and there's enough left to add in to another project later. I called this one Wintergreen, as I think the colours are very wintry; it'll be nice and warm to wear though, and the furry effect is fun.

Apple green fleece..............

Quite pleased with this, it's turned out well; it should spin up nicely, as it's not completely uniform in colour. Not sure what it's destined for yet, but looking forward to spinning it - probably this evening!

Tweedy pink

I've spun this up this week, very pleased with the over all effect:




The pink is Suffolk, washed fleece I bought from the Guild table last month; I dyed it with acid dye, the first time I'd used them - pleased with how easy it was, so will be using a lot more of them I think. The multi coloured is some acrylic (I think)bought from the table last year some time; this is the end of it now, but it's very effective when spun up; the two were plied, resulting in the skein in the picture. It is destined for a beret, probably for me, which is now halfway done as I couldn't wait to cast it on and see how it knits up! The effect is tweedy pink, and I think very pretty. Will post a picture of FO.
I've also been dyeing commercial wool too, one lot in a variegated green to white, dyed int he ball; the other lot is more of the Suffolk (it was a BIG bag lol), dyed to what I hope will be an apple green colour. Pictures when the dripping stops............

Good enough to eat................

Very cherry scarf in Old Shale pattern:

Celtic cable edged hat, dyed with food colourings done too:

Current woolly squeezes...............

aka what I'm working on.I started this on Friday, a new hat for me. It'a Celtic cable pattern, for the band, the stitches being picked up around a long edge when the band is completed. I dyed the wool quite a while ago, all food colourings; it's quite attractive knitted up, and I'm pleased with it so far. Any easy pattern of only 8 rows, but looks impressive!

It's been a while since I did a completely original design bigger than a hat, so I'm about to launch into a Charleston inspired sleeveless pullover for myslef - that's Charleston as in Bloomsbury group, not the dance lol. The colours in my Rowan stash are just right for this:

I maanged a couple of hours spinning this afternoon too - perfect indoor work for a chilly late autumn Sunday. This is washed Suffolk, spun from teh fleece, noc arding. It's nicet o spin, quite "woolly", and I'll do enough for what I have in mind, then have a go with the new acid dyes I got a while back, which I've never sued before, so that should be fun.

Ravelry love

I love Ravelry. For me, it's one of the best things to appear on the knit-net in a long time! There is such enthusiasm, such willingness to share, friendliness and co-operation; well, that's how it's been for me so far. Seeing into the knitting worlds of others is great fun, and very inspiring. Some of my favourite bits:

-viewing others' projects
-plenty of links to knitting blogs and websites
-contact with knitters and other craftspeople all over the world
-inspiration
-the queue facility is a stroke of genius, but I'll never get them all done lol
-a daily visit to see what wild and whacky new groups ahve started
-lots of little niches for specialist topics and knittings
-good way of keeping up to date with what's happening in knitting worldwide
-shows you're not the only mad one around!

http://www.ravelry.com/

Finished shawl and some bunting!

Another two thing done now, both private commissions. Pleased with the way they turned out. Loads on the lsits still to do - gloves for an order, tea cosy for an order, some knitted rosettes, Sanquhar glvoes, Christmas knitting...........I love an endless list LOL

Feather and fan in purples

I'm enjoying knitting another \Feather & \Fan shawl, this time for an order. It's in a Sirdar yarn, not normally something I'd choose, but in three shades of lilacs/purples, and the yarn has a good drape on it which will suit the finished garment I hope. Nice to knit with, easy pattern, nearly finished.

Hallowe'enie beanie

Mark II ...........I tookt he one below out, as I wasn't happy with the roll of the brim - it obscured part of the cats' legs, so you couldn't get the full effect of the black cat. So, here it is, much happier with this, ready to send off for a forum swap. Quite fancy one myself now..............

Hallowe'en hat

Thought this wa a bit more interesting than the plain orange, but still with Hallowe'en type colours. It's for a forumj swap I'm taking part in; nice to knit up, quite quick, lovely soft wool - Patons Fairytale Colour 4 Me DK; it's labelled as baby wool. Hope to finish it today.:)

Finished bunny

Please with this one! Didn't win a prize, but I didn't expect it to, but I enjoyed the project which is the main thing.

Handspun bunny

This is kinitted in handspun Gotland fleece - not my favourite to spin or knit, it's a bit fluffy and light for me, but I've done this for a specific project. It's for a Guild competition, an item in handspun. I didn't fancy gloves or a hat again, so am doing this for a change. Will post up the finished bun when she's done; it's a lovely old pattern form one of those vintage Bazaar make books, of which I am very fond. Something quick and easy. :)

The other competition is for a 1 oz skein of handspun, so I whipped this one up. It's a mix of the Blue Face Leicester I did the hat in that was left over, and some sympathetically coloured acrylic I picked up on the Guild table ages ago. I think they work quite well together. The skein just needs to be rewound for better presentation. I don't mind not winning anything, it's nice to take part and see how my spinning's coming along compared to others - I usually find it inspiring (in a hhhmmm, must try harder sort of way!)

Puppy love.................

.... my latest commission! 10 puppy jumpers plus one for mum for a publicity shot for a local bakery. I had to go armed with cakes and biscuits in appropriately coloured packaging to match up woll colours with their corporate colours! Caused interest in the wool shop LOL. There is also a themed tea costy to be done, and a couple of other dieas to be worked on too. 3 jumpers done, 8 to go!

The hardest choice...............

We were in Hansons yesterday to get a ball of wool for Bean, and as an anniversary surprise, OH waved his hand about and said I could buy anything I wanted !! It was a mightily difficult decision, I can tell you LOL. Normally when I go in there I can point to about half a dozen things I'd like, but actually making the decision proved a bit harder - but make it I did and came home with some beautiful Rowan in three colours. I saw the colours together in the display, and that was it; so I've got enough for a cardigan or jumper for me, not sure what yet, but it will be something of my own designing I think, with sucj special wool to use. It's really lovely. I ordered the new Rowan book too, so that will be a treat a bit later on when that comes in. A few odd balls of end of line yarn int eh sale jumped in too, so I'm a happy wool bunny for now.
Can't wait to get started with it all! LOL

Handspun hat done

This is now done from the handspun in the post below; quite pleased with it. great pattern, a very easy bias strip cleverly stitched together. I'll be making more of these, I think.

Blue Faced Leicester

I've spun and knitted witht his wool before, and it's lovely to work with. I bought this ready dyed, but have spun the wool myself, it's on its way to being an interesting bias strip hat I hope. I'm pleased with the way the colours are working together - you can never be sure until it's plied, and even then, there's no guaranteee it won't lose something once it's knitted.

Cold Mountain and more socks..............

The sock yarn is a Regia one, sort of fluffy, but I do like it quite a lot; two pairs of socks owned for barters, so these now underway with that. Nice to knit with. I've re-started the Cold Mountain wrap as I wasn't happy with the purple, the way it knitted up for this particular pattern, although it's lovely wool. This is a multi coloured twist over a light brown yarn which was sent to me in a swap. It's knitting up nicely, firmer than the purple, so pleased with it so far, but I think it's going to be a long haul, this one LOL

Even more socks.................

LOL; another pair for MrL, these are the Kaffe Fasset ones finished. I thinkt hey're lovely, and he's pelased with them too. he's decided not to buy any more socks, so I'll ahve the sock needles out permanently I think :) Not a problem, as it's quite a handy piece to take about in a bag and in the car. Need to start on the left front of th cotton cardigan, and have two pairs of socks promised too,w aiting for the wool to arrive for that.
Talking of woola rriving, I did get a ncie surprise int he post eysterday, a cone of very pretty coloured wool in return for some dihscloths; I think I have a project in mind for it, so might at least get it on the needles this afternoon and underway.

Cotton cardigan

I cast this on last week; it's a pattern I've had for a while, knitted in 4 ply wool, but I'm using some of a humungous cone of duck egg blue I acquired several years ago, with pink roses; the bottom and collar are lace trimmed, It will turn out much better than the picture promises, in my experience of knitting with cotton.I've done blocks of pink for the roses, and will Swiss darn the white details and green leaves between, as I find cotton's not good for intarsia. Back and left front completed, nice to knit, not too taxing so far.

Kaffe Fassett's Design Line

I've started a new pair of socks for MrL using this wool - Regia is always good to knit with, but this one is particularly hard to put down as the colours are so lovwly. Managed to get the wool reduced price in a sale, but never mind paying full price for sock wool LOL

Finding Tamsyn G

We had a quick detour into Gillingham this afternoon on our way up coutnry just over the border into Wiltshire; I finally found Tamsyn G's gorgeous shop - if you're up that way, give it a whirl - full of great colours and inspiration, and beautiful yarns - much stroking was done! I met Tamsyn in the shop, which was lovely, and felt very drab beside her - she was wearing some of her shop, I'm fairly sure LOL The pic show the knitting outside on theh bay trees in the planters - wonderful! I'd been toying with the idea of doing some for my garden here, so will be tackling that next week I hope. That'll shake the neighbours up a bit LOL - they need it here, and it will certainly add something to the garden. Good way of using up scraps of gorgeousness too small for much else I think as an added bonus. Will report back, lots of ideas going around in my head......

http://tamsyn-g.com/

More small knittings

I seem to have been doing a bit less knitting than usual lately, and smaller things too. I've finished two orders for dishcloths and a retro -style tea cosy, so they're done and ready for the off tomorrow. Got sock withdrawal symptoms too, so did another pair for me from some wool that was being used for a jumper I fell out of love with and wasn't really very interesting - either to look at or to knit. I did cast on a cotton cardigan last night, for me, to have a bigger project on the go; it's going well so far. Duck egg blue cotton with pink and white cabbage roses along the borders, and a lace edging. I think I picked up the pattern in a charity shop a couple of years ago, but am hoping it turns out well, the colours are beautiful. I find intarsia with 4 ply cotton a bit awkward and slippy to do, so will Swiss darn the white and the green leaves when done. Finding it hard to put down thsi morning! LOL

Socks for Dave, and a bit of Sunday spinning......

These socks are for my friend Dave, and will go off in the post to him this week; bartered for a nice griddle pan for outdoor cooking.


I spun this Black Welsh Mountain wool yesterday, ending up with enough for a hat, hoepfully; already on the needles, it's lovely to knit with, and I can actually see how my spinning is improving.

Handspun socks

Teh knitting has definitely eased off with the good weather - the heat for one thing, and other duties outside call............
anyhoo, got the handspun socks for the Creative Living Sock Summat done, very pleased with them; I've proved to myself I can spin usable, knittable wool :) These are bedsocks for me for the winter. Hope it's cold enough, they're pretty warm!

Knitting crops up everywhere

I'm sure I'm not the only reader of the Radio Times who loved the twinset Sheila Hancock is wearing in the photo at the top of the page on Monday 15th June! It's now cut out, leaving a neat little hole........LOL I love the colours, I love the contrast between the stripes and zigzags, I might have to knit one for myself.:)


I also read about Ny Family and Other Animals on a blog, where it says the mother knits everywhere, so I've ordered that from the library for a look too.
It's everywhere.............LOL