Sooo busy..

I'm still here, still knitting - well mainly crocheting atm. Just don't have much time for anything craft or blog-related right now. Will post lots of pics soon, hopefully!

Spot the Difference

We interrupt this blog with a weather alert.. in a word.. bbrrrrrr!!!

I guess the current cold spell has caught us all out - including the roses. This one is shivering by itself in our front garden, poor thing. It still looks beautiful though. :-)

Personally I'm pleased to have such chilly weather in November. I mean it's supposed to be cold now isn't it?

OK, now progress on the Andalusian Baby Jacket aka Andy (much less of a mouthful!).

Andy is steaming along at top speed. The fronts, back, and one sleeve are done. I cast on for the second sleeve at 11pm last night and starting the edging. Then I realised The Error of My Ways. Can you spot the difference in the photo.....?



I guess that took you about 3 milliseconds. Doh! I have designed this cardigan. I have produced the pattern in my Knitware Sweaters program. I have been knitting it. I have blatantly ignored the words in front of me. Stupid woman.

Yes the edgings are supposed to be done in moss stitch, to complement the Andalusian Stitch of the body. The right front is done this way. No other pieces are. Guess what's going to be frogged? Yep, the right front. The pattern is now officially changed to a garter stitch edging. What can I say? Life is hard.

Smokin' needles

Tada! I present to you a toddler size (hopefully!) Bowtie Scarf. I quite fancy one myself actually, as it's turned out better than I expected. :-)









On the needles now is.. yet another Christmas present. I had some leftover (yes, stash!) Rowan All Seasons Cotton which I'm using to make an Andalusian Baby Jacket for a friend's 1yo daughter - ah, how sweet. ;-)

I love the Andalusian Stitch which is very easy but gives almost a woven look and texture to the knitting. Very satisfying.

This is the right front, which was completed very shortly after casting on..
And this is the back which is obviously on the needles right now. Not for long though - I'm almost up the the shoulder shaping.

I love quick projects, especially at this time of year.

Finally, the 12 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay in Teal that I ordered from Angel Yarns showed up last week - 2 weeks after ordering. Phew, I was getting worried. How yummy is this yarn? I'll let you guess.

I looked at the pattern in more detail, and it wants another 480g of beads! What?! Hmm, that would be one heavy sweater, just asking to stretch IMO.

Instead, I'm going to knit a swatch using a purl stitch wherever the pattern asks for a bead. Watch this space..

The elves are busy knitting!

Well this elf is busy knitting and felting anyway. I seem to have a felted bag fetish going on atm, but hopefully the intended recipients won't complain too much.

I made this one using the Fulled Lopi Tote pattern and 2 large balls of lopi wool from my stash (again!). I added 2 little flower type shapes and an inner press stud fastener. It's turned out to be a cute little handbag size, and I'm really pleased with it.
It's going to be a present for my friend Amy who will become the wonderful age of 21 this Friday. Happy 21st Amy!

On the needles now is another Christmas present - this time a Bowtie Scarf for a 3yo niece of mine in Scotland, using some variegated DK acrylic yarn from my stash. It's lovely mindless knitting, and should hopefully stay on during those gale-force winds up there.

That craze

OK, so I have succumbed to the current Curly Wurly scarf craze that is sweeping UK knitters. I knitted this one using 2 balls of Jaeger Wolga metallic mix yarn from my stash, and I think it looks like knitted curly tinsel! It is, of course, destined to be another Christmas present.

I have crocheted one of these scarves before, and I like both ways of doing it. The crochet version gives a more instant fix as you can see the curls appearing as you go, and it's also better IMO if you want to use every possible inch of the yarn you have as you can literally keep going until you run out of yarn. Both methods are just as portable as the knitted one uses a long circular needle.

Andrea asked previously what kind of yarn I used for the Ribbed Collar. It was an unlabelled yarn from my stash, but I think it was Wendy Sarto - an age old yarn which is an 80% chunky wool mix. I still have lots of this left, so I'm hoping to find a few more projects for it too.

Fuzzy hands

The last of the quick knit Xmas pressies for now. These are the Picot Edged Gauntlets from the 1st issue of knit.1 magazine, knitted in 60g of stash mohair mix yarn (don't worry, the halo is scheduled to slip very soon).

They were extremely quick to knit - about 1 evening each, plus a little to seam them.

They're very warm as the fuzzy mohair part has gravitated to the reverse side of the stocking stitch - i.e. next to the skin! Of course I planned it that way.. ;-)

I do hope the intended recipient will like them, otherwise I may well ask for them back..