You can tell it was Christmas..

.. because I actually knitted a project for myself!

Finished but unblocked

Quite a while back I bought a skein of heavenly Violet Green Silk & Cashmere 4ply yarn in the gorgeous Trance colourway.

I decided to knit myself a Good Luck Cowl with it.

The pattern is very easy and doesn't take long to knit up.

Yarn sadly now discontinued

The yarn feels gorgeous but the colour did bleed all over my fingers each time I knitted with it.

I guess I'll be washing this a few times before I wear it!

Update:
I gave the cowl a real good wash and soak until the water rinsed clear and have worn it for 2 days now. It's gorgeously warm and soft - and my neck hasn't turned purple... Fabulous!

I think I'm addicted..

..to knitting and wearing these ladder yarn necklace/cowl type thingies!

I have my own in the Autumn colourway which I'm wearing LOADS.

These are the latest two versions in my Etsy shop.

They are so light and soft when they're on you forget they're there, but they still keep a little warmth around the neck.

Perfect for these autumn days as they get cooler.

Quickies!

I've discovered a couple of quick projects that I'm loving at the moment.

These stretchy knit hairbands are made with oddments of 4ply yarn - great for sock remnants!

I'm finding that yarns with a little give are best for this. The most successful one so far has been using Panda Cotton Print which incorporates elastic nylon.

My DDs are wearing them and asking for more for their schoolfriends, and I've sold one on Etsy.

I see many more of these in my future!

The other quick project (although not a fast as the hairbands) are these ladder yarn necklaces - just beautiful!

I wear mine lots, and I'm now making other colours too. One is listed in my Etsy shop currently. What do you think?

Two of three

Remember I said I had 3 FOs to show off? Well here's the second...

It's Sirdar pattern 8877 - which I've managed to lose. I never lose patterns. Good job it's finished.

It's knitted in Sirdar Just Bamboo, shade Driftwood. I have to say that when I bought the yarn (online) I didn't really expect it to be quite so grey.

I guess I was thing of the "wood" part more than the "drift"!

I do love this yarn though, despite having to oversew all the ends with sewing thread as it's so slippy.

I wasn't happy with the increases for the waist shaping as directed by the pattern instructions - they left big holes.

I did it my own way for the front, and they look better IMO. I also added more length as usual, and it's worked for me.

I attempted to try this on when it was half-seamed, and felt very unhappy that it seemed too small and showed up whatever underwear I had on at the time.

Thankfully now it's all done, it does fit as it's so drapey and stretchy, and the right colour underwear just blends right in.

I do love the hem and sleeve edgings - very pretty.

I think I will wear this after all!

One, two, three, go!

OK so now I've swapped the crochet hook for a darning needle, and I've now got not one, not two, but THREE FOs to show for it! Here's the info on the first of the trio - the Beachcomber Tunic:

This is a pattern from Interweave Crochet Spring 2007 using Garnstudio Silke Tweed yarn. I managed to drop on that exact yarn in the pale rose shade I wanted on ebay.

Although I started this back in March 2008, this has taken an age to finish - but purely my own fault. I just couldn't face seaming for a long time and I don't think there's much point trying to do it when you feel like that.

I lengthened the top knitted bodice as I wanted thew whole thing longer and wasn't keen on the knit/crochet split being right across my bust - the model in the original pattern is fairly neutral in this area.

I've been noticing this a lot recently - garments modelled on fairly small-busted women, which makes the finished item look very different on me - and not usually better!

Other than that, it's a great pattern, and very easy to do.

Now I want to wash the tunic a couple of times to soften up that silk/lambswool yarn before I actually wear it.

Made it!

Phew - the cabled tank is finished. Despite posting it the day before my nephew's birthday it arrived a day late, but that was quicker than he expected to have it so all is well.

It is liked and looks like it will fit - although it's been too warm to try it on yet!

Since then I've finished the split-toe socks for eldest DD and also one of the year-old projects for myself, but more of that later...

Perfect Pink Poncho

The visit from my family last week resulted in an impromptu knitting project - a cute little poncho for my gorgeous niece, who is now 1 year old.

My eldest put her poncho on the little one and she looked so adorable that I agreed to make one for her.

I've used all stash yarns (phew, another small bite out of the huge mountain of yarns!) - Wendy Supreme DK cotton and Patons Sorbet knitted together, and Wendy Shimmer for the edging.

It's a really simple garter stitch poncho with a crocheted edging and applique.

I have to package it up to send it by post to her as we won't see them again until the autumn, when there will be another little one added to the brood! Hopefully I'll get sent a pic of her wearing it in return.

Forget me not

Slow progress this last week or so as we've had family visiting. It was wonderful to spend time with them, so the Forget-me-not socks took a back seat.

I did manage to finish them the night before our visitors left though, so my Mom got to see them done.

It's not the world's best picture but the only time I seem to get for crafty stuff right now is after dark.

They feel lovely on - really soft and silky. I used the Panda Cotton Print (a great-value bamboo/cotton blend) in the Strawberry-Lime colourway, and of course my DDs both love it. I may have to buy some more to make socks for them.

There was yarn left over from both balls, so they could have been made longer but this is a cuff-down pattern. I guess the leftovers would make great hairbands for my DDs!

I'm glad I also bought the same yarn in the Chocolate-Almond colourway - now to find another short-ish pattern..

Toe-footsies

This time of my own variety.

I've finally finished the daughter socks that I wanted to design to use up the Tofutsies yarn remaining from my Kaibashira socks.

I found an easy but pretty lacy rib stitch pattern, and worked out a p3-k3-p1-k3 rib to match up with it.

I wanted to use the standard heel stitch to give a little more padding here, so it was cuff-down.

(I've since found a recipe for knitting toe-up with this kind of heel, so that's next on the ToDo list.)

When we got to the toe, I was instructed by DD that a separate big toe was in order so that the socks can be worn with flip-flops.

So I checked out a few patterns and can up with this modified toe-rib type affair.

You know I'm pretty pleased with the whole thing, and quite amazed at how easy it was to come up with my own sock pattern.

So here are the finished Toe-Footsies - complete with toe-post for wearing with flip-flops.

Well we do live by the sea now.

One more thing - Poppy Cottage asked about the needle thing. Yes I do use magic loop for socks. I'm sure it must sound horrendous to read about (I can't vouch for that as I was lucky enough to be shown it in person), but just dive in and try it.

I think it's by far the most portable and child-friendly (and therefore parent-friendly!) method of knitting socks, so it's my most favoured method.

And finally...

One small oasis of beauty in the garden that seems (for now) to be rented to the builders yard.

I do love DH's camera.

Just wish I could remember the name of the darn shrub. ;-)

Tofutsie socks and building blocks

The Kaibashira socks are done - they have been for a while but now we have the computer back so I can show you - woohoo!

They only took about half the ball of Tofustsies, so now I have 46g left - obviously I need to make more socks for my daughters.

I've got all the way down to the toe of my very first own-design cuff-down lacy rib sock, only to find that it's used too much yarn. Poo.

I will persevere though - 46g of yarn is too much to waste!

The other thing that's progressing is the extension - we're now up to roof level:

The window and french doors should be in place soon too, then we're on the internals - yay!

Sublime of course

I have an almost FO to show you - just adding the final touches...
I've created a wristie - a cross between the much-loved Mrs Beeton style cuff and a handwarmer.

It's closer-fitting to provide more warmth around the back of the hand, but I've used a fish-scale lace pattern with a picot edging to keep the prettiness.

I have large hands, so the wristie would be longer on an average size female hand.


I used 1 ball of Sublime Angora Merino yarn to make a pair of these.

This shade is 45 - Chilli - but it's actually more of a pinky red than I'd envisaged. Colours never show accurately on monitors! It's still lovely nevertheless.

I'm going to sew the buttons to the cuff for decorative purposes only - and they do co-ordinate beautifully with the yarn colour, although my camera refuses to agree in the artificial light of these dark evenings.

This yarn is unutterably soft and luxurious. I defy anyone to not stroke it! I see more of this in my future projects...

BTW, if you love the cushion cover you can see more at Maries Cosy Cushions. She's a UK-based Etsy seller and I see more of her covers in my future too!

Singing the Blues

This evening I finished another Pastiche Scarf - this time in shades of blue.
I absolutely love these colours and yarns together. They sing!

The combination of yarns makes for a luxurious feel to this scarf.

There is a broad mix including mohair, eyelash, ribbon, and wool slub yarns.

I'll be adding this to my etsy shop once I can get some daylight shots.

I'm not sure I'll be able to photograph it at home though, as work on our extension has finally started. Eeeek!

Excuse me whilst I walk around with blinkers on singing loudly for the next 3 months while the builder knocks holes in our lovely little bungalow - and hopefully repairs them too. Laa lala lala... ;-)

New Year Thoughts

First up I hope you all had a great holiday. We did, and although it seemed to fly past at warp speed it was thoroughly enjoyed.

We visited family and friends in the West Midlands and exchanged more gifts.

Here is my beautiful 9-month-old niece wearing her cashmerino shrug that I knitted as her Christmas gift.

It looks great on her, although she has a while to grow into it properly. Better too big than too small at that stage!


This was our hotel window view on New Year's Eve morning as we were packing to come home.

Yes that canal is frozen with snow on top of it!

Thankfully the roads were clear and we got home without any problems. We were glad to find that Cornwall was about 8 degrees warmer than the Midlands, although the temperatures have dipped down to about -8 degrees since!

I have started the new year with new nails. I've bitten my nails for over 30 years and it's about time I stopped.
I normally bite them when in thought in front of the computer at work or in meetings, so I managed to grow them a little over the holidays as usual.

In an attempt to continue this trend I visited the Top2Toe beauty salon in Newquay last weekend and treated myself to a french manicure with a seaweed-based gel treatment to harden the nails and encourage growth. So far so good..

You can see them here when I modelled my latest crochet handwarmers (listed in my Etsy shop) - made from pure cashmere in a gorgeous lacy design - lush!

Thanks for your lovely comments about the lengthways stashbuster scarves.

I'm still knitting them - in fact I find them quite addictive as each one turns out different to the last.

Here's the Chocolate Mandarin one - this is my favourite so far.

That's a taster for you - if you want to see more, take a look in my shop!

Brrrrr!

This cold weather makes me knit faster! It must do - I have 2 FOs to show, and I'm finally on the decreases for the Snuggle crochet blanket - woohoo!

But first - Halloween.

We had a family party which was great - the only time I make my hair extra-frizzy on purpose!

It worries me every year how good my eldest DD looks in black clothing and pouffed-up hair...

The best part was the mummy wrapping game!

Not exactly eco-friendly with all the toilet roll, but very good fun.

As for the knitting...
Another Christmas present is done.

It's the cashmere cowl I knitted in the round in double rib using the hand-dyed cashmere yarn from The Knitting Goddess. I used a mere 14g of yarn for this!

I'm quite tempted to put this one up for sale in my Etsy shop and make another for the Christmas pile. The cashmere items I've done seem to be quite popular...

The other FO is yet another Christmas present - a stocking filler this time.

It's the Garterlac Washcloth again - this time in the Beach Ball colourway of the Lily Sugar 'n' Cream yarn.

I love this pattern so much. It's great fun to knit, and makes the perfect texture for a facecloth.

Of course it has to be done in variegated cotton to show off the pattern to the max. This colourway matches with the recipient's bathroom tiles, so hopefully it'll go down well. :-)

Christmas FO

The first Christmas present is done!

I finally seamed the Cashmerino Baby Shrug and added a double crochet flower embellishment to use up the last few remaining yards of yarn.

That yarn is so smooshy and lovely that I didn't want to waste an inch of it.

Here is the intended recipient (my sweet little niece), when she came to visit with her family almost 2 weeks ago (wow, where did that go?!).

As you can see, she's in the stage where she is fascinated with labels - I remember mine being like that.

We had a great time all together; it was lovely to have my family here as it was the first time they've visited since we moved here 20 months ago.

We had fantastic weather too - good enough for ice-creams and sandcastle-building on the beach! A little weird for October but much welcomed after this summer's rain.

Record-breaking bolero

Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes! I had part sun, part rain, so it was pretty good. :-) More about my pressies later.

Well I gritted my teeth and seamed and crocheted the edging on this bolero the night after I've finished knitting it - that's definitely a new personal best!

It's taken a little longer to get around to sewing on the clasp though - if only my sewing box wasn't buried underneath a pile of sewing repairs that I need to do... ;-)

Here's the finished item, modelled by my eldest DD who is the proud new owner.

I used 100g (yes just 2 balls!) of Sirdar Luxury Cotton 4ply on 4mm needles with my favourite lacewing stitch.

This bolero is lightweight and delicate, but still a comforting layer over bare arms in a cooler summer breeze. A big hit!

I'm now formatting the pattern instructions and creating a couple more sizes for the design. I'll be asking for a couple of test knitters (probably via the Test Pool forum on Ravelry) for each size and then the pattern will be available for sale in Ravelry, my Etsy shop, and anywhere else I can think of!

Last-minute wedding gift

A colleague is getting married next week and I was asked if I could knit or crochet a quick gift to add to the work present. Hmm, a last-minute challenge!

After much discussion of patterns, I came up with the idea of His and Hers knitted washcloths. I've seen other wedding washcloth patterns, but not any like this, so I graphed out the design and after 3 hours of knitting ended up with this happy couple:

(Ignore the blotchy colours - they still hadn't finished drying properly from blocking.)

I used Rowan All Seasons Cotton as I hadn't got any matt cotton yarn in a suitable colour. Pretty good I reckon! We'll see how the recipients feel about them soon enough...

Stocking up

I mentioned a few purchases last time didn't I? Well they've been trickling in ever since:

Firstly there is a small package of 4 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran from the sale at Stash.

They are a gorgeous salmon shade, intended for a Baby Shrug as a Christmas present for my new niece Sara.

I know it's a little ahead of time, but there's nothing like being organised. And anyway I wanted to buy some more stash. ;-)

Since they arrived though, I realised that they match a dress of my youngest DD's perfectly - the only dress that we don't have any cardigans that match at the moment. So I may have to buy some more...

Next up is an ebay bargain that I shouldn't have bought really but couldn't resist.

It's 500g of Lana Grossa Pina yarn which is 100% viscose. I love viscose, and it only cost me £5.50 plus postage. The colour isn't ideal for me, and I have no idea what I will make with it, but the price meant I had to have it!

Finally (for now) is a parcel from Web of Wool. It's the Panda Cotton sock yarn - 2 skeins of Chocolate Almond and 2 skeins of Strawberry Lime. Who could resist colours like that?!

I had to try it, and seem to be getting more into knitting socks - or at least buying the yarn. Plus it's a bamboo/cotton blend - my favourite right now.

I have been knitting some of the newer stash too. My enthusiasm was waning for the Beachcomber Tunic so I decided to make my welly socks!

They only took a few days to knit - chunky and easy. I followed the Irish Wellington Socks pattern using the 200g of the Garnstudio Big Fabel yarn in the red/orange colourway on size 4.5mm needles.

I guess it's back to the Beachcomber Tunic now!

Cosy toes

Presenting... the Tidal Wave socks.

Knitted in Hipknits cashmere sock-weight yarn using a 2.5mm Addi circular needle.

Easy peasy, comfy and quick. Never thought I'd say that about knitting socks. Just goes to show what you can learn.

Now I just need to make some of those sock blockers - hmm, should I go for the plastic or hanging type? Maybe both! :-)

In the meantime, here are the socks in action.

And believe me they're going to get plenty of that. ;-)

(P.S. The ballet was wonderful and much enjoyed!)

Spring clean and conundrum

I know the weather is distinctly wintry right now, but something is inspiring me to clean out. I'm not destashing as such, but I feel the need to clear the decks a little.

Not only have I been finishing off all my WIPs, but I actually want to use up a good deal of my stash yarn too. A strange concept, I know, but I would like to be able to buy some new yarn and start knitting with it soon after purchase, without feeling immensely guilty about the enormous stash occupying our small bedroom.

The other weird thing that's happening is that I'm getting around to knitting up some of my more longstanding stash and finding that the pattern I originally bought it for is no longer what I want to wear. So then it's back to pattern hunting, and finding that I don't have enough of that yarn for the patterns I do want to make... which comes back to the first idea of buying yarn and using it soon after.

So as part of the clean-up, I finished the aran lace cardigan. Not a huge task, as all I had to do was sew on the beads, sew in the ends, and block it. Now it's done, and I'm disappointed to say the least.

The knitting is lovely - I adore the stitch patterns and the colour and feel of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn, and even the glass beads which co-ordinate with it beautifully.

But I hate the fit. The sleeves are too long and wide. The body is too short. The front neckline is too high - a fastener at the top corner would sit on my throat. Not what you would expect from a knit-to-fit pattern. Sigh.

I'm not sure what to do with it right now. I don't really want to banish it as I love the yarn, but I know that I won't wear it. So what to do?

As it was a top-down knit, I could unpick the lower part of each sleeve and rework them narrower and shorter. Part of that problem was I only had a short circular needle in the right size, so couldn't so magic loop to decrease them further. So why didn't I buy another needle? Doh!

I could also unpick all the ends and remove the glass beads (ouch!) and lengthen the body - assuming I recouped enough yarn from the sleeves. I think I would probably cast off with a straight hem, as others have done (thanks Ravelry!). The beaded pointy hem is great, but looks way too dramatic and bat-like to get much wear.

But what can I do about the neck? I would prefer to have some kind of fastening, but I think it would have to be lower down. Would that make the neckline sit weird? If I undo it to the neckline I'll have frogged the lot. Maybe that's the only answer!

Any ideas?