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. :-)

Cloth-mania - again

I've been busy knitting various smaller projects recently, including a couple of my own new designs for washcloths.

First is the Modustar Cloth - cheesy name or what?!

It's done in bias-edged squares joined up as for modular knitting, to give a star shape when finished.

Very simple, but effective - and using just 1 ball of cotton.

Watch out for the free pattern coming very soon!

I'll post it here and on Ravelry (as Six Skeins of course).

The other cloth is a spin-off from the His and Hers washcloths that I designed.

A third washcloth for the set simply covered in hearts, as requested by a Ravelry test-knitter.

I'll also put this free pattern up soon.

Here it is pre-blocked, but you get the idea.

I've used an odd ball of Rowan Handknit Cotton for this one with 4mm needles.

It comes out smaller but still perfectly formed!

Washcloth mania

Quite a few UK knitters seem to be getting into knitting washcloths this summer, and I've been inspired by their results.

I was tempted into trying out the Garterlac dishcloth and I'm really pleased with it! Although I've done it in colours complimentary to our bathroom, so we'll be using it as a flannel instead. :-)

This is my first attempt at modular knitting too. I love the result, but it's not something I'd find particularly portable as I'd keep losing my place!

I've taken a liking to the Lily Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn, which I've been buying on ebay. I especially love the variegated colourways, which I think look great in a modular knitting pattern. The washcloth above is done in the "Desert Rising" colourway. I wish I could try all the variegated ones...

Anyone know of a similar UK yarn?

His and Hers Washcloths pattern for sale

Remember the His and Hers washcloths that I came up with a few weeks back for a colleagues wedding gift?

Well I've been busy modifying the charts with the help of a few Ravelry test knitters and I now have the pattern for both cloths for sale!

They knit up in about 2 hours per cloth, use 1 ball of Lily Sugar 'n' Cream cotton (or equivalent) for both cloths together, and make a great wedding or anniversary gift.
You can buy the pattern in my Etsy shop. Really. :-)

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...