Dyelicious!

3 weeks on and we're still stumbling along with the laptop - the main computer is progressing slowly but still recuperating.

I have managed to spend most evenings this week winding the laceweight merino that I dyed a while back into more manageable skeins and centre-pull balls.


I do love the colours!



I created labels in Word which I'm pleased with too.



The yarns are now available in my Etsy shop - feel free to go take a look!



Now I can't wait to get the kitchen back in a decent state for long enough to dye some more...

Forced absence

Just wanted to let you know that I'm having a little forced absence from this blog right now - thanks to problems with our computer. The hard drive has died and the new one isn't compatible with other parts of the system - these things inevitably have complications!

The junior ribby socks are done and being worn by eldest DD with delight. I'm half way through a pair of Kaibashira socks (originally a Magknits pattern, now taken on by Knotions) for me, using one of my stash balls of Tofutsies yarn. Love the pattern but not mad on the cuff edging - pretty but way too loose. I may try a size smaller needle for the start of the second sock.

My tiny local newsagent has come up trumps - they've got hold of a copy of the new magazine "The Knitter". It's on issue 3 - and I love it. There is an offer to try 3 issues for £5, so I'll be doing that.

The house extension is progressing and expanding along the way, as we've (literally) unearthed some problems we weren't aware of before this started. At least we have the ideal opportunity to put them right, but it means the whole process is going to take longer and cost more money - as always.

I'll post as and when I get the chance, but there will be fewer, if any, pictures for a while.

Fourth sock syndrome

Yep - fourth sock. And I reckon I'll have enough yarn left from this 100g ball for another pair of junior socks after this one too!

This is the bigger size for my eldest DD - adult UK shoe size 3.

I had to rip it out just after the heel and lengthen the foot - it measured right but wasn't quite long enough when tried on.

You'd think I'd learn about ribbing pulling a measurement out by now wouldn't you?!

Finished!

The junior zig zag socks are done.

Now on to the slightly bigger size for eldest DD!

Junior socks

My youngest DD has a sock problem.

She always has cold feet, so needs to wear socks a lot, but she can't stand them sliding down on her foot or leg - which happens frequently as she's tall and slim.

So during the snow last week, I lent her a pair of my own handknit socks - which were way too big of course but were at least warm.

And then what happened? Why she asked me to knit her a pair in her size of course!

So here they are. Or most of the first one anyway.

DD picked out the yarn in the colourway she liked the most from my (limited) sock yarn stash. It was this purple and lilac striped Zig Zag yarn from King Cole.

This is a budget sock yarn, but not at all bad to knit with - if a little splitty on a double-wrap pick-up on the short rows.

I'm using the Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula from Knitty - it's amazingly simple and quick. Crochet cast-on, short-row toe, foot, short-row heel, cuff, stretchy cast-off - done!

They shouldn't take long - youngest DD is almost 8 years old. Next is an order for a bigger pair for her older sister of course!

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!

Brrr!

Not your everyday view here in Cornwall - this is the first time we've seen snow since we moved here 2 years ago. And it's still snowing...

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... ;-)

Kiwi!

Well I've done it - created a crocheted half kiwi fruit as a gift for a work colleague who's leaving!

There are two of us in our team at work who are always crocheting or knitting at lunchtime, so we thought it would be a good idea to create something as part of a leaving gift.

The guy who's leaving is from New Zealand and his nickname is Kiwi (original!) so I decided to crochet a half kiwi fruit - cuz it's easier that crocheting the kiwi bird..

I've added a little loop at the back and will attach it to a keyring once it arrives from ebay.

That way he gets a practical gift that always reminds him of us!

I guess I got a little carried away with the beaded kiwi theme..

This is a kiwi hairband I crocheted afterwards - I just have to add on the ties and it'll be in my etsy shop.

Edited to add:
Yes I did create the patterns myself as I went along. I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

Multicolour webs

Phew this month is going so quickly.. Just as well as it means the days are light for longer each day. :-)

My crochet spiderweb hairbands seem to have caught on with my work colleagues at the moment.
I've made two in the purple colour pictured, and now have another order for a black one.

Just as well they're quick and easy to make. :-)

My next challenge is to see if I can crochet a half kiwi complete with seed beads to hang from a keyring for a collegure who's leaving.

If I manage it I'll show you here!

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!

Busting the stash

I've been absorbed with warm rich colours recently, obviously inspired by Christmas.

I decided to knit some more lengthways scarves. Here's the first one:


There are all sorts of yarns in there - chenille, acrylic, polyester eyelash, wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, merino..



I used one of my Addi circular needles, working 2 rows in each yarn at a time, randomly switching between garter stitch, stocking stitch, and reverse stocking stitch.

It was a windy day when we took this shot!

Now I've cast on another, this time using warm browns and oranges.

They make great stashbusters - and great presents too, each one totally unique. They're fun to knit but very easy - perfect for Christmas TV watching!

Double figures!

Today is our eldest daughter's 10th birthday.

I really can't believe it's been 10 years since we first set eyes on our beautiful first baby. And quite a relief after a 30-hour labour!

Thick black hair, the loudest yell, and gorgeous big inquisitive eyes. Like a little eskimo baby - well maybe not so little at 9lb 5oz. :-)

Here she is, just a few minutes old.

And now, she's transforming into a wonderful young lady in front of our eyes. Kind, considerate, smart, funny, and so much more.

We are privileged to be part of her world. Happy 10th birthday darling. We're so proud of you. This day is for you. :-)

Nature's Morning Show

This was the view from our window earlier this week as I got up.
A stunning sunrise - and I didn't even have to get up early to see it!

Been busy

There's a lot on at the moment. Not least numerous small projects to be finished. Here are a selection of the completed ones:
Chunky collars for my Etsy shop and Christmas sales

A cabled cashmere collar for my Etsy shop

A chunky hat as commissioned by my FIL

A white eyelash shoulder shrug for eldest DD, to go with her Christmas dress. I'll get a modelled shot as son as she's up to it - she's been off school today poorly.

Must go - we have to get to a family buffet for my SIL's wedding anniversary in half an hour!

AWOL

Hi! I'm back from my unexpected break - temporarily anyway. You know how it is this time of year - lots going on.

My Dad and step-mom visited us from Spain for 5 days and we had a lovely time. Good job they flew back to Alicante before the enforced temporary closure of Newquay Airport!

This week I've been knitting neckwarmers like mad for a local sale tomorrow. Oh and we got to see Santa and his real reindeer in Truro on Wednesday evening. I've never seen so many people in Truro!

Back soon...

Your turn to wash up darling...

Events sometimes lead to the most unlikely consequences.

When we were going through the unnecessary torment that was DH's BMX accident, subsequent operation and healing, I said that once DH's wrists were healed enough I was going to take a month off doing the washing up, and he could do it.

Only fair considering I had to do absolutely everything for a good few weeks.

So now, we've reached that point, DH has come up with a cunning solution. He's bought a dishwasher.

This weekend he's even threatening to plumb it in.

I've never had one before, although we've pondered the idea for a good few years, and always decided we didn't have enough space in the kitchen.

How does that saying go? "Necessity is the mother of invention."

I guess DH really doesn't like washing up. ;-)

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. :-)

Keep on going...

The Snuggle Blanket has reached that stage. You know, the stage where you know you must be making progress cuz the yarn is being used up, but you're still way off from the finish line.

So I thought I'd take some pics for my own sanity's sake. So I can actually see the progress myself.

Each row is now 70 shells across - that's 210 trebles in each and every row.

Still, I can see how I'm getting on now, and I know that soon it will be decrease time.

Despite all that negative sounding stuff, I do actually love this blanket! I find the colours quite addictive, and I'm really pleased with the overall look.

Plus it's another Christmas present in the pipeline, which has to be a good thing. :-)

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!

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.

Uninterrupted knitting!

Had a lovely day today with some fellow knitters at the Watering Hole in Perranporth. 4 hours of uninterrupted fibrey-fun!

I forgot to take my camera of course, but I did make a good start on my latest project - a simple ribbed cashmere cowl.

I'm using Knitting Goddess 4ply hand-dyed cashmere yarn (yum!) and double rib to make a simple neck-warming accessory in the Purl Bee style for a Christmas present.

There should be enough left for a similar item for me too - but mine with be a more lacy affair I think. Maybe something along these lines.

Stalled

This week has flown past with no progress on anything craft-related other than house tidying in preparation for my relatives visiting this weekend.

It's a good thing though as it meant I had to sort out my project pile which was threatening to take up as much space as another armchair. There still seem to be too many projects, but the no-further-than-a-swatch ones have been sent home to the stash mountain, and the others have been neatly packed into the remaining bags. For now anyway.

There has been a minute amount of progress on the Snuggle blanket, probably last weekend. The only reason I know is because it looks different to the last WIP picture! I have been carrying it around with me every day, but even work lunch-breaks have been busy with other far less exciting activities.

Never mind. My family will be here for the next 4 days or so, then I should get some crafting time next week. Fingers crossed anyway!

Christmas knitting!

Yes, it's true - I've nearly finished a Christmas knitting project. I didn't mean to do it. I wasn't actually thinking about Christmas; I just needed an easy project on a circular needle to do whilst travelling on a coach, and this leapt to mind.

I had planned to do this project at some point, just not yet. So much so that I'd added it to my Ravelry queue and even bought the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran while it was on sale at Stash Yarns.

And now I'm so glad I did. What a great project! It's the Debbie Bliss Baby Shrug in size 9-12 months. This was featured as a free pattern for a while on the Prima website (and probably in the printed magazine too). It doesn't seem to be in the listed patterns now but I found it via Google here.

It's quick, easy, gorgeously smooshy in the cashmerino yarn, and so very cute. Plus there's very little seaming to do - bonus!

That's all I need to do now to finish off this little beauty, then Christmas Present Number 1 is good to go.

Oh, it's for my lovely little niece by the way, who is coming to Cornwall to visit us with her brother, mom and dad (i.e. my brother) this weekend coming. I can't wait!