Grey and Slow, Bright and Fast

Although the cardigan from my last post wasn't that slow to make, it did get a bit monotonous and so I was glad of something quick and easy.

The yarn is Lanas Stop "Kaippo" which was bought on holiday in Tenerife last year. It's very soft and I fell for the colours.

The hat was made by working the brim and then sewing it into a loop, picking up the stitches and working out the crown. The first few rows (behind the brim) are K1, P1 rib, for a better fit.

Started a moebius/Mobius scarf and it then occurred that handwarmers would  be more useful. So I  made them from the other end of the ball, leaving the Mobius to be finished with whatever yarn was left.

Something old, something new

Last year, for Christmas, I made a really pretty little cardigan "Petite Fraise" by Joanne Scrace for my great niece. Unfortunately, is was a bit on the short side - nothing wrong with the pattern, little Fearne is long and tall for her age (her Dad's 6'4" and she seems to be following in his footsteps. So I decided to make another one, this time in two colours (plus the strawberries).
Used up some generic acrylic DK from the stash.

But I have also been trying new things. I've been looking at "contiguous" patterns for a while (top down, set in sleeve, all in one) and knew that I couldn't attempt to construct a pattern without having made one.

This seemed a great opportunity to use a ball of Drops Verdi that I had bought a while ago (1 ball = 1225m). According to the ball band, this should be on large needles but, for my taste, it made the fabric too airy. I swatched on 4.5mm needles and found a pattern to match - My Casual Cardigan by Elena Nodel. That has a cable panel and collar, which I didn't want, but gave the shaping etc which I did.

Happy with the result - had to do a bit of juggling with the yarn to try to get the sleeves something like each other in terms of striping.

The yarn is lovely - bulky but very light and much softer than it looks. A quick knit and a machine washable result. Jobs a good 'un.

2013 Year End Totals

Not much blogging done - but a fair bit of knitting and crochet (weaving shamefully quiet).

Yarn used this year - 7,642

Yarn bought this year - 4,596.70

Net use up of stash - 3,045.30

By this rate, I might use it all before I die
(if I live to be over 100!)

Happy New Year.

It never works out quite as you plan.....

The idea was simple - I had a cone of 4ply cotton - perfect for a summer cardigan, perfect to work on, during my holiday.

I feared it would be boring, so I bought (a ridiculous amount of) blue and white 4ply for the edges. As it turned out, this was a slightly heavier 4ply, but as it was for the cuffs, welt etc, wasn't a problem. I was using the wonderful Ann Budd's pattern and making a round-necked sweater, with the white a blue edging, like a Chanel inspired piece.

I did the edgings before going away. The holiday was good and thanks to audio books, I got the back and both sleeves done while in Tenerife.

It began to occur to me that I didn't have enough pink to do the two fronts.

Bummer.

As the blue and white were a little heavier, I didn't want to use the same stitch pattern, so added a shell/lace panel instead.

Then I realised there wasn't enough to do even this on the second front! So, I had to put another panel up the front, with a thin pink strip to try to tie it all together.

Because it was a shell pattern, working a V-neck proved much simpler.

I'm happy with the end result, but would have preferred both sides to have just the pink and single blue piece.

As I've unpicked it several times,  (while working out what I could do with the remaining yarn), am glad to have it done, more than anything.

Le Weekend - c'est complit

This is a quick little project, using up some sock yarn that was received as a freebie for subscribing to a mag.

Has given me ideas about shawl construction/designing.

Modelled here by the long suffering one - bless him!

Really sensible

This was finished at knitting group last night and we were discussing how conservative/sensible this is for me. I could even wear it work work activities!

What can I say? Ann Budd is a knitting god - this is a top down set in sleeve pattern - lovin' it, lovin' it, lovin' it.

The yarn is the (now discontinued) Adriafil Fusione - 100% cotton 4 ply (I know! 4ply!). Nice to work with - let's hope it lasts well.

"Using some of the lovely yarn that I have"

Further to my last post, this is some of the lovely yarn that I've been using - much of it was bought in the USA, either by me on the last holiday (a few years ago) or by the long suffering one of a trip he made a couple of years ago. This jacket was actually finished at the end of last year, but I hadn't posted it.

There's some Cascade 220 in there, as well as some gorgeous Aslan Trends.

I've seen a number of circular jackets on ravelry and wanted to have a go. However, it is one of those things that really works better for those of more standard build. We, who are wider, need the circle to be down to our knees, if it's going to fit nicely in the middle.













This was made worse by my attempt to make a better fit at the sleeves and doing a couple of back and forth patial rounds to give the usual width at the underarm.

It's warm, it's cosy, it's striking.

And when you're putting it on, it's a bugger to find the sleeves!