I'm knitting it using two circular needles, it is rather fun!
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Saturday Sock
It's happened, I've succumbed to the lure of hand knitted socks. I fear it could be a slippery slope. This is the only photo I've got of the one I'm knitting but it's a lot further on now, I've done the heel and everything! The yarn is Jamboree by Colinette and the pattern is the one which came on the skein label!
I'm knitting it using two circular needles, it is rather fun!
I'm knitting it using two circular needles, it is rather fun!
Friday, 30 March 2012
FO Friday, Drop Stitch Scarf
I cast on this scarf literally YEARS ago. The yarn was spun by Sarah at Babylonglegs and is called April Showers. I'd never knitted handspun before and was advised (I think by Sarah although it was so long ago I can't remember!) that something like the Drop Stitch scarf pattern would be very good for showing the yarn off to it's best advantage.
Well I cast on, I knitted a few rows and I got tired of it. I didn't like knitting it on straight needles and at the time the only circular needles I had were 40cm ones which were too short to be comfortable. The scarf and yarn when into a bag and got forgotten about.
Whilst knitting the MKAL cardigan I reached a point where I was ahead of the pattern clues and wanted something mindless to knit at the same time. I had originally planned on knitting my Paprika cardigan but I wanted a break from pink! Then I remembered the scarf and got it out.
My knitting speed has obviously increased over the years. I was also much better at remembering the pattern so didn't need to keep checking and counting which row I was on. This time round the scarf flowed quickly.
Before I knew it I'd finished the skein of yarn and I am so pleased with the finished result :-) For once I'm actually looking forward to the Winter so that I can wear it!
Well I cast on, I knitted a few rows and I got tired of it. I didn't like knitting it on straight needles and at the time the only circular needles I had were 40cm ones which were too short to be comfortable. The scarf and yarn when into a bag and got forgotten about.
Whilst knitting the MKAL cardigan I reached a point where I was ahead of the pattern clues and wanted something mindless to knit at the same time. I had originally planned on knitting my Paprika cardigan but I wanted a break from pink! Then I remembered the scarf and got it out.
My knitting speed has obviously increased over the years. I was also much better at remembering the pattern so didn't need to keep checking and counting which row I was on. This time round the scarf flowed quickly.
Before I knew it I'd finished the skein of yarn and I am so pleased with the finished result :-) For once I'm actually looking forward to the Winter so that I can wear it!
Friday, 23 March 2012
FO Friday Bloom
Ok, the photos are quite frankly rubbish. I'm sorry! I wasn't feeling very well when I took the first one and the second two were taken in a hurry before a certain young lady grabbed my camera. However I think they are just about ok for you to see what the Bloom pattern looks like so I'm afraid you'll have to make do!
I still need to get a ribbon to thread through the eyelets round the bodice but I'm letting her wear it now because I'm nice like that ;-)
Would you believe that this little girl is just 5 days shy of her first birthday? Nope, neither do I. I must have forgotten when she was born and made a mistake somewhere. She can't be a year old already???
(disclaimer the sweet wrapper is from my Mother's day chocolates at the weekend and she only got to have a little bit of a chocolate. She likes throwing the wrappers around and scrunching them up to listen to the sound they make. I'm not a completely negligent mother, honest!)
Anyways, thank you for looking at my photos :-) I need to go change a certain young lady's nappy and then to start preparing lunch. This afternoon my eldest two children have a dance festival at school so Mr Soaring Sheep is coming home from work early and we're going to go watch. My daughter's class is doing an "English dance" and my son's is doing a "Chinese Dragon dance". My son is going to be part of the dragon and is very excited about it :-)
I still need to get a ribbon to thread through the eyelets round the bodice but I'm letting her wear it now because I'm nice like that ;-)
Would you believe that this little girl is just 5 days shy of her first birthday? Nope, neither do I. I must have forgotten when she was born and made a mistake somewhere. She can't be a year old already???
(disclaimer the sweet wrapper is from my Mother's day chocolates at the weekend and she only got to have a little bit of a chocolate. She likes throwing the wrappers around and scrunching them up to listen to the sound they make. I'm not a completely negligent mother, honest!)
Anyways, thank you for looking at my photos :-) I need to go change a certain young lady's nappy and then to start preparing lunch. This afternoon my eldest two children have a dance festival at school so Mr Soaring Sheep is coming home from work early and we're going to go watch. My daughter's class is doing an "English dance" and my son's is doing a "Chinese Dragon dance". My son is going to be part of the dragon and is very excited about it :-)
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
WIP Wednesday
Ok, it's a little later in the day than normal but here is a photo of one of my current WIP's. I also have two cardigans on the needles but one is waiting until I've finished the Mystery KAL and the other (the MKAL) has been put on a shelf in disgust. It's a beautiful pattern and I've been enjoying knitting it but just counted the stitches today and realised I've missed an increase somewhere with doing the raglan increases so have to frog it back. The lace work wasn't a problem at all, basic KFB raglan increases in stockinette are apparently beyond me. URGH!
Anyway, here is what I've been working on in between pattern clues. It's a drop stitch scarf using Babylongleg's beautiful handspun yarn. I started it years ago but decided to pick it up again and it's whizzing along now, clearly I'm a fast knitter than I used to be lol. I'm also a looser knitter as the start of the scarf is narrower than the rest of it, should I frog and reknit?
It needs blocking to fully open up the pattern but it's so pretty :-)
And just for fun, here's a yarn connoisseur
Mmm Babylonglegs handspun....
Anyway, here is what I've been working on in between pattern clues. It's a drop stitch scarf using Babylongleg's beautiful handspun yarn. I started it years ago but decided to pick it up again and it's whizzing along now, clearly I'm a fast knitter than I used to be lol. I'm also a looser knitter as the start of the scarf is narrower than the rest of it, should I frog and reknit?
It needs blocking to fully open up the pattern but it's so pretty :-)
And just for fun, here's a yarn connoisseur
Mmm Babylonglegs handspun....
Saturday, 17 March 2012
MIA
*waves* I'm still here. We've been a bit ill this week, two children last weekend and then the other two and I have been ill this week. Not been doing a lot of anything other than trying to take it easy and feel better. Fingers crossed we're on the up now.
I have an FO to show off at some point (Ava's Bloom dress) and I have two WIP's at the moment. One is my Paprika cardigan which I couldn't resist casting on and the other is my mystery KAL cardigan. I've not finished the first clue yet so I'm hoping I can get it done tomorrow as it's Mother's day.
I'm going to do some knitting now whilst DP makes me a tiramisu and a moussaka for tomorrow, lucky me :-D
I have an FO to show off at some point (Ava's Bloom dress) and I have two WIP's at the moment. One is my Paprika cardigan which I couldn't resist casting on and the other is my mystery KAL cardigan. I've not finished the first clue yet so I'm hoping I can get it done tomorrow as it's Mother's day.
I'm going to do some knitting now whilst DP makes me a tiramisu and a moussaka for tomorrow, lucky me :-D
Monday, 12 March 2012
Spring Helper yarn
Beth at Luscious Little Somethings posted photos of my yarn yesterday
I think it looks rather yummy! Such bright colours, I can't wait to see what it will look like knitted up
My daughter loves it :-)
I'm currently still working on my Bloom. I've got one more repeat of the diamond lace pattern and then it's onto the bottom pattern. I didn't get much knitting done at the weekend as we were rather busy. Did quite a lot of walking so my legs are a little stiff this morning.
I've also got an extra child at home today. My big boy was sick on Saturday and isn't quite right this morning so is spending the day in bed. I think he could probably have gone in but this is the first day of school he's missed and catching up on some sleep will do him some good. I think he imagined he'd be watching lots of tv and having nice things to eat :-p
I think it looks rather yummy! Such bright colours, I can't wait to see what it will look like knitted up
My daughter loves it :-)
I'm currently still working on my Bloom. I've got one more repeat of the diamond lace pattern and then it's onto the bottom pattern. I didn't get much knitting done at the weekend as we were rather busy. Did quite a lot of walking so my legs are a little stiff this morning.
I've also got an extra child at home today. My big boy was sick on Saturday and isn't quite right this morning so is spending the day in bed. I think he could probably have gone in but this is the first day of school he's missed and catching up on some sleep will do him some good. I think he imagined he'd be watching lots of tv and having nice things to eat :-p
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Friday, 9 March 2012
FO Friday Ziggy!
Behold!
The hood seems rather big. I'm not sure if this is the way it's meant to be, my knitting, not blocking it properly (I did the rest of it but wanted to try it on him so didn't do the hood)
I like the way the Zigzags continue up the chest and onto the hood. I must confess I lost count of which row I was on at the time so they might not match the way they are supposed to but I don't think it makes a difference
I ran out of yarn on the rolled edging for the hood. I only did 6 rows instead of 8 and had barely 10 inches of yarn left at the end!
I liked the way the hood was joined together, I think it's the same way you do a heel for a sock? SSK on one side and p2tog on the other to gradually pull the sides in. I really do need to block it better though don't I
Finally here's a quick close up of the Zigzag pattern. I really liked how this was formed, I'm thinking of maybe trying to do a similar idea going up a pair of longies. No idea if I'll ever have time for that though lol
I'm rather pleased with it, as long as I don't look too closely at it and ignore the silly errors I made. No I'm not pointing them out ;-) I just need to learn that knitting when tired is not a good idea...!
The hood seems rather big. I'm not sure if this is the way it's meant to be, my knitting, not blocking it properly (I did the rest of it but wanted to try it on him so didn't do the hood)
I like the way the Zigzags continue up the chest and onto the hood. I must confess I lost count of which row I was on at the time so they might not match the way they are supposed to but I don't think it makes a difference
I ran out of yarn on the rolled edging for the hood. I only did 6 rows instead of 8 and had barely 10 inches of yarn left at the end!
I liked the way the hood was joined together, I think it's the same way you do a heel for a sock? SSK on one side and p2tog on the other to gradually pull the sides in. I really do need to block it better though don't I
Finally here's a quick close up of the Zigzag pattern. I really liked how this was formed, I'm thinking of maybe trying to do a similar idea going up a pair of longies. No idea if I'll ever have time for that though lol
I'm rather pleased with it, as long as I don't look too closely at it and ignore the silly errors I made. No I'm not pointing them out ;-) I just need to learn that knitting when tired is not a good idea...!
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Fluffy post
I ordered this yarn yesterday morning from Turkey and it just arrived this morning! Not bad!
It's an acrylic yarn but feels very soft when I squish it. Obviously I've not knitted with it yet so don't know how it will feel as a knitted fabric but it's destined to become a hoody for my eldest little boy so it's not going to be next to his skin really anyway. There were some lovely colourways there so I'll probably go back if I like how it knits up :-)
For anyone interested I bought it from this ebay store
It's an acrylic yarn but feels very soft when I squish it. Obviously I've not knitted with it yet so don't know how it will feel as a knitted fabric but it's destined to become a hoody for my eldest little boy so it's not going to be next to his skin really anyway. There were some lovely colourways there so I'll probably go back if I like how it knits up :-)
For anyone interested I bought it from this ebay store
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
WIP Wednesday
I've got two WIP's to show you today. One of them almost finished, the other barely started!
First off is this soaker for Ava. I practically know the pattern by heart now so it's nice mindless knitting. Plus she does actually need some more soakers as she's only got one that fits at the moment!
Hard to tell from this picture but the yarn is left over from the Green twisty longies I posted a couple of weeks ago. Not a very girly colourway but the yarn was already wound so I picked it up to use up. I don't think she cares much lol.
My second WIP is going to be much more girly. I'm hoping I can get it finished by the March 15th start date for the Mystery KAL so I'll have to get my bum in gear :-p It's going to be a Bloom for Ava. I'm knitting the medium size but using 3.5mm for the chest rather than the 3.25 the pattern calls for. I don't have any 3.25mm 40cm circular needles and as it's a ribbing pattern I don't think it will make too much difference being 0.25mm out!
A bit random but does anyone else tend to always use the same stitch marker to mark the beginning of a round? I know I can just look where the tail end of yarn is but I nearly always use my red stitch marker. If my red marker is in another project then I will use a pink one instead lol.
(I'm even worse with longies, the red marker is for the start of the round, then I have a purple stitch marker for the left hip and a bright blue stitch marker for the right hip. It has to be a bright coloured one because that I start my short rows on that side so it's to remind me. Yes I am a bit daft!)
First off is this soaker for Ava. I practically know the pattern by heart now so it's nice mindless knitting. Plus she does actually need some more soakers as she's only got one that fits at the moment!
Hard to tell from this picture but the yarn is left over from the Green twisty longies I posted a couple of weeks ago. Not a very girly colourway but the yarn was already wound so I picked it up to use up. I don't think she cares much lol.
My second WIP is going to be much more girly. I'm hoping I can get it finished by the March 15th start date for the Mystery KAL so I'll have to get my bum in gear :-p It's going to be a Bloom for Ava. I'm knitting the medium size but using 3.5mm for the chest rather than the 3.25 the pattern calls for. I don't have any 3.25mm 40cm circular needles and as it's a ribbing pattern I don't think it will make too much difference being 0.25mm out!
A bit random but does anyone else tend to always use the same stitch marker to mark the beginning of a round? I know I can just look where the tail end of yarn is but I nearly always use my red stitch marker. If my red marker is in another project then I will use a pink one instead lol.
(I'm even worse with longies, the red marker is for the start of the round, then I have a purple stitch marker for the left hip and a bright blue stitch marker for the right hip. It has to be a bright coloured one because that I start my short rows on that side so it's to remind me. Yes I am a bit daft!)
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Yaarn dyeing
After my sneaky peak on Sunday I thought I'd better show you the finished dye job! I used mainly magenta dye with a bit of red to give it some extra depth and basically soaked the yarn in it for an hour whilst heating. Very technical! I think it's turned out rather nice though :-)
The yarn is Blue faced Leicester DK and I bought it from Bluefaced.com. It's very soft and will make a lovely cardigan for Ava. Look how vibrantly it's taken the dye, yummy!
This yarn is going to be for the Mystery Elena Nodel KAL which starts on 15th March. I'm very excited about it! Ava is less impressed, but she does like to squish the yarn
Anyone else joining in with the KAL? There is still time to join, she's accepting new people up to 12th March. Details on the Ravelry thread
The yarn is Blue faced Leicester DK and I bought it from Bluefaced.com. It's very soft and will make a lovely cardigan for Ava. Look how vibrantly it's taken the dye, yummy!
This yarn is going to be for the Mystery Elena Nodel KAL which starts on 15th March. I'm very excited about it! Ava is less impressed, but she does like to squish the yarn
Anyone else joining in with the KAL? There is still time to join, she's accepting new people up to 12th March. Details on the Ravelry thread
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Friday, 2 March 2012
Not an FO Friday
Still working on my Ziggy, I've attached the sleeves now and I'm doing the raglan decreases. I started doing them late at night so some how I missed a couple on one side so I had to do them two rows in a row if you see what I mean. However it doesn't look too noticeable, except to another knitter and me of course so I'll just carry on. Don't tell anyone ;-)
The weather has been very Spring-like lately so I'm thinking of other things I'd like to knit. I wish I had more time in the day lol.
Beth, the talented dyer behind Luscious Little Somethings is running a scheme where you can be a "Luscious Little Helper". Basically this means that she offers you 20% off some yarn which you then knit up and post the finished item to her to photograph. She then returns it and uses the photos to show off her dye work. Naturally my ears perked up at the sound of "20% off hand dyed yarn" but I also thought it would be an interesting challenge choosing a good pattern to show off the yarn at it's best.
I signed up as an Intermediate/Advanced knitter so figured I should probably knit something slightly more taxing than a pair of longies! I was very tempted to knit an Angel Fish Skirt as I think they are absolutely beautiful and I recently bought the pattern anyway. However they are quite simple to make, just using short rows etc. so back to my ravelry queue I went.
I eventually narrowed my choice down to two patterns, Cinnamon and Paprika. As I'll be knitting for my eldest I thought it only fair to ask her what she thought. She loved both patterns but the hood on the Paprika swayed it for her. She did say she'd like a Cinnamon in the Autumn though ;-)
So, pattern chosen, next I had to decide on a colourway. I thought a semi-solid yarn would work best so I asked my daughter what she'd like, naturally, being a 6 year old girl, she chose....PINK!
Actually though, I think a bright pink would work really well, and if there is one thing Beth excels at it's bright colours :-) I'm very much looking forward to receiving the yarn and to knitting it up, what a fun challenge :-)
So my immediate knitting list is as follows:
Ziggy - still a WIP
Mystery KAL cardigan - not yet received or dyed yarn and not sure when the first part of the pattern will be released
Bloom - a dress I'm planning on making for Ava. I bought the yarn a while ago and would really like to get on with
Paprika - need to confirm yarn order with Beth
I could do with making some more dungarees and longies for Ava but I'm too easily tempted away by new projects. Whoops! I'd better get back to my Ziggy now, hopefully I'll have a FO for next Friday :-)
The weather has been very Spring-like lately so I'm thinking of other things I'd like to knit. I wish I had more time in the day lol.
Beth, the talented dyer behind Luscious Little Somethings is running a scheme where you can be a "Luscious Little Helper". Basically this means that she offers you 20% off some yarn which you then knit up and post the finished item to her to photograph. She then returns it and uses the photos to show off her dye work. Naturally my ears perked up at the sound of "20% off hand dyed yarn" but I also thought it would be an interesting challenge choosing a good pattern to show off the yarn at it's best.
I signed up as an Intermediate/Advanced knitter so figured I should probably knit something slightly more taxing than a pair of longies! I was very tempted to knit an Angel Fish Skirt as I think they are absolutely beautiful and I recently bought the pattern anyway. However they are quite simple to make, just using short rows etc. so back to my ravelry queue I went.
I eventually narrowed my choice down to two patterns, Cinnamon and Paprika. As I'll be knitting for my eldest I thought it only fair to ask her what she thought. She loved both patterns but the hood on the Paprika swayed it for her. She did say she'd like a Cinnamon in the Autumn though ;-)
So, pattern chosen, next I had to decide on a colourway. I thought a semi-solid yarn would work best so I asked my daughter what she'd like, naturally, being a 6 year old girl, she chose....PINK!
Actually though, I think a bright pink would work really well, and if there is one thing Beth excels at it's bright colours :-) I'm very much looking forward to receiving the yarn and to knitting it up, what a fun challenge :-)
So my immediate knitting list is as follows:
Ziggy - still a WIP
Mystery KAL cardigan - not yet received or dyed yarn and not sure when the first part of the pattern will be released
Bloom - a dress I'm planning on making for Ava. I bought the yarn a while ago and would really like to get on with
Paprika - need to confirm yarn order with Beth
I could do with making some more dungarees and longies for Ava but I'm too easily tempted away by new projects. Whoops! I'd better get back to my Ziggy now, hopefully I'll have a FO for next Friday :-)
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Mystery KAL
How on earth is it March already?? My baby turns a year old at the end of this month, I'm so not ready for it! But look how big she's getting now:
So I mentioned on Tuesday that I'm super excited about a pattern. This is because it will be my first ever Mystery KAL and this one is being run on Ravelry by one of my absolute favourite designers Elena Nodel.
For those not familiar of how a Mystery KAL works I've signed up on this thread to knit a cardigan. However I have no idea what it will look like. The pattern will be released in stages so none of the people knitting it will be able to find out what it looks like until the end. The only clues are in the description at this stage:
Yarn colors: solid and semisolid yarns will be the best to show the garment and designs in it.
Techniques used: a little bit of simple lace, top down raglan, knitting in the round.
Exciting no? I've asked to do the 12 month size which will fit Ava. I searched in vain for a suitable solid or semisolid dyed yarn but nothing really jumped out at me so I've ordered 200g from Bluefaced.com and will dye it myself. I'm thinking a rich pink/purple colour at the moment but that may well change when I get round to actually dyeing it! I guess you'll just have to watch this space!
So I mentioned on Tuesday that I'm super excited about a pattern. This is because it will be my first ever Mystery KAL and this one is being run on Ravelry by one of my absolute favourite designers Elena Nodel.
For those not familiar of how a Mystery KAL works I've signed up on this thread to knit a cardigan. However I have no idea what it will look like. The pattern will be released in stages so none of the people knitting it will be able to find out what it looks like until the end. The only clues are in the description at this stage:
Yarn colors: solid and semisolid yarns will be the best to show the garment and designs in it.
Techniques used: a little bit of simple lace, top down raglan, knitting in the round.
Exciting no? I've asked to do the 12 month size which will fit Ava. I searched in vain for a suitable solid or semisolid dyed yarn but nothing really jumped out at me so I've ordered 200g from Bluefaced.com and will dye it myself. I'm thinking a rich pink/purple colour at the moment but that may well change when I get round to actually dyeing it! I guess you'll just have to watch this space!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
