FO Friday - Dragonfly Wings Shawl

Today I'd like to share some photos of my holiday shawl. Dragonfly Wings is a free pattern by Booknits  using fingering weight yarn. There are instructions for adding beads but as I was knitting this whilst camping in a tent I decided to make life easier and not bother with them



The colour looks a bit washed out in these photos because I was taking them in a hurry. In the sunshine the yarn almost has a shimmer to it because of the silk content. It's so beautiful :-) The yarn is a merino/silk yarn from Dye For Yarn in a colourway called "Dragonfly Flying Too High"



The shawl is very long and narrow. I prefer my shawls a little shorter and deeper but I still love it. It was also very straight forward to knit so I'd recommend it if you're wanting to have a go at lace knitting. It's charted and has row by row instructions as well if you're not confident with charts (I know I'm not!)



Yay for fun and beautiful patterns :-)



I'm linking in with Tami's FO Friday post as usual. I've almost finished my scrappy hoody from wednesday although we have currently had a falling out over the sleeves... I think a compromise has been reached though. More about that later ;-) Thanks for dropping by!

WIP Wednesday - Scrappy hoody

My scrappy hoody is knitting up soo quickly at the moment, it's great! I've done the body and the hood and I'm over halfway through the first sleeve. I've also sewn in most of the ends already too so that will save me time with finishing up :-)



I've changed the design of the hood slightly so it's a pixie hood because it's for my little girl and she looks cute in pixie hoods. I did start to regret it towards the end when I had to kitchener stitch the two sides together... I'll show photos of the finished hoody soon hopefully.

My other WIP is the solid granny squares blanket. I've not really done much for it this week to be honest. I'm in more of a knitting mood at the moment I think



I've also started planning out the projects I want to make for "the C word" (popular holiday in December which commonly involves exchanging gifts). One of the patterns is rather scary to me as it involves colourwork and steeking. More on that in a later post though ;-)

As usual I'm linking in with Tami's Amis WIP Wednesday posts. Looking forward to reading what you've been up to :)

A Quick Hat

On Thursday I was feeling a bit meh about finishing off my holiday socks (finally done them today so photos to follow at a later date) and fancied something quick and cheerful. I've had my eye on the Woolly Owl Hat for a while and decided a crochet project in chunky yarn would be just perfect for my mood. It worked up so quickly and I'm so pleased with it :-)


My son is also pleased with it, he's just not very smiley for photos right now *sigh*

I made some nice long tassels for the ear flaps which he loves (please excuse the mess on his t shirt, apparently cheese and tomato on toast is very difficult to eat...)


The multicoloured yarn in the tassels and edging was left over from some mittens I made for Mr Soaring Sheep. The grey yarn is left over from my Owls jumper. The eyes and beak were from some other left overs. A truly stash busting project and one that will keep my son warm when the Winter comes. He's barely taken it off since I finished it!


My new project is another stash busting one. It's a Sleuthing hoody for my littlest girl who has had a growth spurt recently. Yay for scrappy projects!


Have a good weekend people! Hope the sun shines :-)

FO Friday - Ripple Cushion

I am so pleased to be sharing this project with you today. I felt quite challenged by certain elements of it and I'm rather proud of myself for managing to finish it.


I cast on Attic24's neat ripple pattern as a whim one day. As a non-crocheter it had looked a bit tricky but now with a bit of experience I know it's actually a piece of cake. The tricky bit was edging it but after a few tries, the occasional curse and a lot of re-reading of Little Tin Bird's instructions. The project then hibernated for a while, waiting for me to build up the confidence to do some hand sewing and turn it into a cushion!


Luckily another fab tutorial came to my aid, this time from Bunny Mummy. I faithfully lined up my fleece, cut it to size. Re-measured and realised I couldn't count so cut it a bit smaller (!) and edged the button band first with blanket stitch and then a row of double crochet. After that I couldn't put the hand sewing off and longer so having pinned everything into place I started stitching. And do you know, I actually found myself enjoying it! I had to add one more round on the border to get the ripple part to fit nicely on the cushion and then I sewed it up one afternoon.


My eldest daughter has claimed this cushion for her bedroom and asked for a matching scrappy ripple blanket! Demanding child ;-) Once I got my head round doing the hand sewing I was pleased to see how much I remembered from childhood. It's not the most skilfully made cushion in the world, but it's mine and I'm very proud of it :-)

As usual I'm joining in with Tami's FO Friday posts so hop over to see more finished projects :-) Thanks for visiting!

I'm back!

IMAG0713
Originally uploaded by evel_lin

Starting to surface from the piles of washing and ironing after holiday and looking forward to showing off some finished projects soon. I've just got the ribbing on my second sock to finish but I wasn't feeling it this afternoon so decided to cast on something new. It's a crochet project as you can see, in the round and made using bulky yarn left over from my Owl's sweater. Who can guess what it is? :-)

Book Reviews - Knitting

This is a scheduled post as I'm on holiday with limited internet access so I won't be able to reply to comments straight away. I do appreciate them though :-)

Today I'd like to share with you two of my favourite knitting books. The first one is Socks from the Toe Up. I love this book so much that's actually come on holiday with me!








This book is a must for anyone who loves knitting socks or wants to learn. I've seen it recommended in so many places



The first part of the book describes various cast on's, cast off's, heel techniques and information about how to knit socks whether you choose magic loop, two circular needles or DPN's. There is also information about how to design your own sock



Then you move on to the pattern section. It begins with a few plain vanilla socks to ease you in gently



But it then goes on to give you over 20 beautiful sock patterns, complete with recommendations on whether they would suit a variegated or plain yarn best



There are loads of photos on ravelry if you want to see the other designs :-)

***

The other book I'd like to share with you today is a book of stitch patterns. I expect the vast majority if not all knitting pattern designers have a similar book to refer to. Mine is 400 Knitting Stitches: A Complete Dictionary of Essential Stitch Patterns



I just adore this book. Each swatch has a clear photo and instructions on how to make it. I find it almost mind boggling how many completely different patterns you can get from just a handful of stitches



As you can see in the photo below there are also charts if you find them more useful :-)



There are sections dedicated to lace, cables, twisted stitches and slipped stitches as well as lots of different cast off techniques too



It's just wonderful from a knitting-geek point of view but I imagine for a knit-wear designer it can be inspiring



In my opinion every knitter should have a book like this on their bookshelves, it's so useful and interesting to see what you can do with a couple of sticks and some yarn.

Once again I've included some Amazon links if you feel tempted to buy either of these books. By clicking through them I will get a small percentage of any money you spend. I won't be offended if you choose to buy them elsewhere, they are good books though and I would recommend them regardless.


 

Thank you to everyone that's visited my blog these past couple of weeks. I hope you've enjoyed these scheduled posts, I'm looking forward to being able to catch up with you all again soon. TTFN x

Holiday knitting - a sock

This is a scheduled post as I'm on holiday with limited internet access so I won't be able to reply to comments straight away. I do appreciate them though :-)

Today I'd like to share with you my other holiday knitting project. This one is just a plain vanilla sock using this beautiful yarn from the Flamboyance Yarns Sock Club



This is going to be my "in-car" knitting as it's nice and mindless. As usual I'll be magic looping them one at a time (I got in such a confused tangle of yarn when I tried TAAT socks that I'm more than happy to stick doing them this way!)



At the point of writing this blog post (1st August!) I've only got a few rows done. However by the time you read this I may even have a sock finished!

Currently I have no idea what type of heel I'm going to be doing although I'm leaning towards doing a slip stitch heel. The cast on is my favourite Judy's magic cast on because it's so neat and straight forward to do. I'm looking forward to showing you my progress shots when I get back :-)

Book Reviews - Crochet

This is a scheduled post as I'm on holiday with limited internet access so I won't be able to reply to comments straight away. I do appreciate them though :-)

Hi guys :-) Bit of a different post for you today. I'd like to share with you a couple of my favourite crochet books. The first is one that my Mum recommended to me, Crochet Unravelled




There are several reasons why I think this book is ace. The main one though is that it has very clear instructions for both right and LEFT handed people.



As a left hander I found it tricky to crochet right handedly as my right hand just wasn't dexterous enough with the hook and when I looked at videos and instructions online I got myself muddled trying to reverse them. This book allowed me to see how the yarn and stitch loops were supposed to look so I could concentrate on actually learning the stitches and how to do them.



It's also got a variety of simple projects so there are lots of things in there to inspire a new crocheter. They are well written and have both charts and written instructions. I've been crocheting a year now and still regularly look back through it for tips and reminders, especially as it has a handy chart comparing English and American terms for stitches :-)

***

The other book I'd like to share is Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs. It's a fantastic resource for crochet lovers who want to move beyond simple granny squares


It has clear, well written instructions with photos of each stage to get you started



The best thing though is all the different shaped designs. There are hexigans...



...triangles...





and many more!





The book also encourages you to mix things up and come up with your own designs and with 144 different designs to choose from there's plenty to be inspired by :-)

I've added some Amazon links below so if you fancy getting either of these books and would like to go through these links I will get a small percentage of the money you spend. I'd recommend these books regardless though so no worries if you want to buy them elsewhere :-)




 Thanks for visiting!

1 year ago

This is a scheduled post as I'm on holiday with limited internet access so I won't be able to reply to comments straight away. I do appreciate them though :-)

Today is our 1 year anniversary :-) This time last year we were getting married

Whilst I won't say it's been the easiest year we've ever had, on the whole it's been fun. Here's to a few more years :-)

Holiday knitting; a shawl

This is a scheduled post as I'm on holiday with limited internet access so I won't be able to reply to comments straight away. I do appreciate them though :-)

The first project I'd like to share is a lace shawl. Well actually it's a fingering weight lace shawl so slightly less fragile ;-) It's the Dragonfly Wings shawl which is a free pattern if anyone fancies giving it a go.



I was recently reminded of the pattern after Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch knitted it for her "Pick A Boo" KAL. However it's been one I've been meaning to knit for a while after hoarding the most perfect yarn for it since last Summer!



It's a merino/silk yarn from Dye for Yarn and is absolutely gorgeous. It's hard to show off in photos but it's got a glow to it like jewels and it's perfectly named "Dragonfly Flying Too High". I couldn't really make anything else with it lol.

Hopefully the shawl is a little further on by now as the photo was taken last week. I'm looking forward to showing it to you when I get back :-)

FO Friday - Summer Storm vest

Today I'd like to share the second of the mystery KAL's I did during July. This one is the boy/unisex design called Summer Storm



It's a lovely pattern to knit, the basket stitch works up very quickly and despite me putting the finishing touches off for ages they're not at all difficult.



I would apologise for the pictures but I guess anyone who's ever tried to take photos of a 6 year old have had similar results!



He does love his pockets. They were simple after-thought pockets so not too much sewing involved. Suits me lol



I knitted this with a bamboo cotton yarn so it's lovely and cool and silky. Perfect for Summer :-) And machine washable which suits little boys ;-)



And here's a quick shot of the back



Thanks for reading. My blog's going to get a little quieter for the next couple of weeks as I'm off on my holidays. I've got some posts scheduled though sharing some details of my holiday projects and reviews of some of my favourite knitting and crochet books so I hope you can pop over for a little look some time :-)

Hope everyone has a lovely Friday. I'm off to do some more packing and have a look at the other FO Friday posts on Tamis Amis