WIP Wednesday

It's half term here at the moment so my knitting time and energy is rather reduced. The combination of having 4 busy children at home and the clocks going back an hour has rather knocked me for six.  I've also got a touch of "knitters elbow" going on so being careful about not spending too long with my arm bent.



Spent a while trying to decide how to do the border for this cardigan and Mr Soaring Sheep agreed a solid colour border would be the way to go. I decided to use this undyed yarn partly because of the way it sets the colours off nicely but also because I knew I had enough of it in the stash that I wouldn't be in any danger of running out mid project!



The cardigan should finish nicely at around bum height so she'll be snug and cosy in it. I'm making the 6 years size despite my daughter being nearly 9. She's rather diddy lol. The project page is here.

I've got the in-laws visiting this afternoon, we're going to show them our new allotment. We've not done any work on it yet, I need to get round to ordering a few "how to" books! Have a good day everyone, thanks for visiting :-)

Linking up with Keep Calm Craft On and Yarn Along

FO - Sea Leaves shawl

I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with this pattern. There was an error in the written instructions which hadn't been corrected and then some areas where it was a bit unclear. I basically lost my faith in the pattern and didn't enjoy knitting it much towards the end. I did use the charts which was my first time using lace charts so I guess that was a bonus.

Was also rather irritated that the yardage for the shawl meant I didn't get to the pink bit in my colour changing yarn. I guess I could have frogged back and made it bigger but by the end I was so sick of it I just wanted it done :(



Having had that grumble though I'm actually really pleased with how the shawl turned out. Oh apart from the garter tab cast on which doesn't lie flat :-S I'm being rather unfair here as it was a free pattern but meh :-S



My camera wasn't very happy with the blue colours!





The beads are really pretty, they're royal blue with an irridescent sheen to them. I fancy using them in another project some time, I need a turquoise shawl I think lol




So yeah, mixed feelings towards this shawl, glad it's finished and I like how it's turned out :-) The pattern is straight forward but I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner lace knitter unless they were  looking to push themselves. I expect this shawl will get borrowed by my daughters as the weather gets colder lol.

Linking up with Fibre Arts Friday and Creative Friday, thanks for visiting :-)

WIP Wednesday

Brr it's cold in the UK today, need to find where I've put my Winter coat! I'm going to cast off my shawl today and hopefully get it blocked and photographed ready for Friday. No photos of it today but I just wanted to show you a progress pictures of the cardigan I'm making for my eldest daughter



It's the Neverland Wendy pattern and I'm using up lots of yarn scraps to make it. I'm working with 3 balls of yarn at a time and alternating them each row. The skirt part is quite full as you can see so it's growing rather slowly. I'm planning on adding extra length too as I'm making a smaller size than my daughter's age.

Given how chilly it is I'd better get a move on! Happy crafting everyone :-)

Yarn Along and Keep Calm Craft On

Cold Sheeping

Last year I set myself the challenge of seeing how long I could last without buying yarn. Just under a week ago I reached the 1 year mark. For 1 year I have not bought any yarn and have worked almost entirely from stash. I say almost entirely because Mr Soaring Sheep has bought me two skeins of sock yarn during that time. It wasn't something I asked him to do so I'm not counting it as breaking my Cold Sheep, he was just being lovely :)

During that year I have knitted and crocheted upwards of 17354.4 yards of yarn. Or in other words almost 10 miles. Yikes!

I now have around 12 miles of yarn in my stash and it's still shrinking. I am intending to stop Cold Sheeping now though and instead continue trying to use up my stash if I can but also allowing myself to buy yarn for a specific project that I'm about to start. Some people refer to this as "Moderate Merino" lol :)

I've really enjoyed this past year of having to challenge myself but also being able to use up some of those yarns that I've hoarded for a while.


So this isn't a completely photo free post I thought I'd share some photos of my Framlingham sweater that I made over 2 years ago and yet never got round to taking photos of. It's a nicely written pattern with a pretty mock cable detail. I mostly wear it around this time of year with a long sleeve top as it gives that bit of extra warmth without being too hot.



^ I don't normally look like that, I was pulling silly faces at Mr Soaring Sheep and ironically I prefer this expression to my attempts at smiling and posing



I used Wendy Merino DK in the Mulberry colourway. It's really pretty with dark blue and almost pinky purple fibres woven in to the main purple colourway. It's washed and worn well too given it's been two years since I knitted it. I'd definitely recommend it.

I followed the pattern pretty much as written apart from adding some extra length. I'm enjoying being able to wear it again now the weather is cooler.

Thank you for the lovely comments about my Grace cardigan, I'm so pleased with it and really touched at some of the comments that were made :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm going to hopefully enjoy some autumn sunshine and also work on my shawl as I've got to the beaded section now :)

FO - Grace Cardigan

Hi everyone, I finally got round to asking Mr Soaring Sheep to take some photos of me in my Grace cardigan so here you go :)



Posing is not my strong point! I'm much more comfortable behind the camera.



I love this mesh pattern on the front and back. It's easy to knit providing you keep track of which row you're on and makes the cardigan that little more special :)



I added a couple of inches extra length to the pattern as well as some increases as well because I've got a long torso and wanted it to finish below the waistband of my jeans. I made the sleeves longer too so they are extra cosy.

The yarn is Rowan pure wool in the Framboise colourway. I'd previously knitted it into a different cardigan but I wasn't really wearing it that much so I decided to frog it. I'm so glad I did, I love this one much more :)

Grace is a well written pattern and knits up quickly providing you don't stick your knitting in a bag and ignore it for weeks on end ;-) I wouldn't be at all surprised if I made myself another Grace in a different colour at some point in the future.

The buttons were from Berrynicecrafts on etsy. A dangerous shop to browse if you like pretty buttons!

Linking up with Keep Calm Craft On and Yarn Along. Thanks for visiting :)

Not an FO Friday

Sorry guys, I was just too slow with getting the buttons sewn on my Grace cardigan and my photographer (aka Mr Soaring Sheep) has been away with work. He's due home in the next couple of hours though so hopefully I can get some photos at the weekend. I tried getting one of the children to photograph me but the pictures were very unflattering and instantly deleted by me :-S



So in the meantime here is a progress shot of my Sea Leaves shawl. The colours are reminding me rather a lot of the film Frozen. My children, like rather a lot of other children their age are obsessed with it lol. Mentally I'm refering to this shawl as my "Elsa shawl" but not saying it outloud or someone will end up stealing it off me when it's finished :-S



I took this photo of my littlest girl today, was rather amused when I noticed how similar the colours of her top are to the yarn. I wonder if Mr Soaring Sheep was subconciously reminded of the top when he chose the yarn :)

Have a good weekend everyone

Yarn Along

Hi everyone :) I thought I'd share a progress photo of the cardigan I'm making for my daughter



I'm using the Neverland Wendy pattern and alternating yarns each row to get this very colourful effect! I love the detail for the empire band which is made by changing the order you knit the stitches. I'm onto the skirt part now so there's lots of mindless knitting in my future :-)

We moved into our first owned home a month ago today. We've just about got it how we want it now and the bit we're most excited about is the garden. We're having lots of fun digging out borders, planting up pots with bulbs and bedding plants and choosing plants that we love. Yesterday I treated myself to a magazine which will hopefully provide some inspiration and ideas. The free packet of Sweet Pea seeds will be a fun challenge too :-)

Linking up with WIP Wednesday, Keep Calm Craft On and Yarn Along

Two new projects

Morning everyone :) It's a wet and dull day in the UK today. A perfect day for staying snuggled up on the sofa with some knitting in my opinion!



Since finishing my cardigan last week I was excited to get some new projects started. As usual I have a mindless one and a complicated one. The purple is a lace shawl using the colour changing yarn my husband bought me when we moved house. The pattern is Sea Leaves which is free on ravelry.

The garish multicoloured project is a cardigan for my 8 year old. The poor thing apparently has no knitted cardigans that fit her any more and is going to get ever so cold over the Winter. After much pleading and guilt-tripping she persuaded me to make her something and we decided on a Neverland Hoody in the Wendy version. It's a simple raglan cardigan with a nice waist detail. I'm just at the point of separating the sleeves and soon I'll be ready to do the empire band. My daughter has requested a pixie hood but aside from that I'm pretty much following the pattern as written. I'm having to make the 6 years size for my 8 year old because she's teeny but I'll probably add some extra length :-)

I'm using the same striping technique I used for the Celebrations jumper I made my son back in February. Basically alternating three different balls of yarn and swapping at the end of each row. Should make a very unique cardigan!

Have a good week everyone :-)

Thoughtful Thursday

Made blackberry jelly



Making red onion chutney



Picking up stitches



Time for a cuppa!



Nearly finished :)