My wedding!!

Just a quick photo, more info to follow:

Ooops its been awhile

Its been awhile but things are a bit busy this end with wedding planning, house buying and occasionally even some knitting!

Some recent FO’s

I made a Diva tunic for my sister:

A Liesel for me:

A ribbed lace bolero

A Mrs Darcy Cardigan

A lazy day lace shawl

And another 3 shwalettes and a hat. Not bad as we go into the 4th months of the year. I have 14 FO’s already this year which is a pretty respectable amount. Although I have broken my New Years resolution about buying yarn, oops! My stash continues to grow! I did keep heavy books on the stash basket to deter the other half from going in. Now I keep them on there to try to close the lid!

A wonderful present

A few weeks ago a wonderful shawl in Red Robin colours was taken from the Round Robin group which I started. I admired the shawl and the woman who made it Herindoors kindly offered to make me one, and the other day it arrived. Its taken me until today to actually get it (someone else went to the post office for me) and I have been so excited. Its beautiful!!!! I’m now planning outfits to wear it with:

The picture really doesn’t do it justice I’m going to have to get some better pictures taken!

Holly’s Hat

When I started my new job awhile back one of the girls Holly asked for a hat in mint green as she couldn’t find one she liked in the shops anywhere. Her friend asked for the same one in baby pink. Holly showed me a hat from the shop that was similar to the one she wanted and Holly’s hat was born:

Needles: 5.5mm 24″ circulars and 5.5mm DPN’s

Yarn: Cascade 220 (less than half a skein around 100 yards)

Gauge: approx 4 stitches and 5 rows per inch in lace pattern

1 stitch marker

Cast on 70 stitches, place marker, and work 6 inches in pattern:

 (repeat between *’s to the end of each round)

 Round 1: *K3 P2*

Round 2:* K1 YO SSK P2*

Round 3: *K3 P2*

Round 4: *K2TOG YO K1 P2*

 After 6 inches:

 Round 1: *k3 P2TOG K3 P2*

Round 2: *K1 YO SSK P1 K1 YO SSK P2*

Round 3: *K3 P1 K3 P2TOG*

Round 4: *K2TOG YO K1 P1*

 You may need to swap to DPN’s as you decrease stitches.

Round 1: *k2 k2tog k3 p1*

Round 2 *k1 yo ssk k1 yo ssk p1*

Round 3: *k6 p1*

Round 4: *k2tog yo k1 k2tog yo k1 p1*

 Round 1: *k5 k2tog*

Round 2: *k1 yo ssk*

 Then:

 *K2 k2tog*

*K2tog yo*

*K1 k2tog*

*K2tog*

 Cut yarn leaving a long end. Using a yarn needle pull yarn through the remaining stitches on the needles and remove stitched from needles. Pull thread tight to pull stitches together. I normally thread the yarn through each stitch twice then pull the yarn through to the wrong side.

 Hide ends and block to fit.

Sweaters

I’m ploughing on with the twelve sweaters in twelve months challenge, I’m trying to get as many done before April/May as possible because after that everything will get a bit crazy for a couple of months. So far I have my Diva tunic:

My sisters Diva tunic:

My Liesl (this only took 300 yards of yarn!!)

And finally my ribbed lace bolero – although I think this should only count as a half project!:

Not bad for the first two months I think. I’m still slowly working on my minimalist cardigan but that does seem to have ground to a halt at the moment as I keep seeing quicker easier projects to do. Must develop some self-discipline!

A general update

I’m trying to remember how many things I’ve made since I was last properly on here. I made five soap sacks as pressies for the family for Xmas ( I started knitting them pretty much Xmas Eve!) and I made one for the MIL to be for her birthday in January.

At my last count I finished 32 projects in 2009 and have 9 WIPs left over from 2009. The FO’s are:

3 accessories

5 cowls

2 gloves/wristwarmers

2 hats

7 scarves

5 soap sacks

6 random items

1 top

Left over I have:

1 accessory

2 random things

6 scarves (which means maybe I shouldn’t make so many scarves!)

There’s also another top but I started that so close to Xmas I’m going to count it as a 2010 WIP.

So for 2010 I currently have 3 WIPS

2 tops

1 accessory

And two FO’s

1 soap sack

1 top

All in all not too bad a round up I think. My sister has asked me to make her a pink version of my Diva top so I’ll be working on that and my Minimalist Cardigan for the forseeable future. Hopefully there may be some FO pics of those coming soon!

Twelve tops

Over the Xmas break I decided I wanted to try to make 12 tops/shrugs/dresses in 2010. I went through and chose the following 12 patterns:

Diva Tunic

Minimalist Cardigan

Buttony

Sleeveless top

Grouch

Ms Marigold

Coachella

Ballet Camisole

Whisper Cardigan

Featherweight Cardigan

Tantric Puzzle Top

Evening shrug
Some like the evening shrug and coachella had been in my queue for a while whilst others like the ballet camisole were a new find. I’ve worked out what yarn I want to make them out of, how much I need and I have 10 out of the 12 yarns and most of the patterns and needles.

I cast on the first one on the 1st of January and was finished by the 12th of January. It was the lovely Diva Tunic by Phoenix Bess who is so talented it’s almost sickening but I love her designs.

Although I like knitting I’m not much one for cables and colour work. The smooth funky patterns like Diva Tunic are the ones which appeal to me the most.

So here it is:

Seeing as I finished my first one I cast on for the Minimalist Cardigan using my blue Malabrigo worsted that I bought ages ago for another project which I found too hard to do. I’m about 30-40% into this cardigan and although its inches and inches of moss stitch it’s actually going quite well.

I’ve done loads of other knitting since the last time I posted so more pictures next time!

Whilst I was looking through the other Minimalist Cardigan projects on Ravelry I found that I wasn’t the only one planning to make 12 tops in 12 months. So I’ve joined the group: Knit a sweater a month challenge. Here’s hoping I manage to complete the challenge!

New Years resolution

My new year’s resolution is to only buy new yarn when I have actually used some up. So with that in mind over the last 2 weeks I have bought/received 28 balls/skeins of yarn! But hey it’s not the new year yet! And 13 were pressies from my wonderful fiance.

However I’m happiest about my little bundle from Pure Purl today. Kim sent it through as quickly as normal, all wrapped up and gift tagged like a little present with a sweet message on there. Inside were my skeins of Manos Silk Blend and Araucania Ranco Multi along with a pretty badge saying I love to k1 p1 which is so cute. There was also another Pure Purl project bag in there a little one which is great as my green one has become my favorite project bag and this new one will be great for storing smaller projects on the go. As usual Pure Purl gives the best service and such low prices – I’m addicted lol.

Anyway more about my yarn purchases and my recent FO’s (there are quite a few) next time!

Some patterns

I finally got my hands on some Posh Yarn last Sunday – and by the following Saturday it was all gone! Just in time for the next sale.

For those of you who aren’t aware of Posh Yarns, their yarn goes on sale at 7pm (GMT) each Sunday and usually sells out within minutes. It’s hard to get your hands on some but I managed to get a skein of the lovely Sylvia Aran called Intrigue (Or rather INTRIGUE! as Tony was writing the labels).

The yarn come through by Tuesday all wrapped up in a pretty pink parcel but I was out so I didn’t get my hands on it until Wednesday where I sat at work stroking it – no really!

On Thursday I toyed with the idea of making it into a small bag but it is so soft (50% merino 50% silk) that I decided it deserved to go right next to my skin.

So I fancied a pair of wrist warmers. There’s some lovely patterns for fingerless gloves out there but I wanted something a little simpler. Something that could be shoved on under my sleeves and pushed down or pulled up over my hands as necessary.

I’m a bit of a beginner and after a couple of abortive attempts at casting onto DPN’s that were in reality too big for the yarn anyway I decided I would knit these flat and seam them. I also decided to put some shaping in for the wrists as I have skinny wrists.

So the Intriguingly Posh Wristwarmers were born. It’s a very simple pattern that knits up in about half an hour per wrist warmer.

Intriguingly Posh Wristwarmers

K = knit,

K2tog = knit two stitches together

Kfb = knit into front and back of stitch to make two stitches

Numbers in brackets at the end of each row indicate how many stitches you should end up with in that row

Needle size: 4.5 mm

Gauge: 5.5 stitches per inch and 9 rows

Cast on 38 stitches

Row 1 – 18: K each row          (38)

Row 19: k2tog k36                  (37)

Row 20: k18 k2tog k17           (36)

Row 21: k34 k2tog                  (35)

Row 22: k16 k2tog k17           (34)

Row 23: k2tog k32                  (33)

Row 24: k16 k2tog k15           (32)

Row 25: k30 k2tog                  (31)

Row 26: k14 k2tog k15           (30)

Row 27: k2tog k28                  (29)

Row 28: k14 k2tog k13           (28)

Row 29 – 35: K each row        (28)

Row 36: k14 kfb k13               (29)

Row 37: kfb k28                      (30)

Row 38: k14 kfb k15               (31)

Row 39: k30 kfb                      (32)

Row 40: k16 kfb k17               (33)

Row 41: kfb k32                      (34)

Row 42: k16 kfb k17               (35)

Row 43: k34 kfb                      (36)

Row 44: k18 kfb k17               (37)

Row 45: kfb k36                      (38)

Row 46 – 63: K each row        (38)

Bind off loosely

The finished piece should measure 7 inches from top to bottom, 8 inches across at the widest parts and 6 inches across at the narrowest part. Make two of these and seam up using mattress stitch.

I then decided to try to make some with thumb holes. I bought some Rowan Pure wool Aran which has roughly the same yardage as the Posh yarn and made the following:

The pattern for the version with thumb holes is:

Row 1 – 9: K each row            (38)

Row 10: k17 (referred to as R) Bind off 4 k17 (referred to as L) (34)

Place the L stitches onto a stitch holder

Row 11 – 15: K each row        (17)

Place R stitches on a stitch holder and cut the yarn leaving a 2 inch tail

Rejoin the yarn at the L set of stitches

Row 11- 15: K each row (17)

Row 16: k17 Cast on 4 k17 (when you get to the R set of stitches remove them from the stitch holder, place on free needle and continue to knit along. Knit with the working yarn and the tail at the same time until the tail is all woven into the knitting. (38)

Row 17 – 18: K each row        (38)

Row 19: k2tog k36                  (37)

Row 20: k18 k2tog k17           (36)

Row 21: k34 k2tog                  (35)

Row 22: k16 k2tog k17           (34)

Row 23: k2tog k32                  (33)

Row 24: k16 k2tog k15           (32)

Row 25: k30 k2tog                  (31)

Row 26: k14 k2tog k15           (30)

Row 27: k2tog k28                  (29)

Row 28: k14 k2tog k13           (28)

Row 29 – 35: K each row        (28)

Row 36: k14 kfb k13               (29)

Row 37: kfb k28                      (30)

Row 38: k14 kfb k15               (31)

Row 39: k30 kfb                      (32)

Row 40: k16 kfb k17               (33)

Row 41: kfb k32                      (34)

Row 42: k16 kfb k17               (35)

Row 43: k34 kfb                      (36)

Row 44: k18 kfb k17               (37)

Row 45: kfb k36                      (38)

Row 46 – 63: K each row        (38)

Each wristwarmer took up 30 grams of yarn leaving me with around 40 grams or approximately 70 yards of yarn. Which I decided left me with just enough to make a matching neckwarmer.

Intriguingly Posh Neckwarmer

CO = cast on

BO = Bind off

Needle size: 6.00mm

Gauge: 4 stitches per inch and 7 rows per inch

Notions: 3 buttons approx 1 inch diameter

Cast on 21

Row 1 – 3: Knit

Row 4: k3 BO1 K6 BO1 K6 BO1 K3

Row 5: k3 CO1 K6 CO1 K6 CO1 K3

Continue to knit until you run out of wool.

Bind off loosely and then sew three buttons on the end of the scarf.

My neckwarmer ended up 5.5 inches wide by 18.5 inches long.

Note: One skein of Posh Sylvia OR one skien of Rowan Pure Wool Aran will make both the wristwarmers and the neckwarmer

Yarn, yarn and more yarn

I seem to be overflowing with yarn a little bit at the moment. My stash on Ravelry is currently showing 21 – not bad you might say but considering the short time I’ve been knitting (about four months) and the fact that I’ve apparently used up 16 and given away 12 thats a lot of yarn buying!

I have several Xmas projects on the go at the moment which seem to be taking all my time. I just finished a scarf in kidsilk haze for my fiance’s mother. Pictures may have to wait until after Xmas as I can’t get the scarf in decently lighting to photograph it without her seeing. But here’s a close up of it:

Its made to the Fayfay pattern but as I received the yarn as part of my winter sanity swap package I called it my Sanityfay.

I’m also making a scarf called Silken Skies for my mum out of Debbie Bliss Pure silk which is lovely stuff to work with. I chose a simple stitch out of a stitch dictionary and wanted to make it out of just the one skein. unfortunately it ended up too short and I had to buy another skein. So at the same time I got some purple in the hopes that I can play around with the pattern and make it into a one skein pattern. Although when I will get around to that I’m not sure.

I’m also designing my own one skein pattern for a ball of kidsilk haze called Horseshoe in the clouds. I put some pictures up of it the other day. Its growing well. I’ve worked out that each pattern repeat uses approximately 1g of kidsilk haze so I should have 24 – 25 patter repeats (I’ve done ten). I also stupidly worked out that this will use exactly 500 beads – as putting the beads in drives me mad at times it wasn’t really what I wanted to hear.

I also finally got my hands on some Posh yarn – with which I made some wrist warmers:

They are lovely comfy things and I’m trying to work out if I have enough yarn left to make a neckwarmer with. The pattern is my own and will be posted up on here soon.

Then today I had the wonderfully stupid idea that making a hat for my fiance for Xmas would be a fun thing to do. One trip to the shops and three balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino aran later and I’m questioning my sanity.

I’m also a little fed up because sitting forlornly in a corner is 4 skeins of the most beautiful Malabrigo worsted in Tuareg a lovely blue colour which is hopefully destined to become a jumper some time soon. I really wanted to start this as soon as the yarn arrived but other things just seemed to get in the way.

I ordered the Malabrigo from Pure Purl one of my favorite online stores. She sent it to me in a lovely project bag which has become my favorite for storing my WIP’s and carrying them to the handspinners group I visit.

Pure Purl is such a friendly website with the lovely Kim giving excellent service. The delivery is usually next day, the bag was free(!) and if you are on Ravelry and buy from her its worth joining her forum as she takes such an interest with what we do with the yarn we buy from her. The only problem I have with her website is that all the stuff is soooooo nice its going to make me spend too much money! Go on take a look I dare you…. Just don’t blame me if you have no money left at the end of it!

I’ve worked in retail for years and even now I still work in a customer service type job so I get easily annoyed by bad customer service – I’m quite a difficult customer to please. But Kim has really impressed me and I just wish I lived closer to her so that I could work for her for free just to play with the lovely yarn!