Citron

Citron from Knitty, main body knit in Flamboyance Yarns Dashing merino sock. The pattern calls for a heavier laceweight yarn with around 500 yards, so the sock yarn ran out just after the increases for the ruffled edge. I used some leftover RYC Cashsoft 4ply in deep purple for the remainder, when that ran out on the last row I cast off with a paler lilac/mauve in the same yarn.

If I made this again I would probably use KFB rather than M1 for the increases - at this sort of loose gauge, the M1s are very obvious when the piece is blocked. I love the shape it creates, and I tried not to block it too harshly to retain as much of the ruching as possible.

I'm now working on a Season 14 Doctor Who scarf, as worn by Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor). WittyLittleKnitter is an excellent resource for Who scarf patterns and information. I'm using Cascade 220 for mine, substituting Beige for sand, and Goldenrod for Gold. I also got Christmas Red standard as the heather version is pretty much impossible to get here at the moment.

Thanks for all your comments on the last post, and particularly regarding "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". I finally started reading it, but haven't got very far yet, it does seem good though.

I've just seen the news on John Simm Online that he has a new TV project, working with Philip Glenister. That was exciting enough in itself, but it also stars Max Beesley, so I'm one happy bunny today. We don't have Sky any more but it will likely be out on DVD soon after broadcast, judging by the current "Strike Back" made by the same people for Sky.

Alveare

Alveare by Woolly Wormhead, knit in my own hand dyed Flamboyance Yarns Bailey aran (100% BFL). It took around 88g for the medium size. I absolutely love the decrease pattern, it creates a very distinctive pentagon shape. I didn't block this over a form, as I wanted to keep a little of the beehive look. The BFL knit up very well, with great stitch definition, and it also has a lot of "body" even after washing and blocking.

My current WIP is a Citron shawlette in Flamboyance Dashing 4ply (100% superwash merino), in a shade I named Tangerine Dream. I'm using 5mm needles, as the pattern is written for laceweight on 4mm needles. It's a simple effect to execute and looks good so far. It will be interesting to see how far the skein goes, I am prepared to use a toning yarn for the ruffle if need be!



I'm also currently trying to decide which book to read next. I finished "I Robot" a wee while ago, and it's in a volume with "Robots and Empire". The latter isn't inspiring me much though, so I'm going to start either the first True Blood novel, or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I'm leaning towards the latter, no doubt partly inspired by the new series of Wallander on BBC4 - the original Swedish version which I do much prefer to the Kenneth Branagh adaptations. I've not yet read any of the Henning Mankell books but have found a useful website dedicated to the books and their adaptations.

Noro Striped Scarf & Shawl That Jazz

Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf by brooklyntweed
Yarn: Noro Kureyon shades 138, 159, 164 & unknown
Yardage: 4 skeins'-worth in total, 2 of 138, 1 of 159, part-skeins of 164 and unknown
Needles: 4.5mm

I've been wanting to make one of these manually-striped Noro scarves for a long time. I love how this turned out. I cast on 41 stitches for a 1x1 rib scarf approx. 7 inches wide.



Pattern: Shawl That Jazz by Samantha Roshak
Yarn: Mirasol Hacho shade Scarlet Pimpernel
Yardage: 8 skeins approx. 1096 yards
Needles: 5mm

Another cosy winter woolly! The shape of this is lovely, a gentle curve achieved by using short rows. I made the border around 3 inches deep, a little bigger than the size in the pattern. If I made this again I'd leave out the decrease row after picking up the border stitches, for a more ruffly effect.

My current projects include Basil from The Summer Tweed Collection, a sweater I've wanted to make for a while. This is the first time I've knit with Rowan's Summer Tweed, and I'm pleasantly surprised with how it handles. I was expecting something awkward but after the first row I find it great to knit with. The fabric is makes is rather nice too, a bit "scrunchy" but with a softness too. It will be interesting to see how it feels after washing. I'm also making the Robin beret from Amber: A Winter Gathering by Kim Hargreaves. The kit had been in stash for a wee while!

Finally, I would like to wish Felipe Massa all the best for his recuperation after the awful crash during Q2 at the Hungaroring. It was a very worrying time but thankfully he is now on the mend. Once again we can be very thankful for the safety improvements in F1 over the years, in this case the new helmets in particular. I'll keep the picture at top right on the blog until Felipe is back racing again.

Of WIPs and knitting

I've been casting on for more projects as the mood takes me, most recently Tempest in this lovely Violet Green Socrates 4ply I originally bought for Shoalwater:



I'll have a WIP photo soon, as I only started this last night and am about 20 rows in to the back. It's a cardigan I've been wanting to make ever since I saw it, but I'm doing a non-striped version instead. There is plenty of the Seascape, and I love the colours without adding any toning stripes. Thanks are due to pictish for suggesting this as I hadn't considered this option before.

Shawl That Jazz is on a mini-hiatus, about half way through the first section. I generally like the colours in the yarn but have a small bee in my bonnet about the dark bottle-ish green elements. This is one of the very very few colours/shades I don't really like. That said I like it overall, and thankfully the rows are getting shorter!



I've also been working on Ishbel this week, heading towards starting the lace section. The WIP photo isn't terribly exciting but it's on Ravelry should you wish to see it. The red Eva is showing its semi-solid nature, when observed in daylight you can see quite a variation in depth of shade. More interesting than a true solid shade, I think.

There is also my first ever sock! I had to learn the long tail cast-on for this, having never bothered with it in the past. Once I watched the video on Knitting Help I "got" it, I do seem to learn much more readily from demos rather than pictures in books. It doesn't help that I can't often make out what goes where in the diagrams in books, despite how clearly they are drawn. Photos are easier, and I learned how to knit in the round with 2 circs from a very helpful tutorial I'd printed out (which now seems to have disappeared online). My "join" stitches are a little loose so far (not helped by plumping for plain stockinette for the main sock body!), but I'm getting there!



This is the yarn I dyed with Kool Aid a couple of weeks ago, I rather like how it is knitting up!

Ms Marigold

Pattern: Ms Marigold by ZephyrStyle
Yarn: Rowan Calmer shade Kiwi
Yardage: 188g (less than four standard balls)
Needles: 4.5mm Addi circ & 4mm for the neck and arm edgings

This turned out very well indeed, the combination of a stretchy yarn and making a size smaller gave a good figure-hugging fit. This tank/top is knit top-down, and surprisingly I didn't have to make any mods to the pattern as written - I was expecting to have to add extra before I rejoined the armholes, for example. My only real mod was to finish the arm edgings with 3 rows of rib, rather than the crochet edging and ruffle. I'd look a bit of a numpty with ruffles at the top of my square shoulders!

I would definitely make this again, the Calmer is a delightful yarn to work with. The top was hand washed, then spun in the machine inside a mesh laundry bag, and line dried as the weather is so lovely. No stretching out of shape or any other problems. My next version may well be in a wool yarn, although I'm tempted to make one in deep pink Calmer too.

Last weekend I started a mini shawl in variegated DK on large needles, and that has now been frogged. I realised I wouldn't really have enough to finish it in that shade alone, and decided a toning border/ruffle just wouldn't be quite right. It had been a choice between that and Ishbel, so I cast on the latter a couple of nights ago. I'm using Posh Yarn Eva 2ply, in a deep red which according to my records was the PY Lace Club November 2006 yarn. About time it was knitted with!



This is the larger version of the shawl, and I'm hoping to have enough yarn left over to make the beret too.

24 in 2009

Having decided this is the year of knitting up some of my stash, into some of the lovely projects I have queued, I've joined up for the 24 in 2009 challenge (link is to the Ravelry thread in the Stash Knit-down group, where the idea originated).

This is also a knitalong/project on the Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns forum, thanks go to KnittingLadybird for the button in the sidebar! When I counted up the projects I'd completed in 2008 I was quite surprised to find there were 21. This in a year where I struggled to be able to knit at all at times, and I certainly felt my output was reduced. The 24 projects can be anything you like, there are no restrictions, and you can count anything you already had as a WIP in 2008.

Speaking of WIPs, here is my current progress on Clapotis #3:



I've just completed the ninth straight repeat (of thirteen), and am using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in "Watercolour". It looks like I'll need a little of a fourth skein to finish, based upon my yarn usage calculations thus far. This yarn has been in stash for some time, always intended for another Clapotis. Why Clapotis? I know it's quite an "old" pattern now, but my original one has been worn day in, day out for nigh on 3 years. It's a perfect design for wearing as a scarf, and if it's chilly (think air-conditioned offices) it serves very well as a wrap to ward off the cold. My original piece is starting to look a little faded with washing and wearing, although it has barely pilled at all, and I'd always promised myself another, in worsted weight this time.

I now need to head off and tackle the raglan seaming on the cardigan, it has been pinned for a couple of days, but I need decent daylight for sewing-up.

I also decided to keep track of how much yarn I've actually knit up this year, using the KnitMeter. I'm usually clueless how much I've used, and as I'm trying to knit some of the stash it seemed a useful thing to have a record.

Finally, thank you for all your comments, they are all very much appreciated! It's not always that easy to reply directly to the author, given that Blogger doesn't ask for an email address when commenting. However I will try to post some responses in the comments themselves, which I believe you can track by selecting the option to have follow-up comments emailed to you.

Ocean Waves shawl, and mitts

Two posts in one week, whatever next!

Ocean Waves shawl in Posh Yarn Emily:





More details on ravelry.

Also made this week, a pair of fingerless mitts in New Lanark Donegal Silk Aran, for my husband.



Again more details on ravelry.

I'm now part way through the Marble Muffin hat in Araucania Aysen, gorgeous yarn to knit with!

Forest Canopy Shawl

Finished last weekend and blocked Sunday/Monday, and an outdoor photoshoot on Thursday after work:



Pattern - Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence
Yarn - Posh Yarn Helena DK shade "Dales"
Yardage - approx 116g used out of 200g
Modifications - three extra pattern repeats

Blogiversary giveaway!

As previously mentioned, March is the month I first started blogging, way back in 2005. This makes it my three year blogiversary, so it's definitely an excuse to have a giveaway.

Here's what's up for grabs:



A prize for laceweight junkies! On the left, a skein of handpaintedyarn.com pure wool laceweight. The site says this is 850 yards per skein, ravelry says 950. Gorgeous mix of purply reds, not available on the website at the moment. On the right, a skein of Posh Yarn Felicity pure silk laceweight. I believe this is 700 yards, and not a yarn that PY carry any more. This skein was a limited run for the one-time Lace Club.

To enter the draw, please leave a comment on this post!

Last date for comments is Friday 5th April, right up to midnight UK time.

I also have an extra prize to give away, this time for all the lovely people who drop by here and comment. I know a few of you are having a break from blogging at the moment too, or don't have much free time for one reason or another, so I wanted to say "thanks" by including all of the "regulars" in a separate draw too (you can still enter the other draw of course!). I won't post any pictures, suffice to say it is sock-oriented!

Hopefully I will be announcing the winners on the weekend of the 6-7th April. Good luck!

I am now off to do a little cleaning around the house, then finish off the border and bind-off on my Forest Canopy shawl. The latter may have to wait until we've watched the Malaysian Grand Prix though! Couldn't face getting up at 6am on a Sunday to watch it live so we're watching the re-run in an hour or so :-) I shall be cheering for all of the British drivers on principle, and also rooting for my favourite:



(and avoiding any and all news feeds between now and 2-45!)

Diversionary lace

I couldn't resist starting the Forest Canopy Shawl I mentioned in the previous post, using Posh Yarn Helena merino DK in shade "Dales". Four repeats done so far:



I'm aiming to pick up for the button band on CPH this weekend, but I think the lovely colours in the merino were just the kind of Spring pick-me-up that was needed.

Finally wrested from the clutches of the Post Office today (one out of four parcels to sign for, so they took all four back to the office, argh!), here is some of the gorgeous Yarn Yard merino in shades Mysteron (above) and Smile:



This is for the Cranford Mitts (link goes to Sussex Yorkie's lovely first pair of mitts), and judging from reports, these two 50g skeins should be enough for 2 pairs. I'm intending using the Mysteron as the main lace for the first pair with Smile (and it does indeed make me do just that) for the edging.

Natalie now sells most of her yarn in 50g skeins, which is great for things like the mitts and even for socks, where you want to use more than one colour. It's so tempting in fact that I also got these in the same parcel:



Oatcake (above) and Moment 50g skeins of Yarn Yard sock.

I'm not doing too badly with my attempts to knit from stash, even so, and if you can't buy some scrummy yarn every so often it's a pretty miserable do! I'd bought very little so far this year until I found out that Dunelm Mill were selling off some Rowan yarns at 99p per ball. Fear not, they had not happened upon a secret stash of R2 yarn :-D When I went to our local store they had Holiday, Cotton Braid and Spray. I've ended up with three different shades of Spray, enough for a number of jumpers judging by the Urban Streets book which I received today (another of the hostage parcels).

And speaking of sock yarn - I am planning to attempt my first pair of socks in the near future. I've got enough sock yarn in stash to see me through a fair few pairs, I think, and I've just invested in some 60cm Knitpicks circs so I can do the two-circulars method. Thanks to BlueADT and the other posters on the 2-socks-2-circs KAL on the CTY forum for inspiring me. I shall try one sock at first though, 2 at once may be too far off the deep end for a first attempt!

I also ordered this which arrived today:



Sensational Knitted Socks, which seems to be a very popular book (and I'll surely end up with the second one too!). Also pictured is Ysolda's latest beret pattern, I've acquired several of her lovely patterns recently, now to acquire a time turner to have the time to knit them all :-D I also have my beady eye on the entrelac bag from the latest Yarn Forward, and the Hurry Up Spring mitts from Stitch 'n' Bitch....

Tank top in Twilleys Freedom Spirit

Pattern: Tank top from "Knitting" magazine
Yarn: Twilleys Freedom Spirit shade 501 "Soul"
Yardage: 5 balls plus a small amount of a sixth
Needles: Brittany birch 4mm, metal 3.5mm and Denise 4mm circular
Modifications: made the armholes slightly deeper

This was a nice easy knit, despite the pattern in the magazine having various parts missing - mostly near the end - but they were easily worked out. I also got to practice picking up a dropped stitch for the first time from about 5 inches down on the back piece. Not quite fully dropped, more of a hole with stitches above, so I unravelled that stitch back down and picked it back up with a crochet hook. I'm very pleased with my picking up of stitches on this piece for the neck an armholes too. I made sure to follow the same line and not deviate and it seems to have worked. I worked my decreases one stitch in from the end of the row in all cases too so you can see them on the arm curves and neck.

The pattern makes a long-line tank and has shaping to accomodate hips and waist. Not sure that the horizontal stripes are quite the most flattering thing on my figure at the moment, but here's a photo to show that it actually is a very good fit:



Now that I've scared you all, here's some lovely yarn to take your mind off it :-) This is Socrates 4ply from Violet Green, and is for a Shoalwater shawl. After seeing murdo's lovely WIP on the Crafty Threads forum I had to dig the pattern out, then I saw this which is named "Seascape":



I can't wait to get started with this. I should probably attempt to finish Spring Things first though. After some thought I decided I won't be doing the nupps on it though. KSH is not a yarn I would choose to work with again, it feels lovely but is so fine and fluffy I do have trouble handling it. After a few troubles with decreases I decided the last thing I want to do is invite disaster with p5tog! I'd attempt it happily with a different yarn though.

My Blue Sky Alpacas cotton arrived from kpixie yesterday, it took barely 6 days to reach me, and it's beautiful yarn. The picture doesn't do the green justice, it's more olive than it shows, but it does show some of the lustrous softness:



This is of course for Flair, and again I'm itching to get started!

After mandella's excellent review and hearing good things all round, I bought "No Sheep For You" by Amy Singer. I've been reading the first few chapters and have learnt a fair bit already about fibres (now I finally know what modal is!). The patterns I've looked at so far are lovely too.

I also picked up several Colinette pattern books for half price from the ongoing Knit Tin sale. I'd wanted Wayfarer in particular for a while so was happy to find it at a bargainous price.

Some great news this week for a knitblogger friend, Hazel's pattern for a beaded jacket is published in the current issue of Simply Knitting! It's a lovely 6-page spread and a very pretty piece indeed.

I'd also like to mention Sunflower Swifts and Sublime Spindles who now have a blog to showcase their wares. I bought my swift from them earlier this year and am very pleased with it, it's a beautiful piece of work.

Finally a mention to the lovely Piglottie who has an ongoing sale of her excellent hand-made cards, in aid of a friend's charitable trek. Please pop over and take a look!

More of the same

The temptation to cast on more WIPs is ever-present, and I've several things in mind that I'd like to start, but this week I've persevered with my two current main projects. The tank top is almost up to the neckline of the front piece and I'm hoping to finish the main knitting on that this coming week.

I've been doing one repeat per day so far (two yesterday) on the KSH shawl. I pick it up when I get home from work and complete a repeat in good daylight. Last night I did a repeat late on under the worklamp and even with a daylight bulb it was more difficult to see, the yarn becomes rather shiny and since it's not that dark a colour to start with, tends to merge with the needles!

There have been one or two kerfuffles along the way. The first was something strange occurring on a purl row (you'd think I'd save my gaffes for the lace rows!) and I had to readjust the number of stitches. This worked well, then at some point I forgot the last purl row of a repeat so I have a small section "back to front"! Again I don't think this will be particularly noticeable once the shawl is blocked, one thing about KSH is that it is actually strangely forgiving about mistakes of this nature, the fabric is so open and cobwebby. I was fighting off some form of cold bug most of last week too and it did make me rather slower than usual at knitting, and probably accounts for the missed purl row too! One night I could hardly face even the tank top knitting so it must have been affecting my faculties :-)

Here it is at 10 repeats out of 13 of chart A (now completed 11):



I'm using straights as I found these very good for the Forest Canopy shawl, and given I'm using KSH it does make it easier to handle for me. I'm looking at acquiring some Addi lace circular needles though. These seem to have rave reviews, and this US-based shop will apparently ship needle-only orders free to the UK. I also found Loop GB carry them but currently they are all listed as out of stock.

After seeing Sarah's post about the Blue Sky Alpaca cotton, way back in March (heading towards two months ago now) I finally decided I would order some to make Flair. See how I resisted temptation for So Long ;-) I ordered from kpixie, who do indeed give you a lovely 10% off voucher which can be used against your first order if you so wish. Even with postage this still comes out to less than I would be able to buy it for in the UK. I've ordered the Fern shade, which should go with quite a lot of things in my wardrobe.

This week the postie brought me this lovely goth pin from Hazel, these will soon be available from Knitz & Glitz.



It goes beautifully with my shawl, thanks again Hazel!

I've just finished reading Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. This is a very interesting look at the life of a concubine in the Forbidden City, during the time of the Opium Wars. It is based on real people and events and at times is quite terrifying as you see the constraints and the dangers that Orchid faces. I enjoyed the story but found the style rather disjointed at times. I've just started "Persuasion", one of Jane Austen's novels that I have have not read before, and by contrast it is a sheer delight to read. Having been obliged to read "Pride and Prejudice" for O-level and not enjoying it at all at the time (who could enjoy dissecting a book), in more recent years I have hugely enjoyed reading Jane Austen's work. P&P is one of my favourite books of all time.

Spring Things progress

I've decided to persevere with the Spring Things shawl in KSH. It looks like a rather rumpled thing at the moment but I think it will work quite well:



I certainly find it a lot easier to work on this in daylight - and the tank top at night!

Having a week or so off work is not good for avoiding yarn temptation. I snagged a pack of Yorkshire Tweed Aran in "Hero" (a lovely almost-teal blue) from Jannette's special offer email. From last week's Posh Yarn sale page, two gorgeous skeins of Emily 4ply, one in "Dainty" to accompany the other skein previously acquired, and "Digress":



Finally an ebay bargain won at the end of March which arrived from the Netherlands this week. Ten skeins of Lana Grossa Royal Tweed in yellow, intended for the Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits. I believe this is the colour the original was made in. Yellow isn't a colour I would use a lot but this is a very cheery shade, and the yarn is rather fabulous.

Diamonds on the Diagonal scarf

Pattern: Diamonds on the Diagonal scarf (half diamond version) by Ilga Leja
Yarn: Posh Yarn Lucia 4ply shade "Muse"
Yardage: less than one skein (around four-fifths used)
Needles: 4mm bamboo straights
Pattern amendments: knit one extra pattern repeat on each half of the scarf; 4mm needles instead of 3.75mm



These are very well written patterns and include both charts and written instructions. I did wonder if the scarf would block to the length stated in the pattern (54") but as it turned out, that was no problem at all.

I've not made too much progress in sewing up my jacket, the sides are done but the sleeves and the edgings still need doing. This is partly due to preferring actual knitting to seaming (especially as I'm currently on holiday from work), and partly because I know the jacket is a little on the small side. This is due to my picking the wrong size kit originally, I think, the Bergere sizings don't appear to run to the generous side and I thought given "actual" measurements it would be OK. Mind you, this was a year ago and I've learnt quite a bit about picking the correct size to make since then!

I started making the Spring Things shawl in KSH, but am now in two minds as to whether to continue in that, or restart in some PY laceweight instead. I'm not convinced about the whole look of the KSH so far, plus the fact it isn't a terribly easy yarn for me to handle. I think I'll try another pattern repeat and see how it looks then.

I've been doing most of my knitting on a tank top in Twilleys Freedom Spirit (shade Soul), using a pattern from a recent "Knitting" magazine. I'm not far off finished with the back section, so far I've used almost 2 balls of the FS. The are all from the same pack/dyelot yet look at the definite difference in the pattern and colouration. I rather like it and there's no issue with pooling with this yarn, but I didn't realise it varied quite so much!



Yesterday we went to Coldspring Mill and I bought these:



A pack of Debbie Bliss SoHo for 14.99, and 430g of Twilleys Freedom Spirit for 12 pounds something!

On Monday we visited Freeport and found these two knitting books in Book Depot for a few pounds each:



The stitch dictionary has excellent clear colour photos and charts. The other book appears to be part of a small series of craft books, there are a few projects in there I'd make including a sideways knit jacket and a multi-yarn beret.

Finally I'd like to say a big thanks for all the lovely comments on my Forest Canopy Shawl, they were much appreciated!

Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl

I'm absolutely delighted with this, despite the fact that I ran out of the original yarn right before the last cast-off row! I kid you not. Thankfully I had bought some toning yarn last Wednesday at PY and I used that to cast-off with. I think I like it even more with that slightly contrasting edging. My next one of these will be in DK!



click to see much larger photo

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence
Yarn: Posh Yarn Emily 100g in shade "Yodel" - edged with Emily shade "Dainty"
Yardage: full skein of Emily plus a tiny amount of a second skein to finish
Needles: 5mm bamboo straights

I really enjoyed making this shawl, I started last Saturday and despite taking time out to finish the hood on my Bergere jacket, still managed to finish this one week later. The Emily yarn is a delight to knit with, I guess it's one of those things that I ran out when I did, and I shall buy two skeins in future if I want to make more!



click to see much larger photo

More yarn naughtiness this week, and I do seem to be amassing a small stash of PY ;-)



A skein of PY Sophia (cashmere) laceweight in "Chuckle".

I also won a charity auction on Crafty Threads and Yarns Forum, with yarn kindly donated by Aknita in aid of Chrissy's sun-walk fundraising. This is SWTC Oasis soy silk in "Passion", lovely!



Even better news this week is that I've finally finished my Bergere jacket. My next task is sewing it up, which will take a little while as all the edgings have to be turned up and stitched as well as the usual seams!

On a whim

Last night I decided to wind the skein of Emily 4ply in "Yodel" into a centre-pull ball. Once I'd seen it wound and how the colours were blending I couldn't resist starting a Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl (clickable).



The picture shows the colours well but they are even fresher and more springlike in reality. This shawl will definitely need to be photographed outside when completed! I'm very pleased with how the Emily blend knits up too, it's gorgeous soft yarn and works very well on the suggested 5mm needles for this pattern. I decided to use straights as I'm currently being driven potty by knitting the jacket hood on circs - I like them but I need a rest from them at the moment!

I also wanted to say a huge congrats to Hazel for her first published pattern in the current edition of "Knitting" magazine. It's a beautiful lace tablecloth in two shades of Sirdar Luxury Cotton. Hazel also has a pattern in the upcoming "Simply Knitting", stay tuned!