Giving Shetland a Go

This really should be titled 'In Which I Cannae See Green Cheese'. The Scot's out there will know what that means. Basically I saw something on instagram, wanted to join in and this is the result. There is a knit-along going on. It's a hap knit-along, or rather a hap-along. I saw quite a few people mentioning it on instagram (I follow a lot of yarny people it would seem) and I wanted a piece of the action. It is run by a lady who has a fab blog about using British based yarns. In keeping with that a hap is a Scottish word for something to wrap round and keep you warm. The only rule to joining in is that it had to have hap in the title or description.

I searched and searched and while I saw a few pattern liked I instantly fell in love with this pattern called Halligrath designed by Gudrun Johnston for Brooklyn Tweed (I have rave about Brooklyn Tweed many many times). While it is inspired by Shetland design (and most haps are of Shetland design) it does not mention the word. You have no idea how much I don't care. I instantly fell in love with the pattern. I even like it in that green which is not a colour I would ever choose.

Instead I decided to go with a Shetland yarn. I picked Jamieson and Smith. It's a yarn that I have used just once before. It was for a class on colour work. I thought it would have the right texture and the muted tones suited to it. I actually wanted more of a teal colour but as it wasn't available I picked this petrol blue instead.

This is the start of the chart and one repeat of the pattern. I have plenty of yarn to knit up the large size and then have some left over. You can see from the first image that I bought it in a cone rather than the 25g balls. Basically, the thought of all those loose ends is demoralising. The downside is that the cones are meant for machine knitting and so have an oily residue. However, the website stated that you could still use it for hand knitting so long as you wash it after. Since I am going to have to block the garment it's going to get washed anyway. Win win in my book and I will have plenty of yarn left over for some socks (yes, it's the equivalent of 4ply).

If you are interested in the hap-along you can find it on the organisers blog Knit British, which is also listed on my blogs page. Although I won't be joining in I still love seeing the photo's from others who are joining in and maybe I will join in another knit-along (hopefully after I have finished something).

Keeping with the blue I picked this up from my good friend of For the Love of Yarn. I fell in love with the colour as soon as she posted an image of it. It didn't matter that it was lace weight. I thought it would entice me back to lace knitting.

As I wanted to try something new I thought of a book I bought years ago, Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas. I thought it was about time I knitted something from it. I thought the mobius scarf would be perfect!

Sadly I am not in love with how it is knitting up. I love the way the colours are striping but you can't see the pattern at all. I know pinning brings out the pattern with lace. Having stretched it out though I just can't see it. I think this pattern needs a slightly thicker yarn even though it calls for lace weight. I also have more yarn than I need for this scarf (a lot more) and I really don't want to waste it. I haven't totally decided but I am thinking I should start again with a new pattern.

Project Round Up!

This is the last of my catch up posts. The truth is that I haven't done a whole lot of crafting this year and so it's fairly easy to fit it all in on the one. My photo's are also a little all over the place and in some cases I have only taken and I would have much preferred a few other shots if I was posting about them on their own.

This first finish is a freebie kit from a magazine I have taken too. I stopped buying cross stitch magazines years ago in favour of knitting magazines (which I have also since stopped buying) because the tended to have almost the same things every week. Cross Stitcher seems to have changed it's style in that period and quite often there are retro or vintage designs in there that I love. This freebie keyring was one of them. I am a huge fan of Cath Kidston and I think this keyring fits in to that style. Having said that I passed it on to my mum as soon as it was finished. It was my first time stitching onto wood which felt strange and a little awkward when threading off ends.

This mini accordion scrapbook was taught to me by my friend Lyn. She gave my knitting group a class on making these whilst we were away the weekend. At first it felt a little footery. I am normally okay at papercrafts but I had to concentrate to ensure I stuck everything down the right way. I like the end result although I have yet to decorate the insides. I will post that as soon (if I every) as I do that.

This is Colin and he is one of my favourite finishes. I love instagram and someone I followed was stitching this design. I had to ask where she got the pattern from which she kindly told me. It was designed by a lady who has her own shop on etsy under the name Pickle Lady Farm. The key recommends a gold colour but as it's done in the one shade it's easy enough to change it. My sister wanted a Dalek as soon as she heard about the pattern and I got her to pick the colour. So here is her alternative Dalek. He's not the most conventional!

This photo doesn't show the true size of this blanket. I wish I had take more photo's of it. It's a large granny square which I did for my sister's best friend. I did it in aran yarn which had a fab feel to it when done. I picked out the colours special for her and I think it's one of my favourite granny projects so far. I even did the fan edging round the border.

A few people at knitting group had been learning from Laura how to do a bobble stitch in crochet. I have since learned that it is actually called popcorn stitch but we call it bobble. It was nice to learn a new crochet stitch and was surprisingly easy to do. I did this scarf in the stitch using a glittery cotton by Sirdar. I have since handed it in to the knitting group for the shoebox charity.

For a while back I was obsessed with these tiny cross stitch kits by Mouseloft. My sister can be thanked for that as she bought me a few as extra gifts for Christmas or birthdays. I now have a fair collection of them with no idea what to do with them. Any ideas? This bumble bee I actually stitched for my sister.

I stitched three animals she liked, including the bumble bee. and put them in a pencil stand. The fabric turned out to be shorter than the stand but she likes it.

So that's my project round up. I am working on other things so will have more up to date posts for you soon.

Not A Happy Chappy!

I was out yarn shopping yesterday which is always fatal. They didn't have any of the yarn I was looking for left but I still didn't go away empty handed. I did buy yarn that was a Christmas present but on a whim I also picked up a ball of Patons, 'Fab Big'. Another one of those yarns that has a scarf pattern on the ball band. I saw it in pink and thought my sister would like it. The pattern was very easy to follow and knits up very quickly. I started it last night and finished it this morning. I would have finished it in one day if I didn't have an exam. Plus it's one of those loop scarf which I thought my sister would appreciate (she loves her winter woolies).

Sadly I don't think the pattern quite delivered what it promised. The loop scarf was far shorter than what the pattern and images on the ball band suggested it would be. There is now way to wrap it round the head again. At least not without throttling yourself. In the image above I have actually folded it in half just so that it sits. My advice if you are knitting this up is to start with far fewer stitches. You will get the length you will need. Plus if you don't want to wrap it again it will sit better without folding. Otherwise you will need at least half the ball of yarn again. It's not a Christmas present but hopefully my sister will like it anyways.

The Hitchhiker

Every time I write about this pattern I have Kenny Rogers, The Gambler, in my head. No idea why.

This scarf pattern was first discovered by a friend of mine who is known for finding interesting new scarf patterns. I have a friend known as the sock lady and in this way this friend should be known as the scarf lady. The pattern is by Martina Behm and you can buy it from ravelry for about £2.50. I love the pattern. It's so simple and yet effective. It's an 8 row repeat and all you need to know is how to increase, purl, knit and cast off. It's as simple as that.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and I picked out the Zitron Trekking XXL from my stash. I loved the blues and greens and thought it would make an effective stripy pattern. Which it did. Another reason to love the pattern (if you use patterning sock yarn) is that the effect of the yarn changes as the scarf grows. This scarf is for me and I am looking forward to it being cold enough to wear it.

My sister liked the scarf and I believe even threatened to pinch it. I couldn't have that so I have knitted one up for her Christmas. Knitting two in a row you would think I would have grown bored of it but not at all.

This time I used Noro Kureyon sock yarn. I bought this in a sale ages ago knowing that I would have to use it for my sister who loves pink and black. At first I was unsure whether or not to use it for the scarf. Even in a sale it's quite expensive and the pattern would have to be special to use it on. Glad I did though. If you have seen socks knitted for my sister in previous posts you will know she has tiny feet. So tiny that the socks would have turned out mainly pink and the rest of those colours would have gone unnoticed (unless of course I made her socks uneven). The scarf however starts off all in pink and slowly the other colours emerge until you get this stripey effect at the end. It certainly made knitting it more interesting.

I love Noro yarn. I love the colours which are always bright and unexpected. The downside to it is that it's a little harsh from being over-dyed. The thickness through out is also uneven. This all however, works perfectly for the scarf.