Piosa KAL Part 1 & 2

Part four of this fab KAL by East London Knit came out this week. While I am sure that many people are powering through this latest instalment. I am working my way through part two. As this is my first garment I am being extra careful not to make mistakes. Therefore I am working on it only when I am off. At least for the sections that require concentration.

So I am proudly showing you my first swatch. Actually not my first swatch but my first that was done specifically to measure my gauge. I am proud to say that my gauge is the same as the pattern recommendation. Proud because as a newbie it means I don’t need to worry about deciding whether to change needle size or change the size of the pattern I had decided to go with. Drug calculations no problem. This hurts my brain (probably because I’ve never had to do it). Anyway, I was saved this time and I love my little swatch. I even blocked it.

Part three was already out when I was waiting for a day off to watch the YouTube video on how to do German short rows. I have done short rows in the past but never German. Up until that point I had done the cord, picked up stitches and the first two rows. Once I was past the short rows I was able to do a few rows each night after work. I’m afraid I couldn’t stay awake long enough to do more than that. Since the above photo I have finished with the back down to the armholes and I’m about to put the stitches onto some scrap yarn before I make a start on the front. Feeling proud of myself so far.

I am currently knitting a pair of socks for myself in between. After that though I think I will get back to the scarf and shawl that I had been working on before Lockdown. Then when I have finished my cardigan I have plans for a jumper. Can’t wait but I really shouldn’t count my chickens just yet.

Today is a special day for my family and it seems apt that I should post about my knitting. Today is the fifth anniversary of having lost my mum to Pancreatic cancer. Most people who knew her know her for her love of red and her love of knitting. She was an avid knitter and could knit up jumpers in the space of a week. I think she would be proud of me for knitting my first cardigan as well as wondering what took me so long. The photo below was taken by my dad from their holiday in Portugal, a place she loved. Anyway, I plan to continue knitting and have a cheeky glass of her favourite red while watching one of her favourite films. Hope you are all safe.

How to Use a Mini Skein

My friend Lisa has recently added mini skeins to her etsy shop. She has packs in both double knit and sock weight. In fact she is even starting a mini skein club where you get so many mini skeins each month. A fab idea that I would join if I could afford to commit to anything just now (which I can't). It did remind me though that when I listed this in my What's New post last month that I would write out some ideas for mini skeins. So here we have it (and these are just a few ideas). None of these images are mine but belong to the makers which I have linked (the image above is from Lisa's shop).

I thought I would start with the smallest project and work my way up. Which is apt since the pack of mini skeins I highlighted at the start is sock weight. So here we have some striped socks. An obvious choice for me but these stripes are a little bit different. I'm actually curious as to how it's done and I might even try this myself. Actually my first thought when I decided to post this blog was to show a plain white sock with a mini skein used for the heels and toes. This is far more creative. The pattern is called Squircle (brilliant name) and is by General Hogbuffer. It looks like General Hogbuffer has lots of lovely sock patterns that I will have to make some time to look at.

You would be correct if you recognised the pattern in these rainbow socks. It's the Broken Seed Stitch pattern which I used for Aprils socks. Blogger Pesa Puussa has done a rainbow version which are quite striking. Some mini skeins would be ideal for this. Just to remind you the original pattern is by Hannah Levaniemi.

 Cherry Heart is one of my favourite crochet bloggers. I love seeing the images from her crochet. They colours are always pretty. I am sure I have posted about her Stripy Mitts before but this seemed the perfect place to give them a revisit. The pattern is a free download but I suggest following her blog just for the inspiration. She has a lot of lovely patterns on there. These mitts I like for a lot of reasons. I like the stripes. You could use any mini skein pack colour combo that you want. I imagine the mitts would look different depending on your colour choices. I also love it for the cute little buttons running up the side of the mitts. Definitely one of my favourites.

The Hot Spot Pillow is one off my favourite ideas. It uses crochet squares with the centre round in colour and the rest in white. With a pack of mini skeins you would get a large number of squares out of them done this way. I love it for it's simplicity and yet it looks so effective. I also think that there are an infinite number of squares that you could use in this way. I am thinking a plain granny done the same way would be just as effective. You can also see from the above image that different colour combinations create a different look. The pattern is by blogger Kirsten.  Her blog is called Haakmaarraak and is definitely worth checking out. She has a lot of lovely patterns on there and I have added her blog to my craft blog list page.

 This cute baby blanket I have admired for a long time on pinterest. I love that it starts with bold blocks of colour which slowly intersperse through the white. It makes for a pretty blanket and I think it could be just as striking with one colour. However, that wouldn't utilise your mini skein's but the original design by Felted Button would. This pattern isn't free but I would consider buying this myself. Go and have a look at Felted Button's blog as she has quite a few lovely patterns for sale and rather a large number of them involve rainbow combinations.

I couldn't finish this post without a blanket from another of my favourite crochet bloggers. I have raved about Attic24 more times than I can count and I have used her granny stripe pattern many times. I thought this would be perfect for the mini skeins if you were collecting them. This way you could add to it as you collect and your blanket would take on a different look each time. I also thought it would be perfect for Lisa's mini skein club. You would be getting a surprise each time and it would be something you could work on a little each month. Just an idea. You can sign up for Lisa's club here.

There are far more ideas out there than the ones I have listed. As they say, you are limited only by your own imagination. If any of you have come up with  your own creative ways of using them I would love to see it.

March WIP

The shawl is back out. I finally went back and fixed the mistake. I contemplated not doing it. It was only half a row but I would see it in the pattern. Not worth the irritation. I then finished the last few rows of the pattern and started picking up stitches for the border. I was so excited. Then I realised I was going to be short of stitches. Back to the instructions I went to discover I had another whole repeat of the pattern and then another repeat less three rows. To say that I was annoyed at myself is putting it mildly. Thankfully you don't break the yarn before starting the pick up for the border. It was just a case of taking out those stitches and going back to knitting the pattern. Which I did and I am half way through that first repeat. I will get this finished yet!

I took a break from the shawl to get a start on my sister's Easter presents. This year she is only getting two pairs of socks. I was planning on finishing her hexie cushion too but since Easter is this Sunday that ship has sailed. Two pairs of socks and a bag of chocolate and goodies. I'm sure she will still be delighted. Her second pair of socks is the Jaywalker pattern and I used For the love of Yarn sock yarn. Very fitting with Spring. I will give more details and link everything when I finish them.

Does planting count as an WIP? I did some planting last week. I have little seedlings on the kitchen window ledge and I will be able to plant them in the garden next month. I actually have a monthly update on my mum's garden so I won't say much more than that for now.

Since yesterday was the first day of Spring I will leave you with this image of an open crocus. There was a bee in there but it disappeared by the time I got my camera out.

Knitlandia by Clara Parkes - Book Review

How often do you hear about a knitting book which doesn't contain any knitting patterns? Or isn't a manual on instructions or technique? Other than Stephenie Pearl-McPhee (aka Yarn Harlot) it's a rarity. However, this is what we have here. It contains all of my favourite things; knitting chat, yarn chat and travel chat. This in fact is a travel writing book for those who love yarn. Clara Parkes is no stranger to journalistic style writing. In fact this isn't even her first book but it is the first one that I have read.

Parkes is a yarn enthusiast and this is about her travels as she passes on her knowledge to others while occasionally learning herself. The book mainly sees Parke travelling around the U.S but occasionally she finds herself in Europe including our very own Edinburgh Yarn Festival. Reading this I honestly don't know which to be most jealous of. The travel, the people she teaches, the well known knittery names she befriends or all the yarn she gets to purchase at these wonderful events.

Actually I am jealous of all of it. I would love to go to these events and write about them. I would love to attend all of the classes. I would have loved to have gone to the big sock event organised by the Yarn Harlot which is alas no more. Imagine a whole weekend dedicated to sock knitting.

It also gave great insight into famous knitters/designers such as Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Stephen West and the ravelry founders (to name but a few). I also discovered other designer's many of whom are based here in the UK. For all of these reasons I very much enjoyed reading this book (and forgave her for describing the new hand-dyed sock yarn as clown vomit). So if you are strong enough not to be overwhelmed by feelings of envy then I highly recommend you read this.

You can find Ms Parkes around the net. She is the founder of online magazine Knitter's Review. She also has her own website called Clara Parkes.

What's New In March

I am a little late with this one. I should have posted about this last month. Truth is I didn't realise how big a deal this was until recently. It's a huge event in the yarn world and this is only it's third year. Three days of classes from famous designers and teachers as well as a market with all your favourite yarns and designers. I am extremely envious of anyone who is going. It's actually very similar to the one I went to in Stirling at the start of my blog. It was called Knit Camp and I did a class in fair isle with Liz Lovick and another class with Jared Flood (one of my favourite designers).  There were a lot of problems in the organisation (where teachers had problems getting into the country) and they didn't do another one. The Edinburgh Yarn Festival has had no such problems and so many more classes that I would have had trouble restricting myself. Next year people! Next year! I have signed myself up to their mailing list so that I won't miss it again. This year, I will be working. If any of you who are going want to share your experiences here please do and I will try not to turn green with envy.

Brioche is a thing and I don't mean the bread. I mean the knitting stitch and I love it. I have loaded several patterns from ravelry and I have a plan to knit some of them. Brioche was initially made popular by designer Nancy Marchant. You can see her beautiful designs on website Brioche Stitch. It involves knitting with two contrasting yarns and you create this beautiful raised pattern. This has since grown and Stephen West of WestKnits has run with it. American born designer has lots of beautiful patterns based on this stitch. I have a few and ordered his most recent collection Bundled in Brioche. It's been fun getting updates when a new pattern has been loaded on to it. The above image is actually from another collection that I also have in my library. This is by Knit Graffiti a designer I came across thanks to Instagram. The good thing about these designs is that they look fantastic with a variegated yarn and a contrasting solid colour.

 Wool and the Gang is a company I came across via Instagram (Instagram has a lot to answer to). It was started by textile designers who were fed up with factory reproductions in fashion. They wanted to help encourage individuality in fashion and this is how it came about. You should go to their About page and read more on it. It makes for an interesting read. It appealed to me because of the images of chunky knits and their pop up stores in London over the Christmas period. I haven't purchased any of their yarn but heard only good things about it. Would be interested though to hear if any of you have knitted with their yarn.

Lastly I leave you with one for those who love crochet and colour. This person isn't selling anything. She doesn't appear to have a blog or facebook page or even and etsy page. Instead she shares beautiful images of her work. I have long been an admirer of her beautiful work and her colour choices. It isn't often that I don't ooh and ahh over her images. She's another person that I found thanks to Instagram.

Apart from that last one you can find all of the above list in one of my pages. Either Craft Blogs, Craft tutorials (brioche) or Craft Shopping. In fact I have created a section for events on the blogs page just for the yarn festival and yarndale.

My Christmas Socks 2015!

So all my Christmas socks are finished and they will be handed out on Christmas Eve along with new pyjama's which I also got everyone (much to my dad's disgust as he likes his old ones). I didn't think I would get my socks done but when you fall in love with a pattern you can't help but knit away.  In the end these only took a few days to knit up.

The pattern is called Jaywalker and is by Grumperina Designs (how brilliant is that name). It's a free pattern which you can find on Ravelry here. I honestly don't know how it first came to my attention. It's been on my iPad for a long time. So long that I forgot it was there. I just happened to be looking through my patterns that I had on there when I came across this and decided I was going to use it for my Christmas socks. It's a really good pattern. The instructions are detailed and very easy to follow. Unlike a lot of sock patterns on ravelry it also gives instructions for different sizes. I used the smallest size on a slightly bigger needle and it worked out perfect. The designer states that this is the perfect pattern for a beginner who wants to try something new. I have to say I heartily agree. The pattern works over two rounds and the first round is just knit. The heel and toe is no different from the basic sock. So the zig zag aspect is the only part that you will have to get used to. And you will very quickly.

For this I used the yarn that I had originally ordered from Lisa for my dad. I will still go on about it but I am glad he did. This was the softest, loveliest yarn to work on. Silky smooth, that's exactly how it felt. It's a merino tencel blend and if you ever get the chance to knit with it then jump at it. I can't recommend it enough. I also can't wait to put them on my feet. As for the colours. I personally love it and think that the striping of the yarn worked very well with the pattern.

You can see the full effect here. Although I also love the heel. I always love how Lisa's yarns look at the heel. This time I just haven't photographed it. In my last post about my dad's socks the original Sock Lady commented that she tends to only knit the basic sock now in order to let the yarn shine through. I have to say that I agree with that but I am still a sucker for a pattern. I find one and I want to knit over and over again. Like here and here. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those patterns. I'm already thinking of what sock yarn to use for a pair of these for my sister.

So that's all my Christmas socks done. You will notice that my socks are the only ones with a pattern. That wasn't deliberate. With my sister's socks I felt the yarn was too buys and I wanted to see hoe the striping of the yarn worked out on it's own. With my dad's, well, didn't want to make them too feminine (his words not that I am hanging on to that or anything).

This is my last post before Christmas. I have a few posts planned out for before the New Year and I hope to share with you some plans for next year. In the meantime I hope you all have an amazing Christmas.

Dad's Christmas Socks 2015

My dad's Christmas socks are finished. I am actually organised for once. I thought for sure that I wouldn't get them done. It helps though when you decide to just use a basic pattern. After my dad's insistence that they not be feminine I decided against a pattern. He wasn't deserving (I don't hold grudges). Actually, I quite like the way they turned out even though it's a solid yarn colour done in the basic pattern.

I am truly gutted that I didn't take a photo of the yarn on it's own before I started knitting with it. I obviously thought I had and the yarn was definitely deserving of a solo selfie. It's one of the yarns I picked up from Knit Picks. It has a merino mix base. Now anyone who has knitted with merino yarn will tell you how lovely it is to knit with. It's super soft and knits up beautifully. Doesn't matter that it's for big foot as you don't mind that the knitting seems to go on forever. You want it to go on forever.

Plus look at the colours! Different shades of purples and blue. A lovely yarn and I would happily knit with it again. I'm a little jealous that this is for my dad. Not to worry I have my own Christmas socks which I also managed to get finished and you'll see them in my next post.

Sister's Winter Woollies Part 4 - Fingerless Gloves

 I have actually finished my sister's fingerless gloves. They area little neat on me but my sister has tiny hands so I'm not worried. I picked a pattern which had a cable in it. That way it matched the hat and socks I have already knitted up. The cable is a little less central than I wanted but in the end I actually quite like the effect.

The pattern is by Cecilia Brooke. I think I got it from ravelry via pinterest but I'm having trouble finding it again. The title of the pattern is simply, Fingerless Gloves, in case you are interested in finding it yourself. What I liked about it was that it had a decrease and increase for the wrist and the hand. It looks a little odd when sitting on the table but makes sense once they are on.

I have to say that the pattern itself wasn't the best. There were quite a few mistakes in it (including row numbering). However, if you are a fairly experienced knitter you will be able to ignore the mistakes. Other than that it's a fairly easy pattern to follow.

 

This finish can only mean one thing. I have completed my sister's winter woollies set. In fact my sister has not only seen them but worn them. Not sure which was her favourite. She ooed over all of it. Possibly the pom pom. When I knitted my own version of the hat she said I should knit her one with a pom pom. Over and over again! So often that I came close to telling her it was always on the cards. Thankfully she also suited it the colour with her purple hair. I did tell her I was worried that it was too dark a colour for her (she wears black but accessorises bright) but she liked it.

Now I will have to think up a winter woollies set for next year.

Sister's Winter Woollies Part 2 - the Socks

So the second item in my sister's winter woollies set is now complete.  Using the same yarn (as planned) as I did for her cowl. These will go perfectly under a pair of boots. They are so thick and cosy. They do look a little odd because they are so long and yet have tiny feet (the curse of my tiny footed sister).

Actually, I love the fact that my sister has tiny feet. It makes knitting up socks so much easier and quicker. And they look rather cute. You would be right if you think you recognise the pattern. I finished a pair for myself not so long ago.  They are the Cable and Seed Stitch Denim Socks by Debbie Abraham and can be found in the book Country Weekend Socks by Madeline Weston. I loved seeing the pattern emerge in the solid colour. I especially think it suits this dark shade.

Plus look at those cables! They are definitely a favourite. There is another cabled pair in the book that I want to try but they are knitted on straight pins which is putting me off.

Anyway, I am halfway through my sister's hat which means that I am more than halfway finished with her set. I might get it done this winter after all.

Christmas Countdown Week 1 - Stockings

So this is my Friday replacement. I had to have a new theme to put in place of the Bake Off. I had a few ideas floating around but I settled on this one. I know that there will be many of you wondering why on earth I would be doing this since it's not even Halloween. Well, I have a number of reasons. First of all Christmas is going to be rubbish this year. Most of you will know that Christmas was my mum's holiday. She would have celebrated it all year long if she could and she would start preparing for the next Christmas as soon as the current one was over. Christmas films would make an appearance as early as July. It's also her birthday. So you can imagine that none of us are looking forward to it. My mum would have hated that and so I am trying to keep things more positive and this is my way of doing that. This is for her really.

The second reason is that if you are a crafter you will know there is no such thing as too early when it comes to starting you crafts for Christmas. I know a few people who have started already. If you include today there are actually only 10 Friday's left until the big day. That's not a lot of time to get your gifts ready. So each week I am going to post a few ideas with some links so that you can be ready too.

This week I decided to focus on stockings. I have always intended to make stockings for family. I even started once and I have no idea where that went to. My friend Lisa of For the Love of Yarn has created a stocking kit. You get some of her scrummy yarn (in red or green). Enough of which to make not one but two stockings. You get the pattern for the stocking as well as a few little extras. My kit arrived this week and I plan on getting started with it soon.

I then did my usual and looked around facebook for more inspiration. I came across this beautiful, Scandinavian style, knitted stocking. This pattern is available from ravelry and is by Kirsten Spurkland. It's not a free pattern and I doubt anyone would expect it to be. I would need more than the 10 Fridays we have to make at least one of these but I think it would be worth it.

The pattern for these stockings is free on the other hand and can also be found on ravelry. It's called Fabulously Festive Christmas Stockings by Julie King. I like their bright colours but I also like the fact that they make use of different types of crochet stitches. You could also pick your colour choices to suit the individual. The downside of course is all the ends you would have to sew in. Might be worth it though.

I decided that no stocking list would be complete without one that has been stitched. This particular one comes with a free tutorial by Sew Like Mum.You can also visit her blog here and have a look at lots of other good tutorials. I have added this link to my tutorial page and the blog to my blog list page. I would be very tempted to try this one as there are a lot of lovely Christmas fabrics out just now.

Last but not least I spotted these little Christmas stockings that you can hang on your tree. My mum had knitted a few of these for her tree when I was little and she used to fill them with candy canes and other sweets. I like that these ones are hung up like a garland and if you were to knit enough of them you could create an advent calendar. This is also a free pattern which is by Little Cotton Rabbits. I might even have a go at one myself this year. You never know. Little Cotton Rabbits itself looks like a lovely blog which you can find here (as well as on my craft blog page). There are lots of hand knit patterns on there.

So that's my first Christmas countdown. As well planned as I sound I have no idea what I am going to do next week. Hopefully you will like whatever I choose and I do have some ideas flying around my head. Let me know if you decide to make anything from this list. Would love to see it.

Winter Is Coming.

I never knit myself anything for winter. I always say that I am going to and every year I pin away of pinterest lots of lovely cabled woollies. But I never get round to it. I'm good at that. Plan and plan and then it's spring. Everyone tells me I'm good at the planning. Well, I bought some double knit tweed yarn by Sublime. I had intended on using it to finish off the lap blanket that I was making for my gran. Sadly this double knit was a lot finer than the lovely donegal based yarn by Lisa. I would ruin the blanket and waste both yarns by using it. So now I have 6 balls of this yarn and no idea what to do with it. I did consider getting a pale pink and making a blanket with it but I didn't like the pink this yarn came in. So I decided to knit something for myself that would keep me warm on the way into work.

Hence this hat. I managed to knit it using just one 50g ball and just a tiny bit to spare.

I saw the pattern on pinterest (all those hours are not wasted after all). It's called The Woods Hat by Po Lena and you can purchase it from ravelry.  It stood out to me mainly because the images in the pattern show the hat knitted up in teal which (as you know) is a favourite of mine. It also has lots of cables which I also loved. While you look at the cables please ignore my tired face. Post night shift isn't the most flattering of looks.

I had hoped it would be more like a slouchy hat but it is meant to be a beanie style and it fits perfectly as such. I didn't think I would suit the beanie but I actually quite like it. I would be very tempted to knit this in other colours. It didn't take me long at all and only work got in the way of finishing it sooner. Isn't that always the way? It's a fairly easy pattern and the cables aren't too complicated. I think someone who wanted to move on to cables would find this as a good beginning. The pattern itself works over a 6row repeat and as I said knits up quickly. I did add an extra repeat and I think if I was doing it again I would maybe use larger needles.

I have 5 more balls of the tweed left. I plan to knit a scarf with that. Just need to find a pattern that I like. Any recommendations? Must have cables.

WIP - August

It's about time that I shared the projects that I am working on just now (other than the blanket club of course). Unsurprisingly there is a theme in colour here. You might remember this shawl from months ago.  Well, I worked on it for a day or two and I loved it. Loved it so much I didn't track where I was. Of course when you take a break from something for as long as I did with this you are never going to remember where you are. So I picked it up again last week and started from the beginning. I love this pattern and I love how it's working out. I think soon I will be changing to circular needles. I hate using them but as this is only going to get bigger it needs to be done.

I am also working on these socks. I spotted them on pinterest months ago and I had to hunt it down on ravelry. Sadly it was part of a challenge and so wasn't available. Now that the challenge is completed the author put the pattern up for sale. It's called Far Into the Forest by Kirsten Hall. It's funny how this pattern was first used as it has certainly been a challenge to me. I've enjoyed it though.

I love the back too and I have now reached the heel. I've decided to put it on hold until I have some time off when I can truly concentrate on it. The heel is different from others I have done before so I need to take time with it.

I gave up on the mobius scarf because you couldn't see the pattern in the lace. So I started the Lucidity Shawl by Beata Jezek. I also found this on ravelry. I am loving how it is working out (spot the stitch marker by For the Love of Yarn). I have to be honest I haven't worked on this in a while either.

Maybe in September's update I will have an actual finish for you.

Pins I Love - Try Something New For Spring!

I honestly don't see why trying something new should be something you do in the new year. Let's face it. New Year is slap bang in the middle of winter. It's miserable and most of us are still reeling from the financial cost of Christmas. So what better time to try new things than spring. Spring is the proper time for the new. Everything is fresh. For most it brings us that spring in our steps that has been missing in the winter. Therefore I bring back my pinterest posts with some new things to try.

The first are these geeky cookies. I am hopeless at decorating of any kind although good at the baking part. I think even I could manage these though. There is a fab tutorial over at a fab baking blog, When Adobo Met Feijoada. You will need google translate though.

As always click on the image to get to the precise tutorial.

Okay, I tried to find a simple sewing pattern suitable for a beginner but struggled. As someone who has yet to pluck up the courage to sew much it all looks difficult to me. This tunic though looked quite nice and it has a good tutorial over at The Southern Institute. It shows you this tunic being made up in some lovely bright fabric. It's amazing how much a pattern can change just from the fabric.

I have taken part in tutorials and taught a few myself. What keeps people interested is the idea that they will have made something by the end of it. These mini granny squares are fantastic for anyone wanting to learn to crochet them. Plus you get a cute pocket for your ipad or ereader at the end of it. You will find this tutorial at Sugar Beans. Worth checking this blog out as it seams to have a lot of lovely tutorials.
 

I picked this lovely shawl for anyone wanting to move on with their knitting. It's a simple lace pattern and the shawl itself is lovely. You could even mix it up and add some stripes of colour in there. This one comes from ravelry.

It seemed only apt given my numerous gardening posts that I should have a gardening tutorial on this list. I picked this one because not everyone has a large garden or has direct sunlight. This website gives a tutorial into creating your own shade garden.


As I said earlier, clicking on to the images will take you direct to the tutorials. The few blogs that I have mentioned I will also add to my blog list.