I've Finished my Cardigan -*fanfare*

Hope you are enjoying your bank holiday today, I am taking the chance to catch up on a few blogs today.  I thought I would pop in and report my progress, I have finished and worn my grey CDA Petite Choses Cardigan.  This was knit in grey rowan alpaca cotton its super soft and toasty warm.  

The garter stitch is what attracted me to it in the first place and I do love it.

I sourced some handmade blackthorn buttons from here and I am rather chuffed that I have a proper garment I can actually wear.  The little handmade tag is a small length of cotton ribbon, as it's creation spanned a couple of months the date is a season rather than an actual date (I'm slow).

I found this sweet scarf pattern in Cute & Easy Knitting by Fiona Goble and as it was one ball and I had one ball left over I made a matching scarf.

It's a bit much with the cardigan on too I think but it is sweet nonetheless.

Not one to sit on my hands, I am on with another knit now my Whippoorwill Shawl.  

It's very slow going but I am loving the colour changes that happen with the Kauni rainbow yarn.  I will be back soon to report progress.

Re-training my knitting brain

I’m currently plodding on with my grey CDA Petite Choses Cardigan.  This is being knit in grey rowan alpaca cotton which is a nice fluffy yarn but it’s a pig to pull out as it catches.  I should try to make fewer mistakes I guess. 

This is a free pattern and can be found here, it is in French but there in a link to an English translation.

I have mentioned before that I consider myself to be a beginner when it comes to knitting, I guess I could say I was now an intermediate knitter considering the range of things I have taught myself to do but… I always feel like a bit of a fraud.  You see knitting on long straight needles is a breeze for me, but using circular needles and double pointed needles has proven difficult as I am a ‘tuck your right hand needle under the armpit’ knitter.  This is how my Mam knitted and my Nanna before her and how I was taught as a kid.  It transpires it may be a bit of a northern thing or at least I have read that certain regions of the country tend to have pockets of us armpit lot.  This is a fine way of knitting and I am fast knitting this way, but you can’t tuck a floppy circular needle under your armpit, and tiny DPN’s tucked under there make me look like a demented T Rex (yes I tried). 

I decided that I would have to re-learn how to knit and how to hold my needles and yarn and I am quite proud to announce that I have nailed it.  It took about a week of persevering but I have cracked it.  There are lots of various methods of how to hold needles but I looked at them all and found a way that feels natural to me and this is it.

 Holding the needles like a pen and flicking the yarn over with the index finger of my right hand.

Flicking the yarn over

 This is how I hold my yarn for tension

This cardigan was knit quite quickly on long needles up to the point where all parts had to be added to a big circular needle. It’s a bit slow going from there as I am using this cardigan as my practice to learn a new method of knitting.

I have been interchanging between the two methods of knitting and I find I am able to do both now without much trouble, there is a 3-5 second delay every time I pick up my circular needles as my brain puts my hand into the best position and the first couple of stitches are a bit pathetic but I soon get into it.  Fingers crossed I will have a completed cardigan to share with you soon.

I have already got my next project lined up and am itching to get started with it, on circular needles of course.

Back Soon

Colour Affection Shawl

I was the very lucky recipient of a stunning gift from my friend Lynda some time ago and I am totally in love with it.  

My first Colour Affection Shawl (pattern by Veera Valimaki)

I wear this often, regardless if it matches what I am wearing, I just love it.  I wear it so often that I simply had to have another one in another colour so I bought the wool and the pattern and went for it.

I would say I am a basic to intermediate knitter and looking at the shawl that I have it just looks so complicated, but it’s really not.

It was a nice easy pattern to follow and I think that the overall effect makes it look a heck of a lot more complicated than it actually is.

I am in love with all things mustard at the minute and when I clapped eyes on this Fyberspates Yarn I had to have it.  

I bought three skeins in three colourways and I am really happy with how it turned out.

I have read about problems people have encountered when knitting this pattern, namely the hump that forms at the top and the tight sides with the carrying of the yarn up the side.  

I was aware of this and tried my best to give generous leeway at each colour change. 

This is not a complicated pattern but it is a grind, it takes a long time and towards the end your rows seem to go on forever.  When the shawl came off the needles I was a mixture of relieved and gutted.

The hump was very obvious; almost a hood shape and the sides were tighter than I thought they might be.  Gutted!

I thought I would block it and see how I felt after that and lo and behold, the miracle of blocking did its thing!

I adore it.  The mustard colour has a golden hue it is a simply beautiful yarn.

 

It is a large item and is very difficult to photograph, not to mention that the light has been rubbish lately too.

 

Here it is, my little pride and joy, it gives my other pink colour affection a day off.

 

While the wool was out I did make myself a pair of wristees following the same pattern I used to make these from the Learn to Knit, Love to Knit book, simple but effective with a stripe I think... now just watch a heatwave will hit the UK!

Back Soon

The Birthday Berwick Scarf

I knitted this up as a gift for my friend’s birthday last month and can share it here now. 

This shawl / scarf was made up as I went along, not a difficult pattern at all, I cast on 3 stitches and increased one stitch at the end of every other row to give the increase on one side, I called it the 'Berwick Scarf', if you've been to Berwick you will know that you need a sturdy warm scarf.

 Simple garter stitch, alternating between the Rowan Linen and the Rowan Alpaca Cotton finished off with a crochet edging, and a wibbly wobbly pom pom finish.

 The pom pom pattern was taken from here.

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The Season for Gloves and Cowls

I was the lucky recipient of some beautiful handmade gifts again this month. These arm warmers have been on my list of things to make for a long time now and my lovely friend Lynda of Laa Laa Land made me a pair as a gift. 

I was overwhelmed they are super soft and so beautifully made. 

The pattern is Alice Caterpillars a Suzie Johnson design from The Wool Sanctuary.

I also received a skein of this stunning wool, it is Amoroso, Malabrigo from Uruguay and it was enough to knit a cowl to keep out this recent chill.

Shocking washed out photo I'm rubbish at this selfie lark!

I knitted this in the round in one piece and it took the full skein, the pattern is Honey and you can find it here for free on Ravelry.

I knit some gloves myself this month from this book that I bought myself for Christmas,

these have been given as a gift now so I can share here.

Really simple but effective pattern, I embellished them with some ‘forget me not’s’ and made a brooch to match.

I'm in the process of knitting, hooking and sewing gifts so I have nothing to show at the minute apart from these sneaky peeks.

Rounding the week off nicely with a kitty cuddle from my poorly kitty

Back Soon

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I cant throw pretty stuff out

I put my new Mollie Makes calendar up in my crafty cupboard at the start of the month and I couldn't bear to part with the old one.  Pages and pages of pretty stuff, just too good to chuck.

 Using a little envelope template (google it or make one yourself) I cut out each of the 12 pages drawing around my simple template on the back.

 Oskar was helping, but he got bored and napped instead.

 Folded them over and with a smidgen of pritt stick I had 12 adorable mini envelopes. 

 I use mini envelopes to keep my re-used paper hexagons in when paper piecing.

 The back page was calling me too, still too pretty to chuck but too thick to make into envelopes.

 I found some little key ring blanks in my cross stitch stash and make a new keyring for the back door key.

 Had I had enough I could have made dozens, but in the meantime I will hoard these away, too pretty to chuck.

back soon