In Threes: Ta-dah!

Well, I have finally managed to get buttons on to the ‘In Threes‘ cardigan that I finished last week – hurrah! I chose some, what I would call ‘old fashioned’ buttons. To me they remind me of buttons that you would find on garments from the 70′s.

I am also so pleased with the colour of yarn that I used – a lovely cheery coral. It wasn’t a planned project, but rather a bargain at Hobby Craft that turned into a rather sweet little cardigan.

This wasn’t a difficult pattern but I was so grateful for the help and advice that I got from Mary-Jane through Ravelry. Some people are so lovely and generous with their time.

Emily was very intrigued when I was trying to take half decent pictures of the cardigan, but this morning she was far from being in the mood to try it on for some modelling shots!

I shall hopefully get her wearing it soon!

Button Bonanza

Ok, overstatement, but I have buttons, pretty buttons…..

Buttons to finish my In Threes Cardigan

Buttons to finish my (slightly badly felted) French Press Knits slippers

Buttons to finish off a Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan….must cast on!

Thank you Watson and Thornton

Break for the Border: Granny stripe blanket

I was sitting on the sofa the other night not doing aything other than watching the television. My husband kept looking at me, looking at the tv, looking at me, looking at the tv, looking at me. Eventually I said, what’s up? Luckily I didn’t have a big spot developing on the end of my nose, he was just a bit concerned that I wasn’t knitting or sewing or doing something!

I do get a little like this when I have finished a substantial project, not that a little cardigan is what you would call substantial (or finished, still need to block and add buttons), but I think I sit in the glow of self-congratulation while I ponder what to do next.

I’m not sure why I’m wondering what to do next as I seem to have more than enough projects on the go. However something inside me though feels as though I should be starting off on something new and substantial…it’s more exciting to start something new rather than finish something that’s been sitting around for a while. Weird hey, or are other people like this too?

So, granny stripe blanket it is! There are only a few rows of single crochet to do and some form of decorative finish and I’m done.

Pictures of a finished blanket hopefully in a couple of days

Cables without a cable needle – yeah right! Shifting Sands progress

Between Chrsitmas and New Year, with limited success, I started knitting a version of the Shifting Sands Scarf.

It’s quite a simple pattern but I was attempting to learn to knit cables without using a cable needle. How am I doing? I hear you ask….not very well is the answer!

I had intended to follow the instructions linked to the pattern but for some reason I’m just not getting my head around it so I am half fudging it.

For the left (in front) cables I am pinching the one stitch with my left thumb in front of and against the knitting needle while I knit two, before stitching the held stitch. For the right (behind) cables I am using a cable needle, which is a bit of a faff as the knitting needles are so big and the cable needle so thin.

This is working fine for the time being and maybe one evening when I am feeling not too shattered I’ll give the instructions another go. If it saves time then it’s got to be worth learning, especially as I want to knt this jumper. Actually I want to buy this jumper from Brora but at £259 (in the sale) I’m not sure I can justify the expense!

So this jumper looks like a good alternative don’t you think?

Having said that I’m sure it’s not a quick knit and there are A LOT of cables and I think the sleeves are in moss stitch. That £259 might be money well spent in the long run!!

The kindness of others: ‘In Threes’ Knit Along

The other evening I was browsing Ravelry (livin’ the high life!) looking for ways of using some of my stash and I happened upon the In Threes Cardigan by Kelly Herdrich.

The great thing about Ravelry is that you can see the notes and changes that other people have made to the pattern before you embark on something new.

I noticed that a lady called Mary Jane had made a rather nice version and I posted a comment on her page to say how lovely it was. She very kindly offered to ‘knit along’ with me so that if I had any problems along the way there was someone to ask for advice.

We cast on together at the beginning of last week and it’s taken me just short of  a week’s worth of evenings to knit it up. I am so pleased with the results. Knitting along with Mary Jane has been a really nice experience.

I am all done now, just need to buy some buttons and wash and block before little Emily can wear it.

 

Things that I have learnt in making this cardigan:

Cable cast on: I have no idea why I have never used this method to cast on before. I guess I just learnt long tail cast on and stuck with it. The cable cast on is quite pretty and for this project is was just the right method – thanks again to Mary Jane

Russian join: This is a tricksy way of effectively looping two yarns together and slicing in the ends. I found a couple of tutorials on how to do it on You Tube. For me it was a bit fiddly and looked messy but it actually knitted in quite well.

Most of all I have learnt that people can be so lovely…..extra large thank you to Mary Jane for knitting along with me!

 

I WILL use all of my yarn!

I seem to have the spring cleaning bug at the moment. Now that my youngest daughter is a year old, the newborn fog is starting to clear as every day she becomes a little more self sufficient. She is learning to play on her own as she finds delight in new toys and every day objects and is learning to play with her big sister.

Anyhow it means that I am starting to have a bit (but only a bit you understand) more time on my hands and I seem to be looking around the house at all of the things that need doing. Now, with two small people around spring cleaning seems to be limited to 10, 20 or (if I’m lucky) 30 minute slots, so I have started a list of all of the bite-sized jobs that need doing. So when the opportunity arises I can get on with something useful, and possibly a little more interesting than conquering the ironing pile!

So I was in the lounge the other day and decided to have a quick spring clean/stock take of my yarn stash. Yeah, yeah, I realise that this sounds a little bit more like fun than spring cleaning but it’s a job that has to be done, although perhaps it should have been a bit further down on the list!

As far as yarn stashes go, I don’t think it’s too bad…it does fit into two boxes that sit neatly under the sofa

Ok, ok, I realise that one of the lids doesn’t quite shut, but it does once you squish it closed and push it under the sofa! Sadly this isn’t all of my stash as I have a couple of projects in progress (two small blankets and a pair of mittens) and a few other odds and ends.

I have used ravelry’s stash feature and I have calculated that in the ‘main’ stash I have 6,500 yards of yarn – that’s just under 4 miles worth. Sounds terrible doesn’t it?

In the main this has not been as a result of indiscriminate purchasing, most has been purchased with a project in mind, I just seem to have not quite managed to get around to starting the projects.

2012 will be the year of stash busting. Now how many knitters and crocheters say that at this time of year??

The cowl I made the other day has left me with nearly a full ball of Rowan Big Wool. So as a start to my mission of stash busting I, here and now, commit to using all of it!

Having decided to do a little stash busting I do worry however that part of my love of knitting is owning lovely balls of yarn!

Little Red Riding Hood Cape

This project started out as a bit of crafting in the run up to Christmas…. best laid plans hey! I managed to get a fair way through the sewing, but Christmas just took over and I ran out of time.

My eldest daughter Charlotte is well on her way to reaching 3 1/2 years old and like many little girls she loves to dress up. Just today she was wearing loads of my bracelets, a pair of my sunglasses, one of my winter woolly hats and a pair of my heels – oh so stylish! So anyway I had decided that I wanted to make her a Little Red Riding Hood cape.

I had been in two minds as to which pattern to use for the cape. Either the one from Growing Up sew Liberated by Meg McElwee or the Little Red Riding Hood Cape from the Oliver+S book  Little Things to Sew. I preferred the length of the Growing Up Sew Liberated cape…

…but in the end it was the shape of the hood and the openings for little hands that won it for the Oliver+S pattern.

In preparation I took a trip to my (not so local) fabric store in Shrewsbury Watson and Thornton. I went with the intention of buying some red fabric with a good amount of drape and flow, nothing too stiff, but they didn’t seem to have anything in red. I guess I could have made the cape in a different colour, but I had my heart set on red. Eventually I found a very sweet red broderie anglais.

For the lining I was after a sweet floral print with a really small flower, and that’s exactly what I found. I even picked up a sweet button (two actually as I may try to sew neatly and I wanted to make it reversible).

don’t you just love my photography assistant!

My only problem is that I’m not sure she knows the story so I might have to buy her the book too!

Cabling without a cable needle

I bought this rather lovely yarn on my pre-Christmas trip to John Lewis Oxford Street

I really love the colour and hope that it will make a nice scarf. The pattern I have in mind is Shifting Sands from Grumperina. It has a really pretty texture to it which I think will work well with the texture of the yarn.

The pattern calls for sport weight yarn and features over 2,500 cables! Sounded like a mountain too tall to climb for me, however the picture below shows a version of the scarf (by Pat of KurlyKnits) that has been made up in the green version of my yellow yarn. Lots less cabling and hopefully a little quicker to knit up….

On Grumperina’s web site she rather helpfully includes instructions and photos that show you how to cable without using a cable needle. If you’re going to do over 2,500 cables then it’s probably worth learning!

My brain, however can’t seem to cope with cabling without a needle. I think so far I have tried and frogged four times. For some reason the instructions are going in one ear and out the other. On the most recent attempt I think I was getting there only to discover that my three year old pulled out one of my needles when I wasn’t looking (never leave a wip unattended)

My husband is away this week on a work trip so maybe I’ll crack it this week….or revert back to using a cable needle!

Perfectly Purple

For my birthday last year my Mum (and Dad, although I suspect that he had less to do with the gift selection) sent me some rather lovely jewellery. It was a set of earings and a necklace from Thomas Sabo. It was a really lovely and generous gift (particularly when you factor in the postage and customs charges from Australia to the UK) however I really wasn’t sure on the colour…purple. I just don’t seem to wear that much purple.

Since then however, this jewellery has come out time and time again and I am finding myself drawn to the colour and items are sneaking their way into my wardrobe….just the other day I purchased this is the Joules sale

Just before Christmas my mother-in-law was ever so kind as to look after the two girls whilst I went to London to attend a work event with my husband (Russell Watson and the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra – surprisingly excellent!!). Lucky for me I managed to squeeze in some Oxford Street shopping. Luckily I had completed all of my Christmas shopping at this point so I somehow found myself in the yarn department of John Lewis – what a shame!! I had not planned on ending up there (honest) so I had no idea what I needed, but you know what I had to buy something….

I ended up purchasing some Rowan Big Wool in a delicious deep purple (2 balls) and some Rowan Pure Wool DK in a toning deep purple ( 2 balls) and some Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed in a tasty mustard (2 hanks). No actual idea of exactly what I was going to make I walked out of John Lewis pleased that I managed to limit myslef to six balls of wool that I didn’t need, but at the same time a little bit gutted that I hadn’t left with more!

Between Christmas and New Year we had a little mini break so I had a little time to get in some knitting for myself – hurrah. I had been eyeing up the Breckenridge Cowl by Melynda Bernardi of French Press Knits for some time (see her photo from the pattern below)

The Rowan Big Wool I had picked up was perefct for the job. The pattern states that you can get the pattern done in an evening but I seem to be quite  a slow knitter (must work on this in 2012) so it took me an evening and a half.

I am so pleased with how the cowl is looking, it just needs the buttons adding. I found some ideal buttons in the Harrogate Duttons for Buttons (winner of best name for a button shop….if there was such a competition).

The only annoying thing about this project is that there wasn’t quite enough yardage in one ball of the Big Wool so I had to break into a second ball. The substantial left-overs are being turned into a hat for my youngest daughter so all is not lost.

Knitted Mini Mittens and a Turban

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and best wishes to you all for 2012! Despite not working in the run up to Christmas this time around it still seemed to whiz past really quickly. I saw loads of family, had a trip to London, did some kniting, a bit of sewing and a whole lot of wrapping.

Anyhow, I hope the season has treated you well and that you’v not gained 4lbs like I have!

When I wrote a previous post about the mittens I was knitting as Christmas gifts I realised that I never posted about the first time that I knitted the pattern – shock horror!!

I found the Pickles pattern through the ever fabulous Ravelry and decided to knit a pair for Emily back in early March when she was a couple of months old.

I also knitted for the first time an i-cord. Looks fancy and complicated, but in actual fact is so quick and easy to knit.

At the same time I knitted this little turban, which is also a Pickles pattern. When you see the picture on the pattern, there is no way that you can resist knitting one!

Emily is now 12 months and I am still squeezing her into the hat and mittens! Perhaps something belated for her 1st Birthday is in order?

btw – the cardigan Emily is wearing in the picture wasn’t knitted by me. It was knitted by my husband’s Aunt for our first daughter. Here it is getting used all over again! I believe it is a Debbie Bliss pattern