Conifer

September 2017

This was a holiday knit, mostly completed during a short family break in Norfolk. The green and white colour combination is so fresh and lovely, and the yarn used, Rowan Felted Tweed dk,

 is my favourite yarn of all time, and particularly good for colour work (my kids do sometimes complain about it being a little bit itchy, though).

I love the little tree chart, it's really cute, but I'm not entirely sold on the shape of this cardigan - specifically the v-neck - and it hasn't really been getting the wear it deserves. I think if I was to pick up this pattern again it would most likely be to transpose the chart onto something else (which would be easy to do as there's no shaping or fiddly bits in the section where the chart appears).

I knitted the largest size (12 months) but in a yarn which is more of a sport weight than a 4-ply, and so this is really about a size 2-3. Lucy is around 20 months in these pictures but it's a bit big still.

Pattern: Conifer by Ella Austin
Size: 2-3 years
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed
Colours: Clay (mc), Hedgerow (cc)
Needle 2.75mm
On ravelry: here

Tiny Woodland

April 2017

This is such a satisfying set of patterns. Not one of them took more than a couple of hours to complete, but each of them is easy to follow and tremendously cute. The owl and the hedgehog in particular have such a lot of character despite being so tiny.

The only modification I made to these patterns as written was to unpick the owl's wings. They were intended to be sewn down, but I made these for my six year old son and one year old daughter and, inevitably, they wanted to flap the wings and make him fly.

I used Rowan's Felted Tweed dk because I had a big bag of oddments stashed. The tweedy little flecks add a certain rustic charm which suits these little creatures very well, in my opinion. Although described as a dk, it's not really much thicker than a sport weight, and knitted up on 2.00mm needles came out dense (as toys should be) but manageable.

Knitted toys aren't really my oeuvre, but I was very pleased with these, and amazed by the sheer choice of patterns which Anna has published. 

Pattern: Tiny Woodland patterns by Anna Hrachovec
Size: n/a
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk
Colours: Camel, Treacle, Ginger, Clay, Hedgerow, Carbon
Needle 2.00mm

On ravelry: here, here, here and here

DROPS 157-2 Silver Dream

February 2017

DROPS is an amazing yarn company. They make fabulously good value yarns, and the pattern support is absolutely overwhelming, and entirely free.

Around Christmas 2016 I took my son ice skating, and had a sudden and uncontrollable urge to possess a proper nordic looking cosy sweater. Just the right sort of thing to wear for next year's trip.

Luckily I had an enormous skein of mid-blue Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop dk stashed, after spotting it in the seconds bin at their stall at Yarndale 2014. I never did work out what was wrong with it, even after knitting it into a sweater. And quite frankly it had been festering in my stash for so long that it was a relief to finally use it.

Pattern-wise I have nothing helpful to say about this project. It worked perfectly as written and I didn't feel compelled to modify it at all. The top-down construction made it great for trying-on-as-you-go. It's worth noting in passing that I have a special fondness for colour work with raglan sleeves rather than round yokes. The increasing/decreasing required to make the raglan seams is more disruptive to the flow of the colour work but the fit is so much more flattering in my experience that I really do feel it's worth it.

Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop dk is a beautiful yarn, so warm and lustrous. Not "next to the skin" soft but fine for a sweater if you're happy to wear a layer underneath. Knowing that I was supporting a local business and not having to pay extra to have yarn shipped halfway around the world just made this project all the more enjoyable.

Pattern: 157-2 Silver Dream by DROPS garnstudio
Yarn: Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop dk in blue (mc) and white (cc).
Size: 36"
On ravelry: here

Freddie

December 2016

Marie Wallin’s designs for Rowan have been amongst my favourites for some time, and there are several sweet ones in the vintage inspired “Once Upon a Time Collection” for children. Freddie grabbed me straight away, as I love all-over fairisle projects and this is such a pretty one.

I did modify the pattern in several respects - it was written to be knitted flat, as seems to be the house style at Rowan - but I worked it in the round as far as the armholes as it tends to give better results with stranded colour work and even if it didn’t it saves a bit of sewing up to do it that way.

Secondly I played around with the colour palate quite a lot. This is about the fifth or sixth fairisle I’ve knitted using felted tweed, so I have a big bag of leftovers to plunder but not necessarily all of the recommended colours. I’m firmly of the view that all shades of felted tweed go with all other shades - it’s such a beautiful yarn - but as ever with fairisle you do need to think about what degree of contrast you want. I tend to favour medium or high contrast and Freddie was a bit subtle for me at times. The one stripe which I did use the suggested palate is the broadest one featuring beige/green/orange and to my eye the pattern gets a little bit lost there.

The third modification was that I added about 2” length. If you study the pattern pictures closely you can see Freddie is designed to be fairly short, which is fine as long it’s worn over a shirt that stays tucked in. Having a son myself, though, I couldn’t overlook the potential for a longer top worn underneath it to come untucked hang down below the hem of the vest and spoil the look completely. It was easy enough to add some length though. Just a matter of unpicking the ribbing, putting the live stitches back on the needles and knitting downwards for a little while until it felt right.

I was really pleased with the end result - virtually all of my most beautiful projects have been knitted in felted tweed and this is definitely one of them!

Pattern: Freddie by Marie Wallin
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk in Pine (dark green), Avocado (light green), Clay (white), Camel (beige), Bilberry (purple), Ginger (orange), Watery (blue/green), Mineral (yellow) and Treacle (brown).
Size: 7-8 years
On ravelry: here

A pair of Traktorgensers in Yarn Stories Fine Merino dk

August 2016

Some time ago I was sent a big bag of Yarn Stories Fine Merino dk to try. It took me a long time to settle on what to make with it, but this summer I decided that this Norwegian tractor pattern was just about gorgeous enough to do it justice. Only just, mind you.

Fine Merino dk is so beautiful knitted up that everyone in my knitting group wanted to know what I had used. It's incredibly soft and, as these sweaters would suggest, the colour palate is very pretty. I'm always on the look out for yarns which take colour work well - I tend to use yarns heavy in natural fibres for most of my colour work, and they can sometimes be a bit coarse and itchy. Not this one. It is incredibly soft and also machine washable, which makes it ideal for children's clothes. Let's face it, they get dirty.

The yarn does have some fantastic pattern support on the Yarn Stories website. Amelia is just one example, and originally I was sorely tempted to make one for myself. One day I probably will, but this tractor pattern had been on my wish list for over a year, and as my son is increasingly fussy about me not dressing him in scratchy wool, I thought I had better whip up a couple of these first.

The pattern itself is by Sadnes Design, and only available in Norwegian, but once again, I ran it thought google translate, applied a little bit of common sense et voila. I had great fun playing around with the fairisle motifs and colours, as I didn't feel that both sweaters needed to be identical. 

It's worth noting that not all of that yoke is made by stranding however. By the time you get to the exhaust pipes, your floats would be unmanageably long, and so the bits of contrast colour are added using swiss darning/duplicate stitch. More loose ends to sew in, but it is the only way to prevent the finished object from being terribly wrinkly - I can see why the pattern was written that way

Profuse apologies for the lack of any modelled photos of the small one. It's going to fit my little girl next winter, I think, not this one. I really hope I can come back and add some in due course. There needs to be a photograph of them both wearing their matching sweaters and one day there will be, so watch this space.

Thankfully George's is also a bit on the large side too at the moment, and so here it is modelled with great panache by his friend Albie.

In conclusion, this was a fun project in which a fabulous yarn met a handsome pattern and produced a pair of practical, warm and appealing garments. Happy days!

Pattern: 1308-14 Traktorgenser by Sadnes Design
Yarn: Yarn Stories Fine Merino dk in French Navy, Taupe, Thistle and Mulberry
Size: 6 years (taupe), 12 months (purple)
On ravelry: here

South Pole Jumper

December 2015

I recently discovered the work of Jorid Linvik, and in partiular loved these little penguins from the South Pole hat. I was really keen to use them somewhere, and when I took George’s chest measurement, it turned out to be close enough to the circumference of the hat that I could just follow the chart as written, without having to add any stitches. I just used slightly larger needles.

Having had a go at the fish in the South Pole hat pattern, I decided they were perhaps a bit grown up and subtle for a child’s pattern, and so I swapped them over with the Swedish Fish Socks chart. It’s a lot cuter that way.

This was basically worked bottom up, but having dithered about the fish I worked in both directions at different stages. I started it just under the penguins using a provisional cast on so I could play around with the length later on.

The neckline looks slightly sloppy to me, and might need to be ripped back and redone, but in fairness he has been wearing it unblocked today so it might settle down. He also has a habit of trying to chew at the collars of his jumpers at the moment, which doesn’t help!

All of the yarns I used are very soft and not at all itchy, as George is approaching that fussy age. I particularly like the Berroco Vintage dk, even if I did encounter a slight different-dyelots-not-matching problem with it. Entirely my fault of course.

Pattern: 9-9 Sweater with Raglan Sleeves by Garnstudio DROPS design incorporating South Pole Hat by Jorid Linvik and Swedish Fish Socks by SpillyJane
Size: 4 years
Yarn: Berroco Vintage dk in blue-green 449, John Lewis Heritage dk in demin and cream, Sirdar Snuggly dk in light blue, Garnstudio DROPS Karisma Superwash dk in dark grey.
Needle: 3.5mm
On ravelry: here

Baby Goth

October 2015

This project was a joy from start to finish. I bought the yarn at Yarndale 2015 in Skipton during a lovely knitting holiday with friends, and cast on shortly after I got back. It seemed to knit up in no time, and I've had a lot of very kind compliments on it.

I know skulls aren't everybody's cup of tea, and I'm not sure that the grandparents approve, but for anyone with a bit of an inclination towards the gothic like me, it is the cutest pattern ever. As soon as I saw it I knew my little girl needed one.

The skull pattern is made using intarsia, which is a technique I often tend to avoid since it can be a bit of a faff. In this case it wasn't quite as bad as I'd remembered. Ok, every skull means two loose ends to sew in, but if you embark on this project knowing what to expect it's no big deal, probably because it's so tiny.

If I can get some cute modelled pictures after she is born I will try to come back and add them, although something tells me I might not have as much time for blogging at that point!

ETA: voila!

Pattern: Baby Goth Cardigan by Baby Goth Knits
Size: Newborn
Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Karisma Superwash dark grey/ off white
Needle: 3.5mm
On ravelry: here

Anikka Dress

August 2015

Having found out that I'm expecting a girl in December, I naturally trawled through my ravelry favourites for all those baby girl project I had loved but not knitted up yet. It's a pretty long list, but this dress just leapt out at me.

Having only had a son so far, I've no idea how useful or practical a dress like this is going to be, particularly in such a small size, but time will tell. One thing to be said for it (other than the obvious cuteness factor), is that this style of dress is bound to fit for a long time, since as the baby grows it can become a tunic and eventually a vest. That's a gratifying feeling.

I really enjoy stranded colour work, but I'm more used to doing it in 4-ply and on a larger scale than this, so this dress felt as if it knitted up in no time. I'd definitely make it again if I needed a last minute gift for a friend's baby girl.

The dress is worked bottom up with a crocheted buttonhole at the neck for ease of getting it on and off. I'm absolutely terrible at crochet, but even I could manage such a tiny bit of chain without having to enlist help. Yay me.

Pattern: Anikka by Vivian Aubrey
Size: 3 months
Yarn: Berroco Vintage dk 2143 Dark Denim and 2194 Breezeway, John Lewis Heritage Merino in cream
Needle: 3.50mm
On ravelry: here

Puerperium Cardigan

April 2015

Sometimes, when one of your knitter friends gets pregnant it’s really hard to know what to make for the baby. And sometimes you get a special request. Thank you Lizzy for making life easy.

I modified this a little, using a contrasting colour for the button band, collar and cuffs. This was knitted on as as I went by twisting the two yarns around each other. A really great tip I picked up somewhere is to slip the first stitch purl wise every row when making a garter stitch border. It looks SO much neater.

I loved the Sirdar Crofter. It was really soft and the self striping fair isle effect is really pretty. It doesn’t feel as if it would be warm enough for a British winter, but this little cardigan is for a summer baby, so that’s just fine. I never got around to making one (as other friends had whipped them up already) but I had enough left over for a hat, which is great yarn economy.

Lizzy was expecting a little boy, but didn’t want anything too traditionally blue. Hopefully this fits the bill.

Oliver arrived just per a week ago, weighing just over 10lbs, and his Puerperium fits great - not for long, though!

Pattern: Puerperium Cardigan by Kelly Brooker
Size: Newborn
Yarn: Sirdar Crofter Baby Fair Isle Effect dk
Needle 3.50mm
On ravelry: here

Transport Pullover

January 2015

I was in the middle of an adult sized single colour stocking stitch sweater when I signed up for this test knit, desperate to tackle something with a little bit more interest. One day I will go back to making something for George which doesn't have vehicles of some kind on it, I'm sure, but at the moment, of all the patterns I show him he does seem to favour this sort of thing. He has his eye on this one next.

This pattern was written for 4-ply weight yarn, and the largest size was 2 years. I though my little boy would love it, though, and so I offered to test it on the basis that if I used dk weight yarn, and made 6 month old size I would be working at a much looser gauge than the pattern was written for, I end up with something that fits a 3 - 4 year old.

My gauge was 24 sts to 10cm, and my schematic:

Length: 45cm
Chest: 66cm
Underarm seam: 26cm

The construction of this was really interesting. The body was knit back and forth to the underarm, and then sewn together to create a seam up the middle of the back. The arms were knitted separately and then joined with the body at the underarm, so that the yoke could be worked in one piece. For the most part the yoke was worked back and forth, allowing for one of the raglan seams to remain open and be fastened with buttons later. That made the colour work so much more straightforward, and it's a great help to have such a large neck opening when it comes to dressing and undressing.

I added an extra row of trains at the top of the yoke.

The main yarn was King Cole Moods Duet dk. The other colours were just scraps of various dk weight acrylics I had stashed.

Pattern: Transport Pullover by Pinar Ürün Sizun
Size: 3-4 years
Yarn: King Cole Moods Duet dk
Colours: Stonewash
Needle: 3.25mm
On ravelry: here

Foxy

December 2014

One of the ladies in my knitting group whipped up a couple of these cute hats for Christmas presents, and I couldn't resist following suit, they were so adorable.

I’d originally intended to make this using orange teddy bear eyes rather than buttons for the eyes, but I decided against, since they were on spikes, and so felt like they would make it a bit uncomfortable to wear.

Photographed in Hagg Woods, Dunnington. It’s amazing how cooperative a 3 year old can be when there are chocolate biscuits at stake.

I shortened the ribbing around the brim by about 0.25”. I made the smallest size, but with felted tweed (a dk) held double on 3.25mms. The main rationale being that I wanted to make it with something I already had stashed, and that was the only orange yarn I had.

I’m happy with how the sizing turned out. Here’s it’s modelled by a 3 year old boy. The intended recipient is a 4 year old girl. I think it will be fine.

George does look cute in it, though, and I do have some grey Cascade 220 stashed, so I expect I’ll be casting on a woolfie at some point, as this was a really fun pattern to follow, with shadow wraps, intarsia in the round and all sorts of interesting features.

This is a Christmas present for Emily. Since her brother is getting a sweater I also made her a matching toy fox in felted tweed to even things out a bit. The fox is here.

Pattern: Foxy by Ekaterina Blanchard
Size: Toddler
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk
Colours: 154 Ginger and 177 Clay
Needle 3.25mm
On ravelry: here

Hedgerow

December 2014

This was a very special type of fair isle project. It was knitted in the round from the bottom up, and then cut down the middle of the front to turn it into a cardigan. This process, known as steeking, had always terrified me in the past, but this time I cracked it.

Hedgerow comes from Ann Kingstone's Stranded Knits, a book which includes a lot of helpful information about all the techniques needed. There are several different ways to work a steek, but I reenforced mine using a sewing machine, as she felt that was the most secure method.

There's quite a lot of finishing once the steek is cut. The button band has to be picked up and knitted, the buttons sewn on, and then the steek stitches (a column of extra stitches which you cut down the middle of) have to be sewn down to the inside of the cardigan. I finished mine off by sewing a navy blue 1.5cm velvet ribbon over the top, which looks really nice. We weren’t sure whether to sew it all the way around or just over the steeked bits, but we thought the first option looked neater.

Being a bottom up project, the body and sleeves are knitted separately, and then joined at the underarm so that the yoke can be worked in one piece. Both the body and sleeves have to be at the same position on the colour work chart when they are joined, so to give myself a bit of flexibility, I started the sleeves with a provisional cast on, and higher up the chart than the pattern specified. That meant that I could go back and pick up the live stitches and work the bottom of the sleeves and the cuffs after cutting the steek, once the cardigan could be tried on. I'm really pleased I did it that way.

This is knitted in Rowan felted tweed which in my experience tends to grow when you block it. My measurements were - before blocking:

Chest: 35”
Waist: 31”
Hip: 40”
Length: 24”

And after blocking:

Chest: 39”
Waist: 36”
Hip: 42”
Length:25.5”

I would suggest looking carefully at the schematic before casting this on, as it’s a bit wider around the hips than the bust. Probably flattering on a lot of women, but I’m top-heavy, so not ideal for me. A bit of stretching around the bust on blocking left me with a decent fit though.

The colour combination I used was made up as I went, and Ann Kingstone left me a comment on ravelry to say she loved it, which I was very chuffed about. I found the original colours a little too bright for my taste. The shades I used were called Seafarer, Watery, Duck Egg, Bilberry, Camel and Avocado. Left over bits of the Camel, Seafarer, Bilberry and Watery went towards Corona Borealis.

Pattern: Hedgerow by Ann Kingstone from Stranded Knits
Size: See above
Yarn: Rowan felted tweed dk
Colours: See above
Needle 3.00mm
On ravelry: here

Anders

November 2014

I absolutely love this pattern. It's cute, quick and easy enough that I did most of the colour work part on a long car journey.

My only reservation is that I think the sizing is a little on the large side, and so I made a 9 - 12 month old size to fit a little boy who is about to turn 1.

It makes a lovely christmas jumper, but not being christmas-specific it would be wearable all winter.

The buttons came from Hobbycraft. As far as I can tell, they're intended to be worn at front or back, depending on what you prefer. I think I liked them better at the front.

The John Lewis Heritage Merino dk is a merino/acrylic blend, and lovely and soft. I needed something washable, as this is for a baby, but it wasn't at all squeaky like some acrylic can be. And it took colour work beautifully, without any crinkling.

Pattern: Anders by Soren Kerr
Size: 9-12 months 21” chest, 13.5” long
Yarn: John Lewis Heritage Merino Blend dk
Colours: 102 Cream and Denim
Amount: 1 skein cream, 2 skeins blue
Needle 3.5mm
On ravelry: here

Chewie the Dinosaur

October 2014

I saw a made-up version of this at Yarndale 2014, and since the kits were selling for £6.50 I couldn't resist. Particularly as Christmas wasn't so far off, and I would love it if my little boy started to get into dinosaurs. I still think £6.50 for 3 balls of merino was an absolute bargain. There were even decent amounts left over.

George has christened his dinosaur Chewie, and he lives at the bottom of his bed. Occasionally when he glimpses Chewie's photo on my ravelry projects page he points to him and asks what he's doing out on the patio. I guess the world is a bit confusing when you're 3.

This pattern doesn't seem to have been listed on ravelry, and so I have to idea how many other Chewies there might be out there. I like to think of him as part of a herd, though.

Although undeniably cute, this wasn't the most enjoyable knit. Each spike was knitted separately, and then sewn on. Ditto the legs. As someone who hates finishing work it felt like a big ask. Full credit to my Mum for saving my sanity by offering to do the embroidery.

Pattern: Dinosaur in Merino dk by Wendy Yarns
Yarn: Wendy Merino dk
Amount: 2 balls green, 1 ball orange
Size: One size
On ravelry: here

A Pair of Stockings

September 2014

These were long overdue. As an avid knitter, it was beginning to feel a bit wrong that my little boy didn't have a Christmas Stocking. As George was to have one, his cousin needed one too, as they are to spend Christmas together. Besides, I wanted to practise fair isle, play with colours and have an excuse to collect loads of Felted Tweed.

These are a knithack/mismatch of several patterns - primarily Spindleknitter's Stockings and Ho Ho Ho along with a couple of charts from The Tapdancing Lizard by Catherine Cartwright-Jones and Roy Jones and 150 Scandinavian Motifs by Mary Jane Mucklestone. A full list of what came from where is set out below.

From bottom to top: 

George

• Red hearts on blue - improvised
• Yellow bells on brown - from Spindleknitters Stockings
• Holly on green - from Spindleknitters Stockings
• White snowflakes on purple - from DROPS b21-32
• Brown reindeer on blue - from 150 Scandinavian Motifs 
• Yellow stars on navy - from The Tapdancing Lizard 
• Green trees on white - from 150 Scandinavian Motifs
• White snowmen on red - from DROPS 0-792

Gregor

• Train - from The Tapdancing Lizard
• Green chevrons - improvised
• Yellow and blue squares - improvised
• Trees - from Spindleknitters Stockings
• Yellow stars on navy - from 150 Scandinavian Motifs
• Brown reindeer on white - from DROPS 122-1
• Paper dolls - from 150 Scandinavian Motifs
• Snowmen on blue - improvised

Worked heel as per Spindleknitters Stockings. Worked in dk over roughly 72 stitches increasing and decreasing as needed to make charts fit.

Lessons I learned from making these - three colour colour work is faffy and tight and needs a lot of untangling, colour work is so addictive that it's easy to end up making a stocking so massive it'll take you forever to fill it, a stocking tapering out upwards from the heel is the shape I like best and felted tweed has the most gorgeous palate of colours ever.

Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk in Scree, Sigh, Seafarer, Paisley, Rage, Mineral, Treacle, Clay, Pine and Herb
Needle: 3.25 mm
On ravelry here.

Copycat Gnomes

August 2014

Very much not my idea. Very much inspired by this and by these.

Here’s as much detail of my reverse engineering as I scribbled down.

Knitting with dk weight yarn on 3.5mm and a gauge of 21.3 sts to 4”.

First attempt (with red flowers at the top) gave a yoke which was much too deep, so ripped back and started again with gnomes placed higher in yoke.

Worked top-down. Started with 65 (plus 6 and 6 for button band). Increased over yoke up to gnome pattern to 128 (plus button band).

Placed markers for 16 gnomes. Worked gnome chart with two sets of increases to 160 (+BB). After last row of chart, divided for sleeves | 20(+6) | 37 | 46 | 37 | 20(+6). Cast on 4 at each armhole when separating.

Worked down from armhole for about 5.5” with increases (m1 x 4) each side of side seam marker every 10 rows to make a-line shape, inspired by Bláithín.

Sleeves worked in the round on DPNs, decreasing on first and every following 10th row 3 times in all. About 6” long from armhole.
Used schematic from Welcome to the Flock as a rough guide.

Neck, waist, cuffs and button band worked in garter stitch.

Messed up buttonhole placing. Fixed it with afterthought buttonholes (method in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting without Tears).

Was also tempted to try this to tidy up edging of garter stitch button bands.

I used the free gnome hat pattern here.

Main colour: Hobbycraft Valuecrafts Women's Institute Premium Acrylic in 24253 Navy
Hats: Stylecraft Special dk in 1246 Lipstick (red)
Faces: King Cole Big Value Baby dk 221 beige
Beards: King Cole Pricewise Double Knitting 46 Cream
Coats: Patons Fab dk 2358 Iris (blue)
Boots: Hayfield Bonus dk 927 in Walnut (Brown)
Needles: 3.50mm
Size: 3 months
On ravelry: here

Giftwrap set

July 2014

I recently spent a very pleasant week at Centre Parcs in Sherwood Forest. Practical as ever, I decided that the best project to take away with me on holiday would be one which required me to carry 8 balls of yarn around with me in what can really only be described as a sack…

But there were babies to knit for, and babies don't hang around. I won a boxful of Stylecraft dk in a competition last year, and had been meaning to make something colourful with it for a while.

I love this little set, but I do wish I'd done something to test out the palate first, if that makes sense. All of the colours are very pretty, and they mostly do combine very well, but the pale purple does tend to blend into the grey a little too much for my liking, and if I was to make this again, I would leave it out or use a different shade.

A word of warning to anyone thinking of embarking on a project like this - every stripe means two loose ends to sew in. I was very grateful this wasn't an adult sized project - I think if it was it might still be hanging around half-finished. Having said that, being topdown and seamless there is very little finishing with this project other than sewing in the ends, so I shouldn't really complain.

Giftwrap is available as an e-book with a onesie pattern as well as this bonnet and cardigan. 

Pattern: Giftwrap sweater and bonnet by Carina Spencer
Yarn: Stylecraft special dk in 1246 Lipstick (red), 1711 Spice (orange), 1114 Sunshine (yellow), 1316 Spring Green (green), 1003 Aster (blue) and 1188 Lavender (pale purple)

Hayfield bonus dk in Velvet Plum (dark purple) and Light Grey Mix (grey)

Amount: Less than one ball of each
Needles: 3.50mm
Size: Smallest
On ravelry: here

Baby Cables and Big Ones Too

March 2014

I've spent a huge chunk of my knitting time this year on a project which seems to be cursed. It's a 4-ply grey dress with a fair-isle hem in white, featuring a skull and crossbones motif. The first attempt was finished, but shrank beyond redemption the minute I tried to wash it. The second attempt was going fine untilI accidentally dipped it in someone's coffee and permanently dyed one of the skulls brown. I'm trying to be stoical about it, but the truth is I can't bring myself to cast it on again for the time being. Perhaps in time for next Christmas, though.

And so to focus on the good news in the world of my knitting. Last year I won a competition run by Stylecraft, and in a very generous prize stash were the following highlights:

Some Special dk in virtually every colour imaginable (watch this space regarding what will become of that) and 8 balls of Alpaca dk in a beautiful shade of blue with navy and turquoise flecks called Mistral.
4.5 balls of which have now been successfully transformed into Suvi Simola's Baby Cables and Big Ones Too.

It's a pattern which is 6 years old, and which I have made before. Somehow, though, that version doesn't seem to fit any more - time, and my unsympathetic washing machine have rendered it too short in the body and too long in the sleeves. When it did fit it was a total wardrobe staple and so I felt it was high time I revisited the pattern.

I love this yarn. It's pretty, soft, warm and washable in the machine which is always a plus. The yardage is amazing and it's really brilliant value for money.

I reworked the shaping by adding bust darts just under the end of the yoke, by shortening the sleeves a little, and by only working about half of the waist increases and decreases. I'm pretty happy with the fit I got that way. 

I'm part of a group on ravelry with has signed up to the challenge of making 12 sweaters in 2014. This is number 4. I'm running out of yarn and drawer space already, but I'm far too committed a knitter to let a little thing like that stop me. 

Pattern: Baby Cables and Big Ones Too by Suvi Simola
Yarn: Alpaca dk by Stylecraft
Colour: Mistral
Amount: 4.5 Skeins
On ravelry: here

Frances

January 2014

Sometimes you see the name of a traditionally inexpensive yarn company slapped on the side of a ball of something of such quality that something in your brain short circuits and you shout "bargain" and buy a bagful. So it was with James C Brett and his pure merino dk.

So then, I needed a dk pattern which called for roughly 1,200m. I considered this top-down cardigan, but that called for a dk yarn to be knitted at a gauge of 18 sts to 10 cm, which is very loose, and I'm a bit wary of doing that.

How I settled on Frances, I can't recall. I must have been going through a bit of a cable phase, because shortly beforehand I embarked on Aidez, and there was a certain logic to making a transitional-weather garment with this merino, given that it just begs to be worn next to the skin.

If I appear to be regretting my choices, it's for one simple reason: this pattern is written so as to make it as unnecessarily-labour-intenstive as it could possibly get. Not only should it apparently be knitted flat and then seamed, but the cowl is then also knitted separately, and then sewn on (rather than picking up stitches around the neckline like any sensible person would do).

It made me cross, and I put it into hibernation for a long time. Thank goodness for International Knit a Sweater a Month Dodecation, or I might never have got it finished. I hate sewing.

Pattern: Frances by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: James C. Brett Pure Merino dk
Colour: PM8 Plum
Amount: 9 Skeins
On ravelry: here