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

Balfour Skirt

February 2017

I love this pattern! I've never knitted a skirt before, partly because I'd previously not been sure whether they would hang properly or stay up. With Balfour, I thought it was worth taking a risk and it totally paid off. I love the fit - it’s pretty snug, but I think it’s flattering that way and holds a good shape. It's great to find a new way to wear hand knitting. 

Balfour is knitted using rowan felted tweed dk. Although labelled a dk, in my opinion this yarn knits up more like a sport weight, and so in terms of yarn substitutions, a 4-ply would probably just about work (I've seen Drops Alpaca subbed for felted tweed a couple of times very successfully). The skirt is knitted bottom up, with a folded hem at the bottom and a section of ribbing and elastic to hold it up at the top. It's seamless and intended to be worn with a little positive ease. On ravelry it's described as "a-line" but I would say "pencil skirt" would be the more accurate way to describe its shape. It sits quite high - on the waist rather than the hips, which makes for a warm tummy, but I can live with that if it's the price I have to pay for it not falling down.

I did tweak the pattern to some extent. As written, it has you increase and decrease in such a way that the chart repeats don’t always line up at the two side seam stitches. This is liveable-with for some of the simpler chart but when it came to the with stripe with the double diamonds I thought it would look rubbish, and so I adjusted by stitch count so that there would be no partial repeats. I figured I could always block it aggressively if it ended up a funny shape - I've used felted tweed a lot before and it does grow a bit when you block it.

There's a matching cardigan in Rowan 60 which uses some of the same fairisle motifs. The skirt doubles as a snood in that you can pull it over your head and stick your face out of the waist opening but I while I love it as a skirt, I'm not sure I'm really a snood sort of person.

I came up with my own colour combination rather than following the pattern, because I already had a lot of felted tweed stashed, and thought it would be best to try to use that up. Also, I love turquoise.

I chopped a bit of length off too, as I’m not very tall (5’5”) and I wanted it to fall just above the knee.

Pattern: Balfour Skirt by Lisa Richardson
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk in Avocado (light green), Camel (beige), Watery (blue/green), Carbon (grey), Seafarer (navy) and Clay (white).
Size: smallest
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 Colorblocks

December 2015

Every year I knit a little something for the children of my husband's cousin, Daniel and Emily, and this year just for a change I thought it would be cute to make his and hers matching jumpers. I needed a fairly quick knit though - with a baby due on December 22nd I was loath to commit to any Christmas projects which might prove too labour intensive. A worsted weight top down in the round jumper fitted the bill perfectly.

I'd spotted this pattern on ravelry a while ago. Garter stitch always makes very attractive looking stripes in my opinion, and the construction of that pocket intrigued me whilst the rest of the garnet promised just the right amount of fairly mindless knitting.

This pattern has some very pleasing little design details - the hem being slightly lower in the back than the front through short row shaping for example, and as I knitted it I couldn't help but wish more of my sweaters were shaped like that. Plus it's a truly unisex design, and so perfect for a brother and sister. (Emily has apparently got her eyes on Daniel's version - the red and grey - once he gets too big for it).

The Rowan Pure Wool Worsted I used for this is a fabulous yarn. It's not cheap (especially when you don't need to use very much of the contrast colour, as with this pattern), but it comes in every colour you could ever want, washes beautifully, is properly warm and cosy and not itchy in the slightest. It knits up into a very handsome looking and pleasingly squishy fabric.

I love the fact that it's a proper worsted since the UK market doesn't seem to be particularly spoiled for choice when it comes to that particular weight, and yet there are vast swathes of patterns (particularly from the USA) which call for it. Knitting with this makes me understand how a petrolhead would feel driving a ferrari, if you see what I mean. And besides, these were Christmas presents, so I could justify the cost.

I can see myself coming back to this pattern at some point, as it was such a fun, quick knit and these little sweaters are the sort of wardrobe staple that could see any child through a long, British winter or two. And thanks to Rowan, there are many colour combinations left to try.  

Pattern: Colorblock by Oomieknits
Size: 4 years and 6 years
Yarn: Rowan pure wool worsted in Mustard, Damson, Charcoal and Rich Red
Needle: 4.5mm
On ravelry: here

Embrace

December 2015

I haven't had much luck with dresses. I tried twice to improvise something with a skull pattern around the hem - the first time it got coffee spilled on it and stained, the second time I managed to felt it shortly after finishing it. The only picture I managed to take first is here.

So it was with some trepidation that I embarked on Embrace. However, I had some yarn to recycle from this, which just wasn't getting the wear it deserved. Kid Classic is a wonderful yarn, warm, flattering and it wears very well. I have some projects I made in it years ago which hardly show their age at all.

This was also a bit of a worrying knit because I was pregnant whilst I made it, and so unable to try it on as I went. Indeed, I was slightly unsure about what my figure was going to do after the baby arrived, and so I had to feel my way in the dark a little. These pictures are about 3 weeks postpartum, and I've been pleasantly surprised with how it's looking. Horribly impractical for breastfeeding, mind you, but I'm a dedicated knitter, and I wear it anyway.

Embrace was knitted in the round from the bottom up to the armhole, then front and back yoke knitted separately. The original pattern would have you knit the front, back and sleeves flat and seam them, but I that seemed like a really silly idea to me. The sleeves done in the round on DPNs.

One thing that pissed me off a bit about this pattern (apart from it being made available for free after I had already bought it) was the amount of loose ends which needed to be sewn in due to the yoke being worked flat. I’m not quite brave enough with steeking to have converted it to be worked like that instead, but if anyone is, it would be much more sensible. I expect Kid Classic would steek beautifully.

The chart repeats on the back don’t quite line up, but I’m not really bothered. Tired, tired pregnancy knitting. I think it’s beautiful anyway despite usually having a bit of an aversion to yellow.

The original pattern had drop-sleeve armholes, a higher neckline and no sleeves. I decided to add a lower neckline and set-in sleeves based on another of Sarah Hatton’s patterns for Kid Classic from the same collection, Cosy. If I'm being really harsh, I'd say the ribbed section at the cuffs might benefit from being longer, as it's not lying especially flat at the moment. If I can dig out some more of the Kid Classic, that should be a fairly easy modification to make, though.

I'm also wearing it with less positive ease than perhaps was intended, as I've convinced myself that's the best way to flatter my figure.

It's safe to say that this has convinced me that my luck with dresses might have finally changed, and I'm already mentally queuing umpteen others - Bloom, Keja, Bressay, Laneway, Darlington, Kristina, Lidiya... the list goes on. Oh, and I have a 95% complete Still Light which needs to come out of hibernation at some point in 2016 - it's going to be a busy year.

Pattern: Embrace by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Studio 14
Size: Small, but with bust darts
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic in 888 Pumice, 831 Smoke and 877 Mellow
Needle: 3.75mm
On ravelry: here

Merriment

December 2015

I spotted this lovely set a while ago whilst the pattern was unavailable because it was being updated, so I was really pleased to find it was available again in time for me to make one for my daughter. Having expected her to come early, like her brother had, she actually turned up 10 days late. This was something I knitted up around week 40 - 41 of my pregnancy whilst waiting for her to to arrive. I used leftovers from my purple and yellow colorblock sweater.

The pattern includes instructions for a steeked version and a non-steeked version. I don't mind steeking, but in this case I decided not to, since I was using a super wash wool, and I wasn't sure if it would be grippy enough to hold.

One ball of the yellow was enough for the cardigan, but there was virtually nothing leftover, and I had to buy a second for the matching bonnet.

I worked an extra row between colour changes in a couple of places to avoid having to cut the yarn to get it to where I needed it.

M1 increases throughout yoke were done with backward loop cast on, as lifting a strand between stitches can look a bit odd if it's not the right colour.

This was a really quick and satisfying knit - I mostly seem to use 4-ply these days so making something in worsted made for really rapid progress. I'd definitely make this again - it's one of the prettiest baby sets I've seen for ages. My little girl has worn it a few times already, although it's still a bit big for her. The fact that the sleeves have yarn stranded round them for the entire length means they're not especially stretchy, but we managed to get them on and off without too much fuss in the end. 

Pattern: Merriment Bonnet and Cardigan by

Size: 3 months
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool Worsted in 150 Damson and 133 Gold and John Lewis Heritage Merino Blend dk
Needle: 4.00mm
On ravelry: here

Wee Carson

September 2015

My third attempt at steeking (working fairisle in the round and then cutting into it to create an opening) and the first time I did it all by myself without any help from my Mum. Ok, I didn't have much choice, as I was on holiday at the time, but even so, I was proud of myself.

There are two ways to reenforce the knitting to prevent it from fraying before you cut it, crochet or machine stitching. Last time (for Hedgerow) I used machine stitching but having not taken my sewing machine on holiday with me, I had to use crochet this time. I think it would have been strong enough to hold on its own, as Felted Tweed is wonderfully grippy, but when I got home I added a few rows of machine stitching just to be doubly sure.

Of all the steeking resources I've looked at the few times I've used the technique, Kate Davies' series of tutorials - starting with this one - are among the best. It is a subject one tends to read up on quite a bit before attempting even the second and third times, since to thought of cutting into knitting with scissors seems to terrifyingly wrong.

With the right preparation and the right yarn it's fine though. Honestly.

My gauge on 2.75mm needles was 27.5 stitches to 10 cm over stranded colour work, which was the closest I was likely to get to the recommended 28 stitches to 10 cm. This is possibly a bit tighter than Felted Tweed was intended to be knit, but I think it works great, and as this pattern called for something that would steek well, but at the same time I wanted it to be washable, the choices were limited.

I'd guess this will fit at about 3-6 months at my gauge. I felt like it was going to end up much bigger as I was working it up, but this cardigan has a series of rapid decreases near the underarm which give it the a-line shape and so the finished chest measurement is quite a bit smaller than the measurement around the bottom hem. I should have trusted Ysolda, she knows what she is doing.

The zip was installed by my Mum, a 10" chunky open zip in navy blue. It was really difficult to track down a zip so short which was also open ended, but there are some instructions about how to shorten a zip yourself included in the pattern for anyone who finds it impossible. You've got to love a pattern which anticipates your problems like that, and solves them for you.

Pattern: Wee Carson by Ysolda Teague
Size: 3 months
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in Seafarer (dark blue), Scree (pale blue), Hedgerow (mid green), Watery (blue/green), Camel (beige), Carbon (dark grey), Maritime (mid blue), Avocado (light green)
Needle: 2.75mm
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

Chablis

November 2014

The yarn I used for this project first made it into my stash five years ago, and since then I’ve planned about five different projects for it. Some of my favourite hand knitted sweaters are in kidsilk haze (particularly Shirley and Lucetta) and I have a copy of Rowan Studio 12 in my library, which has some lovely kidsilk haze patterns in it. Then I stumbled upon Parisian Nights, dithered between this and Sauvingnon for a while, but then finally cast on Chablis about a year ago.

 

I chose the second size up - which gives me a little bit less positive ease than the design perhaps intended - because I’ve noticed a tendency among my mohair hand knits to hang a little loose after a couple of wears, and they seem to resist blocking back into shape. I’m pretty happy with the way this fits, though. I think any baggier would be less flattering.

I made this in one piece to the armholes and knitted the sleeves in the round on a small circular. It was lucky that they were wide enough to allow this, because sewing up with mohair isn’t much fun. For the little bit of seaming I did do, I found a bit of cotton in a similar colour to the mohair and used that instead.

This was my first attempt at beading, and I was dreading the stringing the beads onto the yarn part. Turns out that it doesn’t take all that long after all, and knitting them into the lace panels was really good fun. I’m definitely planning on knitting more beaded stuff soon.

There was something of a delay to this project, because my first attempt came out a little too short in the body. In the end I just cut into it (just above the moss stitch band which trims the bottom hem) and unravelled a bit to get live stitches back onto the needle. It was an enormous faff, because the mohair is so very keen on gripping to itself, but it did mean that I could just knit downwards until I had the length I wanted. Next time I make something bottom-up I’m going to use a provisional cast on and save myself the bother. If I remember.

Pattern: Chablis by Marie Wallin from Rowan Parisian Nights
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in 582 Trance and Rowan Fine Lace in Cream
Amount: 6 Skeins of main colour, about 0.25 skeins of contrast colour
Needles: 2.25mm
Size: Small
On ravelry: here

Traktorineule

October 2014

My little boy loves tractors. He's not the first, and he won't be the last. But as I prefer to make my knitwear as appealing to him as possible so that we don't fall out, I've been scouring ravelry for this sort of thing for quite some time. If he's still into that sort of thing next year, then I might have a go at this one. I'm sort of hoping he will have moved on to dinosaurs, though. Or pirates. Or space.

The tractor chart used in this jumper is from this Finnish website, but I preferred the way it had been deployed in nupsi’s version, and so I copied that. This project was improvised, save for her notes and the chart from Novita.

This is a 4-ply jumper knitted on 2.75mm needles (and 2.25mm for the ribbing) so my gauge was probably roughly about where it should be.

George is nearly 3 in this picture, and this will fit him until he is nearly 4, I think. Based on a nicely fitting jumper of his, I was aiming for something measuring roughly: chest 27”, length 16”, sleeve seam 10”.

In my gauge, that was 104 stitches. I worked 2x2 rib for 6 grey rows, 2 red rows and then 6 more grey rows. I started the first tractor 10 stocking stitch rows up from the end of the ribbing and 35 stitches into the row. The second tractor is on row 92, and I started armhole shaping on row 105.

To make the armholes, I cast off 6 stitches twice then 2 stitches four times.

I made the neckline on row 128, by casting off the middle 35 stitches and then decreasing 5 stitches at neckline side on the next 2 rows. I wouldn't recommend that, though - I didn’t like the shape this gave me, and tidied it up a bit with short row shaping in the neckline rib. Even then, I still don't like it much, but it's wearable. I Must make something less wide next time.

The shoulder shaping started on row 148.

For the sleeves, I cast on 56 and worked in rib as for body. Then I worked even in stocking stitch, increasing 2 stitches on the 3rd and every following 8th row to 10”. I shaped the arm cap by casting off 6 stitches twice then 2 stitches four times and then 1 stitch at the start of every row until there were about 36 stitches left. At that point I decided that the arm cap looked a bit big, so speeded up by decreasing 1 stitch at each end of every row until 18 stitches were left. They seemed to fit into the armscye pretty well.

Pattern: 71. Traktorineule by Minna Metsänen / improvised
Yarn: King Cole Zig Zag in 49 Clerical (gray) and 761 Ruby (red)

Rowan Pure Wool 4-ply in Avocado 419 (green) and 454 Gerbera (yellow)

Rowan Wool Cotton 4-ply in 495 Marine

Amount: 2 Skeins of main colours, scraps of others
Needles: 2.25mm and 2.75mm
Size: 3 - 4 years
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.

Owls

May 2014

I love Kate Davies, and I'm starting to love how yoked sweaters look on me. When my husband finally agree to let me recycle the Appersett he just didn't quite seem to be getting enough wear from, there was only one thing I wanted to make. Actually, make that two because I did briefly flirt with the idea of DownEast, but only very very briefly.

Owls is a flattering-even-though-it-shouldn't-be slice of chunky loveliness, which can easily be whipped up in a week or so. I totally made it at the wrong time of year, but come the winter time it's going to be getting a lot of wear (especially if I manage to drop that half-stone or so I've been meaning to do something about since forever).

This seems to be one of the most knitted patterns ever if ravelry is anything to go by, and so there probably isn't a great deal useful left to say about it. I made a size small, but added bust darts a couple of inches below the yoke.

The finished fit was a little on the snug side, but I think that's what makes it so flattering. I also worked mine top-down so that I could make sure I was happy with the length. It feels like length is the one thing I'm most likely to be fussy about in any of the projects I made for myself at the moment. Thinking about it, though, I could just have easily worked the pattern bottom-up as written with a provisional cast on to mess about with at the end. Must try that next time.

I'd already had a go at making the child's version of this when I embarked upon mine, and now of course I'm kicking myself about not making this sooner, before my son grew out of his. Perhaps it's time to think about making him another one!

Pattern: Owls by Kate Davies
Yarn: Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky
Amount: Recycled, so who knows?
Colourway: Dark Gray Welsh
Needles: 6.00mm
Size: Smallest, but with bust darts
On ravelry: here

Anhinga

May 2014

This is a record breaker of a project. It took me about three years to complete, but it's done! And now I can remember so little about it, that there's not very much of use I can say…

Kemps had Bamboo tape on sale. I'd used it once before, for Haru, and despite finding ribbon/tape yarns not much fun to work with, I couldn't resist the cheapness. And it does generally have beautiful drape.

I wasn't blown away by the pattern support Rowan had managed to produce with this yarn, but a bit of searching about on rav found me Anhinga, and I loved Norah Gaughan anyway AND I was pregnant (and thought this shape would work well as maternity wear) so it was a no-brainer.

I modified the neckline because v-necks flatter my shape better than cowls. Other than that I think I pretty much followed the pattern as written.

Tape yarn is a terrible chore to sew up with, being so prone to splitting. I think this would be impossible to frog because of that. If I ever use it again, I'll definitely find a matching cotton thread to do the sewing up with.

Pattern: Anhinga by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Rowan Bamboo Tape
Colour: Wedgewood
Amount: 8 Skeins
On ravelry: here

Big Digger

November 2013

I was bought this pattern book last Christmas, so I thought it was about time to make something from it!

This sweater was the main reason I asked Santa for the book - our surname is Digwood, and so we get nicknamed "Diggers" fairly often. And my son is properly obsessed with diggers just at the moment, in the way only a toddler knows how. In fact sometimes we go down to a nearby building site to watch the diggers working on some new houses. Often, they flash their lights at him (at least, I think it's him they're flashing at, and not me…)

Anyway, given my new-found familiarity with construction vehicles, I can confidently testify that they are usually yellow, not the red used in the original pattern. This would bug me, hence my choice of colours. I also worked the yoke stripes in garter stitch, and added a button to the neckline. Even so, using an ordinary cast off left me a neckline too narrow to fit over his massive head, but ripping back and using a decrease cast off instead fixed that.

There's a lot of finishing with this one - it's knitted flat, so needs seaming and then some of the detail is embroidered on. I roped my Mum in to doing the embroidery for me, although George couldn't resist picking at the French knots when he first wore this, and so it's gone to her house for a little holiday while they get sewn down more securely.

Reading up on ravelry about this made me think it would be sensible to add length and loose some width, so I did. I'll try to remember to come back to post my finished measurements when I get the jumper back, but I'm pretty happy with the way it fits at the moment, and I think it will probably last through winter 2013/14.

George seems quite happy with it too. He's getting a bit picky about his clothes, but this is a hit so far. Also, I love this picture, because to me it looks as if he's got his fingers crossed because he's hoping the digger might come to life or something!

Pattern: Big Digger by Lucinda Guy from Handknits for Kids
Yarn: Hayfield Bonus dk / Patons fab dk
Colour: 971 Navy and 0838 Grey / 2305 Yellow and 962 White
Amount: 1.5 skeins of navy and less than one skein of the other colours
On ravelry: here

Frost on Leaves

October 2013

Hats are so difficult to photograph!

Test knit for Midori Hirose via the Testing Pool group, which was a great excuse to make something for myself and yet feel like I wasn't being entirely selfish at the same time. I often seem to miss out on any patterns up for testing which appeal to me, so I was very pleased to be able to have a go at this one.

Beautiful pattern, and great fun to knit. This is made using two colour brioche stitch. I hadn't tried brioche stitch before, but you soon get the hang of it. It's not a difficult pattern, it just takes a little while to work out what's going on.

I spent ages trying to decide which two of the 6 shades of felted tweed in my stash to use. These seemed most in fitting with the idea of frost on leaves though.

If I make this again, I might think about going down a needle size, as my brioche was quite loose, and the cap would also look great a little bit smaller. I think I'll still get a lot of wear out of this version, though! I just need to figure out how to make myself some matching mittens. Maybe I could adapt these...

I'm keeping the link from the original testing thread here because it had a couple of useful links and tips regarding some of the techniques used in this pattern.

Pattern: Frost on Leaves by Midori Hirose / Cake Knit Midori
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk
Colour: 165 Scree (Pale Blue) and 133 Midnight (Dark Blue)
Amount: Less than one skein of each
On ravelry: here