Making Monday

Natalie over at The Yarn Yard has started making monday blogs. The idea is you post about things you have been making on Mondays. I would have joined in the last two but all I seemed to be making was a mess with three children at home on school holidays.

This week however I got my finger out and have been finishing my boneyard shawl, Stephen West, the designer, is a genius. He specialises in making the simple look stunning. I have been hoarding some rainbow Kauni yarn for ages and although I have planned to do lots of things with it I have never started anything with it. I have started on a Stephen West knitalong and the first clue was disappointingly small so I decided to do another one of his shawls and picked out the Boneyard and grabbed the Kauni. Well it was addictive. I couldn't put it down. The yarn is very moreish, just one more to see the next colour change....

The result is a stunning shawl in a beautiful rainbow.







I couldn't wait to show it off so here are some pictures of it pre-blocked. I have also not quite finished the picot edging I added but you can see how it will look in this picture...



What did you make today?

Woolfish Meal and Swap

It had been a while since I had been to my old knitting group. I now live almost an hour and a half away so it now needs more planning.

Anyway - before Christmas we had decided we would meet up and have lunch together one Saturday. We also pulled names out of a hat and we were to make something for someone else using no more than one ball of wool.

Over Christmas and New Year I had a lot of time for knitting so I made the gorgeous Crest of the Wave Scarf by Judy Jacobs. It's a very simple pattern with just 12 rows to repeat - perfect for my little brain ;-)

I made it using a ball of Posh Lei in mermaid so it was a lovely mix of blues and greens.

The .pdf is available here.

I had a fun time choosing the beads - it took me so long to decide - so in the end I used two colours. A bronze to contrast with the yarn and a green to add a bit of sparkle.

I think Irene was pleased with it.

(Sorry - the colours are a bit off)

I received this unusual scarf/neck warmer. It is made from the softest cashmere in a lovely olive green with a flowery wooden button to hold it together. It's great isn't it? Perfect for keeping my neck warm.

I think everyone was delighted with their presents and the meal was fantastic too.

There are more pictures of some of the other creations over on Louise's Blog.

February '09 Update

I have a lot of projects on the go at the moment so thought I'd give you a but of a run-down.

First of all I rounded up all the socks I have on needles to shame myself into finishing a pair...


Yarn: Lorna's Lace - Sassy Stripe
Pattern: Simple sock from the label on Colinette's Jitterbug
Progress - 1 complete and 25% of sock 2


Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug - Berry Coulis
Pattern: Simple sock from the label on Colinette's Jitterbug
Progress - 1 complete and just cast on sock 2
Notes - no ribbing at top of sock - plain knitting so curls (love that!) First sock is too small so either need to frog back or gift


Yarn: Can't remember - I suspect it has bamboo in
Pattern: Simple sock from the label on Colinette's Jitterbug
Progress - 1 complete and need to start no. 2


Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug (?)
Pattern: Simple sock from the label on Colinette's Jitterbug
Progress - 80% through no.1
Notes: Simple curl top and 1 x 1 rib on heel flap


Next up is a jumper I have cast on for Martin. I am using New Lanark's chunky wool which I had to phone up to order as it is not on their site. It is gorgeous yarn - in a mushroom colour with flecks of colour through it. The pattern is called Cheesy Puffs on account of the bumps that are created. I really like the pattern - nice and simple but the texture looks good. The photo doesn't do it justice - but it is a lovely knit. I want to check my measurements before I go any further though.



Also on my needles is my first lace project. Aptly named A Beginner's Triangle it is still causing me problems. But I guess it will get easier - there are just a few odd stitches that I need to master. I haven't got very far with it yet.





I finally finished knitting the squirrel mittens but still need to block them. They were a good exercise in mitten knitting and I learned that I knit really, really tight - these are adult size (apparently) but fit my five year old son!



The practice on the squirrel mittens was useful when I started the Posh Winter Cottage Mittens. I love the pattern on these and the yarn is gorgeous to work with. I went up a size or two on the needles to help with my tight knitting but have still not got it right. This is where I got up to before frogging them back completely as they were still too small. Maybe I need to make man-size mittens to get the right size!!



I do have other things on the needles - a secret present for XXX, a jumper for me, a scarf for Orla and a jumper for Orla - all are either secret or stagnating - must sort them out....

Feather and Fan Scarf

This really has been a long project.  My first big lace project.  It's a simple feather and fan scarf - made using 4 balls of ONline Linie 135 Goby in bronze - although to me it looks more gold.

It is a very easy pattern to memorise - four row repeats.  Cast on (18 x no. repeats) +2.

Row 1: knit

Row 2: purl

Row 3: k1, k2tog 3 times, yo k 6 times, k2tog 3 times, k1  (repeating the middle 18 as required)

Row 4: knit

Very, very easy - but it still took for ever.  The yarn was nice to knit with but became heavy so I stopped at 4 balls.

Taking pictures was difficult - I just couldn't get the true colour to show up at all.  Use your imagination - it's gold.

To illustrate the picture above - the background is supposed to be white!

I hope my mother-in-law likes it - it's her Christmas present.