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.

Christmas Stocking Swap - Part 1

I have been involved in a Christmas Stocking swap through my favourite site of all time Ravelry.

Basically you had to knit a Christmas Stocking for someone and someone else was doing the honours for you.  I was knitting for a lovely lady in the US - and as I know how much the Americans love us Scots I thought I would do a Scottish theme.  So here I give you the fruits of my hard work.

First up the stocking itself - I used Cascade 220 - which I am loving to knit with.  So easy and the colours are fantastic.  I based the pattern on the Cascade Christmas Stocking pattern and just adapted away.

Here it is just near the beginning, from the top, you can see how the fair isle is working with the threads being carried around on the inside.

I kept the colours to just the two -blue and white.  I used simple patterns on the majority of the stocking with saltires going round the top:

The heel was interesting to knit - you put the stitches onto waste yarn and carry on down the foot working in the round - so you end up with a long

 tube with a hole in it held together with waste yarn.  Kind of cool.  You then finish the toe and go back to the heel and finish that off too.  I just did the heel and toe in the plain cream.  I need to work on my sock finishing methods as they weren't very neat.

Finally I went back up to the top and used i-cord to give an edge and a loop at the top.  I didn't realise until I had finished that the loop was in the wrong place - and was on the side, not the back.  It's a feature!!!  Honest.

Then all that was left to do was to stuff the stocking with goodies.  I put in some handmade stitch markers - made by the lovely Vicki at Wild Fire Fibres.  They were so cute - I bought a set for me too - and some Christmas Tree ones too.

I added in some mulled wine sachets, a macaroon, some oatcakes and 2 skeins of Jamieson's yarn.  I hope everything is loved!

Lonely mitten

Lonely mitten
Originally uploaded by Pollianicus

Look at this poor, lonely mitten. I really need to get my needles out and make it a friend.

But - aren't the colours lovely. It's made with Noro Silk Garden Lite and I love it.

Feather and Fan scarf

Feather and Fan scarf
Originally uploaded by Pollianicus

A work in progress that fits nicely into my bag at the moment.

I'm using bamboo circulars and bronze coloured yarn - ONline Linie 135 Goby - which is lovely to work with. As it gets longer this scarf is draping really nicely. A lovely, simple knit that I no longer need the pattern for .

Planning on taking this to Ireland with me as I hope it will get through airport security...

This is going to be a Christmas present for someone - so look away if you are likely to be getting a present from me this year *giggle*.

Finishing things

Lots of things been finished off today - so thought I'd blog about them too. First up - here is my first Baby Surprise Jacket



I absolutely loved knitting this. It's not perfect - I lost track of some of the increases and decreases but it was fun and I think it looks great. I used Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino Aran - which was a dream to knit with. I love the contrasting stripes - makes it look super smart. The buttons are originally from my Grandmother's button tin.


Next up is another Baby Surprise jacket knitted in Kraft Koala's Aran:


I'm not as happy with this one - think I prefer BSJ's in single colours - rather than variegated yarn. Sewed the buttons on today - after emptying my button tin trying to find something that looked good. Think the brown ones are perfect - love how the yarn used to sew them on changes colour from button to button.





Next is the lovely pinwheel blanket.


I made this back in July on the way back from France. I used Peaches and Creme 100% cotton - which is quite thick to knit with. I love the pattern on this but stopped too soon - I was eager to finish it. I should have kept going. I may give this to Orla to use as a toy blanket. I still need to block it as the edges curl.

I love the detail on the centre though - the pinwheel itself - will definitely be knitting more of this - with wool next time I think.




Finally I have my Christmas Stocking.



This has been made for a swap I am involved in. I am making for a lovely American lady so I thought I would go overboard on the 'Scottish' theme. I used just two colours - a lot of the patterns I looked at were full of bright colours and made me feel quite ill. I like the simplicity and the contrast of just two. I put saltires around the top and the just used simple patterns down the leg and foot with plain heel and toe. I put i-cord around the top and used that to add a loop. It is not as neat as I hoped - but I still need to block it which I am hoping will squash the heel and toe into shape a little more. It was a fun knit and if I get time before Christmas I may make another.


That's all for now folks...

Umbilical Cord Hats

Umbilical Cord Hats
Originally uploaded by Pollianicus

Yes - more hats - I seem to have an endless queue of friends having babies at the moment including two lots of twins. The second lot being born this week - so the knitting has been fast and furious. Also - I love making these hats.

I strayed from my usual 100% silk to using Noro's Silkgarden - it's such a dream to knit with. I love that no two of the hats are the same.

I bought two skeins and didn't realise until I got home that they were different colours - but for these hats it didn't matter. Each skein yielded two hats - and still some to spare. I think I can get another hat out of the remnants - will try later.

Just need to wrap them and post them off to their new owners.

Ra Ra Ravenclaw

Ruaridh
Originally uploaded by Pollianicus

Finally got round to finishing off Ruaridh's hat.

He didn't want Gryffindor like his brother, instead he wanted Ravenclaw. I really like the colours in this one - the book and the film have different colours - I think the book is bronze and navy and the film silver and navy - so this is the film colours.

I have enough wool to make them both a scarf and will start on them once I have found the right circular needle - they all seem to be missing at the moment.

I used Cascade 200 wool - which I love knitting with - so nice and chunky - and fantastic colours too.

Longies

I have these on the needles at the moment. They are my first pair of wool longies and

I am loving knitting them. So, so easy. Why haven't I knit these before?

I bought the wool from Krafty Koala because it is very similar to my Didymos Martin wrap (geek!).

Still a way to go as these are going to be longies, not just a soaker. Isn't the pooling fab??

And in other news... I've finished my Molly's Headband - in Noro Aurora - and I love it. It's my first piece of lace work and I adore it. It still needs blocking so is wider than it looks.

Stash Enhancement

Stash Enhancement
Originally uploaded by Pollianicus

Lovely Tara sent me some goodies from her recent trip to Canada.

She sent me some Lantern Moon DPNs - which are simply a dream to hold.

Some Noro Aurora - all glistening - like freshly washed seaweed - sparkly and green.

Silk Maiden in gorgeous plums and burgundies.

Fibranatura - Sea Song - a wonderfully soft yarn made with Seacell (kelp fiber) in soft browns.

All perfect and all lovely to fondle. Now what to knit with them.... just off to Ravelry...

A surprising buy

I went over to Woolfish today and had a lovely time with Louise and a couple of her friends catching up on news and knitting on my baby blanket - almost finished it - and will blog about it soon.

One of the main reasons for going - apart from getting a little free-time - was to look for some black yarn to make a hat for Morgan - he wants a pointy Wizard's Hat as seen in 'The Philosopher's Stone'. So I bought some lovely Noro Cash Iroha which I haven't seen before. It's plain black and slightly shimmery - and looking at the ingredients I can see why - it is 40% silk, 30% lambs wool, 20% cashmere and 10% nylon - maybe a bit luxorious for a child's hat - but I guess I love him!

The other thing that caught my eye amongst the Aladdin's cave was some weird nobbly wool. Now I normally detest novelty yarn - but for some obscure reason I really liked it. It's Adriafil's Retro Trends and looking at their site it's new out this year - I looked because I couldn't find it on the Ravelry database which is unusual. I borrowed a pair of needles from Louise and knitted up a quick sample to see what it was like. Well it was horrible to cast on and the first two rows were horrific - but then as my guage settled it started to really look amazing. The nobbles all settled down and gave the most amazing mottled effect. So I frogged it back so I could give the needles back to Louise and I have got three in my stash now. Not sure what to do with it - I'm thinking tea cosy or a weird hat for Orla. Again - looking at the ingredients it's not surprising I found it so lovely - 96% lambswool and 4% nylon. Lovely

A nice afternoon away from the mayhem - I even found out about a knitting group I may start sneaking off to on Saturdays.

Thing A or Thing B?

Look - a small yummy baby in a hat I made - squuuueeeee


Now is that Thing A or Thing B?

Joy - if you're reading this do let me know which of your gorgeous daughters that is....

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The Owl

Not really knitting I know. I have done my first bit of sewing for years and I am rather chuffed.

It's all my mother's fault - we stopped off at their house on the way back from holiday and she gave me a bag of fabric which included this fabric..


... which I loved. The owl especially - look, isn't he cute??....


So - I cut him out and rummaged through my fabric and found a backing piece, cleared out the sewing box and found some thread (and lots of things I forgot I owned...) and started on him.

And - I finished him - and he's lovely...
And here's a picture of him with Orla - so you can get a sense of scale...


So there you go - a new hobby *grin*

There are 3 more on the fabric cut off as well as some mice and some hedgehogs - so I may make a whole menagerie!

Baby Surprise Jacket

Well - I am now totally hooked (pun intended) on this pattern.
I am about half way through my second one and am loving every moment I get to work on it.

I've finally taken some pics.
This is the first one I did - using Debbie Bliss Merino Aran - I have some lovely hand-made patterns winging their way to be via a lovely Etsy seller.

The second one I am making using some lovely Krafty Koala merino wool. I am using much larger needles and hoping this will fit my 2 year old daughter (no of course I didn't knit a swatch!!!)


I'd love to make an adult one next but am loathed to use a really chunky wool - is there an adapted pattern for normal wool - so with more stitches??? Answers on a postcard to....

BSJ

I'm finally knitting my first Baby Surprise Jacket as part of this knitalong.

I spent ages swatching trying to decide on colours:



I finally decided to go for the Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in plain red and have just got some more in a pale gold colour to accent it. Really enjoying working on this - it certainly is an unusual pattern.

Go Gryffindor

Morgan wanted me to knit him a Gryffindor hat - well actually he wanted socks first.... but then he looked at the 'Charmed Knits' book and decided he wanted a beanie.  So a beanie he got.

It was a very easy knit and I loved the fact it is my Primary School colours - made me think of my school days *grin*

Morgan was a little sad when he tried it on - his brother had just hit him in the mouth - hopefully I'll get some better shots soon.

Twin Hats

My lovely friend Joy has just had twins so I knitted them some hats.

I used Hipknits Aran silk which I love knitting with.  Joy is not a girlie girl (a bit like me) so pink wasn't really an option.  I used the lovely jewel-like colours of plain green and plain purple.  One hat in each with an accent of the other to connect them.  I even did my first fairisle with the purple.

I love how these have turned out and am going to post them off today. 

Now what to do with the remains?

Rosedale United

I have been working on this jumper forever - or so it seems. It is being knitted on circular needles and is seemingly a dream to knit. Yet it is killing me. I have frogged it back countless times - how difficult can a jumper be? I am knitting it in the lovely Noro Kureyon with lovely green and brown stripes and I am loving it so much.

It's just that flippin' Intarsia panel - I cannot do it. Look:










See what I mean? It's a mess. I learnt how to do a lovely wrap and turn and that did help on one side - but the other side continues to be a disaster.

So I have admitted defeat and have frogged the Intarsia panel out and just knitting a plain jumper - which is still looking fabulous as it's Noro Kureyon.

To cheer myself up I have just cast on my first Tomten jacket - I just hope Orla hasn't grown too much by the time I finish it...

Found it

I have been looking for Elizabeth Zimmermann's book 'Opinionated Knitter' for a while now. It is out of print and not the easiest book to find. So - today - I was browsing some Yarn P0rn and unexpectedly found a copy on Socktopus.

I'm really chuffed that I will be finally getting a copy of this bible. I have two of her other books and am looking forward to reading this one too. It has the infamous Baby Surprise Jacket in it which I have seen discussed many, many times on Ravelry.

Of course it seems rude to visit a Sock Yarn site and not buy some sock yarn. How that Cherry Tree Hill yarn fell into my shopping basket I do not know - but it is very pretty.

(picture from Socktopus and shows River Run Supersock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill)

Stash Busting

Stash Basket 9
Originally uploaded by Pollianicus

I sorted out my stash yesterday - sorting the yarn by manufacturer. This picture is the Noro basket and is soooo lovely. Unfortunately it will probably be the first basket to empty as the Kureyon on the left is destined for a jumper that I am knitting for me.

I did get a pang of guilt at the size of my stash - and am very aware that it is a reflection of my long hours on the computer when I am home alone with the children.

My previous addiction - babywearing is sadly coming to an end (unless I get pregnant again) so I will be selling off my sling/wrap stash soon once I can bring myself to price, wash and photo them.

Hopefully my knitting addiction will last a little longer than babywearing and I may see the bottom of some of the other baskets too.

Catching Up

I've been knitting a fair bit - well compared to normal - but still not enough.

I was at Woolfish on Saturday. Louise has started a knitting group on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month up until Easter (10:30-12:30). I knew about it because I had popped in the week before when Martin and the boys had gone swimming in Eyemouth. Louise had placed an ad in the local paper but had forgotten to put the time and the place! So funnily enough I was the only one who showed. It was lovely though. I supped my tea, ate my lovely home-baked scone and knitted - undisturbed!

I have finished a couple of things since I last posted. Another umbilical hat - which is under wraps until it has been sent out to the new (very small yet to arrive) owner. I have also knitted Orla a Noro hat to match mine. What do you think?
















I finished the left hand glove of fetching for the second time - the first one was awful. I've also been building my stash up a little - but will detail that when I have photos...