FO: Simple sideways crochet scarf

I made a row of foundation dc and then worked every following row as back loop only dc until the yarn ran out. The yarn is Hayfield Illusion bought locally and it was a 4mm crochet hook.

The Taos jacket crawls along slowly - I seem to be in the knitter's black hole with the first sleeve, it never seems to get any longer but will suddenly be too long I expect.

I made a start on a simple tubular scarf last night, on the KH260 - cast on 30 sts on both beds and knit until it looks long enough. Alas it was 27 degrees in the knitting room last night, so I gave it up as a bad job after about twenty minutes. Roll on cooler temperatures! Fed up of sleeping legs akimbo, like some badly-drawn space alien.

Current mood: hot

New Year, new post

As promised, photos of the two most recently finished projects:


Blue slubby cardigan for my niece - no, it's not supposed to flare out like that. It's too big for her alas, I forgot she's tall and thin for her age, like her brother. Never mind, she loved the buttons and liked the colour I think. Knitted this on the KH260 with reverse stocking stitch bands, I only did ribbing for the button bands. I assumed it was some sort of cotton but actually I think it might be acrylic. The cone wasn't labelled!


Finished table runner on our New Year's dining table. I think my edges would be less wobbly if I could just stick to a pattern for more than an inch or so! Ha! But got these yarns from My Fine Weaving Yarns so will be able to make another one if I can curb my enthusiasm and just do the zigzag pattern... :) Oh, there are glass table mats on it, I didn't suddenly figure out how to add black text to weaving haha! :) Sorry for the rotten picture but I shan't see daylight at home again until Saturday.

Didn't manage to get much crafty stuff done this week, but have enjoyed relaxing in front of the tv and helping the Cog get through all the naughty food. Did do a little sewing on a crossover top today, just got the sleeves to set in and some hemming to do. It hangs oddly but hopefully that will be fixed with the addition of a button and buttonhole.

Happy New Year!

Current mood: sad because the holiday is over. Boo hoo!

FO: Another hat

I tried knitting this on the midgauge originally but it was just too firm a fabric. It used 74g of the yarn, Stylecraft Carnival.



Spent two hours working on some cross-stitch tonight, only to discover I'd used three threads not two so had to pull it all back out again. I thought it didn't look right. Whoops! Serves me right for not reading the directions...

Current mood: tired and somewhat peeved...

FO: red cardigan and Lucy coatighan

Finished this on Thursday night, would've worn it earlier but it wasn't dry. The yarn (Patons wool blend aran) was rather rough when knitted, but softened up a treat. My new favourite cardigan. Literally had just enough to finish the fringe, and luckily I accidentally bought an extra ball of the wine coloured yarn because I needed it.



Finished this on Saturday - the crepe yarn reflected the flash, it's actually a lovely deep red.

And when I wasn't doing that, I was threading up this, most of the weekend (it's going to be a table runner):


I'm going to stop using the, count the wraps and divide by 2 method for working out epi and use the various reference tables I've since found online. I warped it as 8 epi and then realised that was too loose so resleyed it as 10 epi, which is still on the loose side. I really don't like warping back to front, it's such a PITA. Would much rather use the reed as the raddle. Got some weaving books on order so that should help.

Himself is on his way back from the third snowboarding trip this year - house has been very quiet without him but I kept myself busy.

Current mood: okay

Productive

Rather shaky photo of "Smoulder" pre washing and blocking, I hope it's going to fix that curl! I cheated somewhat and made the front band part of the front, then grafted it at the back neck.


I had a quick play with fairisle on the CSM. This is the good side, dropped a few stitches on the other side. Didn't help that the yarns are different thicknesses, either. Thanks to Mia and Knottyewe for the tips. Tweezers and patience definitely required. Note dodgy fingernail - it's about 60% normal looking now.


Baby surprise jacket, for a baby with no neck:


Ear flap hat, loosely based on the Clearwater knits pattern:


Examples of pooling no 132:

Not sure I'm that happy with this, the neck came out a bit funny. Chenille is my nemesis, clearly... There's quite a bit left though so there might be a chance to try again.

I'm obsessed with this at the moment - easy and coming out beautiful:


Oh, and this arrived today. Because clearly 105 entries on Ravelry is not enough yarn:

Sock yarn for making various socks to sell, and the James C Brett DK because (a) I love the colours and (b) the plan is to get the SK860 out soon and I need some DK to put through it.

FOs: Scarf and socks

Cast on 51sts in 1x1 rib on the chunky machine, and kept knitting until the yarn ran out.


These socks have taken almost a year to knit! And it wasn't until I'd grafted the toe of the top one, that I realised the toe on the first one is a lot longer. I don't care anymore! I've had it with these socks! They fit ok, and the toe will never be on display anyway. The second sock has cheeked me from start to finish, so my patience with it is at an end. Plus I know my making up - very hard to unpick. Bah!

I attended a super lace knitting workshop, organised by Tracey of the Yarn Cafe, and taught by Anniken Allis, on Saturday. Now I really want to knit a top down (nape down) shawl, with beads! :)

Free pattern: Simple cowl/snood

Machine: 9mm chunky
Yarn: I used an aran weight acrylic mix
Tension: T5 - T6

Cast on over 50 sts in rib - I used 2x2 rib, but 1x1 rib would be fine. After knitting circular rows, rearrange needles for cable as follows:

ll..ll..   ll.123456.ll   ..ll..ll..ll
..ll..ll   ..l......l..   ll..ll..ll..

The cable is worked over the centre needles 123456.
RC000
Knit 5 rows. Cable needles 34 out to 12, put 12 onto 34.
Knit 5 rows. Cable needles 34 out to 56, put 56 onto 34.
Repeat until 180 rows have been knitted. Make last cable, knit a further row.
Transfer all ribber stitches to the main bed, and remove ribber comb. Hang cast on edge onto needles, making sure cowl is not twisted. Knit a loose row on the main bed and latch tool cast off.

Note: if you want an invisible join, suggest casting on in waste yarn and taking off on waste yarn, and grafting by hand.

This makes a cowl suitable to wear under a v necked coat - in this case, it's a "fake" collar for a matching dress. If you want a longer cowl so that you can twist it, adjust the amount of rows.

FO: Cabled aran dress with matching cowl

Made from Hayfield aran on the KH260, knitted at T5 I think. Lots of leftover yarn so made a matching cowl. I think I might write it up as a free pattern (the cowl, that is - the dress is to fit me!).

The cowl took a while because I kept dropping stitches, but I got there in the end.

I also knitted another charity tee and some socks from this pattern - couldn't make head nor tail of the short-rowing instructions, so just did what I thought. Pictures when they've been grafted.

The Sweet Pea shawl is in the wash, hope to block and photograph it later. I swatched four yarns in the week, so have quite a list of projects in mind, and yet my naughty brain still wants to work on other things. It's incorrigible! I cast on a crochet scarf but might frog it and start again. Not sure it's wide enough.

Oh, and the Estonian spiral sock continues.

Current mood: working