Missing in action

Keeping a commitment to knitting while studying and working full time is harder than I though it would be. Basically I don’t have time to sit down and knit. 

I am hoping to release a new pattern on Ravelry soon but I don’t know when it’ll be written. It’s a cowl in Noro Kibou and so far is called Buxton. 

It’s worked in the round in 4.5mm needles and has a simple lace pattern making leaves appear. 

  

Finished! Proserpine Shawl in Lang Mille Colori

I did mention this quickly in another post, my lovely sock yarn that was too pretty for socks and the scarf I made from it. This took me about a month to make along side my other projects. The yarn is by Lang Yarns, and is called Mille Colori Socks and Lace, you can find it here from Loveknitting for a reasonable price, in several colour ways. It’s a 4ply weight yarn made from 75% wool and 25% polyamide with 400m for a 100g ball.

Lang Mille Colori in shade 0090

It was a real joy to knit with. I worked the entire shawl on 4.5mm straight bamboo needles, at the end there were nearly 300 stitches, but because it was a 4ply weight this was still possible. The yarn was very soft and the colour changes amusing, slow but not too slow to lose interest with. It was always surprising which colour came next, because the orange and bright blue do kind of clash but at the same time blend in perfectly.

The shawl worn front ways as a scarf.

This shade, 0090 actually looks like a toned down, natural rainbow when my shawl is laid flat. And the great variation in colours means it’s very easy to integrate into my outfits. Denim jacket, it works, formal black trench coat, looks great, biker jacket, still looks nice.

I had one minor disaster with the yarn where it snapped because I had a bit of fluff around it and I pulled too hard, but it just felted back together with little to no effort. I didn’t find any breaks or joins either. I’d really love to use this yarn again for more shawls, jackets, baby wear, it’s just it’s too nice for socks.

Folded and laid flat you can see the lovely stripes

I loved the way this yarn striped on my shawl pattern, it’s a triangle, but knitted from the neck down and blocked into the right shape afterwards. The pattern is called Proserpine and I got it from an issue of Knit Now, you can buy it from Ravelry here, It takes 600m or 150g of 4ply yarn and 4.5mm needles. I only had one ball so just went for it and I cast off before the end, I did about 3/4 of it. It’s two lace patterns with stocking stitch in between. The lace patterns are simple enough but elegant.

A quick photo of it as a short shawl

I took this quickly before blocking with my Pink Floyd shirt, good choice no?

And an inside view

The stocking stitch is even loose enough to let a fair amount of light through, it’s a beautiful pattern and this yarn really compliments it. If I had another two balls I’m sure I’d be tempted to do it again.

And all that was left

So that’s it for my shawl, I’m hoping to get some good photos as the weather is getting better. They’ll be in another post.

Where am I?

I’ve been stupidly busy. I’ve been faffing around with the knitting and I did finish a couple of things….  but I’ve started and frogged several more.

First up, I did this beautiful shawl from an issue of Knit Now.

A lovely shawlette

I used a beautiful sock wool my mum got me from Purl City Yarns, now closed, it was so pretty and didn’t deserve to be reduced to a pair of socks who’d hide away, so I made a wee lace scarf. Sadly I didn’t have enough to do a full on shawl, but I feel I did pretty well and I’m very proud of this. It was so lovely to knit, even though I had around 300 stitches on a pair of straight needles. I’d definitely buy this again, it’s called Lang Yarns Mille Colori Socks and Lace Luxe and is available here at Love Knitting. I highly recommend it, it’s so soft and was amazing to knit with. When I broke it the strand even felted back together!

I did finish a pair of socks too, knitting both at once. But being very busy I’ve not done as much as I’d have liked.

Scandiwegia Revisited

Vanity.

You may remember when I was doing handmade gifts for everyone for Christmas. I made this beautiful hat. I wished I could have kept it. I did write about it here, if you want to read my blog on it.

I promised myself I’d remake it once I had a chance. I was considering what I could change about it, and how to make it more interesting, and then I had the idea of doing it was a rainbow. One day I probably will.

The thing is, I’m not a fan of beanies. However I love berets. So that’s what I did, I tweaked the pattern to make a beret, by doubling the stitches and then following the instructions.

There is a possibility that I’m selling this too. While I was knitting it a friend came up to me and started complimenting it, asking if I’d be willing to sell it. I need money but at the same time I don’t. The real thing is though if I do sell or give away something as simple as a hat I can remake it, I did remake this. And it’s interesting to do a pattern again.

The big rib against the fair isle. I love this.

I love how the grey sets a nice subtle background against the brighter colours. All the yarns are acrylic DK. I used a King Cole Baby Comfort for the grey and the other three were remnants of Phildar Charly, in red, orange and yellow. I used all of the yellow, orange and grey, but still have some red.

I made the rib longer because it was a beret, other wise I followed the pattern almost as printed. When I ran out of grey I used the colours in five row stripes and then finished in red for the decreasing.

The pattern is free from Ravelry, and I really recommend it if you’re looking for a new project. These always come out pretty. It’s here if you’re interested.

I’ve not really got anything else to say, if I’ve forgotton anything it’ll be in my notes. Otherwise you can ask in a comment. Thanks for reading. Enjoy the photos below.

Here you can see the stripes and the top.

And here it was really taking shape.

And an early photo of the fair isle.

Finished Project – Shagging moose hat

I was making a beautiful shawl, from a Debbie Bliss pattern that you can see here. And after a huge disaster with my interchangeable needles coming undone I was forced to unravel the 10cm I’d done in a week. 300 stitches near enough, took me a week and it was ruined. I did write it up here if you really want to see my failure.

I was feeling hugely uninspired and I just wanted something simple that wouldn’t depress me and would help me get rid of some of my acrylic stash. I’d been eyeing this hat for a while after seeing it in a 52 hats challenge group, and I figured I’d go for it. It’s been my third hat this year. I’m now working on my fourth and I still need a pair of gloves…

I had a quick poke though my colours and half thought about making two with inverted colours, one for me and one for Angela, so I settled on a grey from King Cole, Baby Comfort, and a red from Phildar, Charly, both great yarns. I cast on using my 4mm needles for the rib and changed to the recommended 4.5 for the body. Even though I was working with DK I don’t think my tension was too badly out.

This hat is a pattern called Fuck The Cold, exactly how we’re all feeling at winter. it’s free from here and I really think you should knit one. Everyone should. Even your grandma.

I did change a few things, I hid the fuck the cold bit a little by taking out the main colour strip between the stripe and the letters, because I was worried about giving Angela a hat with the work fuck on it. And I made a couple of mistakes in the pattern, but that’s not a big deal, it still looks great.

I did add a pompom too. I like pompoms. I used my amazing Clover pompom marker. They look weird but they’re amazing!

I’ve not got much else to say about this, but you can check out my notes here.