Nanna Chic back in style

Earlier this year I was quite anxious to participate in a Mystery Knit Along (MKAL). At the time they seemed really hard to find which only fueled my insane desire to get in on the action. When this one popped up on my radar by Kristen Kapur I was in the sign up queue quicker than you could say knit picks.

I really really like a number of Kristen's designs so I was sure this one would be a winner.

I made a really good start and kept up with the clues each week. Until the last clue that is.

I had also signed up to test knit Maura and obviously I had a deadline to stick to. My Mkal shawl found it's way into the UFO pile with only 10 rows to go and there it sat in neglect for several months.

I finally got bitten by the finishing bug last week and got stuck into it. I knew I would be cutting it close with the yardage so I emitted the final two rows of the last chart. Good thing I did, I had less than 1 metre of yarn to spare once I bound off!!

I wasn't convinced I would love this shawl. I don't think I would pick the pattern had I seen it before the mystery knit. I was contemplating gifting it. But after I blocked it on my shiny new blocking wires I was just a little bit smitten. In fact, I haven't taken it off all week. It's perfect for the cool rainy spring weather we are having at the moment.
Secretly, I just love the nanna look. ;-)

Just in time for summer

I've been planning to knit myself a hat all. winter. long!

I played a little yardage chicken with this. The contrast colour is the Squoosh merino I spun recently. Or to be more precise, it's the 3 ply leftovers. I had an estimated 76m. After much project stalking it seemed that other ravellers used between 65 and 90m of the contrast colour so I decided to make a go of it. I'm pleased to say I made it with 2m of yarn to spare!
The pattern is Selbu Modern and is free on ravelry. I made a couple of mods you can check them out here.

All rolled into one...

It was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one when this arrived from the post office this week.
I'm sure you can imagine just how I squealed with delight!

clockwise from front: Lolita, Victorian Gothic (7) Jade (2) and Steam Age

13 glorious skeins of Tosh DK!

I have a few plans for some of these. One skein of Jade and Lolita are destined to become a Cladonia
The steam age is joining a couple of co-ordinating colours to become something stripey.
The Victorian Gothic is to be a cardigan but I'm still open to suggestions on the perfect cardigan. I want something that will 'go' with everything. Something I can wear to work or with jeans. Maybe a few cables or lace but nothing too intricate. Please leave me a comment and tell me what YOU would knit with 7 skeins of madelinetosh :-D

Jane FO and saying goodbye

I've been a bit lazy in updating my blog, but then I figure, no one is actually keeping score, right?
I finished a Jane Cardi for miss Ellie a couple of weeks ago. I decided she needed a little spring cardi to wear over her sun dresses. I admit, I tend to get distracted by shiny things. I can be halfway through a project and then on a whim I will cast something new on and knit like the proverbial wind.

I have two other cardi's on the needles at the moment along with an almost finished (and languishing) shawl; that really ought to be finished but I'm too lazy to knit the last 5 rows. Not to mention the two pairs of socks. I have actually finished one sock from each pair and so have been wearing mismatched socks to keep my toes warm until I actually finish one of the pairs. :-)

Instagram pic of my mismatched socks :-)

This weeks distraction comes in the form of the Selbu Modern hat. A stunning stranded colour work hat which is available for free on Rav. I'm knitting the background using Shepherd merino 4ply in black and using some of my 3 ply handspun for the motifs. I love watching it grow and seeing the colours change. It will look spectacular once it's finished.

We lost a long time friend this last week.

Mr Gobbelino (or Gobbles as we called him) was diagnosed with diabetes. Although he did respond to insulin treatment, it became evident that he also had something else wrong with him, most likely a tumour in his chest. After 11 years, we said our final goodbye on Wednesday September 26, to our beautiful, fat, loving furry friend.