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.

Happiness is...

My youngster was feeling a bit blue yesterday. I was chatting to her about sock knitting since that was what I was doing at the time. After looking through my stash she declared I had way to many pinks and purples and that she would like some blue or green socks.
I dug out a skein of undyed sock yarn and we spent the afternoon mixing up the perfect sock yarn to cheer her up.

Now she just needs to learn to knit her own socks!

Spring yarn

After sitting dormant for months, last weekend I finally finished spinning my Squoosh Merino.

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to 2 ply or navajo ply. I really wanted to keep those colour repeats as clear as possible, but I also wanted to get the maximum amount of yardage I could. In the end I decided to go with a 2 ply after a few failed attempts to start the chain.
I was thinking I had made the wrong decision as one lot of singles were slightly thinner than the other meaning that my colour sections didn't line up as I had pictured it in my head. But really, when do things ever work out just how you envisioned them...
So I had a bit of barber pole-ing going on, which wasn't my desired effect. But ah well.
I don't think it was until I wound the finished yarn off my niddy noddy and skeined it that I really fell in love with it. I still have those gradual colour changes, but the barber pole effect means the colours are softer and more subtle.
I ended up with approx 372m of plied yarn on my first bobbin. Wah-hoo!
I was aiming for over 300m so this was a bonus, plus I still had a fair bit of the singles left over. I navajo plied the remaining singles and got 76m of yarn. After seeing the two yarns side by side I am really glad I went with the two ply after all. The 3 ply is lovely, don't get me wrong, but I really love the way the colours blend softly together in the two ply. It reminds me of spring, which it is!!
This yarn is destined to be a shawl. After a bit of project stalking on ravelry, I decided on the Holden Shawlette. There are many handspun projects and they all look stunning!
I have a few UFOs to tend to first; and I must be stern with myself, but I really can't wait to cast on :-)

Spinning in the sun...

We are 6 days into Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere. So far we've had nothing but wind and rain and hail!

Today was mildly pleasant. So much so, I decided to venture outdoors and took my wheel with me.

Superwash merino from Squoosh fibrearts

The fibre is superwash merino from Sqosh Fibrearts in colourway Raisin. I'm spinning (roughly) laceweight singles in the hopes of plying into 4ply/ fingering weight yarn. If all goes well, I should have around 400m of finished yarn with a slow colour change from deep purple into pinks into green into brown.

My View <3

Another curious spectator

I spent most of my morning sitting out and enjoying the sun when it peeked through the clouds. I had a few curious onlookers plus a toddler running around; but as far as I can tell, it was pretty much a perfect morning.

9 months gestation : : an FO

Well peeps, you read that right. 9 freekin' months.
I'm not proud of it, but hey, let's all just focus on the end result.
I FINALLY FINISHED MY SECOND SORELLO!!! Yay.

Matchy matchy sisters <3

I started this one waaaaaaaay back in January this year. I got a fair way into it and lost interest. Probably due to the miles and miles of stockinette. Even that gorgeous lace panel didn't keep me interested. Darn her for having such a long torso!
The great thing about this project is that I could pick it up and put it down anytime, anywhere. No rows to finish and the lace pattern is super easy to remember. Even after months of not touching it I could still remember it. This became my 'leave in the car incase I get stuck somewhere with nothing to do' knitting.
I made a few mods this time. The first being the colour! Ooopsies. I had promised the Midget pink and the Big One green but I got a little muddled :-/
Mods:
I knitted the 7yo size with extra length for my skinny mini.
I changed the increases to mirrored m1 on the raglan
I didn't bother with the lace panel on the butt. It looks cute but I wanted to keep this one simple.
I did the baby cable rib on every knit section on row 3 only (I'll post a close up shot of this later)

While I was knitting it, I WISHED I had included a little side shaping. She is so long and thin I think it would have looked nice with a little shaping, however after the bottom hem was finished it looked good on her as is.
The fit is so perfect, she'd better not have a growth spurt any time soon!

A Gramps for Squishy

   
My first FO for my BFFs first baby. A little boy due to join us sometime in early November.
I'm planning to knit quite a few goodies for this little squishy in the coming weeks.
If you like this pattern, I ravelled it here.

Little Red!

So my baby girl turned three yesterday. Where the heck did all that time go?
Last year I knit her a birthday dress and knew that I wanted to knit her something special this year also. I'm not sure how I came up with the idea of Red Riding Hood, but initially I planned to knit a red hooded cape that could be worn as a dress up and also as a cover up when it was cold. I found a few nice patterns but none really spoke to me. I was committed to finishing my test knit by the end of July which left me with exactly 10 days to knit something awesome.
I was sitting at my computer trying to find a last minute solution when hello! The Annabel pattern by Georgie Hallam was released. I LOVE this little jacket. I had seen a test knit in red and was smitten. It must have been fate that this pattern went live at the very moment I was trolling for ideas.
I immediately downloaded the pattern, did a rough swatch and cast on that night.
The only thing I changed was the raglan increases; I preferred to do a mirrored m1 instead of the kf&b called for in the pattern.
I finished knitting it the day before her birthday with exactly 8g of yarn to spare. Sewed on the buttons and steam blocked (Didn't have time for a full wet block)
And hey presto!

And in the spirit of Yarn Along, I am currently reading not one, but two books!

I was feeling guilty that I hadn't read anything good (or anything at all for that matter!) in such a long time, and was inspired to pick up a book after first seeing the yarn along posts. I took a trip to the library and came home with Sepulchre by Kate Mosse.

This is a massive book and I'm barely halfway through. I haven't actually had a lot of reading time between my test knit and finishing my Annabel, but I'm enjoying reading this.

I had a call from the library the other day to say they had a copy of The Hunger Games for me. I couldn't help but start reading straight away. I've heard good things. I'm only up to chapter 4 but so far I'm really enjoying it also.

Maura Test Knit

I love doing test knits. It's a great way to get past the indecision of 'what should I knit now' and I find it opens me up to new techniques and construction methods. I try to find designs that appeal to me aesthetically and that provide some challenge.

My latest test knit is Maura  by Wondrlanding.

When I first saw this pattern on Ravelry I contacted Eszter and expressed interest in testing should she require it. I was soon contacted and immediately jumped at the chance.
I really hoped to use my Madelinetosh 80/10/10 Sport in the colourway Jasper but alas, I didn't sufficient yardage :-(
I spent some time swatching with different yarns in my stash and achieved gauge with some Moda Vera Wool/ Cashmere. I was able to buy some through destash for a bargain price so this is the yarn I knit with.
To be honest, it's not the nicest yarn in the world. It's a little splitty and coarse. That said, the finished sweater is quite soft and the yarn feels nice against my skin without itching so I'm happy about that.
This cardigan is knit from the top down with raglan shaping and features a mirrored cable and lace pattern down the fronts. The little knotted buttons are knit and then attached to the fronts and create a series of almond shaped opening down the front when closed.

I chose to knit a size 36 which is smaller than my actual bust size and had a few concerns about it being too small but if anything it is actually a little big. It is designed to be very close fitting but I'm finding that it is not as tight as I expected. I've since come to the conclusion that I need to knit for my high bust measurement (underarms) which is 34 inches, especially on garments where negative ease is required. My Papillon sweater has the same problem (along with excessive pilling!). I knit a size smaller with that pattern and yet the finished item is loose where it should be tight.
The only real problem I have had with this garment has become apparent with wearing, and that is that the button loops are too loose, or to be more precise, they have stretched. I haven't decided yet if I will unravel that edge and do it over or if I will sew the buttons in place to make it a pullover. I have tried wearing it open but to be honest I much prefer the look of it closed.

Snap...again!

another snapshot. Miss Ellie Rose turned three today. We celebrated by taking the day of work and school and heading down to Busselton. It was a perfect winters day!

And see that little red jacket...stay tuned for details coming soon!!

snap!

This is a snapshot of my Sunday morning which involved a trip to the local farmers market where we bought three new chookies, two light sussex (white with black ring) and a light sussex crossed with an australorp (black with white ring) We also ate some amazing homemade cupcakes (they were gone before I could say "say cheese") Then we had a play in the garden before I headed back indoors to curl up on the couch for a spot of knitting before I had to go off to work.

Love Sunday mornings at home :-)

Yarn along

I'm a little late to this party but better late than never, right?
So I was over visiting the amazingly talented tikki's blog and happened across this great idea to encourage us crafty types to show our blogs a little love on a regular basis.

I'm the first to admit that I'm a bit of a knitting whore. I don't believe in monogamy at all. This sometimes leads to some complicated relationships between me and my knitting but hey, it's all good!
So right now I have a couple of projects on the go. The biggest and most exciting is probably my Mystery Knit-along shawl. I have been itching to participate in a mystery knit ever since I first heard of the idea but had trouble finding one. When this one popped up by designer Kirsten Kapur  I knew I was onto a winner! I LOVE Kirsten's designs so I'm hoping that this shawl will be amazing. I'm knitting it with Misti Alpaca tonos carnival in the Rosemary colourway.

clue 1 of the mystery shawl

This yarn is deliciously soft. I had initially envisioned socks but decided it was too soft to be hidden away in shoes and resolved that it should become a shawl instead....

On that note, I am actually knitting socks with the exact same yarn base, this time in the blackberry colourway. The colour makes me think more of blueberries with it's smokey blue black hue. My indecisiveness to settle on a pattern led me to find the Uzu sock pattern which featured in Knitty Deep Fall 2011. I love it when simple lace patterns give the impression of a cable!
Also on my needles right now is a second Sorello by the afore mentioned Tikki. I admit I've lost a little steam with this one but it has turned out to be a good go-to project while watching tv as it requires virtually zero attention. I will finish it one day....I hope :-/
I'm modifying this one, mainly due to laziness, I plan to leave out the lace panel on the butt and leave it as a more simple tee. I wish I would have included a little side shaping as my miss 10 is rather slim and although I've knit the size 7, it actually is HUGE on her. Not to mention that it will grow some when blocked.
I'm not going to go on about the many other unfinished, languishing projects...I'll save them for another day.

I admit to not reading much in the past few weeks. However, this evening I did enjoy a fireside session of reading aloud fairytales first published 200 years ago by the Brothers Grimm :-)
Followed by pizza and Back to the Future III.

A cashmere merino sweater? Yes please!

My Papillon sweater is finished! 

Knit using Naturally Me (80% merino wool, 20% cashmere) on 3.75mm needles.

I used 8.2 balls of yarn

close up of the cable/ lace panel

I really enjoyed knitting this. The construction was a little different to the usual top down raglan. The contiguous method of construction is relatively new and was developed by Susie Myers to create a top down, one-piece, set-in-sleeve style construction.

You can read more about my experience here.

Get your knit on peeps!

Saturday June 9th is Worldwide Knit in Public Day. For real!
So get your pointy sticks out and head to your favourite cafe or park and get knittin'.

I know I will be.

Then again, I never really need an excuse to knit in public! :-D