finished knitting, woolly hat

The beginning of May, just as we are finally getting some warm weather is not the most appropriate time to finish knitting a hat. I started it before Christmas but life has taken over in the past few months and knitting has been pushed to one side. Never mind, I will have a new hat for next winter.

This is Everglade by Woolly Wormhead. I have knitted this pattern before and have worn it a lot so decided to knit a second one in blue. As last time I used Jamiesons double knitting, this time in Prussian Blue.

When I first bought this pattern, the hat was modelled with the brim turned up, now when I reprinted a copy (I scribble and count rows on my patterns so it is nice to start with a clean sheet to avoid confusion) the picture shows it worn in a slouchy style with the brim down so I'll try that next winter - hat wearing fashion may have changed in the last three years!

I uploaded these photographs to my laptop along with some pictures of my walk, so continuing the blue theme, here are a couple of bluebell photos.

Bluebells and stitchwort, you can never have too many bluebells.

recent sock knitting

One of my resolutions this year was to use up some of my odds and ends of sock yarn. I made some gloves and mitts, now I am concentrating on more socks.

My first "leftover socks" paired some left over variegated yarn with some plain green that I really wasn't sure I'd ever use. In the main body of the sock I knit two rows of colour followed by one row of green then using more green than colour for the toe, heel and cuff. The "leftover socks" are on the right next to the originals.

For the next pair I chose left over blue and pink sock yarns plus a little scrap of Jamieson and Smith 100% wool and decided to incorporate a some fair isle to keep the knitting interesting.

I am pleased with them although doing fair isle with two variegated yarns doesn't produce crisp patterns but a hint of a pattern which I quite like.

I started these socks in February and there are some hearts hiding in there.

Below, the original socks made with each of the three yarns that were combined in the fair isle socks.

On the needles at the moment - I am using up some black and small amounts of two completely different coloured yarns. There are many different colour combinations appearing as I knit.

Three pairs of socks for free and a slight reduction in the yarn stash.

knitting - socks, gloves and left over yarn

Back in December when I posted about my knitted gloves and cowl, I mentioned my overflowing "stash box". It is full of small amounts of yarn, usually just part balls. This year I would like to knit a few items using some of the yarn I have accumulated.

The yarn is stored in poly-bags according to type of yarn. One bag contains sock yarn. I must have knitted well over a dozen pairs of socks and each pair takes over half a ball of wool (100g) or one and a bit balls (50g). Obviously there isn't enough yarn left for another pair pf socks, but there is enough for gloves. I grab the little fingerless gloves below when I am hanging out the washing in the morning during the winter. I also like them when driving, I like to feel I can grip the steering wheel properly and so don't feel comfortable with proper gloves. These little ones work fine.

Next up  pair of fingerless mitts using the remains of the yarn from my most recent pair of socks. This time I added some fair isle patterns also using sock wool.

I copied some of the Fair Isle patterns from The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting by Sheila McGregor. This book which was published in 1981 gives some traditional knitting techniques and a history of Fair Isle knitting. At the back there are pages of charts of traditional Fair Isle patterns of different sizes and pattern repeats which I find very useful if I am looking for ideas for colour work.

For these mitts I used a variegated sock wool in browns, gold and green and knitted "peerie" patterns - that is small patterns only a few rows deep. I am pleased with the colour combinations against the blue/grey colour of the base yarn, the addition of contrasting colour completely changes the look of the finished knitting.

I have enough pairs of gloves now but can always use more socks so my next sock yarn project might be wildly patterned socks with different coloured yarns. I think a little Fair Isle might make its way in as well.

knitting, Christmas hat

On the last walking group walk before Christmas, I am told we should wear festive headgear preferably with sparkles, glitter and tinsel. Anyone who has read this blog for a while will know that I am not in favour of short lived festive "tat', made in unknown factories in far flung corners of the world and shipped here to be used for a day or two before ending up in landfill as I am sure so much of the Christmas stuff on sale does.

So I needed something to wear that didn't cost the earth. My hat is made from leftover Jamieson and Smith wool (2 ply jumper weight) and I adapted a pattern for a Fairisle beanie from the Traditional Sweater Book.

I substituted the fair isle patterns for snowflakes from Snawheid by Kate Davies and a simple holly design.

As sparkle was specifically mentioned, a few decorations and some tinsel temporarily borrowed from the tree will add the glitz!  - but only for the walk, the rest of the time its just a snug seasonal beanie.

knitting, mitts and cowl

The yarn I bought on the last day of my holiday in Lofoton, Norway this summer and below the fingerless mitts I made with it. I am pleased with them and am enjoying wearing them - very practical with my fingers free for taking photographs.

The mitts took over half of the yarn. I have a box of left over yarn, many part balls of yarn from sock and glove knitting and sometimes a couple of balls when I have bought extra for a jumper or cardigan just in case. I don't have large quantities of any one yarn as I tend to buy for a specific garment and then knit it but after many years of knitting the oddments box is full to overflowing.

With this in mind and as this yarn was exceptionally soft and pretty I decided to make something with it rather than hoard it!

This cowl is the result. I based the lace pattern on the Everglade hat by Woolly Wormhead. I made an Everglade hat two years ago and am knitting another one this winter. The lace pattern works equally well on a cowl and shows of the colours of the yarn.

I used all but a few metres of the yarn so two items from one ball of wool and only a very small addition to the "stash box"!

Ravelry links to my Everglade hat, mitts, and cowl.

knitting

I haven't posted a knitting post for some time, mainly due to lack of knitting! These past few months have been busy, I have three sets of curtains to make (one done, two to go) and I tend to knit less in the summer anyway.

There have been a couple of finished projects. These socks knitted with Beregere de France Goomy 50. I bought the wool whilst on holiday in Shetland. I often buy a couple of balls of sock wool when on holiday, a souvenir although in this case made in France! I did also buy some Jamieson's wool to make a hat and gloves but those projects are yet to be started.

My current knitting, shown on our patio on a sunny afternoon last weekend is a pair of fingerless mitts. I always have cold hands in winter and find these so useful. I have no pattern I just knit them to fit!

The yarn is another holiday souvenir. I bought this on the last day of our holiday in Norway. We were in a supermarket buying our picnic lunch when I spotted the wool section and this ball just happened to end up in the basket.

Here is a photo of our picnic that day, the wool fits in well I think!

I photographed it on it's home ground amongst the arctic vegetation before it was packed away in the suitcase.

Since it was a souvenir of our holiday, its a good excuse for a few more Norway photographs. This was our lunch stop that day. It was a wonderful place for a picnic, above the arctic circle and with temperatures of over 20ºC.

Absolutely beautiful. I hope I can go back someday but if not I'll have my souvenir mitts!

Shawl - Vertices Unite

Its been quiet here lately. I've been enjoying the summer weather and not spending too much time inside at my laptop. We have also been away on holiday and I will post some photographs soon.

Firstly though I'll catch up with some finished knitting. This shawl is Vertices Unite by Stephen West. It is knit in one piece joining together the different sections as you knit. The pattern comes in two sizes.
I chose the small size because I had enough left-over Jamieson and Smith 2ply Jumper Weight to complete it. I didn't have enough of each colour to follow the pattern exactly, in the photograph below you can see that I used two different purples and had to join them mid-section, but the end result looked fine.

 

This was a lovely relaxing knit for lazy summer knitting although it was a bit heavy once the weather warmed up. I have always liked garter stitch and this pattern uses it very effectively.

My current knitting project is a traditional Icelandic jumper for my son, again easy knitting but a rather warm heavy project for this summer weather! I've just finished the yoke (knitting top-down) and I will post pictures soon.

Ursula cardigan

Its taken a while but this week I finished my Ursula cardigan from Colours of Shetland by Kate Davis. I am reasonably pleased with it but there are a few details I am less happy with.

I like the colours that I chose and the fair isle pattern. I am less keen on the bulk created by knitting in the round with steeks at the front opening, the neckline and the armholes.

After much knitting and re-knitting I replaced the ribbed button band with a "steek sandwich" which is quite bulky but gives a neat finish.

It is the bulk of steeked fabric around the armholes that bothers me but perhaps with wearing this will felt down and become less of a problem. My ravelry notes are here.

finished knitting - Icelandic cardigan

When I say finished.... it isn't completely finished as it needs buttons and buttonholes to be added but I'm still thinking about those.

This is the "top-down Icelandic sweater" from Craftsy. This is the first Craftsy course I have taken so I don't have anything to compare it with but I did feel that this course needed a little more attention to detail. Nothing too difficult for the experienced knitter but perhaps not so good for a beginner. There seemed to be very little feedback and answers to questions from the instructor and I notice now that the course description has been changed to student-led discussion only. This seems a shame although many of the comments of fellow students were very helpful.

I am mainly pleased with the end result. The short row shaping on the back below the yoke was a good technique to make the neckline sit better. I haven't done short row shaping before and the instructions were very clear.

The wool used is Lett Lopi, I chose a mid blue main colour and then orange and white as contrasts - Iceland is often described as the land of fire and ice so the colours seemed appropriate.

The steek was reinforced with a crochet edging. I was a little disappointed with this as to stop stretching the edge the crochet had to be done very tightly with a small crochet hook. This resulted in quite a firm edge which seemed a bit out of place on a soft, squashy wool garment but does give a neat finish.

I used a broken ribbing on both the body and sleeves.

Tomorrow, after work I am going into town to my knitting group so I shall look for suitable buttons. The button holes will be crochet loops so I'll do those after I have bought the buttons.

Then I will be prepared for the winter weather, these sweaters are designed to cope with winter in Iceland so I should be very warm and cosy here.

Ravelry notes here.

knitting

Time for a knitting update. The top down Icelandic Sweater is progressing very slowly mainly due to me knitting the sleeve for the third time. The first time I decreased too quickly to try to get rid of some of the bagginess at the top of the sleeve, the second time I followed the pattern exactly but then found I needed and extra three or four inches in length and it was still narrow. This third (and final!) time I am decreasing every 10th round instead of every 6th which should spread the decreases out and mean it doesn't get too narrow before it reaches my wrist.

I am still enjoying the knitting but am beginning to lose patience with sleeves.


Next a silk scarf that has been left for years in an almost finished state. I finally got round to finishing the last six inches and washed and blocked it. The very fine silk is soft which will be comfortable but I prefer the crisper look of blocked wool lace knitting.

Finally a skein drying on the line. I spun this from a small amount of Corriedale roving. The coulourway was spearmint. I am pleased with it and as I only have 100g think it is destined to become a scarf.

I must get back to the sweater now. I want to finish the sleeves by the time I go to my knitting group at the end of the month, I was knitting a sleeve last month and I want to feel I have made some progress!