skein

A quick knitting catch up before the end of the month.

EZ 100th Anniversary Camping shawl.  Done! This has been such an enjoyable knit.  My first shawl for 11 shawls in 2011, love the yarn, love the colour (which is a deeper sage-ier coleur than this).

Photo taken last  Saturday lunchtime, with the first quarter of the last pattern knitted. 

Pity that lace looks so unatractive in progress!

I went home for the weekend, which means no distractions, and what I take is the knitting for the weekend.  And today I finished the shawl!  This photo was taken as I was packing up to come back, with half th4e cast off done (had to wait till I was home to finish this, as I ran out of yarn).  The cat is Geeffrey, one of my parents' cats. He loves movement and shiny things. I was knitting on Friday night when my knitting seemed to get stuck, so I gave it a tug - and pulled up a cat!  he'd been playing with the ball of yarn.  As soon as I put the shawl on the bed to photograph, Geoffrey appeared, and went straight to the shawl! 

It just needs blocking. 

And the Wayfarer scarf is done too (except for casting off). I finished this in my lucnh hour at work, so it didn't need to come with me on my weekend away.

The Berry Hill fingerless mitts are done. No photo yet.

Heather is strated It's Kid Classic, should be a warm knit.

As I have this, striped mittens (nearly done) and Eisblume gloves on  the go, this is the commuting knitting until I cast on something else, good job it's an easy knit!

Looks like I have a bit of blocking to do in the next few weeks (and planning next shawl/mittens/fingerless gloves.  Great I love startitis!

More knits for hands

I thought I might get another pair of mittens done this month, and I've cast on some Striped Mittens, from Favorite Mittens.  This is my second attempt.  The previous Sunday I tried some with Noro Kureyon in pinks and Cash Iroha in black, but after half a mitten I realised that the stripes weren't as striking as I wanted, because of the thick and thin nature of both yarns I'd chosen.

So this is this second attempt, started on Saturday evening, after about three hours knitting!  Fast, eh?


The yarns have both matured in stash for several years.  The orange is most likelyl J&S aran, and is the remains of Mr C's Bog Jacket.  The black is Lamb;s Pride Worsted, a partial skein, probably from a pair of Felted Clogs.

I finished this mitten on Sunday evening,  and have cast on the second one, about half done.

And on Monday I cast on my first pair of fingerless gloves, for 11 in 2011!   They're Berry Hill fingerless mittens and I'm knitting these in some stashed Manos Silk Blend.  one done (except for the thumb) and one nearly done, very fast knit! 

This silk blend is lovelyl to work with, and I have more in the Oddball stash. I see more small projects in my future!

 

Eisblume Gloves progress

My January goal was to finish glove number one. and it's done!  Once I reached the palm which still has a few travelling stitches/cables and beads, but not as many as the cuff, the knitting speeded up. Once I reached the fingers and thumb it went even faster. 

This is Wollmeise, Pfefferminz Prinz, and is a lovely shade of blue-green.  The pooling is much less obvious to the naked eye.

Slightly blurred photos - I am not great at taking photos with my left hand!

 

You can see the cables travellilng up the back of the hand.

And the palm side:

 

I am dreading starting the second one. The chosen beads are small, and it's a real pain adding them - either using a crochet hook or needle.  I'm putting this aside until February now,  I've done what I planned to do in January. 

Regia Jacquard socks

My first pair of socks in 2011. 

These are for my brother.  He has arthritis and wool socks are warmer on his feet (even in summer!).  When I saw him before Christmas I had to do an emergency repair on a huge hole at the heel.   I realised that he onlly had two pairs of hand-knitted socks (plus two pairs of purchased alpaca socks) and wore them constantly so of course, after a few years, they'd worn out!   These are new ones to replace the very worn out pair (which I bet he's still wearing).  I don't know why I don't knit him more pairs- he has small, narrow feet!

The yarn is Regia Jacquard, and I really don't like this colour at all.  It's been in my stash for years now.  I'm so pleased to use it up.   A few weeks ago I had a sort out of the self patterning sock yarns (Regia, Stahl, Trekking etc) and can see that the shades I don't like much are now more dominant  than the ones which I like!   

Top down, 60 sts, ribbed leg.

I have just three things on the needles now - Wayfarer scarf,  EZ Camping semi circular shawl and my Eisblume gloves/  I thnk I may cast on some mittens and fingerless gloves!

 

 

More shawl thoughts

This time last year my interest in shawl knitting was high. i was full of enthusiasm for the 10 shawls in 2010 and had pulled out my shawl patterns and started thinking about what my list would be for the year.  Needless to say, as the year progressed, and those lovely blocked shawls started appearing on the ravelry group, I was a litte side tracked! 

 

At the start of the year I planned to make two fo these designs: Manon (5) and Beach Glass (9).  Also, four desingers - Nancy Bush (Ene's scarf, 7), a Koigu design (Gypsy Shawl, 6), Hazel Carter (Creatures of the Sunless Sea, 4) and Evelyn Clark (Baltic Blossoms, 10).

That's six. The other five appeared on my radar during the year! Details for all of these shawls are on my projects page here. 

I've been refining my 2011 list!  And it's a bit too huge, something's got to give!  Thankfully the only other challenges this year are 11 fingerless gloves and 11 mittens!

Here's the list, not in order at all (except for the first shawl, on the needles) I guess this year is also the year of the 4ply yarn knitting, since most of these are 4ply weight shawls (though I'm not discounting mods, should I come across the perfect lace weight or perfect dk or aran weight yarn!)

1) EZ 100th Anniversary Camping semi circular shawl using Coldharbour Mill 4ply. Forgot to tak e a photo last night!

I'm on the last pattern before the edging (but unfortuneately the stitch count has just doubled!).  Lovely yarn to work with.

2) Girasole by Jared Flood, which needs 1150 yds of 4ply yarn.  I haven't decided on what, yet.

3) A Hazel Carter pattern.  Love her patterns, love the stories they tell, Usually require lace weight.

4) Terra by Jared Flood,  This uses a worsted weight yarn. I'm thinking of either Felted Tweed DK or some New Lanark Aran, though I may discover stuff in stash more suitable (if and when I get to look)

It's not just the year of 4ply, I suspect it may well be the year of Stephen West ...

5) Herbivore by Stephen West, uses 430 yds of 4ply, so I have a huge choice of yarn!

6) Daybreak by Stephen West. uses 335 -765 yds of 4ply.  I've seen this one in Noro, it was gorgeous.

7) Clockwork by Stephen West, uses 420 and 275 yds of 4ply.

8) Chadwick, by Stephen West, uses 315 and  180 yds of 4ply.

9) Hamamelis by Kirsten Kapur, loved her Ulmus!  Uses 300-550  yds of 4ply.

10) A  Nancy Bush design. Lots to choose from!

11) Last, but not least, is the Hanami Stole - loved this for ages!  Laceweight, 880 yards. 

This keaves, of course, no room any new shawls that come out in 2011. Oops!

 

 

Wayfarer Scarf

A new project!  I cast on last weekend, but wasn't sure if I liked the look of this or not. It looks very messy at the moment, but blocking should resolve this.

The pattern calls for worsted weight knitted loosly, but I'm using dk weight knitted at a normal tension.  My scarf is therefore a little narrower than the given measurements.  This ought to beresolved when I block it out (I hope!)

I'

m so pleased to be knitting from stash!  This is Novita Alpaca, has been in my stash for a while.  I bought it a few years before Jonelle was discontinued!

I tried using some aran weight bright red wool/alpaca blend, but it reminded me a bit of those  chunky, acrylic, garter knit scarves in the sevenites. Think it was a combination of the bright red and the garter stitch which put me off!

This is a great pattern.  I'm quite keen on simple textured knitting at the moment.  I am very tempted by his Terra shawl too ...

Fiesta Mittens

Pattern: Fiesta Mittens, ravelry link here,

Started: January 1st

Finished: January 14th

Needles:  2.25mm, and 2mm for the cuff.

Yarn:  21st Century 4ply merino and koigu KPPPM both from stash (hurray!)

 

It's a great pattern, and a great way of using those odd skeins of koigu. Any variegated yarn will do, preferably one with short colour changes.  These are my second mittens for NaKniMitMo - knitting mittens in January.  I think this might be it for this kal, as i want to get a move on with the 11 pairs of fingerless gloves in the Fingerless Gloves Fanatics forum.  Oh and I've found another kal which I've decided to join on the I make Mittens forum.  It's 11 mittens in 2011!  So these are th e first ones for this kal (the Fiddlehead mittens don't count, as they were started in 2010). 

 

11 Shawls in 2011

There's been a thread over on the 11 shawls in 2011 ravelry group where knitters have been listing their provisional plans for the eleven shawls.  I've not really given this much thought before, as I tend to get sidetracked by the finished shawls.   But, as I'm planning to knit from stash and patterns as much as possible, I thought it would be quite nice to sit down and have a think about which shawls are in my queue for 2011.

So, what to knit?  I'll probably stick to woolly, warm  shawls for the cold months, and knti a few lighter, lacier, cooler shawls in the hot months (if we have any that is).

First off is a semi circular shawl, It's a free pattern on ravelry, EZ 100th Anniversary Camping Half Circle.  I've chosen some green 4ply wool from stash, lovely colour.

No, NOT this shade of green!  My phone seems unable to capture the correct shade of green, it's a sage green, more yellow tones (as I like my greens).  I brought shawl plus camera into work this morning, but no such luck with the daylight; it has disappeared!  Dark, gloomy, wet weather.

 

The pattern's very easy (so far).  I've just started, and have reached the second lot of pattern, though it's not that obvious in this photo, must try to pin it out to show off the lace a bit more.  

And the rest?  There's a few designers out there whose patterns I must knit this year.   In no particular order,  Jared Flood, Hazel Carter, Stephen West, Anne Hanson, Nancy Bush, Myrna Stahman.

This would bring me to seven shawls, and I haven't even looked through my pattern and book stash yet, it's just the ones that spring to mind!  I thnk I'm going to enjoy another year of shawl knitting.

Fiddlehead Mittens

My first FO for 2011.  Appropriately, it's a pair of mittens, which fits nicely into NaKniMitMo11, which is a short knitalong, finishing mittens in January. 

Pattern: Fiddlehead Mittens

Started: 2nd December 2010

Finished: 2nd January 2011

Needles: 3.25mm for the outer mittens, 3mm for the lining.

Yarn: Classic Elite Tapestry, pink (just under 2 skeins), dark grey (1 skein), grey blue (! skein) and for the inner lining, 1 ball of Kid Silk Haze, knitted double.

 

This pattern calls for a sportweight/dk yarn, so the Tapestry was a little too thick, and the gloves are very slightly too large, but at least they're firm! 

Now, where's the snow? 

The first knitting catch up of the year

It's all about hands! 

Knits for hands is very similar to knits for feet, except that it's a bit faster (usually) and I feel I can use those sock yarns which I wouldn't normally knit socks with - those which are hand washable or those which contain a nicer fibre. I've nothing against using these yarns for socks, but I know I tend to wear the washable socks more I really don't like handwashing! 

Fiddlehead Mittens are going well, I'e finished the outer mittens and have done one lining, in kid silk haze, doubled;  It's great that I'm using old stash too the Classic Elite Tapestry must be about 10 years old, and I've had the ksh in stash for several years.

 

This inner lining was worked on on New Year's Eve, proof that you can knbit and drink red wine and champagne (not together!)

Next project is a new one, started on New Year's Day.  It's my choice for NaKniMitMo on ravelry.

The Pattern is Fiesta Mittens.  I'm again using stash.  About five or so years ago I bought some 21st Century Yarns Botany, in a variegated blue and a solid black. I intended knitting a sleeveless vest,  but it's not happened yet, and probably won't, Rather than hang onto it as a 'vest kit' I've decided to use some of the black yarn for these mittens.  The variegated is koigu. Not sure hwy I bought this particular colour, other than it might have been part of a planned shawl, but it's ideal for this pattern, lots of variation in colour!

The front

the back, The thumb has its own little pattern

 

And that's just two fo the things I've been working on! I 've cast on some socks, and a scarf, though these are just still in the new wip stage, need a bit of progress before I take more photos!