The Annis that I started on a whim earlier this week is now off my needles. All that stands in my way from having a finished shawl is a little drying and weaving in a couple of ends.
Off the needles
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When indecision strikes…
I am currently knitting a jumper and I can’t decide what to do about the sleeves. So, what to do when you just can’t decide about a project? Why, move straight onto something new. Long after the rest of the knitting world, I have decided to make an Annis. I have left off the nupps, as I didn’t really like them, but I love the overall shape. I can’t believe quite how quickly it is working up, and I’m hoping to finish it pretty soon. The colour is a good match for one of my favourite summer dresses.
Tools are best when they’re pretty – 5KCBWDAY4
I love any opportunity to use my stitch markers. I find it really quite pleasing to hit a pretty little decoration once a round, almost like a reward when you’re slogging round on something in tiny yarn with a lot of stitches. Most of them are brilliant, but there are flaws with some of them. The russian doll one that you can see is nice to look at, but really quite heavy, particularly when the ring only fits on small needles. The beaded ones fit on big needles, which is great, but the wire connecting the beads to the ring tends to get caught on my knitting, which is not great at all. My favourite ones are those with the little sheep on them. They are made by Herdy, a company based in the Lake District that inspired by Herdwick sheep.
I keep all of mine in this little owl-shaped zippy purse, which is another pretty thing that makes me happy. It’s only half full, so I’ve still got space for plenty more. I think that they’re quite nice to pick up from yarn shops that I visit if I don’t have space to take any yarn back with me. I thought my collection was quite extensive, but then when I was making my Puffin jumper I discovered that I only actually owned 16 and the pattern called for 20. I think I will need to do some shopping to fill in the gaps!
A granny square rainbow – 5KCBWDAY3
Granny Square Rainbow
I knit an awful lot of socks, which means I have an awful lot of leftover sock yarn. One day I decided to embark on making a granny square blanket with all my leftovers. Only, as it turns out, my leftovers weren’t as extensive as they first appeared. Pictured here are all the squares I have made so far, a grand total of 135. The only problem is that I need 252 for the blanket I have designed, so there’s a lot of sock knitting in my future!
I am particularly short on orange and purple for some reason. Does anybody have a favourite purple or orange colourway? I’d love to hear some ideas – the orange in particular seems difficult to find, but maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places.
Puffin Profile – 5KCBWDAY2
My puffin jumper is not only my favourite piece of knitting, but probably my favourite piece of clothing, including shop bought things. I know I have written about it constantly, as I made it only a month or so ago, but I love it so much that it’s hard not too. The original pattern is by Kate Davies (whose blog is one of my favourites, and I’d recommend it for those of you who’ve never looked), and I shamelessly adapted it to work with a skein of noro that I’d been hoarding in my stash.
It is a long sleeved jumper with a beautiful, striped yoke in garter stitch. The finished jumper fits me like a glove – Kate provided a schematic that made it easy to make this happen. It’s also quite an easy piece to dress up or down as occasion suits, but my favourite way to wear it is with skinny jeans and a collared blouse.
I worked the body in a merino/cotton blend that is already looking a little worn, but it is for exactly that reason that I chose it to go with the noro – the two look good together. I still think that it will last me for a really long time – this one is never going near a washing machine or tumble dryer!
A day in the life – 5KCBWDAY1
Today marks the launch of the 5th annual knitting and crochet blog week, organised by Eskimimi Makes. I have been looking forward to joining in with this since I started my blog, and I’ve found so many new blogs this way myself. Everybody who’s joining in with post about the same topic on the same day. If you search for the collection of letters up there in my title it will bring up other blogs that are participating.
It happens every so often that when I have a day off I have nothing better to do than get crafty. I had such a day a few weeks ago, and I had the perfect project for that situation – a jumper I was knitting that needing a fair bit of frogging and reknitting. I was knitting from a vintage pattern called ‘when you’re off duty’, which is part of the digital collection available from the Victoria and Albert museum. I hadn’t made my armholes quite deep enough, so had to rip the front and back out far enough to add some length before the shoulder shaping.
I started fairly early, and was adding in another repeat on the back with breakfast.
The back was bound off as I watched the London Marathon,
and by lunch the front was getting its own attention.
It was such a lovely day that I finished it off sitting in the garden.
Then it was time for a quick wash,
before blocking it out and leaving it to work on another day.
Using every last bit
I had a ball of Noro Silk Garden Sock languishing in my stash for a very long time. It was a gift, and I wanted to make sure that I did the right thing with it. I completely adore the project that I chose to make with it (my puffin jumper), but I had a little bit left over. The amount I had, only 28 g, wasn’t really enough to do much with, but I couldn’t imagine not having every last yard of a special yarn in use where I could see it. So, I opted for one of my favourite projects – I made a granny square. The finished granny is 24 cm square and I intend to make a cushion cover from it. Admittedly a tiny cushion cover, but a cushion cover all the same. If only I could find a use for the last 2 metres. Any suggestions?
The joys of mattress stitch
I’ve been working on the seam of a jumper that is knit flat, and thought I’d share how much I love mattress stitch. In the picture you can see the front and back of the same seam, but from the front you wouldn’t really know it. My favourite tutorial for mattress stich is this one here, from Knitty. As well as liking the look, I think it’s quite fun to work, or is that just me? I think there’s something so satisfying about something so neat.
Half way there…
I started making a pair of Felia socks when I needed a break from all the grey in my Puffin jumper. Now I’m half way to a pair, in a bright, sunny turquoise.
The socks have a lovely cable pattern running all the way down the front. I love that the designer thought about the end of the panel, and it comes together in a very well resoved point.
Can’t wait until I have a pair!
A puffin is born
I know that I haven’t posted anything in quite a long time, but when Eskimimi Makes announced the launch of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2014 it seemed like the perfect time to share something new. That something happens to be my Puffin jumper, which is now completely finished, and that I absolutley adore. It is my favourite thing that I have ever knitted!
The pattern is Puffin, by Kate Davies and is published in her wonderful Colours of Shetland book. I knit mine using SMC Select extra soft merino cotton for the body and a single skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock for the yoke. The pattern uses different colours to make up the stripes in the yoke, but for me this was all about the Noro. It is the first time I have ever used it, as normally a yarn like that would be far out of my budget, but I was given this skein as a gift. I hid it in my stash, waiting for the perfect pattern to come along, when I realised that I already had the perfect pattern, it just hadn’t occurred to me before. I love the how it turned out – the yoke in the 34″ size was just right to match up with the colour changes in the Noro. Kate’s pattern is wonderfully written and easy to follow, and the jumper fits me like a glove.
Stitching on a shoestring 