Knitting - on special request

... you know who you are! ;-)

I have been busy knitting lots of stuff recently. The weather was just so bad that there never seemed a moment of sunlight to take pictures, or if there was, I was busy. LOL

Oh well, here it is....

Citron shawl
Knitted with a lace weight lambswool. Pattern is here. Despite adding an extra repeat of the pattern it turned out a bit smaller than the one in the pattern because I used smaller needles and lace weight yarn. It looks great as a sweet little scarf in a Rockabilly kind of way and I love it. It's a present for a friend, whose favourite colour this is. :-)

Purple Slanted Shawl

Again, this is a present. It's a huge long shawl in a mohair yarn, knitted on the slant with several patterns in random order. I've embellished it with little beads at both ends.

Glacier Shawl and Wrist Warmers

Sorry guys, this set is mine. It's made from Rowan kidsilk in the colour 'Glacier' and I love, love, love it. LOL
The pattern is my own, although it's fairly simple, the stripes are created by alternating st st with drop stitch rows, the 'icicles' on the sides are simple increases and castoffs. Like the purple shawl it's very long and warm and soft. :-)

The matching wrist warmers are my own design too - the cable pattern is on both sides (front and back).

I am currently knitting another Citron shawl, this time in the correct yarn, but with a slightly modified pattern. That's for me too.... LOL I am also making a mobile with a sea creatures theme from wire, but it's not finished yet....

If you live in the Cambridge area and would like to have an invite to my next jewellery party (25th March) send me an e-mail.

Snowy the Bear

Ta-Da - Snowy the Bear.

My very first knitted toy, made for Ben. It should have been a Christmas present but I got snowed under with request for warmers and it never happened. Have to say I felt a bit daunted by the pattern too...

The pattern is called 'Otto' and is available from Ysolda Teague's Store.

It took me about 4 days to finish the bear and Snowy turned out very cute, but I did have a few issues with the pattern. I think the nose as per pattern is too long and it caused me no end of trouble when I embroidered it with the black yarn. In the end I had to take it apart, shorten it and therefore get rid off any resemblance to a well known German dictator....

I am also not happy with the mistakes I found in the pattern regarding the legs and gusset. Unfortunately, despite the promise of pattern support I got no help Ysolda herself, nor from the Ysolda Ravelry group.

On the whole though Snowy is sweet and much loved.


A personal touch was adding the bouclé yarn embroidery around the ears. The yarn is Sirdar Juicy in White (Coconut) for the main body, Cashcotton in black for the nose and eyes and Rowan Astrakhan in cream for the embroidery around the ears. The stuffing is pure lambswool. Very squishy and soft! :)

I loved knitting with the bamboo yarn as it's lovely and silky and so smooth. Perfect for all sorts of projects.

The pattern got my appetite wetted for some toy knitting. I've almost finished a little cat which is based on my own pattern. I quite fancy making a monkey or a different kind of bear though. We'll see... I'll have to add it to the very long list of projects which gets longer by the day.

The emerald green shrug got put aside whilst Ben was nagging me to make his bear... however, that is almost finished too. AND I did some more yarn dying. Once the yarn has been untangled and wound up into balls I will show you the results.

Daffodil Wisp Shawl

Here's the wonderful Wisp shawl (pattern here) I made for my sister in (as yet unreleased) Rowan Kidsilk in daffodil.

I love the colour and the drape of the shawl. A row of buttons and button holes along all four sides makes the shawl very versatile as it can be worn in hundreds of different ways.



I've used yellow sweetie heart buttons and an orange flower button as an accent.

Here you can see the pattern in detail:

The pattern I used is the same as Caroline used on here colourful scarf. Don't they look so different?

Can't wait to show my sister her shawl this afternoon. Not long now.... :-)

Raspberry Shawl

This is the shawl I've been knitting for the past week.

It was a bit of a mixed bag as far as the knitting was concerned. I'd just knitted several lace patterns and this pattern seemed to be boring compared to knitting lace, which made it difficult for me to focus and meant I made mistakes, although none of them are obvious. However, I did make a few changes, partly because of the mistakes. My edge wasn't as clean and tidy as I'd hoped so I edged it with crochet and emphasised the ridges to get even more of a 'shibori' look, which I like better. It's also longer and I didn't include the tabs from the original pattern.

The Rowan Kidsilk in Vino I've used is absolutely stunning and the simple pattern and texture work perfectly together. My lovely flower brooch matches as well. :-)

All in all, I am very pleased with the finished result and think it was well worth it. Laura's book 'Boutique Knits' contains lots of lovely patterns that can easily be adapted to suit you. I'd highly recommend it to who wants to knit something a bit different.

Sakura Blossom Shrug

This shrug has been finished for a while, but I wanted to get some daylight pictures of it as well.

Here's the shrug on my petite mannequin with the very, very tiny waist:

I have used pink variegated (hand spun, hand painted) merino/seacell for the main body of the shrug. The sleeves are made from Rowan Kidsilk Night in pale pink. All the flowers (painstakingly knitted) have a glass pearl centre each and are all made from various shades/types of Rowan Kidsilk (Night, Spray and Aura). The flower at the bottom in the centre is actually a brooch that can either be worn on the shrug or anywhere else - for example, on a bag. There is a pale pink organza ribbon to hold the shrug tight round your waist as well.

My friend Caroline (the one who is running the marathon - see the link on the left) kindly modeled the shrug for me. She's petite but the shrug will fit up to a medium/large due to the cut of the garment.

Here you can see the back of the shrug.


And here you can see the width of the sleeves.


The sleeves - although warm and perfect for a wedding in Winter/Spring in a cold church or registery office - are soft as clouds.



Finally, above the beautiful flowers in various shades of red/pink.

The shrug will go in my Etsy shop by the end of the week. If you want to snap it up before, it's £70 + P&P.

Making Waves

Blame the weather for this late post. Whenever there was a bit of sunshine, I had to do something else, or, by the time I had everything to hand the sun had gone again! Arrrgh!!! In the end I gave up and took the photos inside.

However, this way I managed to finish three projects to post here rather than just one...


Wave Scarf

This is a totally delicious scarf made with three types of different wool - knitted and crocheted.


I started of with the most delightful Louisa Harding Harding hand painted turquoise merino and silk yarn, which I crocheted into waves on two sides.


I then added beautiful Rowan Kidsilk in a teal green, which was knitted in a wavy pattern. More Rowan Kidsilk in a soft silver grey added splashes in crochet. Finally, I added a bit of glitz and glam with a turquoise and black lurex yarn (crocheted again).


The scarf is long enough to go round the neck twice or can be worn long. It's soft, it's light, it's warm, it's totally gorgeous and works for every day as well as for an evening out.



Teal Flapper Hat

I am so proud of this as I designed the pattern all by myself. Okay, it was meant to be a beret, BUT it worked out just the way it is and it's keeping me warm when I am cycling or walking.


It's made from the softest 100% merino wool which is shimmery and soft and very warm. The hat has been knitted in a pattern that resembles leaves with a lacy panel between each leaf.

(This is a picture taken without the flash to show the colour better.)


The rose and two leaves have also been knitted and adorned with a gorgeous ebony wooden bead.



Crochet Lace Beret

I just find crochet sooooo much easier and more versatile. Here's my latest exploration of all the possibilities:


I've used a gorgeous Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed made from wool and angora in pale blue that has lovely little inclusions adding extra texture and colour to the hat.



It's easy to wear, won't crush your hair and looks fab with pale winter skin whilst keeping your head warm.

A detail picture of the pattern:


A detail picture of the border:



The scarf and beret will be in my Etsy shop soon. If you'd like a flapper hat, send me an e-mail and I see if I can fit it in before Christmas.


Newsflash:

What else am I working on? There's still my raspberry sorbet shrug to finish... and there are two pairs of wrist warmers to make (why did I show them to my friends? Now they all want some for Christmas!), and there are scarves and hats and other things for Christmas.... I am also trying to sort out my displays for a jewellery party in December. Fingers crossed I'll get it done this weekend. I am also at the sketch stage of two more of my weird and wonderful dresses.... So watch this spot!

More Scarves - Blame the Weather

As promised, here are pictures of my recent crop of scarves.

This is a picture of the teal wild flower scarf as it will look when being worn. Lighting conditions weren't brilliant today and it was a little windy, but I think you'll get the idea. :-)





French Navy Blue Chenille Cowl/Neck Warmer

This is a real Winter warmer. The cowl can be worn double or single or use the extra length to wear it like a hood. It'll definitely keep you snug and looking pretty.


The cowl has been made from gorgeous thick French navy blue chenille with four cables going up the sides and front and back and 3 crocheted roses adding extra glamour.

Here's a picture of the cowl worn double.


Here's a picture of the cowl worn single with the extra length creating a snug collar.


Here's the best picture of the roses I managed to take. For some reason the velvety shimmer of the chenille is very difficult to capture on camera.



Rose Blossom Scarf

This is just the prettiest fluffiest lightest scarf ever!

The main part of the scarf was crocheted in Debbie Bliss Soho (thick slubby yarn) in shades of pink, moss green, creamy white and duck egg blue. Very subtle colour and very soft 100% wool.


Above is the scarf wrapped around several times, below wrapped around once. It's quite long and can be worn almost like a lariat and because it's so light you can wear it inside to jazz up a simple jumper or outside to keep you warm and looking glamorous.



The flowers were knitted in Rowan Kidsilk (Haze, Starlight and Aura) in silvery grey, soft mauve pink, and white with silver accents.

The leaves were all hand knitted as well.

There are 15 flowers and 6 leaves on the scarf.

All three scarves will be available soon in my Etsy shop.