Garter Stripes

It's my new addiction. I don't know how many projects i have queued lately but it's a few!
I've started a shawl using my Vomitous Koigu that i bought at Stash many moons ago plus the orange Koigu that i bought in a Get Knitted sale. I hadn't realised before how well the two colours go together!!
So, once i'd started the shawl i kept thinking how hard it would be to co-ordinate accessories. Orange and lime green aren't everyone's favourite colours and i think i'd struggle to find any more yarn to go with it. Anyway, my thoughts turned to making some mitts before i used up all the yarn on the shawl and i knew they had to be garter and i knew they had to be sideways and i remembered this pattern by Ysolda that was recommended to me by Steph. I used the modified stripe pattern (sort of) from the shawl pattern and gazed lovingly at the results as they appeared on my needles. I really do love these colours. I'm not even sorry :P

Koigu garter stripe mitts

There are two but i couldn't get a decent photo of one, let alone both!!
Now to plod on with the shawl...

garter stripe shawl

It's an addiction

Cowls. There ought to be a law against 'em! Heheheeee

Tuesday night cowl

This cowl was a bit of an experiment. I've had Rowan Romance in my stash since i bought "a few balls" in one of Kemps big sales and i've always wanted to make something with it but have been a bit wary of it's bulky size. It is however quite lightweight which is nice! I love the look of the cable crossovers on a stocking stitch background and the way it makes the fabric ruched and i am really happy with how this came out. I had to fiddle with the pattern a bit cos of the different weight yarns but it's just the right size and makes a great face warmer when there's a cold wind. The Romance is impenetrable! Best of all? It took two evenings to make it :D

Cove Cowl

This is the second installment of the GCKAL - the Cove Cowl.
Very complicated (for me), very time consuming, a little bit tedious (for me) but an utterly lovely cowl at the end of it!
I have discovered that while i don't mind knitting cables, i apparantly don't like different cables in the same project. Some rounds required only one cable to be twisted while other rows required all seven to be twisted and all in different directions. It was HARD work. But hey, look what i got at the end of it :D

Cove Cowl

I used some of my beloved Sublime Yarns Organic Merino that i got in the sale at Get Knitted. It seems to be a recurring theme here but it's gorgeously soft and squishy and so warm and light. I love it :D

Pimpelliese

So a while ago i was playing with my queue on Ravelry and decided to organise some projects and rather than leave them in my queue where i don't see them i have made them ready on my projects page. This way i have a visual reminder of projects i want to make and i don't get too distracted by new shiney things!
This was Shawl #6 in the list - Pimpelliese. It's a sideways knitted scarf, rather like the Baktus but with a lacey leafy edge that is knitted at the same time as the body. It took me a while to get into the rhythm of the pattern and i could never manage to knit it without the pattern but i got there in the end and it was finished and wrapped up for my BFF's birthday :)

Birthday Pimpel

It would appear that i forgot to take a photo of the finished article before i  handed it over!

Do Cowl Again

It's KAL time again, the Great Cowl KAL has been reduced in number this year and we will only be knitting two cowls for the challenge. So, without further ado, here's the first :D

wish i was weaving this cowl

It's the Wish I Was Weaving This Cowl by the very talented Liz Abinante at Feministy and i've used the skein of Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica that i got at Ally Pally and it is very soft and warm but it doesn't seem to have a good memory because it stretched a little when i put it on but didn't shrink back again. I'll have to keep an eye on it or it won't be very warm if it keeps stretching!!

Bereft!

I have finally finished my Marble Ten-Stitch blanket and i am really sad! I loved knitting this even though it's taken over 3 years! It's been my travelling companion, my camping companion and my shopping delight :D
I'm not sure Lisa would agree, it had become something of an obsession to hunt out the Marble at knittingy shows and dither over colours but i loved the whole process. I needed an extra ball of the grey/white for the border and i still have a green square and a ball of purple/blue floating around somewhere but this blanket is done.

Oh yes, it does still need blocking a bit to get the wrinkles out but never mind that, isn't it pretty!!

The Final Cowl - down?!

Dun dun dun deeeeeerrrrrrr... dun dun dundunderrrrrrrrrr.....

It worked in my head! :D

So, as a reward for finishing all of the cowls in the Great Cowl challenge and submitting them all on time we were rewarded with an extra pattern! I present the Like Honey Cowl :D

It's a gorgeous design with smocking and cables and knitted with Nimu Sella it is just warm, soft and luxxurious *love*

Some Socks for a change!

I have kind of gone off sock knitting, i don't know why but as part of my monthly challenges i decided to get my Kiila socks finished. Well, seeing as i started them in 2009 i figured it was about time!

Kiila Socks

It's a great pattern, the gusset increases are just lovely the way they are enclosed in the twisted stitches and cables and the twisted stitch ribbing really grips your foot. The yarn is soft and squishy, possibly not the best choice for socks but definitely warm!

Lavender Scowl

This is the final installment in the Great Cowl KAL - Blueberry Scowl but as i am using some lovely handspun in silver grey and lavender i have renamed it!
It's really heavy and warm and LONG!

Not the right buttons

I found the perfect buttons in Allders, really pretty Mother of Pearl ones :)

Very Good Mitts Indeed!

I whipped these up out of the leftovers from the Very Good Cowl Indeed using the Alberte's Mitts pattern, i ran out of wool on the thumbs but luckily i had a very similar skein which just had more purple in it!

Posh Mitts

Perfect fit!

The wool is Posh Yarns Lucia in "Scuffle", it makes a lovely soft and warm fabric :)

Orange Hat and Cowl number FourOrange

I have been meaning to knit an orange hat to go with my gorgeous Forest Canopy Shawl that Joy made me in 2008 and i finally got round to it!
I used the Interlude Hat pattern with no mods and used the yummy Colinette DK that i bought on our Welsh holiday in 2009 for this very purpose! I like it when a plan comes together! :D

Orange hat and Cowl Four

The cowl is installment Four in the Great Cowl Challenge over at Feministy's Ravelry group. This one's called Perpertually Persistant and is made with Rowan Big Wool and 10mm needles! It's really thick and squishy and so warm! I'm managing to keep to the schedule and am getting my cowls submitted on time which is great and i am really enjoying the challenge too :)

A Very Good Cowl Indeed!

I think it is a Very Good Cowl Indeed!

This is the second of the Great Cowl KAL patterns and the deadline is 8pm CST today so i was very happy to finish with 12 hours to spare :oD

I've used more stash yarn as that is also part of my personal challenge, this is Posh Lucia in "Scuffle" and it is SO warm and squishy! I love it!

The next pattern should be out tomorrow so i'll have to go and rummage out some super chunky. I have two different shades of pink Rowan Big Wool that will look nice together and i like the idea of a half and half cowl that i can wear either way round depending how pink i am feeling :oD

Of course, i could always save it as a Christmas or birthday for someone... Maybe! lol

The Great February Cowl Challenge

I don't know how i found out about it but i stumbled across a Cowl knitting challenge being organised by Liz Abinante, the very clever lady who designed the Travelling Woman shawl that i knit for Lisa and appear to have not blogged about!!
She's designed 5 cowls for us to make, the challenge is to finish it by each set deadline. If we do that then we get the next pattern for free and as this year is all about challenging myself i decided to give it a go :)

I cast the first cowl on on Saturday morning with a feeling of panic. I only had until 8pm CST (2am GMT) on Wednesday to finish it so i got stuck right in and knit on it all afternoon at Knit Group, i managed to knit the 3" of stocking stitch and the first two rows of the pattern and then it got put aside in favour of a stonking hangover on Sunday!!

Finished Flurries

Monday is usually our sewing day but as my machine is in for a service i indulged myself and knit on the cowl all day and i'd finished it by the evening, including sewing the buttons on and tidying away the ends :)

I had about 26g of yarn leftover and spent the evening wondering if i would have enough for a pair of matching mitts and after trawling Ravelry for some inspiration i just decided to make two mini-cowls :oD
There are more details on the Ravelry project pages of the yarn used,  my mods etc - Cowl & Mitts

Matching Mitts

I am rather pleased with how they came out and they are SO warm, i really do love the brioche stitch, it makes a warm, dense and squishy fabric which is perfect for our current cold weather!

The set!

So, the next pattern is due to be released any time now, i have my sock yarn and needles ready to cast on, and plenty of free time to knit i just hope i finish The Orange Hat first!

Feb Challenge - finished top

I'm not doing too badly on my challenge, i settled on a layout last night and joined all the blocks today and here's the finished top!

All it needs now is layering, quilting and binding :D

Hopefully i will have a sewing machine again soon so that i can get on with it!

I absolutely adore the colours in this range, i'm so pleased i bought the "Moda Scrap Bag" and didn't put it off "cos i've got enough" lol

It was a joy to work with and i love what i did with it, it's based on a quilt in a book but i didn't set it on point and it was my first sewn log cabin blocks too which i really enjoyed doing.

A February Challenge

The challenges continue! Following Januray's success i have set myself a tougher target this month.
I want to make a whole quilt from scratch for my m-i-l's birthday at the beginning of March :oD
It's definitely not impossible given that i pieced 36 blocks yesterday afternoon :D

2½" pieces joined (on the right)

Halfway...

All the prints done...

First border added...

All done!

I played with them last night and settled on a layout so that's this morning's job.
The sewing machine needs to go in for a service as it's really been complaining lately so i'd like to get the blocks joined just in case i don't have it back for 3 weeks!! :o(

January Challenge

this year i have decided to challenge myself in a Crafty sort of way so each month i am going to set myself a target and work towards achieving it.

January's challenge was to complete The Porange Quilt and the Badger Blankie and i am happy to say i achieved both goals!

Lukey is only laying on it to show the size of it, he is totally banned from it now, it's MINE and i don't want it smelling of dog lol

I don't have any photos of the quilt yet, i keep forgetting to take them... you can see it before it was finished though, i'll let you ;o)

The finished top before borders were added

Arty shot... borders added, backed, quilted and binding done :)