I was chatting to a good friend this lunch time about how much time seems to be involved in getting Olann and out there. Don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining, far from it actually, as I’m really enjoying it. It does however, seem to eat into my time and for some strange reason I was convinced I’d have more.
As you know I recently finished the last granny square blanket I’d been working on for Kye, so it’s time to start another. Rather surprisingly, I have quite a bit of yarn to try and work my way through, so I’ve been thinking of ways to use more of it and quicker.
It’s Dina’s turn next to get a blanket, so it can be bright and colourful. Bearing this in mind I rifled through my stash – well that’s not strictly true. When your stash is as large as mine, it’s more like looked ‘I looked at the yarn on the shelves in the old stock room’.
I settled on these colours and considered using each held doubled, but a brainwave hit and….
Having looked at what I’d picked, I drew this rough sketch, very rough I know 😦
I’m still using two colours held together, which means I get to use my 6mm crochet hook so the blanket will grow much quicker and it’s going to be so warm and cosy when it’s finished.
The colours will run as follows
8 colour changes in total
I’m pretty pleased with how it’s looking so far. As it’s my knitting group project I’m not really expecting to fly through it, they just make a lovely, easy project to work on whilst chatting and laughing.
There’s test knitting happening for the next issue already, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much. I can let you know that it’s going to be the beginning of something exciting for Olann and ♥ ♥ ♥ if all goes to plan.
Last but not least, our friends are expecting their first grandchild in about 5 weeks, so I get to knit baby things.
Having cast on a Kelly Brooker Beyond Puerperium last night I just want to keep knitting. The yarn I’m using is Stylecraft Alpaca DK, which I absolutely love. I know I’ve said it before, but it really is surprising how lovely and natural looking this yarn is, given it’s high acrylic content.
It knits up beautifully 🙂
Back to my knitting now as I think we’ve been separated from each other for far too long.
Happy Crafting!
The madness has abated round here again at least for a little while now the second issue of Olann and is out there, floating around for all to see.
I’m happy, Deirdre’s happy, we hope you’re happy too (sorry I realised I was listening to David Bowie, when I wrote this). I imagine our friends and family are slightly worried they’ll be the next to get a call to model for us. A g♥♥d friend has already been persuaded to lend us a child or two and we’re going to be looking for a volunteer or two, later at knitting group. (Ssh, don’t tell any of them yet 😉 they might decide not to come)
If you’ve seen the second issue, you’ll know I’ve been incredibly busy knitting and although I shared snippets, I wasn’t able to reveal my work before hand. I knitted the silver grey sample of Patricia Cox’s Sunset Cardigan for the photographs in the magazine. It’s actually a lovely pattern, with it’s detailed stitch panels, complimented by smooth stocking stitch. It was great to knit, the pattern has been extremely well written by Patricia, with a lot of care and attention to detail. Little things like the few rows of short row shaping around the neck, really help the whole garment sit much better.
The eagle eyed among you, will notice that I worked the decreases to create an obvious raglan line as I favour that look. Having used a solid shade in place of the beautiful Soft Donegal tweed Patricia used in her original, it also adds a little more detail.
The yarn itself, Sublime Extra Fine Merino Worsted was a pleasure to knit with. It’s smooth construction, meant it just slipped through my fingers and as you can see, it knits with great stitch definition and produces a fabric with a lovely drape and bounce to it.
The other knitting I’d been busy beavering away on, was the Turners Cross Cable Twist hat, one of my own designs. I knew what I wanted to make, having drawn some rough sketches out and armed with Barbara G. Walker’s Pattern Treasury books, I got down to some swatching.
Several samples and two and a half hats later, plus one test knit (thank you to my good friend Dr. Sock), I was satisfied with the design, except I wasn’t. Having had the shop for 10 years and spoken to literally thousands of knitters during that time, I know the majority of knitters still prefer to knit flat. However, there are a good few of us now that enjoy knitting in the round, myself included. So I re-worked the pattern to include the instructions for knitting the hat in the round using circular or double pointed needles.
Those of you that know me, know I love Tivoli Celtic Aran, see the review here if you don’t believe me. It’s an extremely underrated yarn, it’s a fantastic workhorse yarn, that is till 100% wool, doesn’t cost the earth, wears well and feels lovely. I’d love to see more colours available, but that’s only going to happen if everyone jumps on my Tivoli Celtic Aran bandwagon.
Anyway, it worked up just lovely for the hat, the stitches look great, especially the slipped stitch cable, which sits raised up proudly on the knitted fabric. It’s warm, woolly, easy to wear and will keep your head nice and snug.
In case you’re wondering about the name?
It’s because the handsome fellow (Shane), wearing it in the photographs for the magazine is from Turners Cross in Cork City of course 🙂
There has also been more knitting….
New socks, that I finished yesterday evening. What a great way to round off a very good day ♥♥♥
I’m hoping to get a little weaving in today, after some more work. Hope you get to spend some time doing what you love too.
Happy crafting!
I was looking for knitting needles the other day, only to realise that I broke my last set of 3.5mm interchangeable Knit Pro’s a while back and forgot to replace them, before closing the shop. So I did something I haven’t had to do for years (holiday yarn shop excursions don’t count), I went to a wool shop and bought a set. The trip provided a great opportunity to peruse the shelves of yarny goodness as a customer, tempted by all the woolly goodness and to look for yarn for Dina’s next project too. Unfortunately, the one she’d fallen in love with wasn’t in stock, so now she’s going to use something I have left after closing the shop.
A much better idea, before the above really does end up happening 😱
Happily, I have also found some time to play with woolly goodness over the past few days, in fact I’m on a bit of a role with my knitting and crochet – Long may it last.
I’ve finally managed to finish the pair of sparkly socks I cast on back in August. As you can see from the photo, I’ve taken to just casting on the second sock straight after finishing the first. Previously, I’ve been trying to match them a little more, but this method is appealing to my way of thinking a little more at the moment and let’s be honest it’s quicker 😉 I’m not sure how many pairs I’m up to now in my New Year’s quest to make a pair every two months, must check.
Being in need of a bit of instant knitting gratification, I’ve also knitted up a quick cowl for Dina. The yarn is Elektra from Conway and Bliss that I bought whilst attending the Debbie Bliss event in Kinsale recently.
Elektra has a recommended tension of 12 stitches by 18 rows on 8mm needles and the blend of 70% wool and 30% alpaca makes for a very light yarn, but to ensure it’s super softness next to my daughter’s neck, I chose to use 9mm needles.
The cowl, as you can see is very basic. I cast on 21 stitches and then knitted in garter stitch, alternating the colours after working two rows. I stopped knitting when the work reached approximately 130cm and after casting off, sewed the two ends together.
I was a little unsure if I liked the way the colours were knitting up together and even thought about ripping it back, but after a little more knitting, the colours won me over. More importantly, Dina loves it and she seems to be able to wear almost any colour. She tells me it’s extremely warm too, even better – as she’s always cold.
Of course she should have known what was coming next……
My kind of photography drives her crazy though. I ‘persuaded’ her to strike a pose whilst we were out on our yarn shop trip and just kept pressing the button.
Can you guess that she’s telling me she’s not ready as she moves her hair out of her eyes?
There are a good few more, but I think she might kill me if I post them 💀
Tah-dah….
Beautiful ❤️
I was fully convinced that closing the shop, would result in me having more time. At the moment though, the complete opposite would be true ⏳ (I’ve now got Culture Club in my head)
It’s all good fun though and I’m thoroughly enjoying working with Deirdre on Olann and. It’s great to be able to put the 10 years worth of knowledge, gained whilst working in the industry, to good use.
On the flip side, there’s been very little time for much of my fibre crafting 😦 That’s why it’s been a little quiet on here and the Facebook Page of late.
I’ve been taking my knitting or crochet to bed some nights, simply to try and squeeze the odd few stitches in before the zzz’s come a calling. What a glamorous life I lead?
So it’s lovely to be able to share a project I’ve finished, or should that be projects?
That’s right.
What’s better than finishing one project?
I’ve finally managed to adjust the foot length on my neon, London Comicon socks
and I’ve also knocked up a pair of Autumnal looking lovelies too (oh yeah, now dancing in my seat)
I used 2.25mm needles on both pairs, rather than my usual 2.5mm and the slightly denser stitch, seems to have resulted in a warmer sock. Always a bonus round here 😉 I still knitted my usual 60 stitch sock, but added an extra few rows to the length of the leg and the foot.
I already have another pair on the needles, as well as far too many other WIP’s to list here, so I’m sure they’ll be something new to share soon.
Happy Knitting!
PS. I’m so excited to be attending our first official ‘Olann and’ outing tomorrow evening with Deirdre. Looking forward to meeting more fibre infatuated people and telling you all about it some time in the near future,
Whilst in the grips of ✨weaver fever✨ I’ve still been doing the odd bit of knitting, but even that’s gone a bit bonkers, as I seem to have found myself gripped by sock madness.
Despite having (pause to clear my throat) several 😉 projects on the go, with more on the ever expanding ‘to do’ list, it seems I really am just happy making socks. Maybe it’s because they require little or no effort, except when it comes to the heel and toe. Could it be that they’re just so portable. Perhaps it’s simply because I love my socks.
Whatever the reason, things got a little out of hand last night 😵⚡️🐒
The socks in the photo at the top of the post are my Comicon socks. You might remember I bought a ball of the shy, retiring yarn, whilst taking Kye to London at the beginning of the summer?
The socks, I have to admit are beyond my expectations, I can”t wait to wear them and I would, only they’ve come up a little small 👎
I switched from my usual 2.5mm needles to 2.25mm needles after having a discussion with Dr. Sock about how both of us felt our tension was becoming slightly looser. In my head I’d computed the difference and had allowed for the slight change this could make in the finished sock, but of course this doesn’t mean I remembered when I was knitting. Actually to be fair, I did remember whilst knitting the leg part of the first sock, but then I completely forgot when I’d finished turning the heel and working the gusset.
In my defence, I was closing the shop at the time.
Usually I’d try my first sock on when it was finished just too check everything was right before moving on to the second, but of course I didn’t. Luckily, I copied the first sock, so both of them fit perfectly on the leg and heel, they just need to be a tad longer.
Now I have a pair of socks that need their toes ripping back so I can add five or so more rows. Luckily, I have plenty of yarn left to do this, but it just seems like too much to concentrate on at the moment though.
Much like picking up the stitches to make the gusset on this sock did last night as well. My living room can be quite dark and I was too comfortable to move to the kitchen, well that and I was enjoying watching the episode of Eastenders I’d recorded earlier 😱
So what’s a girl to do, when her knitting just isn’t happening?
Yep, you guessed it. I cast on another pair of socks 🙈🙈🙈
Must be going through some kind of orange phase.
Moving swiftly on….
You might have noticed they’re on metal needles?
The needles ar Knitpro Nova Cubics, they’re also 2.5mm and I’m not sure I’m going to stick with them. To be fair, they do feel so much better than your standard coated steel knitting needles that you see everywhere. They’re still metal though, so they are no way near as comfortable, flexible and quiet as my usual choice of Knitpro Symphonie, Cubics or Karbonz.
I’ll let you know if I change over when I’ve done a bit more knitting.
I am considering mixing it up a little, only a little though because I’ll still be using 4ply. So many of my friends are expecting and I’m way behind on knitting gifts, so I think it might be time to crack on with a little Newborn Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker of Pekapeka Design Studio. I’ve never made one before and it looks interesting, what do you think?
Happy Knitting!
In my last post I alluded to the fact that I haven’t been getting that much knitting done of late and that despite having completed my summer cotton Kimera Granny Shawl I was feeling like I had achieved very little, 🎨 creatively wise 🎨
Since posting, the last few days have been almost the polar opposite, as I feel reluctant to do anything other than sit and knit or crochet. I’ve managed to complete my first Clue 2 block from the Stylecraft Yarns and Jane Crowfoot Lilly Pond Crochet Along, but I’ve mislaid it 😳 Hopefully, I’ve just left it at the shop. Either way, I should probably give clue 3 a go and I’ll pop up both blocks over the next couple of days, so we can all have a laugh at my poor attempts.
I’m also really happy to report that I have finished the Flax jumper from Tin Can Knits, I’d been knitting on the off chance that my son Durahn, would like it. Not only does he like it, he seems to be really rather fond of it 👍 Although I may have inadvertently set myself up for a bit of a fall as the yarn I used was Rico Fashion Aran and he loves how warm it is whilst being so light weight. Most woolly aran weight yarn isn’t so light, but we’ll deal with that issue as and when it arises.
Lots of people overlooked this yarn when we had it on sale in the shop and yet I get loads of compliments when I wear the jumper I have made in it on. I’m not sure why it didn’t attract the attention it deserves. Maybe people thought it might be a little on the itchy side because of the alpaca fibres. Maybe it looked a little thin for an aran weight? I do have a hard time explaining to some people that yarn is designed to be knit at a certain tension in order to achieve the over all desired fabric. Maybe it was the colour palette, most of which were earthy, Autumnal hues?
Regardless of the reasons why, the Rico Fashion Aran yarn just wasn’t a great seller for us and so I cleared it for as little as €1 a ball in the end 🙈
I made Du the M/L size which measures 39″ around the chest, because as you can see in the photos, he’s quite a slim chap. I didn’t block the jumper as he seemed eager to wear it, even going so far as to say that Carlsberg don’t knit jumpers, but if they did…. High praise indeed.
If you haven’t knitted it, I’d wholeheartedly recommend Flax as one of those great patterns, that you’ll end up knitting time and time again. Unisex and with sizes from newborn to 4XL it will do for everyone of the family and if that wasn’t enough – IT’S FREE!!!
The photograph at the top of this post is a dead give away I know, but my newly finished socks are just so pretty, don’t you think?
They look even better with my green shoes too 💕
That’s my 4th pair so far this year and I’ve wasted no time in casting on another pair in the new Cotton Premium yarn from Opal that I mentioned in one of my previous posts.
The new pair of socks are flying up and I’m loving how the more muted colours are coming together. The socks are my more portable project, so I’ve also had to cast on another ‘larger’ knit too.
You might have noticed that the latest Green Bin clearance items are Adriafil Saetta and Stella Jacq? I’ve been lusting after one of the shades in the Stella Jacq for some time now, but in truth, they’re probably not my colours. Deciding to clear the yarn meant I had to decide whether to knit with it or not. Fortunately, I’ve also been looking for an excuse to knit the Oslo-Anorak pattern from Pickles for a good while too. Of all the Oslo-Anorak projects on Ravelry, I prefer the ones where a multicoloured yarn has been used together with a solid, so I’ve opted to use a dusty pink for the bands and hood of the design.
As with all patterns from Pickles, one size is available for free and with this design it’s the 6-12 months version, but the price of the complete pattern with sizes from 6/12 months to 7/8 years will set you back $6.40, which to be fair with the current exchange rate is a little pricey.
Inexplicably organised for once, this little jumper is actually going to be a Christmas present too 🎅
Have to go now, having just been for a walk on the farm in the beautiful sunshine, I need to try and get a few rows of knitting done 🙂
Happy Knitting!
I’m drawing your attention to the photograph of the cowl I’d completed but gifted before taking a snap of the finished item from the last post.
Some of you will have no doubt seen me knitting it and a good few of you were surprised to hear it wasn’t for me as they’re definitely my colours, so much so that I was a little tempted to keep it 😉 Dina and I purchased the yarn from The Knitting Goddess stall at Yarndale last year after spotting their pretty sample garment, which was in very different shades and of which they’d sold out 😦 Undeterred we opted for something different, me thinks years of living in my technicoloured world might finally be having an affect (step away from the black and grey clothes).
The pattern is called the Mirrored Linen Stitch Cowl by Joy McMillan, who owns The Knitting Goddess with her husband Bobbie. The yarn I’ve used is their Hand Dyed Chunky Roving which is 100% Blue Faced Leicester. It feels as soft as it looks too and the striking contrast in colours really makes the Linen Stitch pop.
The beautiful shade is called Semi Solid Red
and this even more gorgeous one is called Turquoise Haze
Fortunately, the lovely Dr. Sock had recently knitted a scarf in Linen Stitch and we had searched for the best cast off method to use at the time, so I was ahead of the game and knew to go with a sewn cast off. 225 stitches and a couple of hours later (at least it seemed like it), the cowl was complete.
The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that there’s a twist in the cowl and if you look at the pattern on Ravelry there isn’t. I was horrified 🙈 when I noticed and even took it off of my needles and tried it on to see what it would look like. By happy coincidence, it’s probably made it sit a little better, making it snugger and as a result cosier 👌
The recipient agrees – but she would, wouldn’t she?
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
What do you think?
Happy Knitting!
My effort to knit or crochet as much as possible in 2015 is going well so far, six weeks have passed since the bells chimed in the New Year and I’ve managed to get a ✌️ second ✌️ pair of socks for my (always cold) tootsies knitted.
The yarn I’ve knitted is one I fell in love with on Instagram from Yesterdaydream; it’s their 4ply Superwash Merino wool in County Fair you can find their Etsy Shop here. As the yarn is so pretty, I stuck with the plainest of sock patterns which meant they were great for working on at knitting group and the cinema 👍
I’ve actually made another pair of socks too, but they don’t count towards my ‘pair every 2 months’ challenge to myself as they were a gift for the lovely Léann, my sons girlfriend. They’re chunky socks because she’s currently in Poland on her Erasmus and it’s mighty chilly there . I adapted them from the Basic Chunky Sock Pattern from Patons that I was singing the praises of recently on the Facebook Page. I used the Serenity Chunky yarn from Wendy because the alpaca fibre should help with added warmth and I love the colour range too 🌈 I would probably have managed to get the pair (size 5/6) out of the one ball at a push, but had already decided to go for the coloured heel and toe. If you decided to knit them yourself I’d err on the side of caution and have an extra ball to hand just in case. The pattern calls for 6mm (I think) and I’ve used a 5mm to make the socks more dense, they’re still soft and cosy and are great as boot socks or for padding around the house in as slippers.
I love my tags, which have washing instructions for you to mark on the reverse. I’d taken this photo with the intention of saying where I bought them, but I’ve completely forgotten :-0 A search on Etsy turned up some lovely ones though.
I also finished the Cobblestone for Du as promised, but the word disappointed doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel about it. I even knew before I’d finished it, but you still live in hope don’t you?
So what am I unhappy with?
1) It’s too big – I made the medium and should have made the small.
2) It’s too boxy – probably a combination of the pattern and point 1 above.
3) The garter stitch yoke is clumsy looking – I think if I could bring myself to knit it again I’d switch to a smaller needle for the yoke.
4) The wrapped stitches are a little too obvious for my liking.
5) The yarn I used is rather unforgiving for this pattern, Sirdar Bonus Aran is a good basic yarn, I’ve used it several times before and have always been happy with the finished project. However the wool content is minimal and had I used the yarn I purchased originally for my son (a beautiful 100% Blue Faced Leicester), the jumper would have probably turned out much nicer because wool is springy and more forgiving.
I’ve also finished crocheting another shawl for myself, but as you can see there’s the small matter of ends to sew in yet.
Having finished (or nearly finished) a few of my projects it seems only right to cast on again, doesn’t it 😉
My next pair of socks are going to be a pink stripey affair, plain again to facilitate easy knitting whilst talking.
I’ve another chunky pair on my needles too, as I’m teaching a friend how to knit socks. I’m quite smitten with the pair I made above so thought they might be the best way to go in this instance.
I’ve also cast on a Flax in the medium/large size using Rico Country Aran for one of four of us Kye won’t wear anything resembling a woolly jumper. Fingers crossed maybe, just maybe it’ll work out right for Du to make up for the enormous Cobblestone. Sixteen hundred and eighty projects on Ravelry, including one from Dina is a great indication of how popular this pattern really is and if that wasn’t enough to convince you, it’s a Tin Can Knits design too.
🌻 Happily 🌻 though, I can report that he is actually wearing it, mostly in the office/sewing/gaming room that we all share and which can be a little chilly even when we’re all in there.
If you look closely, what looks like bobbles are actually threads that he gets covered in from working on his latest sewing project, more about that in a few weeks 🙂
Happy Knitting!
There have barely been two weeks pass in January and I feel like I’m flying with the knitting and crochet 😎
I’m currently working on the sleeves of the jumper Cobblestone for my son Du. The pattern is worked bottom up in the round and I’ve reached the part where the sleeves are joined. I had promised to concentrate solely on the jumper, but I just can’t do it. I need the satisfaction little projects bring 😉 So I’ve set my deadline to the end of January instead.
So… I’ve also managed to get a quick hat for Kye, my youngest knitted up in the specified burgundy colour as requested.
Using my latest hat pattern Toasty & Textured, I whipped up another hat, this time in Twilley’s Freedom Wool.
Feeling inspired by the yarn I put in the sale I quickly (and it was, even for me) crocheted a half granny square shawl in Rico Creative Galaxy Chunky yarn using a 7mm hook and 3 balls and I l♥ve it!
Drum roll please…
I’m also happy to announce that I’ve completed my first pair of socks for 2015. To be fair, I’d all but knitted one of them before the end of 2014 but it still counts towards my goal of 6 pairs for the year 😉
I’ve also started working on my next pair too, that’s what the pretty piece of knitting is at the beginning of this post ♥
Happy Knitting!
Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet 