daisy, daisy....

Daisy snood

Although 2015 is mostly the year of the handmade clothes, I snuck this one in over the winter and spring. This is a Thimble version of Whistlebare Yarns Daisy Scarf or Snood and I HIGHLY recommend it. The yarn choices are so delicious that it is very hard to choose just one colour. In fact I couldn't - I chose this one which is Yeavering Bell 4 ply and another one in silver.

I just noticed the description: Our very best selling pattern.  So so pretty.  This pattern is knitted in the round and is not for beginners.' Too true! There are 2 pattern variations.

My head must have been in beginners lace (scrim net) mode when I started it because on my first go there wasn't a single daisy in sight, just big holes. I soon realised the best thing to do was actually follow the pattern so I unravelled it and started again. eventually I figured it all out. It was this bit that initially foxed me: * K1, slip next 5 sts purl- wise dropping extra loops, insert LHN through the back of the 5 sts, then (p1, k1, p1, k1, p1 wrapping yarn twice for each stitch) into all 5 loops together* rep from * to * Basically there was a lot of knitting into a single stitch.

Once the penny dropped it was all systems go. I still don't know if I actually mastered the pattern but am happy with the end result. I wear it as a snood, but it could be worn as a shawl or scarf.

 

Hedley in Yeavering Bell 4 ply 

Daisy detail

Throwing out the gauntlets or how not to wash wool

Hat, cowl and gauntlet ensemble in merino and silk

For a while I have been meaning to blog about this merino/silk ensemble I made last winter. I seem to recall adapting the patterns and all 3 were knitted in the round. I think the hat was based on a Ravelry pattern but as I have forgotten my password and username and locked myself out of that website I can't check.

The hat almost but didn't quite work, though I was delighted to find such a close colour match in this beautiful handmade ceramic button. I think it would have been perfect but I didn't quite make it tall enough for my long thin head.

Hat band with handmade button

The yarn is beautifully soft and warm - Manos Silk blend - I recommend it and would definitely use it again. The variegated colour way means it co-ordinates with quite a few outfits.

Manos Silk Blend 30% silk 70% merino

More often than not I don't really like the end results of my knitting, which might be because I am so much better at it in my imagination. So it was an unexpected delight to make something I actually liked and would wear. I have worn the cowl and gauntlets many many times over the last year, so much so I feel I have really experienced the practical rewards of knitting for a change...

....which is just as well given last week's wash cycle disaster or I would have cried.... 

Behold 2 gauntlets. The one on the left was washed at 40 degrees on the wool wash cycle. Let's call that the CONTROL. The one on the right was washed at 30 degrees on the synthetics cycle. Apparently it is not the water temperature that matters but the amount of agitation in the wash cycle. The CONTROL gauntlet still fits perfectly. The tiny gauntlet does not. 

The sheepish perpetrator of this mishap tried to pitch this to me as a scientific phenomenon of wondrous intrigue . He had invented felt and the secret is agitation. We had both learned some useful lessons. 

Tiny felt gauntlet

  

Gauntlets - wool wash and synthetic wash

up-cycled cushions and other things

upcycled cushions

I look back with fond memories on the Year of the Cape 2012 - it was a quietly celebrated. There were complications of the technical kind. However I think we need to put those times behind us now.

From their quiet unassuming attitude one might never suspect these lovely cushions started life as this:

capes should be left to superheroes and consulting detectives 

I much prefer to benefit from those hours of knitting by enjoying these cushions instead of the slightly ashamed slightly frustrated feeling I had every time I didn't wear the Pilar cape. And to keep them company I made these lovely soft faux-tweed fleecy grey cushion covers, replacing the white Ikea ones I made 5y ago to match the Ikea couch I upholstered (yes I know the white ones never really worked but they did the job) :

In with the new

Out with the old

Other things: My sewing table pincushion foam circles were inadvertently hoovered up so I used the opportunity to make some new ones using a baby bath sponge and...

1. A cut off from a cowl I knitted in the round which was slightly too big:

pincushion made from old cushion covers and off-cut knitting

 2. Patchwork car seat covers I made 5 years ago which had seen better days:

pincushion made from old patchwork seat cover

sewing desk replacements: better than the original foam circles

On the subject of pincushions this beautiful cross-stitched pincushion was made for me by my mum and is the pride and joy of my small collection:

cross stitched handmade pincushion by mum

gryffindor

Sheila's gryffindor

Things have been a bit quiet on the craft front this year

Never fear, Sheila's needles are still busy and she has been creating some real gems. One very lucky boy received this gryffindor scarf and I believe he was very excited and couldn't wait to wear it to school the next day. He is really really into Harry Potter.

I remember that feeling, being incredibly excited about wearing something very special to school. When I was about 5, mum made me some grey corduroy dungarees with a donald duck patch on the pocket and I got to stand up in front of the class so they could admire them. That was a very good day.

I still haven't got in to the whole Harry Potter thing, though I am told it is never too late. I would be a Ravenclaw I think (blue and silver).

beginner's lace

Hemp scarf kit from House of Hemp

This unfinished project has been hanging around in the bottom of my knitting bag for about 3 years and I have a good feeling for the year now it is complete - the yarn, from the House of Hemp is organic, hypoallergenic, non irritant, extremely strong, and might I say quite attractive.  Anyone interested in learning more about the properties and diversity of the cannabis plant should read this link.

hemp: irridescent sheen

The pattern was extraordinarily simple but I wouldn't look too closely at the stitchery. I am so very easily distracted so it wouldn't win any awards for technical perfection. However the pattern is very forgiving for a beginner's mistakes. 

delicate lacework

Comments made about scrim nets during the making of this were not justified. Or comparison with fishing nets. Think instead, English garden party in early summer with a light breeze and parasols. 

scrim net

fixing things

Normal sized sleeves at long last

Remember the aran cardigan with giant sleeves? It has had a lot of wear this winter which is a pleasing reward for a labour of love...but the giant sleeves ( a result of not understanding the properties of Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran after washing) could be ignored no longer.

Luckily, in learning how to rectify other mistakes I discovered this technique for shortening sleeves:
1. Using a circular needle pick up loops of stitches in a line at the level you wish the cuff to start - if you have matched up the seam neatly this line should start and end at the same level. This will allow the cuff to be knitted in a round, which is a much neater technique than having a seam.

2. Cut the sleeve off a couple of rows down from the circular needle and remove/unravel any wool below the circular needle - what you end up with is a circular needle threaded neatly through the loops at the bottom edge of the sleeve. Now simply knit the cuffs in an identical pattern to the original ones.

The knit stitches are actually upside down because in the pattern the sleeves were knitted from the cuffs up whereas this is knitting from the top down, but it doesn't seem to matter. In the original fisherman's ganseys, the entire sleeve was knitted from the top down to allow for replacement of worn out sleeves, I guess using a very similar technique. The Kate Davies sweater also has top down sleeves so should I feel inclined I could make it into a long sleeved sweater without too much effort.

close up of cuff knitted from top down on end of sleeve knitted from bottom up

brocken spectre or glory hat

Brocken spectre hat mark 1

This idea has been germinating since I encountered my first brocken spectre (also known as a Glory) a year ago.

Now although I may be guilty of a little superciliousness when it comes to the phenomenon of peak bagging, not so with bagging optical atmospheric phenomena - I would love to see them all. The photos below show my shadow on the clouds, surrounded by a rainbow.

For those of you who are spectre virgins, the "spectre" appears when the sun shines from behind the observer, who is looking down from a ridge or peak into mist or fog. The light projects their shadow through the mist, often in a triangular shape due to perspective. The apparent magnification of size of the shadow is an optical illusion that occurs when the observer judges his or her shadow on relatively nearby clouds to be at the same distance as faraway land objects seen through gaps in the clouds, or when there are no reference points by which to judge its size. The shadow also falls on water droplets of varying distances from the eye, confusing depth perception. The head of the figure is often surrounded by the glowing halo-like rings of a glory, rings of coloured light that appear directly opposite the sun when sunlight is reflected by a cloud of uniformly-sized water droplets. The effect is caused by the refraction of visible light*.

You can see why this made me think about hats.

I wanted to make a lightweight hat but couldn't find the right colours in 4 ply wool, so went for cotton instead. My first attempt, like the little alpaca hat, ended up really really small. This month's learning experience was that cotton has almost no stretch so when knitting with cotton in the round using a fair isle type approach, one should leave very loose floats to avoid puckering and making a very small hat into a very very small hat. This is a well recognised trap that the overenthusiastic novice may fall into if she doesn't read useful tutorials like this by bygumbygolly.

The first brockenspectre hat was in fact so small that it didn't fit my neice's dolly. That was until I cut all the floats and sewed in the ends. I have a sneaking suspicion this is a knitting sin but at least I now have a just about usable hat rather than a really nice dishcloth:

Brocken spectre hat Mark 1

I embarked upon Mark 2 Brocken spectre hat with the gusto and the confidence of knowing the potential pitfalls to avoid. Imagine my surprise when exactly the SAME thing happened with Mark 2. Even worse, because I thought I had factored in the non-stretchability of cotton, I had cast on a spare dozen stitches for good measure, so when I was forced to cut the floats again due to it being too small, the result was a flaccid disappointment. A double wash and tumble dry just about salvaged it, but I suspect I have made another wear-in-the-house hat.

Mark 2 brocken spectre hat

 

 

The brocken spectre hat may never become the fashion must have of 2014 but it would look very good with a crepuscular shawl.    

*Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocken_spectre
 

twelfth night

These festive folk deserve a mention before I pack them away for the year.

Last year Sheila made us the little snowman...

Snowman by Sheila

...this year we have Santa with the Jingle Bell hat...

Santa by Sheila

....and my absolute favourite the sleeping angel....

Angel and rabbit knitted by Sheila

who in fact looks so cosy there with bumbleford she can stay there for the rest of the year.

Thanks x

little hat

little hat

alpacaly ever after yarn

I was recently lucky enough to get hold of some of this beautiful alpaca yarn, still warm from our favourite local alpaca flock.

I had my eye peeled for some 4ply yarn in manly colours and this was a timely find. The handspun hand-dyed superfine merino has proven too hot for my warm-blooded friend so is in my hat collection now (;-)). I replaced it earlier in the year with this version which knitted up nice and quickly using yarn from the same place as Sheila's ponytail hat but even that is slightly too warm (!) so the alpaca seemed ideal.

ardelanish in-situ

ardelanish wool (mull)

The alpacaly ever after yarn (sold at temporary measure) is so soft and the colours so delicious that it was a pure sensory indulgence. The colours harmonise like a perfect cappuchino with chocolate sprinkles. Hard to believe this is un-dyed! There was also the odd bit of straw thrown in, which just added to its organic charm. Even the packaging was too good to throw away - these are the actual faces of the actual alpacas (*artist's impression). Added to this was the knowledge that this is limited edition yarn (I understand this was leftovers from the last shearing and they are planning to do aran weight in future which is what it says on the labels) so I can be assured there will not be throngs of Cumbrians wearing hats like mine...

...of course there is always a but....no thimble project would be complete without a but...

...next time I set out to make a manly hat I must not get so caught up in tactile rapture that I inadvertently make a frilly edge and a hat that is ever so little (but coincidentally just right for my own little head or a small child with a big head).  I blame the circular needle. Looks like I'll have to go through the whole pleasurable experience all over again, poor me....

autumn knits

thimble's loop

ponytail hat by Sheila

devil trap

Sigh. Winter looms.
The only good things about this time of year are coal fires, an extra hour in bed today, hot water bottles and home made woollies.
Purl Bee has some gorgeous free patterns, which is where I found this Shawl Collar loop Cowl. These knitters make me believe in the possibility of perfection and not only that but consistent perfection.
I'm not quite there...but now have a warm neck. I used up the last of my Torridon Croftwools hand-dyed Gotland for the lining - perfect and not at all itchy.

Sheila has been busy making ponytail hats for everyone she knows with ponytail potential - thanks! This is a tried and tested favourite from Knitty but she added the crocheted flower which transforms it. The wool used for this was from another Scottish holiday and a trip to Ardalanish weavers on the Isle of Mull. It actually smells of sheep (clean ones of course). The hat looks even nicer from the front but I got camera shy. I stumbled on the cutest pony tail hat pattern today: the urban homesteaders winter hat. Oh to be six again, I would have loved one.