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

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.