Progress

Beatnik, has seen quite a lot of progress over the past week. Though, not knitting up as fast as I thought it would - I probably didn't realised how involved these cables were, but it's all worth the time - the cables are lovely!
Rav Link

I have just completed the back and cast on for the front, the twisted k1 p1 rib is making my hands a bit sore, but I'm trying to get it done quickly so this doesn't end up in my ever accumulating UFO bag!

I am really excited about this sweater, and hopefully it will be knit up in the next few weeks so I can get some wear out of it this winter. I'm a bit nervous about the finishing, blocking and all the seaming I am going to have to do, but lets hope for the best ; )

Hello Beatnik!

A few days ago, with my newly aquired yarn, I cast on for Beatnik - the wonderful aran sweater pattern by Norah Gaughan. This is the most complicated cable pattern I have ever tried - and despite my many concerns that I wouldn't be able to do it - it's turning out quite nice and I am pleasantly surprised.

Rav Link

This picture was taken a few days ago, I have now completed about half of the back.
This sweater is knit in pieces, and has thee quarter sleeves. It was published in last years Knitty's Deep Fall issue, and has many completed FO's. If you love your cables, then give this pattern a go, and the cable repeats aren't that complicated - especially if you colour code them (as I have shown in the image below).

The difference that colour coding made, was huge, it was so much easier to work out which cable I was meant to be doing, and it was kind of fun to take out all of my coloured textas!

And the yarn arrives

I am so excited about the huge package, filled with my favourite thing that arrived for me today at my door. The perfect pick me up to a not-so-perfect day, I bet you can guess what it was...

Earlier this month I had ordered the biggest ever amount of yarn I had ever purchased at one time from my favourite online yarn shop Webs. I bought so much, that in fact it was more than enough for six different medium sized sweaters, yes, I'm not kidding. This urge to buy yarn, has eminated from my lack of having any yarn in my stash that I could just cast on for a project with, but now - no excuses, I have more than enough. I decided not to show everything that I aquired just yet, but here is a bit of a taste of what I got....

Cascade 220 in Straw


Cascade 220 in Natural


Cascade Eco + in Skyblue


Cascade 220 in Turtle


The weather has been terribly gloomy, so I haven't felt like taking many more pictures, but I will post my other yarns another time!
Receiving yarn in the mail, is probably one of the best ways to have a great day, so I urge you to give it a try, and enjoy the experience of coming home to a nice box of yarn.

Pink Mars

Sock knitting has always interested me, I had seem to have caught the bug last year, when I knit the stunning Lindsay pattern by Cookie A. But after that sweaters preoccupied me and socks seemed to take a backseat, but while I wait for all my sweater yarn to arrive, I find myself wanting to knit a toe up pair of vanilla socks!

It may not sound as exciting, but I have never tried toe up sock knitting before, so for me it means learning a new technique/cast on. I chose a the Nikki Burns Humble Sock pattern, it's such a great, free!, clear and helpful sock pattern. And then read instructions for the Turkish cast on, which was much easier than I expected, this tutorial was great, and provided step by step instructions that were easy to follow.





The yarn for this sock, is something that I handyed, quite late at night, so I wasn't sure what I would wake up and have the yarn looking like! It turned out alright, It's an interesting colour mix, and the first thing that came to my mind when I tried to find a word to describe it was 'Mars'. So here are my Pink Mars socks!







I also decided to knit two at a time, which is something that I always thought was a good idea, but never actually tried. Hopefully this will prevent second sock syndrome, and help me achieve more identical looking socks.

(note the very very curly knitting needle :S)

So I think I'm a converted, toe up sock knitter!

Shawls...

Shawls have always amazed me, they are beautiful, they look very tricky and are a mysterious part of knitting that I wouldn't of thought I would venture into any time soon.

But lately something has given me the urge to pick up those lace addi turbo's and cast on for one, as a present for my mum. She would definitely appreciate one and I haven't knit her anything for quite some time. So began my search for the perfect beginners pattern on Ravelry, I wanted to make sure I chose a pattern that would suit my ability as a shawl knitter, so I chose the lovely pattern Multnomah. This is a garter stitch, with a pretty feather and fan border in the shape of a triangle. The most appealing thing about this pattern is that you do not need to cast on a mighty number of stitches (only 11) so I am almost through the garter stitch area!

Rav Link
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I am enjoying knitting this so much, that I might cast on another one for myself, in a slightly thicker yarn! This might just be the start of a new shawl craze...

Felipe Baby Vest FO

The Felipe Baby Vest flew off my needles in a few days, and the result is a cute, simple but very wearable baby gift. I think this is the perfect project for this type of yarn, and the plain stockinette lets the yarn show off a bit. These photos here are the closest to the real colour of the yarn, it was slightly harder to capture exactly the right hue, but I did my best.


Rav Link

This is a great pattern if you need a quick present for a baby, or a last minute shower gift!

I would have made the little matching cap, but the yarn is just not soft enough for a babys head. But I think if I pair the vest with a handmade card, or some booties it would be a nice gift!

Hello

Hello! I would like to start with my latest project, a Felipe Vest, a baby knit! For my friend's brothers spring baby. Compared to anything else (except maybe sweaters!) baby knitting excites me the most, I just love the tiny little cardigans, pullovers and vests and would jump at any oppertunity to knit for a bub.

Rav Link



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The yarn, is something that I have had in my stash for a while and one of the few varigated yarns that I have ever bought, as I usually like to stick to the solids. The yarn itself isin't soft enough to be close to the skin, especially for a baby, so I thought a vest, that would be worn over a top or t-shirt would be perfect for the feel of this yarn. For this reason, I don't think I will be knitting a hat in this yarn, or if I do, I will certainly be lining it with some soft cotton, because otehrwise the hat would be way to itchy!

I have ordered a whole lot of yarn from Webs for a few knitted sweaters I want to crank out for the Winter/Spring, so I'm waiting for those to come in.