Red Dunes

Dunes, has been one of those projects. You know the type, those projects where knitting a 12" wide scarf in lace weight yarn seems like a good idea, and then you start, and you wonder what you were thinking.Well I persevered,and knit through this beautiful alpaca scarf, and the result, was well worth the patience that knitting a lace weight scarf entails.


 



 

I ended up just taking the lace pattern from Dunes, and adding it to the start and finish of the scarf, as a detail instead of knitting the whole scarf/shawl in lace pattern, what I ended up with was a lovely soft, delicate scarf with a beautiful drape, that I'm sure will be worn and cherished by my mum for a long time

Fuzzy Feet

Quick, fun, practical and very very warm, my new Fuzzy Feet are the ideal companions for those chilly winter mornings and cold winter nights around the house.


{Ravelry Link}

Felting is always a bit of fun, and to see the before and after result and see what some water and a bit of soap can do is just a bit magical.




This is the perfect project for scraps, and would make lovely gifts, as they knit up quickly and would be warmly welcome by any pair of cold feet

The small things

Lately I have been very preoccupied with the sweaters in my knitting life, so for a while I think I'll take a break from the large projects and turn some attention on smaller knitting projects.

I bought 200g of the lovely Tailored Strands 100% Alpaca in lace weight a few weeks ago, and am knitting up a rectangular shawl for my mum, for her upcoming birthday. The project is Dunes by Gena Wich.

{Ravelry Link}

I usually don't knit in the colour red, I'm not sure what it is, I just have never warmed to the colour... but because my mum does enjoy deep reds, and this yarn was beautiful I guess I thought I would give red a chance

Owls

Owls, was a quick, wonderful, rewarding project knit in the very warm and smooshy Cascade Eco + You probably have heard, seen or even knit this pattern before, since there are 4195 projects and counting on Ravelry alone!

The construction is bottom up, with a yoke that you knit last when you combine the sleeves and the body. This pattern was great, really easy to understand with clear instructions, highly recommended

I was debating whether or not to put the buttons on for the eyes, but I chose not to, I like it the way it is, maybe if I knit this again I will sew on the eyes!

Beatnik FO

I am happy to present to you the fully knit, seamed and blocked, ready to wear Beatnik. Since it came out in the Fall issue of Knitty I have been eager to knit this lovely Norah Gaughan pullover. Beatnik was great cable practice and gave me some good expeience with setting in sleeves. I knit the 32" size and it fit just right, I didn't make any modifications except knit the sleeves down one needle size, because I often find my sleeves too large

note: yes my hands are a bit blue (dye!) I will explain some other time ;)





I chose not to double up the ribbing on the neck because I thought it looked perfect the way it was and wasn't sure if I could pull off that look!


This project has inspired me to do a whole lot more aran knitting and given me confidence that I can really start to tackle more complicated and involved garments, looking forward to the next one!

From one sleeve to another

I have been organising my stash, doing a whole lot of seaming, and apparently knitting a whole lot of sleeves lately, and also most importantly finished Beatnik! It's currently blocking in all it's seamed glory, and looking quite promising, I am so excited to give it a wear and take some photos. Following my sweater craze, I cast on for Owls, a cute owl inspired pullover by Kate Davies. The pattern has you knit the stockinette body up to the armholes, but the stitches on hold and then knit the two sleeves and then put the body and the arm hole stitches together to form the yoke (with the cabled owl detail). I had finished the body before I cast on for Beatnik and had put it away, so I was up to knitting the arms, and because I knit the arms for Beatnik last, I am knitting 4 arms in a row - as you can imagine, I don't think I want to knit another arm again!

Thankfully, I'm up to my fourth consecutive arm!

Before I finish up, I have to share with you this lovely Australian 4ply fingering weight alpaca I bought last week, in a deep red that I tried to capture as best as I could. This is the softest alpaca yarn I have ever come across, and I am hoping it will become a shawl or shrug sometime soon

Multnomah FO

My first ever shawl was finished up about a week go and now lives with it's happy recipient. Multnomah is a garter stitch triangular shawl with a simple, yet effective feather and fan border. While I was trolling Ravelry for a shawl pattern to knit, I came across some really stunning (free!) shawl patterns. Some of my favourites were Annis, Haruni and the Holden Shawlette. Ultimately I settled on Multnomah because I thought the pattern level suited my current shawl knitting abilities plus it didn't hurt that I didn't need to cast on some enormous amount of stitches to get the shawl going. So here it is!



I think I migh buy some more fingering weight yarn!