Tag: Cardigan

Or ‘Autumn Adventures Continued’…

And it has been adventure. Spent the last Saturday to Saturday in Dunbar, about an hour and a bit East of Edinburgh. Right by the coast, so lots of beach trips and rock pooling! There were also many spooky shenanigans, pumpkin picking and carving, fancy dress contests being won…but a lot of our bigger plans got curtailed as one of our friends came down with a sickness virus.

So I spent Thursday night in A&E with him, but he got all the medicine and was making some recovery by the end of the week…

A good trip, but an exhausting one.

All that aside, my knitting!

Same wool as Felix’s jumper, this is knit loosely following Moonbow Slouchy Knit Cardigan by Jessica Reeves Potasz, a free pattern, with the addition of another free pattern 117-8 Elephant Ears by DROPS design as I wanted to add a shawl collar.

Its big, it’s warm and it’s squishy, which is exactly what I wanted, so very pleased! And every last bit of wool was used, meaning the 20 balls of it that entitled my stash, has officially left! Woo!

And with that, have a good Halloween and I will leave you with my wool count!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 93 (3 since last update!)
Wool bought – 48
Wool given to me – 32
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 832 (Net difference: -11!)

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First of all, my apologies for not blogging last week. I was getting down to the wire with the project I am about to show you, and all distractions where thoroughly being cast aside.

My sister Rabbie summarises the day brilliantly on her blog post here, but in my own telling of events, this is how it went:

Last year: My sister Rabbie: We had an amazing time at a Vikings event in Duncarron! You have got to come to the next one!

Me: Definitely!

Still last year: My sister Rabbie: We had an amazing time at a Jacobites event in Duncarron! You have got to come to the next one!

Me: Definitely! Just, more warning next time!

Still last year, again: My sister Rabbie: We had an amazing time at a Pirates event in Duncarron! You have got to come to the next one!

Me: Right, that’s it, next time for sure!

And I waited. And waited. And waited…

Finally! The first event of the year, and it was through the ages, right up until WW2 this time! Amazing! When? End of summer holidays? We’ll make it happen.

So, vikings, what do we need to make?

Only…no vikings. And with only a few weeks to go…WW2 it was! The kids were child evacuees, complete with knitted sweater vests, and myself and Engel would be homeguard. My sister joined the theme and, after a lot of coaxing, nudging and nearly pleading, she was bullied into making a full on red cross nurse propoganda outfit. If you haven’t looked at her blog yet, you must, it’s beautiful.

My fur niece also matched!

Was I to be outdone? Of course not. Much deep diving of the internet and I got hold of some scans of actual 1940s magazines, complete with knitting patterns. Then I saw it, and I knew it had to be knit.

Did you know Betty Davis was. Knitwear model in 1941? She was, and apparently this was her favourite pattern as it was ‘as warm as toast and ever so smart’.

It was actually too warm on the day to actually wear it, but seeing my two battle with knights, challenge a centurion, play the drums with a Jacobite and ask million questions and then get answers was more than worth it.

However, I would have liked to have stayed at the women’s war effort stall, with it’s beautiful handknits, photographs of original patterns and even a few actual knits knitted during the war time for maybe a few more hours…

And with that, I am going to recover for the rest of the week. Maybe start looking at some historically accurate viking clothing / costumes… Hmm… They raised sheep and made their own cloth from the wool… And they had their own form of ancient knitting…

Perhaps I shall follow that rabbit hole and see where it leads…

Until next post, keep safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 68 (11 since last update!)
Wool bought – 23
Wool given to me – 32 (3 as birthday gifts!)
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 3

Total – 832 (Net difference: -11!!!)

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Its been a long time coming, but after travelling a ridiculous number of miles, the wool I spun:

Moonlit Missy (Top) Missy in the Meadow (Bottom)

In honour of the amazing Missy:

Who is the bestest girl? You are!

Has been turned into a finished garment!!!

The cardigan is based off an actual 1940s cardigan pattern, but due to the weight of the wool, the maths from the free Knitty pattern Tempest by Ann Weaver was used.

I spun this wool for my sister, Rabbie, in honour of her beautiful fur baby, Missy. The wool was dispatched 300 miles up north and, after a few attempts, was sent back down 300 miles to be finished into the cardigan in the above photo. Rabbie has always ended up with sore fingers after knitting, and with the courseness of the hand spun wool…

Yeah. It looked painful. But oddly enough the wool doesn’t bother any of the rest of her skin…just in case it’s had a good gentle wool wash, and a nice soak in fabric conditioner and is all nice and soft now!

It just needs to journey back up north 300 miles again…

The reason behind going for a 1940s inspired cardigan is that there are plans afoot for some semi serious but mostly casual 1940s/50s jubilee party…but more on that nearer the time!

In non knitting news, it’s been a busy week, besides the usual things we had some friends round for board games, ate dim sum and got very, very competitive at Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. I believe plans afoot for a girls gaming night but I will leave that to one of my friends to organise!

I also managed to give blood again this week, so feeling proud of myself for getting my iron levels up high enough to do so!!!

Till next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 18 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 6
Wool gifted to others –
Wool handspun – 0

Total – 844 (Net difference: -11)

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There ARE heroes!

These are based on the free pattern Nurse Mates by Esther Braithwaite and are made for family and friends who are nurses. I feel though that all those in healthcare should be given congratulations – though there’s no way in could make them all a little toy!

In other knitting news, I did something I have never done before – I steeked! For those confused, it’s when you knit an object in the round, secure it, then cut it up the middle to create a cardigan or some such.

Yes. You CUT the knitting. With scissors.

I was driven to this madness as I was knitting myself ‘Forager’ from ‘Doomsday knits’ with a slow change variegated yarn. But as it’s asymmetric, every piece had a different number of stitches, making matching the colour changes impossible.

So steek I did.

The steeking process…

The finished object! I am very pleased with it.

In non knitting news, still in lockdown. I have cracked sourdough bread (hooray) and more or less finished the bulk of ripping up and sorting the front garden (double hooray) but as always there’s plenty more to do, on top of the day to day homeschooling, child wrangling, cleaning and tidying and kitten cuddling…

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 35 (3 this week)
Wool bought – 7
Wool given – 6
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 681

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One of Andrews cousins is having their first child, a little girl, due June/July, and I couldn’t resist making this adorable set for when the little baby arrives!

I used the following free patterns for this set:

Watermelon Baby Cardigan by Stitchylinda Designs

Watermelon Baby Hat by Stitchylinda Designs

Basic Mary Jane Baby Booties by Christy Hills

The first two are made pretty much as written, but with red rather than pink wool, and I just played about with the colour placement/changes to make the bootees match the rest of the set.

Very pleased with how it came out! Can’t wait till the baby arrives to send them!

In other knitting news I’m still ticking away on a different ongoing project, and not sure when it’s going to stop, but it’s been great for using up all my odds and ends and scraps! Which means the wool count is going down pretty quick!

More about that in a week or two when I hopefully decide I’m done!

In non knitting news, it’s been a busy week at work and a fun weekend – a wooly playdate with Sisterix which included a wander down some trails, a hedgemaze for the kids, and a stroll through Broadbottoms Midsummer yarnbomb!

If your in the area, it’s in until the end of June and I do recommend going for a stroll! Though maybe in drier weather, we had to time our stops to view the various pieces between rain showers!

Today it was another playdate at the Didsbury beer festival, I was designated driver but had a good time catching up on all the gossip and getting a bit of knitting done!

That’s all for now.

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 46 (12 this week!!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 670

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It’s another from the archives!

I noticed a while ago looking through the blog that almost none of the knitting I did for Felix when she was proper tiny actually got posted. I don’t know if it was because I was busy, the sleep deprivation or that I thought I would only post toys not baby knits, but they were never blogged.

Sorting through all the baby things for Inkling (baby number 2) I took the opportunity to photograph and reminisce over them. So without further ado:

A mini version of Cat-Ears Hat by Donna Druchunas from the book ‘Kitty Knits: Projects for cats and their people’

An adorable and geeky creation that was a combination of the free pattern Mummy’s Little Dalek Jumper (Doctor Who) by ABitterKnitter and Pinafore Dress by Nikki Van De Car from ‘What To Knit The Toddler Years’

Knitted using the free pattern ‘Baby Sachiko Kimono Sweater‘ by Erika Flory. I used the same wool as her kitty blanket so that they would match… So cute!

Knitted using the free pattern Little Garter Cardi by Ragga Eiríksdóttir – Felix chose the wool and the buttons, and yes, it is sparkly! Unfortunately I chose to make a bigger size so she hasn’t been able to actually wear it yet, but soon, soon she’ll grow into it!

Yet another free pattern, Child’s Lamb Costume by Margot Stevens, I made it for last Easter, again, in a larger size so it drowned her. Still too big for Christmas. This Easter? Too warm so she wouldn’t even humour me. I will get her in it at some point! I will!

It’s not all old knits this post though, I whipped up a pair of Toy Hammocks by Eileen Casey (free pattern, very quick and easy, only thing I did different was work from the bottom up)

Felix has officially moved into her new room and I needed more places to store her cuddly toy collection! The reason for knitting the pattern bottom up was I had the perfect coloured wool to make the toy hammocks with, but it was fingering weight sock yarn, and I had two balls, which had to be held double. So I was playing yarn chicken again.

I won this time, with literally an inch of wool to spare.

Go me!

Hopefully I’ll have something more exciting to show you all next week, I do have a little something cute in the pipeline…

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 36 (4 this week!)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 49
Wool gifted – 16

Total – 647 (I’m finally below the starting total!!!!!)

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I don’t know if a lot of people feel the same way, but 2016 was cursed. My family was hit pretty hard, there’s been death, terminal illness and long term ill health. I won’t go into detail on those.

One I will speak of however is Salem, he died in Engels arms on the 21st of December.

(Picking a photo of him just now brought the tears back)

Despite the rest of the menagerie (2 more cats, 2 tarantulas, 1 snake, 3 fish, small child) the house feels a little empty. Explaining death to a 3 year old, whilst an important lesson, was not a delightful experience. I’d have rather gone over where babies come from with her again! (Yep, had that talk a few months ago as well)

So here’s to 2017 being a better year. Fingers crossed.

In knitting news, just one complete project to show:

It’s the last knitted thing for my neice to be, over in America. It’s based on the pattern Little Daisy Cardigan by Sublime Yarns – I made the garter at the bottom deeper and used two colours. Also knit numerous prices together rather than separately to be sewn together afterwards.

Got a more fun, but giant, project on the needles at the moment – more on that when it’s finished!

Lastly, as it’s a new year, I get to reset my wool count and start again – hopefully I’ll have a bit more restraint this year and not buy so much!

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 6
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 0

Total – 644

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I think I’ve knit the last Christmas gift, I hope I have anyway as I’ve moved on to other projects.

Present 1:

This is for my nephew and uses the free pattern A PokéHat by Mrs Luedeke. Quick and easy knit surprisingly! It fits me, so if my nephew doesn’t want it, I suspect my Pokemon loving sister will nab it…

Present 2:

For my mum, who nabbed off with a replica of the original Fairground Fish (free pattern Frida the Fish / Francis the Fish by Lion Brand Yarn)

I have the one photographed above, it was originally given to my grandfather in 2011 as a random gift as he often fondly told us the tale of ‘that cursed fairground fish, it lasted 25 years it did!’ The sole purpose of this was to make him smile. It worked. He passed away this year, and it’s the only thing that I took as a reminder of him before the funeral. The replica was more or less an identical match, a gift I never got around to giving, and when my mum tried to walk off with the original, I gave her the replica instead.

The reason for the silver version? My mum had fish. They all died this year – curse of 2016 we’re calling it – but before they went belly up, they laid eggs, and out hatched two fish. A gold one and a silver one.

So the silver one I just made is to join the gold one from before.

Pretty convoluted, I do apologise.

Not a Christmas present:

Same patterns as featured in my previous post back in April 2016. (Cardigan is ‘long or short sleeved coat with flower’ from sirdars ‘Beautiful baby knits’. The booties are from the same booklet, they’re from the ‘Sweetpea’ set for those who don’t want to read the previous post)

These are part of the growing bundle of gifts for my neice to be in America – I’ve got another on the needles at the moment, but will post about that when it gets done.

Anything else to comment? Not much except it’s getting scarily close to Christmas, and now I’ve finished the last of the Christmas knitting I think I may actually be getting excited about it…

Starting total – 697

Wool used – 117 (4 since last post! Again!)
Wool bought – 53
Wool given – 7

Total – 650

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My neice was given a doll (a 16″ American Doll whom she named Holly) but she didn’t have many clothes for this doll. So she gave me the puppy eyes and asked me to make a few little pieces for her, and well, I’m a soft touch when it comes to the puppy eyes…

Felix can attest to that.

So without further ado, a whole little party outfit:

All free Ravelry patterns:

Knotted Openwork Girls Shrug – with matching American Girl size by Kristen Renneke

American Girl Doll Empire Waist Lace Dress by Elaine Phillips

Doll Shoes for 18″ Dolls by Onelia

And for when the weather gets colder, which it will:

Again, all free Ravelry patterns:

American Girl Doll Retro Winter Outfit (Coat, Hat and Muff) by Elaine Phillips

Easiest and fastest baby UGG booties ever! by A la Sascha (Doll size)

Cute, aren’t they? Haven’t decided if they’ll be a Christmas present, birthday present or just spontaneous gift yet – guess i’ll see what’s closest when I see my neice next!

It’s been a busy week – Wythenshaw Garden Festival yesterday, and I have to say I was impressed at just how much Felix could get involved with. We now have a 3ft scarecrow she (helped) made in the front garden, button bracelets, banana badges and lots of colouring, and she got to do painting, eat crickets and mealworms (taste like pork scratchings and…creamy?) She planted pumpkin seeds and made her own fruit salad!

Her highlight: getting to hold the tiniest owl I have ever seen. Which was comical as the man demonstrating was holding a greater horned owls which weighs about as much as she does…

And today has been arts and crafts and swimming – knackered now!

All in all, a good weekend.

And this week I managed to use up three balls of wool!

*Does a little dance*

Starting total – 697

Wool used – 95
Wool bought – 10
Wool given – 4

Total – 616

 

P.S.

I’ve made a start on the Christmas knits for this year so there won’t be many new projects posted over the next few weeks (I wouldn’t want to spoil any surprises), but I’ll try and post a few things from the archives to keep things interesting!

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Does whatever knitting I can…

For some reason the spider man song leapt into my mind. Must be the sleep deprivation catching up with me! Work, being a mum, attempts of a social life and a house keeping have just killed me lately.

Have managed a fair bit of knitting though!

These were made using the free Ravelry download ‘Stripy baby dungarees’ by Becky Smith. This was a request from someone at work who is expecting their first grandchild – they asked for grey dungarees and this was the pattern I settled on.

I do like the two tone grey – its very soft on the eyes and gender neutral.

This is also the first project I’ve used a hammer on! (It was for the big silver fasteners – but still, a hammer! For a knitting project! Engel appeared to feel that my invasion of his sacred toolbox warranted him the right to ‘supervise’. Or maybe he doesn’t trust me with heavy tools…)

But that’s not all this week! More baby things!

Lots of baby things! The cardigan pattern is ‘long or short sleeved coat with flower’ from sirdars ‘Beautiful baby knits’. (Got to love the incredibly unimaginative names!) The booties are from the same booklet, they’re from the ‘Sweetpea’ set. The hat is another free Ravelry download – Alfafa Baby Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn. Lastly, the mittens pattern is a free online pattern ‘Wee baby mitts’ by Christine Vogel. Adorable! To tie the set together I added the flower from the cardigan onto everything. I think it’s worked out well. 

Though I still have a ball of that wool left – maybe a matching cuddly toy?

Wool countdown!

Starting total – 697 balls
Wool used – 22 (5 balls used up this week!)
Wool bought – 9

Total – 684

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