Diamond Gansey Socks FO.....

Another quick Friday FO post, I only have one to show you and they are my Diamond Gansey Socks, I'm still on track with my goal of twelve pair of socks. If I can carry on finishing one pair a month, I will easily achieve it, maybe I could even finish two pairs.

Gansey is a traditional fishermans pattern used for fishermans sweaters, knitted to protect them from the elements. This pattern is a simple diamond pattern using knit and purl stitches, I used my regular, slip stitch heel.

I used Skein Queen Crush in variegated blue and greens. I like the foot to be fitted but like the leg to be quite loose so I can scrunch them down so I tend to cast on 64 or 66 stitches, the smaller size would fit but they feel too restricted.

I've managed to complete three projects, this month, my Halele'a, Zoe Fan Stitch Jacket and my Diamond Gansey Socks.

 

Check out other FO's this week over on Tami's blog. Have a great weekend and I'll be back soon.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.....What's on my needles this week.

Hi there, how are you all, today? I want to share with you, my new discovery. SELF STRIPING YARN!!!!!!!!! I see it so often on Instagram and Podcasts but it's always US yarn suppliers, which I would of bought some eventually but while I'm cutting back on buying yarn, I can't justify the shipping. Sometimes it costs as much for shipping as the yarn.

Anyway, I was happy just looking at everyone else's pretty yarn, then a couple of weeks ago, I googled "self striping yarn in the UK". A website popped up called Twisted Limone, it's an Etsy shop where she sells her hand-dyed, hand -wound yarns. She updates her shop every Saturday afternoon but you have to be quick as it sells out really quick.

I'm doing a plain Vanilla sock, using my normal 64 stitches to fit my foot and I'm going to do my first ever Afterthought heel, which was one of my knitting goals this year. The colour I'm using is Find the River and as you can see go from vibrant green and blue to a softer green and blue then the dark chocolate brown. I love it!!!! I've named them A First Time For Everything as these are my first self striping socks, my first Afterthought heel and the first time I've used Addi Sock Rockets which Tangled Yarn have just started selling.

When you hear knitters talk about self striping yarn, they say it's addictive and you constantly want to get to the next colour. Yep, they're right, it is, so much so, I eagerly waited for Saturday's update and I managed to get this ball of Sherbet Dip, don't those colours looks delicious? I know I said I was on a yarn diet but for something special I will break it and I've only got two balls of self striping in my stash!!!

The project I've been working on mostly this week is my Frangipani Shawl, I love everything about this pattern. It's quick to knit and even though it's a lace pattern, it's not complicated. I've knit 75% of the shawl! this week, I love that Helen, the designer of the shawl, has given you percentages of how much you've knit. As I said about the self striping socks, getting to the next colour, the shawls them same, I have to get to the next percentage. The last part of the shawl, will take longer to do as you end up with over 500 stitches, I would like to get it finished by the weekend as the next pattern from. Dream Big, is due out at the end of the month.

The only other thing on my needles are my Tuuli Mitts but I haven't got any further with them so look exactly the same as last week, I'm also still reading the Cornish House by Liz Fenwick.

I'm linking this post to Ginny's Yarn Along and Tami's WIP Wednesday.

Before I go I wanted to share this photo with you, my husband and I decided to go out for dinner on Saturday. We tried to get a table at The Crooked House, unfortunately they were fully booked. The building really is this crooked, it's feels very strange when you walk through the bar to restaurant, you can't walk in a straight line, luckily the restaurant is an extension and isn't crooked, so nothing slides off the table!!!!

We ended up at The Inn at Shipley, which is a recently refurbished restaurant, the decor is beautiful with open fires, so very cosy.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

The "Blue Cardigan" FO.......

I'm just popping in for a quick post, I wanted to share Olivia's "Blue Cardigan", I gave it to her on Wednesday and she loved it!!!!!

She used to be a "pink girl" but all of a sudden, she wants everything blue. It didn't take too long to knit and is a fairly simple pattern.

This has been one of my favourite kids knit, I've made, I think this lace and fan stitch is very pretty and perfect for a little girls cardigan. If you pop over to Tami's blog, you can check out other FO's this week.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

Yarn Along.....oops, two more projects on the needles.

Hello there, my friends, how is your week going? I don't know about you knitters out there but if I'm stressed or upset, I knit more!!!!! That's what's happened this week, I've cast on another two new projects and have finished one.

The first one I want to show you is the Frangipani Shawl by Helen Stewart, this is the first pattern from the Dream Big 2014 e-book. There are ten patterns altogether and at the end of each month you receive a new pattern up until October.

I've been itching to knit a shawl for a while now and when I saw this pattern, this was the one, it takes two different colour, 100g of 4ply/fingering. I'm still stash busting, so I went through my yarn and found two 100% pure silk skeins. They are both from the Natural Dye Studio, I thought the silk would be perfect for a summer wrap.

The blue-green is Spyder Silk 4ply called Silverside Perch, I've tried to capture the colours as best as I could, the colours range from greens to turquoise blue, it is so pretty. The oyster grey is Precious 4ply called Lynton Town, both have a beautiful sheen to them and feel gorgeous knit up, so light and soft with a wonderful drape. It's the first time I've knit with silk so I wasn't sure how I'd like it but I would definitely use it again.

This pattern is very easy to knit and would be perfect for someone who wanted to knit a shawl for the first time but also would keep an experienced shawl knitter interested too. I've got to compliment Helen on how she's written this pattern, it's done as a spreadsheet. The rows are colour coded so you know which yarn to change to, after the increases it says how many stitches you should have and also the progress in percentages, which is very handy if you're not sure if you've got enough yarn. I did this in an evening and have completed 10% of the shawl!!!!

The other project I've cast on are the Tuuli Mitts by Lydia Gluck, the pattern is from Pom Pom Quarterly and the yarn is Dyed in the Wool by Spincyle which I won from last month.

I love how this yarn stripes when you knit with it from both ends.

The textured cable stitches also look fantastic by using both ends, it's a very clever pattern and use of the yarn.

I've just started a new book called The Cornish House by Liz Fenwick, it's an easy read chick lit. I'm 20% into it and nothing has really happened as yet, apart from she has moved to Cornwall after her husband died and she is bringing up her stroppy teenage step-daughter. I'm not sure if I'm going to enjoy it as I haven't taken to either of the main characters, so we'll see how it goes. Pop over to Ginny's blog to see what others are reading and knitting this week.

Also take a look over at Tami's blog to see more WIP's.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

100 Wedding Invitations......finished!!!!

Hello, I've been busy this week finishing the wedding invitations for my friend's son, they wanted them by the end of the month but I wanted to finish them as soon as I could.

Emma the bride, bought the most gorgeous materials for me to work with and had some great ideas. We decided on this design, the hand beaded lace is absolutely stunning, which is obviously the star of the show. It's a very simple design but was actually very time consuming and it took me a lot longer than I expected, even with my daughter, Paige to help me.

I love how they turned out and Emma was thrilled, she came to collect them today, which I thought was very apt as it's Valentine's Day! When she saw them, she was very emotional and even shred a tear, I think it hit her that this was real and she was going to be a married woman in just a few months time. I was so pleased with her reaction, it was definitely worth all the work!

It's been a long time since I last made a card but a couple of weeks ago my friend Gina, invited the "Card Girls" around her house for a card class. Gina cut out the rocker card bases for us and gave us some ideas on how to decorate them, you can find Gina's card, here. I went with this very sweet Lily of the Valley stamp, I even used Pro Markers to colour in the image, I bet it's two years since I last used them. I really enjoyed our card making evening and hopefully we'll do it again soon.

Thanks for stopping by, have a fab weekend, my daughter, Jodie is coming for the weekend, I can't wait to see her, it's been over a month since I last saw her!

xxxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.....weekend knitting.

 

Hello, how are you all, I hope you had a good weekend. As I said in my last post we went to Betws-y-Coed on Friday morning, we've drove through the village numerous times but have never stopped before.

It was a very relaxing weekend, we didn't do much apart from taking in the stunning Welsh scenery, I loved that the mountains had a sprinkling of snow.

We headed to the coast on Saturday, this is Criccieth, we just parked up and watched the waves crashing against the sea wall. I don't know about you but there's something so relaxing about the ocean.

On the evenings, we went to the local pub, both nights were really busy and no chance of finding a table so we grabbed a wool blanket that they supplied, sat under the outdoor heater, enjoying a drink. It was so nice to be able to sit outside in the winter, sitting under the canopy watching the rain and the world go by. Bliss!!!!

I managed to get quite a bit of knitting done over the weekend, I turned the heel on my second Diamond Gansey socks, I'm still enjoying this very simple knit and purl pattern.

Olivia's "blue cardigan" has seen the most love this week and I'm on the right front. I love when a pattern is knitted in one, so no seaming!!!!!

The final project that I've been working on is my Aureus cardigan, I've nearly finished the right front. I was hoping to get it finished by the end of March but I'm not sure whether that's going to happen. I've read a couple of chapters of Knitting Yarns, if you love knitting you will love reading about different authors that knit and their different stories of why knitting is important to them, very enjoyable and easy to pick up and down, as they are only short chapters.

I'm so tempted to cast on Mskiknits brand new pattern, Hana Hou that has just been released, I love the slouchy, relaxed fit of this gorgeous cardigan, perfect for all seasons but I'd better finish one of my other projects on the needles first. If you hurry on over here, you can get a discount code for $2 off the normal price, this offer finishes on the 14th February so you need to be quick!!!!!

Check out Ginny's Yarn Along, and see what others are knitting and reading, this week.

Also pop over to Tami's blog and check out more Works in Progress.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to catch up with visiting all your blogs, this week. I've been busy making wedding invitations for my friend's son, which I hope to share with you soon.

xxxxDebxxxx

Halele'a FO.......apart from the buttons.

Happy Friday, my friends. This is going to be a quick post from me today, as we're off to Betws-Y-Coed today for a couple of nights. We drive through this quaint town quite regularly when we go to Llandudno and always say we need to stop and visit, the hubby wanted to get away for a couple of nights so decided to stay there.

As you know I've been taking part in the Halele'a KAL run by the Must Stash Podcast girls, it started on the 26th December and the official finish date is the 7th February, though it is ongoing and the threads on Ravelry will stay up there.

The reason I like joining in with KAL's is that there is a timeline to follow, so each week with the Hallele'a KAL, there was a portion of the cardigan to finish within the week, it kept me on focused on finishing it, rather than casting on lots of new projects. I still need to find some buttons for it but I can still wear it without, so I'm classing it as a finished object. The Halele'a cardigan by Mski Knits, is the first adult garment that I've knit and I love the way it's turned out, the style really suits my 50's style dresses and the Must Stash Helluva skein yarn was a dream to knit with.

One last thing, you know I'm a big fan of the Pom Pom Quarterly magazine and I always knit a few projects from each issue. They have a Ravelry Group, where you can post your finished objects from the magazine, each quarter they randomly pick a winner from the thread and I won!!!!!! My prize arrived yesterday, it was some Dyed in the Wool from Spincyle Yarns, oh my gosh this yarn is so soft and squishy. It's the yarn used for the Tuuli Mitts from the Winter issue, so I will probably knit them with it.

In linking this to FO Friday, check out lots of other FO's, this week, over at Tami's blog. Thank you for stopping by, have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.......a cardigan for Olivia.

Hello, my friends, how is your week going? I'm back with my regular work in progress post and I've cast on the Zoe Fan Stitch Jacket by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard. As I said last week my niece asked if I would knit her a blue jumper, I just couldn't say no to this sweet little girl. I know this yarn is more lilac but I've told her it's periwinkle blue and she's happy with that. When I saw her, yesterday, I told her I'd started her jumper and she gave me the biggest hug and said "thank you so much, Aunty Deb"!!!!! She was wearing the Manolin cardigan, I knit her last summer, she is so proud when she wears one of my knits and tells everyone that I "made" it for her, bless.

I'm on my second Diamond Gansey Sock, they are easy to pick up and put down, great if I'm watching TV, talking or taking to crafty get togethers.

I've finished my Halele'a so I'm now concentrating on the Aureus cardigan from the winter edition of Pom Pom Quarterly. I'm hoping to finish this by the end of March which is when Sock Bunny's Sweater Along finishes. I've finished the back and I'm now working on the right front, talking about Pom Pom as you can see on this photo, the latest edition landed through my letterbox, yesterday, as usual beautifully wrapped with a personal thank you message, it's those little touches.

Again, it didn't disappoint, with so many fabulous patterns plus many other interesting articles, this issue's recipe is Chocolate Bergamot Cookies, mmmmm, they look delicious. I'll be baking these sometime soon, I'll let you know how they turned out. I don't buy as many magazines as I used too as I wasn't making anything from them but this is worth every penny. I've knit two patterns from the last issue and sometime soon, I plan to cast on the Aroha by Rachel Coopey from this issue. I can't recommend this magazine enough, this little magazine won't be far away from me for a while yet. I'm linking this to Ginny's Yarn Along and WIP Wednesday over on Tami's blog.

What are you crafting and reading this week? Thanks for stopping by, I'll be back on Friday to show you my Halele'a.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Stitching Sunday.......Once Upon a Time.

It's been a while since I've done a Stitching Sunday post but over the last few weeks, I've been hearing a lot about a cross stitch sampler on different podcasts, blogs and Instagram, called Once Upon a Time designed by the The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. Well, I've jumped on the bandwagon and have purchased this year long cross stitch sampler.

As the title suggests it is a whimsical cross stitch based on some of the most popular fairytales and folklores. I love the concept, it's a year long stitch along, so each month you will receive an email with a link to download the next cross stitch chart. It started at the beginning of January with the list of supplies and then the first chart was released which was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, also included will be Jack and the Beanstalk and Hansel and Gretel but all the others will be a surprise.

I've only purchased it this week so I'm a month behind but that isn't a problem as there is no time limit you just do it in your own time. There were a couple of reasons why I decided to join in the fun, apart from it been very cute, I have so many embroidery threads and thought it would be a good way to use them up. I have quite a few of the threads that they suggest but if I haven't got the exact colour, I'm substituting them for colours that I do have.

I've got my chart printed out and all my supplies, ready to go, I ordered some aida from Willow Fabrics , the service was super quick, I ordered it late Thursday afternoon and it arrived on Friday morning!!!! They used linen for their sample but I decided to go for 14 count Snow Glitter aida, it looks gorgeous on linen but I wanted this project to be easy to pick up and put down and I find 14 count easier to work on plus I love the white glitter fabric and works well with the Fairytale theme.

Check out Chrisie's blog for more stitchy projects. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Happy Crafting

xxxxDebxxxx

 

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