FO Friday.........two finished objects this week.

Good morning, how is everyone, today? I hope you all had a good week and looking forward to the weekend.

I have two finished items for you today, the first one, I'm so proud of, it is my first large shawl, the pattern is Cloud Illusions by Boo Knits.

I used 150g of Natural Dye Studio Jubilee 4ply sock yarn, which I received as part of the YOTM club, last year. It is 75% BFL 20% Silk and 5% Stellina. It was a limited edition to commemorate the Queen's Jubilee, the Stellina really gives a lovely twinkle to this knit, I just can't capture it on the photo.

Surprisingly, it was a fairly quick knit as I've never done lacework on this scale before, I started it on the 1st July as part of Crafts from the Cwtch KAL and finished it on the 27th July and that was knitting other projects too. 

The original pattern uses beads but I opted not to include them as I'm more of a skinny jeans person but they do look very pretty on the pattern. The pattern is wrote in two sections, you can do the first lace section then go to the border or do two lace sections. I wanted a fairly large shawl but knew I hadn't got enough yarn for the full pattern.

I emailed the Boo Knits to see if I could do half of the second section without messing up the border, she promptly got back to me and told me exactly which row to finish on to get the correct pattern, such good customer care.

I ran into one problem when I was casting off, I had about 4" left and I ran out of yarn!!!!! Arghhhh, what could I do, there was no way I was tinking back all those stitches so I found some Rowan Pure Wool 4ply in my stash and used that to CO the last few stitches. It worked fine and you can't see it, at all. I finished off by soaking and blocking, what a difference blocking makes. My friend couldn't believe the difference and how it doubled in size.

My next FO is the Manolin by Mel Ski Knits, another nice, quick knit. I used 4 x 50g balls of Rowan Amy Butler Belle Organic, which was so nice to knit with. 

The Manolin is the children's version of The Old Man and the Sea which was inspired by the novel Ernest Hemingway, Manolin is the young boy in the story and all the different stitch patterns represent the fishing boat and the sea. It is worked all in one, until the arms, the sleeves are knit separate then knitted to the body so there is no seaming, which I love in a knit.

Here's Little Monkey wearing it, she said to me "Wow, thank you, Aunty Deb, I love it". She looks very angelic but if you look she has a Mullet as she cut both sides of her hair, all she says to that is, "Don't worry, it will grow back", lol !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to check out other FO's this week, pop over to Tami's blog.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

Pick A Boo KAL........week 3.

It's week 3 of the Pick A Boo KAL, organised by the lovely Sarah. I haven't had chance for much knitting this week but I have finished the lace section and ready to start the border.

As I mentioned last week about not having enough yarn for all of the extended lace section, after speaking to Bev from Boo Knits, she recommended that I knit to Row 44 then skip to Row 65. I did that and it's worked out perfect.

I've changed my mind about adding the beads to the border, there are a lot of beads and I just wasn't sure I liked so many on there. I think I'd get more wear out of it without the beads but I might add some on the last row.

Check out how everyone else is getting on, over at Crafts from the Cwtch.

xxxxDebxxxx

Pick a Boo KAL...........Week 2.

Hello there, my friends.It's week 2 of the Pick-A-Boo KAL organised by Sarah, after a few false starts, I've finished the first lace section.

I had to tink back a couple of times, which when you've got 200+ stitches on the needle, takes some time. It was my own fault for not concentrating, it's a fairly simple pattern to follow and like I said previously it is a really well written pattern. My advice is to count your stitches after every row, it will save time in the long run.

I love the yarn that I'm using, I can't capture it on a photo but the flecks of Stellina really catch the light, if you missed my last post, the yarn is Natural Dye Studio, Jubilee 4ply which was limited edition but they have a similar blend called Stardust.

I've used 88 grams and I'd like to do some more of the lace section but I've only got 62 grams of yarn left, I was thinking I could just do a few more rows but would that throw the border out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Check out Crafts from the Cwtch blog, it is full of great information on knitting, spinning and all things, yarny.

After seeing the lovely comment from my friend Ros, who is part of a new blog called Our Beautiful World, I'm linking this post. Each week you get a new prompt, you  take photo's and then link up, Sharing the World Through Our Lens. This week's prompt is LACE.......... I'm fairly new at lace knitting, I've recently knitted some lace socks but this is my first large lace shawl. Thank you Ros, for introducing this blog to me, I will be a regular participant, I love taking photo's.!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by.
xxxxDebxxxx

Cloud Illusions Shawl..........Pick A Boo KAL.

Good morning and Happy 4th of July to my friends over the pond. I'm so excited to share with you, the latest KAL from Crafts from the Cwtch, called 'Pick A Boo' Summer Shawl KAL. It couldn't have come at a better time, I've been looking for the perfect shawl pattern to use with this beautiful yarn I've  got in my stash, can you see the little sparkly bits?

I had this yarn as part of The Natural Dye Studio Yarn of the Month back in August 2012, it's called Jubilee and it was to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It is a 4ply sock yarn in 75% BFL/ 20% silk/ 5% Stellina and I love it!!! It was one of those yarns that I couldn't bring myself to use until I found the perfect pattern.

Last week, Sarah announced that she was starting the 'Pick A Boo' KAL, through July and August, you chose one of the 22 Boo Knits patterns which are in all range of yarn weights. There is a free pattern called Dragonfly Wings, which is stunning but I chose to do Cloud Illusions, which I thought was perfect for my yarn, (I will be doing the Dragonfly Wings shawl, once I've finished this one).

I've been looking for a large shawl pattern over the last few months, I'm off on my holidays in September and just wanted something light and airy to throw over my shoulders, when it drops cooler on the evening. This will be my first large shawl, that I've knitted, I feel very grown up!!!! It is also the first knit that I will be adding beads too, I've ordered some beautiful 5.5mm pale pink beads from Pavi Yarns.

Spot the Difference..........

I cast on the shawl, Monday night and only planned to do a few rows and have an early night but as the top photo shows, I just kept knitting, even though I was very tired.Big mistake, when I picked it back up again the following evening, I looked at it and was not happy, the tension was too loose and looked messy to me so I frogged it and started again.

I cast on again and got back to the same place. The bottom photo looks a lot neater to me with a more even tension, I'm much happier with it, can you tell the difference or was it me been too fussy?

It's not too late to join in, you can cast on anytime through July and August but if you sign up to the Ravelry group, Knitalong with Crafts from the Cwtch by tomorrow, you get the chance to win some prizes, that's always fun!!!!

Thanks for stopping by, back soon
xxxxDebxxxx