Yarn Along......Eden Fells Hat and Scarf.

Hello, how are you all doing? I've been doing some more test knitting for Helen from the Curious Handmade Podcast. This is the Eden Fells Hat and the matching Eden Fells Scarf, the last two patterns from the Dream Big collection.

It's a great unisex pattern, Helen knit hers in grey and looks great on her male model, it can be knit as a more fitted hat or add a few extra rows of the chevron pattern for more slouch. It's knit with a squishy worsted weight yarn, it would be a great Christmas gift as it didn't take too long to knit. I used Drops Nepal in a vibrant red, perfect to add a little colour to the winter months.

This really is my perfect hat, I knit the medium size with the extra slouch, it's just the right amount of slouch for me. I can see myself wearing this a lot over the winter months as it's very cosy even my youngest daughter has asked me to knit her a set, it's the first time she's requested anything knitted!!!!

I knit the scarf to the exact pattern but you could make it shorter or longer, if preferred. After soaking for 20 minutes and removing excess water by rolling in a towel, I let it dry naturally by hanging over an airer. Once dry it measured 75", a good length for me. Helen does recommend steam blocking but the yarn I used needed a good soak to soften it up, it did block well but probably grew more than what steaming would.

The patterns have now been released and as these are the last two Dream Big 2014 patterns, Helen is offering a discount code for a limited time. If you buy any two single patterns from the Dream Big collection, you can add ANY of Helen's other patterns to your cart for free, just add the code DBPARTY at the checkout.

Also on the knitting front, I've finished one of my Leaf Collector Mitts. I'm using Skein Queen Blush in Dipped Rosewater, this yarn is so soft and luxurious.

I've also cast on another pair of mitts for a Christmas gift, they are the Global Nomad Handwarmers by Curious Handmade. I'm also making the most of the free Curious Handmade Knitvent Gift Knitting Planner, this is a great idea to keep track of what you want to knit for Christmas gifts and keep yourself organised. I'm taking part in Little Bobbins Mitt-Along which is keeping me focused and stopping me from casting anything else on.

I've been reading the back issues of my Pom Pom Quarterly magazines for Christmas gift ideas, I'm linking this post to Ginny's Yarn Along and Nicole's KCCO.

Thank you for stopping by, enjoy your week.

xxxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.....Old Romance.

 

Hello my friends, I hope you all had a great weekend and having a good week. I haven't got much to share this week but thought I'd pop in and show you a couple of things I've been up to.

I'm not a massive garment knitter, preferring smaller accessories, I think because I'm impatient. I do love the whole process of knitting but do like the instant gratification of a shawl, a pair of mitts or a hat. I've had my eye on a couple of sweaters though for myself by Joji Locatelli, Old Romance and Japan Sleeves, after much consideration I decided on Old Romance, a loose fitting, boxy cardigan.

It's knit in 4ply yarn and I was looking on different websites for the perfect yarn, the pattern is knit in a wool/silk blend. While I was deciding on the yarn, I had an email from Wool Warehouse about the Drops Alpaca Party where there is 25% off all alpaca blends.

I'd used Drops Alpaca before and liked the quality but saw they did an alpaca and silk blend which was what I was looking for and it was down to £2.50 per 50g ball. Bargain!!!! I decided on the Grey Purple for the main colour and Off White for the lace panels. All I will say about it is WOW!!!!!! I can't believe that it's a budget brand, it is gorgeous to knit with and very high quality, it's nicer than some more expensive yarns I've used.

I'm only on the first lace panel, it's a very unusual construction where you knit the panels then pick up stitches. It will be a long term project but I think the finished cardigan will be worth it.

I've made some progress on my Leaf Collector Mitts by Sarah Knight, it seems this week I haven't had much knitting time. Jodie was down for the weekend with baby Caiden and we had non-stop visitors popping in to see him.

I had to share these photos from the weekend, Aunty's Paige turns into a witch after dark, Caiden didn't bat an eyelid!!!!

 

I'm still reading Anne of Green Gables but again I haven't had much time for reading either. I'm linking to Ginny's Yarn Along and Nicole's KCCO

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Yarn Along........Shwook Fair Isle Hat

Hello, my friends, normal service has resumed, I'm back home after spending nearly four weeks with my daughter and grandson. I'm missing them like crazy but thank goodness for Skype and FaceTime.

This week I've cast on the Shwook Hat by Hazel Tindall in honour of Shetland Wool Week and is a free pattern which you can find here. Melody has created a Ravelry group for a Shwook Hat KAL which started on the 1st October so I'm a little bit late starting but better late than never.

I did a Fair Isle workshop a few months ago and really enjoyed this traditional form of knitting and couldn't wait to cast on this project. It's not as complicated as it looks, it maybe a bit off putting when you see all the different colours that make up the pattern but traditionally only two colours are used in a row. I also find it a lot easier to knit Fair Isle in the round, I was taught to purl but I was very caggy handed and prefer to just knit if I can.

I'm using Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper weight in Light Aqua (75), Dark Brown (5), Mustard (121), Dark Aqua (FC34) and Off White (202).

I think the hardest part of Fair Isle is choosing the colours, this pattern calls for three dark and two light or three light and two dark. They can't be too close in colour tone as the pattern won't show up, I knew I wanted aqua, brown and mustard in my colour scheme. I looked at the colour range and looked to see what would work with these colours and decided on off white and a dark aqua, which seemed to work well together.

I picked up a great tip to make sure the colours would work for Fair Isle knitting over on Jared Flood's blog, you take a photo of your yarn and change it to mono with photo editing, as I did in the above photo. If you can see that they are all different shades on the black and white photo, the pattern will show up nicely, if the colours are too similar the pattern will fade into one.

Coincidently, I listened to Curious Handmade's latest podcast episode, yesterday and it was all about colour theory. If you want to learn more about choosing colours that work well together and a more in depth lesson about colour, check it out, it's very informative, I learnt a lot so definitely worth a listen.

This is the inside of my hat, you don't want the floats between the colours too tight as it will pucker but you don't want them too loose either. Practice makes perfect and I think the tension and how tight you hold the yarn becomes second nature after a few rows, if its your first time doing Fair Isle try knitting a swatch first just to get the feel for the tension.

I've been reading The Very Easy Guide To Fair Isle Knitting by Lynne Watterson, it's full of great techniques and photo tutorials broken into bite size lessons. There are Fair Isle designs starting from very simple to the more complicated that you can practice before starting a full size pattern, though there are some gorgeous projects too. I would highly recommend it if you wanted to try your hand at Fair Isle knitting.

I've also cast on the Leaf Collectors Mitts by Sarah Knight, a pretty, delicate fingerless mitt pattern. I'm using Skein Queen Blush in Dipped Rosewater, a beautifully soft merino and cashmere blend. They are knit flat and then seamed rather than the traditional knitting in the round.

I'm taking part in Little Bobbins first KAL which is a Mitt Along, Dani has just started video podcasting, she is such a sweet person and I love all her projects, she has very similar tastes to me. I really recommend you check out her podcast, she's on episode 7 but she keeps them quite short so can quickly be caught up with.

I'm also going to cast on another pair of the Global Nomad Handwarmers as part of the Mitt Along, this time in two tone colours. I've decided to knit them in black and grey as part of my niece's Christmas present, she's going through the teenage faze of wearing everything black so I'm sure she'll like them.

In the knitting world, Anne of Green Gables seems very popular at the moment with lots of references and patterns relating to this story. I never read it as a child so decided to buy the collection for my Kindle, the ten books cost 77p, it also has links to the audio version so I've been switching between the two. I'm only a few chapters in but really enjoying the simplicity of the story, it's comfort reading and the vivid descriptions of Avonlea transports me to a place of times gone by, just beautiful.

I'm linking to Ginny's Yarn Along and Nicole's KCCO.

Here's my little man wearing the Small Cable Cardigan by Vibe Ulrik Somdergaard, that I knit for him, isn't he a cutie?

Thank you for stopping by, have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx