Cardi

Ok so apparently wool dissolves in bleach, maybe I'm the last to find out, and it turns out the dress is infact acrylic. But it looks like wool so I'm not sure I care. Anyway after I'm done with it its going to look like this:



Looky here!!

October brings aran...

I'm not sure if its wool or not. I tried agitating it in some soapy water and it didn't do much, but it doesn't feel like acrylic. I'm talking about this hideous dress I bought in a charity shop at the weekend.

I'm really excited about this new project, I'm planning to make this cardigan which was in a back issue of knit1 magazine which they sent me for free when i asked where i could buy it in the uk! And it turned up today. I told myself i have to make another bear first and that I'm going to unravel the wool properly, put it into skeins and wash it. Tiresome, but I think it'll be worth it.

Watch this space :-)

Ribbon Knits....

I recently picked up an old top that I'd knitted with this gorgeous pink ribbon yarn (I can't remember what make it was, it'll come to me...) Plain stocking stitch just didn't seem to do the yarn justice, it was thick and too bulky for a summer top and just looked scruffy. It's been sat in my box of "tricks" for ages, and I finally decided in February to just frog it and turn it into something else.

The result is this, a light, spring/autumn shawl where the yarn can show itself off and keep me warm at the same time!


The stitch is just a variation on garter stitch - knit the first 3 rows, and then wrap the yarn around each stitch of every fourth row around the needle twice. On every fifth row these "extra" stitches are then dropped to create the ladder effect.

Mumbles

The bear is finished! He's now with his rightful owner, baby Archie, who seems to appreciate him (and even mumbles to him in his own language, hence the name Mumbles!) Here's some pics of him relaxing in the garden before being taken to his new home...

Bears and blogs

Recently all my friends seem to be having babies! I'm sure there comes a point in every knitter's life when this becomes the case, and as enjoyable as it is i don't seem to have any time to sleep!

So starting a blog may not be the best of ideas. But if I'm not going to knit then why not write about knitting?

Project no. 1 was for Archie, he was born last month and this was supposed to be finished before then. Its from this lovely little pattern i found here:

* Edit - this link no longer works - I will post up the pattern when I get a moment!

I wasn't sure about the garter stitch in the pattern. I've never really been a big fan, yet whenever I do it I'm pleasantly suprised! So I went with stocking stitch in the end and decided to use sock wool and downsize the pattern (which is for a 17" bear, enough to frighten any baby!)

Here's the result :)

I've grown quite attached to him! It's been really nice to gradually see him come to life, i think there might be a few more to come!

Just need to give him some paws now and sew in a few loose ends.. and then i have to bring myself to give him away... i feel like a surrogate mother!