The last one for the year

My last shawl of the year is the Crest o' the Wave Stole. This stole has been on my needles forever and a day. I would pick it up and knit a couple of pattern repeats and then put it down for something more interesting. The yarn, which is Touch Yarn Kid Mohair Merino 2 ply, has been frogged a couple of times as well. I could just not find the right pattern for it. I finally realised it needed something simple and that was the problem. The pattern is a simple 12 row repeat. So simple in fact that I got very bored with it. Still, I persevered and finally finished the stole. I had intended to keep knitting until I had used up all the yarn but I fear that after 40 repeats I had had enough!






The stole measures 170cm x 52cm. It is intended as a gift but after trying it on I realised how soft and warm it is. It might just not quite make it to the gift pile!

Magic Yarn Ball

This year I decided to participate in a Magic Yarn Ball swap for the first time. I have often seen them happening on Ravelry and wondered what it would be like to take part in something like that. Well now I know and can highly recommend it. It is great fun.

The object is to discover the likes and dislikes of your partner in terms of yarn, colour, patterns etc.. You then collect a number of appropriate little gifts which you then wrap up in the yarn you have chosen for your partner ending with a pattern at the top of the yarn ball. The intention is then that you partner starts to knit the pattern and the further they go the more little gifts fall out of the parcel.

My wonderful partner discosmurf sent me my yarn ball wrapped in this cute little project bag. The yarn she sent me is from Jolly Jumbuck and the pattern was for a Multnumah shawl. This is a shawl I have long been meaning to knit and the yarn was perfect for the shawl. I immediatly started knitting the shawl.





My first gift to be revealed was this wonderful apron.



The further I knitted the more I discovered. Here are all the lovely little delights that awaited me.



And here is the end product.



Thank you again Kate for a wonderful magic yarn ball. I can't wait to do this again.

Time flies

Its been a while since I've posted. Time is just flying by at the moment. I blinked and next thing I know Christmas is upon us. Nevertheless my needles have been clicking away and I managed to finish this Maia Shoulderette for 27gab on Ravelry. This was another Work for Yarn commission. And my reward was a skein of Wollmeise in Rhabarbar.





The yarn is Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in Merlot and I knitted it on 3.75mm needles. I ran out of yarn just 50 stitches short of completing the cast-off but fortunately a friend who came to visit was able to help me out. She very kindly dropped off her skein of WM and I could use as much as I needed to finish the shawl.

A little bit goes a long way

I have taken a liking to Malabrigo Lace. Not just because its wonderfully soft and feels great against the skin but also because those tiny skeins seem to last forever. Have a look at this. Out of a 50g skein (colourway Orchid) I got the following:

Abrazo knitted without any mods on 5mm needles. This used 30g of the skein. Next time round I would knit the short rows two stitches past the decrease rather than 4 stitches to create a larger shawl.




Then with the left over 20g I knitted this little cowl, the Lacey Small Shell Cowl. This was also knitted on 5mm needles. Its a simple pattern repeat and I just kept on until I ran out of yarn.



I am not knitting many gifts this year but these two were quick and easy and very satisfying to knit.

Left over sock yarn

In one of her recent post Mary reminded me that there are other useful things that one can do with left over sock yarn. I have a whole tub full of left over sock yarn and I have been meaning to knit a sock blankie with it. I don't really need a sock blankie I just happen to think its rather pretty. On the other hand, the amounts of left over yarn from each skein is quite large - enough for something useful. I don't wear knitted hats and thus I don't knit them but I would wear fingerless mitts and I am happy to knit them for myself as well as for others. I made a pair a little while back for a swap and so decided I would do so again.

This time the pattern is Blackrose Wristlets, the yarn is Conjoined Creations Flat Feet and the mitts were knitted on 2.75mm circular needles.




Any suggestions you might have for mitts made with left over sock yarn will be most welcome.

Magellan has finally arrived

I really like the shawls designed by Monika Eckert and this year her work has been prolific. Unfortunately I have just not had the time to knit most of her shawl patterns. But I was determined to knit this one: Windsbraut "Magalhaes" (Ravelry link).






I'm afraid I can't tell you much about the yarn. It was part of my $10 Swap parcel and all I know is that it is pure wool 2 ply and I used 63g of the 120g. I knitted this shawl on 3.5mm needles. Like all Monika's patterns, this was very easy to follow and had I not had so many interruptions it would have been a very quick knit.

More lace work

I have completed my second work for yarn project. This one was the Lilac Leaf Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia. I knitted this for superkath2000 on Ravelry.

The yarn is Ixchel cashmerino and the needle size 3.75mm.

 

 

 

 

And my reward was this lovely skein of ToshLace in Calligraphy.

Blogging Buddies are the Best!

A while back I asked Mary a favour. Not only did she agree but enhanced the entire experience. I asked her to forward a parcel to me. When I opened the parcel I found these luscious goodies had been added.



Two fabulous skeins of Jade Sapphire and some cute (and very handy) buttons. I have been petting the yarn ever since.

Mary you are a marvel. Thank you ever so much!

Working for yarn

I've joined yet another group on Ravelry. This is an Australian work for yarn group. I just went for a look and had no intention of taking anything up but.... Someone wanted a worker to knit Romi's Celeano Shawl. This is one of her 7 shawlette series. I was immediatly drawn to the pattern and then as an added sweeter it was to be knit in Wollmeise. Well I have long wanted to try this yarn but couldn't never be bothered to go to the effort and expense to get hold of any. So an ideal opportunity presented itself and I grabbed it.

Here is the end result.


It was a bit difficult to capture the true colour of the yarn but it lies somewhere between the first and the second photo.


The yarn is Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in Spinaci and the needle size is 3.75mm.


I knitted this shawl for 27gab and my reward was a lovely skein of her handspun in laceweight.


I was so pleased with the whole experience that I am now awaiting the yarn to knit a Lilac Leaf stole from Knitted Lace of Estonia.

Synesthesia Socks

A while back a got some lovely yarn in a cotton/wool blend in a Karma Swap on Ravelry. When I saw the yarn I thought I would knit a pair of socks for my friend Val. While checking out her queue to see what might take her fancy my attention was drawn to the Synesthesia Socks.

Why might you ask? Well of course because its a pretty pattern but also because its an interesting condition. According to Wikipedia it is "a neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway". I recall the little daughter of a friend of mine once remarking upon hearing a piece of classical music "that tastes green!" I think that illustrates the condition rather nicely.

So here are the socks. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fine and the needle size 2.25.




I have also recently had a birthday and was taken to Bendigo Woollen Mills on the day. This is my haul.


Not a bad way to spend a birthday.

Another Featherweight Cardi

I find my first Featherweight Cardi a very useful item of clothing and I wore it so often last spring and summer that I decided I needed another one for this spring and summer. So here it is.



I knitted a moss stitch border for the cuffs and bottom of the cardi but decided on something different for the collar. I knitted an lace edge pattern from Knitted Lace of Estonia. Its called Äärepitsi Kiri 7 (Lace Edge Pattern 7).



The yarn is ColourMart Cashmere/Merino 1.16 and the needles size 4.00mm. And at the moment the weather is perfect for this cardi!

$10 Swap

I received my parcel from abcdee80 in the $10 swap and I am just so impressed. My partner has excelled in the bargain hunting stakes. Just look at the amazing things I got!





- Six skeins of lace weight yarn!
- A jar of buttons
- A zip
- A pattern for a bag
- Two garden catalogues
- Chocolate
- And a set of gorgeous stitch markers

Thank you again abcdee80 you made my day!

Bags and things

I have been beavering away on yet another Ravelry swap. This time its a $10 swap. The intention is to put together a parcel of goodies for your partner without exceeding a $10 limit. So for my partner I made these Always and Forever Fingerless Mitts from some leftover Tofutsie yarn.




And this Take Everywhere Bag from Knitted Favourites (this is the only link I could find!), which I knitted with some Cleckheaton Country Naturals 12 ply I picked up for a song at a country market.




I have filled the bag with some yarn I got at the Australian Country Spinners Millshop, handmade soap from my local Sunday market and a sweet smelling sachet to ward off nasties made by a friend of mine.

I hope my partner likes her bag of goodies.

Lilac Stole

I have finished my Lilac Stole. This was yet another pattern that formed part of the Summer Swatch Me project. It was a very easy knit because the pattern repeat was so easy to memorize.



I knitted this stole with ColourMart Cashmere Merino 2/14NM on 3.5mm needles. I added red AB 8/0 seed beads. This is a large stole, it measures 223.5cm x 40.6cm. One of the features of the stole that I particularly like is that the border is picked up and knitted on only one of the long sides of the stole.

A flock of sheep

Over on Ravelry there is a group called Aussie Karma Swaps. I have been having quite a bit of fun over there participating in various karma swaps. At the moment there are swaps running for sock yarn, leftover yarn, natural fibre yarns, the kitchen sink where anything goes and many others. My favourite is the handmade swap and I have swapped hand knitted toys for lovely totes and project bags. My last couple of swaps netted the following lovely goodies:

A gorgeous flock of handmade sheep cards made by Allison70. I think they are ever so cute.


And after watching the threads closely I finally scored some glass stitchmarkers made by the very talented sthrnx.


I have been knitting but the completed things I can't show you yet and the wips are just not very interesting at this stage.

A year later

And I am still working on my Summer Squares blanket. Despite all my good intentions my pile of squares is growing ever so slowly.



Last week I finally managed to add two more squares to the pile. I still intend making a queen size blanket so I still have a long way to go!



I really don't know why I am so tardy because I love knitting these squares. Perhaps its because there are too many distractions? Like this Featherweight cardi I have started for the ColourMart competition.



And then there's the Lilac Stole I need to finish plus all the knitting I've been doing for a couple of swaps I'm involved in (and forgot to take pictures) and then there's some socks I need to knit, not to mention that new laceweight calling my name.......