More Knitting Projects

Lately I've had quite a bit of time to get some knitting project started and even some finished. My current 'Me' project is Knitty's Leaflet in James Brett Marble Chunky, which actually ended up knitting to tension, which is great because I have enough balls of this yarn to make it long sleeved for the winter.

I cast on at the start of this week and despite some initial worries about the pattern chart, as I'm pretty new to charted patterns, I've managed to get to the sleeve and body divider part. I like the fact that as this is top down there'll be no major seaming and weaving in.

Also I've had a go at knitting some dish-cloths with a pattern taken from The Gentle Art of Knitting by Jane Brocket. After seeing the pattern in the book I remembered I had some bright Rowan cotton yarn leftovers from one of my first projects from about 5 years ago and my local yarn shop had Stylecraft Craft cotton available- I managed to get 3 cloths out of one 100g ball, which was perfect for my 3 colours.

The only adaptation I made to the pattern was that I knit one row in colour after cast on, before starting on the cloth middle and then did the same before cast off.

Dad's new joke to the many relatives who have been visiting lately is that 'this is what you'll be getting for Christmas this year', so maybe I'll just end up knitting him one giant one this year as his present.

'Felt' like posting an update

Ok, so bad pun out of the way I'm just posting a quick update to show I actually am still making stuff, although things have been a bit manic lately and will stay that way for a while yet so posting may be very sporadic.

These are just a couple of shots of a small idea I'm working on that's taking more effort than I thought!

These photos are taken on my new digital camera and has all these lovely effects without having to do post production- like the one above where only specific colours are shown.

And here's a slightly better colour photo- can you tell what it is yet?

Projects in Hand

A slightly Work-in-Progress based post today- mostly because I've got so many going at one time and I'm excited about all of them!

First off is my quilt blocks for a king-sized quilt I'm planning using Oliver + S City Weekend fabric from Moda. The colours and prints are amazing and I've got some co-ordinating blue for spacing blocks and edging- so I'll have to get my maths on for that part.

Next is my almost completed 'Tulip Top' from Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar , only it's done in Patons cotton in Pomegranate and will have a Sage trim . The yarn is lovely and it's been a pretty quick knit for me- but it's also a good example of how rubbish my maths is (not that it's too noticeable, but it doesn't bode well for the quilt!).

I'm also going to have a go at making the Study Hall Skirt from Anna Maria Horner which I'm doing in V&A Quilting fabric with pink cotton contrast. I'm a bit of a sucker for pleated skirts, so if it goes well I may do a more winter weight one with some lovely cranberry corduroy I've got.

Finally a completed project in the Cath Kidston spoon competition, which John has also entered and is definately worth a look!

On the downside I think my camera has busted with over 5 years worth of service so it may be time for a new one!

Plain Paper Sketches

Just so this blog starts living up to it's name, I'm posting some sketches done over the last few months- trying to get my hand less rusty on the drawing front. It's a mixed bag- most are sketches copied from magazines, but there are a few from my spate of drawing what I wore on a daily basis and one is a test piece for a rubber stamp. Hopefully I'll get some scanned from my small brown paper book soon.

Knit, Knit, Knit, Knit, Knitting

Just some photos of things I'm currently knitting, and have just completed.

This is my first attempt at fair-isle, I've never really had the guts to do it before and it takes a lot of concentration but when I saw this wool in Edinburgh I knew I'd have to give it a go. The yarn is Rowan Scottish tweed- it's pretty expensive, so I only bought 2 balls, but it'll be enough for a pencil case.

I'm also nearly done doing this 'Gilmore Vest' in Stylecraft yarn- it's been an on and off project since before Christmas, but I realised I messed up the back a bit so it'll have to be taken back and re-knitted.

I finally finished mum's Christmas present! Better late than never and I'm not a huge fan of lacework, and the pattern I used ended up having an error, which put me off for a little while- I ended up ignoring it and carrying on regardless! I've done a small closeup of the lace, it's knit in 2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Silk.


Finally, my grandad sent me his old teddybear from when he was a child and it needed some tlc, so I reattached his limbs and knit him a new jacket as his old one was very worn. I've really proud of this one as I made the pattern up- I've never knit a jacket for a toy before, or completed sleeves so although there's a few things I'd change if I did it again, on the whole I've very pleased.