Having so much left, I knitted a hat to match which, with hindsight, I would probably have knitted a little longer for a squidge more slouch, but it fits perfectly and is super SUPER warm.
So, without further ado, this is how to knit it:
Tag: handmade
In pictures, in progress… (updated with pattern links)
Last year, I designed a sweater I called the Vintage Chic sweater, in Paintbox yarns super chunky.
This year, I’ve reworked it for their 100% wool worsted range.
And I’m loving how it’s coming out.
Pattern to follow ❤️
Update:
I finished the adult version and then made a couple of little ones. The pattern is available in many sizes, from baby to adult. Here are some more pictures and links to the corresponding patterns.
You can find the adult version of the pattern, pictured below, here,
the child’s version, pictured below, here,
and the ‘Mummy and Me’ version, which includes both patterns as pictured below, here.
Happy knitting! x
Tumbling Vines Sock Pattern
Good morning!
Monday.
Awfully windy out there, up here in the North-East. Today is a day for ALL the knits. And there’s very little that brings me more gentle pleasure than knowing that the majority of what I’m wearing was fashioned with my own fingers.
Today, it’ll be boot socks, sweater, hat, mittens, cowl… The works.
And I’ve found myself thinking… it might be time to knit a skirt? Does that work? Any experiences you’ve had with successes or failures would be greatly appreciated. Will you spur me on to try it? Or will you tell me I’m a madwoman for even thinking of it? I can’t decide if it’d be a neat thing to have, or end up looking like a baggy nappy (or diaper for our friends across the Pond)…
Anyway, enough ramblings and to the point of being here today (I haven’t had my coffee yet, and last night was not the greatest in terms of unbroken sleep, so forgive me if I seem to meander into side-roads with little regard for having lost my way). If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll know I’ve recently come up with a new sock pattern, which I have now created both in Drops Nord yarn, and in Fondant Fibre glittery sock yarn. I’m littering this post with pictures so you can see how they came out, and if you fancy giving them a go yourself, you can find the pattern over here. Or from Yarn Canada here.
So feast yer eyes on the lacy creations.
Now.
Kids at school.
Coffee and time to finish writing up my Stashbusting Hats (which most definitely need a new name).
Have a glorious week. Once you’ve got over the fact that Monday has rolled around way too fast.
<3
February Finished.
February was wonderfully productive, I’m delighted to say. I feel like 2019 has brought me back my design mojo, which was waning a little at the end of 2018.
Clockwise from top left (click links for patterns, where available):
- My Dolly Socks, in wool and cashmere superwash – the perfect prettiness for Spring.
- My first pair of gloves, knitted exclusively for me. I haven’t bothered with the pattern as they were my first pair, but I’m already looking forward to designing some beauties, now that I have these ones under my belt. Motto? Feel the fear and do it anyway 😉
- Aphrodite’s new jumper: the Juno’s Friend Jumper. And apparently we’re to expect a late blast of snow in a few days’ time, so that will come in handy. My beloved husband tells me I need to make her a pink spotty one next. Watch this space…
- My Lilac and Lime Bobble Socks, in a not-at-all lilac and lime colourway, which I love to bits with my Duckfeet.
- My husband’s woodland jumper, already tried and tested in the woods, and the pattern for which I have yet to write up, but WILL. I promise <3
I’m already excited to see what March will bring.
Happy knitting, lovelies! <3
Lace, we’re gonna need more lace…
Just a little update.
High on the beauty of my Dolly Socks, I cast on a new pair immediately.
These ones are being knitted with Blue Faced Leicester washable sock yarn I bought from The Knitting Gift Shop.
I’m casting the second on tonight, and I’m already a bit too excited about how they look.
What’s on YOUR needles this week?
Happy Knitting, lovelies <3
Weekend WIPs
I’m not sure I’ll ever fall out of love with grey…
This weekend, I’m working on the fluffiest tee in the whole wide world, made on 7mm circulars from a cloudy ball of wool and alpaca:
And I’ve turned the heel on my second lacy sock, on 3.25mm needles in Debbie Bliss Toast 😊
Next up… A pair of yoga socks, I think.
Happy knitting, lovelies ❤️
Aphrodite
* Drumroll please *
Aphrodite has a new jumper.
All will be revealed once I’ve taken some rather more glamorous shots of her somewhere a bit prettier, so watch this space…
But for now, have a picture of Aphrodite in Paintbox Wool-Mix Chunky, in Seville Orange (you’ll need 2 – 3 balls, if you’re thinking of buying in anticipation of the pattern release 😉 )
The rather larger, lanky-leg friendly version of the Juno Jumper is just around the corner <3
Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat…
It’s a joy and a blessing when the small people you’ve spent years running around after are at last able to begin to fend for themselves and, even better, to help around the house.
Dishwashers emptied, washing up done, sitting room tidied and hoovered… A total gift. And a blessed relief.
Buuuuuuut.
There’s a sore point about to be made and I’m sure you have already figured it out. It seems that every post I make at the moment mentions my Beauteous Boot Socks. There’s a very good reason for that. I love them. I love them so much that I knitted myself about 5 pairs over the last couple of winters. Indeed, if you click on the link, you will see that the photograph for the pattern itself is the very pair in question.
You don’t need words, though. You just need this picture:
Yup, that’s the very same pair. *le sigh*
See… when your darlings start putting on the laundry, it’s worth mentioning to them that wool – you know, proper wool – shrinks. It’s also worth NOT putting said wool in the family laundry basket when you’ve taught them how to use the machine, and asked them to put a load on.
How on earth only ONE made it into the machine is another question entirely.
So now, I have one delightfully soft and fluffy boot sock, and one tiny, stiff, very thick felted… thing. Don’t get me wrong, I still find it quite beautiful, but what to do with it??
Well, it started with a gulp, a pair of scissors and:
It then progressed to the 1950s PFAFF sewing machine we recently acquired for peanuts on eBay:
Next was a decorative button and magnetic popper and… voila!
My new handbag phone-sock is born.
I think it’s a thing of beauty and I guess I’m just going to have to shrink the other sock, right?
As for my plans for the bottom of the sock, oh, yes! I have some. But I had to order something to make it work, which will take a little while to arrive, and, to quote my husband, it is a bit bonkers. (At least, he thinks so 😉 ) When the time comes, I’ll let you decide <3
Ted’s stripes
Having made a gazillion pairs of beauteous boot socks, I had a mega-tonne (well, not quite, but it certainly looked that way in the sitting room cupboard) of Drops Nepal and Drops Big Delight left, and it was as I was knitting the leg of a sock that it struck me… that would make an awesome sleeve. This is the one I was working on:
So I found the cream and the blues and my measuring tape and set about measuring Ted.
He’s 6 – he’ll be 7 in August – and long and lean.
I decided that this one would be a bottom-up jumper, so: knitting from the bottom up to the underarm, then knitting the sleeves to that point, and joining them all on a circular needle to begin the raglan decreases up to the neck.
I worked out the gauge at 5 stitches and 6 rows per inch and jotted down everything I could think of that I’d need.
Around his tummy: 24″
Around his chest: 26″
From the nape of his neck to his bottom: 17″
From underarm to wrist: 13″
From shoulder to wrist: 18″
From underarm to bottom: 12″ and
Around his upper arm: 9″
I used 4mm circulars (80cm) for the 2×2 rib and switched to 5mm circulars for the rest of the piece.
Taking his widest point (his chest), I cast on 130 stitches (26″ x 5 sts per inch). With hindsight, I might have added another 5 for ease, though it does fit perfectly as you’ll see.
I knitted 6 rows of 2×2 rib on 4mm needles in Drops Nepal in cream and then switched to Big Delight and 5mm needles. The stripe pattern is 4 rows of Big Delight and then 2 rows of Nepal which 6-row repeat, most handily, is an inch.
I repeated this until I got to 14″ (13 x 6-row stripes and the rib) and then put it aside (on stitch holders or waste yarn, or even on the needles if you have enough pairs) to knit the sleeves.
Again, using Nepal and 4mm needles, I cast on 44 stitches (9″ x 5 stitches per inch, then minus 1 to keep the 2×2 rib simple) and knitted 6 rows of 2×2 rib, switching then to 5mm needles and Big Delight. Since sleeves are always longer, I knitted 14 x 6-row stripes per sleeve.
So, to join the sleeves to the body:
First, I *put 10 stitches of the body stitches on waste yarn (this will be the underarm, which you will join to the sleeve with Kitchener stitch at the very end) and put 10 sleeve stitches on waste yarn. Then slip the remaining 34 sleeve stitches onto the main needles, then slipped 55 stitches from the body** and repeated from * to ** I then had 178 stitches on the needles and placed a marker for the beginning of the round.
Using Nepal, I knitted two rounds.
Then I knitted around once in Big Delight and on the next round, to divide for the raglan decreases, I placed markers before the last stitch of the last round and after the first stitch of the next, knitted 53, placed a marker, knitted 2, placed a marker, knitted 32, placed a marker, knitted 2, placed a marker, knitted 53, placed a marker, knitted 2, placed a marker, knitted 32 and arrived back at the first marker.
For the 3rd row of Big Delight, I began the decreases (you can see them underway above), very simply: knit 2 together before and after the 2-stitch raglan (between the two markers either side of the sleeves)
For the 4th row of Big Delight, knit around making sure to slip the markers.
And I continued the decreases every other row whilst sticking to the 6-row pattern (4 rows of Big Delight, 2 rows of Nepal) until I had only 1 stitch left in the sleeve sections (between the two markers).
Then I switched to 4mm needles and Nepal for 6 rows of 2×2 rib and finished with a super-stretchy bind-off. There’s little worse than putting all that effort in and being unable to get the blasted thing over yer head! 😉
Maddeningly, Teddy was at school when it was finished (so inconsiderate!) so I had to wait until I was home from work and he home from school to take him back to the studio to get some pictures.
I think you’ll agree a) it’s very fetching and b) I may have overdone the pictures… Well – knitting and Teddy – two of my favourite things <3
“Sprout” – a baby cocoon and matching hat
With this impending arrival in mind, and born out of a sense of immense gratitude to her, I give you “Sprout”. A snuggly baby cocoon and matching hat.