Tag: knitting

A Fairisle Frenzy

Posted on by Alice Neal

Can’t stay away from it.

So, top down, in the round, circular yoke experiment #1

I am, suffice to say, chuffed to bits.

Knitted on 4mm circular needles, except for the last half of the bottom ribbing where I switched to 3.5mm for a snugger fit. In Drops Nepal for the body and Karisma for the sleeves, and using some of the beautiful stash of Finnish Riihivilla hand-dyed wool given to me last Christmas by my rather clever husband.

Here it is, in picture story form:

finnish-wool

This is the absolutely delicious Finnish wool I used for the motifs.

swatch.jpg

This is the swatch I knitted to ascertain whether the Drops would provide the right match with the Riihivilla.

fairisle1

And thus it began.

Confession: I didn’t really leave enough of a margin before starting the first motif – the little owls. So, when it came to finishing off, I had to find a way to deal with the neck. In the end, I folded it back on itself and sewed the top down, creating a funnel neck, rather than the little roll I had originally intended. I’m very relieved it turned out ok!

fairisle6

fairisle7

fairisle3-wm

fairisle5

fairisle10.jpg

A little one for Ted next, I think 🙂

Project Caravan

Posted on by Alice Neal

This little beauty, a little long in the tooth but perfectly fit for purpose, has recently come into our possession:

caravan2

And while she is very comfortable, her age makes her one of the less well insulated, and she gets very chilly at night. We have countered that with a little oil-filled heater, but… you know… really there ought to be some wool in there, right? 😉

So, Project Caravan has begun! So far we have a cushion made in simple stocking stitch in Drops Polaris (dark grey) on 15mm needles, and what began as a stashbuster blanket crocheted in triple crochet (UK) in as many colours and as randomly as I fancy. It’s probably a little over halfway there.

So, ladies and gents, I give you: Project Caravan: The Beginning.

blanket1 blanket2 cushion-and-blanket

After School Knitting Club

Posted on by Alice Neal

Oh, I’m loving it.

club3

I tootle in on a Tuesday afternoon, laden with baskets full of needles and wool, and I’m greeted with such enthusiastic little people. Granted, we’ve lost a couple along the way, but of the original fourteen, twelve stalwarts remain, and of them only two have still not quite ‘clicked’. But they’re determined. I love that.

I bit the bullet between the last session and this, and bought a bundle of chunky bamboo needles – 9mm – as the 4mm they were using were proving just a little too fiddly for their little as yet untrained fingers. And I grabbed a few balls of chunky wool I had, ahem, lying around (let’s not talk about my wool mountain).

They were cock-a-hoop and we have got more done in one session today than in both of the others together.

We now have some little ‘squares’ and the beginnings of some big ones.  We have some with ‘extra’ stitches, some with unexplained holes, some with interesting ‘loops’. We have some advanced little bodies who even mastered casting off today!

We have all agreed that when we have joined all these squares together, we are going to be left with a cushion cover that is quite unique. 😉

club5

I am ever impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication with which they manage to greet me every week, in spite of just having finished a day at school.

Oh, and quite apart from the knitting, the conversation of 8-10 year-olds is absolutely killing…

“You’re Jazzy Jack. I’m Jumping Jessica.”
“I’m Dancing Daisy!”

One little girl approaches me shyly.

“Alice…? I’ve got a name for you, too.”

(A little nervously) “You have?”

“Adventuring Alice.”

“Jessica, I like that!”

A Jack Russell, a Tunic and an Adventure.

Posted on by Alice Neal

Oh, I know, I know. I’m rubbish.

Life hurtles along at breakneck speed and before you know it months have flown past and now… SPRING! And hallelujah, because frankly winter can jolly well do one. There have been enough bugs under this roof to sink a small fleet of battleships and this family is emerging, battle-scarred but undefeated, blinking into the sunlight.

But I have been busy. Honest.

First of all I have this to share with you:

JJ10

I mean loooooooook! And before people get all stuffy and snippy about dogs already having coats, take it from me that the harsh blooming winters up here do not agree with our dear teeny skinny Juno’s demeanour. Admittedly, pure wool may be treating her rather more as a Princess than warranted 😉  but she is most grateful for an extra layer.

If you fancy making something similar, have a little look over here, where you can download the pattern for free.

In other news, I have completed a granny square tunic, which will be on the backburner till autumn:

square2 squares2 squares4 squares5 squares6 squares7

And I have just embarked upon a little after-school adventure with 14 of the children from our village primary.

This afternoon, armed with a great mountain of goodies from loveknitting.com (bless their hearts), I headed off into the unknown:

club1

The hour flew by in a flurry of

“Miss, I can’t do this! Miss, is this right? Miss, what’s happened to this?”

(I know… “Miss” >.< It cracks me up)

But they were little troopers and are coming back next week for more punishment, and I am proud to report that we have a few already managing garter stitch, along with a valiant few who have yet to ‘click’, but we’ll do it!

And here are the fruits of the first session’s labours:

club2

I will be very happy to report on our continued progress next week 🙂

Whoosh! Catch-up!

Posted on by Alice Neal

I have been horribly remiss keeping this blog going of late. I notice with horror that September was my last post. And it isn’t as though I haven’t been busy! I’m buried under works in progress (*hangs head in shame*) and full of new ideas. I seem to have a discipline problem – must finish one of my eleventy-six WIPs before starting the next!

So, in a mad scramble to bring myself up to date here, I am going to post a few pictures of works completed and works in progress and give myself a round telling off, coupled with threats of disciplinary measures if I don’t try to keep up a bit better.

I have, however, been far more efficient at keeping my Instagram and Facebook pages more current, so if you fancy checking either out, I’d be delighted to see you there.

So… first up, a commissioned Snuggle Bunny for my dear friend Clare. He is HUGE and contains a handmade wheat and lavender sack for microwave heating. Actually, come to think of it, he’s a she 🙂

Clare1 Clare3 Clare5

And I finally got around to making one for me, too. A slightly smaller cat, mine, with a flower granny square embellishment:

me1 me2 me4 me5My thanks to Bertie for modelling them <3
These can be commissioned at cuddlecats.co.uk if you felt so inclined.

It’s winter, so bobble hats have been flying off hooks and needles.

bobble1 bobble2

And I have finally got around to starting a long-promised blanket for my beloved:

Square-flowers Valentine's-blanket Valentine's-blanket-3It still has a way to go and I’m hoping to complete it by Valentine’s Day (gulp)…

This little chap was fun to make – he’s a travelling sized version, still with wheat sack, in wool and bamboo:

Travelling-4 Travelling-3 Travelling-2-insta Travelling-2And I’m designing a jumper. It’s a little short for my liking, so I’m going to have to get inventive about lengthening it, and I’m onto the sleeves, but prevaricating… I’ll get there:

stripy-jumper stripy-jumper2

Et voila! A selection of the latest.

I will, I hope, see you again much sooner <3

Jumper Season – WHOOP!

Posted on by Alice Neal

I know, I know, knitting isn’t just for autumn and winter, but I really do struggle to knit big bulky things all year round. I love to wear big bulky things though, and this Autumn has got me really excited because it was only in Spring that I taught myself to knit jumpers. And by then it was kind of too warm to wear them.

I bought myself some wool 🙂

2Andes1It’s the same lovely stuff as my last jumpers, but breaking out of the earthy colour mold – just as a little refresher, you understand 🙂

However, I also had some left over from this little chap:

Owl3which I figured would make a rather nice jumper for my littlest. I’ve come to the end of the ball and have had to order a bit more (I know – shucks – buying wool… what a nightmare! 😉 ) I’ve chosen a top-down, seamless yoke method which, given the small size, started out on DPNs and progressed to circular needles when there were enough stitches.

So, here it is in progress (excuse the dodgy phone pics):

Ted1Starting out on double pointed needles.

Ted2Bringing in some stripes and separating the arms stitches out and onto waste yarn.

Ted3Another little flash of pattern.

Ted4Trying not to stamp my feet that I didn’t have quite enough wool 😉

I’ll be back, though <3

The nights are drawing in… ;)

Posted on by Alice Neal

I know, I know, not quite.

But it’s definitely a bit nippier than it has been.

And that Cuddle Cat thing? Well it’s just got dinkier, and snugglier.

It started with some divine DK in natural, undyed, pure Jacob wool from The Knitting Gift Shop, who are specialising in such wools and in kits and accessories, too. Well worth a look if, like me, your weakness is undyed, natural, knee-wobbling pure wool.

And suddenly, what I have is a pocket-sized pussy cat with a stuffed head, button eyes, wool-embellished features, and a button at the bottom. In the middle? I’ve sewn a little calico pouch and filled it with washed and graded wheat, and aromatic lavender heads. To be microwaved and popped in the Pusscat’s tum.

Perfect for your pockets in autumn, or your boots before you put them on in winter, or your pillow for a gentle drift to sleep.

Anyway, here he is. Take a look 🙂

Pocket-Puss Pocket-Puss2 Pocket-Puss3 Pocket-Puss4 Pocket-Puss5And if you’d prefer me to make him for you, come and ask me over here.

 

New Friends

Posted on by Alice Neal

Last week I had a few hours to kill while some very obliging gentlemen fitted a towbar to my rather tricky car. Two of my boys and I spent those hours pootling around a nearby outlet centre and I picked up a book for a couple of pounds because there was a very straightforward tank top pattern which required not too much brain power from me.

It was this book here.

And it happened to contain a rather adorable pattern for a sort of small stuffed toy in the shape of a cat. Rather too small for my liking. And rather too two-dimensional. So I selected some leftover chunky yarn, 10mm needles and got going.

When it came to assembling it, I knitted an extra panel and put it in the base to help it stand upright, and ignored their minimalist embroidered face, opting instead for button eyes, sewn nose and whiskers.

You can see from the pictures how very simple it really is:

CuddleCat1

Here he is made up:

CuddleCat3And here he is standing on his base:

CuddleCat2Of course, once they’d seen him, everyone wanted one. So… here he is with his next buddy:

CuddleCat4CuddleCat5Just another three to go! 🙂

Note: It took between 100 and 150g of chunky wool on 10mm knitting needles to make one. A great stashbuster 🙂