princessdeia

My sister comment last night that my Clapotis looks like a giant Shreddie (which we all know are knitted by nanas), as I still haven’t worked out how to say Clapotis this is now the Shreddie’s Shawl!

I am not sure why is has taken me so long to get around to knitting this pattern, about 95% of it is basic stocking stitch so it can be knitted whilst watching T.V. From what I have read it is easy to knit one in a week or less (of course you need to have some free time), and you don’t have to worry about gauge. I am already planning my second Mini-Clap!

This little beauty appeared on the plant last week - it has now been joined by 8 little siblings

I am planning on getting around to posting about my adventure in America, however I have been kept away from the P.C. So far since I have been back I have been to Kent, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and then back to Buckinghamshire.

What little time I have had to myself I have been working on my Clapotis (This is my current Viral Knitting Project). I can’t believe it has taken me so long to knit this pattern… Am I the last knitter on earth to make this shawl?

Yarn:Knit Picks Andean Silk in Navy.
Pattern: Fetching from Knitty Summer 2006.
Needles: 3.75mm DPN.
Notes: The write up for this pattern on Knitty calls these gloves an “instant knitting gratification” and I have to agree, I sat down over the weekend to watch a few movies and my the credits of the second movie I had a pair of fingerless gloves.

After reading some comments on Ravelry, I discovered it is adviced to knit this mitts with 3.75 needles rather than the 4mm the pattern suggests. I also added an extra set of the 4×1 rib and cable row, just to make the wrist part longer. Because of the modification, I ended up using a little over one ball of yarn for these mitts.

Now that Christmas is over, I can get on and post all my finished projects from the last month. All the recipients have received their gifts and those I have seen since Christmas have been wearing their scarves to beat this chill that is creeping in over London.

Branching Out

Yarn: KidSilk Haze in Liqueur and Meadow.
Pattern: Braching Out from Knitty, Spring 2005.
Needles: 3.75mm.
Notes: There is nothing to more to say about this pattern, I love it, everyone in blogland loves it and seems to be knitting it.

Fishtail Lace Scarf

Yarn: KidSilk Haze in Grace and Pearl.
Pattern: Fishtail Lace Scarf (pdf file).
Needles: 3.25mm.
Notes: KSH leans itself extremely well to any lace pattern, I opted to do some simple patterns just to save time – but it works so well (Take Airy Scarf and simple easy pattern that knits up in hours and looks so good). This is one of those easy patterns – great for a first time lace project as it really is only four stitches, K, P, YO and sl1-k2tog-psso.

Little Leaf Scarf

Yarn: KidSilk Haze in Smoke and Drab.
Pattern: Little Leaf Scarf .
Needles: 3.25mm.
Notes: Again this is another fantastically easy pattern, four simple rows repeated numerous times (I think I did over 100 repeats on this pattern). I left off the garter borders – once pressed the edges did not curl and it looked lacier without the edging.

Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf

Yarn: KidSilk Spray in Pebble and KidSilk Night in Starry Night.
Pattern: Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf .
Needles: 3.25mm and 4mm.
Notes: I love this pattern on smaller needles using variegated yarn the pattern looks amazing, using bigger needles it becomes an interesting lacy pattern.

Yarn: KidSilk Haze in Trance.
Pattern: Braching Out from Knitty, Spring 2005.
Needles: 3.75mm.
Notes: I don’t think there is any reason to talk about this pattern - everyone knows it is amazing (if you haven’t made this scarf to it now!), the lace is so easy and mesmerizing you learn the 10 rows so quickly, I had orginailly swatched this pattern in cotton and it looks amazing, but I love the look of the lace in KSH.

Yarn: Sirdar Pure Cotton in Navy.
Pattern: Marco from Rowan 35 in a plain colour with added cables.
Needles: 3.25mm and 3.75mm.
Notes: Where do I start… the basic pattern is that of Marco done in just one colour.
To being with I thought the 2×2 rib looked to skinny so I changed it to 3×3.

I very quickly got bored of the stocking stitch, especially, as there is on shaping to the main part of the sweater, so when I began the front, I added some cables and a wide rib.

Yesterday, I received my second parcel from my SP – she is so organised, I am always amazed how each SP present is so perfect – she gave me a mini calculator it put in my knit kit, which is something I could really do with, in fact I started using it last night.

As the weather is so unpredictable in London at the moment, I figured it was ideal time to knit another shrug. I was going to knit another OSW, I was looking in my mini stash and found the Rowanspun DK that Tracy got me in the last round of Secret Pal, that I earmarked for a mini-sweater. The wool is thinner than the pattern called for so I had to rework the pattern a little (hence using the calculator).

Using Jason as my swift I tried to roll the two hanks into balls, however, it all went terrible pear-shaped and we ended up with a massive nest – that somehow Jason managed to get into a big ball and a little baby ball – he is my hero. Hopefully, I will have this little baby knitted up ready to wear over the weekend.

Which will be amazing as my obsession with not complete projects is continuing, I still haven’t finished branching out, even though it is such a simple lace pattern to knit, I am getting so carried away with other projects. I just love this colour, it is going to look so perfect with both my autumn jackets (one is grey the other navy).

I am still undecided if I will knit several branching out’s for gifts, after hunting around online, I found Wendy Knits’ list of lace scarves, and fell in love with Lorrie’s Fishtail Lace Scarf, Little Leaf Scarf and the Simple Knitted Lace Scarf.

With the second ball of Kidsilk Spray, I have I decided to try Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf, again, I dropped the needle size down to 3.75mm and I am really pleased with the results, this pattern is so simple and looks so affective, I think I might have to knit one of these for myself.

I seem to have lost the cable to upload my photos on to the web And I have loads of photos to post. I have taken some photos with my camera phone but they do no justice.

Finally, I have a finished project, NLLALM is finished – it is just waiting to be blocked – all I can say is never again over 160 stitches for the back and front, took forever. Although I am pleased with the rest it just took way too long.

Now I am concentrating on the KSH scarves. I am half way though Branching Out, I have done 20 repeats of the pattern, but as I am using 3mm needles it is still really short (about 30 inches), I think I will need to do about 50 to get it too the length I want. But I have loads of wool left.

Over the weekend as a quick project, I cast on an Airy Scarf (from Last minute Gifts) in Kidsilk Spray, for this version I am using the pinkie colours, and it looks amazing, there are four tones of pink in there, from an almost lilac colour to a bright pink, and totally unintentionally the colour weaves through the scarf like a wave.

Once again, I am using smaller needles than the pattern asked for, and I cast on extra stitches to make it wider, after knitting for 4 hours (the blur above the pattern says that was how long the designed knitted for), the scarf is 24 inches, I always intended to make it a longer scarf, but now I think I might just knit until I run out of wool.

EDIT:After I posted this morning the postman delievered some goodies… a postcard all the way from Vegas (baby), and a lime green jiffy envolpe, also from Vegas. Inside was this amazing package, the wrapping paper was hand-made. I didn’t want to open it as I would ruin her lovely work. But inside was Weekend Knitting : 50 Unique Projects and Ideas , which I have been lusting after forever. I spend all this lunch time planning what I am going to make.

My sister had a minor operation last week, so I spend the weekend looking after her, watching cheesy movies so of course it meant I had loads of time to knit… The problem at the moment is I have no attention span with projects, I seem to get bored with what I am knitting an want to start something new, it doesn’t help that I see my mini stash and think, I’d prefer to be knitting with HipKnit Silk rather than 4 ply cotton… and then I look longingly at my bag full of KSH.

I have finished one sleeve on NLLALM and am about two-third into the second sleeve, however boredom set in yesterday, so I finally cast on my HipKnit Silk “summer top” obviously here in London the sun has stopped shining when I decided to cast it on. However, I am hoping to wear it in the evenings or something.

Originally, I planned to make Arabella from Rowan 35, with a scalloped edge, but decided to do the whole thing in a chevron pattern and it looks amazing thee three tones in the wool added to the simple pattern works so well – I love this wool – I want to buy more… I know it will be perfect for a OSW or even a mini clapotis.

I am sad to say the progress of the Christmas KSH is going extremely slowly, I have been inspired by all you knitters in blogland. As Lolly pointed out KSH is the hip wool to be knitting with – I love her Cami & Cowl and I have seen several Butterfly’s out there that look amazing, I am not sure if I have the patience to knit a whole top in this wool, I am still not use to it

With my birthday coming up soon, I have been busy hunting around online for presents to add to my wishlists. As soon, as I saw iDog, I had to have him, and then I saw these, now I want a little iDog and knit him a little hat & scarf for the winter.

Since I started knitting again, I have been really strict on myself - so that I won’t develop and stash and have hundreds of planned projects (I just don’t have the space), however, slowly and shortly I have a stash and loads of planned projects, yesterday I made a list (oh I love making lists).

1. NLLALM Sweater.
2. Twin Set - Cardigan.
3. Branching Out Scarf.
4. Harry Potter Scarf.
5. Maryella II.
6. MiniSweater II.
7. Hip Silk Vest.
8. 10 Xmas Scarves.
9. Sweater with Mohair Strips (Vintage Knits).
10. Leaf Jumper (Loop-d-Loop).

And now, I have been looking at patterns online, the new knitty is out and I have fallen in love with Arisaig, Blackberry and Flora, lets not forget Melissa’s new sweater in Magknits.

I think I will be knitting Winter projects until next summer.

The Kidsilk Haze I got from Tracy in my final Secret Pal present, is prefect for branching out, after starting my own version over the weekend I decided I had to make more as Christmas Presents, when I used the wool before, I found it really awakward to knit with (it is just too thin), but I think now as a slightly more experienced knitted I am finding it a little easier.

So armed with a plan I went to John Lewis in Kingston on Saturday and brought 10 balls of Kidsilk wool ready to make scarves. I brought 6 balls of the Haze – all in neutral colours and then 3 balls of the Kidsilk Spray which I think will look amazing as Airy Scarves from Last Minute Gifts (but I think I will make longer versions). Finally, I had to get some of the Kidsilk Night – I am unsure what to do with this, I am hunting around online for a nice lacy pattern, that I can turn into a scarf.

I haven’t been feeling really well – so haven’t been on the PC to update. All the time in bed has meant I have had loads of time to knit. The No-Longer-Looking-Anything-Like-Marco Sweater (NLLALM) is looking really good – I have done about 4 inches of the front now and the cables are looking amazing. i set the cables in three stitches of purl as the enhances the chunky 3×3 rib. Now I am thinking it looks more like a cabled version of Leo from Knitty – the other pattern I was thinking of knitting.

Yesterday, I went to Hobbycraft – I heard they had a limited range of Rowan and wanted to check it out – really I was hoping I could get some Kidsilk Spray or Kidsilk Night, as I think it will be prefect for some autumn projects I am planning. However, all they sold was Rowanspun 4 ply. I did however, get some Paton’s Fab (cheap acrylic) in Scarlet and Gold – perfect for a Prisoner of Azkaban version of the Gryffindor Scarf – I was hoping to sign up to the Another Weasley KAL – but I think I might be a little late.

My Spoilee for Secret Pal 5, has just gone on holiday for two weeks- so I had to send her final package now (hopefully she got it before she left). I have had so much fun with the experience - I had to sign up for SP6… I also love this button, as it reminds me it is almost Halloween - and my birthday.