princessdeia

One of the problems with not blogging regularly is I didn’t get a chance to flash the latest additions to my stash. Most of this was purchased in the January sales.

• Debbie Bliss Maya (half price in the John Lewis sale), which I am using for my circular shrug.
• Some cheap pink acrylic sock yarn, I think I will make some Jaywalkers with this.
• Paton’s Essences in the bright pink, probably with become the Anthropologie Capelet from Craftster.

Having spent the majority of the last week waiting for news from the hospital, I have managed to knit away; the twin set is almost complete. After about 3 months I have finally blocked the sweater, I was concerned that the cardigan would look too plain also in stocking stitch so I added a little pattern – based on the diamond stitch pattern from diamond sweater also in Vintage Knits.

The body and sleeve of the cardigan are done and being blocked. All I just need to do is knit the button band however, I think this is going to be like Lucky and take me the most time to complete. I would like to have this completed by this week before Project Spectrum begins.

As a distraction, I started this circular shrug, this is my unofficial Knitting Olympics project (I didn’t think I would finish it in time), this pattern knits up really quickly, two nights worth of knitting and I have completed 7 inches - I guess I could have finished it in the 16 days. Especially, as I can’t wait to wear this project.

Yarn: Paton’s Cotton DK in Cream.
Pattern: Adapted from Bolero in Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas.
Needles: 2 ¾ mm, 3mm and 3mm circular.
Notes: I knitted the body all in one – mainly as I hate seaming.
I started out with 184 stitches, and increased the fronts as the pattern called for but only increased the sides for the back, (the extra 5 stitches for the fronts were added one at the beginning).

The beads are 5 stitches apart – every sixth row – alternating to form the diamond (first bead was on the fourth stitch and the next beaded row it was on the second stitch).

Rather than make a tie for this (or leave it as the pattern suggests), my sister brought this lovely brooch from Gap.

All of a sudden I have loads of Summer Knit Projects.
After finishing my sisters Beaded Bolero, I have been asked by my Mum and Dad to knit them both something in Cotton - it’s a good job I love this wool.

My summer list is now…

• Florence from Rowan Magazine 35.
• Cotton Jumper for Dad, I’m thinking Marco also from Rowan Magazine 35 - but I’m not sure about the strips.
• Cotton Cardigan for Mum - I think this will be a simple crew neck - she just needs to pick a colour.
• I still would really love to make Alice, but I think it will be Christmas by the time I have finished all them.

I finally signed up for Secret Pal 5 - I guess I should keep updating my journal so my pal can find out what I like.

I love reading other peoples knitting blogs, it inspires me to be more productive. This weekend I managed to finally cast on two new projects, make some stitch markers and invest in The Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques. I have loved reading about the Secret Pals 4 unveiling and wished I had taken part – I am hoping to sign up for SP5, when it starts.

Inspired by Monica over at the Lucky KAL, I decided to make the beaded bolero in one piece starting with 184 stitches realizing I needed stitch markers – instead of using safety pins, I followed Chrisknits’ simply tutorial – and even me with no jewelry making experience managed to follow.

Finally, I was thinking about a small present to make for my sister for her birthday at the end of May, and knowing how much she loves scarves, it seemed like an obvious choice, I was thinking about Branching Out, but after seeing Metro’s fabulous finished projects, I thought making a scarf out of Rowan’s Cotton Braid in Picasso (all the colours are named after painters – I love it). It pretty weird knitting with my is coming along really quickly - it’s nice to be knitting with big needles again.

With Lucky finished it is time to move on to my next project… after buying Rowan 35, I have been inspired to knit tons of projects with cotton. Hopefully, I will get on to knitting something from here soon at the moment Audrey is at the top of my list.

I also recently invested in some (more) Paton’s 100% Cotton, which is a great substitute for Rowan’s Cotton Glace. These four balls of cream are ear-marked for my sister’s beaded bolero.

I’m not really following a pattern, the basic design is the bolero from Vintage Knits, but I am making it with short sleeves, and then the two front panels will have the beaded pattern from the beaded sweater (image on the left).
I convinced my sister last night to thread the beads on the wool - I hate the tricky jobs… she used the clear nail vanish tip from SnBN which worked a treat

I saw this message in the Livejournal Knitting Community, it kept me amused when I should have been working this morning. Personally, I have never liked and I doubt I will ever like ponchos and I hate them even more after the whole Martha Stewart “Home-coming” thing. I’m not really into the whole capelet thing either. I guess it is annoying to buy a magazine only to have it filled with awful patterns - hence why I don’t subscribe to any… it was a little extreme though and over 100 people commented - I guess the people have spoken.

The Easter weekend was quiet… nothing amazing happened and not much knitting was done.
Did manage to finish one sleeve for Lucky - yeah!
Didn’t manage to get anymore wool - however Jason should be going to John Lewis this week for me.

I started a bolero from Vintage Knits in a mohair blend I got from eBay… I’ve added a slight lacey pattern to it - jazz it up a little and after messing up a sleeve yesterday, I’ve decided it’s going to be short sleeved… make it will make it quicker to knit too.

Jason is back to working nights, so I’m unable to sleep again… and am left watching TV and knitting at funny hours. Hence I have managed to get loads done.

I have managed to finish all the “almost” finished projects – get buttons sewn on and finished seaming, so finally I can post some photos.

This is actually an older project (from before Xmas), but I just love it and had to include it here. Originally, it was designed for me - but my sister loved the color and I had matching beads so I brought the wool for her - with the intention of making a blue one for me at a later date and I still haven’t got round to it, mainly because the wool was really tough to knit with.
You can’t really make them out but there’s tiny beads on the bottom 20 rows in the pattern.

Long Sleeve Jacket from Vintage Knits.
I had to completely frog the back of this twice and then the front once - I started this project way back in September - when I was still in my 20’s ;). It was meant to be the jacket I wear in the autumn months - however, I think it will be an essential part of my spring wardrobe.

I even got to wear it on Friday - yeah for sun in London!

Lace Top with Ribbons from Vintage Knits.
As soon as I saw this pattern, I had to knit it - I wasn’t to keen on the ribbons so I amended the pattern.
I used a wool mix instead of cotton (what the pattern stated), as I thought it added to the vintage look.
The pattern was pretty easy to follow - I love lace work, as it keep me thinking as I knit, however, this was really tough - the cables and the lace was pretty tough work.

I can’t believe how many UFO’s I have… my major problem is I hate assembling my work - I’m fine with side seams, but I can never fit my sleeves into the armhole - I always end up with way too many stitches. So I have to rely on my mum to do the arms. Someone mentioned The Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques book on the Livejournal Community today as an excellent guide to finishing – so I think I should invest in it.

My current projects include:
Long Sleeve Jacket from Vintage Knits.

Needs a few buttons.

Lace Top with Ribbons from Vintage Knits.

Mum is sewing it as I write this.

Lucky Clover Wrap from SnBN.

Just started the second “front.”
Completed the back and first front.

Crocheted Gold Scarf with Beads.

This scarf is a present for my sister, she loved the look of Twilleys Goldfingering – I thought one ball would be enough for a scarf but I was mistaken so until I get to John Lewis this project is staying on the needles.

Crocheted Beret.

Not sure if I am going to complete this or just frog it.
It seemed like a really good idea for a project in the winter – but hopefully the spring is almost here.

I started knitting when I was still in primary school, and although I managed some big projects when I was a kid, I didn’t keep the hobby up.

Recently, with the stress of my life, I invested in a copy Sally Dallas’ Vintage Knits, and began knitting again. Only now, knitting seems to be the new trend… if I hear one more person say knitting is the new yoga. But to my advantage, there seems to be numerous amazing pattern books around and other resource, like the Internet - so I am in knitting heaven.

My first few projects have been from Vintage Knits, however, like every knitter at the moment, I have been armed with a copy of Stitch ‘N’ Bitch and Stitch ‘N’ Bitch Nation and have started tackling some interesting patterns.