Another Project Bites the Dust

Last week I finally got my act together and finished off the little shawlette I was knitting for my friend at work.  This is the second time I’ve used the pattern, and just quietly, I think I like this second one better than the one I made for myself.  I used Cascade 220 Heather, and the colour is a gorgeous Autumn gold/brown.  It’s great to see someone other than myself wearing my work too 🙂

I also had a fairly productive weekend in the yarn dyeing department, since I was running out of the yellows/oranges/chocolates I’ve been using for a shaped garter shawl for myself.  The pattern (Celadon by Ambah O’Brien) is another simple relaxing knit, so it’s coming along rather quickly.

 

Too Many Projects, Not Enough Time

Wow, this last month has been a hectic one!  Between work, uni, a funeral and a trip to the mainland I haven’t had time to scratch myself! Oh and I managed to get a really bad case of the flu and asthma which knocked me down for over two and a half weeks.

Things are slowly getting back on track again now so I thought I’d share some pics of the knitting and crochet I’ve done this month.  The cedar leaf shawlette I’m knitting for my work mate is progressing nicely, with about half the leaf pattern to go before it’s ready to block.  It’s currently sitting on a chair behind me at work, so I can knit during my lunch hour.

I started a knitted shawl for myself while I was on my mainland trip, following the ‘Waiting for Rain’ Pattern by Sylvia Bo Bilvia.  I’m using Madeleine Tosh Merino, and it’s a joy to knit.  Unfortunately it’s on the back burner now as I have a few other more pressing projects to complete.

I got my crojo back over the weekend and powered ahead with the blocks for Frida’s Flowers CAL.  I’m suddenly really enjoying crochet again and these blocks are great to work up.  Week 3’s block has about a billion ends to weave in though, which I most certainly did NOT enjoy.  Great result though – I think it may be my show entry for this year.

I’ve also put my Persian Tiles afghan on the back burner for a while.  It seems I need more hours in the day for crafting 😦

And Another WIP Bites The Dust…

Here is my Rainbow Wrap, officially blocked and looking lovely on my table! As much as this pattern sometimes irritated me (it was a well-written pattern, but it made me go a bit brain dead after a while), it’s turned out to be a stunner and I’m really happy with the end result. As you can see the colours look great together when folded, or tied around your neck 🙂  I can’t wait to wear this to work tomorrow!

 

A Small Collection of Things

I’ve been enjoying my knitting so much over the last couple of weeks that it’s been REALLY hard to get back into uni study!  I’m proud of myself though since I haven’t started a new project for a while, opting to instead work on WIPs already on the needles.  Despite having some really lovely yarn all balled up and ready to work with, I’ve been a very good girl and haven’t touched it.  Yet.  Of course the whole ‘no new projects’ thing will change in the next week or so when I get my yarn delivery from the UK.  I’ve bought some Stylecraft DK to do the Persian Tiles crochet blanket pattern by Janie Crow.  All of you lovely knitters/crocheters living in Australia will know that our local supply of acrylic yarns is severely lacking, so I’ve bought this stylecraft to see whether it’s any better than the crappy Spotlight acrylic we can get here.  Seriously though, that’s not a big ask.

My latest WIP progress has been on my rainbow wrap!  I put it down at the halfway point because I was a little depressed about the amount of work I’d already put into it, only to be half done!  After completing the cedar leaf shawl and my sock (yeah, I haven’t done the second sock to that either, I have some serious second sock syndrome going on) I felt a bit better about continuing on, and I’m very glad I did.  I’m really enjoying working with that yarn again.

I’ve just told my workmate/friend/boss that I’d make her a cedar leaf shawl, so I guess that project will fit in somewhere between the rainbow wrap and the persian tiles blanket.  I already have the yarn for that – a lovely golden autumn shade of Cascade 220 Heather.  Yummy.  I’m wearing mine today for the very first time, and I’m so in love with its colour and drape.  Lorna’s Laces yarn might be pricey but Oh. Em. Gee.  So lovely.

 

Leaves and Socks

It’s been a while since I posted last, because I’m slack.  That doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything though!   Last week I finally finished my Cedar Leaf Shawlette.  I am SO happy with it.  After blocking it ended up over two metres in length, and I’m sure will be a regular accessory in the cold weather in a couple of months time.  That pattern was extremely easy and very well written, and I already have the yarn to make another for a friend.

My current WIP is another pair of socks.  This pair is in stockingette stitch, no fancy pattern, which is easier to frog when I inevitably make a mistake or three.  It’s been knitting up extremely fast, but it’s not that surprising as I’ve recently made the switch to flick knitting and I’m now FLYING through the rows 🙂

 

The Girl On Fire

I’m on fire!  The beach shawl is finally finished, after a big push over the last couple of days to get it done (so I can move on to a NEW PROJECT! shhh).  I’m really happy with it; I love how the colour has worked out.  I’ll block it over the weekend and hopefully will stretch it to a larger size – at the moment it’s large enough to drape over my shoulders but I’d need a pin to keep it around me.  I’ve now started the Cedar Leaf Shawlette, which looks absolutely gorgeous and seems to be a rather quick knit.  I got a call from my local yarn store yesterday to tell me that my second skein of Lorna’s Laces Shepard Worsted Multi in the Baltic Sea colourway has arrived and is awaiting my purchase, so that is what I’m using for this shawlette.  It’s an amazing forest colour – greens and browns reminiscent of a forest floor.  Perfect for this leafy shawl!  It’s beautiful to knit with too, silky and smooth and it glides across the needles like a dream.

The Beach Shawl

This was supposed to be another Christmas holidays project, but I ended up spending too much time sleeping and fishing and obviously not enough time knitting!  I’m using the Marin Pattern by Ysolda, and knitting it in Magic Light from Ice Yarns with 4.5mm needles.  I originally started this project in lovely Lorna’s Laces Shepard Worsted Multi, but I found the pattern a little confusing to start with and I had to frog a few times.  I then decided that I would learn the pattern using acrylic so I could then make another in the better yarn.  In saying that though, I’m really enjoying knitting in the magic light, and the colours are striping nicely.

If I push hard over the next week I should get this finished – I’m already planning my next project in Madeleine Tosh Merino Light that I may or may not have purchased yesterday….

The Finished Fallout Wrap

I don’t have time for much of a post today, but thought I would share some images of my finished project – the Fallout Wrap!  I finished it on Saturday, and I’m in love with it.  It didn’t need blocking so after binding off and weaving the last few ends in, it was ready to wear!  I’m now happily knitting away on a new shawl pattern which I will show you in the next couple of days, using a lovely colourway in Crazy Zauberball 100 yarn.

Summer Holidays Are Coming

Christmas is getting so close now I can almost taste it in the air!  To be honest, I’m not particularly excited about the actual day (I’m not religious so the day doesn’t mean much to me) but I AM excited about the three full weeks of holidays I will have over the Christmas/New Year break when our office closes.  I haven’t had holidays since Christmas last year, so I’m really hanging out for some down time.  Since we don’t have my partner’s daughter here until January, I decided that I wasn’t going to go to all the effort of putting our large Christmas tree up.  So last night, I gathered some enthusiasm and decorated my ’emo’ tree, which of course is black with silver decorations.  It’s only a two foot tree, so it’s sitting on my dining table.  Very simple, but very us this year.

My fallout wrap is coming along very nicely!  I’m so pleased with it, and it is still a joy to work on.  I’ve discovered that while I have trouble crocheting on the bus, I can in fact knit to my heart’s content and not feel the urge to vomit into the hair of the poor person sitting in front of me.  Now that the rows are getting quite long I can only manage two rows on the way into work (express bus) and three on the way home.  I’ve got some lovely yarn on its way to me from the states, so I’m trying to get this wrap finished as soon as possible so I can start something new and exciting.  I also can’t wait to wear it as it’s so soft and light.