What, blog too?

Becoming a home schooling mum on top of my other duties, has seriously curtailed my Ravelry time to a quick look now and then, with no posting. And as for blogging, I have to fit that in too? How is it possible? Geez!! I’ll keep visualising it and it will happen.... occasionally.
Well, I’m still managing to knit. At the moment I’m working on a Tweedy Scarf in a simple knit and purl pattern. It’s showing off the yarn beautifully.

I’m using Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed in the Tartan colour way. I bought the yarn at Morris and Sons Melbourne store. It’s toasty warm yarn. If my knees are a bit cold or sore, I drape the completed parts over my knees while I knit. Lovely! There’s not too far to go with it now. This colour and stitch will be great for a men’s scarf. Or anyone!

New Cowl Pattern Available – Hearts and Crosses cowl

My new Hearts and Crosses Cowl pattern is now available.
It’s a great way to practice your Fair Isle skills without having to knit a whole pullover. The carried threads of the Fair Isle really add warmth. Just what we want! I was a bit rusty, so it took a bit of practice for me to carry the threads loosely enough, no matter how hard I tried. Lightly pressing under a damp cloth got rid of those little stubborn bumps, and it looks lovely and smooth now.

The yarn I’ve used for the Fair Isle pattern is variegated and so has sparked up the whole look.

Hearts and Crosses Cowl

Knitting Pattern

Yarn suggested : Cleckheaton Country Naturals and Cleckheaton Country Prints or any other 8 ply/DK ply yarn

Gauge : 25 stitches = 4 inches in Fair Isle Stocking/Stockinette Stitch

Needle Size : 4mm circular needle 40cm (16 in)

Meterage : 140 mtrs / 155 yards Main Colour

65 mtrs / 70 yard Contrast Colour

This pattern is available to buy from Ravelry for $US 3.50

New Hat Pattern Available – Mirrors Hat

I’ve just released a new hat pattern – the Mirrors Hat. It’s very quick and easy, and looks really effective. It’s knitted in a bulky yarn, which makes it even faster, and so warm! I knitted up the sample while I was away on camp, and it went so fast, I wished I’d brought another project with me.

Mirrors Hat
Knitting Pattern
Yarn suggested : Heirloom Easy Care 12 ply or any other Bulky yarn
Gauge : 17.5 stitches and 29 rows = 4 inches in Mirrors Stitch
Needle size : 5.5 mm / US 9
Meterage : 90 mtrs / 98 yards

This pattern is available to buy from Ravelry for $US 3.50

Very coincidentally I met a fellow Raveller on camp - Minihaha. Here’s her blog. It’s a very small world! She sells some damn fine yarn, rovings and various knitting and spinning stuff through her etsy shop. As a result, I’m now a member of another Ravelry group – Melbourne Spinners and Wool Art.

Lace Ended Scarf Complete

My new Lace Ended Scarf is finished. So far, this is the design I love the most, out of the ones I’ve done so far. It’s really simple, and maybe that’s the key. To my eye, it looks elegant. It remains to be seen whether others see it that way too. The next thing to do is to write up the pattern, and perhaps have it test knitted. It’s so simple, I’m not sure whether test knitting is necessary, but it’s probably worth doing anyway.

My Lace Rib Vest is currently being test knitted. I can’t wait to see how my testers go with it. No problems so far.

Now, what to do next. I have ideas for a hat floating around in my mind. I’ll be consulting my stitch dictionary as soon as possible to see what I can find.

Lace Ended Scarf under way

The sample for my new Lace Ended Scarf is fairly well under way. It’s a pretty easy knit. I never thought I’d say this, but it’s a relief to be doing some stocking stitch for a change. After all that lace in the vest, it’s great to have some concentration free knitting. There should be more done than this, but we're still in Summer Holiday mode. :)

Happy New Year

Well it’s nearly New Year. Hope you had a great Christmas and that you’ll have a wonderful New Year.

My Trellis Rib Vest is complete. I’m currently looking for test knitters to try out the pattern. It’s my first truly “wearable” design (apart from a hat) and am very pleased that it fits the way I intended. As my first multi-size piece, I’m only including three sizes. If they succeed, I’ll feel confident to branch out into more sizes. I’m trying to limit myself to baby steps.

In the mean time, I’ve started work on a new scarf design. It’ll be a fairly narrow, short scarf, with lace at each end. I’ve done most of my calculations, and bought the yarn today. I’m using Heirloom Celone in, what I’d call sage green.

We have baby beans!

Christmas is approaching and so is the end of the school year. It’s that crazy time of year where there are functions left, right and centre. We also seem to be having appointments, car servicing etc ad nauseum. Not much knitting has been happening, but the weather has been very conducive to veggie growing. We’ve got baby beans! I’m sure I must have grown beans once, long ago, but it’s lost in the mists of time. So this feels like my first lot. And they look beautiful. This is a dwarf variety which, theoretically, doesn’t need staking. They’re holding themselves up pretty well so far.

I’m hoping for less commitments soon, so that I can get back to serious knitting. It’s lovely to have these end of year functions, but they do impinge on one’s time so much!