I did get a few nice knitting bits for Christmas, mainly books this year.
I'm really loving all of these.
From left to right - Botanical Knits 2 by Alana Dakos, New Lace Knitting by Romi Hill, Sock Architecture by Lara Neal and Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford.
The first two are pattern books and there are some really beautiful ones included.
Knitsonik is a self published book that is just gorgeous and really interesting. I've really enjoyed reading this one.
The Sock Architecture book is very good and I think my favourite one, since it's the one I've used the most so far. I've started a toe up Dydas with the leftover WYS yarn from my Holly socks.
A lot of the patterns have toe up and toe down versions. There are options for different toe lengths and whether you want gussets or not. There's a lot of info and you could easily use the patterns as bases for putting your own patterns onto.
Over New Year, I started a stash busting shawl. Here's the pile of yarn I had to play with.
I worked out which colours I had enough of from other people's project pages but at the moment I'm not really in love with the colour combination in the shawl. I liked it before I started knitting. It might be because it's a departure to what I normally like - I tend to be drawn to brights, blues and yellows. I'm going to finish and block, then make up my mind. The pattern is Exploration Station by Stephen West - I seem to be on a bit of a Stephen West kick at the moment as that's the 3rd one in a row. Though I think it's because there's a lot of garter stitch involved (which I do love) and they are great for watching the TV at the same time.
I'm going to try and keep a list of exactly how much yarn I've used for each section, so others can use it if they want to do the same. I'll put all the details on my Ravelry Project Page.
I'm really loving all of these.
From left to right - Botanical Knits 2 by Alana Dakos, New Lace Knitting by Romi Hill, Sock Architecture by Lara Neal and Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford.
The first two are pattern books and there are some really beautiful ones included.
Knitsonik is a self published book that is just gorgeous and really interesting. I've really enjoyed reading this one.
The Sock Architecture book is very good and I think my favourite one, since it's the one I've used the most so far. I've started a toe up Dydas with the leftover WYS yarn from my Holly socks.
A lot of the patterns have toe up and toe down versions. There are options for different toe lengths and whether you want gussets or not. There's a lot of info and you could easily use the patterns as bases for putting your own patterns onto.
Over New Year, I started a stash busting shawl. Here's the pile of yarn I had to play with.
I worked out which colours I had enough of from other people's project pages but at the moment I'm not really in love with the colour combination in the shawl. I liked it before I started knitting. It might be because it's a departure to what I normally like - I tend to be drawn to brights, blues and yellows. I'm going to finish and block, then make up my mind. The pattern is Exploration Station by Stephen West - I seem to be on a bit of a Stephen West kick at the moment as that's the 3rd one in a row. Though I think it's because there's a lot of garter stitch involved (which I do love) and they are great for watching the TV at the same time.
I'm going to try and keep a list of exactly how much yarn I've used for each section, so others can use it if they want to do the same. I'll put all the details on my Ravelry Project Page.
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