Mittens just in time for Spring!

My Narwhal mittens are finished. The pattern is Narwhal Mittens by Ysolda.

The yarn for the outer mitten is my own handspun. Briefly, blogged here

The inner yarn is some leftover Easyknits that seem to match well with the teal colour.

I made some plastic templates to block the mitten around because I didn't want to block the inner and the outer separately. I wanted them to fit snuggly inside on another.

Though the template was a bit slapdash, it did seem to work surprisingly well.

I especially like the little finishing touches on the design. The little fish on the ends of the thumbs is lovely.

I love the mittens. The yarn has worked nicely in colourwork and they are very warm. Just perfect for this lovely spring weather we're having!! Would have been a lot better if I'd finished them a few months ago.

The cherry blossom is out....

and the bees have been getting busy!

Zuzu and Narwhal

Back to the knitting...

The photo of this has sat on my computer for awhile, been a bit too busy to blog recently.

 The pattern is Zuzu's Petals by Carina Spencer, which I made with some of my handspun, blogged originally here. Handspun Zuzu project page.

The yarn is faux cashmere, 18 w.p.i, 268m/100g. So from fibre...

to yarn...

To Zuzu's Petals.

It's a lovely idea, a small shawlette shape but worked as a cowl so it's not going to fall off. Another plus, is it doesn't take a lot of yarn.

I have a few projects on the go at the moment. I've been wanting some very warm mittens for awhile now. I thought some Fair Isle ones with a lining would do the job. Another handspun yarn project, I blogged about the yarn on the same post as the faux cashmere.

The pattern is Narwhal Mittens by Ysolda Teague. Handspun Narwhals project page.

I've completed one full mitten and the outer mitten for the other. They are sitting unknitted at the moment because other projects are taking priority; though if they sit much longer, then they will miss the winter entirely!

I made plastic templates to go inside the mitten and the thumb for blocking. I'm glad I did as it made the lining fit snuggly inside. I just have to find the time now to finish the other.

I have a Follow Your Arrow shawl by Ysolda Teague on the needles at the moment too. The final clue arrived this morning, so once it's finished I can show you that too.

Mustard & Yak

I've some finished objects to show you. I bought a new winter coat last week and thought it needed a new scarf to go with it. I chose a bright yellow to match the brass fittings on the coat.

The pattern is Hana Shawl by Kristina Vilimaite. The yarn is King Cole Bamboo Cotton. It's quite a different construction to other scarves and shawls I've made and I enjoyed the change. It's cast on a large number of stitches along the patterned edge and after the pattern, there is a section of short row shaping to give it a curved shape.

The suggested cast off is a Fake Tubular Cast Off which I've never used before and must say I'm enamoured with it. Very simple to do, not much more complicated than a regular knitted cast off and it gives an interesting edge. The instructions for it are from TECHknitter.

Also, I've finished my Yak hat. It's made from handspun yak/silk which I blogged about here. I just improvised a 2x2 ribbed hat. It's to fit a size 22" head with a little bit of negative ease. It fits me nicely and is lovely and snug. However, it's a christmas present for a friend. The photos might look a bit odd, the hat has a balloon inside it for blocking.

Orchid Thief KAL

I got a little sidetracked recently. I've participated in my first KAL (knit-a-long). Ysolda Teague has recently self published Orchid Thief shawl - it was originally available in Brave New Knits.

To celebrate this, a KAL has been organised. 

I ummed and ahhed over doing it and suddenly remembered I had the perfect handspun for the project and it sort of tipped the balance. So off I trotted and bought the pattern and found my needles and wool.

It transformed from this...... to this....

And finally to this.....

I've included a few beads that I had in the edging and used a crochet cast off edge.

Yards of yarn

A quick catch up on my spinning. I have a few of my most recent skeins photographed.

The purple/green handspun is 70% BFL / 30% Silk. It's a 2ply laceweight, 25 w.p.i and there is about 452m. The roving was bought at Woolfest from FeltstudioUK.

This one is the same mix of fibre, 70% BFL / 30% Silk. This was spun on a spindle and is single ply laceweight and there is about 920m worth. Again the roving was from FeltstudioUK.

70% BFL 30% Kid Mohair. 2ply & 246m. This I bought when I was at Fibre East last summer from Picperfic

This is some beautiful Suri alpaca that Chrissie from Homefield Alpacas gave me to try. Homefield is a local alpaca farm and a lovely little place. There are lots of alpacas, Shetland sheep, Gotlands (who are a bit weird for sheep - they were quite fussy and wanted petting) and Buster, the Lincoln Longwool. Definitely worth a visit.