Wee Envelopes

While on holiday I made a Wee Envelope by Ysolda Teague.

I really, really loved making this pattern. It’s really clever but quite easy. I ended up working it on magic loop, that way I didn’t have to worry about using stitch holders and it made it easy to pick up the stitches again.

I used Malabrigo Arroyo and I absolutely loved the yarn too. It was soft and squishy, it’s a semi solid so the colour has great depth too. I definitely want to make myself something in this yarn.

I enjoyed it that much I made another one in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

Malabrigo Wee Envelope Project Page

Baby Cashmerino Wee Envelope Project Page

FO: Follow Your Arrow KAL

Not my latest finished object but it’s taken me awhile to get around to blogging about it. I mentioned before that I was partaking in Ysolda’s Follow Your Arrow knitalong this year. Project page here.

I used Sparkleduck Solo which is a lovely yarn. A very vivid sea green colour and has lovely stitch definition.

I managed to keep up with the KAL. I do like knitalongs, as each section is in a bitesize piece. I managed to complete the first 3 clues in an evening and the 4th and 5th in 2 evenings, so it didn’t take up too much of my knitting time.

Each clue has an arrow theme. I did clues BABBB plus the extension chart and 4 repeats of Rows 3 & 4. I liked the choices I made with the clues, though I think after seeing all the other shawls, I prefer the smocking chevrons on clue 3 instead of the little arrows. The little arrows are still very cute, I just think the design would have more cohesion with the chevron. At the time, I’d just completed the Rendevouz Shawl, which has quite a bit of smocking type stitches in it, so I went for something different.

Anyway, I took lots and lots of pictures of the shawl, so here is just a small selection.

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!

Archer's Paradox

I can finally show you my finished Follow Your Arrow shawl - pattern by Ysolda. For those that haven't taken part, it's a mystery knitalong. There has been a clue released each week for 5 weeks. Each clue has two choices. I've particularly enjoyed having a choice because there was bound to be a clue that I like more.

My Ravelry Project page.

I love garter stitch, so whenever that was part of the clue, I tended to choose that one.

My final choices were ABBAB. I used two different Eden Cottage Yarns for the shawl, which I bought from Woolfest, see this post.

I've really enjoyed this knitalong and think the finished design is lovely. 

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.

Swatch, swatch, swatch....

Oh swatches. Knitters do seem to love to hate them. I love to swatch - I must be weird. 

What I tend to do is, while I'm knitting a current project and I have that moment where I'm either bored or a little frustrated with what I'm doing. I get a ball of yarn for my next project and make a swatch. I get to play with my new yarn and also, make sure that what I'm going to do next is going to fit.

A swatch doesn't take long to make - probably half an hour at most and I'd rather do that than have to reknit the garment. Just cus I'm lovely and a little bit bossy, I'm going to tell you how I make my swatches. Little teeny swatches aren't the most helpful of things, because they'll lie to you. A good hearty sized swatch will pay you back that bit of extra effort.

Let's say the pattern states that the gauge, that it's worked to is 22 stitches by 30 rows in stocking stitch across 4" [10cm] on 4.00 mm needles in a DK weight yarn.

What I'd tend to do is cast on about double the stitches, so something like 44 stitches (it doesn't need to be exact - I'd probably round down to 40).

Knit 3 rows. 

For the main part, every row should start and end with 2 knit stitches, to give a helpful garter stitch border (this makes it lie flat, so much easier to measure it). So my first wrong side row would be, k2, purl to last 2 stitches, k2. 

Here's a brilliant tip that I picked up from Ysolda Teague's Little Red in the City. By using yos, k2tog and p stitches you can mark what size needle you are using. I've found this really useful, for when I've done several swatches on different sizes or if months/years down the line I use the same yarn again, I don't have to do another swatch because all the information is there. So for this example ...

On my next row, I'd knit a few stitches past the border then, (yo, k2tog) four times, knit to the end. If the needle size was 3.75mm, then I would change it to (yo, k2tog) three times, then, (k1, p1) three times. Each yo represents a full mm and each purl bump is 0.25mm. Think this sounds far more complicated than it is to knit.

Knit the swatch in stocking stitch with the garter stitch border until the piece measures around about 6"  (I can be a little lazy sometimes with this and only get to about 4/5"). Knit 3 rows in garter stitch and cast off.

I always treat my swatch as I would the finished garment, which means that generally I'll wash and block the swatch. It is useful to measure your swatch before blocking, so you can check your knitting isn't going off gauge.

Use a ruler (not a tape measure - it'll be more accurate), and count how many rows and stitches you have in a 4" square. It can help to mark with pins, where you start and finish counting. Remember to count 1/4 and 1/2 stitches as this does make a difference to the size of the garment.

Generally, I'll see how far off the swatch is and alter the pattern to fit, but if you're not comfortable with that then reswatch on a different size needle to get gauge. Go up a needle size if you have more stitches in 4" or down a needle size if you have less stitches in 4".

Sometimes, if the pattern is complicated, I'll do another swatch in the stitch pattern too. It does sometimes depend on what information the designer has given you for the swatches. I always think it's a good pattern if they give you a swatch for stocking stitch and for any stitch pattern (if it's different).

Swatching can be fun (really) and take away the frustration of spending months on a project, to find it doesn't fit. 

That's the end of the teacher bit. Here's a sneak peak for a upcoming pattern: