Cobweb Stole

It's been quite some time since I've blogged; never was very good at keeping a diary...much rather be doing something. Slowly gotten back into knitting again after a period of moving about interest-wise - quilting, embroidery etc.
Just finished my first Christmas present for 2011 - a fine lace weight stole which has been in the pipeline for the last couple of years but never been started. I'd spied this Cobweb Lace Stole some time ago and finally started it using Yarn D'Amour Pandora which I'd bought at a stall in the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate a few years ago - 1200 yards is a lot to wind by hand, so much so that I've ended up buying a ball winder ( which is soooo much fun!) - seem to enjoy it a little too much. Perhaps it is the years of winding balls by hand?
Anyway, the stole is very unusual construction in my mind. For it to be symmetrical, both ends are made separately and grafted together at the end using kitchener stitch; which is fine for sock toes but nearly 160 stitches was a bit tedious.
The pattern was interesting and not the easiest I completed. It was lace pattern both sides and some unusual stitches as well. Wasn't thrilled with the drop stitches in this one but think it was the yarn more than anything; as it was hairy alpaca and wouldn't drop cleanly so the drop stitches are a little more stretched than they should be.
The miracle of blocking has done it's job as usual and the finished product is lovely and airy as cobweb lace should be.
Picked up my Mara again and well on the way with that again too.

Oh and just had to say about this book I'd seen in Waterstones in Lincoln which I thought was hilarious - Knit Your Own Royal Wedding

Galaxy of Stars

Finally put the finishing touches to my latest quilt this month. Unfortunately it's been one of those projects that has stuck around for far too long.The inspiration came from Scrap Quilt Sensation by Katharine Guerrier, which I bought from the Festival of Quilts after seeing the beautiful display of the quilts from the book. The colours were fantastic and I just had to have a go too.

The whole quilt was both hand pieced and hand quilted which is why it took such a long time to make. It was the quilting that took the majority of the time. I think i was quite ambitious to quilt a double bed size quilt by hand, as well as the fact that I used feathers as part of the quilting so it wasn't a simple design either. The below photo shows some of the quilting detail.

I made the quilt to keep for myself and it's large enough for two to snuggle underneath comfortably in the cold months.

I used all my favourite pieces of fabric from my stash and it's been quite a good stash buster using up all those little pieces of fabric that I'd been saving for something special.
Though after a bit of inspiration and some very sore fingers I have a finished quilt; with thanks to a friend for letting me use her embroidery machine to make a label for it.

Zimmermann Fever

I had a bounty of Elizabeth Zimmermann books for Christmas and my birthday - Knitting without Tears, Knitter's Almanac and The Opinionated Knitter.
I've thoroughy enjoyed the many hours I've had perusing them. Not only are the patterns innovative - even now, but the advice and "opinions" (as in the Opinionated Knitter) are absolutely wonderful too.

With my friends are having their first baby, it has given me the opportunity to delve into knitted babywear for the first time and why not start with Elizabeth Zimmermann's wonderful designs.
I have completed the February Baby Sweater on Two needles from the Knitter's Almanac.

I'm in the process of completing the Baby Surprise Jacket and it definitely was a surprise. Initially I couldn't get my head around which part of the jacket I was knitting but about halfway through I twigged and it is just genius.

The handspun I had made unfortunately ran out about 6 rows from the end; I suppose I could have used a contrasting yarn but it looked so nice as it was. I have (hopefully) ordered something similar to finish it off and I can perhaps make a matching bonnet/hat with the remainder of the yarn.

I chose the green/yellow yarn because it seemed quite gender neutral but just found out it's going to be a girl so I can knit frilly pink things instead :)

Tatting

Oh boy! It's definitely been awhile since I updated my blog. Not entirely my fault our brand new PC decided to throw a permanent tantrum and we've been computerless (probably not a word!) for quite a few months. Thankfully it was still under warranty so we exchanged it for a different make. Though that's not been without pitfall; since all the hardware that worked with Vista didn't work with the new Windows 7 - so with Christmas and splashing out on new router, printer etc. it has been a rather expensive month. All seems to be working now! I've done a lot of knitting and spinning.

Finally finished the Liquid Gold shawl and seemed to have been received well at Christmas. I've also started a new hobby; probably not a wise decision since I already have dozens of other hobbies. My friend who taught me how to quilt kindly showed me the very interesting art of Tatting. I must say it's very relaxing and the results seem to be quite quick.

I had a bit of Christmas money and bought a boat load of stuff from Roseground; including some lovely books, my favourite is Tatted Artistry of Teiko Fujito. I've always loved Japanese craft books; the workmanship is always amazing whether it is temari balls, crochet or tatting. Luckily this is translated into English too; though that's just a bonus really because the patterns are in an universal format anyway. There is beautiful use of colour and the patterns range from the simple to the very complex like the cover of the book.

I pottered around making small motifs including the cutest butterfly and instead of these going to waste I glued them to card so as to make a Birthday card.

I also found a good source for free tatting patterns by Jane Eborall. I made the Flowery SCMR Bookmark minus the tail. I used Lizbeth No. 20 for all the motifs; the blue/green was 117-Countryside, the pink/purple was 140-Country Grape Swirl and the green was 684-Leaf Green(Medium).

The Flowery Bookmark was definitely quite challenging for a beginner as it includes self-closing mock rings and split rings. Though, I was quite happy that I managed to make it after only about 2 weeks tatting.

Spinning Around

I've not been knitting as much as I have been recently as I've just been bitten by the spinning bug.

After using a spindle for awhile; my husband decided that he'd buy me my Christmas and Birthday present early and sent me off to get a spinning wheel. The other reasoning behind the wheel is that we thought it might be good for me to spin daily and help the muscles in my legs (though been doing it so much since I bought it walking is a little difficult, lol!!).
We went to the Spinning Fair at Lincoln Uni a couple of weeks ago and had a go on the wheels that Wingham Wool Work had brought along. I'd sort of set my heart on the Ashford Joy but they didn't have one with them so I decided to go to their shop of the Monday and have a test run. My ever loving Mother came along with me; she was very patient all day even though she was probably quite bored- thanks, Mum!!

I ended up buying a Kromski Sonata as it seemed to be the better deal. The £25 fibre voucher was fun to spend. Came home with a huge bag full of fibre. The hour and a half home seemed to last forever but I finally got home so I could have a play.
I've been spinning every day since and really enjoying it though my first attempts were a bit dire though I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it and I've just made some 2ply laceweight merino - it actually looks like yarn should :)!!

Anyway here's a picture of my wheel which I've named Wolfgang (got a penchant for naming things!) because everytime I see Sonata I think Mozart so hence "Wolfgang".

Fountain of Beads

Perpignan Aeolian

Finished my Aeolian this week & I'm thrilled with it. This is the first lace shawl I've made that I have kept. I thought the green was a beautiful colour and could be dressed up or down. Quite like the idea of wearing it with jeans.


It looks so fine and the Posh Yarn Diana has blocked beautifully. I've mentioned on my project page on Ravelry that the beading though lovely is a bit too heavy for me in this shawl. I've done the yucca sections as recommended then I've changed the rest to lighten it a bit.

The beads are fantastic and I've bought them from Spellbound Beads, which was recommended to me by a friend. Must say I don't think I've had anything delivered that quickly before. I've used them twice now and each time they've dropped through the letterbox the next morning.

Got a few parties coming up so hopefully I'll get to wear my new shawl.

Golden Waterfall Shawl

I'm very lucky to have a wonderful Mother-in-Law who I get on with extremely well. I always share all the crafty things I do and I've always had at the back of my mind to make her something absolutely gorgeous. I was going to make her a handmade quilt but it generally takes several months and I've just not had the time.

So now I'm into the swing of things with the knitting I thought I'd make her something special. The only problem is she doesn't like wool! However, I found the perfect yarn. Her favourite colour is gold; shoes, handbags, clothes, jewellry - definitely the colour to go for. I bought a skein of Fyberspates Infinity Lace in gold - 3000m in all. It's 100% silk so no wool involved. It has a wonderful sheen to it too. Only downside was winding 3000m onto balls by hand but it's done now. I am using the yarn doubled because it is so thin and there's so much of it anyway.

Next issue was what to knit; initially I had settle on Fiddlesticks Peacock Feather Shawl but when I came to start I then realised that there was no download so it would have to be sent from Canada at a slightly higher cost than I thought plus I couldn't wait that long ( I have about 0% patience).

So researching away on Ravelry I found Mystic Waters by Anna Dalvi which looked to be an interesting pattern. The only fly in the ointment was I couldn't figure out which size I wanted to do and the details didn't really specify how the two different sizes of this pattern were made. Whether I had to decide from the outset or not.

I decided to buy the pattern anyway and it turns out that both the small and large size are the same up until a certain point and then for the small size it changes to the small size patterns with only 13 rows to do. Which is great because I don't have to decide on the size until I get to that point.

The other issue was I wanted to include a few beads to the pattern but nothing was specified in the pattern so I've added them in (details on my project page). Using Spellbound beads again but this time they are clear with a lustre to them and they really catch the light and add just that bit of sparkle that a I wanted.

Below is the shawl in progess:

Rolling Star Quilt

Rolling Star

This Rolling Star quilt is one of my proudest creations. It was made as a Christmas present for my Mum. Her favourite colours are purple and green; so this was the colour theme.

The whole thing is pieced and quilted by hand; no machine involved. The design was inspired by a lovely book by Jinny Beyer called Colour Confidence for Quilters. It was borrowed from a friend but the basic ideas that I took from it were to use a dark (black in this quilt) and a bright (the bright jewel green) and then all the shades in between. Jinny Beyer had made several different quilts by just using one quilt block and then fragmenting each shape into little versions. The quilt block I used is the Rolling Star.


I'm a bit of a Jinny Beyer fan and I used her Quiltmaking by Hand for all the techniques to make the quilt. Out of every book I own (which is a lot) this is my favourite by far. It is just beautiful to dip into and the quilts in there are to die for. It is crammed full of information and beautiful photography. Plus the techinques make hand piecing a lot quicker and simpler than the original English Paper Piecing I have used in the past.

Edo Temari

Edo Temari

This is one of my favorite temari balls that I have made. It is from Edo Temari (ISBN4-8377-0394-1) which is a beautiful Japanese (no English instructions) book of mainly geometric patterns. It took a little figuring out as only one side of the temari was shown and the other side didn't seem to mirror it.



Though it turned out well (I think so anyway) and was given as a present to my mum. I've added a tassel and loop so it can be hung up - this was destined to hang as part of a curtain tie back.

Laminaria

Laminaria

After seeing the multitude of Laminarias on Ravelry, especially Clarabelle's beautiful Silver Laminaria; I thought I had better have a go.

I have recently made my first purchase from Posh Yarn and must say I'm very impressed with the wool and the beautiful rainbow of colours that it comes in. I bought a Diana in a lovely spring green and Arabella in Jetset which is what I have made the Laminaria. Not sure I'm overly keen on winding the wool onto balls (took a few hours); persuaded my husband to make me a homemade swift. Been to the local hardware store today to get the supplies.



Anyway, finished the laminaria this week and it's blocked and done - ready for a Christmas present can you believe. I love how it has turned out; ended up doing 6 star patterns and 14 blossom patterns which is a lot more than most seem to have done. Arabella is a cobweb weight yarn so think that is probably to do with it but it has made the shawl very fine and airy.

Ceramics

Going to veer away from knitting for this one. For the last few years I've been going to a ceramics class every Tuesday morning with my mum-in-law at Brushstrokes ceramics at Waltham Windmill near Grimsby.

Thought I'd share with you a few of the projects that turned out well.

First is the Christmas present that I made for Jim; he has a huge shed out in the garden which he near enough lives in, (which presumably most men do!). So I thought I'd make him a name plaque for it. It was a lot of fun because normally we just stain or glaze the pots but I made it all mushrooms and leaves etc from clay myself. The glazing turned out well too (it can be a little temperamental; you don't often know what it will look like until after it has come out of the kiln).

I've also been doing a few plates with my own artwork on the first was an Islamic inspired plate that is glazed:

Since I was 18 I have also been to a local botanical watercolour painting class (slipped a bit recently - oh well) though I still do a bit at home. So I thought I'd paint a plate covered in clematis; found it a bit odd using acrylics instead of the usual watercolours but I think it turned out well:

I have quite a few clematis in the garden; it's such a beautiful versatile plant, this is photo of one my sister-in-law bought which is flowering this week.