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The sewing machine came out this week! I saw the most gorgeous knitting bag on instagram. It was made by Truly Myrtle (I don’t usually like podcasts but she’s very interesting to listen to). Here’s the link to her bag . It’s a shape I haven’t tried before. The pattern for the tote is a free one from Very Shannon . - the Reversible Box Tote . I bought some gorgeous fabric from The Little Fabric Store . It’s a sweet, little shop and worth a visit, if you’re near. Helen is very lovely and helpful. I got some new Cloud9 fabric and linen to line the bag. I bought another Clover tape measure too. They are really nice quality. I’ve found with the cheaper retractable tape measures that the tape will stretch and warp with use. I’ve had one for over a year (with daily use) and it is still as straight as the day I bought it. So I bought another because well…you can never have enough tape measures! You can see the tape measure in the picture below. The fabric that I chose happened to be what I...

The Torine scarf that I mentioned last week is finished. The yarn was Rowan Truesilk in the sleep colourway. Ravelry project page. I love the colour of the yarn. The sheen of the yarn really brings out the colour beautifully – there’s almost a metallic tint to it. It is lovely to knit with as well. The only little hiccup is it’s very easy to catch and it is a chain construction so difficult to pull the snags back in. It blocked very well. Though I think I spent half an hour threading the blocking wires down the garter stitch ridges but it was worth it. It makes a beautiful and fluid fabric - perfect for a scarf. The central panel is knitting separately to the borders and then the borders are sewn on. Luckily, I like sewing. The borders could have been worked at the same time as the body of the scarf but having the sewn seams gives the scarf some stability and helps with any rolling of the borders. Plus the borders are worked on a smaller needle and this does make for neater garter st...

I’ve got quite a few WIPs at the moment. This is partly due to several mystery knitalongs. My birthday/Christmas present (and maybe next year’s too!) was a membership to Debbie Abrahams Mystery Blanket 2015. I want to share pictures of this but I don’t want to ruin any surprises for people. I’ve put photos of the finished squares on my Ravelry project page . I’ll show you a few sneak peek photos though. Here is the first batch of materials. The 2nd lot of patterns have just come through and I spent Sunday morning being super organised. The materials for each square are wound off and in their own zip lock bags. The other mystery knitalong is Ysolda’s Follow Your Arrow KAL 2. I did it last year and really loved the finished shawl . Can’t really show you but here’s the project page with pictures. This is the yarn I’m using. It’s Solo by sparkleduck . The other project on the needles is a Torine scarf from the Rowan Truesilk book and I’m working it in Rowan Truesilk (colourway sleep). The...

I’ve made a start on my Fazed Tweed jumper but my attention span at the moment is very short. I keep on moving from project to project. And it gets worse, more yarn… I do have a project in mind. With my pattern being in the latest Knitty, I had a good look at all the other lovely designs. Nachtfalter in particular – it has garter stitch for starters. This lovely colour of King Cole Baby Alpaca DK is going to be ideal – the colour is called meadow. So hopefully you’ll see a pair shortly.

I love those quick in between projects that just use one ball.  A Good Yarn , Cleethorpes has in stock, the scrummy new Pure Wool Worsted by Rowan . I’d been eyeing the pattern Entrechat for a while and Pure Wool Worsted was a perfect fit. The recommended yardage meant that I could knit up to the 12-18 month size in just one ball. I ended up using just 73g, so I think I could have easily made the 2-3 year size in only one ball. So quite a bargain for just one ball. The pattern itself was really simple but a slightly unusual construction. I made it in a day, so a proper weekend knit. Definitely a pattern that I'd consider making again, especially if I was in a rush for a present. The yarn itself is just lovely. It has a lovely feel to it and the colour that I used, Breton had a heathered tone to it. Another picture of before blocking - and after blocking. It makes a huge difference and the Pure Wool Worsted holds its shape perfectly. Even the ruffles at the bottom stay in position...

A friend of mine bought some Sirdar Escape Chunky and a pattern to go with it, but never got around to making it….so I’ve made it for her instead. Unfortunately, the yarn is discontinued but it has lovely colour changes. The stripes work particularly well because the garment is worked side to side. The only modification was to leave the bottom ribbing until the end and then work in the round (instead of flat). That way I could use up as much yarn as possible. It’s a lot longer than it should be but I made the executive decision to stop because it was going to end up being a foot long. I started another project, too. Eeek… I was extremely tempted by seeing some very beautiful examples of cardigans in Bergere de France Plume . I’ve worked in it before and it’s beautifully soft handle. It’s a combination of wool, nylon and acrylic; and the finished fabric is soft, draping and fluffy. I had a good look around for something to knit in it and came up with a Drops cardigan that would match...