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I finished another project recently but didn’t get any decent photographs of it. It’s a new pattern from Sirdar 4493 , which has a cardigan and coat variation. I did the largest size in the coat. I just adore the collar. The yarn I used is Click DK in Blueberry, which is a really unusual deep purple. I only managed to snap one picture of it. I really love the collar, it’s very sweet. Unusually, there are 3 different needle sizes used in the pattern. One for the stocking stitch, a smaller one for the garter stitch and the edges and a larger size for the band across the middle. The band is a mixture of cable and lace, so it doesn’t want to be at too tight a gauge. I bought a few balls of yarn recently from A Good Yarn . A ball of Rico Creative Cotton Print Aran for a crocheted dishcloth and 2 balls of Sublime Baby Cashmere Silk Baby 4ply . I used the DK version to make this cardigan and really loved it. On my visit to Loop in January, I bought Juju’s Loops book and I think I’ll make ...

I have finished a few projects recently but been quite lax in photographing them. I had a little photo shoot with Mr with my plume cardigan. I’ve come to the conclusion, that I’m not a very good model – so you only get to see one photo that came out semi-well. The yarn is the scrumptious Bergere de France Plume , which is absolute heaven to knit with. The pattern is a free one from Drops , which is done in a yarn that works in the same gauge as Plume with a very similar fibre content too. I didn’t like the sleeves on the original – the cuffs were quite loose. I rewrote the sleeves so they fitted snuggly around the cuffs. I worked the back, one front and a sleeve first, and sewed it together, so I could check the fit (it was fine!). I was in a rush to wear it, so stupidly decided to steam block it – word of advice – don’t. There’s a lot of man made fibre in it and I knew it was a risk, and managed to melt some of the fibres. Thankfully, it’s not a lot and not really noticeable. I wet bl...

I’ve finished the Ore Cardigan that I briefly mentioned here and here . The pattern is by Sarah Hatton and from Issue 70 of The Knitter. Here’s a review of the magazine with a picture of the original. The yarn I used was Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK in colourway, Skipper. My Ravelry Project Page . It’s a timeless classic piece and quite a simple knit. The beading is lovely and ensures that it hangs well. I did have an issue though, the sleeves came out way too long. It wasn’t my gauge as I had 29.5 rows instead of the recommended 28, which would have made the sleeve shorter. I really didn’t want to reknit the sleeves, so I took the more drastic option and cut the ends of the sleeves off. I ended up removing over 3 inches above the beading and then grafted the ends back on. I did have to increase a few stitches to make the stitch counts add up. I don’t think you can tell where I did it. Some sweater surgery later and now they fit a lot better. The style of cardigan did seem t...

Everyone has their go-to or workhorse cast-on. More often than not it can be a Knitted cast-on or a Long-Tailed cast-on; or perhaps the Cable cast-on. The one I tend to use is the Twisted German cast-on, also known as Old Norwegian cast-on. For speed I’m going to call it – TGCO. The reasons I prefer this one are – I find it to be the quickest one to do (look at the video at the bottom to see how fast) It has a good balance between being a stretchy cast-on, as well as, springing back into place. I find the knitted cast-ons tend to be too tight for most situations. It creates a strong stable stitch that is easy to knit into on that first row. Some cast-ons can be very tricky or time-consuming on that first row. It is also a fantastic cast-on for top down socks – as it is so stretchy. Last year, I made a cast-on flow chart for the blog, which can be useful in determining what type of cast on to use. I prefer to learn from a photo tutorial but for those of you who prefer a video, there’s ...

I’ve not managed to finish the cardigan I’ve been working on, so I don’t have a huge amount to share this week. I did have a very lovely afternoon yesterday at my Mum’s house with her and a friend. It was lovely and sunny, and we sat outside under a canopy drinking fruit juice, chatting and I, of course, was knitting. I’m making progress – I was working on the last sleeve yesterday and I’m now on the bands and the collar; which are worked separately and sewn on. I’m not a huge fan of this method – I’d much rather pick up and knit. Anyway, the finish line is in sight. My mum’s house is full of crafty things that I’ve made for her over the years. Here’s a quick snap of one of them. It’s a hardanger mat which lives on top of my piano. I love hardanger but don’t often get a chance to do much at the moment. I think the white looks lovely against the glossy mahogany wood. Mum has a penchant for otters (hence the statue). The pretty sketch in the background was done by Mr, one Sunday morning ...

At the weekend, we had a fabulous evening out with friends and family. It was an outdoor classical concert. We lucked out with the weather – there was scrummy food, good music and lots of laughs too. There was some balloon modelling going on – not sure whether the kids or the adults enjoyed that one most! Part of the show involved a flyover by a spitfire. I would have a lovely photo of the spitfire, if I’d taken it a second later (can you see him behind the flag?) Some people had decorated a tree in ribbons. At the end of the evening, there was a firework display. I did do a little bit of knitting that night on some plain socks. I couldn’t take my current main project because of all the beading.

We tried something a little different this year for Woolfest, mainly because I’d decided I wasn't going to go this year and then changed my mind a bit late in the day, so it was a bit tricky finding anywhere to stay. Mr and I stayed in a camping pod for a night. We were lucky and had nice weather, so we had a campfire roaring all night, with the obligatory marshmallows. Our neighbours were some very nice sheep and lambs, which were unintentionally smoked by our campfire. The camping pod was super and we were positioned under an old oak tree. It was a very relaxing evening. My purchases were a little more restrained this year. Some extra cables for my Chiagoo needle set and 7.5mm tips as I don’t own any in that size. The latest pompom magazine , which has quite a few patterns in that I’d like to make. I stocked up with lots of buttons from Textile Garden . They really do have the most wonderful selection. And my only yarn purchase of the day was some Cumulus from Fyberspates. It was...