Trying something new!

Recently I’ve been feeling like ….. I’ve got a whole lot of yarn and have no desire to buy anymore. This also goes for fabric.

So yesterday, drum roll please……

I went through my stash, reorganised it and now I have stuff to donate to charity.

Whilst going through my stash, I was able to observe my wips (work in progress) which is surprisingly not that many for me ( java jumper, socks, Mum’s jumper, current Cardigan, hat and cowl) and decided that only one of them needed frogging.

I decided to frog the hat!

The yarn, West Yorkshire Spinners Woodland Awakening, was held double with a light shade of grey, followed by mid grey, followed by a dark grey. This was knitted with some rib stitch first, followed by stocking stitch for a number of rows followed by garter stitch. Very much inspired by the Wurm hat.

It was a project that I worked on as, stress relief and I just wasn’t convinced I was enjoying the fabric.

It had to go!

But!

I really did enjoy the combination of the light grey yarn and colourful yarn together.

I know what I want to knit!

The Channa Sweater by Liisa Nieminem!

I’ve been wanting to knit it for the longest time!

But what’s with the trying something new?

After frogging the yarn, I’ve given it a bit of a soak to relax/ decrinkle it. Normally this doesn’t happen and I would knit with the yarn as is.

Before

After

I left the yarn for a good half hour and it looks really relaxed!

I got rid of any excess liquid my usual way, placing it in a towel, tied the sides up a bit and put the yarn in a relatively warm place.

The day after, it’s good to see that it’s worked!

Rainy Sundays

Are meant for knitting, films, coffee and good food!

My Amedeo cardigan by Kolibri by Johanna is making some good progress and I’m enjoying how the beautiful Nordlys yarn by Viking Knitting is knitting up!

In my mind, I would wear the cardigan with small flared jeans or some linen wide leg trousers with a small turtleneck, sleeveless top in either black or a charcoal grey!

The foodie picture?

I gave up coffee for lent! It was hard but coffee and cream based cocktails were had to celebrate the end of the fast.

Lo and behold, cherry scones with leftover  cream whipped up, fresh raspberries and butter happened!

A cracking start to two days off!

A little update

Recently crafting has taken a bit of a backseat with my knit mojo hibernating…… A little bit.

Last year was definitely the year of numerous makes, a whopping TWENTY ONE MAKES!

I think my body is needing a little bit of crafting rest.

Do I have crafting plans for the year?

To definitely make more linen trousers!

I plan to make a couple more pairs as they are some of the most worn trousers I’ve ever had!

The plan is hopefully make some in black and also a green colour too!

Knitting wise, I’m slowly getting there with my coffee java jumper in amongst working on another jumper for my mum as well as making a cardigan for myself…

Pancake Day

Pancake Day was pretty fabulous this year!

Delicious pancakes happened aaand it was a yarn delivery day too!

The pancakes were my usual pancake base with some raspberries, blueberries and cherries, homemade chocolate sauce and the left over cream whipped and put on top!

I was so full!

Prior to plating up, lo and behold, there was a yarn delivery!

It was some very BEAUTIFUL Hue Loco yarn.

The yarn is worsted weight and is Prelude One Pot tonal.

The plan for the yarn? I’m thinking of a vest top, in particular the Mika Slipover by Genievre Dugon

I love how good the vest looks with a garment and how it stands out by itself!

In other crafty news, it’s my birthday month and lovely K got me some gorgeous yarn! The yarn is Viking of Norway Nordlys in colour way 967.

Crafting plans? I’m thinking a cardigan incorporating bell sleeves with some iridescent shell buttons or I will make the Amedeo cardigan by Kolibri by Johanna.

I’m enjoying that knitting ideas are bountiful;

Blanket Dreams

I am absolutely blessed in being  able to know the joys of being wrapped up in a cosy blanket!

I can’t seem to shake the idea of  making a blanket at all!

But I should really finish my current projects before hand ……

To get some blanket ideas, I made my way to Lovecrafts.com

I’ve seen a couple of patterns that I do like, but in short there are a few ideas that I was not wanting; nothing Lacey, nothing too cabled, not too much details but something a bit fun or colourful.

The first pattern that spoke to me was this  striped mitred blanket. I am really enjoying the colours in the blanket as I do feel like it is an all season colour scheme and I love the clean cut nature of it!

The next pattern spoke to me on different levels was the Pumpkin Spice Afghan by Paintbox Yarns.

I really enjoy the colour scheme and does have suitability for season round use. The other thing I like about the project is the mug design.

Anyone who knows me, knows of my particular fondness to coffee so another reason I enjoy the project.

The third and final pattern I like is the Essential Striped Knit Blanket by Caron.

I really enjoy the monochrome nature of the pattern! I think I would possibly change the colour to more heathered, natural colours like lavenders, forest green, straw and possibly with neps in it.

The more I type about it, the more I’m enjoying it!

What has worked out very nicely is that most of the weight of the yarns are Aran or worsted!

This is an ample weight of yarn for the project.

The blanket that I made in 2019 (that unfortunately got thrown out) was made out of King Cole Big Value Big and by jove it was so soft and squishy and was like a weighted blanket. I would love to have a blanket like that again. Maybe in the future that will happen.

Pipeline knitting

Ah beautiful York.

Beautiful as ever but it was a bit chilly!

It’s got me thinking, I should really craft matching hat, scarf, mittens combo.

I did a couple of years ago have, in my opinion, have the best yarn for it, but……… When I had to downsize, the yarn unfortunately went.

The yarn was a charcoal grey with a dark multicoloured stelina in it. I do regret getting rid of it. I probably won’t be able to find something similar again. I was originally going to crochet everything!

I would go for a charcoal grey again maybe marled or partially felted?

I’m possibly thinking West Yorkshire Spinners Elements DK in Pebble Shore.

In other news, purchases have occurred….

I went to all of my favourite crafty places and for the first time ever, I actually bought something from Duttons for Buttons.

The buttons I got will be for some convertible mittens to be made with the Lettlopi yarn I got from the shop Asgard.

As I’ve got plenty of fabric, I wasn’t really in a fabric buying mindset however, when I was in Sewcialising, I saw these amazing clips. I’ve been wanting some for the longest time especially now that I’ve got pleather and leather projects in mind.

So I did think when I was in York, I thought I was going to spend my time sitting in cafés, knitting, drinking litres of coffee and eating my body weight in cake…. That did not happen. I spent most of my days just wondering and walking around and looking in galleries and just all round frolicking about including walking round most of the City Walls……

Still a very lovely and restorative break!

Holiday Time

Since getting my amazing news before Christmas, I knew that I needed some time out to myself to relax and indulge in some pure me time.

So holiday crafting goals? Surprisingly not many, make a shirt to go with my recently finished Saars vest and do some knitting.

I’ve treated myself to casting on the Pink Velvet jumper by Andrea Mowry

With this project, I had ordered the GORGEOUS Hue Loco yarn first. The yarn in question is from the Coffee House Collection (as coffee is very much part of my daily routine, I felt duty bound to get some yarn.

The colours I went for were ‘Spiced’ and ‘Cream and Sugar’ in Merino Sock.

I wanted a coffee theme, colour work jumper to match the yarn and came across the Pink Velvet design. The reason why I felt this was the best project was due to the tulip/ flower design which is sometimes milk arted onto coffees.

So far, the project is progressing really nicely!

The yarn is buttery soft and flows so nicely underhand. The contrast between the two yarns have worked out beautifully!

The colour work yoke was so intuitive and I’m now knitting to my hearts content on the stocking stitch. I have plenty of yarn to repeat the colour work near the cuffs of the sleeves.

Day two of progress

First Finished Object of the year!

The test knit of the Sarrs Vest has been completed! And very much within the time schedule.

Huzzah!

The fabric that the combination of the Walcot Yarn Plus and the SpinCycle Dyed in the Wool made it so unbelievably soft and squishy!

I was majorly impressed with myself on how quickly I blocked, dried then weaved in the ends!

I absolutely ADORE the fit of the vest and wearing it without a shirt still looks stunning!

Change in plan, I think

Last year, I managed to obtain some rather delicious Brooklyn Tweed Arbour yarn!

In my head, I had ideas of a lovely cozy blanket!

Fast forward to a couple of months ago and when looking at the pretty yarn, I noticed the weight of said yarn.

Fifty grams!

I got four skeins of yarn…….

Something in my gut is telling me that it is not enough for a blanket.

I scoured the web for some inspiration, then lo and behold, an idea popped in my head!

Stephen West!

A few years back, the Painting Honeycomb sweater came out and it’s been planted in my head ever since.

I think with some West Yorkshire Spinners Croft added into the mix, a rather beautiful jumper could be made……

Definitely a, some from stash and some not from stash project.

Happy New Year

I hope 2024 treats everyone amazingly well.

Last year was a year!

Definitely the year of the makes!

I’ve been rewriting this blog several times as I’ve had several ideas, including writing about my latest test knit or doing a comparison of makes from 2022 to 2023.

I’ve decided on blogging about my favourite makes of last year.

There are two that definitely spring to mind;

This Aran jumper is King Cole 9219 and is knitted in Wendy with Wool.

I originally made it to wear on my trip to Edinburgh and it has been worn a lot since then.

To wear it, is an absolute dream! Super warm and cosy.

My other favourite knit is my beautiful green Amedeo Sweater.

This was a test knit for Kolibiri by Jo

For a sport weight jumper, it worked up in next to no time and is hands down the most worn item of 2023. It is a crafting aim to knit one in black with a possible turtle neck.

Do I have any aims or goals for the year?

Unoriginially, knit from stash!

I do have some lovely yarn from Hue Loco from the Coffee House collection that I’ve been hunting down the perfect pattern for. I’m thinking, colour work yoke in a latte art esque design!