Spring Bag

I made the "Spring Green Bag" from issue 8 for my sister for Christmas.

Prefelting:


Felted:


Mods: left out top stripe at her request, skipped the applied icord around top and instead picked up stitches around side and knit a couple of rows to match top of bag.
Yarn: Spotlight Harvest Pure Wool (5 skeins total)

I would definitely make this again, I want to do it for myself in the bright colours shown on Yarn's cover.

Xmas wishes!

I was invited by Kate to blog in Early December, but never got round to it!
I planned to show my KIP complete with pictures, but its now finished and here is the FO instead!

Family are getting the house ready for the Xmas Lunch. I announced yesterday that "Mum is on strike all day tomorrow", lets see if I actually have to do anything other than knit :)

So while I attempt to not do any work today, here's wishing all you blog readers and writers:

Joyeux Noel

Vivian

Merry Festivus

Greetings All

Just catching up on the KAL - alot happens in just a few days! I am making good progress with my Angel Puff Scarf, the pinks and purples have developed into rather bizarre, but pleasing patterns (sorry no pics yet). Great to see how the other "Puffs" have turned out. Have also started second, and third, projects. I hope I've not set myself up to fail but with only two pairs of very plain beginner socks completed to date, I have embarked on the Swirly Girl Socks (cos I just luv em). I stared with two circulars as the patterns encourages but got so tangled (and my hands ached with the tiny needles) I have reverted to double points. Yarn is Wildfoote and is much brighter than the photo shows.

I have also started Floriane's Wedding Bag as a Christmas present for my nine year old niece but no pictures yet (no time for pictures - I have knitting and last minute work to get through!).

Merry Festivus to one and all.

Startitis

I've cast on again. Well, not really casting on exactly. I needed a project I thought might fly under the radar (so to speak) on my flight to Perth yesterday. I know this is naughty, but can you blame me? The prospect of 3.5 uninterrupted hours, without kids? Too tempting.

I thought I would go with crochet, so I hooked into Sarah G's Radiant lace shawl, in Wendy Dennis 4 ply (LOVE this yarn). It is the palest celery-heart green, semi-solid. And I got in about an hour's worth of work before they told me to put it away.

Edit: I had an interesting experience with this yarn after posting. There's more about it on my blog -- rather than clog up the KAL!

Sock Topper

Kind of a cheat but I needed a project to knit at my nephew's end of year concert, so I cast on Sarah Golder's Sock Topper from issue 8. The yarn was left over from a pair of socks and was exactly the 25g called for - hooray, no more scraps! Bummer, I've got 9g left.

The hat's very sweet and I'll be able to use those 9g somewhere, I guess.

I'm also knitting Lisa's Spring Green Bag from issue 8.

Future South Cape

Oh, I am very pleased to read the crochet.lout is thinking about taking this on too! Comforting to know there will be someone else madly spinning away whilst dishes go unwashed and Christmas cookies never make it past the flour stage.

So far I have about 400 meters spun up and plied, and one large bobbin full of singles.


The skein pictured is a bit wonky, as I plied it a bit loosely on places but methinks I'll use it anyway! The bobbin pic shows the true colour of the yarn much better. I am getting closer to deciding which way to go on the dyeing front.

Look forward to keeping up with what everyone is doing. Have a great holiday season! Hope some good lolling around is had by all.

Another Angel

I finished my Angel Puff Scarf a few days ago but have only got around to taking some post-felted pics.

Here it is ready for the wash. I raided my son's marble jar and placed them randomly along the lower halves of the scarf.

And after felting...

I am having terrible problems trying to get the colour of this yarn to photograph correctly. It really isn't as revolting as it looks! It's a quite nice mushroomy brownish cinnamony.......

I'd like to wish you a safe & peaceful Christmas! May you find time to enjoy the season (& knit a few rows)

Hi there!

Just thought that I would introduce myself. My name is Kylie and have just joined Kate's Wagga Wagga knitting circle!

I have plans on making a few things from the issues (lets see how I go - as I am about to pop with my second little bundle of joy)

So for the first project I am planning on the Ballet Wrap (page 42 of issue No 8)

Looking forward to seeing what is being knitted.

Regards Kylie

Puff magic

Before with marbles in place ready for felting

Lightly felted and so very light, 25 grams

My Naturally Mist yarn which is a 1ply lace weight 80% super fine kid mohair and 20% acrylic yarn made in New Zealand and is around $7 rather than $20 odd for Rowan Kidsilk. I knitted with 4mm needles and it turned out quite a bit smaller than the pattern stated, not sure if it was the yarn or me! Anyway I decided to use less puffs of a smaller size than a macadamia nut and not felt it as much as the original so the scarf might end up being a useful size. So this morning I placed 30 vase marbles in a regular pattern on the lower edges of my scarf and secured them with 30 clear snagless hair elastics and felted the scarf in the washing machine with a pair of jeans for agitation, it took about 15 minutes to felt. I think the Lady with the Lamp really likes this heavenly little neck warmer.

KAL time

Greetings. I am a newby to the KAL as well, and am very pleased to be here. I love Yarn and think this a great way to collectively appreciate all the hard work past and future Yarn folk have done/will do to keep us craft nuts happy and inspired.

I am going to make the South Cape issue seven. I am currently spinning the yarn, a merino x from Shiloh easy spin. It's a dark linen colour that will most likely be dyed. I would love opinions on the matter once I get some photos up.

This is an exercise in hope and madness as I have a one year old boy plus a serious craft addiction in which the South Cape will have to battle for supremacy if I am to get it done. A fantastic chance to test out if I have a single ounce of discipline.

I look very much forward to finishing the South Cape and heading down to Tassie, one of my favourite places on earth, to wear it.

Hitting the road

Hey folks, I'll be on the road until the 7th. I'll try and update the blog and add any new participants whenever I get the opportunity, though. So go ahead and email any requests to join the KAL and start your project(s). I'll get you on asap.

Have yourselves a Merry little Christmas and fruity New Year.

Kate

Heavenly blue mauve

I love this colour so calming..............and I need some of that NOW!! I started on this little Angel Puff Scarf in the current YARN magazine and in Nicki Epsteins wonderful book I bought recently in Melbourne. I couldn't source Rowan Kidsilk Haze around here so am trialling a lace weight mohair and if it works out I will tell you what it is. Really looking forward to the felting of this little scarf, just need to find 4 dozen macadamia nuts.

I am so glad to be part of this KAL tribute to YARN issues 1-8 which I have gratefully read and reread, Barbara did a wonderful job as Editor and whatever other jobs needed to be done to get this great mag into print every 3 months. She wil be missed and I would like to thank her once again for all her help getting one of my felted bag patterns into print in Issue number 8. I had many questions and queries and she was always so quick to reply and guide me along. I hope I can also start and complete some of the other wonderful knits in my 'to do' list from YARN as a tribute to Barbara and her team.

Wine Sock Success!

I finished the wine sock just in time. With a little help from the dryer to speed up the drying time it was ready for gift giving earlier today. The recipient was very happy & impressed with the whole knit/felt process. So impressed she has asked if I can do the same to make her 3 hot water bottle covers.

A snag in the plan

I've been busily swatching for the Snug in Yarn #3. The Koigu I originally thought of using won't co-operate : ( When I knitted the gauge swatch the needle sizing was such that the knitting was going to resemble a mat rather than a light-weight shrug. Pooh. So I've put aside the Koigu and am trying some out-of-production Bluebell colour 4124. This is a gentle purple and I'm thinking of some fun contrasting colours such as 4131, a light green, for the edging.

Wine Sock

I'm still knitting away on the Angel Puff Scarf and just about ready to cast off & felt it.






But before I finish the scarf I started thinking about a Christmas gift. I usually give a bottle of wine to this person & thought that this year I would dress it up with a Wine Sock. So my 2nd project for the KAL is from Issue 1, another felted item.

Newby

This is my first ever post and my very first KAL. I fear that I have created just another way in which to procrastinate from doing the really essential things (like earning an income), by doing the non-essential but vastly more enjoyable things (like knitting and blogging!). For my first project in the KAL I have selected the very straight forward but very groovy Angel Puff Scarf from Yarn 8, mainly because I had a skein of hand dyed 8ply mohair in swishy shades of purple that I think will be perfect. Anyhow, here is progress so far........

Second project

Using a highly complicated methodology of selection (closed my eyes and grabbed a Yarn off the shelf) my next project comes from #3, June 2006. I was gifted 2 skeins of Koigu, dyelot #1245037 (I think!), which is an enchanting mix of fawns, blues and lilacs. Sort of. Anyway, I have a total of 200m of yarn.

The project I've selected is "Snug" by Judith Avery. As I've proven that I'm incapable of following anything more complex than stocking stitch and casting on/off, I think this will be OK. There's some scarey M 1's in there, not to mention a few k2togs but hopefully we'll all get along.
Sorry about the photo - crappy light and I'm not able to get a good, clear zoom on the yarn. Maybe with better light tomorrow...

Now the first job will be to do a tension square as the yarn isn't to the pattern's specifications (and I knit loosely. See this post. See, I learn!). More swatching discussions later. There should be enough yarn to complete the snug. I want to use a project that will lend itself to being reclaimed for re-use. A snug for Tilly will be perfect for next autumn and can easily be frogged for reuse for mittens or scarf in the future.

Progress and a vote

There has been some progress but not when it comes to pattern reading. Obviously, fatigue and counting rows isn't a good combination. Remember kids, fatigue kills your counting ability.

When I got to the third cable I found that I'd mis-counted the previous rows and that the cables were now hopelessly erratic. Pull out again? Nah, just went with a few more anarchistic cables. This is the coffee pot cosy as it currently stands.

Then I started to think that a bit of red always look nice against charcoal. And what about a button? So I produced this:
I-cord and wooden button enhancement. Good or not good?

And then there's the question of steeking. This is what the cosy looks like if I tuck down the cosy edge. I could steek it for a slimmer interpretation.


Steek or don't steek?

Collared

The Christiane Collar by Ditte Larsen from issue 7, Winter 2007. The yarn is a wool/acrylic blend recycled from a hand-knitted jumper bought in an op-shop. I love the colour and the felty bits. The wooden beads I had at home but the leather lacing was purchased especially.

The second lot of 32 rows x 260 stitches of garter stitch was rather wearing but I'm happy with the finished product. It took a little under 250g. This would look wonderful in a variegated yarn, or even a faux fur if you were that way inclined.

This is the second time I have knitted this kerchief/small shawl. Second time round I am doing it again in handspun, but I have 225gms, spun to a light sports weight (4ply?), so expect a very pretty piece eventually. The cake is a pressy from my older daughter for the family for Christmas, while she is in England we can eat cake & choir boys.

Project 1 - Little Lace Bag

Unfortunately I'm a late convert to Yarn so I only have the last three issues, must remember to do some backordering.

I cast on last night for the felted Spring Green Bag from Issue 8 but as it's a Christmas present for someone I will keep pics a secret for now :)

So in the meantime I just finished the Little Lace Bag from the online patterns at Yarn.



Yarn: The Knittery 4 ply Merino in Passionfruit.

Super quick knit and so cute! I think I used about 15g of yarn and some lampwork beads so it's a great project to burn through yarn and bead stash. This one is going to my SP11 pal in the US.

Up my sleeve

I've done it, I'm back into the Wine & Roses Bolero (Sarah Barbour, Yarn 2). So stoked about this -- I knitted a whole sleeve in two evenings. (Then I backslid and cast on a new project last night.) No pics, yet, but I'm off to knock together a front. Then it's just half a sleeve and some seams away from being done. Piece o cake. (Famous last words.)

Here's an older picture so the before-n-after is more dramatic...

g'day all

Just in time for Christmas, a little public motivation to get a move on with knitted WIP's .... Hi all, I wonder how long my good intentions will last? But with the lovely variety of patterns to choose from, I should be able to manage a few. I have alread knitted the kerchief, and the sister socks (4 tpairs now).

Just another Tequila sunrise...

I've started my first piece. Typically, it's not from any of the 8 paper editions, it's from the online sample issue. This is why I don't KAL - can't stick to the rules.

I'm setting a few personal ground rules. I'll attempt a pattern from each edition I haven't already knitted from and I'll use current boodle to complete each item. It would be a lovely symmetry if I could use some of the yarn I won from Yarn to knit a few. No telling how many items I'll make and my copies are already bristling with page markers.

The first project, though - Barb's own Little Lace Bag. It's a sweet ripple pattern designed to make a wee evening bag. Thing is, I have about as much use for an evening bag as I do for a set of ice skates. What I need is a little bag to protect the coffee mug I lug about to meetings etc. instead of using the plastic and sytrofoam usually on offer. So I’ve added a few pattern repeats and because I committed knitting sin number 2 (not reading the pattern the whole way through before casting on), I’ve put the eyelet row in the second pattern repeat.


I'm using Lang Moana, leftovers from someone else’s dishcloth project. It’s 50/50 cotton and acrylic. It’s making a dense fabric to protect my mug and washes well.

I would have been finished but I cast on the second piece on the wrong size needle and was 1/3 the way through before I discovered the error.

Issue 6: Coffee Couture by Megan Longhurst

Well, here I go, project No. 1.

I confess that I've already knit this up once already and, as is my usual wont, completely failed to take into account that I'm a loose knitter (what a hussy!) and ended up with a coffee cosy that was cosy in name only. It kinda slumped off the pot and onto the table. The sad thing is that I suspected that the gauge was too big as I was knitting the cosy up but optimistically thought that the knitting gods would intervene. Ya'd think I'd get a clue after 4 years of knitting loosely, huh? Not to worry, a quick frogging later and going down a needle size, we're back in the running and I think this will be much tighter fitting product.

Alterations so far: I'm going to do this project monchromatically as I'm trying to knit purely from the stash, which contained just one ball of Cleckheaton Country. I've decided that this charcoal will also hide coffee stains admirably : )

I'm feeling a little risque: how about doing a steek where the pot's lip will be? Thoughts?

Kate