I wonder sometimes whether all types of artists and creative people are the same..... we love the process of making, but towards the end the desire to finish a project goes along with the huge desire to start the next one! I am sure that all the Knitters I know feel like that and for me those last few rows are yes for sure a huge sense of satisfaction, but also have the added excitement of giving you the chance to start planning and plotting for the next cast on! (well lets be honest sometimes thats the next cast ons - plural!!)
I have recently finished quite a number of things and I shared with you the completion of my Gemini sweater last time (and I still love it!!) - and its time for the other FO's to take centre stage!
So in no particular order here is what I have finished.......... I'll save the cast ons for later!
Hitofude:
I actually finished this cardigan way back in June! I took it back to the UK with me on our trip there for the wedding and was happy to wear it a few times as it was chilly! This was a really interesting knit and the pattern was easy to memorise after a while. The pattern is well written and I used Posh Yarn 4 ply Sylvia in the Astonish colour way which was from stash and err about 5 years old!!
The finished cardigan did look a bit small and grew quite a lot when I blocked it. It fits fine but I think I would like to do a sport weight version because I think it would look nice as a looser fit as well! I know its a very popular pattern on Ravelry and I can see why - although I think its not really a beginner knit - you would probably need to be reasonably confident before attempting it!
Stockport
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| Casting on way back in January! |
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| Very happy with the finished article! |
I can't tell you how long I have been wanting to knit this!! I used to subscribe to the Rowan Magazine when I was living in London and I remember seeing it for the first time when it arrived in the post in issue 46 back in 2009! However since I then almost immediately re-located to Abu Dhabi, it seemed not something appropriate to knit or wear in the short term! Fast forward 6 years and I decided I really must knit it and have it ready for trips home! So I ordered the Rowan Yarn from Yarn Warehouse (really good service from them!) and started it in January 2015. However as the weather got warmer in AD, my mind strayed to other projects and it took me until September to finish!! My trip to Bath to settle Flo into Uni was the catalyst and I am so glad I finished it. In truth its quite a quick knit and looks way more complicated than it actually is! Size 6mm needles and the Rowan Cocoon makes for quite a quick knit (ignoring my months of not touching it!!) although on a note to myself I should never knit with Cocoon on my black sofa - the combination led to a lot of hoovering!! It had been a long time since I had knit a garment which needed seaming so that was something I had to get my head around and I strained my wrist a bit because I was trying to seam too fast ha ha! I wore this on my trip home and loved it worn with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath and one of my light Muji scarves which Keith gave me for Christmas! And yes I forgot to take a photo!! Duh!!
I posted a photo of this on the Rowan Facebook page and was delighted that they shared it!!
Liquorice Hat
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| Lovely neat ribbing with the Preciosa! |
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| Pom Pom definitely needed! |
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| Pom Pom attached! |
I knit this hat as part of the #knitsharelove knit along hosted by Claire Devine. I have loved Claire's designs for a while from afar and this was the first one I have actually knitted! I was a bit late to actually join in the part where I shared a pattern with a friend - but decided that I wanted to knit along anyway! Well what can I say about this! Super fast knit and the pattern is really well written. I used the Knit Picks Preciosa Tonal in the Duchess colourway - which is a super rich purple! I love the pattern but I think the yarn probably does not have enough structure for a hat! Its very light and I will probably make a cowl to go with the hat, but once I had put on my giant pom pom it became a bit more floppy than I would have liked! Mind you, looking on the bright side, it weighs practically nothing so won't affect any baggage allowances!!
Baby Shower Presents
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| Such a cute little Romper |
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| Knitted with All My Love |
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| In progress |
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| All blocked and ready to go! |
So a lovely friend is having her baby shower this week - so I think I can finally post some pictures of what I have made for her without giving the surprise away!
Firstly I designed a baby blanket for her. You might remember my Lantern Shawl which I designed for the Dubai Knits yarn club - well I based the blanket roughly on that although I changed the lace pattern slightly to give it a bit more of a 3D look. I have not written the pattern up yet and I hope to do that over the weekend before I give it away! For this I used more of my Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted yarn which I got from the Plucky Club in the colourway 'Shades of Pemberley'. The blanket is designed to be used as an occasional little blanket for the car seat or pushchair so its not too big - just the sort of thing to throw on a little one when getting out of the car and going into the cold air con of the shopping mall!!
The second present was inspired by the gorgeous little cotton romper suit I picked up in Bali. Here in the UAE its hard to know whats best for the little ones! Staying inside in the air con is obviously not great but going outside can be too hot so little ones are often seen in just a nappy and vest to keep them cool! Hopefully this little romper is a prettier alternative. But what to wear with it? I knew I wanted something in cotton and I had already got some Aslan Trends Glaciar Del Cielo from IKnit in London in the stash (hope you are noting how much stash I have been getting through!!!) and the colour matched perfectly! The problem was to find the pattern - I knew in my head what I wanted but I could not find anything on Ravelry which matched up with that! So I had a look in my mums old patterns from the 50's and 60's and took some inspirations but of course wanted to make sure it was a top down, no seam affair....... I decided to make the fastening fuss free and put a large popper for closing rather than a button or a tie. overall I am pleased with it - although if I have one tiny criticism of myself I think the increases in the yoke look a bit obvious - but thats also probably the nature of the cotton - even with blocking, cotton does not 'bloom'. Anyway lets hope the babe likes it!
So thats all for this post - I will share next time some news from my trip to Bath to settle Flo into University!
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