Week Eighty Three

I went looking for the Sundara yarn for my daughters "school camp sweater" and whilst digging through the stash I discovered a quantity of Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn which was bought some time ago for the Fairisle Yoke Cardigan. I will have to get to the elusive Sundara Aran Merino later because I really need to knit this cardigan before my daughter outgrows the yarn quantity!

Also, it is a very cute cardigan!

I have cast it on and completed the back (up to the yoke). It is knitting quickly and it is quite refreshing to knit something which does not require me to alternate hand dyed yarns.

I'm doing the age 7-8 size (because my experience with Debbie Bliss patterns is they tend to run large) but I am knitting the lengths to the 9-10 size.  

The knitting needles are Dyakcraft. 

My previous post mentioned the Lightweight Pullover I'm knitting in the Fibre Company's Meadow yarn. Here is my progress, I am a short way into the yoke increases. 

The needles are Knitpro but in a black stain. 

The stitch marker which shows the end of round came in a set of 5 from Jimmy Beans Wool. They are by VictoriaS. I can't find a current stockist for them - so they might be discontinued. They are made of polymer clay and whilst large enough to be a good marker, they are not heavy which would be a nuisance to knit with. The raglan increase points are marked with "safety pins". Ones I've accumulated as they have a rounded end which slides easily over my needles.

I'm such a sucker for accessories and I like to coordinate them to my projects.

For a little crafty refreshment I pulled out a cross stitch kit. I bought this at Morris & Sons sale some time ago. Its colours suggest it will end up in my daughters bedroom.

I have sorted out the yarn into colour groups because it came packed with all the colours intermingled. 

I can only work on this in daylight as some of the colours are otherwise hard to tell apart.

Week Eighty Two : Update

Nothing knitting related (or even much sewing) but here is part of a "night-before" crafting project for my daughter's costume for her Book Week Parade.

She went as one of the fairies from the book series Rainbow Magic. I just had to help her with a pair of fairy wings.

I used some wire and shimmery polyester organza.

The wire is fairly heavy gauge, about as thick as a wire coat hanger. I loosely wrapped the fabric around (a little movement helps the shimmer effect).

There are two wings, an upper pointy "petal"with a lower more rounded section below.

Here is the right hand side wing (upper and lower) in construction.

I used a clear nylon thread to do a running stitch around and trimmed the excess fabric away afterwards.

We safety-pinned the wings to her school blazer. Here she is, a quick photograph before she got ready with her other costume bits (which were from her own crafting).

Week Eighty Two

I have cast on the Meadow yarn and it is delicious to knit.

I have cast on some Rowan AlpacaCotton as well. Which isn't so much fun in the knitting process but is making a lovely soft fuzzy fabric.

Belladonna is still malingering in the work box.

I need to cast on a sweater for my daughter's school camp. Since I made a Sundara Aran Merino for my boy for this year's camp (they're going together) I think it only fair that my daughter get a Sundara sweater in a different colour way.

No sewing motivation at the moment. It is just to cold in Sydney and I have had very little time.
But four more school weeks to holidays.

Photos coming soon....

Week Eighty One

I have been sniffling through another cold this week and have not made very much progress on the Belladonna cardigan from last week. 

But there have been other distractions too... in particular a ten week old English Springer Spaniel has joined the family!

Her name is Toffee.

I received this Fibre Co Meadow yarn in the mail. I have been wanting a simple black (or charcoal grey) sweater so have immediately cast this on. It will make a good travelling project too, with easy rounds of stockinette stitch.

Week Eighty

Apologies- Another rushed blog post with iPhone pictures taken only a few minutes ago instead of proper images accumulated over the past week.

I have two finished projects and a "half-way" project to report.

Starry

I finished the Starry fingering weight cardigan. I'm very happy with it, it matches exactly the purchased black cardigan Ive been wearing so much over summer dresses. It will allow a bit more flexibility with some of the more summery-print dresses this coming Spring.

Yarn was Dream in Colour Starry in the colour Tokyo Creme.

I used about three and a half skeins (about 1,400m)

Rincleau

The next finished project is Rincleau. I'm thrilled with the colour but I'm not quite so happy with the fit. I think the yoke is a bit bigger and the armholes could have been brought up a bit.

The yarn is very springy and more length on the sleeves wouldn't have gone astray.

Yarn was Sundara Aran Silky Merino in the colour The Great Pacific. The photograph doesnt do the deep sapphire colour justice. My ravelry page has in progress photographs with better colour.

I alternated all skeins to blend the dye lot and I omitted the central panel of 'pine trees' as they didn't seem to be distinct enough with the softness of the yarn.

Belladonna

Thirdly I have pulled out a long time work in progress. This is Belladonna.

The pattern is Brigid from Vintage Modern Knits but I have modified it to add length and to continue the 4x4 ribbing throughout.

I have finished one sleeve and one front. I'm half way up the second sleeve and hope to be finished this in a couple of weeks. I am a bit disappointed in the variation in this dye lot. Half my skeins tend far more 'plum' than the other, despite being labelled the same. I am alternating from both batches but my sleeve is still slightly different to the front. I'm hoping that with the variation continued throughout and with button and neck banding the effect overall wont be as striking.

I'm trying to knit faster to see the end result.

No sewing projects on the horizon at the moment. Since being away the weekends have become too full and distracting. Plus next weekend promises more of the same when a new puppy arrives in the Doodlesknit household.

I will set up my camera for next weeks progress and make a resolution for better images.

Week Seventy Nine

A week of focussed effort and I have an almost finished cardigan. I still have to seam the sleeves and sew on buttons, but all the knitting is done.

The buttons are simple pearly plastic. There are 13 of them. (Better planning at the start would have set up a better spacing). But despite them looking a little yellow in the harsh morning sunlight, they seem like a good match.

I then told myself I would work only on in-progress projects and reduce their number. There's too much clutter around at the moment. So my Rincleau sweater is back on the needles. The yarn is Sundara Aran Silky merino in the limited edition colour The Great Pacific. I think I can finish it in the next couple of weeks. 

Despite all my good intentions for staying with unfinished projects though, a trip to the button shop inspired me to cast on another fingering weight cardigan. I am so happy with the Starry cardigan, and I wore its template, (a purchased black cardigan) a lot on holiday. I'm telling myself I'm entirely justified to cast on another lightweight cardigan for the wardrobe.

So.... these glass rose buttons came home with me and are a perfect match for this Sundara Fingering Merino Cashmere in a pale blue variegated "Icicles".

Then, still dreaming about starting new projects,  I have wanted to make a big Albers Shawl. I love the colours of the original Ann Weaver design, but I wanted a version which brought in some warmer colours.

At the Chicago Art Institute, I was inspired by the wonderful painting by Mark Rothko, named Untitled (Purple White and Red) and later on our holiday I bought some Jade Sapphire 2ply cashmere.

I wasn't happy with the purple cashmere skein on offer, but this deep blue tends to violet at least. I am keeping my eyes open and might see if there are other skeins around. I think the 'Moonstone' is beautiful against the 'Robe Royale' red. And the 'Black Walnut' is a cool brown, perfect for the frame colour. 

Week Seventy Eight

I'm back from the most exhilarating travel through the US. From Nashville, Savannah, Chicago Washington and New York.

I cast on a simple top down cardigan just before I left. Its fingering weight Dream in Colour, Starry in the colour "Tokyo Creme". It has silver thread running through the wool.

I made lots of progress, finished the body and got a long way down the first sleeve. The button bands are done in seed stitch and button holes with a single YO. I'm thinking about simple pearl buttons. 

One the flight home I knit another Polly cardigan for my daughter. It's such an easy and transportable little project. I could easily have completed it from start to finish on the way there during the Sydney to LA flight, but the flight on the way over was a bit bumpy and I got distracted and made a mistake on the back. I miscounted my rows and knit the 'right side' on the reverse side of the bottom frill. So I unravelled it right down to the first few rows and started again on the way home. 

I had a completed cardigan with me so I didn't need to measure.

This is Madelinetosh Vintage (two skeins) in the colour Grapefruit.

I fumbled a three needle bindoff for the shoulders in the airport lounge without enough needles. This was so I could knit the front band without delay.

I did the rest of the seaming at home and the button comes from stash.

This coming week is dominated by the kids going back to school, and returning the household to order.

I have reviewed all the in progress projects, including a few more than a year old. The next few weeks are going to be focussed on finishing up before I get dir-stracted by new yarn.

I shopped whilst away. (Of course). Both at Wild Fiber and The Frayed Knot in Savannah.

This beautiful Copper Corgi yarn came from The Frayed Knot. The pink "Piglet" colour is for my daughter. The single russet and purple skein is for a future wrap.

And I shopped at Purl Soho in New York. But I will save that update for the new post as my new yarn skeins need to be put side by side with some skeins from stash.