Normally in our house we just have one dog Kenny…given how large he is that is more than enough. The boys adore him so much, he is regularly used as a cushion/piece of furniture for reading on. Apparently he seems to enjoy this, I think he likes all the attention.

Over the last few weeks my brother has been traveling a lot. His dog Molly has been here for about a month now and they are so cute together. It is fun to go out a feed two little black heads in the morning. I think we’ll all miss her when she goes home.

Kenny

Molly

This picture of the dogs playing in our local woods is from last year.  A couple of weeks go we went down there to go for a walk but couldn’t get in.  The woods is accessed by a wooden bridge but it was washed away by the floods this winter.  I really hope that it gets rebuild, they are just perfect for Sunday walks and only 10 minutes drive from our house.

I wanted to thank anyone who bought Captiva Wrap over the last few weeks , donations from the sales came to $154 which I was very happy to send to MSF this morning.  I am very glad to be able to send a little more.

I seem to be juggling a lot of different projects at the moment, all at different stages.  I send off another secret project last week, however I think I might start a new version of it for myself with some cascade eco + I have here from last year.  It is a lovely deep purple, it would be wonderful for everyday wear but I think too dark to photograph well.  I wish I got more time to knit for myself, I am almost afraid to wear anything I do finish on the off chance that I might need it for display!  I think that it’s about time my knits got a bit more wearing.

Before Christmas I finished a lightweight sweater for my sister.  She recently returned to office work and was looking for a stylish lightweight top for everyday wear.  I know that she loves turquoise and I found the most perfect shade of Turquoise in Cascade Heritage sock yarn.

I know it is knit in sock yarn…BUT it is at a loose gauge (for lovely stretch and drape) and the 36 inch size takes just under 3 skeins.  Not a bad price for a new sweater!

It is knit in one piece (body knit from the hem up), with set-in sleeves knit from the top down in the round after the body if finished.  Lots of fun and not too complex so a good one for knitting on the go.

It will be a couple more weeks before we finish the final layout but it has been tech edited so it is getting close to being ready to release.

The preview for Interweave Spring 2010 is up!  I’ve got a hooded tunic ‘Braided Hood Tunic’ in this issue.  You can find it on ravelry here.  This top was knit in the round from the bottom up.  It starts with a wide hip band, is gently shaped at the waist (the shaping curves the outer cables inwards), then it splits for the armholes and front and back are worked separately.  The shoulders are finished with short row shaping and joined with a 3-needle bind off.  The hood is continued up from there and the top is shaped using short rows which allows the central back cable to continue right to the top.  So there is absolutely no seaming that needs to be done on this piece.

I’ve got a couple of photos that we took before I sent it off to IW.  It was last September and as I was wearing it without a shirt I’m looking a little purple!  This yarn is so super soft, it is 55% wool and 45% cotton but it really feels like wearing cotton.  I can’t wear most wool directly next to my skin but I had absolutely no problem with this yarn.  The top became named ‘Cobra’ in our house – I think it’s a good name for it!

I saw someone on ravelry say that they would like the add sleeves, I think that this would be fun to do.  If I was doing it I would go with my favorite method of working a short row sleeve cap from the top down.  Maybe even running the main central cable down the top of the sleeve and ending with a very wide cuff of moss st to match the edging.  You may also want to reduce the width at the shoulders (decrease a little more at the armhole) so that the top of your sleeves was set a little further in.

Thanks to everyone who helped me naming this wrap.

I’ve just finished uploading the pattern and have named it Captiva Wrap thanks to Frances who suggested it on my blog.  I also loved the name Juno, suggested by Kelly, but there several patterns by the name of Juno on ravelry.  Juno was extra fitting as for Christmas (when it was knit) I bought the soundtrack to the film Juno for my husband and that was what we listened to in the car (for anyone who has this soundtrack, ‘The Bee song”. named by my 3 year old, was a favorite and was on constant rotation).

Captiva Wrap

$5.95
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Following the gentle curve of a wave this wrap has a delicate scalloped lace edging.  Worked from side to side short row shaping forms a gentle curve and tapers to a tail making it wonderful for staying in place over your shoulder. The lace edging is worked with the body of the wrap so it is all worked in one piece.

SIZE

Width at top of wrap: 35 [39] inches/89 [99] cm

Width at base if wrap: 65 [75] inches/165 [190] cm

Length: 18 [18] inches / 46 [46] cm.

MATERIALS

Fyberspates DK Scrumptious (45% silk, 55% Merino; 241yd/220m per 100g skein); color: Water; 2 [3] skeins.

1 US 9/5.5mm circular needle, 24-inch/60 cm length.

Tapestry needle; stitch markers.

GAUGE

Gauge is given for after blocking.  Exact gauge is not critical for this project as the  width is easily changed by adding/removing extra segments.

14sts/30 rows = 4″/10cm in garter stitch on US 9/5.5mm needles

I wanted to thank everyone who has submitted a name for me, I’m still looking through them and trying to decide.  If anyone else wants to submit ideas keep going – I’ll make my decison tomorrow.

I’m having a really great time reading through all the ideas, some great ones in there!

The wrap that I knit at Christmas when I was in holiday is Florida is almost ready to release.  The charts are done, it has been tech edited and we are working on the final layout.  However I am having a hard time with a name.  While I was working on it I always described it as my ‘Wave Wrap’ or the ‘Scalloped Wave wrap’ but somehow they don’t fully convey the feel of the wrap.

If you want to give a go at naming the wrap I’ll love some suggestions, and if I choose your name I’ll send a copy of the final pattern pdf to you when it is releases (hopefully this weekend!).

Here are some photos of the wrap:

A couple of weeks ago I pledged 50% of pattern sales for MSF until the end of January.  This morning I added up the amount I made a donation of $801 to MSF.

Thank you.

Thank you to every knitter who helped to do this, you are such a generous bunch!  I know that many other designers feel this way also, as it it so much more than I would have been ever have been able to donate on a personal level.  I really can’t thank all of you generous knitters out there enough.

Since the start of the month all the UK knit classes are up for sale at

http://www.britishyarn.org.uk/

I’m so  looking forward to teaching at this camp, I’ll be teaching two full day classes and two half day classes and you can find them all here.  To book them you need to go to here and can book them by day.  So go check them out!

I’ve just published my first pair of socks on Ravelry – Casadh.

I have been playing with this stitch pattern for quite a while before I reached my final version.  The first time they were toe up socks in stripes for my 6 year old.  While they were cute the stripes didn’t really add to the design (and the combination of cables and a short row heel was tight to get on) I wanted to keep working on the the pattern.

I redesigned it to be cuff down and  knit a version for my husband.  Second time round I really like how they work.  The cabling is interesting enough to keep you alert but not too taxing!

The brown version was knit by my friend Sue for  her husband, I just love the color of the Krafty Koala yarn.

Casadh

€5.00

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Until the end of January I am donating 50% of sales from Centrique ALL Stolen Stitches patterns directly to relief for the Haiti earthquake.  There are also many other designers on Ravelry doing the same so take a look at the new ‘Help for Haiti’ filter on Ravelry at the top of the pattern page.