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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Is there anyone out there going to the Ravelry UK day on the 6th of June?  I’ll be going over with Sue from Cork and we’ll be there from Friday until Sunday and would love to meet up with (you don’t have to be from Cork!).  I’m looking forward to having an indulgent, yarn filled weekend.

Jen from Fyberspates will be there with a stall.  I just love her yarn – in fact my next design to be published is made from her Chunky Squisy Red and plums.  I’ve talked about this yarn before and really loved working with it.

Here is a photo of the finished piece, it’s great for in between weather (which we get a lot of here). 

I must get some modelled photos this weekend and finish the pdf and I’ll be able to get it up for sale.

I’ve called it Raspberry Layers.  It somehow seems quite fitting to me, with all of the variations of pinks and purples in the colors.  It’s knit starting at the center of the back with a provisional cast on.  You work across the back (with short rows to create the bottom flare), cast on stitches for the front and finish with some tidy short row sleeve caps.  I’ve used an interesting variation on garter st for the edging and decorative rows that uses slipped stitches, almost as easy as garter st but adds a lot of color variations in a variegated yarn.

I’m very lucky to have such a sweet niece to knit for.  I knit this gilet for her at Christmas, and you have to agree that it looks pretty sweet on her!  I had a hank of Colinette Prism with a wonderful varigated colorway and I was trying to figure out how to knit it.  I loved the way it knitted up from the side and once you added in some short row shaping it was so fun!

The addition of the fuschia pink was a fortunate accident.  I was using the pink to hold some stitches and really liked to way the two colors looked together so I unravelled the start and gave myself matching pink sleeves and sides.  Now maybe you don’t like contrasting color – then just knit it all in a single yarn.  If you perfer solid color you should be able to get gauge easily knitting two strands of dk weight yarn together.

If you want to see some more details take a look at ravelry.  I hope to have this for sale around the same time as Laced Leaves at the start of May.

If you want to be emailed when the pattern is released just let me know.

I’ve recently been purchasing several skeins of single yarns.  Each yarn is more beautiful than the last.

I think that my favourite of the lot that has arrived is Fyberspates ‘Squishy’.

It is a perfect name for what is really and truly a ’squishy’ yarn.  It is sitting on my desk for the last few days I think I have finally decided what I’ll do with it (it will however need several companions!)

Knitting and design work have been hectic over the last few weeks.  But of course they are all in secret so I can’t tell you about them yet.  It makes for very boring blog entries!

I hope I’m not the only knitter out there who gives knitted presents after Christmas!  I’m not usually this bad but when we were away for the holidays it meant that all gifts really had to be ready mid-December with the result that the time has a habit of sneaking up on you.  My other excuse was that I had ordered the perfect yarn that was delivered to my in-laws so I couldn’t knit it until after Christmas!

The yarn I ordered was Handpanted Yarn Colonia 140 in Mediterrane colour.  This has got such beautiful colours I think it was worth the wait!  I knitted it while I was sick so I wanted a fast simple pattern for the scarf and the drop stitch scarf pattern was just perfect.  It has the added advantage of looking like waves to match the colours!

I didn’t mean to become such a poor blogger over the holidays but the weeks just passed by without me noticing. We went to Florida for a few weeks to visit my husband’s family and the heat was lovely. What was less lovely was everyone getting sick. By now all six of us have been sick since a week before Christmas with everyone except one better by now. I hope you are all having a cold/flu free New Year.
On a positive note, I brought a bag of Debbie Bliss ‘Prima’ on holiday with me and I finished knitting a summer top. I love the way it turned out, I can’t share the photos with you yet as it will be published in a few months but hopefully you’ll like it too.
My ‘Pick ‘n Mix’ hat pattern that was almost finished before the holidays was put on hold with traveling and colds but I should have it up for sale tomorrow.

Hat A

Over the last few months I’ve been busy knitting hats for Christmas.  I’m finding it almost addictive.  I bought a couple of balls of Garnstudio ‘Eskimo’ a few months ago and think it is the best yarn for winter hats.  It is supersoft with no tickle and reasonably priced.  I think it would not be durable enough for a larger piece like a jumper but for hats it’s just right.  If you have any super bulky yarn that knits up to the same gauge you can easily substitute it also.

I started playing around with hats a little bit – all my hats for the last few months have been top down.  It’s a a fun way of doing it as you can decide on the size as you go and can try it on before you put the edging on to make sure it is the right size for you.  I used slip stitch colour patterns rather than fair isle knitting as they are so quick to do (and they can be used by even a beginner knitter without too much difficulty).

Hat B

I have put the hats together as a pattern, although it is really more of a booklet and called it Pick ‘n Mix.

The way it is laid out is as follows:

1. Choose your increase method

This hat is knitted form the top down so you must first decide on the type of increase that you want to use. Here are a few different examples that you can try to see which you like best – or if you have your own favorite by all means use it!

2. Choose your slip stitch pattern

Slip stitch patterns can give you the apparent complexity of intricate color work but with almost the same speed as knitting in plain stockinette st. Pick your pattern from the four below (Note: All slipped sts are slipped purl-wise and when knitting in the round the yarn is held at the back of work when stitches are slipped.)

3. Choose your hat edging

Details of the different edging methods are given in the pattern.

A: Ruffle edging

Nice and feminine.

B: Straight edging

Works well for male and female.

C: No edging

Creates a ‘pillbox’ hat effect.

Hat C

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Slip st pattern A : 18 [20, 22, 24] inches diameter

Slip st pattern B : 19.5 [21.75, 24, 26] inches diameter

Slip st pattern C and D: 18.6 [20, 22.6, 24] inches diameter

Yarn and Needles:

[MC] Garnstudio Eskimo [100% wool; 54 yd/50 m per 50g skein]; color: Light blue (shade 12); 1 [2, 2, 3] skeins

[CC] Garnstudio Eskimo [100% wool; 54 yd/50 m per 50g skein]; color: Light blue (shade 12); 1 [1, 1, 2] skeins

1 set US 13/9 mm double-pointed needles
16-inch/41 cm US 13/9 mm circular needle

Hat Tops

I haven’t been using my knitting machine over the summer but over the past few weeks I’ve put it into action again.  I have just finished a simple fitted cardigan for my mother made from Berroco ‘Memoirs’. 

This yarn feels so light but due to the mohair it is really warm.  My mother feels the cold so a good combination for layering!  However I’m not sure this is the best yarn for machine knitting – it is made from two strands together and even though I kept the tension fairly loose it has quite a tendancy to snag.  In fact I managed to twist on of the needles in the process and had to change it.

Even though the knitting itself was simple with just some waist shaping, I added a large shawl collar at the end by hand in a 1×1 ribbing.  I love shawl collars, I really need to knit a cardigan for myself now with  one!

With this cardigan I tried out a tubular cast on for the first time.  It seemed a bit fiddly starting out but I like the finished effect.  From the knitting book I got the description there was a suggestion for a non-elastic yarn like cotton to pull some elastic through when you are pulling out the provisional cast one by tying it to the end.  I would like to see how that worked – must find a project that it would be good for!

I’m so happyt to have found a project for this yarn.  I bought it on sale and haven’t been able to figure out for over a year what I wanted to do with it!  I think simple works best, between the color changes and the mohair any amount of detail would just have been lost!

I’ve recently developed a great love of buttons.  I find myself in local shops buying up buttons – sometimes to finish a project, other times because I think they might find inspiration. So now I own a box of buttons, plastic, wood, shell, bone (the boys think this one is great!), metal – but don’t have any glass.  I even now own a few diamante ones (for when you feel like that little bit of extra bling).

I was trying to be good about buying new yarn but couldn’t resist a few to try from Garnstudio.   I got few balls of Ice to make a lacey summer shrug (I am finding these so useful, some gorgeous rust coloured Paris (don’t know what this will be yet) and a ball each of Eskimo and Silk Alpaca.  I have a feeling I’ll be getting more of these.  This yarn seems really reasonable for the materials uses….may be seeing more of it!

Even though you wouldn’t know it from my blog I’ve been busy knitting – however as most of it has been for submissions I haven’t been able to blog about it!

I finished the project with the top down short row sleeve caps.  I’m very pleased with how it has turned out, I think it is an easier way of doing sleeve caps than trying to sew them in.  I also love to knit sleeves top down as you know that they will be just the right length.  Hopefully I can publish the pattern here or elsewhere in the next few months.

As I can’t show any current projects I thought I’d dig out a few ones that I worked on last year but never put the photos up.

I made this Urchin for my sister last Christmas from Jaeger Natural Fleece.  This yarn was wonderful for the project and I loved this colour.  However I also used this yarn in navy to make a jumper for my husband.  This in itself wasn’t a great idea as he never wears jumpers but it ended up so heavy that it has been renamed his ‘horse-blanket’.  However I think I may borrow it for really, really cold days!

Speaking of the weather, the summer has finally arrived here.  We went to Jamesfort in Kinsale over our long holiday weekend and it was so perfect.