Yarn swappery

Check out my pretty yarn swap table.



We had a lovely time at the yarn swap, knitting was done, babies were played with, cake was eaten, and indeed, yarn was swapped.

I put in my 5 balls of Blacker Designs Cotswold Yarn and got out ...



Three balls of Louisa Harding Glisten which Jenny thought I could turn into something sparkly for Laurie.

And ...



Remember this? It's some Wensleydale Longwool which I bought back in 2007 and put into the swap last year. It was picked up by Ellen who knit a Selbu modern from the blue and white and brought the rest back this year. I think I might knit a little Sheep Yoke cardigan for Kate.

Talking of cardigans for Kate ...



Pattern: Sweater with set in sleeves from Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton (2 balls)
Needles: 3.25mm and 3.00mm
Modifications: As you might have noticed I turned it into a cardigan! And I knit the sleeves top-down.

At the swap I looked at what I'd knit so far and realised it would be much nicer as a cardigan than a sweater. Sadly by then I'd already sewn the shoulder seams and attached the arms. Luckily I have the skillz to deal with that. Ideally I should have done this at the swap with everyone chanting "steek! steek! steek!", instead I waited until everyone had left, put in four lines of reinforcing stitches using my sewing machine and then cut the steek.



[position of stitches marked by green and purple lines]

I cut the steek between the purple lines and then picked up stitches to knit the button bands to the left and right of the green lines.

Once I'd knit the button bands the stitches either side of the cut were looking a bit raggedy so I folded the edge of the steek under itself and stitched it down neatly.



The buttons (which are a great match) are from a little selection of grey and black buttons that I bought at the knitting and stitching show at Ally Pally back in 2005! Just goes to show that you can find a use for anything if you hang onto it for long enough.



Whilst getting yarn out of my swap for the stash I came across this.



It's a very nearly finished Trellis cardigan which I started in September 2007 and just never got around to finish seaming it and adding the collar. I think I was just put off by how lumpy the seams how curly the edges were looking (this was before I discovered the joys of steam and blocking) and gave up on it. Sadly it's a bit on the small side for Laurie now and far too big for Kate but I think I know a baby for whom it will be just right.