Sprig driving gloves

I've been trying to start the year with a little preemptive destashing - I'm knitting up the leftover balls from the Sheep Yoke cardigan before I even get them home into the stash.

Sprig driving gloves





Yarn: British Breeds Yarns Blue Faced Leicester DK (just under 1 skein in Sage)
Needles: 3.25mm dpns

OK, they're not really gloves, not even really mitts - lets call them mittlets! But they are rather cute. For some reason I was getting a very vintage vibe from this shade of green - I kept seeing it against very red nails or lipstick. I think it's because Joan Allen has a headscarf in this colour in Pleasantville. Anyway I wanted something a little bit glam and the wrist strap and pearl button really do that for me. The design's not quite perfected but I'll put in some work on it when I get home and hopefully have something written up before too long.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year everyone - I hope it's fabulous for you all!

The New Year got off to a good start round here. I (fingers crossed) managed to book Felix and I into the classes we wanted to attend for Knit Camp 2010 yesterday evening - after a false start yesterday morning due to a confusion between a.m. and p.m. Still it's not like a wanted a lie-in after New Year's Eve! I even managed my first FO of 2010.

Glysse neckwarmer



[not really a great detailed picture of the item in question but it's a lovely shot of my new coat, and of the little birdy brooch which Kate sent me for Christmas!]



[that's more like it]

Yarn: British Breeds Yarns Bluefaced Leicester DK (just short of one skein in Lilac)
Needles: 3.75mm long circular needle (magic loop)
Gauge: 24 sts and 32 rows in pattern.

It's not really enough of a pattern to write up at the moment but I've got some idea for it and if it works out I'll write up a pattern then.

In the meantime I've been knitting a pair of rather sweet little driving mitts. These just need a little pearly button and a right hand friend to be done.



Can you tell I'm a little bit obsessed with this two stitch cable on stocking stitch pattern? I'm really keen on incorporating it into an adult sweater based on Cirrus.

Christmas knitting round-up

Now that all the chocolates are eaten and the remainder of the turkey is frozen I can take a moment out from the non-stop consumption that's been going on around here to catch you up on the knitting (I occasionally put down my knife and fork for long enough to pick up the needles).

We have, in order of completion:

Cashmere little pyramid scarf.



This is the perfect scarf for anyone who has a relative who wants a plain, flat scarf, but who doesn't want to be bored out of their minds whilst knitting it. The equal numbers of knit and purl stitches mean that it's perfectly balanced and it blocks a treat. Lesley's Devon cashmere yarn is deliciously soft and just gets softer with age and wear - I knit my sister (who is modelling the scarf here) one of these two years ago and this year she commissioned one for her sister-in-law. You can get a little scarf that will wrap once around the neck (with knot) or twice (without) from just two skeins of cashmere 4-ply

Stitch pattern: Little Pyramid from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker
Needles: 3mm
Yarn: Devon Fine Fibres cashmere yarn (2 skeins)
Ravelled: here
Recipient: Jane (my sister's sister-in-law)

Sheep Yoke baby Cardigan by Jen Little



This the the fourth of these that I've knit. I rang the changes a bit by knitting the sheep in stocking stitch (not an entirely successful idea) for than in garter stitch and putting in a fence for the sheep. I added about 4 extra rows and 16 extra stitches to the yoke so that it would fit a two year old. The fit was pretty good although I did forget that Laurie would be wearing long sleeves underneath it so it's a tiny bit tighter in the arms than desired. Anyhow, the parents like it (which is the main thing and Laurie, when asked what was on her cardigan, said "sheep" and "Lizzy cardigan" which was rather gratifying*.

Pattern: Sheep Yoke baby cardigan
Needles: 3.75mm circular
Yarn: British Breeds Yarns Blue Faced Leicester DK in Natural (2.5 balls), Denim (0.5 balls), Sage (0.5 balls), Sienna (0.5 balls), Lilac (0.5 balls)
Ravelled: here
Recipient: Laurie (niece)

Stripey mittens for baby Joshua



A quick knit for Christmas night. Just about finished in time to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousins (including my new baby first cousin once removed) on Boxing Day. These make a very neat and pleasing last minute gift!

Pattern: Djevel mittens by Sigurlaug Eva Stefansdottir**
Needles: 3mm
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft 4-ply
Mods: Worked over 28 sts rather than 32 to make newborn size.
Recipient: Joshua (baby cousin)
Ravelled: here

Cirrus sweater for baby Joshua



I was so happy when my cousin produced a little baby boy for whom I could knit this lovely sweater designed by the very talented Katie (longtime Bluestocking). Again this is a very quick knit (two evenings at most). Knitters will like the subtle stitch pattern and cunning colour changes at the yoke and mums (and dads) will like the button placket at the shoulder - so much easier to get over baby's noggin!

Pattern: Cirrus by Katie Hanrott from Petite Purls
Needles: 3.75mm
Yarn: British Breeds Yarns Blue Faced Leicester DK in Natural (just under 1 ball), Denim (just under 1 ball)
Recipient: Joshua
Modifications: I accidentally carried the garter stitch edging of the bottom tabs all the way up the sides of the sweater (oopsie!). Still it give the sweater a nice tunic-y look I think!
Ravelled: here

* she has also (completely unprompted) asked "where Lizzy knitting?" on one of the rare occasions when I didn't have needles and yarn in hand.

** check out her patterns - I love the Nemo mittens!

Odds and ends

The bad thing about knitting a colourwork project is that you always have a bunch of half balls left over. Conversely the good thing about knitting a colourwork project is that you always have a bunch of half balls left over. I find myself in this position now after completing the Sheep Yoke baby cardigan. There are two strategies for dealing with this situation.

1) Buy a little bit more of the main colour and knit a second one of whatever it was.
2) Knit another project which uses a bit more of the contrast colours and a bit less of the main colour.

Having tried option 1 before, this time I went with option number 2 - introducing the stripey yoked baby cardigan.



I really like the pink, blue, brown, and green stripes together - in fact a few colours more and I'd have a tube line cardigan.

Seasonal knitting

Looks like the weather got the memo about it being September. It's turned pretty wild, wet, and woolly outside - I barely dodged one huge rain shower catching the train to the Sticks and String group in Reading last night. It's been ages since I visited and it was really nice to see Ruth, Judith, Gabrielle, Mark, and of course the lovely Felix (who gave me yarn!).

What with the weather being on the chilly side by the time I left it was good that I'd just started working on the warmest little baby cardigan so at least my fingers were cosy whilst waiting for trains and buses.

It's another Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigan by Jen Little which I'm knitting as a 2nd birthday commission for one of Laurie's little friends (whose mum happens to be one of my sister's big friends).



The yarn is Blue Faced Leicester worsted spun DK from the Yorkshire based British Breeds Yarns. Their DK and aran weight yarns come in a range of 20 colours. The colours I chose are Natural (undyed), Denim (blue), Sage (green), Pink Rose, and Sienna (brown - not shown). I hadn't quite finished the swatch yesterday so I took along the green and pink yarn just to show the other knitters and it was lucky that I did. By the time I got home I was onto the SHEEP! I had forgotten how quickly this pattern races along.



Although I'm knitting for a two-year-old I'm currently knitting as per pattern but with a larger gauge. My swatch says that this should leave me (or rather my cardigan) with around a 25" chest which really should be ample but I've always got the option of adding in some extra yoke increases before splitting for the arms if I think it looks a bit on the small size. Apparently Laurie (who is a couple of months younger than the recipient) still just about fits into her 6-9 month sized one so I'm not too worried.

Just a word about British Breeds Yarns. They're a small company based in Yorkshire who sell natural coloured and dyed yarns in DK, aran, and Guernsey weight. Their range of natural coloured yarns includes Herdwick (light and dark grey), Jacob (in cream, grey, and marled), Suffolk Grey, Swaledale, and Blue Faced Leicester. They're not quite fully set up for online ordering by credit card so the payment is made by telephone but once the payment has been confirmed they're very swift to send out orders. My yarn arrived with me the morning after I made the payment! I was really pleased to find a supplier of British breeds wool with such a good colour range as this project (a colourwork commission to be given as a birthday gift for a baby) was my first big challenge in my attempt to knit only in British wool (or from stash) this year.