Year of projects - 17.11.13

It's done!  My Miranda jumper, finally finished, ends sewn in and sort-of-blocked, (the blocking was a bit of a disaster, as with the weather getting colder and living in a house with no central-heating it just wouldn't dry, so I gave up trying and just dried it without stretching.)

I am pleased with the finished sweater and am planning on taking it out on it's first night out this evening!

The hood is plenty big enough, I have a huge head and lots of hair, so I made sure I added some more to the mix when measuring against the pattern.  I did the same with the length as I can't stand a jumper which you have to keep pulling down...apart from that and my 'make-it-up-as-you-go-along method' of widening the cable section, its pretty much as the pattern says.

I used some nice Rowan Silky Tweed in Bolero, size 5mm circ needles and off I went.

 

(I am standing on my piano stool to try and see myself in the mirror!)

 

I'm quickly onto the next project...no dilly-dallying as this is a gift that needs to be done this week.  It is Clapo-Ktus which is knitting up a storm (now that I understand what I have to do!).  This will hopefully be done in the next few days and then I'm slightly off-piste with some Christmas knitting....I think I may be off-piste a while!

Last, but not to least, my little give-away from last week.

The winner is Lily Razz

I'll  email you now so I can pop your goodies in the post!

To catch up with my fellow YOP-ers, check out the ravelry page here.

Year of projects - 10.11.13

So don't fall off your chair, but I might just have pulled off two weeks in a row (although that does actually depend on me pressing publish!)

This first picture is a ravelry pattern which I thought would make a good gift for a friend who has just had a baby boy.  (I've looked through all the patterns on ravelry and for some weird reason, none of them look familiar so I'm not sure which one I used!)  I made it with two different yarns, Picasso by Robin and Sirdar Click both at a bulky weight, so the finished blanket was quite heavy, I'm not sure if this would make a better floor mat for that reason.  I've wanted to make a star since seeing the beautiful one made on HillyTownBlue probably over a year ago.  Mine didn't end up growing that big and I think I maybe didn't count carefully as it didn't sit as well as it might have.....

I  hoped my Miranda would have been finished this week, but  I  have still not been able to cast on for the hood.....but I am getting there.....maybe next week.

Well this week, as I told you  last Sunday, my friend and I went to Christmas Crafts at the NEC in Birmingham.  I was lucky enough to win tickets from Sarah at Crafts from the Cwtch

 

 There was plenty to see, do and to spend your pennies on.  We tried our hands at some Decopatch and also Fimo modelling.  We also spent ages rifling through this huge pile of reduced wool  at one stall, it would have been tempting to just launch yourself in, but I restrained myself!

 

So I bought..........some yarn, some bags of ribbon, some decopatch bits and bobs (see the big ram's head?) a rainbow quilt starter set from Dickory Dock Designs (a lovely stall with so many colourful fabriccy things for kids), some paper strips to make 3-D stars for the Christmas tree, some embossing inks and powders...oh, and lots of inspiration (which was free!)

(My friend's fimo creations left, mine right)

The fimo tutorial was brilliant, I learnt a few techniques which were just genius and I brought my little stash of things home and baked them in the oven.

Anyway, I know this post has been a little off track, but wanted to share my lovely day with you all....I know that some of the makes that I show off in future will have been inspired by this day out.

I felt quite christmassy seeing all the festive ideas around me, so I thought I would put together a couple of things to offer as a giveaway on my blog. 

So here you are, if you would like to have a chance to win the above Scandinavian Christmas 3-D Star Kit (plus a few extra bits to inspire you, hopefully), then leave a comment below.  I'm not worrying about where it gets posted to, so go right ahead and add your name to the hat, why don't you!

To see other Year of Project work, check out the Ravelry page here.

Year of projects - 03.11.13

So if I just sneak in at the back, quietly and not make too much of a scene d'you think anyone will realise I've not updated my year of projects progress for....uuummmmm....six weeks.......

Somewhere along the line I have a three/four post cork which is stopping progress.  I have a post about the long-gone summer, two posts at least about Austria and then one about our walking adventures...but it can't go on, and I have to get back on track...I hope to get them done in the next week (or ten!)

So onto all things YOP.  I have finally got around to blocking my New Beginnings shawl by the brilliant Boo Knits.  I started this shawl while we were on holiday in Austria...this is the one that I posed with on the glacier at Grossglockner...(to answer the question, it was totally posed...if I had actually sat there to knit I think my hubby would have had a huge melt down!)

 

This is a beautiful shawl, I used a lace weight yarn that I bought at Wonderwool last year.  The colours are gorgeous and although would probably make most think of the ocean (especially with the ripple waves) for me it reminds me of the melted glacier waters in Austria.

I did buy beads to add on in the end rows, but decided near the end to leave them out and do the alternative straight edge.  I love my Quite Continental shawl with the beaded edge but I wanted something simpler this time.

While I've been putting off blocking the shawl, I have joined a KAL for Josee Paquin's Miranda sweater I was lucky to buy some Rowan silk-mix yarn from a clearance bin online and away I went.  Its a top down in the round sweater and when I get to it, it will be hooded also. 

Its a great knit so far, although I haven't understood the increases during the cable section, so have decided to do it my own way (which could actually be the way you are supposed to do it, but I'm being blonde!)

So there we have it....this is a little bit of the goings on....... with the sudden downturn in the temps and the wind and rain, I'm seeing some more woolly things down the road.  This week I am going to Birmingham NEC to the Christmas Craft Show after being a lucky winner of a pair of tickets from Sarah Crafts from the Cwtch I am hoping to come back with lots of inspiration and maybe a small pressie, as it has been far too long since there was such a thing around these parts.

I expect everyone is doing a somewhat better job of keeping up to date than me...check out there stories here.