FO Friday

 Peerie Flooers Hat 
I knit the mittens a few months ago now, and the yarn was sitting, waiting patiently to be turned into a hat. I am happy with it - tension a bit off in some places, but it felt good to get it done with!

 Joris
I bought this as a kit while I was in Amsterdam - I fell in love with the display model they had and had to have it.  It is the first, and probably last toy I will ever knit.  It resides on a shelf far away from grubby little fingers and will eventually be moved onto a craft table (whenever I get one...).  I love the back of his head, so colourful!

 I have also been doing some sewing!  I've not used my machine for months, but when the urge to sew hit, I went a bit crazy.  I have so far sewed 5 box bags, and 4 zip pouches.  I am wanting to do more, but need to get more interfacing first!

 I am very pleased with them, and I can now sew in a straight line!  I made up the pattern for the zip pouch, though I did read a few different ones first but none of them were easy or quick, whereas it takes me 15 minutes to do one, from ironing fabric to closing the zip.

I cannot remember the pattern I used for the box bag, but I stuck pretty rigidly to it and went from taking 2.5 hours to sew one, to just under an hour!

That's it for today, to read more FO Fridays go to Tamis Amis.

WIP Wednesday

Only one thing going on this week.  Well, only 1 thing I can show you, I have lot's of other things but no photos!

This hat is for Jitterbug.  The yarn I purchased at Unravel earlier this year, and is lovely!

Which reminds me - I have yet to show you the acquisitions from my trip to Amsterdam.  I bought a lot.  'Nuff said.  I bought from two shops, Penelope Craft and Weldraad.  My step mother-in-law had emailed me about Weldraad when it first opened, so we visited.  The place is amazing - the website says that in the store you will find a collection of yarns, fabrics and buttons which are produced as eco-friendly as possible (it's in Dutch).  The man working when we went in knew his stuff.  Really knew his stuff - he told us all about the fabrics they sell, all the fibres and yarns.  It is a must visit for anyone visiting Amsterdam!  Penelope Craft was delightful as usual - very helpful and let me browse in peace!  Another must visit, and they also sell yarns that you can't get in the UK (or can't get without going to London).

 Weldraad Baby Alpaca

 Madelinetosh Sock

 Weldraad Baby Alpaca

 Madeline Tosh Merino Light

 GGH Baby Alpaka

 Madeline Tosh Merino Light

 Cascade Lace

 Malabrigo Lace

Malabrigo Sock

 Joris toy kit from Weldraad

 Cascade Eco+

 Cascade Eco+

 Holst Garn Supersoft

  Holst Garn Supersoft

  Holst Garn Supersoft

  Holst Garn Supersoft

  Holst Garn Supersoft

  Holst Garn Supersoft

  Holst Garn Supersoft

GGH Baby Alpaka

 Weldraad Baby Alpaca

It would appear me and yarn diets just weren't meant to be!

For more WIP Wednesdays, visit Tamis Amis

FO Friday

While in Amsterdam, I managed to finish two hats!

Project: Reversible Smocked Hat
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl Ten
Notions: 5mm circular needle, cardboard for pom-pom!

 I love Elisa McLaughlins designs!  This one initially attracted me because of the smocked side, but when I completed it I decided that it looked too fussy, and so I will be wearing it on the reverse side!  It's not as long as pattern dictates, but I'm not a huge fan of slouchy winter hats, and I'd imagine this one will stretch out with use anyway.

Towards the end of the trip, I decided to knit a hat for my sister - she is always asking me to knit things for her, and thought this would make a good get well present.

Project: Cloche Divine
Yarn: Weldraad Alpaca Fino
Notions: 5mm needles

I love this hat.  Probably could have been doing with being knitted on smaller needles and knitting the larger size, which I may well do if I knit one for myself.  I am not happy with how the short row pickups look, it looks very clumsy and messy, which I think could have been sorted by knitting at a smaller gauge, but never mind, I am sure she will love it regardless!

 The only problem I have with knitting me one is that it doesn't sit too well with my glasses, so I'd need to wear it without glasses, which is guaranteed to freak the children out!

Over all, very pleased with my two finished objects!  

PS I just noticed I have used the exact same poses in the same order for both these hats!  Think I need to work on some new camera angles!

FO Friday is hosted by Tami at Tamis Amis.

FO Friday

Yet again another week has flown by!

The project today has stole my heart.  I simply cannot stop looking at it.  I am in love with it, and with the style it is knit it.  If you don't know anything about Bohus knitting, but you like fair isle, you should get a hold of this book, Poems of Colour.  I now want to knit my way through most of the hat kits Solveig (click on Bohus Stickning) puts together!

On to the main event though.  Drum roll please!

I give you Wild Apple.

I first fell in love with this pattern years ago.  How could anyone not love it?  My ambition is to knit the sweater, but that is way above my attention-span right now!

There are of course mistakes, but I'm not even going to point them out.  That's how much I adore this hat!

I knit the second size up I think, casting on 180 stitches on 2mm needles.  Holy cow was that daunting!  I probably could have been doing with knitting on 1.75mm given my loose knitting, as I knit the size a bit smaller than my head circumference after doing a gauge swatch on the 2mm.   Yes, that's right.  I totally swatched!  I swatched in 4 different sizes!

Trying to capture the magnificent halo given by the merino/angora yarn is pretty impossible, but you can see all the fluffy hairs sticking out here.  The yarn is utterly soft and after wearing the hat every evening for a week, just because I needed to wear it, I can confirm it does not itch my head at all.

I absolutely adore the shape - I prefer hats to really cover my ears and forehead, and as you can see this hat fits the bill perfectly.  There is a garter stitch band that folds up inside the hat which makes it even more snug.

It is the first hat that my husband has said he is  impressed with, and he even looked genuinely excited when I finished it.  I had expected it to take me a long time to finish, but it took 12 days in the end.

Now, what Bohus kit to ask for this year....

FO Fridays are hosted by Tami

WIP Wednesday

Some readers may remember my mentioning a Bohus hat kit a few months ago.  

I received this kit for my birthday last year, and practised Fair Isle furiously until I felt comfortable with floats and two colours.  I finally started this a week or so ago.

Bohus is not for the faint hearted - 4 colours in one row in this hat, and that is not the most ever found in Bohus patterns!

 But look at it.  Isn't it just spectacular?

Words fail me when trying to describe it, so I won't.

I also have another less colourful WIP which has been left sitting unloved since I started the hat.

Different Lines

I may also have been yarn shopping recently....

 Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl Ten, 3 skeins

Drops Lace in Red, 2 skeins.

Whoops.

Visit Tamis Amis for more WIP Wednesdays!

FO Friday

Again, I am lacking on the blog posts, but I am hoping to rectify that this weekend!

Today though, I have an FO to show you.  I started and finished this one evening this week as a way to use up some stash yarn.

I am not entirely convinced it suits me!  I knit a hat that would go with a purple coat I've had  for a few years now, but which never gets worn in really cold weather due to lack of matching accessories!

Project: Capucine
1.1 balls Sirdar Peru Naturals in Machu Picchu, 5.5mm needles.

As far as easy quick knits go, you can't get much easier or quicker than this!  It was also the first time I made tassels.  I wasn't sure to add them or not, but it weighs the hat down nicely.  The yarn has been in my stash for almost 4 years now, and I am so glad it finally got used - I have knit with this before but in a different colourway.  I didn't want a hat that sat on my forehead as it's quite scratchy, but it is very warm.

I am getting so much enjoyment out of doing these quick knits - the big projects were really dragging me down, but I'm feeling more motivated when I take a day or 2 each week to do something else, so I think this is the way to go from now on.

I am very excited about next weeks FO Friday, I almost finished something I think I will love forever!

Be sure to check out more FO Fridays over at Tamis