Rikke hat

This hat was knitted as a gift to my sister. I had a wonderful visit in Kansas last October after the Rhinebeck experience and promised her a woolly hat in dark blue. I went for a simple stylish design, all knitted in garter stitch in the round. The style is slouchy which I find appealing.  I really like the smooth transition from the brim to the main body- you just change the needle size. The pattern is free as well .

I used the yarn that was left from my Cria cardigan. I just can't resist that blue.

If I was to knit the hat again I would make the body shorter by 3-4 cm as the garter do stretch and this hat is super slouchy. I skyped my sister and she was fine with the slouchiness :)

It is now travelling over the pond, cant wait to see it on my dear little sis  :)

What's on my needles ?

All pieces finished blocking and patiently awaiting assembly.. I think I'll just manage to squeeze another cardi in 2012 :)

Orkney is done !

Here is my Orkney all finished at last. I am really taken with this one. The colours are bold and I would not have thought of putting them together but it is definitely working together and I just love , love those happy splashes of yellow . I think the designer Marrie Wallen excelled here - its my favourite design out of the Rowan 52 magazine .

I have posted about my (slow) progress here and here.

I have changed some of the colours mainly the yellow felted tweeds  to achieve a brighter colour, so used three strands of yellow kidsilk haze type I had in my stash (not rowan). I've also knitted longer the body (added about 5-6cm to the length) since It seemed to me the one on the model looked longer from what stated in the pattern. I also blocked to achieve slight waist shaping.

Here are few photos just before heading to Salisbury Xmas market today. It was bitterly cold but this cardigan felt very wintry and xmas-ey.

The shawl is Erato for those who are interested, made with a gorgeous mink yarn I received as part of the knitspot yarn club.
The beaded hat is one of Kim Hargreaves .

I feel real proud with my Orkney, it was a lot of work but definitely worth it..Happy knitting !

Hazy Orkney - progress report

I'm not a fast fair isle knitter . I knit the continental way with the yarn held in my left hand. I have tried knitting with two colours at once both held in my left hand but it just did not work. At this moment I'm almost done with the second sleeve but already seamed the shouldered on the back and two front.

I suppose most knitters will make the neck and buttons band when all pieces are done but I'm too impatient, I just want to have an image of the finished product to inspire me to continue and knit further. so here the back and two fronts are first blocked . I am stopping and weaving the ends every 10 cm or so just to keep sane . There is no way I can face weaving hundreds of ends at the end..

 All looks pretty the way it should . I have picked up and knitted the ribbed neck band- not a problem.
And then started a big pig of a job- the facings. I mean this was one of the features that attracted me- the fact that there is no visible button bands but be warned, really is hard work. The first button band went OK and was sewn by slip stitch to the inside and some nice green ceramic buttons were attached to the outside with a counterbalance small vintage mother of pearl in the inside.

I painstakingly knitted the button hole facing to correspond to the button holes created on the front- all done whilst slip stitching the facing on the front. At this stage my green buttons fitted beautifully through the button holes. Then it was time to re-enforce the button holes and I've done it with the same yarn -rowan felted tweed.

If you look closely you should see two re-enforced button holes in the photo below. Having difficulties spotting them ? so do I ! They become so small I had to rip all my lovely green buttons away and go and look for some coconut shell  small ones .

Any way its all done and my sleeveless Orkney is waiting for its sleeves which  by the way are different in their fair isle pattern and have some really striking  bright yellow snow flakes..just wait and see , not long now :)

New Beginnings in New York

New beginning shawl was my chosen travelling project in New York. I cast on a day before the flight , knitted enough rows to establish edges and spine and all was packed neatly with my bamboo circulars in my hand luggage straight through Heathrow Security- no questions asked. The needles were clicking (well not really , remember bamboo ?) during take off and most of the flight. The project grew mainly in the small hours of the mornings when I could not sleep, in Starbucks coffee breaks and in Kansas where I was visiting little sis.

The pattern is part of the love collection by Boo knits. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn but I don't like wearing large shawls, so knitted it with a the wonderfuly soft Orkney Angora 4 ply in light grey. The yarn was purchased in the summer when holidaying in the Jurassic coast . If you are ever in Bridport go and have a look at this yarn shop. It is a really little knitterly heaven .

The pattern is easy but still interesting. The feather and fan lace repeats grow and become  more pronounced towards the edges. There are wavy stripes of reverse knitting which I love.

I chose a simple garter edging but there is other lacy choice with beading.

Just lovely ! :) 

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Rhinebeck !

I'm back in UK , only just escaping hurricane Sandy. Our virgin flight from JFK airport on Sunday night took longer as the pilot manoeuvred the plane up north away from the storm . The next Monday morning about 14000 flights were cancelled so I consider myself very fortunate indeed. Well ,except that my suitcase and all the yarn inside it went missing. Yep, it is resting somewhere in a power cut JFK airport waiting for flights to resume..




Nothing could be different just a week or so before . We arrived to New York City on Saturday evening and immediately there and then I was in awe of the scenes and the sights .

This was the view from my hotel's room window. Can you see the Empire state building? amazing !

I could not ask for a lovelier weather- blue skies and a warm bright sun, all enhancing those beautiful fall colours along the way to Rhinbeck.

I was with a group of four ladies of which company I enjoyed immensely. They are all strong characters with a common interest-knitting and yarn.

I did not take much photos of the stalls inside- I was just too eager to absorb all those yarn fumes :)

Here we are somewhat tired but ever so happy- waiting for the shuttle bus to the train station.

 

Back to the hotel we emptied our bags, had a show and tell and argued who was the biggest spender..I think I got the 2nd price ;-)

 

I think my most prised purchase is those knitting needles, handmade glass with a lifetime repair guarantee - no questions asked. In my opinion they are the most beautiful needles I've ever seen. Sadly they are still in New york ..

 

The next few days in New york city were dedicted to visiting some beautiful yarn shops , but that part  is for another post. Good night ! :-)

Hazy Orkney in progress

One beautiful fair isle cardigan stood out from Rowan magazine 52 . I knew I had in stash most of the felted tweed colours so immediately cast on the back, finished the rib, knitted few more rows and then encountered a slight problem- Celadon ,a greenish colour was missing and was only found couple of months later on. I find it really irritating when a magazine comes out but the yarn is not available. Why to publish the magazine then?

I have also a huge stash of kidsilk haze so when appropriate I paired it with the felted tweed. The result fabric is richer and there is a bit of halo caused by the mohair.

This is how it looks in the mag. My mods so far- I lengthen the body to look more like the length on the model.

 Back is done and one front. I contemplated of doing some waist shaping but did not bother- I may live to regret this decision.

Gorgeous isn't it ?!!

Cinnamon !

My Cinnamon is done :). It is a top class knitting piece.

I thought I'll let the photos do the talking..

I'll be in Rhinbeck soon with four lovely knitting ladies. Then will do a serioius yarn crawl in New York. This is a dream come true and I'm soooo so excited :) can't wait !!

Same same done !

I managed to take some photos of my complete same same in a quick dry slot on this grey wet day.

I love it ! Its feels soft and luxurious even on bare skin.

I recommend knitting it whole hearted . The details of the sleeves and pleats are amazing .

The only major modification I did was adding short rows to the bottom to add more length to meet the fronts. I learnt it from knitting the third clue of  

Ravi.

The  John Lewis buttons are a touch of bling- made of  cut rectangular glass , goes well with the feel of those yarns..

Happy with my same same :)