Cambridge shawl

Couple of months ago my mother in law brought me a cut piece of paper from the Daily mail. It was Kate Middletton shopping in Waitrose and wearing a green shawl. My mother in law kept admiring it and gave me some guastly scratchy mohair from a charity shop. I got the hint. I promised to knit it for her. Her yarn was given back to charity. I still got self respect..

I chose a dk yarn from my stash, rowan  ryc classic cashcotton dk in a pleasing spring green color. It is drapey and soft . I'm just not convinced if its going to stay like that after washing.. The pattern is easy to memorise after few rows. The ruffles are knit as you go by using short rows. On I went with the job - its going to be her xmass present. Here are the photos ;

 

I hope she will like it !

Cornwall and a Crocheted bracelet

We took a break in Cornwall couple of weeks ago. It is such a beautiful part of the country .

The is a path way on which you can walk to St Michael's mountain but the tide was too high up. So all are queueing for the taxi boats.

Intricate use of shells..

So charming.

Our Lodge was 2 miles away from Polperro (above). To my delight I found this yarn shop there, and as a souvenir I bought enough yarn to knit Dahlia.

Heh?

In Padstow I bought a silver crocheted bracelet (St Ives Silver) ; I like it a lot  it and I like that it was crocheted.

The last days of the Summer, enjoy them while you can. :)

Elisa Sawlette

A charming shawlette by Tiziana Samurai [ravelry link]

Destashed a ball and a bit of kidsilk haze. Interesting construction of using short rows. The turning point of the short row-hole being created- is part of the design. Also worth pointing the designer's clever method of creating even nupps.

The yarn perhaps is too fuzzy to show off the design but the results is  light and airy useful little shawl. Berta fully agrees.. :)

Old rose wrap

Few years ago I visited the knitting and stitching show in Alexandra palace, London and noticed an intricate wrap wore by lady  in the 'Loop' stall. I've complimented her and when the lady herself published the pattern I was delighted.

I mainly knit but this is  crocheted .The beauty of it is that you can join the squares as you go and the joining itself contributes to the pattern. Its all looks complicated and intricate but after completing few squares the pattern is memorised and it is very relaxing enjoyable crocheting. The old rose wrap calls for a variegated Malabrigo sock and a solid color. I think its important not to create too much color pooling so the way this yarn is dyed is just perfect for the pattern. I've chose a mix of purple and green - 'rayon vert' for the main section and then a sophisticated blue - 'cote d'azure' for the edgings and 3D roses. I've changed the pattern a bit to look more like the original version I saw but I did not add the loopy edgings; instead went for a lacy picot trim.

The pattern is so versatile , because of the buttons and button holes locations. I've tried to show some of the ways it can be wrapped- a shrug, a poncho, a scarf, a cardigan..

Very pleased with my summer project !
Keeeeeep knitting :)

Marion Foale-Red Alert

The last few months been very challenging and as a direct results knitting time was significantly reduced.In March 2011 I have started a beautiful pattern by Marian Foale. It was published in woman's weekly a while ago so its not even known in Ravelry. I immediately then cut it for safe keeping. It is a simple summer cardigan with a few purl lines near the garter hems and cuffs.

I chose Malabrigo lace -'sealing wax' color and work in a tight gauge of 35 sts per 10cm. I decided also to shorten the body length. The knitted fabric is light as a feather and the color is ever so slightly variegated between warn rich red to light orange. The hems and cuffs are knitted using 2 strands of yarn which give the cardigan some stability. It was a slow progress but I love the end results. Here are some photos taken today hurriedly in between rain wash outs .

Happy knitting ..

Cashmere harvest !

We all know how pricey is cashmere wool.. but there are other ways to get it cheaply. My sister lives in Kansas where garage sales culture is flourishing. She always buy me cashmere tops costing nothing really. mere few dollars. One of the purchases she gifted me was this lovely soft ,oversized ,grey cashmere cardigan.

I wore it a lot , and when few holes started to show I've decided to unravel it. Now this is machine knitted and the yarn is extremely soft and fragile as you can expect from 100% cashmere lace. There is a warning here , not all machine knitted garments can be unraveled ! It is easy when you know what look for in the seams... I had a tutorial from my friend Eddie, about the fine crochet line running through the seams, in which I'm very grateful for. Here is a link to her blog regarding those issues.
And a few photos from the harvest;

• the unravelling.

• Unwashed skeins

• My lovely gorgeous soft cashmere cakes ..delish !

My knitting heiress !

It took several attempts to teach my eldest the art of knitting. Her being left handed did not help either. But last year something have clicked and she started to produce wearable garments. My heart is filled with joy as she is really enjoy the knitting and progressing in her understanding of the different techniques.
Here she is with her own  knitted garter scarf and Ysolda's hat. They are not flawless but who cares..

Adi registered in ravelry as tinytangler, why don't you make her feel welcomed and be her friend ..x