Here is Carrie !

I tend to favourite designs using 4 ply yarn. I just like the look of the fabric. This time I chose to knit Carrie by Kim Hargreaves from her latest book Misty. As usual it is so wearable.

I used the now discontinued rowan 4 ply cotton , shade ripple. A pretty pale minty color. The patterns calls for 4 ply milk cotton but I preferred to de-stash. The buttons are a nice find from the knitting and stitching show in Ally Pally last year. They are carved coconut shells and dyed blue.
This cardigan is textured with a cording and garter stitch trim. The collar is made separately and seamed to the body.

The lower body below the cording has a pretty cluster motif while the sleeves and upper body got a different smaller clusters.
I knitted the icord 20 cm smaller than stated and then wet blocked it . The cord stretched and the stitches became even.

Nice !

My knitting Studio

We have moved a house, hence the long absence. It did not prevent me knitting but my pace slowed down considerably. The house is located in a small village, Brook, in the new forest national park and I'm still in awe about the surroundings, the scenery, nature, animals ..
Knitting wise , I chose today's post to be about my new knitting room. It is located in the loft, its spacious , its mine and it is all about my crafts.

I took great pleasure in sorting my stash into the baskets. The hanks or balls are all in plastic bags to prevent damage from moth (touching wood here) and from splitting by the basket's inner edges. The magazines are in easy reach and view on the top of the furniture. I still need to unpack all my knitting books and decide how to shelve them.

A grand old table is waiting to be restored to its former glory and then to be added here.

Not all yarn in the baskets , I store the 'un-inspiring' yarn out of sight.

Now it is time to sit comfortably down and get inspired !

Recycling

Finally the spring has sprung, the weather got warmer and sunnier so I've managed to wear 'shallot' couple of times. I've knitted it whilst holidaying in Lanzarote . Its interesting to know that the yarn I've used was once part of several other garments worn by other people. Revive by Rowan is totally recycled. You see, there once were clothing, used or faulty or even new and then they've been sterilised and sorted by fibre composition and then grinded to loose fibers. Those loose fibers then were carded and spun into cotton , silk and viscose composition yarn.

Revive has flecks of color, not as soft as pima cotton and somewhat splitty if you are not careful.

I'm pleased with this little cardi, and the match to the Liberty's button.

Nice with sleeveless tee and jeans, sandals and sunglasses on..ahh summer soon !

The Lovely Aeolian Shawl ..

I've been busy with my knitting and completed few garments. One of the projects I really enjoy knitting is this lovely shawl designed by Elizabeth freeman. She called it Aeolian and because she is a tree counter, the designs is inspired by the shape of trees. The pattern is free and available on knitty. I've knitted it together with Elseline. We both chose lace for this pattern. I had a very nice red lace alpaca while Elseline knitted it with a dark bamboo yarn, from Habu. I chose to knit it without the beads as I wished it to be not too dressy. Both shawls are very pretty.
You can see the finished shawl before blocking above . It looks nothing like the blocked piece. The pink color is untrue, my shawl is very red.

Above is the shawl drying away , blocked on the guestroom mattress.

Here is my daughter modelling the shawl for me ! Lovely !

Red gold !

Before going with the family to Lanzarote, I have looked in advance for whereabouts of yarn shops and could not find any. Then when reading about this sleepy volcanic island I discovered an unusual cultivation-cochineal Beetles ! A year ago I bought couple of books regarding natural dyes and remembered reading about the source that gives the best crimson red or carmine dyes ; its derived from carmic acid produced by scale insects such as the cochineal beetle. Here is a photo of some of the shades achieved on woven fabrics.



I read a bit about the history and it is very interesting. Apparently the Aztecs used it as a war paints and when the Spanish came across cochineal in 16th century they shipped it back to Europe and there it created a sensation. The red it produced was brighter, deeper and longer lasting than anything anyone had ever seen. It was used on the cardinal gowns, paints, cosmetics .. The Spanish guarded the secret of cochineal cultivation and it was as expensive as gold. The Spanish discovered climate in the Canary islands was perfect for the beetles.
I drove with my family to Guatisa and Mala where there are numerous cacti fields.

The white spots on the cacti wide leaves are the tell tale signs of the beetles. Here is a close up;

I manually removed the beetles from the leaves (and got pricked!). The beetles are fat and full with the red juice they suck from the tunera cacti. You then leave them to dry and then grind them to a red powder. The dry powder then should be filtered in hot water and I was told it is best to use those white tissue coffee filters. You should then soak the undyed yarn or fabric in it for about 25 minutes. If using acid such as vinegar or lemon juice you will get variation in the reds. I bought a fare amount of the beetles and intend to experiment.

By the way the 'jardin del cactus' in Lanzarote sell them ti tourists 2 euros for about 12-15 dry beetles. not bad!

These days many companies prefer organic dyes to chemical alternatives so the cochineal market is on its way up. Did you know that the Italian drink Campari contain cochineal ??

London Knitting Tour

At last I've managed to see for myself some of the famous knitting spots in London. Myself and two good friends from Southsea knitting club took the train from Portsmouth to Waterloo. Here is Caroline knitting away on the train..notice her chevron cardigan, I've knitted it myself.

The day was organised like a military operation in order to manage to see all the targets.

We first stopped at Oxford street to see Liberty which is such a striking old building, inside and out.

To get to the haberdashery floor you must walk first past all the designer bags and scarfs..there I was with my mouth gaping open admiring everything..The wool though was somewhat disappointing , mostly all your usual rowan staff, the salesladies are snooty but the buttons are gorgeous..

Next stop was an unremarkable knitting shop ; All the fun of the fair , not too far from Liberty. All the yarn were sorted by colors. I found there a lovely brown skinny skein without price tag..

Me- excuse me , how much is this skein?

Shop lady- Oh, let me see the fiber content..

(she fondles the skein but eyeing me up and down..)

Shop lady-(sweet voice) £25 please !

Me-Oh !

Shop Lady- Its the cashmere...

Me- only %15..

Shop lady produces a professional smile but is not backing down..

Me-closing the shop door quietly behind me..

We were planning to visit Weardowney , but few attempts to call them were not answered so it was decided to let go..

Next , we were rushing to Loop and there we stayed a while. Its not a big shop and the owners keep most of the yarn in the basement which has no access to customers. I took my time and slowly scanned the shelves; blue sky alpaca, madelintosh, malabrigo, habu ..what a pleasure ..I looted the shop's stock of habu silk stainless steel, ha ha..

No time for proper lunch, we were running up and down on the tube escalators and the last stop was iknit . Expectations were high but stock levels were low , not enough color range on the malabrigo sock yarn.. Never mind its not as if I have anything to knit with..

Lovely day, and now we are planning the summer knitting tour :)

Here are the first and only pair of gloves I've ever knitted. This a rowan design with simple cable running along the hem and the back hand, with attached grey beads. The yarn is woolcotton which gives the soft feel to the gloves whilst the wool insulates. I had a good wear out of them the last couple of winters and especially lately in the freezing snowy days..Not bad..