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

Wallace butchered and now complete..Phew !

Wallace was very closed to completion, knitted the 2nd sleeve and ran out of yarn 5 rows before bind off. I decided it would be silly to order one ball of yarn plus postage (not that I haven't done that before..) for few rows and anyway was unhappy with the length of the jacket so decided to chop the whole thing, back and 2 fronts and the bottom , re knit downwards , re-seam and use the leftover yarn to finish the bloody sleeve.

 And this is how you do it- Measure where you want the cardigan to end, I preferred it to be on my hip bone and then go up 1.5 inches (to allow for inner side hem shaping). Insert a different color life line, as straight as possible and then take sharp scissors and cut parallel underneath the life line, not to close , about 2 stitches far. Then ,with a smaller knitting needle pick up stitches from the lifeline, pull it out and carefully pull the shreds of yarn away . You should have a whole row of stitches on your needle waiting to be knitted downward. Chances are ,you did not insert the lifeline straight and jumped up/down a row..doesn't matter ,just tink back the stitches until you will get a full undisturbed row.

Here is a close up, decided not to knit the upper pockets and used brown shell buttons. More close up pics here.

I and Henry. He lost one of his wives last week. Natural causes..Hmmm It is surprising how friendly chickens are on an empty stomach :)

Lima is an aran weight which I've knitted as double knitting so the fabric is extremely warm and dense, perfect for those chilly spring morning before the sun is high up.

Awaiting Marion Foale's knitting collection book

Here is a book I'm really eager to get-

Marion Foale Knitting Collection: Book 1 

Marion has an eye to supreme fit and cut, here are my favourites;

Classic ! will be one very happy lady when this book will arrive to my door step...Long wait though, amazon will only release it in about July here in the UK. :(