The Doodler!

I Joined the visual world of Instagram not long ago (My Instagram name is as my Ravelry's- 'bespokeknits') which is a fantastic way to get updated and inspired.

I am following of course Stephen West and was participating in his 2015 KAL - The Doodler.

After booking my holiday to Israel in December, Stephen released photo of himself in a knitting shop not too far from where I was to stay. A real shame to have missed him by few days only !

Any way I visited the Gourmet Yarn Shop and was impressed by the stock quality and attentive and friendly stuff.

This is the shop's doodler sample which I loved.

Those lovely ladies partly obscure a very decent stock of Madelinetosh vintage and Freia Ombre . Not that easy to get hold of where I come from! 

Here is my Doodler- I've used uncommon thread merino lace in toast which I had in stash and variegated yarn were purchased from Stephen's Amsterdam yarn shop- some lovely hedgehog fibres skinny dip in pink(forgot the name) and boom box. Knitting it was great fun- happy to have joined the KAL.

Even Flow!

I've been knitting it on and off throughout Autumn and now got the time to actually write a post.
It was designed by the talented Joji which by the way published another striking collection of which a certain black coat is being eyed closely..

I was drawn the the texture of the fabric and intrigued how to create that elongated slip stitch-so easy once you knit it. I'd like to knit more pieces with that stitch pattern such as those hat and gloves.

I love using kid silk mohair together with a smoother light weight yarn to achieve knit tension of heavier weight yarn. You are left with a cosy, light weight fabric that takes in and blend the two colours together. In this case I chose Tosh sock in 'Rose', a very delicate light pink with Hedgehog fibres kid silk lace in 'Tea cup', white with gentle splashes of brown and neon pink.

Here is a close up of my shawl pin head- a ewe staring sheepishly upwards :-) A great find from Kettle yarn & Co.

I made the cardi shorter than stated in the pattern but it still looks long and lush, I know that mohair is not to everybody's taste but when its cold it feels ever so cosy and snug..

Destashing-Nehalem!

Nehalem is a graphic, eye catching design which compliments most body types. I admit that my chosen colours aren't the most suitable to highlight the bold section but nonetheless I'm happy with the result and wear it regularly. I may have to knit this again just to show of that lovely fair isle.

I was inspired by the colours blocks of this poncho below. I have a feeling its one of Rowan patterns. I had in stash very similar colours- spud &Chloe sweater worsted in olive green, Rowan Felted tweed Aran in navy blue and Rowan cocoon in light blue/grey.

No Steeking for me I'm afraid, I'll go the extra mile just to avoid cutting my piece and using the dreaded sewing machine (hey, the spud & chloe is super wash, no much felting is going on hence the need for sewing machine).

I love the relaxed fit and the garter short row shaped shawl. Jared Flood does not disappoint.
Also learned a new and interesting yarn increases. Recommend !

 

Ingrid !

I was in a mood for some fair isle and this pullover fitted the bill. But after noticing this test knit, wow, my heart just went faster and I went stash diving. I was using fingering weight yarn, a bit thinner than requested so went 2 sizes up. I have tons of sock yarn and I tend to hoard all my leftovers 'just in case..' so was happy to reduce (ever so slightly) it.

Quickly casting on I managed to somehow omit about 50 stitches, and only at arms point did I notice that the fitting leaves much to be desired- way too tight (see pic below)-no room for arms.

The 2nd yoke attempt went a bit better. I put some modification as I went along- lowered the fair isle band and omitted some of it's pattern. I didn't bother with the sleeves and hem fair isle. I used some Orkney white angora and rowan kid silk haze in grey to give some halo to the fair isle band. My colours are almost all neutral except the dark purple and some dots in peach.
So easy to wear but still draws the eyes despite the simplicity.

 

Whippet!

If you're thinking to knit an airy, open cardi to throw on in a balmy day. Whippet is your match.
Another lovely design from Fallmasche.
Knitted from the top down, continguous set in sleeves, seamlessly with a bit of eyelet  Lace on the sleeves and body and collar. A flattering open top for any shape.

I chose to knit with my of my favourite 3 ply yarn, the merino silk lace of Uncommon thread in Naval officer, gorgeous deep blue bought last year in 'yarn over Berlin' online shop. Less than 2 skeins it took with elongated body and three quarters sleeves.
The only thing to be wary is how tight the sleeves are..
Here are more shots..

Very pretty eyelet lace detail.

Fits the back neck like a glove :)

 See that shoulder- so elegant

The following photos are from a working dye shop in 'yarn story' Bath. Carmen the shop owner is ever so brave with her carpet.. Oh and the table cover is not a real crochet blanket just a plastic cover :-)
  I had a very good day playing with colours under the friendly supervision of Daisy from Devon Sun yarns,. It's not easy to get the right colour on the yarn. I so much more appreciated all those fab dyers out there.

 My skein is on the left

Enjoy the rest of Summer! x

Tau !

My latest cardigan- TAU by Melanie Berg.

An asymmetrical front, knitted from the top down with raglan sleeve shaping, a basket weave pattern textures the front panel and sleeve cuffs.
The pattern states 4 ply yarn but I went for a sturdier, condensed fabric and chose to knit with Tosh sport, colour Calligraphy. Its difficult to photograph Calligraphy, but it one of the nicest neutrals I've ever knitted with. You can see some very pale peach and purple tones trying to come through , just lovely.

There is a large positive ease so I chose the extra small size at first, knitted down to almost sleeves separation and then noticed the neck line, much tighter and rounder than the other sizes and not at all flattering.
 Here it is before I frogged it all-

frogged!

I went the next size up with the neck cast on but kept the body increases in between size small and extra small. That worked much better.

I had only 4 skeins of Tosh sport which weren't quite enough so I sneaked in the sleeves some tosh sock in Calligraphy.

with regard to buttons I had these beautiful glass buttons purchased from fro the Mud buttons boot in Rhinebeck. I had only eight buttons so had to increases the gap between button holes. It looks less busy on the fronts.

 

Very pleased with the outcome- quite elegant I think.

On Saturday I'm travelling again to Bath, trying a dye work shop in 'yarn story' shop. Very much looking forward to.. update to follow..

 

So what's on my needles?

Couple of weeks ago, I took the train from Salisbury to Bath on a fine Saturday morning with the knitting cyclist- all for a good cause. I've been wanting to visit this new yarn shop in Bath-yarn Story and it is indeed a lovely spot for luxury yarn lovers.

The owner, Carmen knows her stuff and manages to get some excellent brands- Julie Asselin, Hedgehog fibres, Lioness arts, Kettle yarns, Shibui knits, Skein, Madelinetosh and much more . Of course you buy online but nothing beats to actually see the colours in reality and to feel the fluff :)

On the train I cast on for a new summer top- whippet by Anke.

I'm using uncommon thread merino silk lace in 'naval officer' which I think works well for the design. That blue is just gorgeous,  deep and saturated with darker shades. It is such an airy knit with some details to keep the interest whilst knitting.

At yarn story I had a good look at hedgehog sock yarn variety. A month ago I've started Beata's new shawl 'outline' which captures my imagination.

At first I went with her colours but it didn't work well for me so I cast on another.

Here is the failed version- The hi- vis yellow from uncommon thread just hurts my eyes.

 

and a new blue-pink version that will have to prove itself to me..

Last is Tau which I'm pushing with and close to finishing. More of it in the next post. See you soon !