Fake thrummed mittens

Before I jump into the real thing - amazingly soft and comfy thrummed mittens - I have accidentally stumbled upon a beautiful pattern by Purl Soho for Classic Mittens with a lovely turned cuff. The minute I saw some projects based on that pattern, I already knew what to do with some stray skeins of yarn I had laying around for ages. Fake thrummed mittens, here we go!

I absolutely LOVE the way they look, I just wished the vibrant purple yarn was 100% wool, not an acrylic mix, but it works nice and it doesn't feel so super plastic like some of the acrylic yarns do. The super bulky yarn is 100% wool, though so the mittens will be nice and warm, lined with a layer of wool yarn.

I like these so much that I will have to knit a pair for myself - maybe in nice charcoal grey with the same bulky yarn, as I still have plenty of it.

Hokey Pokey - Winter is Coming

Winter is coming! Time to knit some new mittens! I have decided to use some left over yarn and knit myself a pair of nice and warm mittens. I've used the Hokey Pokey Mittens pattern by Garn Studio/Drops Design.

I am done with the first mitten and I absolutely love it! Especially the Latvian braid that I have worked for the first time. It always looked super complicated to me but it's super easy.

I have also decided to go one number down on the needles to achieve nice and snug mittens.

I'm off to finish the 2nd mitten and can't wait to start wearing them. I think I will also knit a hat with the same pattern used.

Beautiful new roving for spinning

I just got these beauties today and can't wait to turn the fiber into beautiful yarn :-) I already have in mind a couple of nice projects for the finished yarn.

The roving comes from
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CatandSparrowUK

Playing with my new drop down spindles

I just received my new lovely drop spindle from Kromski and I absolutely love it! 

I'm using a lovely grey BFL roving I bought recently. The spindle works like a charm, however, it's slightly too heavy to spin very thin yarn, but I will use for that my old trusty DIY spindle made of a knitting needle and 2 cd :-) Speaking of DIY spindles... here's my first Turkish ( X) spindle - I always wanted to test how it works and was fascinated by the fact you immediately get a center pull ball of yarn, perfect for plying the yarn later.

I'm using a mixed roving of BFL wool that spins beautifully. The spindle is slightly too light and it needs some weights on the bottom. Once I spin for a while, the weight of the yarn does the trick and the spindle spins nicely. I'm definitely hooked - a properly balanced Turkish spindle goes straight on my "to buy" list.

Work in progress - baby cape & brioche cowl

Been busy knitting the last few days - the weather outside was really knitting-friendly. I've finally found some time to learn myself the brioche stitch and I have to say I am in love with it. Here's the final piece I've finished few days ago - a lovely reversible cowl.

Currently, I am working on a special gift for a special girl - my cute niece. My SIL has asked me to knit a cape for her daughter, something with an elf-like hood. I wasn't able to find any patterns that were suiting my needs so I improvised - here's the wip photo. 

Rainy Sunday - a perfect day for knitting

Rainy Sunday is definitely a perfect time to stay under a warm blanket with a cup of hot tea and do some knitting! These days I am (almost) all about knitting cute baby sweaters! They are great stash busters and quick projects to finish.

This is the baby cardigan I am working on currently - super cute with garter yoke and plain body. It's been a long time since I've worked with 2.5mm needles! Thankfully, the project is super easy and I can watch movies while knitting.

This is a toddler cardigan I have finished few days ago - I forgot how much I love working with fair isle patterns :-) It's another of my stash buster projects, I almost run out of the brown yarn!

This one is one of my favorite! A simple raglan sweater with one button on the back and garter panel on the front.... What I like about raglan sweaters is that they are perfectly symmetrical and you can wear them with the back side in front :-)

WIP: Granny triangle shawl No. 2

I really enjoy crocheting the Granny Triangle Shawl - it's fun & quick, definitely an easy pattern to follow while watching your favorite series (my series of choice for this week is Bones, love it!)

The yarn I'm using is very interesting and colourful, I like the texture it creates. Still have to decide how to finish the shawl - with a wide scalloped edging or just with long nice fringe, as the one I've posted earlier.  

WIP: The attack of white shawls

It's time for a short break from knitting, let's crochet something! I've started working simultaneously on 2 new projects and can't decide which one I like more :-)  Sometimes I really would love to be an octopus and be able to work on more than 2 projects at the same time! 

Unfortunately, I'm no octopus so just have to move from one project to another... I really should focus on one project only and start the next one after finishing the first. But the ever-growing pile of yarn is so tempting!

Here's the 2nd white shawl, this time a triangular one. I'm about to finish it with a wide border.

WIP: Blue ruffled shawl

A new shawl I'm working on currently, I have to say I absolutely LOVE the blue shade of this yarn! The shawl will look great. 

The yarn is 50/50 mohair/acrylic, very nice and soft. I'm working with 2 strands of the yarn, as it is a lace weight one and I want the shawl to be a bit thicker & warm.

I really enjoy working with this pattern, I will post is as soon as I have time to write it down and when I finish this one, to show the final results.

Work in progress: green modular crochet shawl

Work in progress - yes, another green shawl. I can't help it, I simply love green color, especially now during the winter. This time I decided to play with modular crocheting. As you may see on the photos, each of the rows is made of 2 full motifs and one half motif. Oh my... they give me a huge headache when attaching one to another! I had to unravel the connections many times before I made them correctly :-) I think watching a good mystery series doesn't help......

 I'm almost done with the shawl, just need additional 4 full circles and 2 semi ones to complete. Then a simple single crochet border around and tassels on two sides. I think it's going to look really nice.

Busy knitting bee

I had a couple of very busy knitting weeks recently but no good weather to take any photos. My goal this weekend is to finally photograph every single shawl/scarf/hat/mittens from this huge pile! Keep your fingers crossed for a nice sunny day tomorrow!

 Not all of the finished items are on the photo - 2 scarves are still blocked and I'm almost done with another shawl. 

Knitting a rainbow

I'm knitting my own personal rainbow! I absolutely love how all the colors blend together. This shawl will definitely become one of my favorites, the colors are so vivid and nice. I had this yarn for a few months before I decided to use it, 'cause I really liked the look of the center-pull ball. 

Today on my needles

I'm working on 2 new shawls currently - an airy and super soft mohair/silk stole and yummy purple/pink semi-circular shawl. Can't decide which one is my favorite. I absolutely love working with mohair lace yarn (but HATE unraveling it) but I like how the 2nd yarn creates beautiful striped pattern. 

I've also listed one of my last shawls - a beautiful brown triangular shawl knitted with Crazy Zauberball yarn.  You can find it in my Etsy shop.

New lace shawl in Shetland style

I really like experimenting with different styles and techniques of knitting and maybe that's why most of my shawls are one and only. I have to remember to start writing down the patterns for my shawls as most of them are designed by me.....

This one is a variation of a shawl I've found in one of my knitting books. The shawl is inspired by traditional Shetland shawls. It's worked in garter stitch from the bottom to top, with center panel. I have to say I was slightly terrified after casting over 400 stitches on and the first 20+ rows where a huge pita. I'm half done now and the works goes faster with every finished row.

As I rarely work with stitch markers, this time they were a must! Otherwise I'd have given up after first 5-10 rows.... The tiny stitch markers you can see below where made by my Plurk friend, Selana and I have to say that I absolutely love them as they are very light and perfect for lace knitting! You should definitely check her Artfire shop out!

Playing with dyes.... again

Here's a new batch of yarn I hand dyed with food colourings over the weekend. I'm still stunned with how well the yarn catches colours. I have to say that I get better results with the food colourings than with the normal, quite toxic dyes.

The first two from the right side are merino/silk yarn and I dyed them for new shawls I have in plans. The other two are nice and soft angora yarn, this time for cute stripped mittens and a matching hat, maybe there will be enough for a cowl as well.

I wish I could spare more time for knitting, dyeing and other crafts but it's quite difficult to do with my day job (which I really like). Can't wait to be retired and to have all days for my hobbies only.... but that will probably happen in 40+ years so all I can do now is to cut one more hour of sleep and spend
it on things I love.

Monday Update

So I finally finished the custom shawl I've been working on last week - it looks great! I hope the nice lady who ordered it will love it as much as I do. I knitted the shawl based on one of my own knitting patterns available on Ravelry. I used hand dyed merino/angora yarn.

I've also started working on another project (I know, I'm crazy.... but I can't just sit and do nothing). It's a next shawl, this time knitted with 2 different colors - olive green and dusty blue. The yarn was also hand dyed by me and this idea for a shawl was in the back of my mind for last couple of months.

Coffee + knitting = perfect lazy Saturday morning

I woke up quite early today and decided to start Saturday the most lazies and nicest way - sipping delicious hazelnut coffee and working on my new shawl.... Mohair is such a nice yarn to work with (unless you have to unravel 5 rows of your project, 350 stitches a row.......) and when it's 75/25 mohair/silk - I'm in heaven!

I've started the shawl yesterday morning before going to work (yay for waking up at 6am....) and it looked like this:

I'm using KidSilk Aura yarn in beautiful dusty blue shade. I just hope that the 5 skeins I bought will be enough to finish the shawl!

And here are my latest addition to the stash - oh my, it's growing fast! I'm still waiting for some yarn I ordered last week. I just wish I could have 8 hands and knit faster :-)

Work in Progress 2: lovely mittens and lavender shawl

Last weekend I decided to play a bit with a new type of project - fingerless mittens in a lovely shade of grey. Still haven't decided if I want to keep them for myself or list them in my shop.

And here comes another of my WIPs - a lovely lavender shawl, half done.

Work in Progress: A no-lace shawl with ruffles

No lace this time! I'm trying a new method of knitting shawls out - from one side to another with short rows to create the ruffles. I have to say I really like it! I'm using my favourite yarn - DK Riots by King Cole, it fits perfectly the simple pattern of the shawl.

Work-in-Progress: Believe it or not but it's not a shawl

I decided to take 1-project-break from shawls and ended up knitting this lovely vest/camisole/top. I couldn't find a nice pattern for such a thin mohair yarn so I'm improvising :D

I'm using the same soft and luxurious mohair yarn I used for this shawl. I had 2 skeins left so not enough for a shawl :-) I still haven't decided if I want to keep this camisole for myself or put in on sale.