Shawl, sweater & a topi!

Since I've been MIA is such a bad way, I thought I'd do a big a$S post today.

The red lace shawl was knitted by my friend in Portland who knits lace so fast, her fingers make a buzzing sound. I believe she used the Rock Island pattern. She used a silk wool lace blend that I had hand dyed. In case you're wondering, yes, this yarn went to the US & then came back to the UK as a shawl. Some yarns have all the luck.

The brown sweater was knitted by me with left over hand dyed sock yarn held double. I used the Cosy V neck pattern but modified it. This pattern is amazingly simple & fun to make. I knitted the sleeves in the round, however.

The little beret was knitted from a handspun I made by blending a couple of rovings from my Etsy shop. The pattern was a slightly modified yummy-beret pattern.

Lace shawl from Portland.

After months of waiting to block it & weeks of trying to sneak in time for a shoot - here are pictures of the lace shawl that my Portland knitter friend knitted for me.

Hello new sweater!

Sock yarns all wound up to be knit into a sweater.
 Possibly the cozy V-neck pullover by Stephanie Japel.

Finished - The Candy Stripes hat.

I love, love, loved knitting this pattern. The hat turned out fun & versatile & I learnt a ton of new knitting techniques thanks to the beautifully written pattern with links to youtube video help. Thanks Tori!

I spun the yarn out of Arctic Winds for the main body and this roving for the trim.
The yarn was only slightly off in the gauge (18st & 24rows = 4”), so I had to work out the math on an excel sheet.
The mother of pearl buttons are from twpmango on Etsy.

I'll definitely be making this hat again. Possibly in more saturated colors.

 

A beautiful set by a talented doll maker.

Check out the beautiful & detailed doll set photo that artist Patricia of Papillon Bleu (love the name!) sent to me.
It took me a while to see but the much of the furnishing & carpet are my fabric scraps. Adorable :)
Check her out on Etsy.

Simple triangular shawl

I recently blended some dark brown wool with a taupe angora rabbit fur I had stashed away for a long time in my parent's place in India.
A little background - I was in India for work recently & while I was gently rubbing the angora in a cloth bag to de-hair it, a friend who had come by offered to help. I took up his offer immediately with a 'do like I did', thinking of all the useful things I could do with the extra time (check email, call the plumber). I came back out after 15 minutes to the horrific sight & sound of the bag being beaten against a wall. "It de-hairs a lot faster this way", he said. "Very good", I said, my mouth already dry & my palms sweaty, "you must have done a great job".

Needless to say, all the angora was now a stubborn clump. Very soft (because it had been de-haired right & proper), but a felted clump. I wanted to slay the dude who'd 'helped' me but I weakly made him some tea instead.

I spent the next two days ripping that clump apart & blending it with the brown wool & then spun it up in a tweedy, nubby yarn of about 3.2oz in heavy fingering/dk weight.

A few weeks ago, I came upon this lovely pattern on ravelry by Laura for a triangular shawl & thought it would work well. Mine is more of a kerchief scarf. So, I knit it up and here are the pictures!

Braided head band

So I finally finished knitting the braided head band.

I loved this pattern when I saw it! I’m pretty much a beginner but when I read the pattern I knew it was within my grasp.
I used my own hand spun yarn from this roving http://www.etsy.com/listing/58376655/merino-roving-jewels-of-the-nizam-semi

The yarn isn’t as thick as what the pattern called for, so I used a 7mm needle. The scarf turned out slimmer & less bulky than what the original seems to be but it fits well & I love it. I used buttons on this one for the custom fit but might make another without buttons.
If you’re using a thinner yarn, like I did, I recommend adding 2 more stitches to the CO & incorporating them in the cable. So it would be C10B and C10F and P14 instead of the usual. Also, doing a sl 1 (purl-wise) instead of knit-wise, creates a nice, neat edge but takes longer overall (from all the YO you have to do.

Pattern on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/anthropologie-inspired-braided-headwrap

Head bands, scarf and wimple knit for me.

In the same vein, below are the wimple, scarf & head band that Abida Khan knit for me.
Models: Tas & Jo.

Yarn used: My hand painted silk-wool merino lace yarn (knitted double).

Quantity of yarn: 4 oz total, 1200 yards.

Pattern used: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wavy-feathers-wimple-francaise

Yarn used: My hand painted silk-wool merino sport yarn for the scarf with the edging made by my hand painted alpaca-merino worsted yarn.

Quantity of yarn: 4 oz total.

Pattern used: http://www.jennlikesyarn.com/2009/03/whitney-headband.html

Yarn used: Hand spun bulky worsted 2 ply spun with one strand of http://www.etsy.com/listing/56811629/merino-roving-pink-dust-semi-solid and one strand of http://www.etsy.com/listing/53575228/merino-silk-roving-pearls-for-the

The flower was made from 1 oz of bulky worsted spun from http://www.etsy.com/listing/43834655/merino-roving-creme-de-la-creme-buttery (1 oz)

Quantity of yarn: 2 oz.

Pattern used: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/american-beauty-rose-headband