Blue and Firewood

 I've been working on the blue squares for the blanket. It is a lovely mix.
What should I work on next? The pinks, purples or the reds?

And because winter is fast approaching I have a desire for lots of cowls - and recently uncovered some yarn I bought specifically for a Honey Cowl - it is Madelinetosh - and the colour is Firewood. It has a lot more browns in it that you can see from my photo - you'll just have to imagine it. Perfect for autumn so I am keen to complete it.

Socks

 These are Uno Socks - another entry into the Unwind Design competition. I like them because they can be worn in summer with sneakers - or something. They were my first top-down sock knit and I was really impressed with the pattern - it was like building something very intricately.

30 squares done and another FO

 Well here is the latest on the blanket.
And I finished another item - the Atle Beret/hat. The beautiful cashmere yarn was a gift (thanks Fee) and it is going to be so soft and warm this winter. And there is enough yarn leftover to get some fingerless mitts out of it - matchy matchy.

I like the way this fits - a bit slouchy

Some progress and an FO

 Some more dyeing for the Rainbow blanket - this is getting addictive.

And a Finished Object - another Hazelhurst scarf. 

This is for a gift and is in a lovely Veranda Yarns merino/silk yarn.

It was a bit of an arduous knit but saved by the beautiful grey/blue and the soft and cosy yarn.

10 down - only 98 to go

Well here are the first squares of my Rainbow Blanket
Some of my dyeing is a bit different from what I am aiming for but I have decided to go with the flow on that or I'll never get there. They look good framed in the cream.

Cowl completed

 Well it's finished and it's lovely - even if we are having an Indian summer here.
I'm still not sure that the colours are really me....but it's a good pattern and warm yarn.
I think I may be making more cowls this year - as the answer to my cold neck.

Something old and something new

I had knitted one of these for my design project and decided to finish the pair - and send them off to the person who has a matching shawl

 I really had the urge to start something new, despite having 2 other projects on the go, and so I launched into another of the designs from the Unwind competition.  This is Doe Arnot's Crochet Alpaca Cowl. She has posted the pattern on Ravelry. I am using a Flagstaff Alpaca/merino/nylon bland that she has hand dyed with this cowl in mind - long dye runs. It is quite clever as you join as you go - saving a lot of work at the end. I am about halfway around and then there is an edge to add. As we head into autumn it will be handy soon

My first designs

Without the deadline of the Unwind Design Competition these mitts would definitely still be a work in progress - probably forever. Knitting them up was the easiest part - writing up the pattern 'properly' was not so easy. And getting Word and Excel pages into a pdf and then posting them on Ravelry (the Mecca of Knitting websites) was an even bigger. But all done and dusted by 2am Friday morning!

Anyway - the details. They had to be knitted in 4ply/fingering weight NZ yarn so I used Vintage Purls Sock yarn because I seem to have quite a lot of it and it is hard wearing but soft and comes in great colours.

The mitt you see below I called Birdie's Mitts after Birdie Bowers - one of those who perished with Scott on his ill-fated journey to the South Pole. Birdie was the man in charge of stores amongst other things and was the backbone of the expedition. Unmarried, I imagined these to be the sort of mitts his mother might have knit for him to keep his hands warm while he worked.

 And I decided to show them in another softer colour way also.

The next mitts came from a prototype I made last year. I gave them to my sister and she wore them all winter so I figured they must have some redeeming features. They are warmer because of the 2 yarns used that create a double layer. I called these Bonnie Jean Mitts - in memory of my mother who was called Jean and Bonnie.
Once again I made 2 pair to show the effects of different colour ways. They use various Sanquhar patterns - from Scotland.

So at the weekend we had Unwind. 70 mad keen knitters all in one place - including my 2 sisters.
There were classes: I went to ones on crochet, design and reversible cables. There were also Trade stalls and a lot of yarn and goodies found new homes.
Oh - I didn't win the design competition - a beautiful lace-pattern shawl did. All the entries were lovely and I have my eye on 2 in particular that I plan to make soon. Watch this space.

Endings and beginnings

Ha! That was a corny title. But anyway...

Above is the completed Spotty Cardy - it's a pretty tight fit around the arms - next time I would make a larger size. It just means I won't be able to wear too much underneath it - however it is so warm I probably won't need to.

And I finally tackled some dyeing - not perfect but a good start.

With Unwind only 2 weeks away I am working furiously on my 2 designs. Funny - it's way easier to knit them than it is to write up the pattern. Still - a good challenge and all will be revealed soon.

Not much to show

Well - there's Spotty Cardy being blocked. I guess that's progress although it seems slow.

I've also been working on a 'Secret Squirrel' project so can't show that just yet.

I haven't started dyeing for the Rainbow Blanket - I guess I'm a bit scared and also worried that I may not get the colours I want. Still there's only one way to work that out!

Next on the list is a design (and make) for Unwind. It looks good in my head but the reality is always something else

A Plan

Well I try not to have too many 'wip's' [works in progress]on the go at once and then I see something that completely captures me and there goes that plan.

I saw rainbow blanket on the Purl Soho website. You can buy the kit from them for a mere US$780.

That seemed a little excessive for my budget and then I remembered the plain skeins I'd been stockpiling from our nearby Milton Mill Shop - at NZ$12 for 200g they were a bargain. They are a fingering weight sock yarn - 80% merino 20% nylon. I think I have enough to make the blanket and if not then my sister has a few spare - so it should work out.

Of course with over 40 colours there is a little dyeing required- and my skills will have to improve to actually get the colour I'm aiming for. Given what is involved I decided it should be a year long project.

The first task was to make a practice square to check gauge. The website has a tutorial for the crochet part which was just as well as I had to do every row at least twice until I got it right.
Next I ripped it back and measured how much yarn each part took so I will know how much to dye.
That seemed like enough for the first week. Next I'll start to think about the dye colours.

This time...

 OK - Tempest is now finished - again. But this time it's better because I have sewed the shoulder seams.

 And I'm just chugging away on the spotty carry - I'm doing the second front piece and then the sleeves...

End of year tidy up

It's funny how you get the urge to tidy up before the New Year.
In my case there is so much to tidy up everywhere that just some things will get the necessary attention.
One of the lucky recipients was the #5 Pullover - cast aside until I cooled off about the pattern's instructions. When I picked it up again yesterday I finally worked out that I didn't need to frog it back. So now it is sewn up, neckband done and buttons on for finishing.
I think I may have have made it too big but at least a child can grow into it....

Other things ...

I've had these fabric prints from when I was at Art School. They are the 'seconds' and are salt prints, an old method of printing photos, which I made on fabric. One of my sisters thought they would make a good cushion and she was right - so both sisters got them for presents.

That's my father in 1912 when he was about 3.

The other project I made for a gift was a mosaic tray -

I rather enjoy these projects as it was a really crappy tray until I painted it and mosaic'ed it.

Knitted gifts

 
The knitted items were mitts and shawls - above and below.

Except I forgot to photograph the matching mitts for the second shawl.

I also made a couple of Dalek cloths 

Now I'll have to think up something new for next year.