Finished Mystery Shawl

Finished the shawl today, although I decided rather than do a standard cast off, I crocheted it. Now, I am not a crochet man, and this is the first real time I have done it. I have produced chains in the past that were tighter than cramp, however, this binding off seems perfectly done, which was more of a shock than anything else. I had seen a woman doing that binding off on Instagram, and thought it would be a nice finish. Who knew I would manage to get it right first time.

The pattern was from The Knitting Circle, Mystery KAL.

Cable Beanie

Since it is winter, another beanie was needed, so whilst recovering from my operation I thought I would make this beanie. It is Patons DK acrylic yarn in Petrol, using a 3.5mm & 4mm needles. The pattern is a DROPS pattern called Finnley’s Hat, and is very comfortable and warm.

Double Knitting

This is one thing I have never tried in the past as I have never needed to use that style, however, I saw a Star Wars Double Knit Scarf by Jessica Goddard on Ravelry that M really liked and I said that I would make one for him. For those who do not know, double knitting is where you knit with two strands at a time, one knit and one purl, so the knit is the front and the purl is the back

© Yadis

The one think I am not too sure of is what colours should I use. It has to contrast, but M will not go for garish colours, so do I just to black and white? The pictures by Yadis shows black and white yarn and I think it looks stunning and you can see the pattern with no problem. However, with Star Wars the colours are red and black (so I believe as I have never seen the films), but if black and red I feel it may not be as striking.

One of the other things that has been in my head is if using DK yarn do I still use 4mm, or drop down to 3.25 to keep it tight, or increase to say 5mm or 6mm as it needs room for the pattern to work. With all this in my mind I have decided that I will do a test run with one of the many yarns I have in my stash boxes (which are that big you could keep bodies in them and I have 6). I will post what I do on here and see what it looks like before doing the scarf for M. On saying that I want to use WI yarn as it is really nice to work with, so will have to wait until the planet resumes normal service in order to go and purchase it. I was looking at LoveCraft as there is so much yarn to pick from, but I like to feel the yarn if I have never used it, as we all know, as DK in one yarn can be different to a yarn made by another manufacturer. I love marino yarn, but working it out it would cost a small fortune to make. But the hunt will go on, well, as soon as possible that is.

Let me know if you have done any double knitting and any tips and advice would, as always, be gratefully received.

First KAL…

My Instagram account is ram-packed with dogs and knitting, and yesterday in the feed there was a post by Fiber Hustle advertising their latest podcast/videocast. Now YouTube is not a place I frequent that much and as for video podcasts, they are a hidden world really. However, for some reason, I felt I needed to watch. Luckily enough we can “throw” videos from youtube to any or our TV’s, which is a little more viewer-friendly than using a phone or tablet. This was the first time I have watched their “show”, and although it is not slick or like some of the ones I have seen in the past I felt I needed to watch it all the way, 1 hour 3 minute. The hosts Aaron & Chip are quite entertaining and you can see they have a passion for their crafts. Aaron announced that he would be doing a KAL, and I thought to myself ‘I’m joining in’.

The pattern is Paris Toujours by Isabell Kraemer which is a really nice Shawl/wrap. I had looked for yarn and found some beautiful ones in merino, but at £15 a skein and it requires 3, I thought better of it and decided to go for a more economical yarn. I doubt it will be an item that I wear, so the cheaper yarn is more favourable. If after I have made it I think I would wear it as a scarf then I will order the expensive yarn and make another one. The project doesn’t start until 18th January, and it finishes on 15th February, M’s Birthday. We are away in Prague from 9th to early hours 12th Feb, and I thought it would be fun to have it finished for the trip and take it with us and do a photoshoot with it which could be fun.

I have bought two different yarns, the first one is Hayfield “Spirit” at £5 a ball, which is a new one for me. I have used Hayfield in the past and it is a nice yarn to work with. This one is 80% Acrylic with 20% wool. Very soft and 345m per 100g ball. The second yarn is 100% Acrylic and is the Woman’s Institute Premium yarn at £1.15 a ball with 250m per 100g ball.

Hayfield Spirit Double Knit Yarn (80% Acrylic 20% Wool)

Woman’s Institue Premium Acrylic Yarn Double Knit

© mariakos – This is a photo of the finished item C/O Ravelry

As can be seen in the last photo (credit Mariakos on Ravelry). It is quite a masculine piece and I am looking forward to wearing mine in Prague.

Socktastic

We are mid way through May 2017 and I have just finished making my 4th pair of socks.

I decided to use a variety of yarns from DK to 3 ply. I had used double knit for the first pair of socks, and since my Mum had given me a huge stash of yarn she would not be using I decided to use Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo, and the pattern I used was “Gentleman’s Matrimony Celebratory Socks” by Sockbug.  Although I liked the pattern, and the yarn was really nice to work with but, once worn they seem to become baggy and so far, not tighten up.

My next pair was with Patons UK Fab DK Solids, self pattening yarn, using a pattern called “Nascar Socks” by Laurie Sundstrom, however, I did alter the pattern, and rather than have a continuous plain knit, I did several squares in purl, just to add contrast.

Next step was to go to proper sock yarn, so, after a trip to Amsterdam, and a visit to Stephen & Penelope’s shop I bought among other yarns a lovely Malabrigo Yarn called Arroyo, and used a pattern called  “Bespoke Vanilla Socks (Sport)” by Melissa Lund.  I also used for the cuffs, heal and toes Rowan Donegal Lambswool which I found in Oxfam for 50p a skein.  Both beautiful yarns to work with.

My final pair so far this year, I used the same pattern as above, but this time used Cascade Heritage 150 Yarns and the cuff, heal and toes in MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino.