Tuesday, 23 December 2008

Festive gifts and greetings....

I hope this post finds us all well and looking forward to the festivities ... and with all planned Christmas projects finished and wrapped! As usual, I'm lagging but nearly there:o)

Mum's Forest Canopy Shawl is done and has hopefully wung its way home to Scotland. I reckon its safe to share pictures before the Big Day as I don't think any of my family have found their way to Blogland (though the kids all have friction burned fingers from their time spent on Bebo, Facebook and MSN!!).

Forest Canopy Shawl - by Susan Lawrence
Knitted in Fyberspates Scrumptious DK




The Scrumtious yarn is an absolute dream to work with. It's 55% Bluefaced Leicester Wool with 45% Silk. This is the Moss colourway and it has the most beautiful muted shades of greens and soft browns. I'm itching to use this yarn again - but choosing the project carefully as the yarn needs to be handwashed seperately! Despite yarn love, I remain a housework/laundry sloth;o)

The Forest Canopy Shawl has proved such a popular and well loved pattern that I'm not surprised at all that the pattern has recently been amended to create a beautiful cowl version. This is one that has been knitted in Artesano Alpaca Hummingbird yarn and is another Christmas gift for a friend. The main part of the Cowl is knitted on 4.5mm circular needles. The lower edge is done on 5.5mm needles and has created some mighty interesting pooling in this yarn:o) But, hey, it gives clear guidance about which end is the bottom, doesn't it?

Forest Canopy Cowl - by Susan Lawrence
Knitted in Artesano Hummingbird

The cowl calls to be blocked less rigourously than the shawl. It needs some of the 'elasticity' that underblocking leaves to ensure the neck stays upright when worn.

Wishing all health and happiness over the festive season and may the coming year bring all you wish for and need...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US ALL!
Thank you for your support and inspiration over the past year

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Thursday, 27 November 2008

Winter warmers

The weather here has turned blustery and wintry. Perfect weather for encouraging me to finish Loppem? Errr, sadly no. Once the pattern errors were sorted out via the Berroco errata page, Loppem just glided along. I've only to finish the edging around the sleeves and, voila, new winter warmer would be ready for the wearing.... However, the required 40cm 5mm cable needle continues with its stitch holder function on the one-armed February Lady sweater languishing in the corner. Hopefully, I'll get my act (and needles!) in gear over the weekend:o)

Loppem

So what does the avoidant finisher do in this situation? Of course, start another project! I've cast on a Forest Canopy shawl and if it turns out well, it'll be part of mum's Christmas present. The yarn completely lives up to its name - Fyberspates Scrumptious DK yarn in Moss colourway.

Fyberspates Scrumptious DK
Forest Canopy Shawl
The yarn has a 45% silk content and is so soft to the touch. It's a joy to work with. At the moment, it's looking more blobbish than like a canopy - but I'm sure blocking will work its magic. I've had to order a further skein of yarn as the one skein is not going to be enough. There's a plus though to the yarn shortage - Forest Canopy now comes as a cowl and I'm hopeful that there should be enough yarn to make one of those too.
ooOoo
Tending to one's self care can be a taxing business, can it not? This recent picture of Louise had us chuckling! Can you tell she enjoyed her grooming session courtesy of DD1? What a life, eh?

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Saturday, 4 October 2008

Hangdog made me do it!

HangdogBlethers looked at me beseechingly, sending telepathic dog-waves saying that we were both in need of some retail therapy. How could I say no!


So the two of us set off on some serious Internet browsing and found some absolute treasures!
Firstly, some gorgeous yarn from Fyberspates


The colours are beautiful - muted, soft greens with soft browns. Fingers crossed this is destined to become a Forest Canopy shawl (by Susan Lawrence), a Christmas present for my mum. Be warned, there may be some shouts for help as I tackle the dreaded lace for the first time in years!

One of my colleagues is expecting a little granddaughter to arrive at any moment and the poor mum has had quite a difficult pregnancy. I wanted to make a little something to welcome the new child and to let them know they are in my thoughts. Given my recent affinity with the February Lady Sweater, I reckoned the Baby Sweater on 2 needles, by Elizabeth Zimmermann, would be perfect. The pattern appears to cover a range of weights of yarn ~ the weight selected will affect the size of the garment. I've never used any Crystal Palace yarn but thought that Bunny Hop looked a lovely option. I acquired a small selection of Bunny Hop from Button's stash page on Ravelry. Thank you, button!


A little more bedtime reading fell into my shopping cart, making its way recently from the States. For anyone who likes aran patterns, this comes highly recommended with a fantastic range of patterns. There are several projects I'd like to tackle .... ohhhh for a 45 hour day!!!

I loved these buttons too! I haven't a clue what they will eventually fasten - but in the meantime I'm happy just to view them as eye candy!

ooOoo
Many of us have become more environmentally conscious and try to contribute to re-cycling projects etc. I had to include this! This is how I found Louise, our grey tabby, this morning! All cuddled up inside a carrier bag on MissBletherTheElder's bed. The bag did say it was re-usable and Louise and certainly put it to good use!


ooOoo
A very special thank you to terri who very generously sent me an award (blushing like a school girl here!). Please check out terri's blog to see the fabulous knits she creates ... and the nearly-most-handsome dog in the world. Sorry, terri, my 3 would never forgive me if I publicly announced Scooby was better looking;o)

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