Merry Christmas

I have no idea when I'll be posting over the Christmas break, so I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or wonderful festive break of your choice.

And, as a special Merry Christmas for Sarah, who has been waiting most impatiently for me to finish and show it off, I thought I would post my finished Subtle Stripes Cardigan *laughs*

It sadly wasn't finished blocking for Friday, but I hope the wait was worth it...

I had originally wanted to make long sleeves, but I didn't have enough yarn left. Which is a shame, but I really love how it looks so it's not the end of the world!

I was a bit worried that the body would be way too short, but it blocked to the right length.

Modifications-wise - I increased around the hips, so I could have buttons all the way down, as I don't suit cardigans that only button at the top (also, they seem kinda impractical to me!) I also knitted the inner button band in my contrast colour, which I really like. I'd done it initially in case I didn't have enough yarn, but even though I do have enough left to replace it, I'm leaving it as it is ;)

I really like the subtlety of the stripes in the similar greys, and I'm loving the way the yarn looks - Rowan Felted Tweed, for reference ;)

Anyway, that's enough showing off from me!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, whatever you decide to do.

xxx

Bits and Pieces

Slightly fragmented post today...

1. I checked my button stash and found the perfect buttons for my cardigan, yay *grins* It's blocking now, so I'm not sure if it will be ready to show off tomorrow, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed ;)

2. Today is my last day at work for the year, and I am so ready for the break! Being off work does throw my routine off quite dramatically though, so I have no idea when I'll be posting for the next few weeks but I have a couple of ideas that I may schedule to post for when I forget.

3. I am frantically trying to get organised for Christmas. For some reason, I have not been nearly as organised as usual this year and then I discovered/remembered that I have a party to go to on Saturday, a wedding on Sunday and off to meet up with mum and brother on Monday ready for Christmas. So I seem to have less time than I expected! How is is 20th December already?!

4. "We Are Knitters"... I received an email a few days ago about a new brand, called We Are Knitters. I haven't tried the products, but I thought they looked pretty interesting (otherwise I wouldn't be mentioning it of course *laughs*). It's a Spanish brand who are launching in the UK, and they have a range of eco friendly kits (hats, scarves, cowls, jumpers, cardigans...) that come with with wool, needles and recyclable packaging. They aren't cheap, but I am a sucker for cool packaging design *laughs*

Sneaky

Today you only get sneak looks at what I'm working on. Surprisingly this is not because they are gifts (I am not knitting gifts this year - it's weird but less stressful *laughs*)

No, the real reasons are...

a) this project is already finished. I started and finished it on Saturday, but if I don't mention it today, it looks like I haven't done anything in a week ;)

b) this one is so close to being done...

Yep, the Subtle Stripes cardigan now has 2 sleeves and one of the button bands. I just have to choose buttons and make the second band and it is done *grins* I'm not sure if it will be done by Friday, because the size of the button holes depends on button selection and I don't know if I have anything suitable in stock, but it is so close!

Oh, yeah, I also finished my legwarmers, a couple of weeks ago actually. And I did start and finish a project for a swap parcel, so I've done quite a lot this week. Which means I haven't done any reading of note, again. I must rectify this, I miss reading!

As ever, if you want more lovely knitting and yarn along content, head to Tami's and Ginny's *smiles*

Introducing...

I don't think I have mentioned Cunning Boyfriend's children before now. He has two sons, aged 10 and 7. For the purposes of anonymity I shall name them Thing One and Thing Two ;)

Anyway, the reason I am introducing the boys, is due to another introduction that occurred on Saturday...

Yep, this is me and Thing Two doing some knitting *smiles*

I think this weekend was the first time the boys have actually seen me knitting (boyfriend and I don't live together yet, so they have yet to experience the stash and multitude of projects lying around) and Thing Two was fascinated.

I was supposed to be helping to decorate the Christmas tree, but he kept directing me back to my knitting to finish what I was working on so that he could have a go *laughs*

So I finished what I was doing, and cast on a few stitches...

After about 3 stitches he declared it far too difficult and didn't want to play any more, but it was so cute how much he was concentrating. I didn't push it, but I'm hoping he'll want to have another go at some point. Maybe next time I will manage to get him holding the needles without a death grip ;)

Thing One was far more interested in playing with his dad's iPad mini - I'm pretty sure I won't be turning him into a knitter any time soon *laughs*

The Cowl Does Not Make The Monk*

So much for my plan of scheduling some posts so there aren't big gaps when I'm busy at work *laughs* Ah well, I'm here now ;)

Despite having had a couple of weeks, I still haven't taken proper pictures of my cowl, but I'm going to show it off anyway!

I wasn't sure initially how the yarn would look in the pattern - being tweed yarn I was worried that the texture would be obscured. It's probably a little less striking than the pattern could be, but I love it anyway *grins*

The colour is somewhere between the top two pictures, it's one of those colours that my camera just hates.

I made the cowl the inbetween size, so I think I cast on 160 stitches. After blocking it's the perfect length to wrap twice around my neck without being tight. And by making it this length, I have a ball of the same yarn left so I can make a matching hat *grins*

Ok, brace yourself for a terrible picture (there was no light at all this morning)...

Oh, yeah, I also have new hair *laughs* It's shorter, and in a style that suits the fact that I am more of a messy hair kinda gal than all smooth and sleek ;) I dyed it too, and actually the colour in the picture isn't too far off, it's a light auburn and I really like it.

Details...

Pattern: Honey Cowl
Yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed DK, in the colour Jacquard (I loved working with this yarn, someone sent it to me in a swap package and now I want to make all sorts of things in it)
Modifications: Made a mid size, made it a little narrower to reduce bulk

You know the Friday drill - head over to Tami's and Wisdom Begins in Wonder for some lovely FOs ;) 

* The Cowl Does Not Make the Monk is apparently a proverb - not one I have ever heard but it made me laugh!

I'm Not Here...

I'm here...

Only for the day, came over last night for a work trip and I'll be back this afternoon. But as I was visiting my mum in Taunton at the weekend too, I have been travelling too much to post, or (more unfortunately) to knit!

Kitchen Scale Knitting

After yesterday's post, the two projects in this picture shouldn't really come as a surprise *laughs*

They are pretty much at the same stage as they were yesterday, as I didn't pick up any knitting at all last night. Shocking, I know ;) But I find giving myself a break every now and again ensures that I continue to enjoy knitting, which is sort of key to this whole blog *laughs*

As you can just barely make out from the picture, I have knitted one of the button bands on the cardigan, and I used the darker yarn to do it. I'm not entirely convinced, but my aim is to have the one with the buttons sewn to it darker, and the top on lighter. I have this concept in mind that I think will look good.

It has nothing to do with the fact that I have very little of the light coloured yarn left. No, nothing at all *laughs*

The sleeve yarn has been separated into two balls, and I have been knitting the first one with a kitchen scale next to me, so I know exactly how long I can make it and when to start the contrast colour stripes ;) Hence the post title *laughs*

Competitive Knitting

I don't mean a knitting competition, no, I'm talking about my knitting projects competing with each other *laughs*

After posting last week about the progress on my Subtle Stripes cardigan, I suddenly became hyper focused on it, and finished the body, button band and half a sleeve *laughs*

Before that, legwarmer two had been calling to me, begging almost, because I only had a few inches to do before starting the ribbing. So I did that.

And now I have two projects nearing completion that are competing for my attention. The legwarmer will take less time, it only needs about 4 inches more, but the cardigan is coming along so nicely. The hyper focus really paid off and I don't want to lose momentum.

Of course, this is usually the point at which I give up and cast on something else entirely *laughs* And I have a final decision on what to knit from this post - Berwick. This is thanks to the ever lovely Tink, who sent me the pattern as a secret santa gift recently - thank you!

I'm trying so hard to resist casting on, especially when the other projects are so close to being finished. This is a serious test of my supremely weak willpower, so watch this space!