Winter Warmer

Question: What do you do when you like the look of a fair isle scarf from M & S advertised in the paper, but when you see it in-store you realise that although it's lovely, there's something not quite right about it?

Answer: You make one of your own of course!

Mine doesn't really look anything like the original of course because I only used that a spring-board, but I love it all the same. And because I wanted a bolder look I used a unifying background colour (except when I felt more contrast was needed) rather than also changing background colours as in traditional fair isle knitting.

I used some patterns from the thankfully reprinted Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting, combining them as desired, although once the sequence was set, I stuck with it. It all looks different though because the colours were also cycling round too, and by design I didn't get the same motif in the same colour more than once.

I learned a lot about the reading of fair isle charts. Basically the contrast colour is either on or it's off and once I got into my rhythm I was motoring ahead.

I am on the laptop here and don't have all my photos in the drive, but there are plenty more views either on Ravelry or on Flickr for those without Ravelry accounts.

Edit: I should also add that this finished object owes something to Kaffe Fassett's Lidiya Scarf from Rowan 48. (No links but that info should enable you to find it.) End edit.

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. x K

Old news

This scarf has been ready for a couple of weeks now.
It's a sideways scarf in Patons Australia Jet, a yarn I was not familiar with until I saw it in the bargain bucket in the Gem Shop in Castle Douglas.

It's a very pleasant yarn to knit with, and I'd be happy to use it again, but it's discontinued and I think I scored some of the last stock the Gem Shop had. It's a wool-alpaca blend, chunky weight, and splices really well, so I expect it would felt like a dream.

The colours blend nicely in my view. The "rosewood" (my name) shade in the solid colour is continued as a core thread virtually all the way through the variegated colour and the shade of the solid blue colour is speckled regularly through the variegated colour. Nice forethought in my opinion.

The intended recipient for this scarf doesn't care for it, so it has been set aside for the time being.

Some looks for Winter 2008-2009

First catch your sea-front.

In this case we have chosen Blackpool, you may prefer a sea-front closer to home.

Next model your Ice Queen from Knitty Winter 2007 made in Alpaca hand-dyed by a friend. (Alice or Clarkette, whichever you prefer.)

This is my "walk along the promenade" look.

"Going to visit Father-in-law".

"Shetland Wifie"

"Out to sea"

"Cozy toasty"



"Hair out of your face"

Warm neck, warm ears

I don't like things up tight around my neck. For example if you put me in a polo neck I'd be clutching at the fabric and panting like a rabid dog and making generally distressed noises within seconds.

Almost every top I wear has a V neck and at work I am usually seen in one of my thirteen 3/4 length sleeved V neck knitted jumpers from Evans. All different colours, but some more different than others.

But then again I don't like being cold on my early morning walks to the bus stop and I like to give my throat a wee bit of protection otherwise no speaking (I speak all day at work) or singing (if I refrain from singing for more than five mins, check for a pulse).

So, here's my pull-on pull-off cowl, made to Rosemary Hill's Ice Queen pattern in Knitty Winter 2007.

Nan of Stitching Time first recommended this pattern to me last year. Rowan Kidsilk Haze is the yarn called for, but I scored some lovely hand dyed Alpace from my knitting buddy Alice in a recent swap shop, and thought it would fit the bill. It's a lovely semi-solid yarn which was a delight to work with but a total nightmare to ball up. That all seems like ancient history now as I admire the finished object. I used some Jaeger beads left over from Swallowtail.

There are dozens of fudges in this, it seems that every time I took a photo I saw a new imperfection but it really is no big deal to me at all.

I would like to show you how it's a lovely cozy collar which reaches down into the top of your coat and makes your shoulders snug, while remaining nice and loose and comfy at the neck. Or pulled up over your head to keep the wind out of your ears. But outwith working hours there is just so little daylight at the moment. And this coming from someone who can finish at 3:30 some days. Hopefully I can show you some action shots in the near future.

In the meantime, thank-you Alice or Clarkette to give her her Ravelry name, for such lovely yarn. x K

French for Dummies lesson #450

Okay, so we can't find the camera. It's not lost it's just "misplaced" in our home, but you all know what the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame cathedral look like anyway, don't you?
If you can't wait there's always Google Images in the meantime.


You don't really want to know about the beautiful sites we visited anyway, do you? You want to know if I BOUGHT STUFF, don't you? Well, yes I did buy stuff.


But firstly, I learned stuff too.
I learned that mache with a circumflex is lambs lettuce and the word for sea bass.
When my credit card wasn't cooperating in the chip and pin machine I learned to tell the assistant Il faut la passer a la piste with a grave on the a. (You'll have to swipe it.)
I was delighted to learn that France no longer has any unemployed people, hourah!!! ;-)
Only demandeurs d'emploi (job seekers)

And I learned that Alpaca is alpaga.

I bought four lovely skeins of it in le Bonmarche on the rue du Bac and rue de Babylone corner.
Plassard 100% Alpaga des Andes
4ply weight? Size 3mm needles anyway.
180m per 50g ball.
I feel some lace coming on!

I did also buy some other very unusual yarn which I haven't seen at home but it's earmarked for a gift, so I can't say too much yet.

You may also notice the scarf lengths in two colours of crushed velvet in the top picture. They were bought in the Droguerie concession within the same store. Must get the sewing machine out and rustle up a posh scarf for myself. I can see a beaded edging of some sort in my mind's eye.

In the Droguerie section I also bought a corsage making kit. It was so lovely to buy from helpful, knowledgeable staff.

Off to resume the search for the camera. I may be gone some time! x K