Copy-cat knitting

It's not often you see me knit a garment in the recommended yarn, never mind in the same colour as the published pattern, although some people swear by it.

This case is the exception, I'm making "Feeling Good" by Sarah Hatton, published in Simply Knitting August 2010.

Thanks to Ravelry I know that there are errors in the published pattern, such as the lacy panels on the fronts are identical and not mirrored. These are the kind of helpful things that are easy enough to fix if you know in advance to look out for them, so thank-you Rav.

I'm making it in Rowan Purelife Revive in shade Quartz. I have used this yarn before in a Montego Bay-type scarf which I've yet to show you.

I've bought extra yarn because I agree with the designer when she says in the magazine article that she thinks

it would be nice with kimono sleeves.I've never had great upper arms, and now I'm forty, well... they ain't gettin' any better, so, cover-up it is.

And thank-you for your kind comments about Swoony Multnomah. It has had a nice bath and I hope to have some modelled shots to show you over the long weekend.

That is, if I get a long-weekend, curse you Jury Service. x K

Mantilla

This headscarf has been finished for a couple of weeks but I haven't had any decent photographs to show.

Actually I don't event think these photos are any great shakes, apart from number one, the shadow one.

This is the lovely Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, from Interweave Knits, fall 2006.

This is not the first time I have made this pattern but it is the first time I have done the Lily of the Valley section with the nupps.

It's made with Patons 100% Cotton 4-ply left over from this headscarf from last year.

I really enjoyed making it and I will doubtless enjoy wearing it. Hope you are having

a good crafty week. x K

Thank-you

Thanks for all your lovely comments about "Green Shoots" on here, on Facebook, on Ravelry and by e-mail. You are very kind. x K

Sneak Preview

Here is a sneak preview of a recently finished object I am absolutely delighted with.

Tempting new patterns

While we've been out discovering the historical sites of Galloway like the Chambered Cairn at Cairn Holy, the folks at Knitty have been cooking up a new issue called First Fall so we can get more goodies per year.
Some of the patterns are lovely, and a lacy scarf named Lamina is calling my name really loudly. Very pretty indeed. x K

My end of the bargain

Here's what I made for my swap buddy for the Veiled Knitters' Exchange.
I can show you this now, knowing it has been well-received.

When looking for something to knit it was very important to read the questionnaire to find out what my recipient, yarndoggie, would like rather than knitting something I wanted, so I tried my best to make pattern, colour and yarn choices which suited her needs.

I made this Fallen Leaf Scarflette which was designed to be worn as a neck scarf, although yarndoggie may choose to wear it as a Chapel Veil. The pattern's by Cotton and Cloud.

It's made from the discontinued Rowan DK Soft and not Kidsilk Haze, which is the yarn called for. I do have some KSH but yarndoggie did not want a yarn which would shed, so I thought the DK Soft would be nice to keep the slight fuzziness while addressing yarndoggie's concern.

I can really see one of these in the future for myself because I really enjoyed making it and the result was very satisfying. 'Twas a little tricky reading the pattern from my screen as I had no access to a printer, but it was very much a fun knit which presented very few problems.

Yarndoggie says she is a girly girl so I added some beautiful Old Maiden Aunt sock yarn in Fraoch to appeal to her love of all girly colours Linky and to let her see the talents of Scottish based independent dyer, my friend Old Maiden Aunt . Must get some of this beautiful colourway for me me me! I was silly and forgot to photograph the yarn before sending it, but hopefully these links will keep you going.

I also threw in a wee tartan dishtowel, just for fun. x K

A Photo Essay about a Lovely Large Ishbel

Ravelry link to Ishbel pattern
Link to designer Ysolda Teague's blog
Ravelry link to the page for this divine yarn
Link to Old Maiden Aunt online shop

Well-Dressed Head Part Two

Here's a swatch-style headscarf of Gail aka Nightsongs shawl.
It's in Patons 4 ply cotton and I love it love it love it.
The leaf motif is gorgeous and those big massive double yarn over holes down the centre look cool.

Any issues with the pattern?
More issues than TIME magazine.

If I knew you in real life and you said you were going to try this shawl as your first lace project I would fling myself to the floor and hook my arms round your legs.
The instructions are confusing, the charts are laid out in an unusual way, the symbols mean different things from what they usually mean, there are typos and there is so much advice on the internet about how to interpret the pattern, some of it entirely conflicting.

If you know your way around a lace pattern, are prepared to suspend what you know while still knowing what you know, are good at "reading" your knitting and are not afraid to rip back from time to time, I'd say, go for it, you'll love it.

I love my beautiful black lace heid bunnet. x K

The beginning of the end...

...or at least the end of the beginning.


After having only knitted one rep of chart E (instead of three), one of F as normal and one of chart G (instead of two), all because of yarn availability, I'm at the edging stage of Fat Girasole. Wow!
I have gleaned some invaluable advice about this from Ravelry. The last line of the chart would have you
Bind off three, knit three, knit one edging stitch together with one live shawl stitch.

Now here's the thing, you know when you cast off (three or whatever) there's a stitch left on your right needle which has just been leapfrogged by a cast-off stitch?
This counts as one of your knit three.
Reread this again if you even decide to embark on a Girasole.

I have decided to time myself doing the edging, just for the science, and for info for my knitalong.
Well, the first ten reps took 52 minutes.
I'm sure subsequent reps will be quicker and by the time I've done all 160 reps I'll be zooming along. Only 150 to go. (I can laugh about this now, see if I'm laughing by the end of the week.

The edging is nice and easy now I now the tip above and it feels **great** to offload some of my 640 stitches from the needle.

Onwards and upwards! ;-) x K

Contessa in Profile Wearing Heid Bunnet

Ok, here are some outdoor shots of me wearing the Adamas Headscarf.
I'm loving it and may well work up to a shawl sized one in an animal fibre.
DH took these photos, reckons his handiwork is very reminiscent of the type of composition Renaissance painters did of ladies of high birth in profile over-looking the Tuscan landscape.
Perhaps this Portrait of Battista Sforza by Piero della Francesca 1466
which we saw in the Galleria delgi Uffizi in Florence during our honeymoon will give you the idea, although I think he means a genre rather than one specific picture.
Anyway, Adamas heid bunnet; enjoy. x K

Adamas lace headscarf

Can I apologise now if the spacing on this post is weird, it's jumping about like a mad thing.

Hiya, knitting up a storm during the school holidays!
Here are the specs of my latest finished object, all being well I'll have some action shots in a couple of days' time.

So this is Miriam L. Felton's Adamas shawl pattern, done to headscarf size.

This is available as a Free Ravelry pdf download
You can get this as a free pattern on Mim Knits website as well, linky .

It's a lovely clear, well-written and charted neck-down triangular shawl, stop after as many repeats as you like, no fancy maths to make the border chart work. I did three repeats of the main chart.

My only small reservation is you knew this was coming, didn't you? ;-) that at the beginning you cast on five and start your increases from there. This is fine, but it just means you have a wee small section at the beginning where you don't get the garter ridges on the back neck (or in my case with the headscarf, front head). If you have ever knitted an Evelyn A Clark shawl design you will know what I mean. You start with k2 and do tricks with mirrors so that your wee garter ridges are consistent.

I made it with Patons 100% Cotton 4ply in shade #02708, Tomato. I enjoyed working with this yarn, it's a mercerised cotton and has a nice sheen, and it feels so much finer than Rowan 4ply cotton for example, which I used to make a Previous Headscarf . He he, very link happy tonight!

I weighed it when it was finished, and it was 33g so that means I must have used in the region of 100m to make it.

If you see some strings at the top, it's not unsecured ends, it's little I-cords I've done as straps. I've tried half a dozen times to spell tie-er, the thing you tie it on with, but I can't seem to spell it, any suggestions?

ETA: I used my new Addi Lace Needles in 3.25mm size which I bought from Outback Yarns which is the knitting department in the Gem Shop, King Street, Castle Douglas.

Loving the written patten, loving the way it knitted up, loving the yarn. Happy KEDkrafty.

Oak Leaf Shawl

Here's the finished Oak Leaf (Shoulder) Shawl kicking its way through the autumn leaves in Alexandra Park.
This is going to be a present for my sister who is making a good recovery from a recent operation.
She tells me she has been getting out for a short walk every day so hopefully she can wear this to keep away the autumn draughts, without having too much bulk around the neck- see, you can make the fact it's tiny sound almost deliberate, with a bit of reframing!
You can see it looks quite snuggerific on my jacket and I quite like the cowl thing that's happening in the second picture.
I am a much bigger build than my sister, so it will drape around her neck and a little bit of shoulder just nicely.
Thank you for all your kind comments so far. x K

Sneak preview

Sneak preview of Oak Leaf Evening Shawl blocking on the trusty white towel.



It's finished, I love it, and it's t-i-n-y!

How come....?

How come I checked out the yardage required for the Oak Leaf Evening Shawl,
and found it to be 500-600 yards,
which meant I didn't have anything suitable in the stash,
so went out and bought 5 balls of Rowan Tapestry (5 x 120m),
knitted the shawl (which is tiny)
and was left with two balls and two 2/3 balls
(i.e. 3 and 1/3 balls left)?????

Who said yarn substitution was easy?

Bet you I had something just dandy in the stash all along!
Off to find measuring tape to do some calculations.

Beautiful things

How do you like my two new yarn purchases?

Shame you can't touch them because they feel brilliant.

Shame you can't sniff them, well, because more of us do than the public at large would tend to realise :-)

They are Old Maiden Aunt Laceweight Merino in Bramble Jelly and Neptune's Daughter colourways and they have a whopping 1600 yarns per skein.

Purchased from here .

And I am loving Ravelry. What a genius idea.

I can foresee some gorgeous shawls in the future.

Mighty Oaks ...

...from little acorns grow.

Thanks to India I can now get my head round the main part of the pattern for the Oak Leaf shawl. She patiently sat and tutored me as I had a go at a practice swatch at Sunday's knitting meetup.

I knew she was the very woman to help, having admired her version for some time.

I did my practice swatch in some Rowan Scottish Tweed, shade 29 which I've been using as a contrast on Miller from A Yorkshire Fable under India's firm but caring gaze. The Scottish Tweed looks nothing like the colour in the Rowan pop-

up and would actually have been ideal for the shawl, except I needed to keep it for the rest of the detail on my Miller.

So, I've plumped for this lovely blend of greens and rusts in the "Rustic" colourway of Rowan Tapestry and I think they really suit this pattern, resembling as it does an autumnal oak tree on the turn. And yes, the similarity between the colours of this, and the Green Man in the last post, are not lost on me.

I am now motoring with this, but I must say I could've sat poring over the pattern until doomsday without the penny dropping.

Thank goodness for knitting friends who can show you the ropes. @-;---

So, what's next?

A bit of lace knitting I suspect!

There are absolutely horrendous problems associated with moving into our new school building and stress levels are the highest we've seen since, oh let's see, since we packed up our old school! I don't want to say too much about it because folk can get into the muck neck-deep by going into such details on their blogs but this too will pass. Hopefully sooner rather than later, pleeeaaaase!

So, I'm taking my mind off it by shopping the stash for some unlabelled hand-painted mohair yarn. I'm not sure of the exact composition, but it feels very like the Colinette mohair, which is 78% mohair, 13% wool, 9% nylon. A little bit of balling and simple lace do a buddy good.

If you know me in real life and know where I work, please don't comment, "ah yes, that East Utopia Council are always like that" etc. :-)