End of Year Round Up

Last year I thought I hadn't done much knitting until I did a quick review of finished projects. I am hoping that would be the case but please take into account that I have learnt to spin this year so much of my time has been taken up with twirling :)

One of my favourite ever projects was the Pi shawl I knitted for Aunty Nancy to give to her first great grandchild. I was pleased with it at the time and happy to be able to knit it for Nancy as she was no loner able to knit due to crippling arthritis. Sadly later this year Nancy died very suddenly and the project became even more important to me. I feel lucky to have met this lady who was my husband's father's cousin and not really an Aunty at all, but when I moved up to Newcastle a few years ago she made me very welcome and told me to consider myself the daughter she wished she'd had. If only there had been more occasions to share our love of knitting with her, but at least we had time for Pi :)

Pattern Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl
Yarn Sirdar Snuggly 4 ply, 5 x 50g balls, white, Nylon/Acrylic mix (shudders!)
Needles KnitPicks Options 3.5mm
Blocked (sic) size 46" in diameter.


Over on Ravelry in the Posh Knitters Group we had a fantastic KAL for the Swallowtail Shawl.

Swallowtail Shawl

Posh Yarn, Eva 2 ply lace weight, 1 skein 50g 400 yds, (13g left), Captain.

size 3.5mm needles, blocked size 48" x 24"

I never would have gotten this finished if it weren't for the fabulous photos of other people's finished projects. Ravelry has really become an integral part of my life. I cannot imagine nor being on Rav.

Hmmmm must do more of that KAL thing.
I made an emergency 'I need it like yesterday' shrug for DD1

One Skein Wonder by Stefanie Japel

Needle

US 5 / 3.75 mm

US 8 / 5.0 mm

Yarn

Acrylic from stash.





Then DS2 needed

emergency hat

Pattern

Basic Hat Pattern by Ann Budd

Made for

DS2

Size

23"

Tags

Needle and yarn

Needle

US 8 / 5.0 mm

Yarn aran acrylic

'I'm going camping in 2 days and it's very cold, can you make me a hat?'



In May I decided I needed a quick project and Forest Canopy came to mind but I wanted something a little more challenging so I changed it into a half hexagon instead of triangle. Fast and fun, but sadly not really my colours.

Stashbusting FC Pattern

Forest Canopy Shawl by Susan Lawrence
Posh Yarn Baby Lucia Disguise

Next project is the first of my handspun yarns to be knitted up, a great pattern for thick and thin singles and I love the colour I accidentally hit upon when doing a little dye ply during the summer, remember the summer?

purple waves

Pattern

Morning Surf Scarf by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer

Needle US 4 / 3.5 mm

Yarn

my handspun

1 skeins = 218.0 yards (199.3m)

Colorway

purple semi solid
handspun cream bfl from all the pretty fibres

Oh my, then there was August, and I got married!
I made a special stole for my wedding

My Wedding Stole

Pattern

Two Sampler Shawls: An 1840 Heirloom by Jane Sowerby

Needle

US 3 / 3.25 mm

Yarn

Posh Yarn Cecilia

1 skeins = 1440.0 yards (1316.7m)

Colorway

Ivory,

Later there were hats

bub's bonnet

Pattern

Bonnet by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Made for

Baby

Needle US 6 / 4.0 mm

Yarn

Artesano Ltd Hummingbird

1 skeins = 327.0 yards (299.0
Pattern from elizabeth zimmermann’s Opinionated Knitter,

Katy's Rainbow

Pattern

Lifestyle Top Down Hats, No Swatch Needed by Charisa Martin Cairn

Size

20"

Needle

US 9 / 5.5 mm

Yarn

corridale roving

1 skeins = 130.0 yards (118.9m)

Purchased at exclusivelylindalee

I made a cardigan, yes a whole garment, luckily top down in on circs, no seams :)

Pattern

February Lady Sweater by pamela wynne

Size

44 chest

Needle

US 8 / 5.0 mm

Yarn Casscade 220

6 skeins = 1320.0 yards (1207.0m)

Colorway blue fleck

Christmas approached and the project rate went up, mittens followed

and more mittens













I am half way through a pair for me now, Posh Mittens of course.

DD2 needed some welly socks

and as a final project this year I knitted some more handspun into a scarf.

Phew!

Happy New Year to all :)

I got a lovely Batt in the Posh Christmas Swap

1aababs 003
Originally uploaded by Jam_mam.

and I made it into this

I wonder what DD2 got for Christmas?

1aasarahshawl 006a
Originally uploaded by Jam_mam.

And before that you finish one of these

My creation
Originally uploaded by Jam_mam.

Yarn: Posh Yarn, Lei, colour- tradewind.
Pattern: Diamond Fantasy Shawl.
For: DS2's grilfriend, Sarah.

And after Christmas you knit a scarf

My creation
Originally uploaded by Jam_mam.

Fibre from the yarn yard fibre club.
Spun on Majacraft Pioneer (Susan)
Pattern by the Yarn Harlot - one row handspun scarf
result, squooshy!

Flowers in the Rain

This pattern was originally published in Yarn Forward issue 6 - as the copyright arrangement with them has now expired I am reproducing it here for free and hopefully it will be available as a pdf download on Ravelry as soon as the holidays are over and everyone gets back to work. Please bear with me over formatting mismatches between Google docs and blogger and don't hesitate to leave a message if you require pattern support.

This pattern is available in conjunction with Natalie at the Yarn Yard's p/hop so I hope you will consider making a donation to MSF through the link on my sidebar if you use the patern, thank you. Pass it forward. :)

Flowers in the Rain

Wrap up warm against those storms and chills in hope ofmilder days to come.

This pretty scarf pattern is knitted in luxurious
cashmere yarn and a bright colourway to brighten winter days and lead
the way to summer sunshine.

Flowers uses 2 lace patterns, Floral Mesh from Barbara
Walker’s 4th Treasury of Knitting Patterns and 3 variations of the Snowflake Eyelet Pattern from her 2^nd Treasury. This scarf is easily adapted to a wider stole size or a narrower scarf.

Instructions for possible adaptations of the pattern are included.

Yarn: Shown here in Posh Yarn, Sophia, Sunbeam (55gms 400yds) 2 ply laceweight, 2 skeins).

Finished size: blocked 11” x 61” (Unblocked size 8” x 52”).

Guage: As this item is not fitted, gauge is not important. Use a gauge you are happy with, if it seems too tight for your tastes, use larger needles, too loose use smaller needles. If you are using a different weight of yarn your finished item size will vary and you may need more or less yarn. The scarf pictured used half of the second skein, approx. 85gms and approx. 600 yards in all.

Needles:
size 3mm, 50cm circular needles. Needles designed for lace, with tapered points make knitting easier but are not essential, straight needles are fine too.

Abbreviations:

K knit sts stitches

gs garter stitch (knit every row), ss stocking stitch (knit right side, purl wrong side)pm place marker ssk slip slip knit through back of loopsyo yarn over
K2 tog knit 2 togetherRep repeat Sl2 K1 p2sso slip 2 stitches, knit 1, pass 2 slipped stitches over.

---

Instructions:

Cast on 69 sts

Knit 8 rows gs

K4, pm, knit Floral Mesh pattern (see chart), pm, K4.

The 4 stitches either side of the Floral Mesh are maintained in gs throughout, to form a border for the scarf.

---

\

O

O

/

O

^

O

\

O

O

/

12

O

^

O

/

O

10

\

O

O

/

8

O

^

O

\

O

O

/

O

^

O

6

\

O

/

O

O

^

O

4

O

/

\

O

2

3 edge stitches<-------------pattern repeat--------> 2 edge stitches

Floral
Mesh Chart

Key

O yarn over,
/ k2tog
\ ssk,
^ sl2 k1 p2sso
blank squares are knit

Lace charts are read from bottom to top and right to left on the right side rows and from
left to right on wrong side rows. This chart shows right side rows
only as all wrong side rows are purl throughout. Start with row 1, a purl row, then at the bottom right of the chart , row 2. The areas outside
the pattern repeat arrows are only knitted at the beginning and end of the row,
the area between the lines is repeated across the row 7 times in all.
So the row starts with the 2 sts outside the arrowed area, then repeat
the sts inside the lines 7 times then knit the last 3 stitches
outside the arrowed area to complete the sequence.

You may wish to insert
markers at the end of each repeat of the floral mesh as this will
make it easier to identify repeats and to count stitches to check for
mistakes.

Repeat the 12 lines of the chart 9 times in total.

Keeping the first and last 4 sts as set.

Change to the snowflake eyelet pattern.

The repeat of both patterns is over the same number of stitches so you can use the same stitch markers
between pattern repeats (if used) without having to move them.

Snowflake
Eyelet Pattern

Row
1 (wrong side) and all other wrong-side rows ---- purl.

Row

2 K4 *ssk, yo, K1, yo, K2 tog, K3; rep from *, end K1

Row

4 K5, *yo, sl2 K1 p2sso, yo, K5; rep from *

Row

6 Repeat Row 2

Row

8 Ssk, yo, K1, yo, K2 tog *K3, ssk, yo, K1, yo, K2 tog: rep from *

Row

10 K1, *yo, sl2 k1 p2sso, yo, K5: rep from *, end last rep K1

Row

12 Repeat Row 8

Repeat the 12 rows of the snowflake pattern 15 times in total.

The next lace pattern is a variation of the snowflake eyelet.

Insert 2 rows of ss between row 7 and row 8.

Remember to keep the first 4 and last 4 sts in gs.

Repeat the 14 row snowflake variation 11 times in total.

Add a further 2 rows of ss between rows 7 and 8 (4 additional rows in total). Repeat this variation 5 times in total.

Knit 8 rows gs

Cast off using a large needle to ensure a loose edge. The model was cast

off using a 6mm needle.

Block
(with wires or by threading a string along the sides and end and
stretching damp knitting, pinning out and leaving to dry. Unpin when
dry and ENJOY!

---

Variations.

You can make the scarf longer by adding repeats of any or all the
patterns as desired. Remember you will use more yarn. Making it
narrower or wider is achieved by subtracting or adding repeats of the
charts across the scarf. Both patterns have an 8 stitch repeat so add
or subtract multiples of 8.

If you would prefer a simpler scarf you can use any of the 3 variations of the Snowflake Eyelet pattern, either singly or combined as you choose. Adding the gs border at both sides and ends helps to prevent the scarf from curling. Or for a slightly more complex scarf you could knit it entirely in Floral Mesh. Both patterns are easily memorised and read in the knitting so either alternative will just call for stamina.

You can also make the scarf longer by adding further rows of ss between
the snowflakes to spread the design out more adding as many repeats
as you wish. Alternately add another lace pattern after the first
snowflake pattern in place of the snowflake variations used here,
e.g. any of the eyelet or honeycomb patterns would look good.

The scarf pattern, as written, produces an asymmetric design. If you
would prefer to finish the second side symmetrically you can adapt
the pattern by knitting additional repeats of the first Snowflake
Eyelet pattern to make this section longer and then repeating the
Floral Mesh. Both the lace patterns used are virtually identical
inverted. If you want to be sure they will mirror each other exactly
then you should knit until the scarf measures half your desired
length (or until half the yarn is used) and, leaving these stitches
on waste yarn, cast on and repeat the patterns so that you have two
matching, identical halves which will then need to be grafted
together using Kitchener Stitch.

Copyright © 2008 jacqui walker. This material may not be reprinted without permission of the author; this pattern may not be used to produce items for sale.For reprint permission, or technical assistance, please contact: allstitchedup.blogspot.com

Hmmm, Mittens again?

1aamitts 003a
Originally uploaded by Jam_mam.

Yep, I am nearly mittened out, these are for DD2's teacher. I wanted to do a nice sophisticated black and white butno, DD2 had different ideas! Miss would much prefer red and white 'the same as mine' - so here they are, NHM#9 in theyarnyard's Bonny 4 ply.

Done, next?

Have I got time to do a pair of socks before the 20th? Hmmm, probably not.

Book Meme - thank you Panperoxide :)

This one is originally from the Big Read. Apparently they reckon most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Underline those you intend to read. - underline's playing up for me... going to put a note instead...
3) Italicise the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger - Will Read
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - Will Read
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - Will Read
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood - will read.
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel - will read
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro - will read
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Hmmm - how many of them since I finished my Drama and English Degree back in 198mummble mummble? Not many! If I could include the ones I've started it would be a much longer list LOL