Blogtoberfest Day 10: Sara's Scarf

For some weeks now I've been working on a Top Secret Gift. I hinted at it a while ago when I said I'd discovered a new favourite yarn.

Today I was able to hand over, finally, the finished product to my very special friend and workmate, Sara (pronounced like Sarah, just minus the H), who turns 21 today.

Here it is. Branching Out, from Knitty.



Buying the yarn for this was a bit of a gamble. I love Malabrigo, but hadn't used their Silky Merino before. I knew the moment it arrived from Yarn and Kisses that it was amazing. The silk content, married with the light capturing colour (it's Tatami) was just glorious and I cast it on right away.



Two skeins and about four weeks later, I had a finished scarf. I finished it two days before I was due to give it to her and presented it at work yesterday. It's long! Sara is tall and it's longer than she is - she wears it looped around her neck and it still hangs down quite long!



You know, many people talk about Branching Out like it's the perfect scarf for the beginning lace knitter but I didn't find that. I tried it twice in 2006 and each time I gave up. I tried it in fine yarn and didn't get it. I'm not sure why now since it's actually pretty straight forward. In fact, so straight forward I got bored towards the end, and it was only knowing that Sara's birthday was looming that kept me going.



However, it's done now and I do believe it was most appreciated. She wrote down 'Malabrigo' to tell her mum and spent the day wearing it and stroking the kitteny softness of the beautiful Silky Merino.

Happy birthday my friend! Enjoy being 21!

xo

Bells

Rosebuds and Tulips

On the weekend when I saw RoseRed at Berry, she gifted me with some secret socks she'd been working on for my birthday. My birthday was some months ago now but all the best things are worth waiting for and this was in fact part two of my birthday present. That's truly a case of extending the joy, don't you think?

So, here is my gift. They are Rosebud socks and you can read about how RoseRed suffered for her art here. And suffer she did. The yarn got twisted up in the winding process and took four hours to detangle! Is that friendship or what?



I thought the socks looked lovely against my little bed of yellow tulips, which, as of this moment may no longer exist as it's blowing a gale outside!



The pattern was designed by Aussie knitter and one half of Knitting Inspirations Ann Lim, and the yarn is Handmaiden Casbah which I have never encountered before and which I can tell you is truly gorgeous on my feet.

It's the famed MCN - Merino, Cashmere, Nylon blend. Swoon. Seriously. Luxury sock yarn in the extreme.

And get this - the colour is called Wine. No wonder she thought of me when choosing to knit it up for me!



And don't they look cute with my new shoes? They're crocs - who knew you could get Crocs that were so cute?

There was another little something in with this gift but it requires a whole other post. I'll save it for next time.

Bells

Sweet Evangeline

I needed a gift for my friend Julia and I needed it fast. It had to be bright and beautiful, warm and comforting, just like Julia, and so last Monday night I hit upon the perfect thing.

Within minutes I'd bought the pattern for Evangeline mitts (Ravelry Link) from the The Sweet Sheep.



I used part of a skein of Malabrigo worsted in Sealing Wax, which was what was leftover from a gift from Amy in Rhode Island a long time ago. I've sat on it for so long, not sure which would be the perfect way to use it and I knew I'd be able to get two pairs of mitts out it if I was lucky. It'll be easy. I'll be casting on a pair for myself shortly so that I can have something red on my hands for what remains of winter.

Julia adored these. You know when someone really gets what you've done? When you've hit just the right note? This was one of those moments. Very satisfying.

They're a fast knit (if you do the short version, the pattern provides a long and short version) and the cable is actually pretty simple. By the time you've carefully done a few pattern rows, you've hit the thumb and next thing it's all over. Instant gratification.

* * *

And in other exciting news, I have officially finished my Tour de France cardigan. It's drying as we speak and should be ready for work in the morning.



I found what I think are the perfect buttons yesterday at Addicted to Fabric.

Full write up some time this week.

I'll see if a few more name suggestions come in for the knitting bear contest and choose something shortly.

Bells

Pretty Crochet Pants

I've been working this week on a special gift for a little girl who turns one tomorrow. A pair of crochet pants, for George's little girl, Grace.



They're made from Cleckheaton Cocoon, a 4ply baby yarn in wool and nylon. Lovely soft and practical for a garment that will no doubt get a fair bit of rough wear as Grace learns to walk. I wanted them to be practical and pretty at the same time, hence the touch of frill on the bottom of the legs.



The pattern said that for the waist, hat elastic should be used but I looked at hat elastic and wasn't sure. I can't really say why, so I went with shirring elastic in the end (note to self: don't pull on it too hard, it breaks!). I'll have to see them on before I am sure it worked and might have to redo them since I'm not sure they'll go over a nappy or a fat baby tummy yet.

I might have done the three rows of shirring elastic too tight. But we'll see.



The pattern is from a book I think I'll get lots of use out of. It's Cleckheaton booklet #957, Master Crochet.



I can think of a little girl in my family who will look gorgeous in more items made from this book. Crochet is wonderful for baby girls, I think. So pretty and versatile and quite fast. I'm sure if I had knit these pants I might still be going.

I have loved very much immersing myself in crochet in the last couple of weeks. The Chevron Lace Cardigan is very nearly complete - just a little more of then band and I'll be done.


Bells

So very fetching!

In the car on the weekend, I finished off a modified pair of Fetching fingerless mittens from Knitty. Time and again, it's easy to see why these are one of the most popular mitt patterns on the internet. They are cute and they are fast, even when you modify them and make them longer.

Yes, there's only one mitt in this photo. The other hand was taking the photo!



I made these on commission. Sean's workmate has done some nice things for us and as Sean is always talking up my knitting (gotta love that!) so he offered his early morning dog walking friend a pair of Fetching mitts made by me. She suggested colours she was keen to wear and from the stash emerged some ancient Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed.

By ancient I mean, bought in the first flurry of yarn buying from ebay when I started knitting again in 2004. I made a vest from it a long time ago and I hated knitting with it then as much as I did this time.

I really, really don't like this yarn, despite the wool/silk/cashmeriness of it all.

Wouldn't you think that a combination such as this would be a dream to knit with? No. It's stiff as a board. It does not flow through your fingers like the luxury its make up suggests. It's not rough, per se. Just stiff. Its only saving grace is that it looks wonderful.

I perservered because of the look of it and because I knew Sean's friend walks dogs in the brutal Canberra mornings and you don't need delicate wool for that. You need something that's going to go the distance. This'll do that.

For modifcations, I made four repeats of the cable at the base and an extra repeat of the cable at the fingertips. The pattern as written, as has often been said, is fairly short and begs for lengthening. They still only used about 60g of yarn, so not the stash-buster I was hoping for but still, they've washed up nice and Sean's friend will hopefully love them.

Bells