Tweedy ruffles

Garter Ruffle Shawl
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, 3 x 50 g cocoa, 2 x 50 g charcoal
Needles: 4 mm

This is a modified version of Wool Peddler's Shawl from Folk Shawls, author Cheryl Oberle. I replaced the lace edge with a simple garter stitch ruffle.



Sometimes things just fall in place perfectly. I think I've knit my favourite thing ever – I love this shawl so, so much. It's light as a feather, yet very warm, it drapes beautifully around my shoulders, and the tweedy yarn prevents it looking too fancy. The downside? It is meant for my mom. She deserves it of course, I'm just afraid she won't love it like it's supposed to be loved, deeply and passionately that is.



The shawl used up my entire stash of Felted Tweed, three balls of lighter brown and two of the darker for the ruffle. When I changed colours, I just increased one stitch every two stitches for one row, and then it was all knitknitknitting again until there was no yarn left. I blocked the shawl by soaking it and then pinning it out as big as I could, which made it nice and airy. I couldn't figure out how the block the ruffle though, so after the shawl had dried, I ironed the edge gently, and that really made all the difference.



I'm kinda on a yarn diet right now, but I'm seriously contemplating on buying more Felted Tweed so that I can make a Garter Ruffle Shawl for myself too. Or maybe I'll just ask my mom whether she would like a pair of socks better...

posted by Terhi @ 9:17 ap.

Any Meidas out there?

Meida's Mittens
by Nancy Bush
Pattern source: Folk Knitting in Estonia / Nancy Bush
Yarn: Vuorelma Satakieli (901 gray, 964 blue, 088 dark blue) + sock yarn scraps
Needles: 2,25 mm (for the cuff) + 2 mm

Modifications: Decreased 4 stitches after cuff, made the mittens longer and the top rounded



I'll start with the good.

I think this is a beautiful pattern. I love the fair-isle cuff, and I'm pretty happy with the colours I chose for it. I also like the yarn. Satakieli is not very smooth when knitting, but after washing and blocking it really blooms and softens, and the finished fabric looks really beautiful.



But.

I have no idea why in the world I decided to knit mittens. I never wear mittens! Gloves are much more practical, and when it's cold, I prefer wearing my thick leather mittens. I realized this after having knitted the first one, and that, to put it mildly, caused some motivation problems. That, and the fact that the mitten was just a tiny bit too small for me. To top it off, the long break in between knitting these two caused the other mitten to be even smaller. Not much, but still. Oh well.



(ETA: Gone to Piua!) Still, I'm happy I persevered. They are pretty! But knowing that I'd never wear these, I'm offering my mittens up for graps: if there's someone out there who likes wearing mittens and have medium sized hands (preferably one smaller than another), please say so in the comments. I would love to see my mittens find a good home.

posted by Terhi @ 12:23 ip.

She's serving leftovers, again!

The great thing about knitting hats is that you can have a FO or two every week. But alas, I've not been knitting hats, so you'll have to make do with a WIP post instead. So, let's get on with it, shall we?



I've finally cast on for the second Meida's Mitten. I didn't feel like it, at all, but then again, I didn't feel like ripping the first one either. I'm determined to not have any UFO's around here, so it's either ripping or finishing. Luckily I decided to block the first mitten before deciding whether to rip or not, because the stitches evened out so beautifully that I just had to cast on for it's mate. And now I'm quite anxious to get these done.



My second WIP is this brown blob, formerly known as Wool Peddler's Shawl. I didn't like how the lace edging looked in this yarn, so I'm knitting a simple ruffled edge instead. This is almost done too – I have one ball of Felted Tweed left, and after that's gone, the shawl is ready. No leftovers!



And then there's a Nancy Bush sock, Gentleman's Shooting Stocking from Knitting Vintage Socks, knitted with The Knittery sock yarn that is h e a v e n l y. But quite thin too, so this is a slow-going project.

Only three works-in-progress! Such a good girl I am. But of course, there are plans:



Stripey socks for Onni, in my favourite colours, all leftovers from Nancy Bush socks. I know that I've been all about using the yarn leftovers and the stash lately – please bare with me. It can't be long before I start buying yarn left and right, so I'll just enjoy this as long as it lasts.



Ward, from Heartfelt - The Dark House Collection by Kim Hargreaves. I'm planning on making it longer and with different ribbings. I've been so terribly good and boring that I've even swatched.

And that's enough of this boringness. Next time: a finished object that's not a hat. Promise!

posted by Terhi @ 5:12 ip.

The latest from the hat knitting front

Felicity
by Wanett Clyde
Pattern source: Available as a free Ravelry download
Yarn: Knit with one strand of Rowan 4 Ply Soft and two strands of Knit Picks Shadow held together
Needles: 4 and 4,5 mm
Mods: Cast on 80 sts instead of 70



Raisin Beret
by Raven Jakubowski
Pattern source: Snowball Crafts in Hell
Yarn: Garnstudio Alaska, 2 x 50 g
Needles: 3,25 and 6 mm
Mods: The hat is turned inside out.



I'm ridiculously happy with these two hats! Happy happy happy! I think they look very nice with my black coats, the only problem is which one to wear first. Both patterns were very clearly written, quick to knit, and free! Nothing more to say I guess – I'm off to fill my Ravelry queue with more beret patterns. Happy Sunday! Go knit yourself a hat!

posted by Terhi @ 12:43 ip.

One more for the road

Greenie
for the Finnish Red Cross
Pattern: my own
Yarn: leftovers from various projects
Needles: 3 mm and 3,5 mm

Obviously I was not quite done with hats yet. Who knew that hat knitting can be as addictive as knitting socks? And compared to socks, hats have one major advantage: you only need to make one.



For this hat I used leftovers from my favourite green projects (from the brim up): Debbie Bliss Merino DK from Wisconsin Winter Scarf, Wetterhoff Sivilla from Ene's Scarf, Ohut Pirkkalanka from Sunrise Circle Jacket and Koigu Premium Merino from Go With the Flow socks, and two shades of turquoise. The lighter is Debbie Bliss Merino DK and the darker is just something found from the stash, unlabeled, so I have no idea what it is, or was, since it's all gone now. Yay for that.



I'm happy with this one. I like the colours, and if it was a different shape, I might actually wear it. And hey, there's a thought – I could make a hat that I would wear! Which would be a beret, because that's the only style that looks good on me. Sometimes these things just take time, right?

posted by Terhi @ 12:21 ip.