Knitting in the sunshine

The heatwave continues.  As does the stash busting.  Using up small amounts of 4ply yarn to make a couple of Little Sister's Dresses.

And some purple aran to make a Baby Sophisticate cardigan.

And, I have cast on a blanket (reverse pinwheel).  Which I actually brought yarn for.  To try to justify buying yarn, well it was on offer...

Knitting blankets in this heat summer seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do!  Although I have some way to go before this blanket is covering my lap.  I've just realised when uploading these photos that I seem to be having a purple knitting phase, this is not necessarily intentional! In between the knitting, I also cycled up to Loch Lomond to have a very well deserved ice-cream.

Where this black headed gull (that really has a chocolate coloured head) very kindly posed for me.

A Mile of Mice...

There is currently a project aiming to create a mile of knitted mice to raise money for the Alzheimer's society.

You can find out more about the project on ravelry and facebook.  I've made ten for the cause.

As you can see, Mark the guinea pig was pretty unimpressed.  We are currently having a spell of glorious sunshine here in the UK.  Which is perfect for using my new sunglasses case, made by the very talented blupaisan as part of a Craftster swap.

Plus it is great weather for a cycle, and a chance to show off my new bike basket!

PS) These cute seagull chicks are on the roof opposite, they are getting bigger and stronger (and nosier) every day, and are sure to fledge soon!

Bunny!

Let me introduce you to Mr Rabbit!

This was made for jo_mama in the Craftster June Birthday Swap.  The pattern is Henry's Rabbit by Sara Elizabeth Kellner.  I used some aran wool in my stash, and it only took a couple of days to make.  Along with the knitted rabbit I printed on a tote bag, using a freezer paper stencil.

And off it went bunny hopping over the Atlantic!

Adventures in cables...

 I had been wanting to knit more items with cables, however not being particularly proficient with cable needles, and not having quite as many arms as an octopus, I decided to start somewhere simple.  I picked Blue Blanket by LondonLeo for a friend's new arrival.

This pattern has blocks of cable, moss stitch and garter stitch, which together look very impressive, although is actually quite simple to do.  It is a two row repeat, with a cable needle required every tenth row, and you just knit until you are finished (or run out of yarn).  This project also uses a K1B stitch, that is to knit a stitch into the stitch below (essentially dropping a stitch).  This results is quite a prominent line either side of the cable section.

I am quite happy with how this turned out, and this has given me confidence to try some more adventurous cable patterns.  The ravelry details with yarn info are here.  Does anyone have any suggestions of easy cable patterns to try next?

Doon the watter

On a very sunny Saturday we went, where millions have went before, doon the watter to the Isle of Bute.

I finished my mont-royal/Mint Royale hat the night before, and took it on the trip.  However it must be said that on the first warmish day of Spring, a 100% wool hat is probably unnecessary!

The hat is very cosy and the pattern very well written.  The yarn was some Sirdar Majestic that I had been given, as is probably older than I am.  There were a number of breaks in the yarn, which was rather annoying, but hey, it was free so nevermind.

Bute was fantastic.

We went on a tour of the extremely fancy Mount Stuart.

A wander round Rothesay castle, where we saw some herring gulls who were happy to pose for photographs.

And also a very pretty swan nest by the castle moat.

One other reason to love Bute, is that it has the best name for a local newspaper ever.

It's ok...

Spring is here.

My new hat is on the needles.

It is mont-royal by tshep.  I can't think of this hat, without humming 'Don't falter' by Mint Royale.

I am continuing my yarn destash, and using some Sirdar Majestic that I was given for this hat. 

Also I have a rather bright green crochet project on the go, for a very special Craftbomb - more details coming soon!

My weather apology...

I'm sorry, I think I might have been responsible for the cold weather we have been having recently.

You see, I cast on my ten-stitch blanket just before New Year.  My aim was to use up all the DK stash that I had.  And well, it took three months.

During this time, the knitting gods must have been in discussion with the weather gods, so that the continued chilly nights would encourage me to continue to work on the blanket. After all, you don't want to be working on a blanket in warm weather!

So you will be relieved to know that the blanket is finally finished.

The knitting gods have sent an email to the weather gods, and they will be working on bringing you Spring soon!

Stitches...

This has been a quiet month on the blog front.

In the background I have been making many, many stitches.

Including an icord border.

And some pretty cable.

Finished items to share soon.