WIP Wednesdays - Scrappy Sock Cardi

This little cardi has been on my needles for about 6 months. I always, always stall on the sleeves! It is technically still a WIP because it need buttons...

It's a great pattern by Fawn Pea. It's simple but a good way to stash-bust your leftover sock yarn. I used Araucania Ranco Solid and The Knitting Goddess 4ply bfl superwash which is now discontinued. The bfl could be a little scratchy to wear and the Araucania needs to be handwashed and bled a little when I soaked it in soak. This little sweater, therefore, cannot be gifted to just anyone! I think I will have to gift it to another knitter.

How serendipitous that one of my favourite podcasters has announced that she is expecting! Hopefully she'll accept knitted gifts once the playful baby is born :)

I did like this pattern but I think it's a bit too simple. I probably won't knit it again unless I find myself with lots of sock leftovers aka sock orphans.

New memes and weeding!

Today I weeded the front drive. Unemployment is driving me mad and making me do productive things at home and *gasp* sometimes garden and housework!

Before 

Before

After

After

Aaaaaah that's better :)

In other news, I have had ideas for new memes! Squee Sunday, where I gush over pretties and patterns - inspired by a vintage UK programme called Ski Sunday which my mum watched religiously when I lived at home.

Random Awesome Nice Thing (RANT) is something random that has made me smile or brightened my day. I have noticed that some blogs like to rant about muggles, inlaws, politics etc so I thought I'd redress the balance with occasional rays of sunshine.

Do you guys have any meme ideas?

FO Fridays - Helena

I recently finished my Helena made from Rowan Cashsoft DK which really is lovely and soft :)

This was a stash-busting project so I did the lace section in stripes to use up some navy, red and green scraps. It's a bit of a weird colour combo but I think it just about works!

I really liked the pattern and it was very well-written but it took a while for me to complete due to the sleeves and the picking-up of stitches for the button bands and collar. I tend to take ages to get round to doing them but they don't take long when I actually set my mind to it!

I like the ties, and they were much quicker than sewing on buttons - safer too.

Helena modelled by the Easter bunny, showing the differing dye lots of the  chicory Cashsoft!!

WIP Wednesdays - Million Stripes Loop

I'm currently loving my Million Stripes Loop and am knitting it using scraps of Rowan Cashsoft DK and some colourmart yarns. So it should be nice and soft and comfy round my neck. Hopefully I won't have any pilling problems because a cowl does not need washing often.

It's my first time using a provisional cast-on and will be my first grafting!

Combining colours make me happy when it works but sometimes it can look plain awful. The Mason-Dixon ladies like to use all colours except pastels, black, white and primary colours. I broke this rule and deeply regretted it. I started a red and cream section, but it looked a bit too much like something a football supporter would wear! It clashed horribly with the rest of the colours, so I had to rip it out. I'm now waiting on delivery of some more yarn so I can finish.

Please tell me that I'm not the only knitter who ended up buying more yarn for a project that was supposed to bust the stash!

FO Friday - Stripe Study

First off - this is a brilliant pattern, if you're pondering whether to make it, do it! It's simple without being mindless. Interesting without being taxing. I think I will be making this again!

I used Zettl Treviso/Cortina yarn which is a sock yarn from Lidl. It isn't soft but it is pleasant and warm, not at all itchy. They're very good value and feel hard-wearing so I'm happy that this shawl will last well and not pill. I plan to handwash it due to some felting issues with the Cortina yarn. The solid colours really suit the graphic nature of the stripes.

I finished my stripe study about a week ago. I only did 11 stripes instead of the 12 in the pattern because I was fed up of the short rows! The border took aaaages because the stitch count got up to around 300, but I enjoyed the way it ate up the yarn.

If I was to make it again, I think I would persevere and make 12 stripes as the shawl is just a touch small due to the asymmetry of it. Theoretically, if I had knit all the stripes it would have added about 100 yards of yarn to my FO. It is currently around 785 yards, the pattern calls for 880 yards.

 I like the colours I used, it's very unusual for me to use orange as it used to really hate it! But I think it is a positive colour and hope to use more oranges and yellows in the future.

I had a little problem with the blocking as you can see! But the stash guardians did guard it for me and aid the blocking process with their body heat! My blocking mats are not quite large enough for me to stretch the shawl out, so you can see that it's a little curved. The central spine is not as straight as I would like. When the weather warms up, I will re-block it but I think it's adequate as it is :)

P.S. May the Fourth be with you!