Linus shawl

It’s been a while since I finished a shawl, but here it is: the Linus shawl, a free pattern you can find here on Ravelry.

I used a recycled bourette mix yarn (cotton and silk), bought at Bart&Francis, who specialise in all kinds of yarn, thread and fiber. It’s always an adventure to browse through their shop, with lots of discoveries!

This is a very easy knit, it’s relaxing and I love the result. 

The Purl Soho Reversible Hat

I have been working on this hat for quite some time. It was my travel knit and since we are not travelling at the moment, there was little progress for some time. But at last, it got finished, just in time for some cold spells this spring. It's a Purl Soho pattern which you can find here. It's a double-layered hat : you start knitting the first hat from the top down with colour 1, then continue right on with the second hat in colour 2, bottom up. You tuck one inside the other and connect them with a little tassel. It's reversible, so two hats in one!

The yarn I used is Ashford Tekapo 3ply (brown and off-white). I bought it at Wolboerderij Blij Bezuiden, a small sheep breeding farm in the South of the Netherlands. Besides their herd of merino sheep they have a wonderful, friendly shop and lots of knowledge and energy. Here I learned how to spin and I’m so happy with this skill, it’s a very relaxing thing to do!

 

Tiny houses

In an earlier post I mentioned that I joined some speedcrafting sessions, hosted by Helen Robertson. One of the projects we did was knitting these tiny houses (or as they say on Shetland: peerie mootie hooses)

I truly fell in love with this project and ended up knitting 10 of them! 3 I filled with a match box so they can easily stand on their own and make a tiny village. The other seven I filled with some yarn scraps to give them some body and turned into broches. To the façade of each of the brooche-houses I added an embroidered flowering climbing plant.

I used the yarn Helen sent for the project and also some HotButterYarns colour mini balls DK. This is beautiful , locally sourced British wool. I bought them at Tribe Yarns in Richmond-upon-Thames, a truly lovely shop with great customer service!

This is by the way also a lovely way to use up any leftover yarn! 

Jo Mittens

Jo March has been one of my heroes since childhood. In "Literary knits, 30 patterns inspired by favorite books" by Nikol Lohr, I found  a pattern for Jo mittens and really wanted to knit them. Partly because I like Jo so much, but also because of the practical boyish look of these mittens.

I struggled with the pattern, to be honest. I don’t think it 's written clearly enough for a not so experienced knitter and I had to frog more than once. I didn't seem to be able to make the pattern work, so in the end I modified it. Overall, sometimes a bit of a frustrating experience but, in the end, also very rewarding.

I like my Jo mittens a lot and am happy I persevered! I love the look of the knitted fabric, its warmth and the way the mittens fit and feel. 

The yarn I used is Rauwerk 100% merino (100g - 220m), an eco-friendly and ethical yarn from Germany. this is fantastic yarn, soft and rustic at the same time, in wonderful colours, a real favourite of mine! I bought this skein at Yarnporium in 2018 (you can read my blogpost on Yarnporium here) at the booth of Wild Woolly (a super nice London yarn shop)

And a little shout-out to the knitting needles I used, Lykke driftwood double-pointed needles : simply super! The combination of the yarn and the knitting needles made this a lovely project!

the wonderful yarn and super needles :

My Pal's Hat

I love knitting hats and my BF loves wearing them : great combination!
This one is the Vanilla Hat by Deborah Lynch. It's knitted with the provisional cast-on technique which gives a lovely folded brim.
I used Peak District Yarns DK, in the colourway "Charcoal Kate 1". I love how the subtle change of colour in the yarn  turned out in the knitted fabric.
Peak District Yarns is a studio and workshop in Tideswell in the Peak District, UK. The unbelievably beautiful landscape there is the inspiration for their unique hand-dyed yarns.
Last year we went on a trip to this amazing corner of the world and we fell in love with the raw expanse of the Peaks. And of course the Peak District Yarns shop had to be on my to-do list! I was not disappointed and this skein is only one of the many I bought… Perhaps I should learn to control myself a bit better in these gorgeous yarn shops! 😁

                                                                  The lovely yarn:

work in progress and knitting on the train:

Stephen West's Itaca Shawl

Yes, I very recenly finished this shawl, yay! It is a Stephen West design, called the Itaca Shawl. You can buy the pattern here.
I used Fyberspates Gleem Lace, which is 55% superwash Bluefaced Leicester Wool and 45% Silk (800m/100 grams, so very thin yarn). I bought it in a truly great shop : Wool-on-the-Exe in Exeter. If you're ever in Exeter, do go there!
The other yarn, the white one, is a very rustic 100% wool. It was given to me without specifications, no weight, no yardage. I just thought the two yarns would match so I got on with it.
Because of the completely different yarns (one soft and manageable, one rustic and much less manageable) I used, the shape of the shawl was, when finished, a little odd. I loved the look of the fabric, but to be honest, it was hard to find a way this shawl could be worn at all… But no worries, the pattern says to wash the shawl and then stretch the fabric extremely and that did the trick!
"Simple garter stitch plus simple shaping makes a simply beautiful and casual shawl!", I couldn't agree more!
And notice I added glass beads, which I think are lovely!

It's finished! (And I'm showing of a bit...)

Before blocking and stretching : The white and purple yarns react completely different to the pattern.

Before blocking and stretching : beautiful texture, not so nice to wear

Nicely stretched : softer and bigger shawl

Knitting pictures...always lovely!!

Oma's pull through scarf

This is a great little gift-knitting idea. It is a small scarf with an elegant look because of the yarn I used : it is Aiko (Lang Yarns), a merino-mohair viscose blend. The yarn feels soft but not too stretchy. And I love the colour, purple with some speckles, a bit of a tweedy look. I bought it at Lana in Antwerp, a nice shop with lots of the more classic quality yarns and lots of knowledge to tap into. 

You can find he pattern in "Cute and easy knitting" from 2013, so not brand new. I know there are lots of books for beginning knitters but these patterns are really lovely, beautiful, very cute and worth knitting.

I knitted this little scarf some years ago, for my mother in law, when all my Christmas presents for that year were handmade. As I mentioned before on here, I'm recovering from shoulder surgery, so this year no handmade presents sadly. But I am doing much better and am determined to carry on bravely with the physio, so 2020 can become a crafty year once again! 

A small cape in autumn colours

The pattern for this cape you can find in the Dutch magazine "Simply Breien" (nr 1van 2012). I really enjoyed knitting it, in the round. That has a lot to do with the yarn I used : Rowan Hemp Tweed. It is a blend of 75% wool and 25 % hemp, feels lovely and soft and has a natural and tweedy look. And the colours are gorgeous! I bought the yarn at the Stitchery in Lewes on one of our holidays in the UK, as always looking for local yarn shops.
This cape is simply great to wear on autumn walks!

Duttons for Buttons

Some years ago, I visited Harrogate in Yorkshire (UK). There is this wonderful shop, Duttons for Buttons. What a treasure cove, or in their own words : "For haberdashery & lace & spare-time & needles & thread & ribbons & rainy days knitting with friends & wool & needlewordk & making stuff with the kids & just about every needlecraft thing you'll ever need…" Along with some beautiful and unusual buttons, I bought the shop's environmentally friendly souvenir bag. I
customized it, as is the idea, with lots of buttons from my button box. It took a while to sew them all on, but for what's now my favourite tote, it was totally worth it!

Crochet with friends

This shopping bag means a lot to me. Two friends and I choose to make one each: it was an attempt to stop the time, be together in a bubble, outside the far to harsh reality of illness. It gave hope, just for a moment, where there was no hope. Two friends finished their bags, one didn't, she passed away 4 months ago. We couldn't give you anything but this small tiny bubble that wasn't real, Kathleen, but we will never ever forget the joy of that day.

The pattern and Yarn (Sandnes Garn) we bought at Pand 16.

Miss Marple's tea cosy

I love knitting, I love Miss Marple and I love tea. I found the pattern for this super fluffy old-fashioned tea cosy in the Dutch knitting magazine 'Simply Breien' (1/2012 on page 41). And I knew it would be perfect for my vintage teapot, and would meet my need for 'cosy comfort' now and then. So, on I went, and well, let's just say I was very glad when it was finished, for knitting this put considerable strain on my hands. But oh I am so happy with it! It makes me smile because it is sooo over the top pink and fluffy.
The yarn is gorgeous Wensleydale Sheep Shop Longwool aran, bought in 2015 at 'Prick your Finger', in Bethnal Green London. This local yarn shop gave me my nicest experience in yarnshopping so far. The lady was so enthousiastic, friendly, interested, bubbly and full of advice, I couldn't help myself and bought two more skeins of sockyarn :-)
When looking for some recent information about this shop, I sadly discovered that it has been closed, what a pity....

Rubbert Bear

A few years ago I visited the lovely town of Lacock (UK). In one of the independent shops I bought this adorable kit to make a small teddybear from Bower Hinton Bears, a small business in Somerset (UK). The instructions are well-written and included all the necessary things, and of good quality too.
I struggled to get the nose right and I am still not one hundred percent satisfied. Nevertheless, Rubbert Bear is loved here!

With his good friend Comet and the Christmas tree.

Selbu Mittens

The Selbu Mittens is a pattern by Skeindeer Knits. You can buy it here on Ravelry. Skeindeer is a London-based Norwegian pattern designer highly influenced by traditional Norwegian knitting. She hosts a nice YouTube podcast that I watch regularly.
The pattern is well-written and easy to follow, and I loved learning new techniques (like the Old Norwegian cast-on). It was a bit like solving a puzzle to me. This colourwork knitting is really something I want to do more of.
The yarn I used is John Arbon Textiles knit by numbers DK, bought online from Knit with Attitude
(a local yarn shop in London). I am very happy with these mittens, they are so super warm and cosy. I made them as a Chritmas gift and I hope they will be well received!

Sooo cosy and warm!

starting a new project is always a bit daunting…

Touchstone Shawl.

This summer, during some travelling, I made the Touchstone Shawl. It's a free pattern on Ravelry, by Laura Aylor. It's quite a big shawl and lovely to wear. The pattern is not difficult and it kept me interested. I used gorgeous Malabrigo Dos Tierras, in the colourways "pearl ten" and "arch angel". I love working with this yarn! I bought it at The Sheep Shop In Cambridge (UK). Sadly it closed in September 2017. The disappearance of more and more local yarn shops is so sad. Buying online just isn't the same!!

 It's a big shawl!

Steely Tweed Scarf

This is an "oldie". In the autumn of 2014 I knitted this scarf for my son. It was one of my first knitting projects and it took forever. But I enjoyed it and he liked it. The pattern is published "Easy knitted scarves", a booklet by Monica Russel. The yarn is Artesano Aran (50% superfine alpaca 50% Peruvian highland wool), a beautiful strong, soft and robust yarn. Unfortunately, the company shut up shop in 2016.
We bought 2 skeins in the summer of 2014 at I Knit, another beautiful yarn shop in London. I was a real beginner at that time and the two (expensive!) skeins I bought were from a different batch...I hadn't noticed, I even had no idea that this could be a thing. It only became clear while I was knitting... Surely the person selling me the yarn, me clearly being a novice (you could not help noticing by the questions I asked...), should have warned me...? I guess it is one of these lingering  disappointments… I still love this scarf though!
I added tassels from some leftover dark grey yarn I got from my Mum who knitted me this dark grey beautiful sweater years ago. Yes, the story continues...

One of my last projects on straight needles...

such a warm scarf!