Cornflower Cowl

Well, I was intending to show you this lovely grey cowl as I was knitting it but it was such an enjoyable knit, it didn't take long at all! So, I have progress pics and final posey shots for you:-)

Okay, where were we..... the last you heard about this project was me drooling over my lovely parcel of baby soft grey alpaca:-) I cast on pretty much straight away and have enjoyed every knitting minute of it. The yarn is such a pleasure to knit with and it knits up with such a nice drape and feel - gorgeous.

I was test knitting this lovely cowl design - 'Cornflower Cowl' . I love the way the cable patterning looks with the softer alpaca. You can still get good stitch definition but its softened slightly by the fibres in the alpaca. The pattern is quite easy to remember and I've spent my evenings listening to talking books, twisting cables and knitting away happily. It only took me four eveings to knit - and I'm about average speed, I think. So this is a great idea for a lovely quick christmas knit. I'm already planning some more!

And, just to show you how the cowl looks on, I got John to take some posing pictures for you:-)  Now, I've never worn one before - probably because I have a lot of scarves - but I loved it! I somehow thought cowls would be tight and restricting around my neck (I have a short neck which is a bummer for polo necks - no graceful swan-like neck for me:) But no! This was soft, cosy and immensely secure. I suddenly realised I wouldn't have to keep tucking in the ends of a scarf anymore - bonus! I didn't consciously realise that bugged me until now and now, the problem is solved, and very nicely too.

But this already has a future home as a christmas pressie so if I want to be ready for winter, I'll have to get some more yarn on the needles, my cornflower cowl pattern in hand and start a new talking book!

Test knitting

Today I received a very lovely parcel in the post - the yarn for my test knitting project, some gorgeous soft Rowan baby alpaca. I can't describe how lovely this is, just heavenly:-) Its so soft to the touch it makes you realise just how brash and hard all those other yarns have been:-))) And I thought cashmerino was nice. This is on another level entirely and after I stopped fondling it :-), I got around to knitting with it - sigh, perfection! Yum, yum, yum!

So what am I test knitting? It's a lovely cowl pattern by designer Karen Scott called Cornflower Cowl full of lovely cables and twisted stitches and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I think this alpaca is spoiling me!! How will I go back to my acrylic stash now!!! But not just providing me with this yummy yarn to test knit with, Karen also included some of her lovely stitch markers for me as a gift - aren't they lovely? Especially for socks which is perfect as the normal ones are a major pain being far too big and getting in the way all the time.

A close-up for you. I love the little heart on the left:-) Do you think Karen knows about my love of pink? It came in a bright pink mail bag, wrapped in bright pink tissue paper and the stitch markers were in this pink organza bag with a pink ribbon!! A lovely way to start the day. Thank you so much Karen!! There was another small gift too......

.....but it didn't last long enough for the photo shoot:-))

Rose Red

This lovely hat designed and made by Ysolda is Rose Red, my knitting project of the moment. I am including the original picture as mine is nowhere near finished yet but it gives you an idea of the complexity and balance of this pattern. If you want to look at it in more detail or try knitting it you can buy it here. I would highly recommend this as an elegant, considered design that looks complex and gives you a feeling of achievement - and a damn good looking hat when you've finished. (People think you have awesome knitting skills!)

Anyway, this has also shown me just how rusty my hand knitting skills are! Using the knitting machine enables me to see structure and form more easily but I'm having to remember abbreviations in hand knit that I took for granted before. It's like you still understand the structure and what it should look like but the sequence with the needles isn't flowing quite as smoothly as it once did. So, these hat patterns by Ysolda are gently breaking me back into hand knitting.

I'm checking everything - YO for instance. I thought I knew this one at least but since I mucked up SSK and had to look online for a video, I began to question myself and decided to check how much of my knowledge was a bit faulty. So I discoverd that YO is done differently if you follow with a Knit stitch or a purl. Thank you Knitwitch for your online videos! Now my hats are looking more like the pictures!

Progress so far.....

See? Now we have perfect crisp YO's and in the next section we will have lovely SSK's! They will be beautiful! I also went out and treated myself to some Debbie Bliss yarn to knit this in - A darker red Cashmerino DK. It is so soft to the touch and makes you value your knitting that little bit more. If this one works out then I will use this or Ysolda's verity pattern for the next pressie on my list. I also got some Alpaca silk - again debbie Bliss - in a green/blue shade. Aaahh.... such lovely colours and so soft! So keep a look out in the next week for that one too. Maybe Ysolda will have written another hat pattern by then?!

I am also beginning to use Ravelry more now, so you can also check any progress there too if you are already a Ravelry member - registered as tootiefruitie!

Until then, happy knitting!