Homely bits

In between knitting dresses I have been working on odd things which I've wanted to make for ages but never did because they're a little boring.

The first of these items were a pair of elf hats with jingling bells, the first for James's Christmas play at school, the second for Ol as he wanted one too!
Next came a crocheted cushion cover (above, pictured with my Ella Gordon Crofthoose cushion), said cover was done in single and double crochet using vintage tapestry wools I bought on ebay. This was one of those projects which lingered on so long and grew so slowly that I had to force myself to focus on it and get it finished. That sounds horrible, but I wanted a new cushion cover and I knew I'd be really happy with it once it was finished (I was very glad I made myself finish it!!). I love finishing things so much, focusing on an item at a time and getting stuff done. It's definitely a working method that works for me and adds to my enjoyment of knitting.

Straight off the back of my cushion cover success I cast on a cover for our draught excluder which was looking very tired and holey. It's definitely the closest to a 'fade' I'm ever going to get! I said this last year but I'm still enjoying watching all the knitting trends and mulling over past 'hot patterns'. I really want to knit another Audrey in Unst (remember that classic?), also a couple of patterns by Connie Chang Chinchio, patterns I've wanted to knit for years and patterns that were 'hot' for a time a few years ago.
I like a good challenge or goal in my knitting (there's something quite fun about personal challenges), so I decided that this year I would love to cross two particular cardigans off my 'must knit one day' list. The first is the Sabbatical cardigan, a cardigan I have attempted in the past and failed at because I found it so difficult. I wasn't using markers between pattern repeats for one thing, also, I was using up stashed yarn I didn't like. It was only going to end one way really.
Here she is, the Sabbatical cardigan! I will be using Rowan Kid Classic for this knit.

The second cardi is Connie's Mountain View cardigan. With this one I remember seeing it on Ysolda's blog many years ago - here's a link. I love this one, it's been in and out of my queue since I first saw it (same with Sabbatical), looks a perfect summertime cardi. It's simply a lovely classic shape.

I also finished cowls for the boys and a pair of woollen mittens for James. This finishing is in no small part down to the Strikplaner Rich bought me for Christmas. I know, I shouldn't need a book to make me knit & finish things but there's something nice and focusing about it. It certainly works for me! I am easily distracted, particularly by selfish projects and impulsive cast-ons. Like I said, I've found that NOT finishing things makes me a little dissatisfied, so it's been fab to have my diary to write a short bit in each night and help me focus. The boys were DELIGHTED with their new knitted accessories.

Here are the mittens and (upside down) cowls. Both are patterns by Tincanknits, both patterns are multi-sized from baby to adult and are FREE. So generous of Tincanknits :-)