Wednesday 18 April 2018

Mrs Darcy

I had a fit of nostalgia recently and had to cast on the Mra Darcy cardigan pattern (a popular pattern from way back when - 2008!). I used my Scheepjes Stone Washed yarn held double and added a strand of HHF Merino Lace 1200m in a discontinued colourway (Granny). I'd been feeling the need to use this yarn up, but also to do it justice because Granny is a favourite colourway of mine and I'd sold my second hank of it last year (I got seller's remorse badly!!). I only had a small aount left and striped in a strand of HHF Blue Faced Lace (Whisper - a pale pink/beige mix). HHF means Hedgehog Fibres if anyone doesn't know :-)
The Merino Lace is funny stuff, it's lovely, takes the dye really well and of course, it's super-soft. It doesn't bloom much when washed and blocked though, it's not got much fuzz and that puts me off knitting with it for lace projects. The Blue Faced Lace on the other hand, it's grabby, soft and fuzzy, takes the dye in a beautifully subtle way too. I'd not hesitate to use it for any lace pattern.
The Merino Lace works best for me if held alongside a neutral thicker yarn, it gives such a subtle variegated effect.


Lovely flecks of colour from the lace-weight yarn. The Scheepjes Stone Washed was absolutely lovely to work with, really squeaky and super soft.


Finished it very quickly! I was delighted not to have any of the problems I had had with my original attempts at knitting this design back in 2008. I'd only recommend the original pattern (not the re-written one) to experienced knitters, I had to make judgements whilst knitting and slight changes to make it fit.




Equal Night

Wow, I knit this one up so quickly! The yarn is from my Xania dress, it's by Pickles (it was a bit of a splurge at the time) and it was making me feel very guilty sat there half unravelled in my basket. I made myself finish unravelling it and then started to mull over what to do with the yarn, sell it on or figure out something different to make with it.


Anyway, I decided on Equal Night, a blanket pattern by Soft Sweater (Sylvia McFadden). I'd seen this on the Coffee & Craft podcast and really liked it but thought I'd not be able to make it as it uses super-bulky yarn and 15 mm needles and really I can't be buying more yarn/needles at the moment. I decided I wouldn't mind a smaller-sized blanket though and cracked on with the yarn and needles I already had available. Glad I did!
It was such a quick and simple knit. I took 3 of my unravelled balls of yarn with me to Rich's parents' house when we visited and managed to finish all 3. There was an odd morning when I had no knitting left to do, I'd put heels in all 4 of James's socks and finished my blanket wool. I was feeling a bit lost (with no knitting - sad but true) and a little poorly. Went for a walk with the boys and Rich's mum Jane and Jazz the Collie dog - that was fun.
Picked up the blanket again in the evening when we had got home and some washing was in the machine and I'd settled back in. The edging is fun, it's knit-on and you're casting off as you knit your way around. Took me an evening as I kept putting it down to admire it and enjoy the curve which was emerging (it had been so bunched up on my needles it looked like a big sack!).




Folded in two, a nice semi-circle, thick and warm.


Super-drapey! I like wearing it this way best. Cropped my head off as I looked like I'd got a crick in my neck.


What am I looking for?

Still haven't found it... Ah well.

Tuesday 3 April 2018

Lake District


The steam trains were running on our first weekend there, here's James in the corridor of the train enjoying the steam coming through the window.




As always I came home with a large collection of pebbles, river pottery and crystals! The crystals are from Mungrisdale, a magical place to walk about, very quiet, breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful.



It was the most wonderful time of year to go (February) I've never been during the low season before, OK, it was bitterly cold (we got lucky and made it home before the unusually snowy weather hit). Brilliant though. I did miss Threlkeld Mining Museum (we always go), but it was closed. Next year!

Stripey Dress




I haven't enjoyed a project this much in AGES. This was so much fun from start to finish, even weaving all the ends in- did that in stages of course, I never leave all the ends to weave in TILL the end of a project like this, it's just asking for trouble really isn't it?

So, I've said this before but the project was inspired by one knit by Kristy Glass, she's the vlogger who does the 'Tell me about your Rhinebeck sweater' videos and LOADS of other videos/interviews. She did an interview with Chantal Belisle recently, I loved it, Chantal was hilarious, I loved how she happily swore with abandon (you rarely hear any swearing on any podcasts) she really is a character.
Anyway, Kristy Glass made this dress and it became one of those projects which preoccupies my mind, I really wanted to make one.


I took some pictures inside as it was so cold. Added a sunhat as it seemed to tie-in with the fact that this is a summer dress!

The yarns are a mixture, some are Aran-weight, some DK, some Sock/4-ply. To mix the weights I held yarns doubled a lot of the time. The white yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners DK (Ecru), I cast on and cast off with this white and striped it throughout the dress to pull it all together. Other than that I went for a colour palette of blues, pinks and lilac. Most yarns were Life in the Long Grass, an old favourite of mine.
Sometimes I would add in a colour and then think it looked awful and then I'd have to spend ages mulling over whether I should rip it back or not. I found that it all went together quite well in the end though! It's a lovely light dress, perfect for the warmer months and very different to my usual dresses which are generally for the cooler months. I was thinking about the UK and our weather the other day, trying to figure out a rough percentage of cool months/warm months. I bet there are charts somewhere which illustrate this actually.


Anyway, it was the perfect car knitting project for our short holiday in the Lake District, much better than the socks I took one year. Long rounds of fairly mindless knitting + lots of colours = happy me!

Monday 2 April 2018

Carbeth + Instagram


Couldn't resist this pattern. I had just the right sort of yarn in my stash, the use of which I had changed my mind about and so I wasn't sure what to do with it. Then Kate released her Carbeth jumper pattern! The yarn (Berocco Blackstone Tweed) is very similar to Buachaille (Kate's yarn), same metreage, same feel, same thickness. I had just the right amount too so it had to be cast on immediately.


I have since given this jumper to my sister Sam. I'm not convinced that I like oversized jumpers just yet. Sam proved to be a very worthy recipient though, she had admired the jumper on my (deleted) Instagram account and it fits her very well.
Speaking of Instagram, I deleted my account maybe a week ago. I'm not sure. I regret my decision because I discovered Kate Selene yarns only the other day and Instagram is one of the best places to share stuff like that with like-minded people. Honestly, I hate being so impulsive sometimes.
I was on it far too much so instead of limiting it like a sensible person, I deleted it. I've downloaded the app again and will be back on there at some point. I'm not finding it easy to sign back up what with wi-fi and network issues. I suppose that gives me time to think of a username though.
Edited to add that I chose the very original username of Birdsongknits_again... Ha!

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