Moving Forward MKAL Clue 2

Here be spoilers for anyone knitting along

Just a quick post with my progress on the Boo Knots New Year Mystery knitalong.

I forgot to mention in my previous posts that this MKAL has 7 clues all together with the clues with 2 to 4 days between clues. This means the clues are pretty short and manageable, prefect for this time of year. Clue 3 arrived yesterday and I’m about half way through that so I should have that done by tomorrow.

Clue 2 introduced two more colours and a subtle pattern made from purl stitches featuring diagonal stripes which radiate out from a triangle in the centre. I think this will probably become a bit clearer after blocking but at the moment it is hard to see the pattern.

So far so good, I'm looking forward to seeing where this is heading!

FO: Barnes

When I was picking out yarn for the Minimalismus hat (that was supposed to be for me me but actually ended up being Stu’s) I decided to get some yarn for a hat for Stu as well. I made him a hat a while back and while he does wear it a lot it isn’t really warm enough for really cold weather so I was happy to make him another.

I decided to keep it simple, the pattern I chose was Barnes, a very simple ribbed affair with no bells or whistles and I picked out some Cascade 128 in Deep Ocean. Stu likes bright blues and I thought this was vibrant enough without it being a bit too bright for him to want to wear.

Knitting this was incredibly quick and easy and I enjoyed knitting with the yarn. I found that I started to covet this hat shortly after casting on and wasn't entirely sure I wanted to give it away when I finished it, especially as I'd ended up giving away my Minimalismus hat! I decided that I would still offer it to Stu as I'd intended it to be for him though, even after I finished it and decided that I did completely love it. Luckily (for me at least) Stu declared it too slouchy for his tastes and the hat became mine. I'll admit that I failed to mention the fact that you can fold up the brim and convert it into a standard bobble hat but frankly it's his own fault for not working it out for himself! So long story short, I made me a hat that Stu has and I made Stu a hat that I have and now everyone has a hat they like and we all lived happily ever after.

In non knitting news, today is Felicity’s 5th birthday. Despite it feeling like she was just born 5 years have somehow passed and she has turned into a witty, adventurous and rambunctious little lady. She is honestly the most friendly person I have ever known and she never forgets a person once she’s met them and will never fail to greet them with a cheery hello when they pass by. She throws herself at life with such gusto and most days I realise I could learn a lot from this tiny human being. I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

FO: Minimalismus Hat

At the end of last year I gave brioche knitting a go, just a simple one colour hat but it was fun to knit and my hat was just so squishy! I didn’t mean to leave it quite so long before revisiting the technigue but I've finally got there, this time giving two colour brioche a whirl.

The pattern I chose to start with was Minimalismus by Raina K. She has loads of lovely patterns but i chose this one because it has minimal patterning throughout the main body of the hat and also has an alternative version for if you don’t want to work the brioche decreases that form the tops of the arches around the brim.

I decided to go all in, and after a quick glance at a You Tube tutorial if found those big decreases pretty simple to work and I felt rather accomplished once I’d finished them all! The middle section was very quick to knit up and actually the hardest bit was making the bobble and I've now sworn off making the stupid things altogether, such a faff.

I wasn't entirely sure I was going to add a bobble to this hat but after I'd finished it and tried it on I found that it wasn't quite as slouchy as I like. I know it's silly but I have a really tiny head and I find that hats which are tight against my head make me feel like look weirdI look weird and a bit of slouch seem to fix that. I tried adding the bobble to see if I'd lie it better, but alas still made my head look derpy. So I asked Stu if he wanted it as he'd been hinting he needed a warmer hat and he's been wearing it ever since. Oh well, at least i get to someone wearing it even if it's not me. At some point I will revisit this pattern and add an inch or so onto the length and then it will be perfect.

Just quickly, while I'm here and it's not really worth a seperate post, I've completed Clue 1 of the Moving Forward MKAL, go no further if you do not wish to be spoiled!

So far it’s just white with a little texture.

I did have a bit of a silly moment where I misread the pattern and only repeated Chart 2 one and a half times instead of two and a half times but I realised my mistake when I saw other people posting photos in the MKAL Ravelry thread and startied to notice mine was a little small by comparison. Oops! The next clue arrives tomorrow and I don't start work til 3pm on Fridays so I'm hoping to get a good chunk of it done right away. Yay for knitting time!

The Year Ahead

So 2019 is here! We welcomed it without much (any) fanfare, New Years has never really been my favourite celebration but it is a nice excuse to make a few plans and think about what I'd like to achieve craftwise this year.

First up the Boo Knits 2019 Challenge. Once again I considered not signing up for this, this year's challenge will involve knitting 12 Boo patterns, but in the end I decided to go ahead but to not make it a priority to actually complete it. If I don't feel like knitting shawls I won't but I don't want to miss out onjoining in if I do actually end up knitting the required amount of Boo patterns throughout the year. This year the challenge is being kicked off by...

Moving Forward, the New Year Mystery Knitalong which I cast on for this morning so I'm already making a good start. This one requires 4 or 5 colours of fingering weight yarns that form a gradient. I'm using DROPS Baby Alpaca Silk, which I've used and loved for a shawl last year, in 5 shades from white to purple. I switched round the order of the shades a couple of times and I'm still slightly torn but at this point it's sheer guesswork what will work best so this is what I'm sticking with now.

My big important knitting project for the year is another baby blanket. Thanks to my sister my lovely collection of nieces and nephews is set to grow by one around May time this year so I will be quietly working away on a blanket for him/her. My sister has been known to frequent these parts (hi Jess!) so I won't be saying any more about this project until it's finished and handed over.

For sewing my main aim is to actually do some! I've been in a bit of a slump but I have several projects I really want to get done so I'll be making a special effort there. I really want to finally nail a pair of jeans that properly fit, I want to make another coat and I have a large number of dress patterns I want to try.

I also want to get more in the way of spinning done this year. Really I need to take a look at my setup and work out how to make it easier to just hop and and spin for a bit without having to drag everything out and then put it away again when I'm done. Basically I am lazy and I just wont bother if it feels like an effort and that is something I need to fix. I find I get so much more done if I can just snatch 10 minutes here and there rather than trying to find a whole chunk of time, but my equipment needs to be ready and waiting for me to do that.

And that's it. I don't like to put too much pressure on myself, but it's nice to have a vague plan for the things that I would really like to get done in a year. This way I don't dissappoint myself and hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised by what I do achieve by the end of the year.

Bo 2018: Mojito

Wow, it feels really good to get all caught up on this by the end of the year.  I'll start by saying that I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to participate in the Boo 2018 challenge after completing the 2017 challenge, I mean how many shawls does one person need to knit really?  But in the end I figured that I would still probably knit a fair few throughout the year and I would definitely be joining in any mystery knitalongs so why not go for it and be in for a chance of winning a prize.  Because I won a prize last year I'm not hopeful at all of winning another this year but, hey, why not try!  I've also finished 9 other projects this year, including a large a baby blanket so it's not like I've done nothing but knit lacy shawls and I'm happy to have taken part once again.

So, Mojito.

I took a bit of a gamble with this one, the yarn I chose is quite colourful and I wasn't entirely certain that the lace was going to complete with the yarn but I decided to go for it anyway and see what I ended up with.  The yarn is Solstice Yarns Zorya Silk Lace in Unrequited Love and is very beautiful indeed.

I did feel that there was rather a lot going on here however and stuck with clear rainbow beads for a subtle sparkle rather than trying to pick a colour that would work.  This was definitely a good choice.

Knitting this pattern was largely a simple affair.  I like the all over lace on this one and the main body is relatively simple but there is a section with lace on both the knit and purl rows which does require a bit of extra attention but makes the lace extra detailed and lovely so it is definitely worth it.  I'd happily knit this pattern again, probably in a solid colour to really show off the lace.  While I do feel like I got away with using this yarn for this shawl I probably am hiding a little bit if the detail under all the colour. 

As you can see in the photographs the lace shows loud and proud over a dark background but against a lighter colour it does disappear.  This isn't a problem, just something for me to be mindful of when I'm putting an outfit together.

So before I go I will say a big Happy New Year to everyone.  I hope 2018 has treated you well but if it hasn't I hope 2019 is much kinder.  2018 has been a year of change for us.  Felicity started school full time which allowed me to stop working evenings and change to daytimes, this has been fantastic for us as a family and for me personally because I was just DONE with heading off to work as everyone else was finishing.  I have had a little less time to myself as a result and perhaps less time for uninterrupted knitting and sewing but on balance we are all all better off now.  Hopefully the coming year will bring lots of new adventures for all of us.

Boo 2018: Diamond Fizz

Just one shawl to share with you today, one more tomorrow and then we are all caught up with my Boo Knits 2018 challenge - woop woop!  Once that is out of the way then I can take a look at the year ahead and, believe me. I am deep in planning mode right now.

So for today I'm going to show off my Diamond Fizz which is one of the patterns from the Boos for Beginners collection.  Obviously I am not a beginner but this is a really nice little collection with each pattern being a little more involved than the last and giving the more seasoned lace knitter the choice to kick back and knit something a little simpler.  I've now knit two patterns from this collection, this one and a Mojito which I'll share tomorrow plus I have yarn and beads all ready for a Spritzer and I would love to knit a Southside in the very near future.  Safe to say I like this collection!

The yarn is Dye For Yarn Tussah Silk Lace in Rain in a Graveyard, a lovely muted green that I like a lot.  This yarn is a bit of a splurge but I've used it a few times now and it is a real treat, lovely to knit and really nice to wear.

The beads I chose to go with this yarn were size 6 Toho seed beads in Frosted Teal.  I thought at first that they might be a bit dark but they're fine.  They stand out a little without overwhelming the yarn so I'm happy with my choice.

The pattern itself was simple to knit, you have the option to go for all over lace or a stockinette body which is what I went for.  I like the simple recurring lace followed by the much more intricate border, it's a beautiful effect.  I think this pattern was a great choice for my special yarn and I'm really pleased with how this turned out.  I also have a little yarn left which I hope to combine with some other leftovers in the future because it really is shame not to use up the whole skein of these beautiful yarns.

So pretty!

Boo 2018: Cloverfield and Dragonfly Wings

When Autumn rolled around I realised that I had been falling a little behind on my Boo Knits Challenge items and I did begin to worry that I might not complete all 11 items.  I decided to take a look at my to do list to see if I could swap out some quicker to knit items.  At that point I was mainly looking at lace weight beaded shawls and in all honesty that wasn't going to happen.  Then I remembered Cloverfield, a Boo cowl pattern!  I'd been on the fence about it because I wasn't entirely sure about the bobbly bits but I decided it would make a lovely gift even if I didn't love it.

I actually really liked the pink version on the pattern page so I chose a very similar shade to knit mone from.  I used DROPS Nord held double as I've used it before as a substitute for aran weight and was pleased with the results.  Knitting this pattern was a fairly simple affair but I will admit that I did not enjoy knitting the bobbles one single bit.  They only account for 6 rows of the pattern and the rest is a breeze so it wasn't a total deal breaker, but boy those rows felt like they took an eternity.

Luckily I really like the finished item, it's cosy and a bit different to anything else I have.  I'm not sure if I'd knit it again but I'm glad I made this one.

The quickest shawl I made last year was Dragonfly Wings, so I decided to bang out another one of those this year.  It's a very simple pattern that results in a long shallow shawl and is a great option for a last minute Christmas gift. 

I used some Fyberspates sparkle sock that was sent to me by a lovely Ravelry friend and was waiting for a special project to come along.  The silver sparkles in this yarn add a lovely christmassy vibe to the deep green and blues.  I have some left so I may have to make something sparkly for me too.

I enjoy knitting this pattern, it's half simple stockinette with occasional purl bump rows and half very simple beaded lace and it results in a shawl which is a very different shape to those I normally knit.  It's also a nice pattern to showcase a somewhat variegated yarn.  The one I made last year made use of some Tosh Sock that had also been sent to me and I was really pleased with how that one turned out too.

Even though these projects were picked to be quick I'm still really glad to have made them and I'm proud of the end results.  The shawls that I was going to make have been postponed until next year when I will be able to take my time and enjoy knitting them, which really is the whole point of knitting them at all!