It’s Wednesday again and the cowl is nearly finished! After having to rip out several inches of the main part of the collar at the weekend, I’ve made it all back and the end is in sight. The decreases are all done now, and I just have two and a bit inches, plus four rows of garter stitch and it’s done. Once the short rows were done and the decreases started every row just got faster to finish, which is great since finishing is fun! I love this yarn so much. It’s lovely, warm and squishy. I love the colours too. The red is a little bit random and doesn’t really match the rest of the cowl, but when the ends are overlapped it will mostly be hidden. I have the buttons ready to be sewn on, and hopefully it’ll be ready to be seen by Friday!

Don’t forget to check out Tami’s and everyone elses WIPs!

Seventeen weeks gone already! Where does the time go? This week, I managed to finish my second Betula Ring cowl, with a few changes. I love it! I wore it to work all week, and it’s very cosy and comfy. I find it a little bit tickly, but it’s not itchy so I can live with it. I also love how versatile it is! I just pull it ovver my head most days as it’s not that cold here yet, but I can button it up and make it more snug when it’s cooler. I also love the autumn feel of the colours, and they are a gorgeous match with my brown winter jacket. And the buttons are one of my favourite things about it (close up here).

Other than my Betula Ring, I’ve just beenworking on my Shawl Collared Cowl. Just when I had reached the nine inches I needed before the decreases began, I discovered that I’d dropped a stitch. Four inches back. I’ve managed to pick up dropped stitches when it’s only been a couple of rows, but four inches was just too much, so I frogged it back. Over the weekend I managed to make the four inches back up, and now I’m into the decreases, so hopefully I’ll be able to get it all finished up by Friday for you to see!

The list is due to under go some new revisions I think. I need to add a hat for my husband. He’s chosen the Windschief hat, and we’ll take a trip to John Lewis this week I think, to get yarn for it. He is really sensitive to wool yarns and practically every woolen yarn I’ve bought he’s found itchy, apart from merino. So we’ll be getting some sort of 100% merino, probably Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran, from my memorie of what they have at the shop. I think I’m also going to make a hat for myself, and a Calorimetry for when I want to wear my hair up, because I need to keep my ears warm when it gets colder. Unfortunately, this time, I think a couple of my amigurumi are going to have to disappear from the list, since I haven’t started on any of them. The Dawn Toussaint ones will definitely be staying on my list though. She’s one of my favourite amigurumi designers, and has the advantage that most of her amigurumi parts are crocheted together, instead of stitched on afterwards, which makes them much more enjoyable to put together! So Little Bear has come off, and so has the Fawn, although I still plan on making them later, maybe on next years list! After Christmas I’ll probably do a complete review of my list, and add to it then, since I still have half a year to go.

The Revised List

Scarves and Shawls

• Lacey Crochet Scarf <- Finished
• Iris Crocheted Shawl <- Finished
• Recuerdos de Infancia <- In progress
• Urban Shells <- Finished
• Elise Shawl <- Finished
• Happy Lavender Scarf <- In progress
• Blue Lagoon
• Magrathea
• Betula Ring <- Finished
• Mochi Neck Warmer
• Shawl Collared Cowl <- In progress

Amigurumi

• Chester the Dog
• Tilly the Panda
• Sheldon Turtle
• Realistic Octopus <- Finished (and awesome!)
• Finola the Fox
• Knit Bunnies x 7 <- 2 done

Other Things

• Tote Bag <- Finished
• Cap Sleeved Top
• Guenvieve
• Ginny Cowl
• Realta Blanket <- In progress
• Polo Neck Bag <- In progress
• Skaði Fingerless Gloves <- In progress (one done)
• Hearts on Her Sleeve Fingerless Gloves <- In progress (one done)

Friday at last! I’ve been very good this week, getting into work before eight, meaning I can leave at four. Which is great as it gives me a longer evening (and therefore more yarn time), but it does mean I’ve barely seen daylight all week, and I’m more than ready for my lie in tomorrow! On the recommendation of a friend at work, I’ve found that the key to getting up early in the dark is a light on a timer switch - it makes it that little bit harder to stay a sleep, and gives my will power a nudge! Today I’m showing off (because that’s what FO Fridays are for!) my second Betula Cowl. I really love this pattern, but I didn’t love the first one I made.

I think my problem was that the bulky yarn it was designed for, was bulkier than my bulky yarn! So their guage was set with 6mm needles and looked really nice and tight, but I had to go up to a 8mm hook to get guage, and it was really loose as a result, and it was also a little too big for me. So I decided to make another one, and modify the pattern using the same yarn and a 6mm hook. This one has 6 short rows, instead of 4, every 17ish rows instead of every 23ish. I had a total of 110 rows of garter stitch instead of 106 before turning to the round. I did my M1’s every 5 stiches instead of 4 for a total of 70 stitches instead of 60, then I did 11 rounds of stockinette, instead of 12 and 5 rows of garter stitch instead of 3 to finish off. It’s about an inch smaller around the neck, and really cosy! I love it! The colourway is Autumn and the yarn is Rowan Colourscapes Chunky. And with a complete lack of planning, I had the perfect buttons for it, and it matches my brown winter coat really nicely!

Check out everyone else’s FO’s at Tami’s!

For Christmas, for the seven girls on my Christmas list, I like to do stocking type gifts - lots of little things together in a box. And because it’s me, I like to try to be crafty with them where I can. Last year I made everyone a pair of earrings and put them in origami boxes. This year, with more planning, I’m making quite a few things - I’m making a knit bunny each, charm bracelets (which I’ll probably put in origami boxes again), if I have time I’d also like to cover some notebooks, either with pretty paper, or preferably felt, and these, candleholders. Last week, we went on a spending spree at hobbycraft. These little candleholders were one of the quickest and easiest crafts on my list!

We bought three glass paint pens - green, red and yellow. The pens are so easy to use! You just shake, press down on the point (which triggers the paint flow), and draw! Really easy and quick to do, but I love the way they’ve turned out! The paint’s also dishwasher safe now they’ve had two days drying time, although I don’t think I want to test that! The holders are the perfect size for tealights, so I’ll get a pack or two of nice coloured and scented ones, and divide them out between the boxes. I’m also pretty pleased with the photos I took in the dark, I think it’s come out well.

It’s Wednesday so that must mean WIP time! Yesterday I showed you all the unfinshed projects I currently have on the go, and last night I was hard at work on my Shawl Collared Cowl. I’m really enjoying working on this one. The yarn is squishy, soft and lovely, the pattern is easy but interesting with the short rows providing variety, and the colours are great, I love seeing what’s coming up next! I’m now six inches into the nine inch stretch, so it won’t be too long before I’m decreasing for the other side of the cowl. The colours in the photo are fairly true, although it might be a little darker really. Hopefully I’ll be able to get on to the decreases by the weekend, but I’m going to be busy for the next few evenings, getting the house tidy enough to meet my mother’s standards, so I’ll just have time to squeeze in some knooking before bed I think.

Check out everyone’s WIPs over on Tami’s!

Is too many? Some people like to work on mulitple projects at a time, and I am definitely one of them. But just now, I think that even I have far too many things on the go! Personally I like to have a couple of things on the go, especially if one is long and repetative, then having a change is a great break. I currently have eight things on the go, according to my Ravelry projects page!

First are my seven gift bunnies. These aren’t quite so bad as the rest. They are very quick to make, and I don’t have any currently on the hook. As they’re so fast it really only takes me a couple of evenings to get each done, which I have to do before Christmas. I’ve completed two of these out of the seven so it shouldn’t be too hard to finish off the last five in the next few weeks.

Number two is my Happy Lavender Scarf. I love this scarf, I really do. I love the way it looks, the way it feels, and I particularly love the colour changes. The problem is that it’s very slow going. I have no idea how long it’s going to end up being, but it’s currently about the length of my arm. This one, I think I need to get back on track with, by completing between one and three different colour stripes per week (depending on their size). This one isn’t my highest priority to finish though, as it’s too thin for winter use and more suited for spring or summer.

Next up is my Hearts on Her Sleeve fingerless glove. The first is complete, the second is where I’ve stalled and just haven’t got going again. It would be easy to finish in a weekend though, so if I have time for it, that’s what I’d like to do this weekend - after tidying up and possibly planting bulbs with my mum! If not, I’ll plan to do it the weekend after. I do love the pattern though, and I love doing cables so I’m looking forward to working on this one again, and since I’ve worked out a neat trick with my new knooks, it’ll be easier than making the first was.

Now we have another pair of fingerless gloves, this time Moss Stitch gloves, in crochet. The first of these is complete and just took me an evening to make up, so this one I really just have to get on with and do it! It should work up really quickly and be an easy project to tick off the list.I’ll either fit this one in on an evening sometime, or maybe work on it this weekend, especially if it’s a very busy one like I expect it will be, unless it rains and my mum decides not to come and help plant bulbs after all.

At number five, we have my poloneck bag. This one is just a big rectangle of back loop only single crochet, so it’s turned out pretty boring to work on. The end result is gorgeous though and it is going to be pretty useful. I want to finish this one before Christmas as it’s destined to be a project bag, and since we’ll be doing a fair bit of travelling around Christmas, it would be great to have it ready and in use for that. I’m over halfway through the fabric for the bag, so I just need to get on with it. Then I’ll just have the handles to make and the assembly to do.

Residing at number six, and destined to be there for a while, is the Realta Blanket. This one, I think I’d like to have finished by the end of the Year of Projects in June, which gives me just over seven months to work on it. I do love the look of the blanket, and working on the individual motif’s is quite interesting, although starting each new one does make me panic about my guage! I need to work out how many of these it’s resonable to make every week, and try to stick to that. I’d like to try one a day, but the octagon’s are so big, that I wouldn’t have time to work on anything else, and I’d definitely get bored. I’ve made three and I need 80 octagons, plus some small squares and triangles, so I’d better get on with this one soon!

My Shawl Collared Cowl comes in at number seven. Last night I finished my second Betula Ring cowl (look out for it on Friday), so this has become my top priority. I guess I’m working on the boring bit now, as I’m just working in pattern for nine inches, before the decreases start. I’ve done three inches though so I’m about a third of the way there. Hopefully I’ll make pretty good progress with this one over the next few evenings, and have a new photo for you tomorrow!

Last but not least is my Recuerdos de Infancia shawl. I do love this shawl. The yarn is Fyberspates Scrumptious and I’m loving working with it. It’s been lacking in progress over the last couple of weeks, because I got all wrapped up in making cowls for the cold weather. After my Shawl Collared Cowl is done, I think this will become my main project, and I’ll hopefully get through the main body soon, then on to the fun part, the border. The problem with shawls is the closer you get to the end, then longer they take! I’m looking forward to getting this one finished though, because I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it.

I’m going to try and resist the urge to cast on anything new and time consuming until I’ve got through at least a few of these - although I probably won’t be able to resist starting something quick as a treat!

I’m getting very bad at posting on a Sunday! Next week I have to try harder, I think. So this week, I’ve continued to work on my Shawl Collared Cowl, although I haven’t made much progress on that and it’s still slightly less than halfway done. Since I clearly haven’t worked on my cowl this weekend, what have I done? I started a new one! I really like the Betula Ring cowl that I made last week, but I just wasn’t completely happy with mine. So on Friday, I bought more of the Rowan Colourscape Chunky, this time in autumn colours, and set to work.

I think the problem I had, was that my bulky yarn, wasn’t as bulky as theirs. The yarn that the pattern was designed for was recommended for 9mm needles, and when knit with the 6mm needles suggested for the pattern gives you a very tight knit. My yarn recommended 7mm needles and I needed to use an 8mm hook to get guage so mine ended up really loose. So this time I set to work with my 6mm hook and instead of doing four short rows over 106 rows, I did 6 short rows over 112 rows. It’s now an inch narrower around the neck, which is a much better fit for me, snuggily without being too tight strangling, and I’ve now done four or five rows in the round. The pattern is for 12 rows, then three garter stitch rows, although I may go a few extra, depending on how it fits. I’m really happy with how it’s going, ans it should be ready for Friday. Here’s the list as it now stands. I can see some changes in it’s future though.

The Revised List

Scarves and Shawls

• Lacey Crochet Scarf <- Finished
• Iris Crocheted Shawl <- Finished
• Recuerdos de Infancia <- In progress
• Urban Shells <- Finished
• Elise Shawl <- Finished
• Happy Lavender Scarf <- In progress
• Blue Lagoon
• Magrathea
• Betula Ring <- Finished and second nearly finished
• Mochi Neck Warmer
• Shawl Collared Cowl <- In progress

Amigurumi

• Chester the Dog
• Fawn 2.0
• Tilly the Panda
• Little Bear
• Sheldon Turtle
• Realistic Octopus <- Finished (and awesome!)
• Finola the Fox
• Knit Bunnies x 7 <- 2 done

Other Things

• Tote Bag <- Finished
• Cap Sleeved Top
• Guenvieve
• Ginny Cowl
• Realta Blanket <- In progress
• Polo Neck Bag <- In progress
• Skaði Fingerless Gloves <- In progress (one done)
• Hearts on Her Sleeve Fingerless Gloves <- In progress (one done)

Today is Friday, which can only mean FO’s all round! It’s also Rememberance day, so spare a though for all the soldiers who have fought and died over the last century.

Today I’m showing off my Betula ring cowl, that I’ve been teasing you with this week! I love it, but it is a bit too big - I went up a hook size or two to try and get gauge, but I’m quite small, so I think I should just have stuck to the 6mm hook after all. Part of me is tempted to redo it with a smaller hook, as it was so fast to make, but I haven’t made up my mind yet. I’ll finish the Shawl Collared Cowl I’m working on, before I make the decision.

This was the first time I’d done a pattern using short rows, and I found it really interesting to learn about them, and figure out the best way to do it with my knook (which I talked about yesterday). It was also interesting to work it flat for the bottom grey to dark grey part, then pick up the stitches along the side and go into working in the round, but I didn’t have any problems with it, and it was fun to do. I love to learn new things, and this pattern gave me plenty to do. I also love buttons, so here’s a close up of the buttons I chose for my cowl.

Don’t forget to check out everyone’s FO’s on Tami’s!

This week I’ve been learning new things, which I love! I found a couple of cowl patterns that I wanted to make, both of which used short rows - something I’d only heard of before. So I went off to youtube and found a video for knitting short rows (no link sorry, I’m on the wrong computer) - I don’t think there are any for knooking yet. Then I had to work out how to adapt it for knooking. I think the easiest way to do it is with two cords. On the row before the short row, you work up to where the first short row will end then pull the cord through and swap cord. Finish the row turn then work the first row, when you get to the wrap and turn (I’ve just been doing it for garter stitch which is a bit easier) pull the yarn to the front slide the next stitch to your knook, and pull the yarn to the back again, like for knitting, then slide the stitch on to the first cable. Turn and pull the yarn to the back again, making sure you don’t get tangled, it can be a little awkward. The finish the row like normal. Repeat if you have another short row, or knit across the whole row again. Short rows are great for shaping. One of the patterns I’m working on just now, has short rows forming the collar of the cowl - it looks great and makes it really nice and snug.

My next tip is for the KnitPro Interchangeable hooks I bought. I love these hooks! They’re so smooth and comfortable to use. And I also love the cables that come with them. I find it much easier to get into the stitches with the cable, and my stitches are less likely to get pulled tight like they can on a cord. I also love how easy it is to change my cable. However, I can not knit ribbing with the cables. It took me a while to work out what my problem was - my purl to knit changes were fine, but knit to purl was always loose. I think the problem was that the cable was stretching that change and not letting me get it tight enough. When I was using a cord instead, my ribbing had been fine. I wanted to keep using my knooking hook, so I sellotaped my yarn cord to the end like I did with my crochet hooks. This worked and my ribbing was looking good, but wasn’t completely successfull, because the hook tapers at the end, and every now and then, the cord would pull free of the sellotape, which was pretty annoying. Then I had a brainwave. The end of my knook had a very small screw, what if I could find something that fitted in there and could be screwed together. Lucky for me I had just the thing - I make jewellery and I had some screw fasteners for necklaces and they fit together perfectly! It’s actually better than the cable that comes with the knooks, because the loop on the back of the fastener moves independantly of the screw, so that your necklace doesn’t twist up as you’re using it. So your cord doesn’t twist as you’re using it this way. Just tie your cord securely to your fastening and you’re ready to go. It also makes it really fast and easy to swap your cord now, for short rows or working in the round. Hope that helps someone!

Wednesday seems to have come really fast this week, but I guess that’s because I only did my Year of Projects post yesterday. I don’t have that much more to report and since I miss counted my rows, then had to rip back a few rows, I didn’t get as much done yesterday as I’d hoped to. I have to say, I love working with bulky yarn, it goes so fast! I’m now around three inches into the 9 inch stretch I have to do before the decreases, so a third of the way through, and nearly half way through the cowl. I love the way the different colours in the yarn are coming up and fading into each other. The yarn is Rowan Colourscape Chunky, and I love it. It feels so soft and I love the squishyness of it! The photo is from monday night and I’ve probably done another inch or so last night, it’s just starting to fade into another purpley blue. I have no idea what this is going to end up looking like, which is quite exciting, but quite daunting too!

I also started and almost finished a Betula Ring cowl on Saturday, it’s just waiting on buttons which I’ll be getting tonight, and I’ve kept working on my Happy Lavender Scarf, although I haven’t quite reached an other colour change on that yet, so no photo of it today. My Childhood Memories shawl has been a little neglected this week, in the excitement of my quick fix cowls, and I haven’t started work on the next knit bunny yet either, so I might do two next week.

Don’t forget to check out everyone elses WIPs over on Tami’s! If you’re a knooker, come back tomorrow - I’ll be talking about short rows, and a trick for the knit pro interchangeable hooks, I just need to get some photos done.