Last Minute Christmas Knitting

Like knitters all over the world – I am working on a last minute Christmas gift.  I should have started it earlier.  Every year – I say “don’t do” it  or “start in January”, but here I am again.

It is not really that stressful.  It is a shawl for my Mother and I don’t need to finish it until this time next week – so I have got plenty of time!!

Like a lot of shawls I have knitted – it uses 2 balls of contrasting yarn.  The plain colour is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply which is 75% wool and 25% nylon.  The multi-coloured yarn is Queensland Collection Perth which is 80% wool and 20% nylon.  The shade is called Alice Springs.  I know I was attracted to it because it seemed the most cheerful shade.

The design is a corruption of shawl pattern I have knitted before by Elanor King.  It isn’t that like it really.  It is just a fairly simple garter stitch shawl with about 6 rows of purl to create a ridged pattern.

I will try to remember to take a photo of it again when it is finished.  It is not very good weather for photos – it is either too dark or too bright.  I suspect I am at work when it is the ideal light for taking photos.

I hope anyone reading this gets lots of wool for Christmas and has the time to enjoy knitting it.

Christmas Wreath

There are a few words that I find difficult to spell – wreath is one of them – I want to put wreathe.  I think the latter is a verb.

This is a present which I have made for Oxford Yarn Store’s birthday.  It would make more sense as a Christmas present – but it is the store’s birthday at this time of the year.

I have knitted several different wreaths over the years and no 2 have been the same.  Basically I use some dark green to knit the basic ring shape and then stuff it.   I just knitted a straight piece of stocking stitch and then joined the end to the beginning to make a ring.  I then joined the sides to make a tube leaving a gap for the stuffing. 

I then use a Loopa to produce some foliage using 4 or 5 different dark green yarns including something textured.

Then I knit bits to decorate the wreath.  This time I have knitted 2 different kinds of red flowers.  

I have knitted some basic leaves and cut some leaves out of an old jumper which I had felted.   Thirdly I knitted a bit of holly.  This is fun but a bit fiddly.

I could have left it at that but I think I will sew on some gold beads to lift it a bit and make the finished wreath a bit more sparkly!

Below I am including a rough pattern for knitting a Christmas Wreath – without the instructions for a open flowers (which are not mine to publish).  However – if you want to make a wreath – I advise you to make one up using whatever yarn you have and decorating however you wish.

Christmas Wreath Pattern

Materials

100g DK in dark green
50g DK in contrasting shades of dark green (ideally include something textured if you are going to use a Loopa)
50g textured DK in red
50g of red DK for berries and roses
Small amount of yellow DK yarn
Gold beads
Stuffing material for the base.
4mm needles
Loopa (if available)

Base

Using dark green DK and 4mm needles cast on 30sts and work in stocking stitch for 186 rows.  Cast off and sew the top to the bottom to form a ring.  Join the side seams leaving a gap to add the stuffing.  Stuff the ring and sew up the gap.

Roses (Make 3)

Using red DK and 4mm needles cast on 35sts.

Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: *K2, M1, (pick up the loop between the sts and knit into the back of it); repeat from * to end. (52sts)
Row 4: Purl.
Row 5: *K3, M1; repeat from * to end. (69sts)
Row 6: Purl.
Row 7: *K4, M1; repeat from * to end. (86sts)
Row 8: Purl.
Row 9: *K5, M1; repeat from * to end. (103sts)
Cast off.
Wind up into a rose shape and sew together leaving a tail to use to sew the rose onto the wreath.

Rose Leaves (Make 16 or as many as required)

Using green DK and 4mm needles cast on 3sts.
Row 1: K1, M1, K1, M1, K1. (5sts)
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: K2, M1, K1, M1, K2 (7sts)
Row 4: Purl.
Row 5: K3, M1, K1, M1, K3 (9sts)
Row 6: Purl.
Row 7: K4, M1, K1, M1, K4 (11sts)
Row 8: Purl.
Row 9: skpo (Slip one, knit one, pass the slipped stitch over), K7, K2tog. (9sts)
Row 10: Purl.
Row 11: skpo, K5, K2tog. (7sts)
Row 12: Purl.
Row 13: skpo, K3, K2tog. (5sts)
Row 14: Purl.
Row 15: skpo, K1, K2tog. (3sts)
Row 16: Purl.
Row 17: Slip 2sts together, K1, pass the slipped stitches over. (1st)
Fasten off.

Red Christmas Roses (Make 4)

I used Nicky Epstein’s small flower pattern for these.  You could use any flower pattern you have access to.

Holly leaf (Make 4)

Using dark green DK and 4mm needles, cast on 3sts. 

Row 1: K1, M1 (pick up the loop between the stitches and knit into the back of it), K1, M1, K1. (5sts)
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: K2, M1, K1, M1, K2. (7sts)
Row 4: Purl.
Row 5: K3, M1, K1, M1, K3. (9sts)
Row 6: Purl.
Row 7: Cast off 3sts, M1, K1, M1, K4.
Row 8: Cast off 3sts, P4.
Row 9: K2, M1, K1, M1, K2.
Row 10: Purl.
Row 11: Cast off 2sts, K4.
Row 12: Cast off 2sts, P2
Row 13: Slip 2sts together, K1, pass the slipped stitches over.
Fasten off.

Holly berries (Make 6)
Using red DK and 4mm needles cast on 4sts, and work in stocking stitch for 3 rows. Cast off.  Tie the cast on tail to the cast off tail and shape into a ball.

Join the berries together and sew the leaves together.  Sew in any ends. Then sew the berries onto the front of the leaves.

Loop to hang wreath
Using 2 strands of dark green DK make a chain of 20sts.  Make into a loop and sew onto the top of the wreath base (at the back).

Finishing
Make a Loopa “scarf” in 5 shades of green.  If you haven’t got a Loopa – you could just add more leaves. As well as the Loopa scarf, I added additional leaves by felting an old jumper and then cutting out leaves from that. 

Position everything on the base and then sew into place.

Back to Square One

I have heard this phrase a lot recently.  It is quite appropriate to use to refer to my knitting.  For many years – since I first saw the book – I have wanted to knit the cardigan on the front cover of Patricia Werner’s – Dazzling Knits.  It is called Dream Coat.

I have tried it before and unravelled it because my version looked too dull.  I think there is a need to strike a balance between knitting something interesting and knitting something that is too garish to wear.  I am attracted to using pinks and oranges but they are too bright for this and I tried to just use Noro Silk Garden but that looked too bitty.  Unusually – I have taken a photo of some of the squares (or more accurately diamonds) which I have rejected.

I decided that things would go better if I had a main colour and so I combined some yarns that my sister bought me a couple of years ago with a few skeins of Silk Garden.

I think things are now going better.  I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked but I am happier with how things look so far.

I had wanted to get this cardigan finished to wear in the next week or so – but that is not going to happen.  I might have managed it if I had not had to knit 14 more tea cosies which were not in my original schedule.  I  have also been knitting a present  which is almost finished now and which I will show you next time.

Knitting for Remembrance

Today is Remembrance Sunday although the original name was Armistice Day and this seems more appropriate this year on the centenary of the end of World War 1.

Normally I knit poppies or something including poppies to remember my great granddad Thomas Wade who was killed in 1917, but this year as many of you will know – I knitted a Memorial Quilt to remember him and the other now 77 known men lost by my family.  I am including below the best photo I have seen of the quilt which was taken by Karen Draisey of Oxford Yarn Store.

The quilt was hard to photograph because it was so big (note to self: make something smaller next time).  In the photo the quilt is being held up by 2 men standing on chairs.

If anyone wants to see the quilt “in person” – it is on display in Oxford Yarn Store until the end of the month.

I have started thinking about my next eccentric project but I have nothing coherent to write down yet.  Several people have asked me about how I come up with designs – so I will try to put down my workings rather than just the end results.  I could just mention that I am thinking about a project which I will not start until January at the earliest. 

Noro Kureyon – Seashell Ripple Shawl

Last week I was away for a few days and wanted to take a portable project with me.  I decided to take the yarn for this Seashell Ripple Shawl.  It was supposed to require 6 balls of Kureyon but it only just needed 5.  I only used the 5^th ball for the last 2 rows and casting off.

This pattern is from the Noro Kureyon 30^th Anniversary Collection and is by Susan Ashcroft.  Unusually for me – I didn’t change it much.  There was one row when it told me to purl the last 11 sts and I thought I ought to knit them (it may have been the opposite) but that was all.  The pattern was easy to follow.  

When I had finished knitting I had a screwed up ball of knitting but after I had washed it and stretched it out – it turned into a shawl.

The shade of Kureyon I used is 368.  It was from my stash.  I think I have finished knitting the Kureyon jumper that I have been knitting for the last few weeks but I haven’t sewed it up yet.  

I visited Oxford Yarn Store twice last week and I managed to leave without buying any more Kureyon.  I am glad to see it back.  They have not stocked it since the previous supplier went out of business.  It is so lovely – it won’t be long before I buy some more.  I am already looking at patterns and thinking – that would look good in Kureyon!

Other Plans

The title of this post comes from the saying: Life is what happens while you are making other plans.  This is what has happened to me recently – I had intended to get so much knitted last week.  I had started the Noro Kureyon jumper and it was going well.  The back was knitted and then somehow I wasn’t concentrating very well when I cast on the front and it ended up 6 stitches wider.  I decided that the best way to fix this was accept I had made a mistake and unravel it immediately.  I then made sure I cast on the right number of stitches.

The problem could have been worse because at least with too many stitches I now had more yarn than I needed – if I hadn’t done enough stitches that would have been a worse problem as I would have had a struggle getting the colours to match and would run out of yarn in the middle of a row.

At this moment I have almost finished reknitting the front of the jumper.  I am hoping that the sleeves will not be too difficult but I want to make them longer and I will probably knit them both at the same time – so they end up the same.  I think I will knit them according to the pattern for the smallest size – I am knitting the body of the medium size and then make them longer afterwards.  I will do more stripes and then possibly add a cuff.

I had some great news on Friday – Oxford Yarn Store I are going to stock Kureyon again.  This could be expensive for me but I do love it.  I had forgotten how much until I started knitting the Noro Kureyon jumper.  

Whilst knitting, I have been thinking about a shawl I would like to knit and have sorted out some Kureyon to use.  I wanted it to be colourful but to include black – so it will go with my black hats.

The following ball is a more accurate colour - the light was funny when I was taking photos and it was hard not to get the yarn looking too orange.

I hope my next post will include at least one finished project – maybe the jumper - but you never know if the shawl goes well I may manage that too.

Noro Kureyon Jumper

This jumper is definitely ideal to knit at this time of the year.  The colours replicate those that I see on the trees outside.

Since I bought the background yarn last Friday I seem to have made a lot of progress.  The pattern is fairly easy and progress is rapid.  I have finished the back and am now working on the front.

I am trying to make the back and the front as similar as possible – which means that I use bits of several different balls of Kureyon.  I think there will be leftovers!  

The pattern is from the Noro Kureyon 30^th Anniversary Collection and it is called Wicker Lace Pullover by Yoko Hatta.  It is supposed to be oversized.  I am not sure that it is very big.  I have chosen to knit a medium size and I normally knit loosely – so it should be at least the measurements given, but it is smaller.  I don’t mind that as it is still quite wide – much wider than the jumper I am measuring it against.  I may make some changes -  I may make the sleeves longer.  In the pattern they are fairly short.  This is typical of me – I can’t leave a pattern alone - I change things as I go along.

But is it Art?

The title for this post comes from the name of a shop in Reading which I used to visit when I was a student in the 1980s but was still trading the last time I was there.  It sums up the thoughts I have been having about knitting this week.  I think some knitting should be considered to be art.

Last weekend I finally cast off the simple shawl that I had been knitting.  In the end I did not go back to the original pattern – I just did 4 rows of garter stitch and cast off.  I am very happy with the end result and have been wearing it today.

This morning I delivered my World War 1 Memorial quilt to Oxford Yarn Store.  It will be on display there shortly and can be seen until the end of November.  I expect I will visit it a few times but I will officially be there on Armistice weekend – on Saturday 10 November.

As I knew I was going to be visiting the yarn store I had thought about what I am going to knit next and what extra yarn I might need.    While I was clearing out – I found several balls of Noro Kureyon in autumnal shades.   It is officially called Shade 263.   I thought I would use it to knit a jumper from the Noro book – 30^th Anniversary Collection.  

I needed a main colour to go with the Kureyon and I decided to go for West Yorkshire Spinners Chunky Roving Re: treat in a light brown shade.  I did give some consideration to using blue so the jumper would go with my jeans or some whacky colour like mauve for a major contrast – but I decided on an unexciting colour to show off the Kureyon.  

It is interesting that although Kureyon is supposed to be Aran weight yarn – I have chosen a chunky yarn to go with it and in fact the chunky is actually thinner.  Something I have learned from many years of knitting – is that it is a good thing to be flexible. 

I am definitely going to cast on this jumper later on today.  I know I said I was going to make a bag – and I have got the yarn out and roughed out a pattern – but I want to think about it a bit more before I start on that.  Maybe next week…

Knitted Throws

This week I have been working on my latest shawl.  I have almost finished it – so I have been thinking about what to knit next.

I have got 2 ideas for knitted throws – one strips of cable and the other using lots of old yarns that I have got left over from other projects.  I am not sure which one to knit first – I may do neither because I quite fancy making another bag.  I have some lovely shades of red and pink which I would like to use.  It is a project that I have been planning for a couple of years – but nothing has happened so far.

I have been clearing out my yarn or more accurately – moving it around my flat.  I have discovered some yarn that I had forgotten about all together as well as sorting out some yarn to give to my friend who does charity knitting.  All the odd balls that I am hanging onto could make lovely knitted throws.

I also found the poppy version of my English Adventure throw.  Over the years I have knitted a lot of things with poppies on – but when I decided to knit something specifically related to World War 1 – I largely avoided using them.

I know where my other poppy throw is – because it is on my sofa and I see it every day.

I still like the original English Adventure throw – it is a great example of what you can do with odd balls if you buy a main colour to hold the design together.

I am not sure where to store all my throws – I had thought of just putting them on the spare bed – producing a “princess and the pea” effect.   I could store them in plastic boxes – if they weren’t so full of yarn!

Another Shawl

I know – it is another shawl – and I have got lots of shawls, but I like shawls.  I wear shawls.

Originally I saw a pattern in Knit Now magazine that I liked.  It used one ball of Debbie Bliss Rialto Sock yarn and 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply.  The design used white as a contrast colour which I was not keen on – so I am using grey.

I started knitting following the pattern – and it was fine – then I got to a bit where I was supposed to knit short rows – I am not sure why.  I seems to make the pattern unnecessarily complicated.  I just wanted to knit an easy garter stitch shawl – and so that is what I am doing.  I have stopped following the pattern.  I may go back to it for the edging – I don’t know yet.

King Cole Riot

For the last few weeks I have been knitting a scarf in King Cole Riot DK yarn.  I have decided that it is finished.  The yarn is 30% wool and 70% acrylic and this shade is called Reggae (1842).

I didn’t have a pattern but I cast on 52sts using 4.5mm needles and worked a 2 row pattern as follows:

Row 1: K1, P1, K2; rep to end.
Row 2: K2, P1, K1; rep to end.

I had 3 balls of yarn but I only used most of 2.

As with most scarves I found it difficult to knit because it is so boring!  However, if you are very tired and not paying much attention – it is an ideal project!

Also this week I have finished another project that I started years ago.  I have started my annual clear-out and found a few unfinished projects which do not require much to actually be finished. 

This is called Isis by Jan Henley and was published in Let’s Knitting magazine Issue 72 in 2013.  I liked it as soon as I saw it and bought the yarn on my way home after reading the magazine on a train.

I knitted it straightaway.  It is also knitted using King Cole Riot – but this was chunky yarn and used 4 shades 2 balls of Seashore (653), Dawn (652)and Lava (662).  I cast off and then forgot about it.  

Actually every time I came across it since 2013 – I have intended to finish it – all it needed was the ends sewing in and buttons sewn on.  I have finally done both of these things this week.  I won’t be wearing it but now it is finished I can send it to the local charity shop.  I hope someone likes it.  Otherwise it could be unravelled and the yarn reused.  I did think about doing this myself – but I have got too much yarn.  I enjoyed knitting it.  I am a process knitter.

I am now knitting something that I do intend to wear.

Shawl for My Aunt

I have finished the shawl I have been knitting for my aunt.  I hope she likes it.  It is the sort of colours that she usually wears.

It is knitted in Debbie Bliss Rialto sock yarn as the main colour with 3 shades of Isager – blue, mauve and burgundy.   It is interesting how these colours look different as the background colour changes

I sort of made up the pattern – based on a photo I saw in the latest Designer Knitting magazine and a Noro jumper pattern which has a back and front in this kind of cross-hatching effect.  I started with a triangle at the top and then increased 7 sts on each piece (one on each garter stitch ridge).  I think if I did something similar again I would increase more stitches and maybe turn it into a curl.

At several points during the knitting process I was worried that it would not turn out very well – but actually I am fairly happy with it.  I just need to block it and then it will be ready to wrap.

I may not get much knitting done this coming week – but I still have that scarf to finish and then I am going to start something new.

A Bit More Progress

At the moment I am still struggling to focus on one thing at a time.  Last Saturday I went to Birmingham to talk about my Memorial Quilt to the local branch of the Knitting and Crochet Guild.  I think the general consensus was that the filing cabinet was the favourite block.

I like the filing cabinet.  It is very simple but effective as a design.  It is good to see other people’s reaction to the various blocks as I know them too well to see them properly.

During August I have knitted more tea cosies for All the Fun of the Fair.

I have also made some progress on the shawl for my aunt. 

I had better get on with it this week as it is her birthday very soon.

I gave up on the black cardigan that I had started and unravelled it.  It’s not that I don’t want to knit a black cardigan but I can’t find the right pattern yet.  I will come back to that.

I have made better progress with my portable project – the multi-coloured scarf.  This is because I have been travelling around a lot.

I will try to finish this scarf this week as well – so that in September I can make a start on some new projects.