Bauhaus Throw – Finished Version

This throw is finished at last.  At the weekend I finished sewing in the ends and then washed it and pinned it out.

This is the last square that I finished Square 6.

It has a quite regular pattern.  It is interesting when I first looked at the postcard – I didn’t see the patterns.  In each large square – the colours are like pieces of domino – eg the red and green are always next to each other wherever they are in the square – and the same for the other colours – they have a partner.  

I can’t see the pattern in Square 1, but all the others have a repeat pattern of some kind.  I did feel the urge to change the patterns – eg it seems odd to me to have the 2 Squares with the 4 cream coloured squares in the centre – next to each other.  I would have separated them, but I wanted to copy the postcard – so I did.

I still have several half-finished projects which I hope to complete over the next few weeks.

Enchanted Wood Shawl – Finished Version

This week I have finished this shawl.  It is from a pattern by Lana Jois.

I am not usually very keen on knitting lace but it wasn’t too bad.  When I had finished casting off – I had a ball of curled knitting, but it looked OK once I had washed it and pinned it out.   

I don’t seem to be able to spend much time on knitting at the moment.  I have done quite a lot of “thinking about knitting” but have not spent much time actually knitting.

Bambino Baby Jacket

I have finally finished something.  It is a little jacket for a baby who is not yet born.

I haven’t managed to knit for more than a week and many of the projects I have been working on had got to the sewing up stage.  This little jacket is from a Peter Pan booklet called Babies in Cream which I bought a few years ago.  I have looked to see if there is a date on it but there isn’t.  I have definitely knitted this pattern before but I don’t remember when.

I have used one 100g ball of Stylecraft Bambino in a shade called Sage.  It is a bit different.  It is 100% acrylic and as the name suggests – it is intended for babies.

The mother has asked me to knit some “duck feet” socks.  I have bought the yarn and found the pattern online but I think they are going to be fiddly – so I am trying to psych myself up to start them.  At the moment – my complicated shawl pattern seems the more attractive prospect. 

Enchanted Wood Shawl by Lana Jois

The other weekend – I was packing to go away and I wanted to take some knitting with me. Everything seemed to large or too complicated.  Then I remembered some beautiful yarn that I have had for years that I was going to make into some kind of shawl.  It is Arroyo by Malabrigo which is pure superwash merino wool.  It is very soft.

I was too tired to get much done – but I am happy with it.  The design is quite complicated for me but I think I might be able to learn the pattern.  The problem is that it would be better to put this project on one side again and go back to all the other difficult or unfinished projects which are not portable.

I do want to finish the Bauhaus throw and it is nearly finished but it is far too hot to touch it today.  I think I will do some more of the shawl.  I am trying to understand the pattern so it is not so hard to knit.

Bauhaus Throw – Squares 4 and 5

The tennis has finished and I am over the excitement of watching the cricket on TV for the first time in 14 years.  I have now reknitted Square 4 (which was originally Square 2) and knitted Square 5.  I have also knitted the 5 rows in-between - knitting the edge to the centre spine – so I will not have to sew up a hole.  I had hoped that I would be able to do this – I knit the stitch on the needle together with one from the spine.

If I was designing this throw  - I would probably not have created patterns where the same colours are next to each other but that is what the original design is like – so I have just copied it.  It is liberating in a way – because I don’t have to make any decisions – just copy the postcard.

I now have Square 6 left to knit and if I can switch off this computer and not start looking at family history – I will do that now.

Bauhaus Throw – Square 3

Shortly after writing the previous post – I decided I needed to take my own advice – which is – if you are not happy with your knitting - take it out.  So immediately after finishing Square 2 – I unravelled it!  I decided that I should have knitted Square 2 above Square 1 and then Square 3 above that.

I will then knit a long centre spine and knit Squares 4, 5 and 6 from the bottom again.  I normally knit modular knitting in strips so I don’t really know why I did what I did.  I think I was concerned about how wide the throw would turn out.

As I think the amount of yarn I have is quite tight – I must reuse the yarn I have unravelled.  I had even darned in the ends – so now the lengths will not be long enough but hopefully I will still have enough yarn to complete the throw.

I have now completed Square 3 as well as the new Square 2 and my next task on this project, after knitting the centre spine – is to tackle the pile of unravelled yarn.  My lounge will be much tidier when I have done it.  As the tennis is now on every day – I should get it done this week but I have started knitting a little baby jacket.  It is amazing how quick that is to knit despite my changing my mind about which size to knit.  I would like to get that finished this week as well.

Bauhaus Throw – Square 2

I have now completed 2 large squares of this throw and am about to start the third.

I have draped the throw over the back of my chair to photograph progress so far.  I think I am happy with it.  I did wonder if I should have knitted the 3 vertical squares on one side and then the 3 on the other side but that would have meant managing a lot of stitches.  This way is easier to knit. 

I could have knitted the squares separately and then joined them afterwards but I am not keen on having to sew up knitting if it can be avoided.  

There should be a lot of tennis on TV over the next few weeks (if it is not rained off) – so I should get the rest of this throw knitted quite quickly.  I would like to get it done before it gets too hot – but maybe it won’t get hot this year.  I often seem to be knitting throws when it is very hot and tea cosies when it is cold – when it would be better to do it the other way around.