The wheel is here!

My spinning wheel has finally arrived - an old family heirloom (well, not that old; late seventies, but that seems ancient) that I thought was sold or lost a long time ago.



I've been trying since Thursday night, and it's sooo hard! But lots of fun, too, and it's an incredible feeling to have the fibres just twist around itself to make yarn - never mind the tiny problem that I can't control it at all and that it ends up like a very tight coil. I understand now why spinning can be so addictive... but do I have time for yet another hobby?

Hidcote finished

After almost ten months, my Hidcote is finally finished!

Yarn: Lane Borgosesia Baruffa Cashwool, colourway Purple
Needles: size 3,5 mm
Pattern: Hidcote Garden Shawl (see Mimknits)

The pattern is great; very clear, and all charts. It's not the easiest pattern for a beginner, you have to be able to 'read' your lace if you want to give this one a go, but it's not impossible, and the 'diamond section' forms an easy part between the more intricate flowers and borders. The finished size is huge (I'm 5'10" and the tip at the back comes to my knees).

Only downside is that it is so pretty that I'm much too scary to actually wear it!


Unblocked


This size is... big!


First section of the shawl


Middle section, with 'diamonds' - chart 7 and 8


The last three charts form this edging


Complete shawl


Size reference: cat = average, shawl = huge...


Feline Appreciation Team at work; is it soft enough?


Finished!

Two months of socks...

Well, actually two months of no blogging and hardly any knitting: it feels like I've been working, and not much else. But there's always time for a sock, or two, of four:



Simple socks in Lang Supersoxx




Pattern "koffieboontje", yarn Regia Kaffe Fassett, Landscape Twilight


And of course, everybody needs a pair of Jaywalkers, here in Opal Prisma.


And another pair of simple socks, in Schoeller + Stahls's 'desert colours': Gobi.

On the needles right now is a pair of thicker socks, in Austermann Steps 6 (6-ply), and I'm going to cast on for a Bellatrix, all because of the Angel Sockalong Sockathon - will we manage to knit 100 pairs of socks?

How to make a cat happy, pt. 2

By knitting him/her a Kitty Pi!






It's the famous pattern from Wendy Knits and I made it in Rowan Cocoon, in different shades of gray. The cats like to be ton sur ton. It almost felts too good, because there's a bit of mohair in it, that more or less dissolves when you put it in the washing machine. Lesson learned!

Another cat project was the Cat-Eared Baby Hat made for a friend with lots of cats, to help them get used to the baby. Hope she will like it.

And finally a project for the Big Cat herself, the Simple Knitted Bodice that I've been longing for. I made it with a totally different yarn, and size 5 needles, but size small in Kid Classic (colour Peat) gave me the size I wanted. It was very easy to knit, and quite a nice project. It won't be the last Bodice, I'd love to play around with this pattern some more and experiment with different yarns.

Finally a finished object!

Work, Christmas, more work, deadlines... it all means: less or no knitting time! I haven't finished anything for ages, but have started a lot of new projects, letting go of the old rule that I shouldn't have no more than two projects OTN. If you don't have much time, you should knit what you feel like and not be restricted by rules.

I'm still suffering from the dreaded sock bug, and when I heard that the daughter of a friend of mine has cold feet, I started my first children's sock. The pattern is a free pattern from Wolhalla - only available in Dutch, I'm afraid!

Pink is not my colour, at least not this kind of pink, but it was fun to knit with for a change.






The yarn is Lang Jawoll, one of my favourite sock yarns.

How to make a cat happy...

...by knitting the Bumble Bee Cat Toy (a pattern from Christine Landry). I've used Opal Prisma in yellow, for a self striping bee body, and added the eyes. It was a quick knit, very easy and well-written pattern, and I will definitely make more of these.



My other finished object is a pair of Walkabout socks. The pattern is hard to see on the pics, but there's a wavy cable on the foot and on the front and back of the leg, and a smaller one down the sides.





I love the colours of the yarn - Fortissima by Schoeller + Stahl, colourway Ayers Rock - but it felt a bit rough. I prefer Lang, it's much softer and easier to work with.

Surprise!

A couple of days ago, postie came by with a surprise: more sock yarn! I've won it with the 'comment competition' on Beelzebubknits and it has arrived at just the right moment for my next small project on the side: the Bumble Cat Toy.

And this colour

is excellent for a bumble bee. Let's hope the cat likes it.

There will be more than enough left for a nice pair of socks, so that means spending hours on Ravelry to hunt down a pattern!