Heathwitch’s Stitchcraft

The Emergency Fiver…

Last week, I sold some knitting stash I didn’t need (i.e. a few balls of yarn) to a friend from my weekly knitting circle. Not having enough cash on her at the time, my friend (C.) asked her mum (J.) to make up the shortfall. J. did, giving me a crisp new £5 note. We joked about that, because usually £5 notes are scraggy and very well-used. I promised that I would only use it in an emergency.

So, yesterday when I again saw C. and J., I told them that I had, indeed, used the crisp new £5 note in an emergency. I had, I told them with a grave face, used it to buy myself a strawberry daiquiri at TGI Friday’s on Friday night. The emergency was, of course, simple.

My strawberry daiquiri glass was empty.

*grins*

Raspberry Not-a-Beret…

My latest finish is my version of Creativeyarns’ Emerald Green Handwarmers. My name for these comes from the Prince song Raspberry Beret — obviously, while not a beret, these are raspberry, hence the name. ;)

This is a lovely, cosy pattern for a very snuggly yarn in a warm hue; these were an “impulse knit” I decided to try after buying one odd ball of Rowan Pure Wool Aran in a clearance sale (I suspect because the colour — shade 680, “Raspberry” — has been discontinued). The pattern is quick, clear and doesn’t get boring — I would highly recommend it as a quick pick-me-up for yourself, or a swift gift for a friend.

From casting-on to modelling this pair of handwarmers, approximately 4 and a half hours — so around 2 hours per mitt. Afterwards, I weighed the remainder of the yarn and found I have 52g left — perhaps enough for another pair, then? Even better, because I only used half the yarn, these cost me £1.85 to knit! Whee! :-)

The desired tension for this pattern is 11 stitches and 16 rows = 2 inches in stockinette, but I know I knit tightly hence the increase in needle size (from the recommended 4mm and 5mm to 5mm and 6mm, respectively). This resulted in my tension for this project coming out at 9 stitches and 12 rows per 2 inches. It didn’t detract from the pattern any and fits the yarn well enough; if I do knit this again I may try dropping a needle size to 4.5mm and seeing what happens then. Even so, these fit my hands snugly and I certainly wouldn’t want them to be much tighter!

Fun Factoid: I knit these up on mismatched needles! Both were 5mm Brittany Birch, but one was 10cm long and the other 13cm long. I didn’t notice until I bound off the second mitt. :p For binding off, I used a 6mm (13cm long) needle.

Sparrow

This really is my current pride and joy. I love it to pieces, and it’s now been gifted to my Nana — who loved it :-)

“Sparrow” is my version of Pam Allen’s “Little Arrowhead” shawl pattern, with its delightful arrowhead lacework. I knitted this from 2 balls of Rowan Tapestry (70% wool/30% soyabean protein fibre), shade 170 (“Country”), on 5.5mm circular needles (120cm long). Wonderfully soft and glorious, I finished this on 1st October 2009.

I do have some knitting advice for those working on the “Little Arrowhead Shawl”: you may be interested to know what I did at the end of the second chart (as little instruction is given and it could be confusing to newbies). I worked Rows 1-8 of the second chart as instructed, then knit Row 9 (RS) as a plain knit row. Row 10 then became the WS row, where I bound off purlwise.

Sadly, I didn’t bind off as loosely as I could have done, so didn’t get as much stretch out of this shawl during blocking as I could have — just goes to show that one should always remember to bind off loosely whenever possible! Although it’s no longer triangular because of this, it’s still a decent size, measuring 38.5″ x 19″ after blocking.

For those interested, here’s some detail shots. You can click these for larger versions if you like. :-)

“Sparrow” — stitching detail

“Sparrow” — edging detail

More detailing shots can be found over on my Flickr Set, or via my Ravelry projects page (I’m Heathwitch over there too, naturally).

I loved this pattern and would happily knit it again, using Rowan Tapestry or, indeed, any other yarn which I feel would suit this particular lacework.

The Skinned Muppet

Time to catch up on some knitted finishes, methinks.

First off is what is laughingly called “The Skinned Muppet”, after a friend at my local knitting circle named it thus. :) It’s a wonderfully fuzzy scarf that I knitted out of Stylecraft Gypsy yarn (shade #5119, “Envy”). It’s in stocking stitch, but it’s quite decadent really, despite the name, in a colourway which I feel goes beautifully with my red hair. And at a massive 94″ long (!), it really does mean I can wrap up warm!

Amusingly, I knit this scarf in the height of summer — finishing it on 14th July — but at least it means I’m ready for the colder nights that are setting in… :-)

Just Married!

…Or, rather, just over 100 days married. :-p

But this is the reason why I’ve not updated for a while:

Yup, we tied the knot :-) And the above finished and framed piece is one part of my wedding present to my beloved hubbie. Since then, of course, we’ve been away on honeymoon and are now settling into married life — and I am finally picking up my stitching again!

This piece was started on 28th March and finished on the 2nd April, at which point it went for framing (which added on an extra month). Luckily, of course, it was all ready before the day itself. Just. Another Lizzie*Kate piece, it was stitched on 28ct Zweigart Cashel Vintage Blue Linen and took 8hrs 30min.

“Just Married!” has had some heavy colour substitution on it — I changed all the colours on the piece from the recommended pinks and blues to tie in with those of our wedding colours: red, black and silver. The framer has done another lovely job too, with the frame and matting complementing both the stitching and our colours.

And of course, all those other Lizzie*Kate pieces I did this year? They all went to various folks as thank you presents — the florist, photographers, wedding planners, and so on… They were all amazed at how I’d been able to make their presents in amongst all the planning (and, truth be told, so was I!) — but each was received with joy and delight, which made it all worth it. *smiles*