Fable Fingerless Mitts//Ravellenic Games

So the Ravellenic Games are finally here, I've been waiting semi-patiently for a while now. I cast-on on Friday night whilst watching the questionable opening ceremony.

I decided my first project would be the Fable Fingerless Mitts, this fits into both mitten medley and single skein sprint - which is great, lots of points and some cute mitts too. I have already finished mitten 1, and cast on mitten 2:

I am already completely in love with these, the variagated yarn makes the mitts looks fair isle and they fit perfectly. They will need some blocking, so once mitt 2 is finished I'm going to wash them and pin them out - hopefully that'll make them perfect!!!!!

I have to say a HUGE thank you to all who recommended the book Finishing School to me, I bought a copy and I already feel like I've learned so much and that I'm finishing things with much more passion and care.

Are you taking part in the ravellenics? What are your projects? If you're not taking part, what are you knitting right now?

V xo

Knitting in Public//Year of Projects

So one of my challenges for year of projects was to knit more in public; alot of people in my area don't knit so it's nice to see a few people appreciating that someone does. So this past week I knit at a hospital appointment, I'm just knitting squares for my Come Josephine afghan, I got almost 3 done in the waiting room:

 And I also knit at the beach, this was lots of fun; some people watched as they walked by and others just didn't bother at all. I find it interesting to see different reactions to knitting:

What have you done for year of projects this week? Have you passed any of your goals?
V xo

When Things Go Wrong//FO Friday

So the first baby jacket is finished, I had a few issues with sewing up and finishing, and it's by no means perfect but here it is:

 The underarms are slightly out, and the bottom is relatively unstraight - it's great for a first try at an actual shaped garment, I'm really proud of myself. I've done shawls, and accessories, done really well at those things but maybe I need to give garments a little more care and attention. Maybe I need to leave garments alone for a little while - build my skills in small items and get ready to do garments later. What would you do? I don't want to wuss out, I'm loving knitting and I want to learn - but what's the best way?

V xo

2 Projects//WIP Wednesday

Another week, another Wednesday. This week I've been working on 3 projects - but one is finished so you'll see that on Friday - can you guess which project it is? It's been a long one so I'm excited to share it - it's very cute. Anyhoo onto my WIP's:

Come Josephine Afghan

 This is my potato chip, take it with me, knit in public project. I'm knitting 100 small squares to make an afghan which I'm calling Come Josephine because I started it whilst watching Titanic - everything has a reason right? It's just plain garter stitch, nothing overly complicated just a nice simple knit. I'll be sharing more of this in my year of projects post next week.

 Lenny The Elephant/Esther the Eccentric Elephant

Look at the progress!!!! He's now got a whole body, legs, a trunk and one ear. Just one more ear and 2 arms to go - then it's time to stuff!!!! I'm so excited. I'm hoping to finish this as part of the HPKCHC (harry potter knitting and crochet house cup) this month but we'll see.

In other news I've had a couple of goodish days, I feel like I'm making progress - it's slow and I'm still having really bad days but I'm getting there. Once again thank you for your patience with the lack of blog posts, and for being so supportive.

I'm playing along with Ginny and Tami, go check them out and see what everyone else is working on this week!!!!
V xo

Goals//Year of Projects

I've been thinking alot about the lovely Meredith and her blogging for confidence series over on One Sheepish Girl. and the year of projects group over on Ravelry.  So I've decided to do my own goals list, one that will start now and end around July 2013. What do you think?

So my goals (all knitting related):
- yarn bomb something
- fair isle
- socks
- cables
- lace shawl
- cardigan for me
- gloves with fingers
- knit in public as much as possible
- knit a giant bag
- knit a hat in the round

What are your goals for the year? Do you want to join in on this goal challenge? If you play along let me know, and we'll play along together. I have 10 things on my list, so that's just less than 1 a month - with a bit of extra time just incase.

V xo

Mid Year//Knit Life

Ok so technically it's past mid-year now, so I'm a little late posting this. However it is around mid-year for how long my blog has been going - does that count? I started this little blog at the end of February, I now have 34 followers (hi) and I've had nearly 6000 page views - that's huge for me. I'm really pleased that people are enjoying the blog, and enjoying my little rambles!!!!
Anyhoo I decided to share my 4 favourite knits of the year so far:

My owlie shawl: I loved knitting this, it's not perfect but it's so cute and I love to wear it. I'm planning on knitting another one of these as a gift really soon:

 This knit started out as a cowl, but got ripped back and ended up being a winter collar for my sister, Lisa, I am really pleased with it and she just loves it; let's face it you couldn't buy one of these in the shops:

 Florence, my Elefante, was going to be in there somewhere right? I loved knitting her too and my mum has requested one so I'll be knitting another identical one really soon too:

 And lastly, this was a really simple knit but my kitty hat was one of my favourites - I need to knit some more of these for winter - but maybe just a little longer!!! Cute huh?:

So those are my mid-year favourites, what are yours?
V xo

Lenny the Elephant//WIP Wednesday

This past week I've mostly been working on Lenny, he's really grown, I'm nearly done with his head and body, next stage is the trunk. The green you can see in the picture is where his trunk will go, I will undo those stitches and have 12 live stitches ready to go!!! It's so exciting, I'm learning new things all the way through this project:

 I don't normally share daily life photos but this one was too cute - this is my boys Robbie and Kristofer with our new kittens - Barnaby and Ellie-Pot:

And lastly, right now I am reading this:

It's an excellent book, and teaches you the little things about knitting - it's really helping me out, and it taught me how to magic loop this past week. I would recommend it to knitters new and old(er), it's really helpful.

As usual I am playing along with Tami and Ginny, go check them out to see what everyone else is working on this week.
V xo

Winner//Knit Nerds

Firstly apologies for not posting this sooner, I had a pretty bad weekend. Secondly thank you for the lovely messages and hugs over the past week - it's really lovely to know there are people out there looking out for me. And thirdly I have a winner of my birthday week interview..........

And the winner is Pumpkin from Pumpkin Spins. If you could contact me with your address details either on ravelry or by email that would be fabulous.

I had a lovely birthday, we went up the coast for the day - had lunch and starbucks and did some shopping - in the rain. Our summer has been a washout so far - fingers crossed for better weather.

Hope everyone is well, I'll be back tomorrow with a WIP Wednesday,
V  xo

Short//WIP Wednesday

Not much to share this week, hence the title - plus I'm unwell again, having a long-term illness has it's issues (to read more check out HERE) but I'll be fine again, I'm having some good days and some bad ones. I haven't really knit much this past week and I haven't finished the baby cardigan. I'm hoping to sit and knit on that this afternoon.

So I have been working on a little gift knit, it's another elephant but this one is Esther the Eccentric Elephant (or Lenny as I am calling him), I'm using Candy Skein yarn for the first time, it's beautiful:

 I started knitting on this is spinal wrap, it's going slowly and I've already had to frog it once - because I didn't read it properly but it's really pretty - I think it will need blocked once it's knitted up:

 And the last thing I want to share is my brand new birthday project bag:

Isn't it cute???? That's all from me for today, remember to check out my 30th birthday giveaway!!!!
V xo

Happy 30th Birthday//Knit Nerds

Today is my 30th Birthday, therefore you have a special birthday interview with yours truly:

 

How long have you been knitting and who taught you?
I learned to knit when I was in hospital in 2003 for a short time; and then a friend of mine Grace taught me to increase and decrease - I have an on and off love affair with knitting for a few years and then dropped it. This past year I've come back to it and fell even more in love; I'm learning everyday!!!!

What is your favourite thing to knit?
At the moment I'm enjoying knitting soft toys, I have a dog and a dinosaur to knit for my boys and an largish elephant for a friend.

 

Who is your biggest knitting inspiration?
This is a hard question because I take inspiration from lots of places, but mostly from blogs and Ravelry - so I guess those are my main sources, it's hard to nail down just one person!!!
What is your favourite finished object of your own?
My owl shawl, without a doubt. I loved knitting it and the cable work and beading was just fabulous.

 

What inspired you to start designing your own knitwear?
I've only published one little shawl *blush* so far but I am in the process of designing another one and I have other things in the pipeline. I love to make things, and I love to see how things are constructed.

If you could give 3 pieces of knitting advice, what would they be?
1. Don't be afraid to try new things - you can always frog it.
2. Make a list of things you want to learn and try to achieve them in a certain amount of time
3. Go on a stash diet, it's amazing how much you can actually knit using just your stash.

I'm having a little giveaway on the blog this week, this includes a little mini kit I bought on Etsy to make some cute headbands and 2 balls of yarn. The giveaway is open to everyone and will close next Sunday at 6pm BST, just leave a wee comment.
I hope you've enjoyed my interview, leave a little love if you want.
V xxx