New//WIP Wednesday

 On my last WIP Wednesday post I shared my Abalone Cardigan - I had frogged this several times and eventually decided that I didn't like the yarn/pattern combination so it went to the frog pond permanently, it was a good decision to make and I felt positive coming away from it. So what happens to that beautiful green tweed? Well I think it will make a shawl/hat/gloves combo for winter - I have 10 skeins so the world is my very green oyster.

 

Obviously right now I'm working on some socks, a dinosaur and of course my Hogwarts ball shawl - I didn't really need to cast something else on but somehow I just did. I was really excited to be knitting my first cardigan (the abalone) so I decided to have a look at other patterns - and came across the Garter Stitch Swingy Sweater. I fell in love with the asymmetrical front right away; did some stash diving and came up with this:

I'm about another 10 or so rows off splitting for the sleeves; it's a lovely easy knit - I personally love garter stitch (I know it's not a huge favourite of most but hey ho). It's just a nice potato chippy knit and I'm excited to continue on.

What are you working on this week? I'm playing along with Tami and Ginny once again. Pop by tomorrow and Saturday; I'm actually blogging this week!!

V xo 

Techniques 2//Year of Projects

This is the 2nd part of my techniques for Year of Projects (next week I will do a round up post of all of my plans). The other 3 techniques I would love to learn this year are:

-Short Rows: I have done short rows in my Owl's sweater, but I know they weren't perfect so I would
                     like to try some more.
- Sewing up: I know that sewing up is the least favourite thing of alot of knitters, and I think I'm kind
                     of with you all on that. It is something I need to get better with!!!
- Lace: not necessarily in lace weight, but something with a lace border.

V xo

Projects 2//Year of Projects

Obviously I have alot more than just 6 projects that I will complete in the next year; however I only really want to be strict about those 6. 3 of which I shared a couple of weeks ago and 3 which I will share today. So here they are:

Afternoon Tea is a simply beautiful shawl; I have a dream in colour smooshy skein in mind for this - I'm so excited to have this knit up for Spring 2014:

 Henri the Knitted Bear is just a wee project; but I'm positive that my older sister would fall in love with him!!! He's super cute and she loves bears:

 Monster Chunks is going to be one of my bigger projects for nearer Christmas. I plan to make these for teacher gifts - which means one for Kristofer but around 6 for Robbie as he is in a class that has extra support teachers. I also plan to make some for our house as bunting to hang from our wooden beams:

I think this is a nice mixture of 6 projects; I'm excited. How are you getting on with your year of projects so far?
V xo

Heatwave//WIP Wednesday

 It is so hot here right now, we're in the middle of a heatwave so really my knitting has taken a back seat!!! Cuddles (the dinosaur) and my Abalone cardigan are both knitted in a chunkier yarn - so they've been put away for now. However my Hogwarts Ball shawl is really growing, I'm loving the colours and I want to get it finished really soon - it will be perfect for late summer/early autumn.

 

My other project is my 3rd attempt at Aqua Vanilla Socks; I've only done a little bit of the ribbing (which is 3x2) but I'm hoping to get a good amount done in the next week. 

 

Are you feeling too hot to knit? What are you working on this week? As always I am playing along with Ginny and Tami.

V xo 

Techniques 1//Year of Projects

Last week I shared the beginning of my projects list for Year of Projects; this week I am sharing Techniques 1 - this is the start of my list of techniques for 2013/2014.

I always want to learn lots but I want to try and remain sensible - I don't want to put any pressure on myself so here we go:

- picking up stitches: I can do this on yarn thicker than DK but I have not learned it on 4-ply which is
                                  obviously important for socks.
- complex cables: By complex I mean a piece that uses more than one type of cable
- modifications: I really want to knit something that requires me to make some kind of modification, I
                          do have something in mind for this already but we'll see if it works out!!!!

V xo

Happy New Year//Year of Projects

In the 2012/2013 Year of Projects, I focussed mostly on techniques rather than projects - and I think (as a newer knitter) that my decision was fairly sensible. I learned alot of new techniques -from cabling, to basic fairisle and beyond. This Year of Projects 2013/2014 I am choosing to learn some new techniques but also to choose some projects that I really want to try. It feels like having a nice baseline of projects - it will keep me busy and I still get to learn. If you've followed me through my first year of blogging (from March 2012), you'll know that I am the kind of person who likes to learn through being creative.

Over the next month of YOP posts I will be sharing some of the things I want to knit this coming year - some are already in my Ravelry queue; most of those are already paired with yarn. For example I really want to knit these 3 projects:

Feathered Mitts just look really pretty, and you can do the feathered lace detail in 2 colours. These will be perfect for Autumn so I'm planning on knitting these next month:

 French Press Felted Slippers have been in my queue for such a long time; and someone kindly gifted me the pattern for my birthday. I'm going to make these very soon - they are really beautiful and I have a berry coloured yarn for knitting them:

 Snawheid is one of my favourite hats; I have already bought the patterns for the hat and for snawpaws AND I have the yarn. I'm excited to get on with knitting these for December/January time when it's super cold!!!

So that's the start of my project list; next week I will share the start of my techniques list!!!
V xo

Casting On//WIP Wednesday

 Sometimes it's nice to cast on something new - my current WIP's were all in states of rest; I need to refelt my fox purse, Cuddles the dinosaur needs more stuffing (which I need to go buy) and my Hogwarts Ball shawl is an outdoor project. So casting on something new seemed only fair, right?

 

I've had Abalone in my queue for a little while; and I've had the yarn since the end of last year. I cast this on just at the weekend BUT I had to rip it out because there were a few bits that just weren't working out as I expected - so I went to Ravelry and had a little read at other project pages. My issues were not just mine; so I decided to go with the vast majority, rip it out and start again with the slight modifications. I'm much happier now:

The colours in this yarn are perfect for such a simple cardigan; I've also got this yarn in red - I need to make some plans for that too.

What are you working on this week? As always I'm playing along with Tami and Ginny.

V xo 

31//Life

Today I am 31. I can't quite believe it yet. I'm going to the cinema with my lovely family and for pizza!!

31 is going to be a better year; I resolve for it to be.

V xo