Knit Love Club - ''Caretta Caretta"

Caretta Caretta got renamed in my project page on Ravelry to 'bling- berries socks' because the colour of the yarn reminded me of blackberries which are over- ripe and leak their colour everywhere.

The 'bling' element was obviously in connection with the beads (that sit in the lace pattern holes) which I have continued onto half the instep pattern attempting to stop where my shoes would come.

The yarn was Spirit Trail fibreworks Sunna and is unbelievably soft and deluxe to work with, what a treat to go with another of Alice Yu's brilliant patterns.... I enjoyed these so much that I knitted other things in between working on them to make them last longer.

Shawl for a journey

I've just finished knitting 'Citron' a free pattern by Hilary Smith Callis on Knitty. It was really, really easy, even though there were a great deal of stitches by the last ruffle and I cut it short by a couple of rows because I was out of wool having used a ball of yarn with a few metres already pinched for another project.

A brilliant knit while on a long journey in the car again (and afterwards too), where I could knit away with relatively little concentration, but the choice of colour changing yarn made it interesting.

The Noro (Silk Garden- Sock) I used seemed to soften after I washed it before blocking - still, I think this will be once to be worn over a top, not next top the skin. I love Noro colourways, I just wish they had the tactile quality of some of the other yarns I use.

Dress- finished at last

With a bit of a struggle with the invisible zip I eventually finished my dress. I decided to add a frill of the bodice fabric to the bottom of the skirt which seems to have balanced it better and as the striped cotton is quite firm it helps to hold out the softer black fabric and give a bit of shape to the skirt.

Amazingly (since it's been so long since I've sewn myself a garment) it fits nicely, so I'm quite chuffed with my handy work.

It also swishes round nicely!

Peg Dolls

We've been making peg dolls out of bits and pieces from our recyling collage/ junk box. They were good fun and approached with a high level of ambition from my daughter, some bits she needed help with because they were a little fiddley for little fingers, a good amount of PVA glue seemed to be the key.

Experiments in Crochet 1

I've been experimenting with crochet, it was an idea to help me carry on 'making' with a touch of RSI, thinking that the hand action is different from knitting. It seemed to work quite well for a while. This scarf was made for my daughter's class teacher. She examined her clothing daily for a week or so and then decided that this colour from the stash would suit her best. ...... I hope so. It's always tricky making things for people that you don't know very well.

At the same time I was making this simple shawl. I call it my 'Glamping' shawl, though i'm not sure that the camping we do is very glamorous. I’m chuffed with this, it should prove really useful for English beach holidays and is great for wrapping up my daughter too; blanket/ shawl.

The unfinished dress

I started this dress some time ago and it's hung unfinished for so long that it's become part of the decor. I sort of fell out with it and wasn't sure that I liked the skirt, though it looks better on than on the hanger. So, by posting a picture of it incomplete I'm trying to motivate myself to go back to it and complete it in some fashion. I think that it might need some of the striped fabric on the skirt....... pockets? an underskirt? I don't know yet.

I think that I'll go a wrestle with the zip first, it's been a while since I've put in a concealed zip it might prove a challenge.

Shhhhh!