Impeccable timing...

With my usual impeccable timing, I have just finished a scarf to match the hat I knitted recently. The timing is impeccable because the temperature in London is hotter today than ever recorded. It's approximately 39 celsius which is probably nothing out of the ordinary to some of my blog readers. But the weather is coming up from North Africa and we are just not used to this type of heat here. Luckily, thunder storms are forecast for tonight. That is usually how heatwaves end here. Meanwhile, anyone who can stay indoors is doing just that.....but maybe not knitting scarves for the winter!

I used the same Aran yarn that I used for my hat; so I now have a matching set waiting for the colder weather. Even if I never wear the hat, I will definitely wear the scarf. I prefer scarves to be quite short and snug. My tried and tested method is to knit for 41 inches. I then turn down 6 inches at one end and sew it along the scarf to make a loop. The scarf then goes around my neck and the other end feeds through the loop. I can then pull it as tightly as necessary to fit my neck. Today, I couldn't bear the thought of wearing a scarf; so my glass head is modelling it for the photo. 

This is one of those occasions when making something beats searching the shops to buy it. This style is just not available to buy. It is easy for anyone to copy. Simply knit or crochet your favourite scarf pattern and sew one end into a loop. The only thing I would say is that, if your scarf is 7 inches wide the loop should also be 7 inches wide, and so on. That way the scarf will sit neatly around your neck without unsightly bunching up.

My busy summer is in full swing and I have been absent from blogland. I am now going to spare some time to catch up on all my favourite blogs. See you soon....

A new hat for a new charity....

This has been the coldest week of the year in my part of the UK.  It is cold enough for snow, though I haven't seen any yet.  After crocheting a large blanket, I am in the mood to relax a little with smaller items.  This hat is for a 6 months old baby. I started with a couple of rounds of pale pink, followed by a variegated ribbing and a solid purple for the rest of the hat.  All the yarn was left over from the same blanket. So it all matches nicely. 

I followed one of my favourite simple hat patterns. It is the Basic Baby Hat by Heather Tucker and I have knitted this many times.  The 6 months size uses only 27g of dk yarn. I can recommend this pattern.  It is knitted in the round; so there are no uncomfortable seams to worry about.

At this time of year, I like to post off any knits that are ready.  It's become a traditional end-of-year winding down ritual. This little collection was in my "completed" box. I had intended to send them to Operation Orphan but discovered at the last minute that they don't really want baby knits as they supply only schools and nurseries. 

So, I logged in to the wonderful Loving Hands website and posted my quandary. Within a few minutes, I received a reply that suggested sending them to Knit for Nowt.  This is a new charity that supplies knitted and crocheted items to people of all ages in East Yorkshire.  I sent off an email to make sure they are still an active charity and once again received a reply in a few minutes. So within thirty minutes of discovering my items were homeless, I had found a really worthwhile home in a part of the UK that I really love.  Result!

Knit for Nowt collects the type of things that I like to make....mainly hats and scarves. They also collect knitted glove and finger puppets. These are used as therapy puppets. There is more information about them HERE.

I don't like to say it....

.....but I told you so.  Summer is still shining down on us in my part of the UK and the forecast for next week looks just as good with temperatures close to 30 C.  That will do nicely, thank you.  Some years, I don't reach September without turning on the heating.  This year, I am aiming for October.

I pressed on with the scarf that I have been crocheting with this very thin dk yarn.  I used just over 100g and stopped at 5" wide because it will eventually be going off to Operation Orphan for their Keep A Child Warm campaign.  The acrylic and wool mix is perfect for a strong but warm and soft scarf.  

The very long colour changes look great in this type of scarf that is crocheted sideways.  I used one of my favourite crochet scarf patterns.  I usually use a size 4.5 or 5mm hook.  But the yarn was so thin that I had to use a size 4mm hook instead. That is one reason this scarf took so long to make.  The other reasons might have had something to do with making the most of our SUMMER while it lasts.

Oh no, it isn't.....a bit of a rant.

Start of rant****

Since when did September 1st become the first day of autumn?  Maybe it was about the same time we dumbed down and started talking about "going to uni".  In my day(!), every school child knew that autumn started on September 21st and people could actually be bothered to say all five syllables of "university".  

This morning, I heard a chirpy weather forecaster say that we use September 1st as the first day of autumn because it is easier to remember.  Never mind that we might have several weeks of good weather left.  Using that logic, Christmas Day will be on December 1st this year.  End of rant****

But just to show that I can move with the times, here is what I am working on at the moment.  When I bought this King Cole Country Tweed at an outdoor market, the sun was blazing and it looked like pink and grey.  At home, I realised it was more like autumnal rust and brown. My original plan for a baby item had to change to a scarf.  It is beautifully soft.  But there is no way on earth that this is a double knit yarn.  It feels like 4 ply and takes forever to crochet with.  

I have made this scarf many times and know that I would be finished by now if this was a real double knit yarn.  The stallholder told me the yarn had been discontinued. I can see why.  It is perfect for a soft scarf.  I have checked on Ravelry and many projects made with this yarn tend to be scarves and shawls.  But there are also some cardigans and jumpers.  I can only assume that the knitters/crocheters avoided sizing disasters by making a tension square first.

So, if a double knit yarn feels more like 4 ply, then it probably is.  Likewise, if it feels like summer and looks like summer, it is still summer!

More 4 ply...

Well, the scarf that I have been working on is now finished.  It is 48" long and will fit a young child.  I was knitting with two balls of 4 ply pink yarn together and kept going until one of the balls was completely used up.  The remainder of the second ball has gone back into the bag and will star in a future project.

Then I took a couple of balls of 4 ply blue yarn and made an aran weight hat to fit a toddler.  I still have quite a bit of blue yarn left.  But my 4 ply mojo has left the building, flown the coop and gone awol. My collection of 4 ply yarn barely fills one carrier bag.  But it will probably last me for five years if I keep using it at the current rate. Never mind.  It will eventually be turned into useful items.

Both these items will go to Operation Orphan for their Keep A Child Warm project.  I'm afraid I don't have links for the patterns. They were both so easy that  I just scribbled them down instead of printing them off.

I am now happily looking at blanket patterns.  I want to knit one that will be easy enough to qualify as mindless knitting and interesting enough to take my mind off some very depressing world and UK events.  Enough said...

Not much to show for three weeks......

I don't have much to show for the past three weeks.  This is my crazy busy time of year.  Even though I cut some activities out of my schedule, the rest just seem to have expanded to fill the void.

The angel pocket in the photo is a smaller version of the one I blogged about at the beginning of June.  It used up another oddment of blue yarn and some of the white yarn that I bought recently. The pattern is here.  I used 36g instead of the 30g stated in the pattern. So anyone thinking of knitting this pattern should be aware that it might use more yarn than expected.

I am knitting the scarf with two balls of 4 ply yarn held together. Both these yarns were donated to me some time ago.  It is a one row pattern and very easy.  I never made a note of the link, so I can't pass that on here. But there are lots of one row patterns available on the Internet and I can recommend them as great for when mindless knitting is all that can be managed.

Off they go....

This hat looks 100% better in real life!  I had some variegated yarn left after finishing my recent blanket and, as usual, didn't want to "put it back in the bag".  So I knitted a hat to fit a toddler.  I had a tiny amount of matching plain pink yarn and thought this was the perfect opportunity to use it up.  There was enough for the 8 rows of ribbing and also to insert a very subtle single round every nine rounds in the main body of the hat.  These contrast rounds barely show up in the photo.  You can just about see one on the left side of the hat above the ribbing.  But I am very pleased at how they look and will do this again with another hat.

I added the hat to the parcel of goodies that I have just sent off to Operation Orphan for their Keep A Child Warm campaign.  That is 4 scarves, 8 hats and a jumper out of my home and on their way to keep someone warm.

I managed to use up every last scrap of the plain pink yarn.  I love it when that happens.  However, I still have some of the variegated yarn left and just had to put it away.  I'm all pinked out for now and have started a little project in blue...more about that soon.

The "One in, one out" scarf...

My scarf drawer is now officially full.  If I knit or crochet a new scarf for myself, I have to get rid of one.  Spilling over into another drawer is not an option.  Our 5-10 year plan includes the strong possibility of downsizing, though there is a lot of water to go under the bridge before then.  Meanwhile, I am trying NOT to add to my possessions.

I had lots of scraps of various blue yarns left over after crocheting a big blanket. I like blue and have a couple of blue jackets.  So I decided to crochet yet another scarf.  I used a simple v-stitch pattern and a 5.5mm hook.  Eight full v stitches plus a half stitch at each end of the row gave me a scarf measuring 6.5 inches.  

I combined some variegated 4 ply yarn with 3 different dark blue dk yarns.  I managed to reach a length of 41 inches before the dark blues were used up.  This length is fine on me as I like to tuck my scarves into my jackets and prefer not to have lots of unnecessary bulk.  

It is not a thing of beauty and I wouldn't dream of giving it to someone else.  But it looks better on than in the photo, is warm, suits me and made good use of left over yarn.  Win, win, win, win.

No scarves suffered in my scarf cull.  I found one that is small, soft and pretty.  It will be perfect for a child and is now destined for my next Operation Orphan parcel.

The Stop Gap scarf...

While I ponder what to do with some really bright pink yarn that I recently rescued, I have been busy crocheting this scarf.  I used up most of the red wool that was left over after I knitted a boy's jumper.  

This is one of my favourite crochet scarf patterns as it suits my abilities.  For some reason, I don't have any problems at the start and end of each row.  I think it is because the pattern is so well written and illustrated.. Here is the link.

For this scarf I used 136g of dk wool and a 5mm crochet hook. That produced a scarf measuring 5" x 55".  This is intended for a child and will eventually go off to Operation Orphan.  The yarn is 85% real wool and 15% nylon so it should be very warm and hard-wearing.

I now have just 25g of this wool left.  So it will probably reappear one day as a stripe or two.

Scarf and hat set finished....

It's been all about grand finishes here this week.  We now have lovely new floors and a very strong oak staircase that will still be here in a hundred years time.  I have miles of new skirting boards to paint.  This week I finished the dining room and all the furniture is back in place.  Woo hoo!  The lurid background in the photo is actually an antique dining table that Hubby paid an obscene amount of money for at an Antiques Fair.  It will be starring in a lot of my future photos and I promise it looks better in real life than it does here!

I finished the scarf I have been knitting for some time.  It is a one row pattern.  Sadly, I have mislaid the link.  But there are lots of one row patterns and I can recommend them as very therapeutic mindless knitting.  I was using 6mm needles and two strands of 4ply together. I'm really pleased with the soft texture.  It will be very warm.  My scarf is 59" long and weighs 97g.  It definitely took longer to make than a crochet scarf.  But sometimes I am just in the mood for knitting.

The hat is from the Two By Two Basic Beanie pattern by Kate Gondwana.  I love this pattern for its simplicity and many sizes from baby to large adult.  It is really written for dk yarn, but 4ply doubled worked fine.  I knitted the "younger child" size and used 22g of yarn.  

These will eventually be going off to Operation Orphan.  They would make a nice matching set for someone, though I don't really expect them to end up on the same child.  They will probably be separated at the sorting stage and it would be a very lucky moment if they managed to reunite.

Nothing much happening here.....

.....well that is not strictly true.  The downstairs of my house is slowly being ripped apart and put back together again.  Our kitchen has been replaced and all the floors have been renewed including the floorboards and joists.  We have taken the opportunity to put insulation under the floors which should make this cold house a bit more comfortable. 

The carpenter is now working in the last room.  Woo hoo!  Then I will be able to put all the furniture back where it belongs and come back down from the bedroom where I (and the poor cat) seem to have been hiding away for weeks!  To make matters worse the road outside my house is being dug up by the National Grid.  So I am being bombarded by drilling noises from all directions.

The dust gets everywhere.  So my crafting activities are restricted to the evenings when the cloud of dust has settled.  I don't have anywhere decent to take photos at the moment.  But I managed to take a photo of my current project.  It is a scarf that I am knitting with two 4 ply yarns held together.  The variegated yarn came from a charity shop and the plain blue was donated to me.  I chose to use 6mm needles and the texture is beautifully fluid and soft.  I'm using a one row pattern.  It is so simple and mindless as every row is the same.  

I can't remember where the pattern came from.  So I sadly can't add a link. But experienced knitters will probably be able to work it out from just looking at the photo!

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Farmer's Market Scarf

My scarf drawer is groaning under the weight of scarves that I either bought years ago or made recently.  The winter here has only just arrived.  So I am really pleased to have just finished this scarf that I knitted with wool Daughter gave me for Christmas.  I emailed a photo to her and she loves it.  That is real praise because she is someone who speaks her mind.  If she says she likes something, she means it.  If she doesn't like something, she finds it hard to be tactful!

The yarn is Wendy Festival Chunky and I used almost 100g.  The free pattern is the Farmer's Market Scarf by Rebecca Shepler.  She gave it that name because she designed and made it while working at a Farmer's Market.  Outdoor jobs must be quite challenging at this time of year.

I love this scarf because it it as cosy as a keyhole scarf but is less bulky and can be made with just one 100g ball of yarn.  The pattern starts with a clever shell design which, admittedly, takes a bit of concentration.  After that, it is plain sailing.   You can do a 3-needle cast off and spend time blocking it. Or, like me, you can have an easy life.  I just did a simple cast off and didn't block it. Report me to the Knitting Police!

Mochi Neck Cozy...

Daughter gave me two balls of Wendy Festival Chunky yarn for Christmas.  The perfect present!  She even surprised me by looking through a knitting book that was on my bookshelf.  I'll make a knitter of her one day!

I started a scarf for myself with one of the balls and made a neck cosy for Daughter with the other.  It used just over 40g of yarn so I have enough left for another one. The pattern I followed is Mochi Neck Cozy by Sarah Keller and can be found HERE.  It is well written and I followed the pattern exactly.  

It looks small in the photo.  But it is very stretchy.  Daughter is petite, so it will fit perfectly.  I chose beige buttons.  They are not an obvious colour choice for a blue/orange/purple scarf.  But they match her winter coat.  They will also look good against her mane of glossy brunette hair.  Sigh!

As this pattern is for chunky yarn, there are only 18 rows x 62 stitches.  This is a super quick knit! 

Quick scarf and hat....

This is just a quick post to thank everyone who has sent me best wishes for my second eye op.  It took place a week ago and it is a big relief to have both eyes finally working together.  I'm also happy that I can now read, type, sew and knit to my heart's content.  

I will definitely need reading glasses for finer work. But it's a bit too soon to order them as my prescription will continue to change for a while.  So I am making do with off-the-shelf reading glasses. However, I find that I don't really need to use them until the evening. Our energy-saving light bulbs at home might need some rethinking as even my husband finds them useless for reading.  It's all a bit of a learning curve at the moment.

I started this scarf a few weeks ago.  The hat took just 2-3 days.  The yarn is a 100% wool by Jaegar and it was donated to me by a generous person on Freecycle.  The scarf is a simple crochet v-stitch and the hat is one of my regular favourite patterns by Pyrrha Designs.  These will go off soon to Operation Orphan for their Keep A Child Warm project.  I chose to make these two items in a size suitable for a teenager.

Yesterday, I treated myself to a rummage in my bags of yarn and picked out some really pretty yarn for a simple baby blanket.  But that's another story.....

Ripple scarf

                                                               

In the spirit of lifelong learning and continuing with my aim to learn new skills in 2015, I was very happy to finally learn how to crochet a ripple.  I followed the excellent Gentle Ripple How To tutorial on Linda's Crafty Corner blog.

I am such a slow learner where crochet is concerned, that it took me a few attempts to master the decrease stitch.  But I persevered as I really wanted to make a ripple something.  

I must be a tight crocheter. This was starting to look more like a rug than a soft blanket!  In the end I decided to turn this into a baby scarf.  I think I am a tight crocheter, especially when I am concentrating on something new.  I broke the cardinal rule and didn't make a swatch.  If I make another blanket I will go up to size 5mm crochet hook and do two rows per colour.  

Thanks, Linda for the very clear phototutorial/

                                                      

                           

A hat and scarf set....

Having recently started to make hats and scarves for older children and then somehow ending up making them for younger children instead, I decided to "get with the plot".  I had about 150g of Robin FX Dk yarn in a  lovely shade of oatmeal.  It was just crying out to be turned into a hat and scarf set.  

The label describes it as premium acrylic which some purists might think is a contradiction in terms.  But it was lovely to knit with, didn't have any knots and produced a perfect texture in both knitted and crocheted items.

I didn't follow any particular scarf pattern.  I simply did row after row of crochet v-stitch and really like the way it turned out.  It is reversible, doesn't curl at the edges and drapes nicely.  I will definitely make more of these.  I used a 4mm hook, chained 27 stitches, and used 110g of the yarn.  That gave me a scarf measuring 6.25 inches by 65 inches.

The rest of the yarn went towards making this simple beanie hat which should fit a teenager.  It is from the well-written Two by Two Basic Beanie pattern.  There are instructions for sizes ranging from baby to large adult and I can really recommend it.

Both these items will go off to Operation Orphan.  They are not really a matching set since the only thing they have in common is the yarn. However, they are very unlikely to stay together and that is ok as it means two teenagers will benefit....a win win situation.

Five scarves and a hat....

A couple of years ago I bought a huge 400g ball of grey aran wool and acrylic mix.  It was one of those rare occasions when I actually go to a wool shop and pay full price!! That is probably why I made a rookie error and ended up buying the wrong shade of grey simply because I hadn't brought along the thing I was trying to match it to. Who'd have thought there are so many shades of grey?  Hey ho.  So it sat in a bag in the naughty corner.

Then I saw an appeal from Operation Orphan for scarves in shades of grey, black and navy blue.  Some of the older children prefer these colours.  I went off piste by adding eyeball-searing red.  But I made these items in sizes that will be more suitable for the younger children, so I think the bright red is going to be ok.

I managed to use up all the grey, some black oddments and most of the red.  My remaining aran yarn now fits into the palm of my hand.  I don't have any immediate plans to buy more....but I never say never!

My blog posts are very short at the moment as I am once again having an insanely busy summer.  I don't even have enough spare energy to think of clever blog post titles.  But I am still reading all my favourite blogs.  Happy August to everyone!

My mission hits the buffers...

Well, my mission to use up all my 4 ply yarn has hit the buffers.  I have finally realised how far a ball of 4 ply yarn will go.  I gathered together some small oddments and actually managed to knit 6 hats and a scarf.  I held two strands of 4 ply together and knit the Aran pattern Be Loving by Melissa Simpson.  This is a lovely, easy pattern and the finished hat can be worn with the brim up or down.

I enjoyed combining different colours to create a variegated effect. To keep my interest going, I played around with different stripe patterns.  I even experimented by using a tiny remnant of beige yarn to cast on the brown hat at the top of the picture.  I had just enough left to knit the first row and I really like the way it looks when the brim is turned up.  I might use that design feature again on future hats.

I also knitted a simple pink stripy scarf by just repeating blocks of garter stitch.

Apart from a few balls of white baby yarn, I know I have NEVER knowingly purchased 4 ply yarn.  All this came to me mainly as donations from generous bloggers, Freecyclers and Ravelry members. 

I still have plenty of 4 ply yarn left and I will slowly work my way through it.  But I stopped when my shoebox was full enough to send off to Operation Orphan.  I heard that they have a lorry full of donated items going to Nepal this month.  I'm hoping I haven't missed it.  But, if I have, there will always be another delivery.

*****My next post will be all about the giveaway I am planning to hold for my Big Birthday in August.  Watch this space for more details.*****

The Ombre Scarf..

I follow lots of blogs including the colourful Dayana Knits.  Dayana is a knitter who takes knitting to the next level.  In my eyes, she literally paints with yarn.  Her output is so great that I sometimes wonder how she finds time to sleep.  If you haven't come across her blog before, take a quick look and prepare to be amazed!

I first met Dayana when she answered an appeal for help with adding handwriting to a photo.  At the time I had an old computer which was sadly lacking in editing programs.  Not only did Dayana suggest how to do it, she actually did it for me!!

I had already decided to use up some of my 4 ply scraps when I read Dayana's post about ombre knitting.  She had managed to knit a whole jumper just using her leftover scraps.  Ombre is French for "shadow" and describes a technique for knitting with two yarns together in a way that bleeds the colours into each other.  

I sorted out my greens, creams and beiges and produced this scarf. It breaks the mould for me as I soon realised that it is not reversible.  But I carried on because I found the stitch interesting to knit.  It produces a strong fabric that would actually make a lovely cushion cover.  The only change I made to Dayana's pattern was to change the colours every eighth row instead of every fourth row.  That halved the number of ends to be sewn in.  But if I ever get around to knitting something smaller such as a cushion  cover, I would change the colours every fourth row for a more subtle effect.

Most of the yarn that I used is real wool and came from an English convent that closed down.  4 ply yarn goes a long way and I only used 103g, so there is still some left for other projects.  The scarf is not a thing of beauty.  But it is very warm and will eventually go to Operation Orphan.

Summer has finally reached my part of the world.  It is a very busy time of year for me and I am now knitting nothing bigger than a hat..... unless the urge to start a bigger project grows too strong!

A quintet of scarves...

I had half a bag of real wool Aran yarn left over from a blanket I made last year. There wasn't enough to make another blanket and I really didn't want to buy any more.  I decided that crochet scarves would use this up quickly.  One of my favourite crochet scarf patterns is this one.  It really is a quick and easy pattern as every row is the same.  I can recommend it to beginners or anyone else who feels like some mindless crochet.

I managed to crochet five scarves in just under two weeks. I was completing one scarf every two days and I carried on with the rest of my life as well.  It would probably take me two weeks to knit just one scarf, so this is where crochet wins. 

The scarves are roughly 5 inches x 45 inches which is perfect for Operation Orphan who distribute clothes and blankets to children in need around the world. They have specifically requested smaller scarves for the younger children.  

I don't usually work on the same pattern five times in a row.  But I really enjoy this pattern, so it was a happy fortnight.  I must admit that the enthusiasm was starting to fail halfway through the fifth scarf!

I have some Aran yarn left and will start to make hats with it as soon as Easter is over.

Happy holidays everyone.