Snowman

Awwwh! I just wanted to show you this little cutie. Yeah, I know it's early, but I needed a quick softie to knit and the first stash yarn I grabbed was white so, I had to knit him!

I knit him last week whilst watching Raw and his scarf & hat whilst watching Iron Man 3, so he didn't take long at all.

I used the Angus the Attic Monster pattern for the body and made the rest up myself. The hat and scarf is knit out of GnomeAcres Superfine SW Merino, Silk and Stellina DK Sparkle in the Mistletoe colourway from last years Christmas collection. I'm quite excited to see if there'll be more this year.

All knit on 3mm needles.

And now he's just being cute, sat on top of a clock, waiting, waiting for those Cola Lorries to appear!

Happy September!

An August Review

It's been a pretty decent knitting month for me, the stupidly hot weather has died down and a designing bug has bitten me, not to mention a sewing one [that's sewing, not grafting!].

I've mostly been knitting on socks, finishing up 2nd socks so that single ones don't go friendless.

Designing

This month I've designed / knit up from my head a few things. I am thinking of writing up the patterns and having a little e-book or something like a pattern collection.

Happy Hoppy
When a pregnancy was announced I came up with a little character who could be in some cute little stories that could be told to future-child. When out in town I came across some gorgeous self striping baby yarn that was sweetly gender neutral and set about creating a secure baby toy with no small pieces and very little sewing.
I think I'll be writing up a pattern for this one definitely.  I am completely in love with it, my husband even did a quick drawing of it, which has inspired me!

She Sells Sea Shells
A sweet top down sock pattern which is so much fun to knit. I love the little garter sections, which aren't tedious at all, and they frame the main stitch pattern is simple yet effective.

A Basket Full
I've wanted to knit a toe up sock for a while now, but I actually rather enjoy grafting the toes on my socks, so I worked out a way that I could do both. It also gave me a better sense of how much yarn I can use in my socks to make them longer. It knits up to a pretty dense and toasty sock. It's a great pattern for self striping yarns too.

Snug
A great little cowl to make the most of that random ball of chunky yarn in your stash. So simple you can knit it with your eyes closed (trust me, I did).

Wonderhat
An interesting knit, steady repeating diamond pattern and a reverse stocking stitch crown makes a comfy, slouchy hat.

A Shawl a Day
The easiest, most simple triangle shawl to use up a random ball of gradient aran weight.

The Sock Yarn Sweaters

Last year, whilst branching out into more luxury yarns, I bought two skeins of Araucania Lonco Multy with absolutely no idea what I was going to knit with them. They were reduced to clear and I couldn't resist myself. 

I hand wound one skein as it was knotty, which cause a few expletives to come out of my mouth. As I couldn't face the other skein, I cast on for a shawl with it, but ended up frogging it as I didn't like how it pooled.

I came across the Kaleidoscope pattern and knew it would be perfect, but it needed an accent, which had me frog a sock from the this-will-never-get-finished pile so I could use my  Knitting Goddess 4ply merino/nylon sock.

I extended the ribbing, omitted the waist shaping, worked my first garment with a provisional cast on for the sleeves! Hell, I even worked magic loop on the sleeves for the first time, go me!

I just love it. I love the colours, the shape, even the buttons (bamboo and not sewn on when I took the photos).

I loved knitting it so much that I decided I needed a tunic from the same pattern. I grabbed a ball of King Cole Zigzag from my stash in what I thought was a variegated colourway. Nope. Just a very thin self-stripe, but given that it would be on a project larger than socks I let it do it's thing. I had to buy a 2nd ball of it, but more on that later.

 

I cast on 10 stitches more than what I required using a provisional cast on, as I didn't know how I wanted the bottom to look. I knit for a while, gently decreased to the number of stitches that I required and knit for a while longer.

I worked out where the cast on would have been on what I'd knitted and placed a stitch marker so I could follow the pattern for the waist shaping.

I joined in the provisional cast ons for the sleeves, then I worked out the neckline I wanted. So some stitches went on a holder and I started the back and forth with the decreases for the shoulder shapings. I carried on decreases more than the pattern says so that it'd stay on my shoulders.

I grabbed my leftover yarn from my colour affection to knit the contrasting ribbing. I love the green against the pinks and yellow.

I had to join in the 2nd ball at the neckline, only I had checked before hand which way the pattern went, it started reversing, but given that that section was worked flat I didn't think that it would matter too much.

In other news, I knit and designed a shawl using a Crazy Zauberball, I call it "Monster Hugs" on my rav page, but now I've knitted it it's certainly more "Mike Goes To University" as in Monsters University. I also knit 4 hats and a pair of gloves last week, but they're Christmas presents and can't be shown.

And now I've been rummaging through my project box and have chosen a sweater and a pair of gloves to get finished, so [hopefully] they'll be shown soon.

Ciao.

Hot hot hot

Hello peoples!

I don't know about you but I can't seem to finish anything lately, I just keep casting on! I think it must have something to do with this glorious weather we're having. I'm talking uncharacteristically hot.

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year, and oh boy I felt it. A walk that usually takes us 10 minutes from Ikea to home had us take a 10 minute pit-stop in the shade. So it's no real surprise that knitting hasn't been a top priority, although I have tried!.

I have 1.5 sleeves left to knit on a sock yarn cardigan, ribbing and cap sleeves on a sock yarn top. I had started the ribbing on a sweater that is the majority ribbing, but that's in DK and far too hot to work on right now. Socks are without partners, which I really ought to get off the needles so I can play with my Japanese stitch pattern book.

But my lovely husband hit me right in my weak spot, he bought me a Zauberball, not only that but a blue & green Crazy Zauberball that reminds me of Mike & Sulley from Monster's Inc and Monsters University (which we're going to see in an hour [yay]).

And, well, I've cast on a shawl with it, a little lace with garter and stockinette, so far I like it!

So, enjoy the uncharacteristically hot weather if you're in the United Kingdom, and I've heard of heat waves in other places! Remember to keep hydrated.

Until next time! xo

Weasley Blanket & Wedding Blanket

I am one of those insane people who think casting on for a blanket is a good idea. I keep thinking that it'll decrease my stash, and yet I don't think I've completely used up a ball of yarn in one of these projects. In fact I think I may have added to my yarn stash because of these. Add to the fact that I've learned to do granny squares in crochet *insert a victory dance here* and that I still haven't finished my bee keeper's quilt, well I may be drowning in blankets.

And yet I have finished two of these stash busting projects!

The Weasley Blanket

It will come as a surprise to no-one but I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I went on the studio tour with my husband as part of our honeymoon week.
So for me to have something Potter without outwardly screaming; "HARRYPOTTERHARRYPOTTER"  is a good thing. And it's a replica.

It's the Ron Weasley Blanket by Penguineer and here is my version.

I have loved knitting this, each square has been lovingly researched and you can knit it up with stash! I loved that aspect so stash was used.

I used 5mm needles and DK yarn. I even managed a neat single crochet border.

It's great to be curled up underneath it with my husband.

And talking of husbands! [What a great transition].

Wedding Blanket

My friend recently got married!

So since they announced their engagement I've been knitting log cabin squares to make into a colourful blanket. Pretty, huh? I almost didn't want to part with it.

You can see it's project page as there's no pattern for it.

It's been knit out of various DK yarns on 4.5mm needles.

My Peggy Sue

I've knit a few sweaters/cardigans now, my husband [yeah, we got married last month] has 4 now, my nephew has one, my mom has one and I've knit myself one in the past. They've all been bottom-up. Well, I've recently cast off my first top-down cardigan!

Woohoo!

P-A-R-T-Y? Because I gotta!

I chose to knit the Peggy Sue, with my own modifications of course. Here's My Peggy Sue (links to my project page).
It's a free pattern on Ravelry, a delightful little 1950's style cropped sweater, very feminine, very flattering. The neckline follows your collar bone whilst the cabled ribbing accentuates your waist.
And you'll notice that mine has no such effect, well except the neckline, I like that neckline. There's also the stripes, I haven't seen anyone else do stripes yet.

I did omit the shaping in the body as I was extending it.

I based the stripe pattern on one of my favourite cardigans, which is blue/brown/yellow, and I really wanted a green one.

So, below are my modifications.

Let's start with the yarns. I have 5 colourways in my cardigan. All being from the Stylecraft DK ranges.

Colour 1 - Fern (Collar, button band & stripe) (100g ball)
Colour 2 - Daffodil (Stripe) (100g ball)
Colour 3 - Zingy (Ribbing & stripe) (Will need 2x 100g balls)
Colour 4 - Charcoal (100g ball)
Colour 5 - Pebble (100g ball)

Cast on with Fern and work the collar and raglan set up row.
Change to Daffodil for 14 rows.
Change to Zingy for 18 rows.
Change to Charcoal for 18 rows.
Change to Fern for 18 rows.
Change to Zingy for 18 rows.
Change to Pebble for 18 rows.
Change to Daffodil for 18 rows.
Change to Zingy for 30 rows of 2x2 ribbing.
Cast off and rejoin for sleeves, and keep the stripe pattern (above) the same as the body.

When you rejoin for the sleeves, pick up 5 stitches on the under-arm and decrease them down the next few rounds. I chose the slp1, k2tog, psso method.

The sleeves are bracelet length on me, though still a little baggy. I decreased 6 stitches in the Pebble section as it's where my forearm starts to get narrow.

There are 8 buttons which are 15mm wide and spaced evenly along the button band which is followed by the pattern only with more stitches picked up and a little maths which meant the button holes were being worked after every 19 stitches.

I hope these notes are helpful, or just of interest to you.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2013 - Day Three: Infographic

Ah, I do like to start projects, I don't tend to finish them very quickly though. I'm terrible with blankets though, usually with the thought of "Oh, this'll decrease my stash!" but you know what? It never bloody does!

Log Cabin Blanket (not yet on Ravelry)

"Stash Depleting" Blanket

Sock Yarn Blanket (not yet on Ravelry)

Weasley Blanket

Log Cabin Squares

Bee Keepers Quilt

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2013- Day Two: A Mascot Project

I quite like that I'm a bee. I love bees. I love the internet meme's about bees, well I say "about" I think I mean more along the lines of "mention". Be it Batman saying "Bees. My God." in Amazons Attack or Nic Cage screaming "Not the bees!". I love it.

Now knitting? Well obviously there's the Bee Keeper's Quilt, which I've been working on for over a year. All those delicious little hexipuffs that go together like honeycomb.

In my quilt, I've been adding things I love in bit by bit. There's a hexipuff in there with the Deathly Hallows symbol on it. There's two hexipuffs with butterflies on it, to look like Fluttershy's cutie mark.
There's even an owl in there! I love owls.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2013- Day One: The House Cup

After reading through the choices on Eskimimimakes (and donning my Gryffindor hat) I think it's fair to say I'm at home in House Bee.

There's always a new pattern I want to cast on, or a yarn I want to use, a look through my project bags and my Ravelry page can tell you that.

Hey, I haven't finished my Bee keeper's quilt yet, but I do a few hexipuffs here and there, it'll get done soon enough. I have a few scrap blankets on the go, one for sock yarn and two (or three) dk ones. A couple of lonely socks without partners, hanging out together. A teddy bear, a couple of shawls. They'll get finished when they get finished.

To be honest, life can be crappy, so if I feel like casting on something new I'm going to cast on something new.

I'm a bee.

Hey, it's okay;

You know, being a perfectionist could drive a person crazy. So I've decided to let things happen as they will with my knitting, loosen my gauge.

Hey, it's okay;

• If my stripes don't match when knitting that second sock.
• To cast on new projects without finishing old ones.
• To buy another skein/ball of yarn without a project in mind.
• To not follow a pattern to the letter.
• To substitute yarns.
• If knitting with lace weight mohair isn't your thing, even if it did cost more than that aran jumper did.

There's a few of mine for you, I'd love to know yours.

Inspiration Shall Strike

Forgive me for being such an absentee blogger, my karma for this? Well I'm feeling a little rusty on the writing front. So before I jump back into frequent blogging, I thought I'd do a post on something other than knitting. "Something other than knitting?" I hear you cry, yes, dear reader, I'm afraid so!

Knitting is all well and good, but what is the point of creating if you aren't inspired? Given that inspiration can strike at any moment, where do I begin? I figure with my reading material as of late and then proceed to films I've seen lately, though in some cases these may intermingle.

Given the film's release this winter, I chose to reread The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. The thrill of going back to the Middle Earth of my imagination was wonderful! I can see Bilbo's perfectly round green door, his homely hobbit hole, the landscapes and the caves, for me it was like going home. Then I went on an adventure of my own; to the cinema to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, though my journey there wasn't unexpected, I've been anticipating it for years now. That first glimpse of Hobbiton, along with the score, actually brought tears to my eyes!
After seeing this again I chose to cast on my Hitchhiker in the green and yellow of Bilbo's front door.

Another book I've recently finished reading is Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw, an internet reviewer of video games and rather hilarious. It's about a Jampocalypse, really, strawberry-scented-man-eating-jam. I urge you to read it. It's rather refreshing, in a sticky-jammy way, given the recent rise of zombies in the media to have an apocalypse so sweet!

The weekend just passed I took Craig to see Wreck it Ralph at the cinema as an early Valentine's gift [it's only just opened in cinemas here in the UK]. My love of video games comes from character, story, history and art, and I am nowhere near the gamer my other half is, but that isn't to say I didn't grow up with Lara Croft, Pokemon and Sonic the Hedgehog. So this film was a real treat for the both of us, getting the in jokes, noticing characters in the background, being amazed at everything/everywhere in general, of course it had it's Disneyisms but that was easy to put aside. It really reminded me of what I was knitting when I started; pokemon characters and using 8-bit sprites as colour work charts. I miss doing that. One of my New Years goals is to knit what I feel, and I feel nostalgic.

It's no surprise that I'm inspired by Deadpool, I get so excited waiting for each new issue, I even knit a doll of him recently. I adore the merc. with a mouth, he's my favourite in the Marvel roster.

 Yesterday I watched Midnight in Paris. My stars! This film is magical! Given that I adore the 1920's anyway, it made me want to visit Paris more now than ever. I loved seeing all the notable figures of that era, and the clothes and the music. That's the magic of film, you can bring anything to life. I am on a Tom Hiddleston kick as of late, but he's such a fantastic actor! He's so eloquent and has a voice meant to listen to. He acts with such a passion that I find myself so inspired by his performance. Doesn't hurt that he plays Loki, either.

So, this is my inspiration lately.

Until next time. xo

Festive knitting, sadness and kindness

Note: I wrote this a while ago but never posted it for some unknown reason, though I thought I'd post it non the less to get it out into the world.

I have to begin this post, like so many others have, with a tribute to KnitPurlGurl. Karrie was a lovely lady and a pretty prominent figure in the online knitting community. Although I didn't know her as well as others did, I did enjoy our tweet exchanges. She had such a sunny personality that made watching her podcasts so enjoyable, so kind too, starting the RAP movement (Random Acts of Pattern) which has been continuing in her memory and it is wonderful to behold.

I received my first RAP last week from LittleRiaHen which was the Hitch-hiker, which got cast on as soon as I got it. It's brilliant, thank you again!
I've knit up my first skein but at the moment I'm too lazy focused on finishing other WIPs before the new year to wind up the 2nd skein. It's a really enjoyable knit too.

Hitch-hiker wip

This may actually be a picture heavy post, woohoo! Okay, titular subject, Festive knitting. The two sweaters I was knitting as gifts have been completed! I am very happy with how they look, I love them!

Craig's sweater is knit out of Hayfield Bonus Aran and is a size Large. Accomplishment achieved, he said he wouldn't wear cables until he was 30 (ha!) but now he buys them of his own accord. He looks very handsome in cables, I can't wait for him to wear this sweater.

Brandon's sweater is knit out of Stylecraft Life DK and is a size Small. I hope he likes this when he gets it, I mean teenagers are choosy, right? I know I was. He chose the orange shade when he saw it in my stash, but it had to be softened with the brown else he'd look like an Oompa Loompa [doobidy doo].

I've knit myself some more socks! These are also my first after thought heel socks, fit great so I'm proud. They're knit out of Regia World Color in Italy, though I bought it because it looks Christmassy. I don't think I'll ever be bothered by mismatched socks, I'd rather let the yarn do it's thing. 'Happy accidents' I used to call things like this at art college.

There are a few other things I've finished, but these are my favourites. So I'll leave you with Gort, the biggest monster I've knit so far. He's knit out of Robin Paintbox DK on 4mm double pointed needles.

Weasley is our King

That's why Gryffindors all sing; "Weasley is our King!" 

So, I've decided to knit Ron Weasley's blanket, y'know seeing as I'm a sucker for any replicas from the Harry Potter films, even though they piss me off sometimes.

Anyway, so you're going to want the good stuff. The pattern is The Ron Weasley Blanket by Penguineer (Ravelry link).

I figure it's a good idea, seeing as I'm on a quest to knit up my acrylic stash oddments. I love this pattern for the detail it goes into. I mean, I can look through the squares and identify the yarn from other knitting projects in the films. Then there's the Hogwarts House colours, which I think is sweet. I can just picture Molly Weasley finishing one of the Christmas jumpers then knitting a square[s] with the leftovers.

Ugh, I love Molly Weasley.

So, my plan of attack:

I'm using 5mm needles and DK yarns, mostly Robin brand, seeing as when I started knitting I only bought the cheap yarns.

I have written a list of all the recurring colours and how many squares I'll need of them. I'm starting off with the solid block squares seeing as they're simple t.v knitting. I'll go on to the fun stripes last.

If I knit some that are next to each other, I sew them together. Simple. Seeing as sewing up is my least favourite part of knitting and this is the problem I seem to be having with my bee-keeper's quilt.

Single squares are good pallet cleansers too.

I've drawn up a little grid, and can cross off squares as I knit them, so I know which ones I have. I also seem to love cross referencing. Odd.

Other project updates: I have finally finished Craig's Christmas sweater and only have a sleeve left to knit on my nephews.  I've knit a stocking, just need to weave in ends and I've knitted 4 mini sweater ornaments, they're so cute! A bauble. Been working on some socks. Knit my first afterthought heel. Knit hats. Knit gloves.

That's all I can think of for now!

FO's, HO's & Updates

Since my last update I've knit a few things and worked on a few more. 

Before I write posts about them, here's a list of them (this will keep me organised too)

So first off, things I've finished:

• German Market Hat for me
• German Market Gloves for me
• German Market Hat for Craig
• Santa Hat for Craig
• Wrist warmers for my Nan
• Sgt. Zingy for Craig
• Dice bag for Craig
• Bauble
• Mini sweater ornament (also my first top down sweater, ha!)
• Feather & fan scarf
• Plain beanie hat for charity
• Cushion cover
• Toy Owl

I haven't been idle, here's a list of things I've been working on:

• Test knit for Elle
• Sweater for Craig
• Sweater for Bran
• Mohair shawl
• Blanket #1
• Bee Keeper's Quilt
• Wedding gift

Since being given a ball winder for my birthday I've been winding up my 'messy' balls of yarn, the ones without ball bands mostly. It makes organising them easier and they don't roll around when knitting. It's also fun.

I've bought festive fabric for sewing, as I want to pick it back up.

I've also been teaching Craig how to bake, which he's rather good at. He's been making cupcakes, and decorating them. He took some into the office and was really proud when they didn't believe he'd baked them. It's something fun we can do together. He already helps me cook meals, but this is something he's doing himself.

My First Knitting

Well not really my first, that's long gone, but this is my first piece of knitting from when I decided I was going to knit as my hobby at the tender age of 18.

It had to be red, didn't it? I remember this being the leftover yarn from my Gryffindor scarf my Mom knit for me.

I came across this last week when I was sorting out my wardrobe. I just thought I'd share it as it's a piece of my history. It's the foundation of my craft and something that defines me.

I do remember my first knitting, a strip of white full with holes and pulled tight.

It's fun to look back, to see how you've grown

It was my Birthday!

I'm sorry for my lack of blogging, my wedding planning is very distracting! To make up for it I'm going to share with you my birthday goodies!

Yes, I celebrated my 22nd year last week (13th, unlucky for some) and my family was generous as ever so I got to purchase some cool things.

I was this on tumblr and just had to get it! I've coveted a lot of Tangerine Designs products, and what better reason to get it than my birthday? I love Doctor Who, Saturdays are now must-watch tv days! Every other day I'm running around with my sonic screwdriver. Now my needles can be gauged in style!

I may have said before, but I *love* Deadpool, this year I had a theme for my presents from my wonderful fiancé, can you guess? Yup, the Merc. with a Mouth himself. This yarn is just so Deadpool, the red & black of his costume coupled with the sparklies with I'm saying represent his swords!
I have to thank Lyndsey of Countess Ablaze for the 2nd skein, letting me keep it when it turned up was very kind of you, thank you so much!
My other Deadpool presents were a graphic novel, a custom card and a cake he decorated himself, he also got me a ball winder, squeeee!

I love Vincent Van Gough, he's one of my favourite artists, the colours in his work are so wonderful, I've been coveting these yarns since their release. Sunflowers is my favourite artwork and the yarn is so wonderful, my favourite colours in a ball. I also liked Starry Night, but I chose Cafe because of the yellow in it, my birthday present yarn means my socks.

I wanted this a while ago, it's Loki by Gnome Acres, but I couldn't afford it at that time, but Amanda had a huge update the day after my birthday and there was Loki, I had to snag it! I love the shades as much as I love the character.

I also had gift vouchers for books so I got a few more knitting ones! Which I should be reviewing in the near future!

Updates!

Alrighty!

I have castonitis! It's so bad. I know how I got it too; obligatory sweater knitting and on-going background projects. So, just so I know what I'm knitting I'm going to list them off and note their status.

In no particular order;

• Denim rug - I've balled and yarned up as much denim as I have, so I'm going to knit another couple of rows and cast off, this will be panel one. In the future I shall knit other panels and sew then together, but for now the rug is the right size for between my bed and my wardrobe.
• Craig's Cable Sweater - Front and back has been knit! Just the sleeves and the neckline to do now.
• Brandon's Chocolate Orange - I finally cast this on Sunday night, I've added stripes to a plain rib jumper pattern. I'm doing 10 row stripes, which will make it easier for me to knit the front and back the same. I may have to purchase another ball of the brown as I'm using up stash and may not have enough leftover from Craig's first sweater. I'm working on the front at the moment, but I'm enjoying this knit more than others.
• Gryffindor Socks - I have a HO, I'll cast on for the second once I've depleted some other projects, it's not a major project, just a pallet cleanser, but I would like them knit before I do the Harry Potter Studio Tour.
• Bee Keepers Quilt - I thought I'd have this done by now, ah I was so naive when I started this. I get fed up of sewing them in, but I do have a bag full.
• Test Knit for Elle - Done ribbing, need to work through the pattern, this is my between sweater project, I plan to take it with me for the weekend.
• Feather & Fan Scarf - I only seem to work on this when I'm tired and forget how to count, meaning I have to rip back a ways. However I am near the end of the ball.
• Wedding gift - I have until June 2013 to complete this, but I'm around 40% done.
• Bedspread - It's heavy and I've barely knit enough to cover feet. Whatever possessed me to knit a bedspread out of DK weight yarn I'll never know. It does look fun though, who doesn't love stripes?

I think that's everything....

I don't know how much knitting I'll get done today as I'm having a tidy up/sort out which will allow me to see exactly what I have in my stash.
I just found a very small black and white tv in the back of my wardrobe, shows how long it's been since I last sorted this out.

I've decided to sell some things on ebay, I have a fair amount of costume jewellery that'll never get worn. It feels rather empowering to be so ruthless with my belongings.

A stash depletion update

Firstly, I am going to admit that I have bought yarn, I bought a semi-solid sock yarn from TheKnittingGoddess.co.uk for a test knit. I needed it as I didn't have any suitable yarn in my stash.

I am one whole ball down! Haha it doesn't sound like much, but I knit up a baby cardigan and have now knit up a 100g ball and some stash yarn on it. It's knit in James C Brett Magi-knit baby DK and Robin DK. I matched the buttons to the colours in the yarn. It's so cute.

Also used part of a ball to knit a teddy bear to accompany said baby cardigan.

I'm further along on the aran sweater, I'm now knitting the back of the jumper with a stitch pattern change as I really didn't like doing the diamonds, so I've swapped them for columns which I think give the back a nice sturdy structure. It's also knitting up a lot quicker, which means it'll get finished sooner.

I used part of a 75g ball of acrylic DK on a glasses case for my Mom, it's a nice little thing, so I may write up a quick pattern. Might.

I've discovered another way to knit hexipuffs; centre outwards and back in again, makes a nice little 'puff with self patterning yarn.

Yarn Review: Moonlight Sonata DK

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen me raving about this yarn, raving about it so much that I decided I'd write up a review.

The yarn in question is James C. Brett Moonlight Sonata Double Knitting, how romantic does that name sound?

I picked up this yarn on a whim when I was out buying sock yarn, it just looked pretty and I knew I wanted it. I'm a sucker for doing this, hence my current not-buying-yarn-for-a-while thing I have going on.

I just loved the colours in it, and the way it's balled up reminded me of the sparkly Loop batts I keep seeing on podcasts like Knitabulls (which you should all go watch because Diane is amazing). So for someone who can't spin [yet] I guess this is the next best thing.

Like I said it's a DK weight, so good for scarves, but want to know what blew my mind once I checked the meterage? It's 500m! Roughly 546 yards. In one ball! So there's a nice scarf in one ball.

The ball band says it's 10% Mohair - 10% Wool - 75% Acrylic - 5% Metallic and it's so lovely to work with. I bought shade 'SM7' which is gorgeous jewel shades paired with a gorgeous olive shade, all intertwined with a golden metallic thread. I think one of the reasons why I fell for this yarn is the blues, they remind me of my engagement ring.

I'm not usually a sparkle person, but this yarn is amazing and I love it, and I'm seriously considering getting enough for a cardigan for smarter occasions, though in a different shade.

The only thing I've found I dislike about James C. Brett yarns is how they have codes not shades, that's it really, that's my gripe. The whole range is affordable. Moonlight Sonata costs around £5.20 for 500m for such a beautiful yarn, which would be about £15- £20 for a beautiful cardigan, not bad at all.

The pattern I'm knitting is the Extra-Long Stripy Scarf from Knitting Vintage by Claire Montgomerie. I've loved the whole feather-and-fan patterns for a long time, and I knew this would be the best pattern for the yarn, classic enough. Plus it's a 4 row repeat, so great for mindless knitting.

Oooh I could regret this.

I've batted around the idea of a yarn diet much like my fitness plan last year, one whiff of pizza and it went out of the window, but now I'm deeper than balls deep, badum tch, in uhm, balls of yarn. I have so many one colour balls, I honestly thought that starting my bee keeper's quilt would help me solve this, but no. My stash busting efforts have been thwarted by self patterning yarns that would make great hexipuffs.

Then I started buying sweater's worth of yarn, which is great, but I haven't knit them yet and when I do I get oddments.

I have three 30L boxes full, two duvet bags and a whole box of yarn, mostly acrylic, what I'm going to do is, knit it up!

Oooh yes. Less buying, more knitting. This could be tough, just today I read about a new yarn, and it's cotton which I've never knit with and I think would make a nice summer jumper to keep off the chill. See my problem?

Yarn diet.

I want at least 60L knit, that shall free up a fair amount of room. Oh dear cupcakes I forgot about the 400g balls of aran in my wardrobe, see what I mean? That's why I need to do this.

I'm going to need a loophole here. I cannot buy yarn, but this doesn't mean I can't be bought yarn by someone else.

I'm sensing stripes, lots of stripes.