My Current Fave Hexipuff

I took five little balls of yarn with me to Craig's this weekend, and at this moment I have added 10 hexipuffs to the collection. This puts me at a total of 33 so far.

So I decided to play around with yarn colour combinations which is where this love striped 'puff came from.

White is always a good base, but the little blue and pink stripes work so well together. The jewel tones always look special, don't they?

I'm now thinking of other ways to have fun with patterns, I've seen some hexipuff charts which I may have a go at a couple of them. I've seen slip stitch patterns in magazines, so I could have fun with those.

Looking ahead to the New Year

I have a few projects planned for the New Year, and I'm going to give myself a deadline for each one of the major ones.

First I shall the chunky hoody for Craig's birthday, which is at the start of February...I have 1 month in other words.

Then I shall have knitted the Dog jumper I have ready and planned for myself.

Once that has been completed I shall move onto a cabled jumper which has been chosen for my fiance's Christmas present. This sound's extreme but this pattern is knit on tiny needles, thus needs the majority of the Summer to complete.

In the meantime I shall be knitting smaller projects, like a wizard and the bee keeper's quilt.
I shall be giving a hexipuff count at the end of each new blog post.

I also intend on starting socks, given that I have ample supply of 4ply yarn now.



Current Hexipuff Count (CHC)

Solid: 7
Striped: 15
Total: 22/384
Remaining: 362

Wish me luck.

Carrie Bradshaw's Jumper

A.K.A The Carrie Files #22

In conjunction with Owlie Sound.



This is such a fab jumper. I can't remember which episode it's from though, but I shall be re-watching the seasons soon! I need not tell you that I love knitwear, isn't it fab? The jumper Carrie is wearing appears to be a garter/reverse stocking stitch knit with a fab k2, p2 rib.

This is a similar jumper to a raglan I knit at the start of the year, probably don't need to tell you that Sarah Jessica Parker is a knitter either.



1. New Look £24.99

2. Matalan £18

3. Asos £30

4. Next £35

5. Topshop £42


1. I like the colours, the neck and the variated stripes but you'd really need a long sleeved top on underneath.

2. Nice natural tones stripes, in a nice chunky yarn by looks of it, what more could you ask for.

3. The effect of the yarn is wonderful, I love colour change yarns for this reason. It's ribbed throughout and really focuses on the one stripe on Carrie's jumper, hence it being included.

4. Be still my beating heart! How wonderful is this jumper? I think the blue really complements the rust tones and there isn't too much meaning it doesn't take over. The self striping yarn really works for this.

5. Trust Topshop to have a really similar jumper in colour, but it's not over the top colour and it works, I believe that these tones would suit anyone.

Jumpers and skinny jeans tucked into knee high boots is one great way to wear these jumpers, and given that knee high riding style boots are everywhere right now you really cant go wrong with this look.

Christmas Stocking

I started this yesterday afternoon whilst watching It's a Wonderful Life with my mom. The pattern is from issue 1 of Knit Now magazine and it's a chunky/bulky weight yarn.

I knit this for my fiance, and I'm going to fill it with chocolate and he can have it at Christmas.

I am knitting other things and I'm really bad at this blog, so I'm sorry.

Knit Now Magazine

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know about this new magazine.



Knit Now has hit shelves today, and what a fantastic first issue it is!

First off, let's look at the cover. It's full, but not crowded, nothing is fighting for your attention and it has a complementary colour scheme. The photographs are wonderful and clear, plus you can easily tell what they patterns are.

The magazine itself is wonderfully laid out. Nothing seems crammed in. After the 'info pages' we're treated to a Debbie Bliss interview straight away. Again these pages are wonderfully laid out, the writing is clear, the font is just the right size so that I don't have to put my glasses on. As it's black text on a white background it's wonderfully clear.

Onto the patterns now. I've established that the text is clear, but what about the charts? Well, they're as clear as a blue sky. Big enough to see, and the Key is clear too. I've gotten very confused in the past when this wasn't made clear. The patterns themselves are easy to follow and as simplistic as possible.

It's nice to see that they've estimated the time and cost of making the project. It gives knitters a chance to see if it's worth the cost, or looking for an alternative yarn. I can't say how many times I've nearly had a heart attack at the cost of the suggested yarns to make a product, for example: £160 for a man's jumper, are you kidding me?

I really enjoyed the Inspiration page, I felt that was a nice touch.

I've seen thing I adore on the Wish List double page too.

The hints and tips at the bottom of nearly every page are useful and not condescending, and showing you the basics clearly.

I'll talk about the freebies, you get a 4.5mm circular needle and a Beginner's Guide to Knitting booklet. The booklet is practically magazine sized and laid out wonderfully. I wish I'd had this when I started knitting as DPN's wouldn't have seemed so scary. There's patterns in it too, so you can try out your new methods. Actually, I think this is a good booklet for refreshing your memory too, I haven't used DPN's in a while and there's a great sock tutorial in there. The back page has a useful Abbreviations list, but also has a U.S translation for terms. It's beautifully designed too, the pages have a wonderful border pattern, which makes it seem purchase worthy in it's own right.

I can honestly say that I've never wanted to knit everything in a knitting magazine before. Non of the patterns seem frumpy or down right ridiculous.

Thank you Knit Now Magazine for a fab first issue!

Knit Now costs £4.99

16/10/2011

Hello!

Just thought I'd do a quick update, so here it is.

I'm working on a Goblin doll for my brother, I may have mentioned this before, I took a photo of it at a basic stage, but we have progressed since it was taken. I kind of felt like a mad scientist when sewing his leg onto his body.
My brother asked for him, and he's given me a nice looking design, though there are no patterns for goblins on the net! I'm serious, I spent a good couple of hours looking. So I'm adapting a pattern and making in up, so I may have to publish it myself.
So, here is a very basic Spikey Norman.



Also, my Mom bought me these super cute stitch markers for when I'm knitting socks! I love them, look how cute they are.



I'm working on the Mrs Christmas doll pattern by Alan Dart from the latest issue of Simply Knitting. She's looking great! It was the first time I'd done hair on a doll, or used a cardboard base.
I only need to knit the plate, pudding, thumbs and feet then embroider her face and she's done. Though I am wondering if I should do the boots because I like her with the long skirt.

Still knitting the mother in law project, and I might just start a pair of socks over Christmas.

But I have a scarf, hoodie and jumper to knit.

The jumper is from the Dalesmen book from Rowan, really intricate cables. The hoody will be quick because it's a chunky yarn/needle combo (hopefully) and the scarf is braided.

Well that's all for now, speak soon!

Round up

Hiya!

We're in the run up to Christmas now,I've got my shopping out of the way so I can concentrate on my knitting. I have various projects lines up to finish and start!

Hell,Craig has shocked me by wanting something with intarsia and cables! I never thought I'd see the day. So hopefully this isn't a fad.

I have to knit a goblin for my brother, of all the things he'd want, he was going to get a Boba Fett phone case but now he has a different phone to me so at least it wont have to be a guesstimate project. Of this, I have at least knitted the head, so now I have to figure out the face.

Also, I've just read an interview with Jared Flood and thought "Oh, his designs are really cool." Then I was sorting through the patterns I've downloaded and amassed for a while, I discovered a Jared Flood pattern! I have a new yarn crush.

That's all I can think of right now. Ciao.