Winter Woollies!

An enforced weekend on the couch was very productive! Finished is Haven, started and finished is my cable hat and a matching pair of cable fingerless mittens, the perfect wear for outdoor photographers in winter!




All undone by the arrival of some Jaggerspun DK for Lousa Harding's Sabine from Nouveau.

WHAT?!

My stash of knitting yarn and material has exploded! For the first time I have three projects on the needles at once (it was four!) and quite a few garments cut-out, but not sewn up yet! Yeeks!

But first the finished objects. Sloppy Joe by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Studio 12, quite my favourite at the moment!



And then my Habu scarf...I've been wondering what to do with these yarns which are so beautiful and yet so simple...a scarf seemed the most appropriate, however knitting it on 2mm needles took forever. The scarf measures 12cm by 250cm and is lovely under jackets where a bigger scarf would be too bulky.



On the needles and more than half finished is Haven by Kim Hargreaves from Heartfelt. The yarn, Karabella Margrite Bulky was on sale from kpixie.com.



A bit of a story with this, I ordered some more Margrite DK for Still by Kim Hargreaves (from Thrown Together), but they send the wrong yarn, some charcoal Margrite Bulky. When they re-shipped the original order I managed to include the green sale yarn as well! The charcoal is going to be made into a hat and some mittens!



For both Still and Ripple, also by Kim Hargreaves from Nectar, I'm pulling out two of my finished projects. For Still, the green V-neck jumper by Louisa Harding I knitted last year which is too short in the arms and the body, and Glint by Kim Hargreaves which is just too small really, and as it is made from my favourite yarn, Naturally ME, too good to waste.



Also on the needles, but much neglected at the moment in the rush to knit winter woollies is the Bow Cardigan by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Studio 12, also being knitted in Filatura Di Crosa Superior. It is a very boring knit, and something I will wear in the warmer months. I'll come back to it after I've knitted all my jumpers, scarves and hats I guess...



Also about to be cast on, and needing to be knitted to a deadline, are a couple of jumpers for a short film being made by an friend. Because she has no budget, she's bought disgusting acrylic yarn from Spotlight, but as I'm only knitting for a 10 year old girl, it shouldn't take too long. I have to knit a jumper which can unravel from the bottom and then one that is unravelled to a certain point. I thought I'd do a provisional cast on and knit the jumpers bottom up without the bottom bands and then knit the bottom band down to aid the unravelling. At least the colour is fabulous!



Also waiting to be cast on, but probably not until Spring is this beautiful Habu non-twist cotton boucle for Clemence from Louisa Harding's new book Nouveau.



I've also just ordered some Jaggerspun Wool Silk DK to knit another pattern from that book, Sabine. And there's a jacket from Thrown Together that I have to knit for Mum...

The sewing is more pressing as I'm close to running out of clothes! Here is my stash!



A jacket and a coat, a pair of lined wool pants, three woven shirts, a knit dress and three knit tops. Whew! Then I went to the new Tessuti shop in Flinders Lane run by friend Lisa and bought more! Madness!



Organic denim for jeans and a Marnie Skillings knit originally for knickers, but I think more for a top!

Time to knuckle down!

Shopping Bags

I've been madly crocheting shopping bags from my Habu Fique (which is ruining my hands and nails and I'm really happy to see the end of it). I've made five Anyone for oranges? Market bags by Sharon Maher





and one small Elisa's Nest Tote from the Purl Bee.



The trim for all the bags was some left over Jo Sharp DK Cotton. An excellent stash-busting exercise yielding some lovely Christmas presents! I'm going to knit another Elisa's Nest Tote in my left over bright orange Jaeger Aqua just for me.

Lots of parcels!

All my internet shopping has been delivered! First to arrive was these beautiful Habu textiles yarns, perhaps for Louisa Harding's Kitty (from Summer Classics).




Some more Habu for Norah Gaughan's Missing Piece Hobo Bag from Knit Knit.



Some Karabella Margrite for another Louisa Harding pattern, the fitted sweater in Modern Classics.



And finally my assortment of Japanese sewing patterns with some lovely projects which I'll get on to after I've worked out what the instructions are!



I finished my Ana hat and I love it! I changed the way it was finished off at the back a bit so that it looks more 'cloche' than 'bandana'.




But work progresses slowly on Michael's vest...

Stash

Oh, yes what a stash...

First of all some yarn I'd be happy to sell...two balls of Jaeger Aqua



...and four balls of RYC Bamboo soft, no they haven't been used, they're just their usual tatty selves...



...and finally two balls of Blue Sky Alpaca's Brushed Suri which makes me sneeze...



Let me know if you're interested in any of these and I'll quote you a price including postage from Melbourne Australia. We don't smoke and although we've both a cat and a dog, I keep my yarns well out of their way and well wrapped up from dust.

And now for the yarn waiting to be knitted into something gorgeous (I hope). First up, Jaggerspun Zephyr and Habu Textiles Wool Stainless which I'm going to make into a version of Kim Hargreaves' Tender from Nectar. I'll use the Habu for the ruffle around the body and cuffs to give them some volume.



also going to be made into Tender (oh, I love that pattern) is gorgeous yarn, Filatura di Crosa Superior. The whole cardigan is only going to weigh 100g without buttons!



Oh, and another Piper hat for Michael from Jo Sharp's Contemporary Knitting 1



And finally some Karabella Boise for two Juliet scarves from Louisa Harding's knitting little luxuries. I've already knitted one for Roxanne in Louisa Harding's Angora Pure, but that made me sneeze also. I'll make the flower brooch for the green scarf from my left over Kimono Riboon.



I've got several other patterns in my Ravelry queue...Louise Harding's fitted sweater from Modern Classics, one of which I just knitted for Cathy's birthday in the Brushed Suri, which I'd like to knit in Joseph Galler's Pashmina 1 Forest, but the cost, the cost; and Kitty from Louisa Harding's Summer Classics, perhaps in Farmhouse Yarns Bonnie's Bamboo Ivory or Terracotta and a long sleeved Marmee from the same book in Paton's Merino Deluxe. That should be enough to be going along with...