Crochet Doily FO

I love the look of doily's. They are beautifully intricate, and with their round shape, that also remind me of mandalas. 

They were always traditionally made in plain white thread, so I've made one with a modern twist.

I've used bright green cotton thread for mine, and I think the results are amazing.

So, here it is!

At the start ... (I was having a nice cuppa while I worked on it)

And the finished piece ...

Whilst some of the doily patterns look a little overwhelmingly complex, they are actually relatively simple to do, with really striking results.

I might actually frame this one for the wall.

Tweaking a Pattern: My Vite Headband FO

I enjoyed knitting my Vite Cowl so much that I knew I wanted to make another, and when I started wearing it more as a headband than as a cowl, I began to hatch an ingenious plan!

I had just the right amount of Rainbow Chunky (BFL) handspun yarn for the project.

For the headband version, I decided that I wanted to take some of the width away from the cowl pattern so it was a little more suitable for head wear.

I am really pleased with the result (please excuse my early morning/before caffeine photo) ...

So if you would like to re-create this, you will need to download Kristi Johnson's free Vite Cowl pattern from Ravelry HERE.

Then you omit the last YO and K2tog on the odd rows, and omit the first P2 stitches on the even rows.

Carry on in the pattern in this way until your knitting is long enough to reach around your head.

Cast off and then seam both ends of your headband together.

And then wear your modified Vite Cowl on your head with pride :)

Happa Handspun and Handknit Hat FO

My trip to Unravel Fiber Festival earlier this year was very fruitful ... I came away from it with lots of goodies ... Well, it would have been rude not to!

One of these purchases was 100g of merino fiber from Skeins in the Pale Jungle colourway.

I was itching to spin it up and so this happened >>>

This was such an enjoyable spin, as these are some of my very favourite colours, plus of course being 100% merino ... Yum!

It all fit onto one bobbin, so I wound the singles on to a yarn winder to create a center-pull-ball.

And after the plying, I had a lovely squashy 2-ply yarn ready and waiting to be used.

I began looking through Ravelry or a suitable pattern for the correct yarn weight and meterage. I kept on thinking that I wanted to make a cowl, but then I asked for the advice of my Instagram friends, who instantly suggested that a hat would work well.

And so the 1 of 6 Hat KAL was born.

With very short notice, as this was all so spur of the moment, I simply couldn't wait any longer and cast on the Happa Hat within days of organising the KAL. There was no urgency or rush for others to follow suit, and they participated when they had the yarn and tools to hand.

And there it is ... the beginnings of my hat. I had learnt a new stitch too (I love an educational knit) ... the twisted 1x1 rib stitch, which I couldn't quite work out at first because I thought that my hat looked way too small for an adult head, but once I was further into the pattern I discovered (with great relief) that this rib stitch is uber-stretchy.

And on to the lace pattern, which is always so thrilling to see as it starts to take form. I just love the leaves effect of this design.

Being worsted weight yarn, it knitted up nice and quickly. In between a busy lifestyle it took a few evenings over the course of about two weeks to complete.

There's nothing quite like knitting with your very own handspun yarn. Truly satisfying to the MAX.

And here it is ... with some daytime FO photos :)

And a cheeky selfie of one happy spinner/knitter ...

Holden Shawlette Lace Knitting FO

A month or so ago I decided to embark on the Holden Shawlette from Ravelry.

Using my lovely green variegated Zitron XXL sock yarn, I cast on in earnest. After the initial head scratching of getting to grips with two 90 degree turns and picking up stitches, once I had my ah-ha moment, I was away.

And I was happy to see the shawl begin to take shape quickly at first, with the rows becoming longer and longer each time.

Before long I was ready to begin the main lace section of the shawl, and was a little apprehensive, so I added a life line just in case I had to rip any of the lace rows back.

My fears were unfounded as only a few rows later I could see the pattern forming correctly.

Staying up very late one night, I was excited that I only had the cast off to do and was highly motivated to finish the shawlette. Not having done the picot cast off before, I'd underestimated this section of the garment entirely. Not only did I have to log on to YouTube to get a more visual tutorial on the technique, but I then did the first several dozen too tightly and decided to start over. At about 1am I was seeing double and fit for my bed.

The following evening I continued the picot edging and finally fully cast off.

Well, what can I say? It was such a satisfying knit.

Here it is taking a first soak in the bath ;)

Being a relative newbie to blocking, I set to work straight away taking full advantage of using the warmth from the log burner to assist in the process.

Despite the poor lighting of the lounge late at night, I was too excited to miss out on taking a photo of my shawl in its full stretched out glory.

So here's the final TAH-DAH moment ... A very proud FO indeed.

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Joining in with these fabulous memes today. Please go along and have a look at all the lovely crafting people have been doing.

TAMI'S AMIS

NATURAL SUBURBIA