Cardigans for two new babies [Started 23rd September]

I know two people expecting bundles of joy in January so I'm knitting newborn cardigans for them from my POM for January 2023 Plain Jane. I'm using Emu Treasure [55% nylon /45% acrylic; 50g=163m/178yds] which I picked up as vintage stock from Ann Louise and Thistle Wool Shops at the Bourne Quilters show in the summer - it's actually a DK when the pattern calls for a 4ply but it's on fine needles and seems to make little substantial difference to the gauge with this type of yarn. The colours are Silver (509) and Scourie (004).

Weaving: "Waffle and Twill Towels" [Started 14th September]

My new class project for the new term is "Waffle and Twill Towels" - a pattern design by Sue Anne Sullivan purchased from Gist Yarns. The weaving width will be about 18 inches, and I plan to make 4 towels - 2 to be more or less as the design colour, and 2 using the same warp with a different weft - which will go totally off piste but might be very pretty. I am using Rainbow Cotton 8/4 from Hobii, [100% cotton; 50g=160m/175yds], in colours Dark Purple (037), Malachite Green (099), and Dusty Light Green (075), - which closely resemble the 3 original colours - and Pastel Purple (041), and Dusty Purple (068), for additional weft variations.

Birdie [Started 22nd August]

Another (more recent) Martin Storey design, which can be purchased separately or as part of the booklet Woodland. The Rowan Pebble Island yarn was on sale [100% wool; 50g=108m] and I love the pattern but in reality the colours are a bit too mellow and on the Autumn side for me. Unfortunately - although it's fair isle - it's a lofty worsted weight which is too thick for my trusty old machine to tension it for me so it will be hand knitting all the way.

Boatman [Started 26th June: :Completed 20th July]

I ran across this Martin Storey pattern on Ravelry and was so entranced by it I immediately determined to make it for Roman's birthday in October (thinking ahead!). I had to go to great lengths to obtain the pattern as the booklet was well out of print, but I was then startled to realise that the colours as designed were nothing like the ones I'd seen - however, I shamelessly copied the Raveller's version. I used vintage yarns: Patons Diploma Gold [55% wool / 25% acrylic / 20% nylon : 50g = 120m/131 yds] in colours brown (6189) and red (6151), plus literally a few grams of contrast acrylics in gold and beige.

Skipness [Started 30th June]

At last decided on how to use a sale impulse buy with another Martin Storey design.- now available free from various sources. My Rowan Cashmere Tweed [80% wool / 20% cashmere; 25g=88m/95yds] is in colour Cinder Rose, some purchased in John Lewis sale, and topped up for the project by Wool Warehouse.

Little flowers [Started 26th June: :Completed 23rd July]

To disguise moth holes!!.

Original sweater in fine merino - flowers in unbranded oddments of 4 ply.

Patterns: Crochet Flower with Open Loop Petals, Sweet Daisies Crochet Pattern, Flower Child Collection 2.

Sparkle Socks [Started 30th May]

I ran two more "Sock Blank" classes in May and June, so spent a good part of April and May creating 24 blanks in different fibre options, (yarn skeins and cones purchased through Rooster yarns). The "sparkle" yarn proved less popular than the others so I used it to dye a blank for myself - my "Aurora Borealis" colourway (!).

Fabric Origami Sudoku Panel [Started 16th February: :Completed 7th April]

This is the result of a workshop run for us by Jennie Rayment . She is an excellent tutor and I can't praise her abilities enough - at both teaching and pacing the workshop such that we all finished enough of our panels to be able to "finish off" at home. We all produced very different panels - several of us making them into cushion covers. Mine is just .... art.
Fat quarters purchased at Sew Creative in Petersfield.

Chunky "Lifestyle" Sweater [Started 4th February: :Completed 13th March]

I'm making this based on the POM Just add colour..., using a palette mimicking certain lifestyle brands' choices for the spring season. Let's hope I finish it before we roll into summer.
The yarn is Stylecraft Special Chunky [100% acrylic : 100g=144m] in colours Duck Egg (1820), Wisteria (1432), Midnight (1011), Saffron (1081), Spice (1711) - and Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Chunky [100% acrylic : 100g=137m] in Iced Pink (958) - all from Wool Warehouse. [100% acrylic : 100g=144m]

Weaving: "Ocean Waves" place mats [Started 18th January: :Completed 25th June]

Ocean Waves is a double weave wall hanging pattern by Christine Tsai, purchased from Gist Yarns. The weaving width will be about 16 inches, and I plan to separate it off into sections suitable for place mats. To that end, I am using a cotton yarn, Scheepjes Catona 4 ply, [100% cotton; 50g=125m], in colours Ginger Gold (383), Yellow Gold (208), Lemonade (403), Cornflower (511), Chrystaline (385), Midnight (527) - which closely mimic the original wool colours.

Striped Cardigan for a baby boy [Started 6th January: :Completed 3rd February]

A rather spontaneous decision to use up some yarn with a vintage design from a Sirdar leaflet. The original yarn is a Sirdar Baby Bamboo DK but I'm using a range of acrylics (stripes ideal to use up yarns), including the ever faithful Stylecraft DK, with Cygnet, and Big value [all 100% acrylic : 100g]

Recycled Boots [Started 30th November 2023]

These are very comfy leather boots originally from Next - I love them - but I never liked the quality of the (now somewhat dated) fashion-knit tops. The moths, however, did like them - and as I love them so much, I am replacing the tops - which is much more difficult than it appears; the knitting is fairly trivial, but the attachment involved stitching the leather and (a lot of) glue.
I'm using Jamieson's Spindrift [100% Shetland wool; 25g=105m] in colours: Admiral, Madder, Natural White, and Amber.

Fiona's Nordic Cardigan [Started 3rd November 2023: :Completed 5th August]

I'm making this from the POM Nordic Style Cardigan, for a friend who can no longer knit.
The yarn is Sirdar Country Classic DK [50% wool / 50% Acrylic; 50g=125m/137yds] purchased from Wool Warehouse in colours: Navy 852, Red 871, and White 850. [Note if you following the POM and are replacing Patons Fiona with this yarn, you need to alter the required amounts in proportion to the yardage - Patons Fiona had a very long yardage - 50g=176 yards]

Shell [Started 8th March 2023]

Another Lisa Richardson design that caught my eye, from Rowan Magazine 72. The yarn is Moordale [70% wool / 30% Alpaca; 100g=230m/251yds] in colours: Bronzed 006, Feather 001, Turmeric 003, Nutmeg 011, Pepper 002- and in a break with tradition I purchased the correct yarn. However the pattern is far more complex than I imagined being a mixture of fair isle and intarsia, plus they are not really "my" colours, so all in all, my enthusiasm is somewhat tempered.

"Surrey Thrift" Cardigan [Started 21st October 2022]

This is a "thrift" cardigan because I've had a pack of 10 balls of Patons Moorland (a brown tweed fleck) in my possession for about 40 years, waiting for the right project. Over that time there have been at least 2 attempts to make something from it, but it's a dense pure wool DK and fundamentally it's not enough for a sweater. However: enter Bellmans 1542 (an "unusual" vintage pattern) which seems to be perfect. I'm adding 2 contrasts in Rowan Felted Tweed DK, which is finer and lighter, but the tension works OK as the pattern uses slip stitches, and only comes into play on the sleeves.

Weaving: "Two Crabs" scarf [Started 28th August 2022]

This is another design from Janet Phillips' book Designing Woven Fabrics. I've always wanted to make this - mostly attracted by the pretentious title as it's based on a Picasso painting - but I am using laceweight wools rather than silk and my colour and texture variations are much simpler than Janet designed.
The warp is mainly Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace colour 520 Azure [55% Wool / 45% Silk: 100g=1000m]; the weft is mainly Fyberspates Gleem Lace colour 706 Sea Green [55% Wool / 45% Silk: 100g=800m] - both from Wool Warehouse. There are also highly coloured narrow stripes of other colours in both warp and weft, which are from an 800m skein of Laughing Hens Undyed 2 Ply Merino/Silk Lace which I hand-dyed.

Flamingo [Started 8th August 2021]

I was seduced by an email from Laughing Hens exhorting me to buy the booklet Rico Ricorumi It Must Be Love. It's full of cute crochet sweet nothings based on the theme of "luuurve".
However the one that I love is the flamingo. She's knitted in Rico Ricorumi cotton yarn supplied in small reasonably priced balls, making it practical to make these small items using a number of different colours, [100% cotton; 25g=57m (62yds)].

Hooked Sheep [Started 2nd January 2021]

Weaving: Cotton Towels [Started 23rd March 2019]

I was inspired to try this project by the newsletters from Gist Yarn and Fiber. I would have bought their cotton but the shipping cost from the US meant I needed to be more cost-conscious for a simple rigid heddle project to do in the evenings. I settled on a real budget option which was impossibly low cost and astonishingly fast delivery despite shipping from Hobii in Copenhagen.

Little Bottles Quilt [Restarted 9th February 2019]

This is a patchwork quilt I started to make in about 2003 and in truth had done most of the hard work in appliqué. I was undecided as to what technique to use for the striped "curtains" - but have set off now with renewed vigour and decisiveness.
The design is Little Bottles by Kaffe Fassett from the fourth Westminster Quilting book (usually available from eBay).

Bella Blouse [Started 9th June 2011]

This is the Bella Blouse by Norah Gaughan from the Knitting Daily Pattern Library. I am using a few balls of Rowan Damask - a yarn I love but now discontinued - for the contrast and I found an ecru cotton blend (Patons Washed Haze) which tones with it quite well for the main shade. As my supply of Damask is limited I am omitting the contrast band at the bottom of the sweater.

Two [Started 22nd August 2010]

This is Two - not another cardigan! But it is, like Puzzle, from Queen of Hearts - in fact, the cover design. The yarn is Patons Misty [25g; 150m], 70% mohair, 30% polyamide. It knits to a double knitting tension of about 22sts to 4 inches, but I am knitting it much looser on 6mm needles. I chose this yarn also at Ally Pally in 2009; being a dress I thought it would take for ever but it seems to be knitting up very quickly so I have every expectation of finishing it soon...