On the needles - weekend WIPs and wanderings

After my post on Friday stating my amazing knitting plans, I have spent a lot of the weekend relaxing and doing other things.

I did all of two rows on the Jaycee cardigan.The gap between the two markers is the entirety of the knitting I completed last week.

I think the back and forth of the cardigan for so many weeks meant that I wanted to work on something ANYTHING else. So that's exactly what I did.

I finished the ribbing on Will's Christmas hat while watching a new-to-me podcast called Sew Perfect Purls.

I then finished a DK weight hat I started back in April as I needed the needles for the cable part of Will's hat. I love the bright splashes of colour and self-striping colourwork of the yarn. This is Adriafil Knitcol DK in colour 72 Velazquez fancy. It's the second one I have made this year and I just made up the pattern as I went along.

It's been really satisfying to have a finished hat and to work on a few different projects.

The weather this weekend has been really changeable. Going from this

to this

And back again within five minutes which means a lot of time indoors making yummy food.

It was gloriously sunny for more than a few minutes on Sunday. I was really glad as it meant that all the local Remembrance ceremonies could go ahead without a downpour. This year was the first year I haven't been part of the ceremonial side of Remembrance for around nine years. After holding a minute's silence and reflecting on all those who have gone before us, I decided the best way to honour their sacrifice is to celebrate every moment we have been given because of it. Living in a military city, you are always aware of the commitment and hard work that soldiers and sailors give to this day. Thank you.

I took advantage of the sun to travel across the local ferry to visit a friend.

For some reason the rusty ferry chains glinting in the light caught my eye and I had to take a photo.

My friend lives a short drive from the city but far away enough that her main view from her flat is this:

It was wonderfully quiet. I don't think I noticed how much noise is around me where I live in the city until it was taken away. Perfect. 

How was your weekend? Have a wonderful week!

Charlotte and Harvey x

On my needles

It has been a busy week at work but now I am on day one of five days off! Knit time!

Today I am planning to work on the Jaycee cardigan for my Mum and a cable hat for my boyfriend from Interweave Knits Holiday 2016.

This has been my progress on the Jaycee for the past two weeks:

10.5 cm last week and 13.5 cm the week before. Getting there! The yarn is pleasant to work with as its 100% wool and isn't too slippy. It has good stitch definition as seen at the collar in a previous post (here). The yarn is Darnie by Studio Donegal.

Will's hat was cast on a week or two ago but not really touched since then. It looks more like a collar than a hat at the moment.

I'm using the same acrylic yarn I bought from Hobbycraft I used for the matching scarf. Its very soft and machine washable. Will is very knit-worthy but also isn't someone who would remember to handwash a knitted item. So anything that can be thrown in the washing machine is perfect. The finished hat will hopefully look like this:

Photo credit: Interweave Knit Holidays 2016

The Interweave magazine doesn't have written instructions, just a chart. This was ok for the scarf although that only required two repeats unlike the hat. I think this might require a bit of concentration!

These are two of my planned Christmas knits. I say planned... I might need to write a list.

WIP Update!

Happy Friday! Well done for making it to the end of the week. We have had beautifully sunny weather here in the UK with only a hint of coolness today which is unusual for this time of year. Not that I mind. The pure blue skies are a joy to wake up to although I've never been affected by grey skies. You can still tell the year is moving on as the sunset is getting steadily earlier and the cosiness of the indoors beckons. The floor of the local forest is covered in conkers and beautiful autumn leaves. I heard somewhere that moths don't like conkers so I put a few in my yarn stash just in case!

It's also the time of year for coughs and colds which has led to a few days off work. I headed home to my mums for chicken soup and TLC and am feeling much better. I always love the journey home, not just for the welcome waiting for me but also for the views along the way. The first train journey passes directly next to the sea with nothing to block the view.

So, onto knitting. First - a long awaited finished object! For some reason the photos outside made the yarn look more of a washed out grey than the actual navy blue of the scarf. Looking at my Ravelry photos, this scarf is a different colour in every single one. Started in December 2016, this scarf has languished at the bottom pf my project pile, guiltily pulled out every so often. With my drive to actually finish things, it's been stuffed in my bag and taken everywhere.

Ta da!

The pattern is from Interweave Winter 2016 and is available on their website. It's easy to follow and makes a squishy, warm scarf. I have started wearing it, oops.... It will make it's way to Will by Christmas I promise...

I have added another stripe to my knit version of the Moorland blanket.

I'm using a free pattern on Ravelry using a feather and fan motif. For the original crochet pattern and the knit one, I have attached both to my project page here.

I've made a lot of progress on Mum's Jaycee cardigan in Donegal Studio Darnie. (project page). I have started adding progress markers as they really help to highlight how much has been knit that week. This helps when doing endless knit and purl rows of the main body.

And finally a teeny tiny bit more on my Flax Light. Christmas presents are getting priority now though with two months to go!

That's it for this week. What have you been working on?

Have a lovely weekend, Charlotte and Harvey x

Stash, Mojo and Ongoing Projects

It's been a busy month or two with a new job, a move across the UK and settling into a new city. I've been at my new job for two and a half weeks now and I finally feel like I have a bit of time to sit down and chat you! While I was packing my things to move, I had to pack my yarn stash and it got me thinking how I can use all the balls, skeins and cakes I already own. I think everyone has their own idea of how a stash should look but having to move mine made me realize that I really want to start using up some of it to create lovely projects. While I was thinking about this, I came across a few blog posts that have inspired me to do just this. One blogger, Life and Yarn, is doing a weekly update on her project progress (link here). Nadia from the Cottage Notebook is doing a Frog or Finish knit-along which finishes soon on the 1st September (here). The Knit Girllls podcast is also doing a stash busting knit-along where you challenge yourself to knit however many metres by late August starting with 1000m or less to help finish projects.

As mentioned previously, the summer heat has affected my knitting mojo. That word always makes me think of Austin Powers - Oh no! I've lost my mojo! (Did you do the accent in your head? I know I did)  I started the Jaycee cardigan a few days ago as I want to finish it in time for my mum's birthday in mid-September. And it helped me re-discover my love of knitting in a big way. I have also been working on the never-ending boyfriend scarf which is nearly done! To keep this momentum going, I am going to follow Life and Yarns example and do a WIPs update post every week including goals for each month. So here it goes:

August Goals

1. Finish the boyfriend scarf
2. Start the Jaycee cardigan (due mid September)
3. Start the Floozee cardigan for the Truly Myrtle KAL (start date 17th August)

Finished Objects 2018

This year started slowly due to placements and final year exams but I have got 6 finished objects this year so far:
1. Tequila Sunrise Socks - January
2. Nepal Hat - 3rd March
3. Jodi Shawl - 22nd March
4. Flax Jumper - 17th April
5. Vanilla Stripy Socks - 30th May
6. Colourwork Hat - 15th June

Works in Progress (WIPs)

Crochet
Moorland blanket (Started December 2016)

Knitting
Bunny (July 2016)
Green socks (December 2016)
Boyfriend Scarf (December 2016)
Easy Cable Socks (February 2017)
Stephen West Speckle and Pop Shawl (October 2017)
Easy Lace Socks (January 2018)
Valentine Socks (February 2018)
Summer Flax Light (April 2018)
Nepal Hat 2 (April 2018)
Mum's Jaycee Cardigan (August 2018)
Boyfriend Socks (July 2018)

I think I need to start finishing some socks... Except for the Floozy cardigan Knit-along I'm going to try and avoid casting on anything else unless I finish a WIP. I hope I can avoid the temptation!

Have you got any languishing WIPs? How do you decide what you're going to knit next?

Charlotte and Harvey x

Monogaknits

I've been a bit quiet on here for the past week and its for two very good reasons. Firstly, it is so hot! I know that readers in far hotter countries than the UK will be laughing at that but it reached 32 degrees centigrade today and it's just too hot to knit. This was the view on my morning runs this week (I say that like I'm a running machine, it happened twice)

On my needles

Just the sleeves to go! My second baby Flax by Tin Can Knits.