Mad Squishy Bear Hat

A finished object! And it almost knit itself, it appeared so quickly!

This is Mad's Hat by Jodi Brown from the Grocery Girls podcast. The gorgeous yarn is from Bear in Sheep's Clothing which I bought at Woollinn this year (post here).

The pattern called for two strands of 4 ply held together with one strand of mohair and I knit it in the Romance colourway. It has a cream/ rose underlying colour with speckles of deeper pink and green. The snippets of green on the hat really give it depth and makes it look like a hat from an expensive brand! The mohair is so squishy and soft and I have found myself automatically grabbing this hat every time I head out the door.

The pattern is really effective. It looks complicated but really isn't and it highlights the speckling of the yarn  well. I know some people don't like mohair as it's fluffy and can moult, however I haven't had that issue yet with this particular skein.

Pattern rating: 5/5 easy to read and understand, produces a nice finished piece. Rav link here.
Yarn rating: 5/5 lovely to work with, very silky, good price, big fan of the colourway and will definitely buy more from Bear in Sheep's clothing in the future. They are currently on a pause in their shop but the link for them is here.

ITS ARRIVED! This is the companion booklet for the Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2017. For those, like me, who can't make it to the festival this year it helps alleviate the big feeling of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Its called Wool Tribe and is filled with beautiful patterns from a host of familiar designers such as Renée Callahan and Clare Devine. The booklet patterns include two shawls, a cowl (on the cover), a hat and mittens, a pair of socks and a cushion. For £10, this is an absolute bargain! The patterns are above my skill level at the moment which gives me an incentive to keep learning new skills so I can try them out. 

My Moorland CAL blanket has reached a bit of a stand still. The colours are beautiful and I have really enjoyed it so far. I'm really looking forward to continuing it after I've finished a few of the projects sitting around my room.

One of these is the Spindrift Shawl by Helen Stuart of the Curious Handmade podcast. It was my first proper knitting project when I started to knit regularly last October using 4 ply yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners. I got halfway through the pattern and put it down. 

Its surprisingly difficult to photograph a shawl on circular needles! 

The next project in the 'need to finish' list is a scarf originally meant to be a Christmas present. Oops... Definitely a rookie error in planning Christmas presents... Its a simple but effective pattern from Handwoven Christmas edition. I got halfway through the pattern two days after Christmas and put it down. See a pattern emerging? 

So to stop halfway-itis I am going to have a rule of one project started for one project finished. The only exclusion for this is my Cosy Memory blanket! I've given into the trend and started the first square:

Its a little bit wonky as it hasn't been blocked but it was really easy to make. This is a 4ply yarn from Owl About Yarn, it didn't have a name. It was one of the mini skeins I received in my goody bag from the Great London Yarn Crawl. The second one from Owl About Yarn is this one:

It came with a cute owl stitch marker. The best bit is the pops of multicoloured streaks every so often. It would make a great pair of socks. 


January stitch count: 8000
Goal for February: 9000

Meanderings

Summer in England is a precarious thing. There is no guarantee of sunshine or nice weather and when there is, the parks are filled with us pale Brits baring as much skin as possible to try and rake in some vitamin D and that mythical thing - a sun tan. 

On the plus side it does mean we are immensely grateful for any sun we do get and also get to complain about the weather however it turns out, combining this nations two favourite past times - talking about the weather and having a little grumble. We love it!  

Personally, I have loved this summer. Its had the right mix of heat and cooler days enabling me to balance my indoor hobbies with my outdoor hobbies without feeling guilty about missing the sun. 

So what's been happening this week?

Well, I started my first ever knitting project:

So far I have a head and a body made. Two ears, two arms and two legs to go! This particular pattern even has 'easy' in the title which helped push me into actually trying a knitting pattern. Having never gone beyond a few rows of stocking stitch I thought it was time to take the plunge! So far this has been a really easy project as the pattern only uses knit, purl, kfb (knit into the front and back of a stitch) and k2tog (knit two together) and therefore is a gentle introduction into increases and decreases as well as pattern reading. I will post a photo once its done! For anyone interested, the pattern is from Let's Knit magazine, Issue 107 (July) and is Val Pierce's Easy Bunny. I've chosen slightly bolder colours than the original and as long as it doesn't look like Frankenstein's creation when its done, it will be coming to Cornwall with me to give to one of my little cousins. 

If you're a newbie knitter like myself, this is one to try.

I started making the crochet virus shawl, again great for beginner crocheters. However, I was called away halfway through a row and lost my place. So that has been frogged and will be started again once the bunny is finished. Its a great shawl to make as it looks really pretty and has a manageable pattern. Woolpedia.de have created some fantastic videos that take you through the shawl row by row in a really straightforward way. Just YouTube it or its also available on Ravelry. 

In an attempt to get rid of all the acrylic yarn that has somehow gradually appeared in my yarn stash, I have been experimenting with different techniques in rigid heddle loom weaving. Rigid heddle looms are very affordable and provide an easy way to try weaving without having to invest too much money. I currently have an 8 inch Ashford SampleIt loom, which is tiny but enables me to learn basic weaving without storage issues. If I could go back in time though, I think I would have bought a larger loom instead as the SampleIt loom is quite great to start with but is then limited in what you can make with it.  

                                          

As you can see the selvedges are a little wonky but I'm so happy I've learnt a few new techniques! The very top is a type of lace work, then I have Danish medallions, 2/2 twill with and without a line of plain weave between the rows and an attempt at pick up stick techniques on the bottom. Using pick up sticks was a little bit fiddly as I had to change them so often even for a simple pattern but I think the end result is worth it :)

                                

And finally, non craft related but I tried a new recipe this week - Thai prawn curry. Delicious! Preparation took about 15 minutes and cooking about the same. Easy to make and soooo tasty! You can find the recipe here. 

That's all for now! I will leave you with one more picture of Harvey enjoying the sun and his favourite drink.  

                                       

Have a great weekend! And feel free to share any of your current works in progress (WIPs), I would love to hear about them :)

Charlotte & Harvey x

P.S. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @parfitt_cm and Instagram @charlotte_and_harvey