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

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.

Woollinn Stash

Where has the month gone?! I've been busy clearing more things for my move, completing my last hospital placement and getting back into exercise in this sunny weather. In amongst all this busy-ness, I realised I haven't shown you all my yarny purchases from Woollinn!

Just a note: all the yarn was photographed on an unexpectedly grey day, so apologies for slightly muted colours.

1. Bear in Sheep's Clothing 

This was actually my last purchase. I had put both these skeins back on the booth and walked away, smug in being so self controlled. And then returned twenty minutes later hoping they would still be there! Self-control.... Yeah.... I have never used mohair before and it is so soft and smooshy. This is Bear Luxury Halo, 72% mohair and 28% silk in the colourway Romance. The sock yarn is Bear Sturdy, 100% superwash Blue Faced Leicester in the same colourway. After watching a Grocery Girls episode before leaving for Dublin, I really wanted to try knitting one of Jodi's hat designs which uses doubled sock yarn held with mohair to make a really soft and warm hat. Her pattern is here. Bear in Sheep's online shop here.

2. The Fibre Co. from Emily Foulds

The photo above doesn't do justice to the vibrancy of these yarns. The left skein is a deep forest green, the right is a brighter... Hold on a second, I'll get another photo....

That's better! I think the yellow overwhelms the camera which in turn mutes the other two colours but this is a lot closer to the real skeins. These are Cumbria fingering from the Fibre Co. (from left to right) in dark green - Grizedale Forest, yellow - Buttermere and teal - Yew Tree. The colours are inspired by the lakes and valleys of Cumbria and the yarn feels soft but sturdy. I bought this yarn from the Emily Fould stall which is a yarn shop based in the north of England near Lancashire (Link here). With my purchase, I received a free pattern for the Fell Garth Tamdou shawl by Melanie Berg. There were two samples knit in very different colours which swayed me to buy the kit. The two women on the stall were very helpful and patient when I couldn't decide on three colours for the shawl. They took the time to suggest different pairings and despite having a busy stall, made no attempt to rush me. I truly appreciated that and would recommend stopping by their shop if you're ever in the area as I know you will get great customer service and also a friendly welcome.

This is the shawl pattern:

I'm looking forward to casting it on once I've reduced my WIP pile!

3. Dublin Dye

This is 4ply Swing Sock in the colourway Polar Express. Out of all my purchases, this is the only one I don't have a plan for. The colourway goes through a whole spectrum of blues and hints of purple. The subtlety of the different shades is lovely and I don't feel socks would do it justice. One to ponder on.... Link to Dublin Dye here.

4. Babbles Yarns

This yarn was a pleasure to buy for two different reasons. Firstly sock yarn with cotton is something I want to trial for hotter weather and secondly I got to meet Grace! Grace is the dyer and podcaster behind Babbles Yarns. She has a great podcast and is bubbly and full of energy. She is also so friendly and it was a pleasure to meet her in real life and not just through YouTube.

Fan pic! Can't wait for some neon yellow socks this summer. Grace's shop can be found here and her podcast here. I would definitely recommend giving it a listen.

5. Studio Donegal from This is Knit

This is Studio Donegal Darnie 4ply in the colourway 13023 or mustard as I've been calling it. This is a special purchase which you'll know if you read my original Woollinn post (here). My non-knitting Mum likes to use sample knits like a clothes shop and on this occasion, she fell in love with the sample cardigan at the This is Knit stall.

This is the Jaycee cardigan by Isabell Kraemer which can be found on Ravelry (here). This is the first project I will actually do a swatch for instead of winging it as it's for someone else and needs to match the original pattern sizes. The pattern involves a button band and a few other new to me techniques and I'm looking forward to the challenge.


Have a great week everyone x

Woollinn Dublin

I have a small announcement:

Unravel 2018 Stash Enhancement

Stash enhancement! A magical phrase for any knitter. Occasionally combined with a hint of guilt, naughty pleasure and always happiness.

Unravel 2018

Edit: I thought this had been posted a week after Unravel so apologies for the delay! I blame my revision brain.

Now that the yarn fumes have faded a bit I thought I would mention my recent trip to Unravel in Farnham. What a great day! Farnham is in Surrey which is the opposite side of London to Hertfordshire where I live and takes around two hours to get there. So I hopped on a train around 9 and made my way down there. It was only three stops down that I realised I forgot my train knitting - oh no! Luckily I had updated my podcast app and instead listened to some great podcasters on the way. I would definitely recommend the Pom Pom Quarterly podcast from the magazine of the same name, Curious Handmade with Helen Stuart and The Knit Girllls. 

After a lovely coffee on the train I arrived at Farnham! To get to Unravel, the quickest route was through a local park and it was a rare day which almost felt like spring (if only we knew about the imminent snow!). There was a little stream to walk over:

Organised Knitting

I was going to start writing a post reviewing the first three quarters of the year and realized there's only two months left! I also realized that I haven't really been keeping track of everything I've been knitting and trying this year. Cue a really handy email from Space Cadet! Space Cadet is an Indie dyer based in America whose newsletter I enjoy reading every week. I haven't bought any yarn from her yet as postage from America makes the price way out of my budget. However, I hope I'll be able to in the future as she has some really interesting colourways. 

In the meantime, Stephanie from Space Cadet has produced a great template to organise your projects. I'm a tad old fashioned as I love notebooks and I know I'm not alone in this. Just look at any creative person or the hashtag 'bulletjournal' and you'll realize how much everyone still loves paper and pen. I don't think technology will ever replace this fully. There's something magical about the smell of a new notebook and of course a multitude of colourful pens. 

Stephanie's template is designed to be printed for both A5 and Traveller notebook sized notebooks. I have a pile of notebooks waiting to be used and I chose this lovely one for all my knitting adventures:

Then I printed and filled in my first ever project notes! I chose my baby flax jumper to write up as its the freshest in my mind. 

Note the lack of swatch.... These may happen one day! It contains sections for pattern details, needles although I need to add the sizes and a modifications section which I really like.

The template is available when you sign up to Space Cadet's newsletter which I would definitely recommend! It includes not just yarn updates but also links to interesting articles. I'm now wondering if I can do something similar for my weaving and sewing projects as well. Just a note - please don't copy these images and use them! Time has clearly gone into designing this and if you could show some love for Stephanie by signing up that would be awesome. 

Do you write up your projects? Are you more techy or paper based?

Early Christmas

It's arrived! Already! I only ordered this yesterday morning during my commute into London and it was waiting for me when I got home this afternoon. 

Ahhhh!! So pretty! According to a comment on my Instagram post, West Yorkshire Spinners have already sold out and The Loveliest Yarn Company only had two balls left so if you would like one you'll have to be quick! 

As always the yarn came with a little treat - stitch markers and a handwritten message. It really makes the parcel extra special.

I also received the Winwick Mum sock pattern as well so can't decide - socks or cowl?

Sweet Shop Candy Cane Yarn

Have you seen the latest yarn offering from West Yorkshire Spinners? Its a candy cane striped yarn in time for Christmas this year and I love it!

Photo from: www.theloveliestyarncompany.co.uk

Christine from Winwick Mum has designed a sock pattern that I believe comes free with every ball sold (her sock post here). I'm tempted to knit these especially with the contrasting cuffs, heels and toes. I agree with Christine that they remind me of Will Ferrell in Elf!

Photo from: West Yorkshire Spinners. Socks by Winwick Mum

However I'm also tempted to use it to make a Sockhead Cowl by Kelly McClure (Ravelry link) so I can pretend I'm wearing candy canes around my neck. Delicious! Although I hope it won't make me too hungry for sweets every time I look at it. 

I'm going to be ordering mine from www.theloveliestyarncompany.co.uk not because I'm affiliated or anything but because I love their Instagram and the sweet messages they add to every order. It's these extra touches that mean I will always check their website first before searching elsewhere.

In case you're interested the matching green yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Chocolate Lime and the red is Cayenne Pepper. Yum!

Will keep you posted on what I decide to make. Although I still need to rustle up some pumpkins first! (And the rest of my Christmas gift knitting but shhh). 

Charlotte and Harvey x

Stash enhancement

If you're not interested in stash enhancement, look away now!

I've had two rounds of stash this month. First was from the Great London Yarn Crawl and second was my subscription goody from Knit Now. 
Knit Now gave me two Caron Cakes for signing up for their 6 month subscription:

These two cakes are 350m aran weight of yarn, 20% wool and 80% acrylic. On the left is Funfetti and on the right is Rainbow Sprinkles. I had no idea what to make from these at first! The ball band suggests a scarf.... Yeah no... Does anyone enjoy knitting scarves? Instead there's just enough in each one to make a Flax jumper by Tin Can Knits for the 1-2 year size which will be perfect for my two little cousins. Sorted -  pictures in the near future.

I had a great time at the London Yarn Crawl this year! I bought something from three of the four shops on my route.

From Sharp Works:

I love the soft pastels in this DK weight yarn from lilac to sherbet orange to mint green. I was again thinking of the little people in my family and making mittens. Still undecided though. 

I walked past this a few times. It was in a bowl with a range of dark metallics that shone softly in the light. I was expecting a scratchy yarn but its incredibly soft as its made partly with merino. No idea what to do with this - any suggestions? Its only 50g worth so it might be a good accent to a project.

From Loop:

Some more pastels! These are aran weight and next to them were a lovely mitten pattern (yep mittens again!) by Rachel Atkinson  - Ravelry link here. 

From I Knit:

The colours in the photos don't really match real life. Its a lot brighter and louder for both cakes of yarn and is truly eye-catching. I'm thinking a shawl with both colours for some brightness during winter. Any suggestions would be great. Perhaps the pattern - Girl from the Grocery Store by Joji Locatelli? TBC.

I didn't buy anything from the Handweavers Studio but I have booked a beginners spinning class there in November which I'm really looking forward to! I've tried a drop spindle a few times but would love to try a proper wheel. 

That's all this month! Now to start using some of my stash - any pattern ideas?