Saltwater Purls

I really like Animals...

...I like them a lot
15 animals is what I've got.
I've 15 animals so friendly and tame
and I've given each one of them a special name
I've got a cat named Bob, and a dog named Bob
and fish called Bob and Bob....

Fifteen Animals by Sandra Boynton

Why yes that is another version of Bob this time the yarn is Noro Blosson, Cherry tree Hill Worsted Possum and Classic Elite Skye Tweed. Finlay loves the buttons, which if you can't make them out...they are a tractor and a trailer. The button band is my own addition to the pattern due to Finlays large German head. No he doesn't look like his parents, and we frequently get people stopping us in the street asking us where he gets his blond hair from...just as well he isn't adopted and he never left my sight in the hospital!

True story of motherhood

'Mama, mama....what's dis?'

Chubby fingers are pinching a tiny object. I crouch down and look closer. Instinctively I gasp as I see a bee's thorax bending and searching for purchase with its sting....

The Pattern: Bob by Kim Hargreaves in Rowan Babies
The Yarn: Jaegar Luxury Tweed dark blue and rust and a mystery hand dyed dk weight yarn.
Confession: My mother made this for Finlay. I was going to mail the wool to her in Britain but due to unforeseen circumstances she arrived in the US earlier than expected. I think she had fun with this pattern. Bob was the most useful vest last year...I wished for more.

Not a Drop in the sky!

Lame title but I can't think of anything witty with the name of this cardy (Drops Garnstudio have such boring names). I also had trouble getting the exposure right on the the photos as I was doing them by timer and the backgrounds were limited.

Pattern: Drops Garnstudio Cardigan knitted in lace pattern with Silke-Tweed (Free pattern)
Yarn: Jaegar Trinity in colour Sky
Words of Wisdom: So I did not used the recommended yarn, nor did I follow the pattern that closely. Namely I changed the neckline to a scooped one. I think if I did it again I would have brought the sleeve caps in more and made the neckline smaller. The lace pattern was fun though.

Sea to Sky Road

Finally an FO! My version of Road to Golden had been sitting aside waiting  for another ball of pale blue kid classic which could not be found locally. I didn't really wish to pay shipping for one ball so I waited until there was another yarn I wanted. Finally Webs had somehting I couldn't resist. Adrienne Vittadini Fiora....a yarn I've wanted for a long time but is thoroughly discontinued (more on that next week). So without further ado...drumroll....

Pattern: Road to Golden by Lisa Shroyer from Knitscene 2007
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic in Feather, Bear, Oats, Glacier, Hurricane and Smoke
Words of Wisdom: After learning about the importance of dark versus light colours, I restarted the project with different colours. I added an inch to the bottom non-patterned area and did one extra 1/2 pattern repeat at the top. I also made the arms larger than the pattern The Kid CLassic grew in length so my sleeves are a little long.

A little cardy completed

A while ago I subversively cleverly began a smocked cardigan similar to one in an anthropologie catalogue. Well with the help of my mum (well she wanted to know what knitted garments were lying in my dog pile and once I explained all I needed to do was the smocking on this cardigan which required some mental calmness I am lacking at present .... it was all I could do to stop her finishing it on the spot). So Here We Are...and FO at long last.

The Pattern: Loop-de-loop cardy (my own based on an Anthropology catalogue, a Rowan pattern called Earn and a Jo Sharp Fitted Cardigan from Knit 3).
The Yarn: RYC cashsoft 4ply in colourway Deep
Words of Wisdom: I would like the cardy to be an inch longer and a couple of inches narrower in the stocking stitch sections. The sleeves could either have been 3/4 length or shorter. Right now they sit on my elbows. Now I need a cute fitted dress...

Viktory in completing an Earth Element

Hubby gets to celebrate the arrival of Spring and warm weather.

The Pattern: Viktor from Rowan Magazine 40
The Yarn: Cascade 220 wool in colourway 9338 (a heathered green) and Rowan Tapestry in colourway 170 (country)
Words of Wisdom: I reversed the colours so the main colour was plain and the fairisle colour was the stripey Tapestry. I think this muted the business of the orignal sweater and it definitely reduced the cost. It also meant the pattern needed to be for a worsted wieght yarn rather than a DK so I adjusted the gauge accordingly. By complete accident the ending of pattern on the sleeves matched the ending of the pattern on the front and back. Hubby has been wearing this already and it looks very nice on  (I haven't had time for a photo shoot).

They always come in 3s

in fairy tales. 'The three billy goats gruff', 'three pigs build houses', 'three blind mice', 'the three ugly sisters'... no wait there were only two...anyway here is a third FO.

Pattern: Emily from Kim Hargreaves 'Heartfelt, the Dark House Collection'
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic in Crushed Velvet
Words of Wisdom: No modifications. I wish I had made the body longer. I love the Kid Classic....

Riding the Wave

Once upon a time a girl saw some very pretty purple yarn in a shop. The yarn was called Rowan Tapestry and it was expensive. The girl went home and looked through her collection of Rowan patterns trying to find an appropriate use for such pretty yarn. At last she found a pattern that only called for 5 skeins and that she could use her large collection of purple Rowan Kid Silk
Haze leftovers. However, the photo was dark and small and she could not tell the shape of the shrug. Fortunately Ravelry came to her rescue with pictures of the shrug made by other people and she could tell not only that it would work, but also how to improve the design.
The trials and tribulations of the girl were not over yet. Before she could enjoy the rewards of her new shrug she had to endure illogical pattern writing and subsequent froggings. She also had to suffer the loss of her KSH collection. As each leftover ball was consumed, she felt the pain of a thousand bandaids ripping off tiny arm hairs and she learnt that you can not hoard KSH and wear it at the same time. However, in the end  she rode off into the sunset on a white steed wearing an eye catching purple shrug and lived happily ever after.

The Pattern: Ombre by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Magazine 42
The Yarn: Rowan Tapestry and Kid Silk Haze
Words of Wisdom: I used KSH leftovers instead of wool cotton. I knit the front and back as one piece and kitchner stitched the two side together. I knit a slightly different ripple pattern with YO instead of increasing in the stitch (to make it a little lacier). I started the sleeves with 4 rows of garter stitch and I made the waist band longer. The buttons came from my grandmothers button collection.

Don't burst my bubble

Pattern: The bubble sweater by Norah Gaughan from Knitting Nature
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted merino in colourway Pearl Ten
Words of Wisdom: Modifications include no seams or picked up stitches. Instead I used provisional cast-ons to keep the stitches live. I even knit the sleeves in the round so that I could maintain a seam free sweater. I made the sleeves larger so they were not so tightly fitted as other examplesI have seen on ravelry.

A fyne example of fairisle

The Pattern: Fyne Tunic from Rowan Magazine #42
The Yarn: Rowanspun 4ply, YorkshireTweed 4ply and Harris Tweed 4ply
The Modifications: Lets see...the yarn is 4ply not dk (it is meant to be Rowan felted tweed). I knit  most of the body in the round, then changed to flat knitting at the arm holes. I made a round neckline rather than the original deep V-neck. The ribbing slits at the waist/hips are not meant to be buttoned together...but I though it would look better. I added a crochet edging to the slits. I added another colour to the caston and castoff edge. The vest is not as long as the pattern. You'll just have to wait to see me wearing it...because pears wearing vests are not very attractive. This was meant to be a stash buster...but I haven't dented my 4ply supply.