On a Ysolda roll

Meet Poppy!



I'm not sure what to say about her since she turned out absolutely perfect. The pattern was a breeze to follow, I'm really happy with her, my first stuffed toy I've ever knit! I used Louet Gems sport weight, in crabapple, and champagne.



Her Mary Jane's are made by using duplicate stitch over the "shoe" to create the "skin."



Found a couple of buttons in jar for the bib part of her wee dress.



Had fun making the hair! Marianna loved giving her a trim. We used a dk weight in Loyal.



With her new pals, Lukey the little bear made by me many years ago, and Dorian, another handmade felt critter by Marianna.



And as our segue, Marianna is wearing her new Liesl whilst arranging Poppy's hair.



My third Liesl knit in Elsebeth Lavold's Angora blend in a soft chocolate brown. I knit the smallest size on a smaller needle than what's called for, kind of taking a gamble on the fit. I made a good guess, because it fits her AND she loves it! Bonus. Her new fall sweater.

Blobs of Summer

At the lake this summer, the kids were busy making cute felt crafts when they were taking a break from the sun.

A cheerful tree:



And a totally delicious looking cake. Nice whipped topping!



We thought the first tree needed a companion:



And threw in a whale for good measure:



And then the characters came along. First the girls:



Then a bunch more! Marianna, Christina and Mark were the makers of the crew, cutting, stuffing, and stitching carefully. A productive litte team.



Blobs enjoying their walk home from the lake.

Bulky knit on a hot day

Not sure why I tend to buy or knit something thick and chunky on the hottest day of the year. I remember, one sweltering August day years ago, wandering around an air conditioned Fabricland and leaving with metres of polar fleece, sweating profusely riding my bike home with my pannier full of thick Malden Mill.

I think I really like fall.

And who can pass up Rowan Purelife at 40% off?

So I found a fast knit project using seven balls (120 yards per) of bulky weight 100% British Sheep Breeds. I mostly love the fact it's wool from four different sheep, blended together, and undyed.



The pattern is SweaterBabe's Vine Lace Pattern Cardigan. I like lots of the elements in the design: wide collar, deep ribbed waist and of course the lace. I omitted the patch pockets and continued the vine lace down to the bottom instead.



I made a mistake fairly early on in the lace, in the upper right section, but oddly I didn't notice it until I was well into the ribbed waist. After dwelling on it for some time, I decided to embrace my humanity (I'm trying to take comfort in that) and plough on. I think if I place a cool pin, or a felted flower there, that will totally distract me from my error.



The pattern itself is fairly easy to follow,

I used vintage buttons I inherited from my aunt's old button collection. Three buttons were on a card (Eaton's) for 10 cents. Now I am ready for fall, on a 29 degree summer day.

Liesl

On a bit of a Ysolda Teague craze, I found delight and joy in Liesl. A feather and fan pattern, I adore the simplicity of it, as well as the lace effect, of course!

First I made a wool one using louet's Bonnie. Truthfully I was inspired by Sivia Harding's version using the same yarn, and had to copy her choice, only in blue (Sivia's is green-based). The colour changes are stunning.



Since I finished it in May when the weather was warming up, I thought I would make a cotton one for summer. This is filatura de crosa's aran weight Porto Cervo, a creamy white just right for summer days over a tank. Loving the dainty picot edges on the hem. Turns out Lila loved it too.... now it's hers!

dk yarn + easy sock pattern = bring it!

Waaaaaay back in February, I enjoyed a sale price of Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe at Urban Yarns. Since making my first pair of Coriolis Socks in this yarn, socks are my first thought when I see Kersti.

I love using this weight - that heel turn just shows up so soon!

So here are a couple of squishy, cosy pairs I made with it:

Cat Bordhi's Fountain Foxglove (made for Denise)



and the International Sock of Doom (made for me).



I'm rather pleased I still like, and am still using, purchases from much earlier this year. I'm also amused I pose my feet the same way despite these pictures being taken at different times.

Lace Neck Shawls

More lacey goodness.

Ishbel, another excellent charted lace project. Pictured is the small version, but Ysolda's pattern has a large laceweight version too. This purple beauty uses Indigo Moon's handdyed sock yarn "Bordeaux." Yum city.



Using up yarn leftover from socks, Pam Allen's Arrowhead Scarf pattern was a good simple one. The yarn is Duet from A Swell Yarn Shop, where the solid contrasting colour is typically used for the heel and toe (a brilliant idea, I love her colourways, this one is called Army Guy). I thought I could use it for the edging. I'm afraid the lace pattern is a bit lost in the colour changes of the main section, but I had knit too much to frog it back. I guess I could have, but this is a bonus project from an already completed project, why work too hard?

Liking the lace

My latest addiction is knitting lace. Nothing too fancy, but nonetheless, it's lace alright. It's fun!

On our recent travels I picked up a ball of Noro Silk Garden Sock, kind of an impulse buy at a yarn store I didn't expect to visit while in Bend, OR. I found Anne Carroll Gilmour's pattern for the Gaia Shoulder Hug on ravelry, an easy little knit (on 3.75 mm needles) using one ball of said yarn (Kureyon, actually, but the SG works fine too). I love the colourway, and the knit itself was easy and manageable in four days! There's an option in the pattern for a picot bind off using KBB (knit back backwards) which intrigued me very much, but I ran out of yarn so did a regular bind off instead. I guess I could have frogged back a couple of rows but I wanted to finish and block right away. I've worn it every day since finishing (all of two days), and am now planning to wear it to work. As a scarf in the front, or as a shawl held by a safety-pin style Celtic pin, this is a versatile little number.





This next shawl was another one-skein project, using Tofutsies, which I had originally intended for socks. However, another shawl seemed like a good idea so I found a pattern (Show your Colours, on ravelry) to suit the yarn. I thought this would be an easy knit on the road so I brought it with me for travelling on the interstates. Turned out that Hillflowers (several posts below) kept me captivated and motivated through the freeways so that was my road trip shawl after all. This one I finished when I came home. Knit on 3.25 mm needles, it took some time to knit about 450 yards, but the result is a lovely light and breezy summerweight shawl! Marianna is modelling:





On a lace roll now, I found a pretty pattern for a leaf lace scarf, Branching Out by Susan Lawrence. Perfect for my one skein of Manos silk blend, it knit up fast and was a pleasant experience knitting from a chart. Another accessory for fall.

Summer Garden

The Lake

Some things we've made:





These guys are Sam and Treeling

Hillflowers

Finished!



Back in May, I found a beautiful skein of Fleece Artist's Nyoni on sale at Urban Yarns. The colour is harvest gold, and it spoke to me from the shelf. I listened, then brought it home.



The pattern is Hillflowers by Anne Hanson. The pattern was easy to memorise once I got into the groove, which was one full 16 row repeat. To make the pretty scalloped edges on each short side, the pattern is worked one half at a time, then grafted in the centre. I worked 14 chart repeats for one side, as per patt, but I was a little short of yarn on the other side and made it only to 12. I guess I could have frogged back the one side to make an even 13 repeats on both sides, but I was ready to just graft at that point. When wearing a rectangular shawl, it's not usually always centred anyway.



I thought the tone-on-tone colour worked brilliantly in this wavy pattern.



I made the medium size ("petite wrap"), which called for 850 yards. I had 820 yards and used it up efficiently, with less than three yards leftover after grafting. It blocked out plenty big enough to 16" x 64". I'm thinking I got great value from this one. I love it!

My leftovers:



(I zoomed in, but I guess I didn't need to, I'm sure you get it)

State of projects

My sewing table is in disarray with lots of quilts to be finished and started.



My yarn stash is manageable (but does not include today's purchase).



My current knitting project (another shawl) is well underway, and my only WIP.





So I begin Poppy! This one's for Marianna.