happy easter {crochet}

Having recently taught myself to crochet, I am now loving it more and more.

Currently I am working on a Ripple blanket by Lucy from Attic 24. Here is a shot of my work in progress ~

And for Easter I have been working up these lovely Bunnies by the green dragonfly ~

Happy Easter everyone !

Featured designer {susan claudino}

I recently discovered some awesome patterns by Susan Claudino. She has a love of all things zombie and voodoo related !

I have knit up two pairs of her zombie viXen mitts ~

zombie viXen in Fresh From the Cauldron yarn

zombie viXen in Countess Ablaze yarn

And also her amazing little voodoo doll ~

Voodoo Baby in Fresh From the Cauldron yarn

I will definitely make more of both patterns ♥

Sock KAL progress {finished}

After finishing my first sock, I had to take a little break and finish up a pair of mittens for my sister-in-law, who is visiting us later this month.

But I was determined to finish the pair and not get into the *second sock syndrome* 😉

Here they are finished ~

Finished socks

They look great like this, but blocking certainly brings out the pattern and gives a finished look to your project. To block these socks I soaked them in warm water with a small amount of product (a freebie from Wollmeise) for around 20 minutes and then pressed them in a towel to remove excess water. I then used commercially made sock forms (mine are from KnitPicks) and allowed them to dry in a warm place overnight.

Here they are this morning ~

Blocked socks

I love them so much ♥

Sock KAL Progress {day 3}

Finished my first sock !!

First sock finished

We end with a kitchener bind off and I found this blog to be really helpful, with lots of photos and a good description of where your needles should go !

Onto the next one and then blocking 🙂

Sock KAL Progress {day 2}

Yesterday I managed to complete the heel and the gusset 🙂

I did have to frog back though to the start of the heel turn, as I had some confusion over the stitch positioning on each needle. This resulted in too few plain knit stitches on the sole. Having tried the sock on and scratched my head and re-read the pattern it all finally clicked !

Hopefully I will be able to finish the first sock this weekend.

NSSKAL Progress

Sock KAL Progress {day 1}

I found time for some knitting yesterday afternoon and cast on my first sock for the Next Step Sock KAL.

I used the Twisted German Cast On method, this is also known as the Old Norwegian method.  I like to use this cast on for socks and legwarmers because it’s very stretchy and the cast on will mirror the first row knitted.

Here is a photo of my WIP ~

Next Step Sock KAL Progess

My stitch markers are by Reni/Knit Girl in Idaho and you browse her awesome designs in her etsy shop

Hopefully I will have some more knitting time this afternoon and progress on to the heel turn 🙂

Meilenstein {milestone}

So I finally decided on a pattern and a yarn for the Next Step Sock KAL that is being organised by Sarah at CraftsfromtheCwtch.

I am going with the Gladys pattern by General Hogbuffer and teaming this up with some awesome Wollmeise yarn in colourway Meilenstein (WD skein)

Today I have cast on one sock (one sock at a time, top down) and completed the ribbing and Herringbone pattern.  I will update with photos tomorrow when there is some daylight !

The Next Step Sock KAL

 

Very excited to be starting this today and will update regularly with my progress 🙂

 

You Spin Me Right Round Baby !

Recently on Ravelry and Instagram I have spotted people producing gorgeous hand spun yarn.  So I decided to give it a go and see if it was something that I could love.  I ordered a kit from HillTop Cloud that included a basic drop spindle and a batt with some pink and sparkle in it ~

HilltopCloud Spinning Fiber

And I was able to spin up this gorgeous yarn ~

Sugar Plum

Now of course I had to find something awesome to knit with it ! And it was a coincidence that a lady I do some test knitting for on Ravelry approached me with her new pattern and we just knew that it had to have the handspun in it. Susan Ashcroft’s pattern is called Linen Weave and it’s currently being tested but should be available soon to purchase. Susan has also set up a group of Ravelry called Stitchnerds where we discuss and knit up all her awesome designs.

Here is my finished shawl SugarPlum Heartache, which was also knit with Lioness Arts DK ~

SugarPlum Heartache

So I didn’t stop there with the spinning ! I spun up some more fibre from HilltopCloud that included Wensleydale and Silk ~

All Things Nice

and knitted another shawl with it, also using Fresh From the Cauldron Worsted weight yarn ~

Mr Darcy

And I’m still spinning ! On my new gorgeous Walnut Drop Spindle from Sunset Turnings is some North Ronadsay roving. North Ronaldsay is a small, remote Scottish Island only 3 miles long where the sheep eat seaweed. This is also the island that my sister-in-law grew up on 🙂

North Ronadsay Roving

I’m really enjoying my spinning and plan to do more over the Autumn/Winter to keep my hands warm !

It’s a Summer full of Babies !!

A number of my friends and colleagues are having babies this Summer ! So this means lots of tiny knitting ~ cache-coeurs and booties have been on my needles.

Here are some examples of my recent baby knits 🙂

The lucky mum-to-be also got a shawl knitted in the same gorgeous yarn (Wollmeise 100% pure superwash merino ~ colourway fushia) ~