Ooh, pretty...

... or at least I think so.

I hope some other people think so too as these are some of the first jewelry pieces I will be listing on my Etsy shop.



Red glass lariat necklace.

Jasper drop earrings.

Black and white lampwork earrings.

Turquoise lampwork earrings.

Biwa pearl and seed bead necklace.

Lavender and pearl pin.

This next pin is not for sale, it's mine (all mine)...

Ocean green and silver pin.

So if you're ever looking for just the right pin to fasten a hand-knit, or a gift for a friend, please come and visit me on Etsy...

Yarn Fumes...

I was going throught the photos I had taken of my new silk socks when I came across this one and it brought to mind the phrase 'overcome by yarn fumes' - generally used when a knitter tries to excuse the purchase of more yarn.


Splat definitely looks like she's been overcome by the yarn fumes.


These are my leftovers socks knitted with the remains of some Regia Silk 6 ply that I used to knit a pair of socks for the Resident Radiologist. They are 52 stitches around, knitted on 3.75mm needles to my usual pattern.


And these are the RR's original pair. I knitted them as a stealth project last year when the RR was working away from home and gave them to him for Christmas. Since then, they've rarely been out of his work boots or out of the laundry basket for long enough for a photo!


They are also 52 stitches around to my usual pattern. The silk blend yarn is lovely and soft and warm and washes really well, but I don't think that I'd use it again for socks as it doesn't have the resilience of wool and stretches out of shape a bit during wearing.

Rose Red

This little beauty knit up just as quickly second time round and now fits like a dream.


The pattern is Rose Red by Ysolda Teague and the yarn is Orkney St Magnus DK - an angora / lambswool blend. The finished beret is easy to wear, it can be worn pulled to one side or to the back as a slouch.


I've not really been knitting much lately - just working a little on a pair of silk-blend socks for me with the left-overs from the Resident Radiologist's Christmas Socks. I really want to get on with another 'proper project' such as the Apres Surf Hoodie, for which I have the pattern and yarn, but the mojo just isn't there.


Even this most recent addition to the stash, the February Lorna's Laces sock club from Get Knitted in a colourway that I can't make out hasn't got the fingers twitching!

Instead, I've been working on bead and silverwork. I've decided that this is going to be the year when I take a load of my jewelry to a craft fair, but I've also been toying with the idea of Etsy... To this end, I've been trying to get really good photographs of my pieces using a light box at work. I'll try to put a selection up next post and you can all let me know what you think!

Spring has Sprung...

... and I sincerley hope that I've not jinxed Glasgow for the next month by typing that.

But really, the transformation in the last two weeks has been immense.

From this...

to this - and this is not a one off. The Resident Radiologist and I took a walk into the west-end yesterday along the Kelvin and there were crocuses out everywhere.

Down by the canal...


...from this - tracks made by foxes playing on the ice...



... to this - the neighbourhood heron making himself comfortable again.

And in the house, spring has been on its way for a while with potted bulbs brightening up the dining room and sitting room.


Hyacinth 'White Pearl'


Hyacinth 'Jan Bos'


Narcissus 'Tete a Tete'.

Back to square one...

The featureless blue expanse of Dad's birthday jumper is finished and blocked and awaiting Saturday to be tried on by it's new owner (so that I can heave a sigh of relief if it fits or get knitting again if it doesn't). As a reward for finishing (on time and with my sanity intact), I cast on for this little beauty. I've had the yarn in my stash since hogmanay, just waiting to get onto the needles.


Three evenings later, after several hours of angst that it was going to be too small, I was casting off and beginning to have a sneaking suspicion that the opposite may be true...


Oh yes - much too big. I'm carefully balancing it on my head in the photo above to stop it falling off!
The pattern is lovely and beautifully written and the finished item is wonderfully soft and warm, but not even two hours of watching TV with the beret balanced on my head could convince me that I would really wear it in this state. So (after a few photos) out came the ball winder and the yarn went back to the frog-pond... immediately... before I could convince myself that a light felting might render it the necessary two inches smaller (come on brain - this is 50% angora, even a light felting would render it suitable only for a doll's head).


Finally, after three evenings knitting and five minutes ripping, I was back to this... not so far really from my jumping-off point!


I've already cast on again - this time for the medium size which is a pattern repeat smaller.


Clearly nature was trying to cheer me up about life this morning - this was the beautiful weather on the walk to work - it just about makes me believe that spring is on the way again...

Posh Mittens

This project was inspired by a picture I saw in a magazine ages ago and ripped out as a reminder.
I think that the picture was in Scottish Field and I was struck by the wonderful colours and cosy look. The mittens in the advert were cashmere and cost nearly £50, to which my miserly Scottish heart responded - 'I bet I could knit them for a fraction of that'.


The photograph was good enough that I was able to pick out the stranded colourwork pattern and make a chart. I looked around for an appropriate yarn and immediately fell for the Artesano Alpaca 4 ply that Katherine had in stock at K1 yarns. My first swatch didn't work out at all well for the pattern so I held the yarn double and tried again - perfect.


The mitten pattern was entirely improvised with some ribbing and shaping on the arms for a snug fit and a gusseted thumb. The cuffs reach my elbows for warmth under 3/4 sleeve jumpers. I think that I used 3.75mm needles.


This was my first real go at stranded colourwork using more that two yarns and I'm pleased with how it turned out. If I knit these again, I might shorten the floats at the back by wrapping them with the working yarn. My gauge isn't quite that of the mittens in the advert so the pattern looks slightly different and my colours are all slightly more vivid so together look sharper, but on the whole I'm happy with them.

February Lady Sweater

I'm still knitting away on the jumper for my Dad's birthday (one sleeve and the body both up to the armhole divide and the other sleeve on it's way) but acres of blue ribbed fabric don't make for interesting blogging so here's (as they say on Blue Peter) one I made earlier...


This is the February Lady Sweater, designed by Pamela Wynne, adapted from a baby pattern by the immortal EZ.


I've knitted it in Fyberspates Blue-faced Leicester Aran in the Spring Greens colourway on 5.5mm needles. The colour is best represented in the first two photos here. This yarn is lovely and springy and I've been wearing this cardigan over a vest top and it's not at all itchy on the skin. I cast on for the third smallest size and knitted 20 repeats of the lace pattern in the body and 16 in the arms.


This was actually cast off several weeks ago, but I didn't get round to getting buttons for it for ages (due to varied car problems). I did try digging in my button box (which is not yet a thing of limitless possibility and more a work in progress) for something suitable and came up with the most beautiful and perfect ceramic buttons (above), but sadly I only had two and this pattern calls for three. Eventually I found the bronze-look ones that I used in John Lewis and I think that they work pretty well.


Finally, I borrowed a technique that I saw Lene Alve use a couple of weeks back and used smaller plain buttons (from the button box this time) on the back of the fabric to support the bigger buttons on the front. I like the finish this gives - it looks very professional!