FO: Purple Cabled Handwarmers

Hello Everybody,

Long time no blog, oops. This is a bit of an overdue post about my knitted handwarmers that I finished at the end of October. Yes, they did take me a whole year - but only because I forgot about them and they festered on the needles for many months. I think I've probably written about them before when they were a work in progress.

The pattern is called Midnight - with a twist! and is available as a free Ravelry download. It is fairly simple to follow. I went a bit wrong - I can't remember exactly what I did, possibly started the cabling a bit late (as in too far away from the thumbhole) but I did both the same so they look fine. I knitted them in this lovely merino cashmere DK from Artist's Palette Yarns that I randomly picked up at a show. It is a beautiful purple colour but ever so slightly variegated. They are really soft and cosy. My only complaint is the lack of "fingers" in this cold spell we're having - because I've misplaced my "fingered" gloves! At least my wrists are warm.

I'd really like to get some more of this yarn as I loved the colour and it feels so soft. Maybe I will knit a matching scarf.

My Baktus Scarf is getting a lot of use these last few weeks. It's been quite chilly and I like how you can wrap it around your neck several times to get really snug. You might remember that, when I first completed it, I was a little worried about the yarn being too scratchy for something that goes around your neck. Well, it's softened up nicely and the yarn has a bit of a spring in it so there's lots of warm cosy scarf to snuggle me warm. I'm quite tempted to make myself another one, but the first one took forever.

Thistle Girl x

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Shawl

Hello Everybody,

So, I thought it was time that I shared with you the saga of the Twinkle.

I bought a 100g skein of Easyknits Twinkle 4-ply in the Frozen Lake colour way (not available at the moment, sorry!) back at the end of October last year. Easyknits were selling their gorgeous wares at Fibre Flurry and I headed straight over to their stand to fondle. Cannock Crafties have a small obsession with Easyknits yarn, others in the group had already purchased Twinkle and I was already smitten. So, I went to the stand specifically for the Twinkle. I bought not one skein, but two. The first was the Frozen Lake and the other was the lace weight Twinkle in Charcoal.

Sorry, these are dodgy iPhone pics but I was so excited to get started I forgot to take photos!!!

The next day, I casted on a Multnomah shawl. I even blogged about it here. The shawl was easy enough, but slow going. I'm not really into concentrating and made mistakes left right and centre. Not awful mistakes, but just enough to annoy. To cut a long story short (and to the distress of my Crafties buddies), the shawl was ripped twice and re-knit (to the last 6 rows!!!) before finally being frogged. 

Here are some photos of the Multnomah, aka the Shawl of DOOM! 

It was nothing to do with the yarn or the pattern, it was just me. Or maybe the Twinkle really didn't want to be a Multnomah. I do want to complete a Multnomah, maybe in a different yarn and knit at home so there's no distractions.

Anyway, moving on. I needed a new project for my lovely Twinkle yarn. After trawling through Ravelry I decided to cast on the strangely named The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief, again a free Ravelry download. That was a couple of weeks ago and the shawl was easy to knit and progressed nicely. There were a few dodgy moments, but it all turned out ok in the end. The shawl is designed to be knit in DK and mine, unsurprisingly, has come out a little er... petite. I think it'll be fine to wrap round my neck in the winter for some extra warmth though. The good news is that it only weighed 32g, so I have plenty more Frozen Lake to play with.

Sorry, too many photos! The colour is really hard to capture, it's more turquoisey than in the photos. Now, what to do with the rest of my Frozen Lake?

Thistle Girl x

December Works In Progress

Hello Everybody,


I thought I'd fill you in a little on my December Works-in-Progress. 


The first item on the agenda are my hand warmers. They're being made using another Fibre Flurry purchase from Artist's Palette Yarns. It's called Merino Cashmere DK and is 80% super wash merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. It's really soft and I love the colour. The pattern is called Midnight - with a Twist! and again, I stole the idea of making these from a friend at Cannock Crafties craft group. They are relatively simple (as long as you're not nattering too much at craft group unlike me!) and have some pretty cables on the front. I haven't finished them yet, but I have done the left hand at least! I aim to have them finished pretty soon, so watch this space.

The next project I'm currently working on is a shawl called Multnomah. It's named after Multnomah county in Oregon, USA. You learn something new every day. I think the inspiration behind the name was to do with the colour way - it was originally in a variegated green, representing the vegetation of Multnomah county! Well, my Multnomah is not in green, more of a turquoisey-blue, so maybe I should think of another name. Maybe I should go for a British county, not sure many are turquoisey-blue though. The yarn was one of the main reasons that I wanted to go to Fibre Flurry, as I knew Easyknits would be there and I was desperate to get my hands on some glittery yarn. It's all about the glitter these days, don't you know, and we even drink it at craft group! I think it's for the best not to question where the glitter ends up. Anyway, there was lots of glittery yarn as it happens but my favourite was still the Easyknits Twinkle. I bought a skein in the Frozen Lake colour way (4-ply) (currently on sale!) and a lace weight one in another colour way. I hope it turns out ok, I haven't got very far with it yet. I thought it would be a good train project because (the first part, at least) requires little thought.

I just love how it sparkles in the light!

Thistle Girl x

Owl Hat

Hello Everybody,


Two posts in one day- wow it must be a Christmas miracle. Just wanted to tell you about a project that I'm actually quite happy with - a hat. Now, normally I have a bit of trouble with hats - getting the size and shape correct. I have had a few successes but a few failures also. One most noticeably last year when, inspired by a friend who was also making one, I decided to make a Phannie. Yes, you heard that correctly. I'll say it again, because it amuses me slightly. Phannie. Now, on Ravelry it states that over 900 people have made this so it's pretty popular. Some have turned out fab, others are er... interesting. Mine was in the 'interesting' category. I made it with some nice yarn, Freedom Spirit, in a purple/pink colour way but when I had finished it, it looked like well goodness knows what. I tried it on, and it looked even worse. I threw it across the room and then hid it. I haven't even been able to get it out to frog it. Unusually for me, I didn't even take a photo. I may traumatise you with one at some point though. Anyway, this is a very long winded way of saying that I wanted to make a hat. I wanted one that was the right size and shape and that (hopefully) no-one else on my train would be wearing. It seems everyone is wearing bear/panda/cat hats from high street chain stores, which are very cute but I wanted something different. 


So, after a bit of searching and hunting around Ravelry, I eventually settled on a hat design called Who?, which incorporates some cute cabled owls. The Ravelry page for the pattern is here (it's free!) and my Owl Hat project page is here.

I used yarn that I bought at Fibre Flurry 2011 but I can't really remember who I bought it from or what it is as it was in a bargain bin and unlabelled. I think it's an alpaca mix and approximately 4-ply, it's a hot pink vibrant colour. I use a 3.25 mm circular and after a few rows it was looking a little loose. As I was worried about going down a needle size (the pattern actually called for worsted weight and 4mm needles) as I thought the hat would be too small, I just held the yarn double which seemed to work quite well. 


The hat knitted up really quickly and only took me a couple of days. The cabled owls were really easy and stand out fairly well, although they would be more prominent in a bulkier yarn I should imagine. Although others had only put buttoned eyes on one or two owls, I thought this was the cutest bit so put them on all my owls. I also added a pompom for goo measure, although it was properly more trouble than it was worth!


Here is the finished result:

It's a slightly strange shape as it's stretched around a light! The first few rows of the ribbing are a bit looser as I didn't want to frog and start again so left them as single held yarn.

I think the buttons are pretty cute. They're quite tiny and in various shades of purple and pink with some polka dots. They're the Papermania capsules Mini Buttons and I think I mixed up a couple of packet colours. I bought them from Hobbycraft a while ago but you can get them from various places online - think they might be these ones.

So, what do you think? Has anyone else made one of these owl hats? If so, please show me. Also, I'd be interested to hear about other cute but fairly foolproof hats so I can build a collection and have a warm head all winter long. Apparently, there's also some matching hand warmers or mittens on Ravelry but I'm going to finish the pair of hand warmers that I've started first!

Thistle Girl x

Show and Tell Part One

Hello Everybody,

Well, it's certainly been a while since I last blogged hasn't it? Naughty. Winter is definitely settling in at Thistle House and we had a very frost this morning and even a few flakes of snow earlier in the week. My non-hardy plants such as my olive trees are all cluttering up my windowsills and other surfaces in the house. I'll be glad when it's warmer so they can go back outside, won't be for quite a while yet though. 

I've got a fair few things to show you, and I'll try and write as many posts as I can this week. I felt it was only right to show you the my completed (yes, you heard correctly) Baktus, as I've been working on it for nearly a year but kept on forgetting about it. As I said in a previous post, it's made with Araucania Ranco Multy, which is a little scratchy but I'm hoping it will soften up with use. It's a little tricky to photograph, as it's quite big, but I'm sure you get the gist. You can see it on my Ravelry page here. 

Anyway, that's it for now, I'm off to make my overdue Christmas Cards. Will post more later (hopefully).


Thistle Girl x

Work-in-Progress Wednesday #1

Hello Everybody,


Well, I promised myself that I'd participate in Work-in-Progress (WIP) Wednesdays as per the Tami's Amis Blog, so here goes!

I've got lots of unfinished 'in-progress' things on the go at the moment. I've been bit slow on the old knitting and crocheting of late, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully now it's getting colder and the nights are drawing in I'll feel more like doing yarny things. 


Anyway, the WIP that I would like to tell you about this week is my Baktus. This is a popular pattern on Ravelry, but I hadn't really heard of it until a friend at my knitting group was learning to knit and decided to make one. I thought this was the perfect, quick and easy project for my train journeys to and from work etc. However, several months later (I started 28th January!) I am not even halfway through. I thought posting about it on here might guilt-trip me into trying harder to complete it. Although it is very simple, I tend to talk a lot whilst knitting (actually, I talk a lot in general) and I keep on losing count on which row I am on. Yes, I know - I could write it down or use some sort of nifty device, but I simply cannot be bothered. So, the increases have happened on random rows, there are dropped stitches and purls (it's garter stitch). But, despite all this, I still quite like it.

Why do I like it? I think it's actually the yarn that I like. It's Araucania Ranco Multy in colour way number 302. I love the combination of blues and purples, my favourite colours. It's a 4-ply yarn, 75% wool and 25% nylon, which I bought in June 2010. I've been struggling to find the right project for it ever since. I tried to crochet a shawl with it, but it really didn't complement the dye pattern. I'm much happier with it being knitted up.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though! The pattern calls for you to knit up half increasing, then start to decrease. It's a 100g ball at there's 55g left so nearly halfway. I'm excited to start doing the decreases, wish me luck - maybe I'll be finished by the time the properly cold weather starts, maybe not.


Also on this WIP Wednesday I have taken my first peek at an old Singer sewing machine that was given to me by my great aunt, but I'll tell you more about that later in the week. Can't have too much excitement in one day! ;-)


Thistle Girl x