January’s off to a good start

The Yarner February 11, 2014
[0] comments

I didn’t realize how busy I was until I checked my finished projects.

We started the year off in style with a knit-along of Jared Flood’s wonderful Juneberry pattern. I knit mine in the no less wonderful Madelinetosh Pashmina:

Charity knit of the month was a Tunisian crochet scarf:

Test knit another fantastic Dagmar Mora pattern – Deco Mitts:

And finally finished the prototype for a crochet design that had been confounding me for a long time. I give you ‘Zephyr’:

I still have to write up the pattern, but I’m super pleased with how it turned out.

Posted in Crochet, Design, Knitting | Tagged , , | Comments Off on January’s off to a good start

Rounding things off in December

The Yarner January 1, 2014
[0] comments

Well, Christmas knitting, obviously. Notably Hax0r mitts and Tiger sox:

I liked the Treads pattern so much that I decided to use it for glove covers for myself (slightly amended):

The yarn was handspun for me for my birthday!!! Thank you again, Natalie. It’s utterly fabulous.

Apart from that I did mostly charity knitting:

It’s the season, but I’d like to do a little more of it all year around. I’d have a bigger pile at the end and it wouldn’t end in stress. So that’s part of my resolution for 2014: Knit one charity item each month.

Posted in Crochet, Knitting | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Rounding things off in December

November Update

The Yarner December 2, 2013
[0] comments

Ravelry talk is often the reason I get interested in a pattern or other. So it’s probably no surprise that I absolutely had to knit a Quaker Yarn Stretcher, when Julianna started chatting about it in her group. Rather than using a color-changing yarn, I decided to use up a few odds and ends I had kicking around. Here’s the result:

I also test knit a great shawl pattern for Natalie Servant that I can’t talk about yet. Suffice it to say I enjoyed it enormously and looove the result. More when it’s actually published.

Oh, and I made another Juliana. This one is for my friend Joanne, who makes the most wonderful quilts, and who’s going to quilt a table runner for me. She doesn’t crochet, and I don’t sew. Ergo: swap. Tada!

Last, not least, I’m expecting a new nieflet in December. This means baby blankie. I give you the Winter Baby Wrap:

Posted in Knitting | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on November Update

Busy October

The Yarner November 6, 2013
[0] comments

I finished the medium and large Gradient prototypes, and the tests for all are in full swing.

Medium Gradient:

Large Gradient:

I also started a test for the text version of my Telegraph pattern,

and I’m hunting around for someone to make professional charts for me.

Things are looking really good this month.

Posted in Crochet, Design, Knitting | Tagged , | Comments Off on Busy October

September update

The Yarner October 2, 2013
[0] comments

As the garden year slows down, the fiber stuff picks up again.

I did a crochet test of a super cute pair of shorts by Vicky Chan. Check them out:

The pattern is up on ravelry, if you’d like to make some for yourself (click the pic).

 

Posted in Crochet | Tagged | Comments Off on September update

What happened in August?

The Yarner September 2, 2013
[0] comments

I don’t have any pictures for you, because *gasp* I didn’t finish anything.

First I managed to catch the summer flu bad enough that I didn’t have the brains to knit for nearly a week! I know, right?

Then, I’ve been working on two more sizes for the Gradient pattern, and ran out of yarn on the large one. Good thing my LYS still had that dye lot; I just have to go pick it up. In the meantime, I started the medium Gradient to tide me over.

I’ve also been playing with the idea of a lacy side-to-side jacket in crochet for a while now, but for the longest time couldn’t find the right stitch for it. I think I found one. I’ve been swatching with a lovely flower pattern that I really like. I’ve picked Fleece Artist Saldanha II in a deep midnight blue/black for the jacket and recently started a sleeve. It’s not very far along though, because I’ve been working on the Gradient shawls almost every night. Hoping to start testing very soon.

Posted in Crochet, Design, Knitting | Tagged , | Comments Off on What happened in August?

July

The Yarner August 2, 2013
[0] comments

I finally finished my felted bag, liner and all, and love it to pieces. It has all those nifty little pockets inside from an old pair of jeans turned inside-out. And the colours just make me happy:

I’ve also been working on a new pattern, and finished a first prototype. Meet Gradient:

Posted in Crochet, Design, Knitting | Tagged , | Comments Off on July

June Projects

The Yarner July 4, 2013
[0] comments

My big project in June was Jared Flood’s Rock Island. I’ve had the pattern for at least a year, but it took a knit-along at my LYS to finally get my butt in gear to make it. I picked a skein of Handmaiden Marrakesh in a lovely Amber that I’ve had in my stash for a long time. Wasn’t it just made for it?

In the crochet corner, I succumbed to my favourite sock pattern again and turned out another pair of Sideways Socks. I just can’t get enough of them:

Posted in Crochet, Knitting | Tagged , | Comments Off on June Projects

May update

The Yarner June 19, 2013
[1] comment

It’s been a crochet and spinning month. I finished my second pair of sideways socks:

And I finally found a pattern for my first (usable) skein of homespun. It wasn’t a lot of yardage, so needed a pattern that would stretch it a bit. The Artfully Simple Infinity Scarf by Tamara Kelly with its net pattern proved perfect for that:

And it’s still nicely warm and solid when looped:

In the spinning department, the wholly wonderful Natalie Servant had brought me back some Hedgehog Fibres fleece from Knitter’s Frolic in Toronto. Seen here in my cute little project bag made by Sarah:

I managed to spin up about half of it before life got in the way again, and I really love the way it came out:

Now to spin up the other half and forever ply the two. ;o)

Posted in Crochet, Spinning | Tagged , | 1 Comment

April Report

The Yarner May 8, 2013
[0] comments

I wasn’t super craftsy in April. Worked a bit on my Swain Sweater and started a new pair of Sideways Socks.

The one thing I finished was another Shanti shawl. This time I made it symmetric. It had intrigued me since I’d made the first one. Here it is in our recent May sunshine:

Oh, and last not least (I’m actually quite excited about this) I finally started Jared Flood’s Rock Island. This one’s going to take me a while, I guess.

Posted in Crochet, Knitting | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on April Report