Projects in progress

As I haven’t finished anything recently I thought I’d have a bit of a show and tell on the projects that I’m currently working on.

First up is lacy scarf that I’m designing. I’ve adapted a free lace stitch pattern from Knitting Daily, adding a fourth repeat and simple lace and garter stitch borders. This is a great way to practice lace - there are loads of free stitch patterns out there and it’s much easier to adapt one of these to make it your own than it is to create one from scratch.

The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Lace, a blend of 70% baby alpaca, 25% silk and 5% cashmere from SoSusie Yarns. I’m reviewing the yarn so more on this later. Suffice to say it’s really quite beautiful.

I really like the way this scarf is shaping up. The stitch pattern has worked really well and the garter stitch borders look good. Scarf and pattern will soon be on sale.

I’m also making another cat blanket using the stitch pattern I discovered a few weeks ago. I’m improving the pattern as I go, for example I’ve realised that if I knit really loosely the stitch pattern doesn’t shrink. For this blanket I cast on 201 stitches because the stitches tightened up so much in the last one that it ended up 20cm shorter than it started out at. This time the blanket hasn’t shrunk so much.

I really need to get on with this blanket. Sam loved his and Poppy is jealous. I keep going into the spare room to find her on his blanket. Although on Monday morning they were sharing it. So sweet.

Finally I’m making Champs Elysees wristwarmers. This is a pattern from Knit on the Net. It was free when I got hold of it, but it seems they’re going to be charging for it now. I’m using Rowan Kidsilk Haze that came free with a magazine subscription. Just a single ball, I wasn’t sure what to use it for, so this pattern was perfect. I haven’t got far with this project. It’s a complicated lace pattern that requires total concentration - this is definitely not one for pub knitting, or even knitting in front of the TV. Kidsilk Haze isn't the easiest yarn to knit with either; in fact it's a bit like trying to knit with spider silk. But the cobwebby result is gorgeous. These are going to be a present for my niece.