Wednesday, March 28, 2018

WIP Wednesday - Week 13

Not one, but TWO finished objects this time! Mostly because I never got around to posting last week :-P
After finishing Morfar's cardigan I decided to take a bit of a break before returning to Peter's cardigan, and finished my Exploration Station shawl. I love the way it turned out! It's huge, the colours are so amazingly vibrant and I just love wearing it. It'll be perfect come summer when I just need something light to wear instead of a jacket (and in winter when I need something to wrap around me indoors!)





I've also finally finished the knitting on Peter's cardigan. All ends are woven in and it's been blocked, but I still need to buy and sew in buttons before I can hand it off to him.

Miriam asked if I'd make her this hedgehog. I thought it absolutely adorable, so of course said yes! I've finished the head, the body and the ears and Miriam came by last night to pick out the yarn for the hair. so it's going well.

And finally - after more than half a year in hibernation - I decided to FINALLY continue work on My Favourite Things cowl. I'd forgotten how incredibly satisfying it is to work on this cowl - it's so potato-chippy to see the patterns emerge, and though I'm not entirely happy with all my colour choices, as a whole, it works so well and looks absolutely amazing... if I get to say so myself :-D My only problem at this point is that I have FAR too many patterns I want to incorporate and far too little space left! I may have to make another once this one is done, because though time-consuming, this is probably one of my favourite knits yet.

Latest additions up close

Full length shot

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

WIP Wednesday - Week 11

I have a finished item - weeee!!! :-D

Yes, I FINALLY finished the cardigan for Granddad. I finished off the button band weekend before last, and put it down to block immediately. Fortunately I already owned suitable buttons for it, so as soon as it was dry (after a quick spin in the dryer to tighten things up a bit again) I got all the ends weaved in and the buttons sewn on (still really not a fan of sewing on buttons.... *sigh*). I finished this at 7pm Thursday evening, and immediately called Granddad to ask if he was home that evening, and if I could come over to hand him his Christmas present. Fortunately he was and I could, and it fits him perfectly! ... Well, it is a little big, but he likes his sweaters loose, so that's just fine with him :-)




It was a fun knit, but I'm glad to have it over and done with. Now I just need to finish Peter's cardigan and then I'm DONE with gift knitting for awhile.

Speaking of Peter's cardigan, that one is coming along really nicely too :) I've finished one sleeve now and am well on my way on the second. They look oddly short compared to the body but fit the measurements I was given, so I'm going to trust my measurements and hope for the best. Fortunately adding a bit of length to sleeves is one of the EASIEST modifications to make post-finishing.

I did also allow myself to knit on something else though. After finishing Graddad's cardigan I felt I was due for a treat, so I picked up my Exploration Station and have finished another two sections there! I really love the way it's turning out, and can't wait to finish so I can see how big it'll get post-blocking.

Oh, I almost forgot (until I started adding photos) - I've also finished another gift-knit - the Maluka shawlette knit out of MadTosh merino light. It's so lovely soft and I can't wait to give it to my sister for her birthday :-)
Unfortunately, while it was a fun knit, I wasn't too impressed by the finished shawl. It was a LOT smaller than I had expected, and the edge rolled quite a bit. I ripped back and added a few rows of reverse stockinette which helped a lot, and blocking took care of the rest. I also added a bit of length to either side which made it into more of a shawlette and less of a handkerchief. In the end, I'm pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully Nina will be too.