Homage to EZ???

Promise you this is the last post for catching up on what has been completed while I wasn't blogging. My next post should have some 'action' shots for want of a better description of knitting, crocheting or spinning in progress rather than 'here's one I did earlier' in true Blue Peter style...

Anyway cast your minds back you may remember seeing a photo of this jumper I worked and completed as a prototype (you know smaller jumper, less sts, just in case EZ hadn't got it right and it was all a disaster) for one for our friend Mike who had requested a jumper for a Christmas present in the September of 2008. As the jumper he picked from my pattern books was in a lovey Patons yarn 'Jet' which is Wool & Alpaca and unfortunately hand wash only this was no good, so rather than try and use the pattern and do a bigger size with DK yarn, I decided it was time I put my Elizabeth Zimmermann (EZ) books to good use....

Well after a lot of stop, starting which means every time I got near a bit that was not straight forward or bit I thought was not going to work out right as EZ said it would, the above jumper was completed and as usual EZ was correct, I was having visions that the raglan decreases were not enough and all you would see was the top of the head above the neckline!!!

This then gave me the confidence that maybe just maybe I could actually do this jumper for Mike, so earlier this month I finally completed his 2008 Christmas present... I have to say I am very, very OK very pleased with this and can't wait for some colder weather when it will be getting put into regular service :o))

The basic outline of working the raglan came from EZ's 'Knitting Workshop', I think this is my favourite of her 4 books... the idea for the green contrasting bottom hem (which you can't see here) was from Brooklyntweed's Seamless Hybrid. The sleeves (3x3 rib) and the collar (1x1 rib) along with contrasting facings were what attracted Mike to the original pattern - Patons Jet 1266 (see bottom left thumbnail). I have to say I think I've done pretty well mimicking this hand wash only wool/alpaca blend in a machine washable, tumble dry able Patons Diploma Gold DK yarn, don't you?

Other EZ projects have been done as well... My friend Janet was expecting their 2nd child on 24th July, Anna Laura weighed in 11 days late on the 4th August at 7lb 11oz and was met with these...

EZ's surplice jacket worked in Patons new Eco Cotton (Lime & Primrose) this carries a similar tension to Rowans Cotton Glace...

and what must be considered EZ's most worked pattern looking at the number of projects on Ravelry, her Baby Surprise Jacket or BSJ as it's more commonly known....

I joined the July KAL on the BSJ Forum on Ravelry to do this using Dale of Norway's 'Baby Ull' on 3.5mm needles and I really enjoyed this, I must have done as I offered Janet another one if she wanted in a few months in a bigger size....

As you can see even though this is my 1st one I did a few modifications such as adding the collar, lengthening the sleeves and finishing with an i-cord buttonhole....

Think that's it for now, will be back soon with more current works....

Besides Lace....

Besides lace while I've not been blogging there's been quite a lot of crocheting, mainly inspired by the Japanese crochet books that are out there, peoples Ravelry projects and Lucy aka Attic24

I've been fiddling on and off for years with crochet but counting was always the problem... anything other than a sample of a stitch would see me get to the end of a row with either too many or not enough chains left to work into!

Anyway I seem to be getting somewhere and enjoying it especially the motif style crochet as it doesn't require you to commit to too much time in one sitting and I have to admit was a godsend earlier this year when things were up in the air... Anyway as there's quite a few photos to show you I'm not going to waffle, if you want to ask questions you can always leave me a message and I'll reply or you can contact me on Ravelry, I'm what else but 'littleberry' on there :o)

There was Kaban from Rowan 35 worked not in Rowans Summer Tweed but Patons Vintage which gave it a firmer and IMHO more useful fabric for a bag...

Followed by Ingas Haekelbeutel worked in Anchor Magicline, this colourway is discontinued but manage to score this yarn on Ebay as I'd previously seen a bag done in this colourway and just thought it was stunning...




Next came Meadow Scarf by Robyn Chachula from the premiere issue of the UK magazine Inside Crochet which I worked in Patons Serenity as I already had an odd ball of green & red, so just added the yellow...

I also completed Sambuca by Doris Chan in Rowans Pure Wool DK in 'Spice (034) This was my 1st attempt at 'lacy crochet' and can honestly say it was a pleasurable experience ....

I then got hooked on Hexagons, easier than circles and more interesting than squares and also the join as you go method illustrated by Moonstitches ! If I hadn't have discovered hexagons and this method to join I doubt I would have contemplated starting this let alone complete it... My Hexagon Throw based on the Hexagon-how-to by Attic24

I used 13 colours all of one of which were Patons 100% Cotton DK at £3.95 per 100g (210m) for mercerized cotton is ridiculously cheap and IMHO is the best cotton of its type out there on the market, the other colour used was Rowans Cotton Glace in 'Shoot' and at £3.95 for 50g (115m) you can perhaps understand why I think the Patons is a cheap cotton... Patons IMHO is a very undervalued brand in this country and they really produce superb yarns for a good price...

Last by no means least completed only last week my Kaleidoscope Cushion based on the free hexagon motif Kaleidoscope by Lisa Donald which can also be found in the book Blue Ribbon Afghans from Americas State Fairs

Worked in a mixture of Patons 100% Cotton 4ply again £3.95 for 100g (330m) and Rowan's now discontinued 4ply cotton


Front

If anyone wants more details or to ask questions either leave me a message or contact me on Ravelry.

Its been too long...

since my last post but life has been not chaotic but steadily busy here at the littleberry residence.

Not only has my husband and his partner started their new business in IT Consultancy (OK they're software engineers) and all the associated paperwork that has been coming my way for that, as well as running my own business, I've had my husband's business partner's (and friend) daughter not only for 2 weeks work experience but living with us as well... so somewhere in all that went the first few week of July... and my enthusiasm for keeping my blog updated!

Anyway as promised several posts ago the last of my lace projects that were knitted in my absence of blogging...

Peacock Tail & Leaf Scarf from the Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush as I'm sure most people are aware... It was knit for Renate who was 60 along with her twin sister at the end of June (see previous post). I used my own handpsun, BFL Superwash which I actually dyed myself and hand carded (never again!) with Trilobal Nylon in Silver just to make it twinkle....

and a close up with a more accurate representation of the colour...

That's all the lace projects that are complete at the moment, there will be more lace started soon, but just at the moment I've heading towards the finish line with Mike's Ribbed sleeve Raglan jumper (based on EZ's % system) that was his Christmas present for Christmas 2008!!!


I've just joined the sleeves to the body and done about 1" of knitting so am just about to embark on the Raglan decreasing.....



Here's what it will look like when completed

apart from the knitting I've been doing quite a bit of crocheting, I've found that while everything has been in the air I could concentrate on crochet motifs, so more on that in my next post...

Happy 60th Birthday

Remember the shawls I've shown you (you actually haven't seen Renate's yet) well here is the reason, well partly....

These two ladies start the season of decade birthdays. This is Monica and Renate (either side of the counter, Monica on the right) who were 60 on 29th June and are two good customers of my shop and regulars to SnB, so how else would you treat twins on their birthday...


but with fruit cake, made and decorated by my mum; who very ingeniously arranged it so if I took the candles out, I could cut the cake in 3, we could all share in the centre portion but yet Monica and Renate could take home an 'individual' cake each.....


and flowers, I thought the florist had done a lovely job of making the flowers the same but different!

and finally the unwrapping of presents from various friends.....

Monica

Monica, Cathleen, Enid, Christine, Diane, Renate

Renate with her candy bracelet on!

The scene from behind the counter, I had lovely wafts of perfume all afternoon :o)

Monica and my mum (Cathleen)

Christine, Diane & Renate

Renate

They had a lovely time and were completely surprised and over whelmed by it all, they got shawls, socks, Etui boxes, stitch markers, and sweets that brought back memories of childhood; love hearts, sherbet fountain, Parma violets, candy bracelets

Happy 60th Birthday Monica & Renate

More from the Repetoire

As promised another update...

Finished mid May this was started back in February and I got halfway and just simply stopped, not just this but lots of other things too looking back now....

For those of you who don't know what the pattern is, it is the Leaf and Nupp Shawl from Estonian Knitted Lace by Nancy Bush.

and for those of you who like detailed close ups:

It has come out a respectable 18 x 63" when blocked and is destined for a 70th birthday present foe December.

I know I'm well in hand but the yarn said it wanted to be this shawl and as I'd spun it why not knit it! The fibre was from Enchanted Knoll (see my sidebar) and was the 'fern' batts which were lovely to spin. I used 3.75mm to knit the resulting 2ply yarn.

For the eagle eyed among you, you may notice that I have omitted the border all the way round and just used it on the top and bottom borders. I initially did this because I thought I wouldn't have enough yarn, but with hindsight I'd plenty, enough to work 4 extra repeats of the main motif, but I have to say I think I prefer it this way...

I have another shawl to show you in my next post that was completed a few weeks ago and other things too.... I think now things are a bit more settled in the household I'm having a 'finishing' off session which is making me feel good; projects that have been hanging around for too long are slowly getting finished :o)

I've also been working on my crochet in the last few months as well so there will be creeping in as well... but I will leave you with a link to a newly found blog which is very inspiring Attic24

Dare I show my Face?

I can't believe it's been 4 months since my last post... but being honest I just haven't felt like doing so and the same has been reflected in my knitting and spinning...

But this looking back has coincided with problems with my husbands work which in a nutshell has equated to he does the work and he may get his wage or not and also to when it may turn up; actually on payday is a novelty!!!

Anyway things are looking up he now has 1 week and 4 days to work his notice.... and while this may not be the best of times to do so he and a colleague are going into partnership together and basically carrying on doing what they're doing now. They already have work lined up for the 1st of July onwards which is definite..... so while 6 months ago when he mentioned he would like to do this and when I got down off the ceiling basically said we can't afford to do this.... the last 4 months have made me realise what have we got to loose at least he will be getting paid for the hours he puts in!!!!

Anyway you didn't come to read this and it's no excuse for not blogging but really I've had nothing to show....

I do however have a couple of finished knitted objects to show you and a further 1 nearly completed.... I've mainly been crocheting small things... things I don't feel I have to commit a lot of time and energy to IYKWIM?

Anyway here's the 1st of the 2 finished objects.....

Lilac Leaf shawl from Estonian Knitted Lace by Nancy Bush

and with close up...

This is worked in my own hand spun from 'Pumpkin Juice' Batts from Enchanted Knoll, and is for a friend who is 60 at the end of this month... I'm just completing another shawl for her twin sister....

Anyway I've promised myself no waffling so I'll be back at some point and show you the next completed object!

Progress...

Well progress on 'Leaf & Nupp Shawl' got halted for a couple of days while I did this.... yes another Swallowtail, I can't believe it but this is my 5th and still I don't find it boring, but it's something I know I can do quick and in most weights of yarn. This was for a lady who know who needed a black scarf quickly, so as you can see I've done the mini version with only 9 repeats of budding lace.

Other adaptions include omitting rows 3&4 of the peaked edging due to stitch count and rows 16 & 16 of the same chart as I didn't want the edging too scalloped seeing this is for a sombre occasion. Oh yes! almost forgot it's done in Patons Diploma Gold 4ply and used 1 full 50g ball and not quite half of the 2nd worked on 4.5mm needles...


Finished size 48" across the top and 23" down the spine...


So far so good with the 'Leaf & Nupp Shawl' I've done 2 repeats of the pattern, but I did stop to do the bottom edging before progressing further as I didn't want to run out of hand spun and thought at least if I d this bit now I can work out what weight of yarn I'll roughly need to save to finish the other end.....

I didn't want to do a border all the way round so I opted just to put it on the top and bottom edges. It worked quite well as by simply just doing an extra knit/purl stitch at either end the 75sts worked into the edging pattern nicely.

I also opted not to do the Nupps as well to reduce yarn usage.....

With all this lace knitting I now have a sore index finger and a hole were I keep pushing the point in to it :o(

On a happier note my 1st installment from The Happy Hooves Sock Batt club came from Enchanted Knoll this week... 'Roses in the Snow' its a wild card set of batts hence the contrast batt in a beautiful Buttercup gold.... I have to say I can't see myself spinning and knitting into socks they're far too nice I can quite envisage these becoming lace.....

Moi obsessed?