Little Blue Girl

I'm not going to lie, it's taken me ages to finish this project. Now that it's done it looks so cute I wish I had just cracked on and finished it earlier. The colour combination was part inspired by the beautiful and colourful Swedish knitwear designers Millamia, and part stash busting some of my 'didn't quite get round to it' smaller projects. You know the ones: a few balls to make a cardigan for a four year old, but opps they've grown so big now!   

The two shades of blue are Naturally Alpaca DK - 90% alpaca and 10% merino wool - a New Zealand made yarn. The mottled pink is a Twilleys of Stanford yarn called Freedom Spirit that's made in England. I usually always buys New Zealand made yarn, but couldn't resist it sitting in the sale bin at Knit World.  

I used the cardigan pattern from this Patons book. I've made this pattern very successfully a number of times. Because our Little Miss is a long bean, I always increase the length of the body by 5cm and the length of the sleeve by about 3cm. 

The strip sequence I used is: 
5 rows sky blue, 
1 row pink, 
2 rows navy, 
1 row pink, 
5 rows sky blue, 
1 row navy, 
4 rows pink, 
1 row navy, 
and repeat!

The overall pattern really works well because the mottled pink yarn breaks up the stripe so it doesn't look so arbitrary or obvious. 

I let our Little Miss choose the cardigan colours from my stash. She has got so opinionated about her clothes these day that it's not worth the risk of having her tell me that she's 'not that keen on that one' once I've spend all that time knitting. I really hate to think what teenage years are going to be like! 

Happy knitting xx

Adult size snood knitted in Crucci Terra Firma yarn

Here is the adult version of the Snuggly Snood I made for my daughter a few weeks ago. 

It's also made using the new Crucci Terra Firma bulky yarn. It's 100% New Zealand wool and super warm and cosy against the winter winds.

I have again used the recommended 20mm needles to get a more defined stitch result for this adult sized snood. 

You will need two 200g hanks to complete this project.

First wined the two hanks of yarn into two balls.











Adult's Snuggly Snood Pattern

Using 20mm knitting needles, cast on 16 stitches.

Work stocking stitch (1st row knit, 2nd row purl, then repeat) until both hanks have been knitted. Join the hanks at the end of a row. Finish with a purl row, leaving about 2 metres of yarn.



Now work the final row to join the ends and cast off at the same time: These are the pictures I took of the child's size snood, hence less stitches on the needles, but the process is the same.  

Fold the snood right sides together as shown, with the beginning end closest to you. 

Push the right hand needle through the first loop of the cast on end of the knitting. (the diagram shows completed stitches and a stitch in progress)






Then push the needle through the stitch on the left hand needle. Knit the stitch. This knits the two scarf ends together.

Once two stitches have been completed, cast the first stitch off by passing it over the second stitch. 

Repeat the stitches and cast offs until only the last one remains. Pass the loose thread through the loop and pull tight to fasten. 
Use a crochet hook to weave all the lose end in - most darning needles are not big enough to carry this yarn.


Happy knitting xx

Little Person's Snuggly Snood Pattern

With winter weather nipping at our ears, the season for snuggling in front of the fire with a knitting project is here. Following the northern hemisphere trends for chunky yarns, its great to have some New Zealand made options appearing on the shelves. I particularly like Crucci's new super bulky Terra Firma yarn. It's 100% New Zealand grown and manufactured, and is a beautifully soft and lofty yarn. 

This is my first prototype using this yarn. There is a pattern for an adult snood on the wool band. It uses 25mm needles for a looser stitch and requires just the one hank to complete. 

I have opted to adapt and use the recommended 20mm needles to get a more defined stitch result for this child sized snuggly snood. 

As it is sold in 200g hanks, you first need to wined the yarn into a ball.












Child's Snuggly Snood Pattern

Using 20mm knitting needles, cast on 12 stitches.

I found these lovely short wooden needles at my local wool store.







Work stocking stitch (1st row knit, 2nd row purl, then repeat) until between 1 and 2 metres of yarn remain. Finish with a purl row.









Now work the final row to join the ends and cast off at the same time:

Fold the snood right sides together as shown, with the beginning end closest to you. 

Push the right hand needle through the first loop of the cast on end of the knitting. (the diagram shows completed stitches and a stitch in progress)




Then push the needle through the stitch on the left hand needle. Knit the stitch. This knits the two scarf ends together.

Once two stitches have been completed, cast the first stitch off by passing it over the second stitch. 

Repeat the stitches and cast offs until only the last one remains. Pass the loose thread through the loop and pull tight to fasten. 
Use a crochet hook to weave all the lose end in - most darning needles are not big enough to carry this yarn.

Our little Miss is very pleased with the new snood; it never drags on the ground like a normal scarf, and is much less likely to get lost in the playground. I'm off now to formulate an adult version.

Button Cable Scarf

In the last few weeks I've been experimenting with a range of different yarns and scarf patterns. Hand knits are very much on trend this season, and my sister Charmaine is interested in some for her new signature boutique in Dunedin. Northern hemisphere trends have been leaning towards chunkier yarns and lots of stitch detail. Scarves are super easy to design given the repetitive nature of the pattern and fact that the width measurement is not particularly critical to the finished design. So why not give your own winter masterpiece a try!

Here is my first scarf sample: 4 cables with a moss stitch boarder and button and hole fixing.

I used approximately 150g of a 200g hank of chunky 14ply Naturally yarn and 6.5mm (Metric sized) knitting needles. 




New Zealand made of course.




Cable Button Scarf

Using 6.5mm knitting needles and 14 ply wool, cast on 30 stitches.
1st Row: Knit 1, purl 1, repeat until the end of the row
2nd Row: Purl 1, knit 1, repeat until the end of the row
These two rows form the moss stitch pattern. Repeat once more to form the end boarder.

First row of cable pattern: work 3 stitches continuing the moss stitch pattern.  

Now slip the next 3 stitches onto a cable needle. Place the cable needle at the back of the work. 






Knit the next 3 stitches from the left hand needle. 










Now knit the 3 stitches from the cable needle. 










This forms the cable: repeat the sequence 3 more times, then work the last 3 stitches as moss stitch. 

This is the finished cable row. 

2nd row: Work 3 stitches in the moss stitch pattern, followed by 24 purl, then 3 stitches of the moss stitch. 
3rd row: Work 3 stitches in Moss stitch, 24 knit, then 3 moss stitch.
4th row : repeat the 2nd row sequence
5th row: repeat the 3rd row sequence
6th row: repeat the 2nd row sequence

These 6 rows form the cable pattern. 

Repeat them until the desired length is achieved. 
I completed 24 sequences for this scarf.

Final moss stitch boarder and button hole:
Work 2 rows of moss stitch as per the first band. 
3rd row: work 4 stitches moss stitch, yarn over needle, knit 2 stitches together, then resume the moss stitch pattern to complete the row. work one more row moss stitch. Working the yarn over needle will form the button hole.

Last row: cast off in moss stitch. 

Sew the stray yarn ends in and sew the button onto the opposite side and end of the scarf; position it 5 cable sequences up from the end. 

Winter here we come. 

Happy knitting xx

Blanket Love

I've been channelling the vintage vibe with this traditionally styled check blanket. I just love weaving. It's actually a whole load quicker than knitting and a great opportunity to experiment with colours. Rather than leave the ends as a fringe that's going to tickle half asleep noses, I've bound the ends with some cute floral fabric.

I dragged my trusty Ashford heddle loom out of the spare room and into the lounge and threaded it up with 100% New Zealand wool 8 ply Utuku yarn from The Wool Company in Taihape. Little Miss 4 has had endless trouble resisting the temptation to run her hand over the warp threads. She loves blankets, and can't wait to try out some weaving of her own. She is never very impressed when I tell her that the blanket is to be sold to another family. Though she likes the idea that something created by her mummy is going to keep another child warm and happy.

Ashford have some really good instructional videos on how to thread up a rigid heddle loom.
I used an 8/8 colour pattern and the 7.5dpi reed. Alternating 8 green and 8 pink threads for the warp, and 8 green and 8 pink for the weft threads. I threaded on 192 warp threads in total. Rather than breaking the yarn for the colour change, I wove the alternating yarn up one side of the work by including it with the end warp thread and wrapping the weft thread around at the end of each row.  

I've blogged the instructions for the bound ends in a previous blog. Its super simple and worth the extra effort for the contrasting texture and added cuteness.

One snuggly blanket looking for a cold day and a little companion.

Relaxing with my Knitting

One of the best things about knitting as a pass time is that it demands that you sit down and surrender to the rhythm and repetition of the stitches.  Knitting cannot be hurried and there are no real quick shortcuts to the end result. It is the opposite of instant gratification, and therefore, when given as a gift it is a true reflection of time invested in honour of another. In the case of this hat, that theory applies doubly as it is made from a mixture of wools recently spun.
We were lucky enough to have a few days of sunshine away at the family farm. In between the usual farm related chores: feeding the chickens, cooking the lunch, cutting up the mutton, chasing after errant sheep, seeing to Dad as he completes his tractor work and tending the garden, I found some time to sit and enjoy the day over a spot of Christmas gift related knitting.  

I used the wool I recently spun to construct this practical winter beanie. (See my previous blog: Homespun and Dyed)

This is the view from my chair on the veranda.

The wool is a thicker gauge than normal 8ply, so I used 4mm needles for the ribbing and 5mm needles for the stocking stitch. I included a section of pattern using some wool spun from a natural light brown coloured fleece.

This hat is a medium size. If you want a large men's hat just start with 100 stitches. A child's hat can be made with 80 stitches. As long as you use the stitches in multiples of 10 the pattern will always work. Just adjust the length accordingly.

Home Spun Hat

Using 4mm needles and light brown yarn, cast on 90 stitches. 
Rib knit (K) 1, purl (P) 1 for 6 rows.
Change to 5 mm needles and white wool yarn; work stocking stitch: 1st row knit, 2nd row purl for 6 rows.

Change to coloured yarn, leaving the white yarn attached, and complete 2 rows. 
Next row: work 1 stitch white, then 1 stitch brown: repeat until the end of the row. 
Following row: alternate white and coloured stitches to match the stitch before. Work 4 rows like this.
Break off the coloured yarn and continue to work stocking stitch until the hat measures 12 cm from the beginning ending with a purl row.



First decrease row:  K8, K2 together (K2tog). Repeat this sequence of 10 stitches until the end of the row.
2nd and every alternative row: purl until end. 
3rd dec. row: K7, K2tog. Repeat sequence until end.
5th dec. row: K6, K2tog. Repeat.
7th dec. row: K5, K2tog. Repeat.
9th dec. row: K4, K2tog. Repeat.
11th dec. row: K3, K2tog. Repeat.
13th dec. row: K2, K2tog. Repeat.
15th dec. row: K1, K2tog. Repeat.
17th dec. row: K2 tog. Repeat.
18th row: purl.
Next row: K2tog. Repeat.
Continue to K2tog on knit rows until 3 stitches remain. Knit a cord by passing the knit stitches onto the left needle and knitting through them again. Continue to do this until the cord is the required length.
I changed back to the coloured yarn to complete the very top of the hat.

Press the hat and then use a darning needle and mattress stitch to sew up the side seam. Tie in the loose ends. You can make the cord as long or short as you want. I have previously made them long enough to tie a knot in.
With the larger needles I had the whole hat knitted by bed time.What better way to spend a peaceful afternoon.

Crochet Nana Squares

Once the sole preserve of Nana's and Great Aunts, the crochet square is becoming the blanket material of choice for Mummy's around the globe. It has many positive attributes. Its warm and snugly, thanks to the air trapping properties of its textured finish; it comes in a variety of cheerful colours; its environmentally friendly, because it uses up all the odd bits of left over wool; and it reminds you of outings with your Nana and Poppa because they always carried one in the back seat of the car.

Overcome by a wave of nostalgia, I decided it was about time for a Nana craft revival:

I used a 3.5mm crochet hook and scraps of 8 and 12 ply yarn. If your using 12 ply, restrict it to the same number of rounds per square or the squares will end up different sizes.

Start by forming a loop and working 6 chain (ch). Join to the end to form a loop.
Now work in rounds:

Round 1: Work 3 ch, 2 triple crochet stitches (tc), 2 ch, 3 tc, 2 ch, 3 tc, 2 ch, 3 tc, 2 ch, join the chain to the first group of stitches to form a circle.

Round 2: Turn the work over and crochet the next row on the other side of the work. Change colours.
Work 3 ch, 2 tc passing the hook under the chain from the previous row, 2 ch, 3 tc through the same chain, 2 ch, 3 tc through the second corner of chain stitches, 2 ch, 3 tc, 2 ch, 3 tc through the third corner, 2 ch, 3 tc, 2 ch, 3 tc through last corner, 2 ch, 3 tc, 2 ch, join onto the first group of stitches.

Round 3: Turn the work over and crochet the next row on the other side of the work. Change colours.
Work this round in the same way as the previous one. The only difference being that one extra set of 3 tc is worked in the middle of each side of the square as shown in the photo.

Round 4:  Turn the work over and change colours. Work using the same pattern as the previous rounds, but add another set of 3 tc into each side of the square, as pictured.

Use a blunt tipped darning needle to work the loose ends of the wool back into the square.

Pressing the square with a warm steamy iron will help to form an even shape and texture.

The Nana squares can be left this size and joined together using the darning needle and matching wool; or an extra row can be crocheted around all the squares, and then they can be sewed up using the darning needle and matching wool.

Mixing the colours with alternating dark, light, dark, light colours and combining different tones of the same colour will make the blanket more attractive.

They are quick to make, so its easy to accumulate enough for a snugly blanket. One of the main advantages is that they are easy to carry around and complete where and whenever the mood takes you. No large project to juggle with your Cafe coffee and cake. Accumulate enough and you will be making your own enviable Nana car rug.