Firstly: QueenoftheFroggers finished her Swallowtail Shawl in Oxford Kitchen Yarns sock yarn. It’s superb. Go look! :)

Secondly: I owe a stack of emails to people. hopefully i’ll get my arse in gear tomorrow, and get them sorted out. Sorry.

Thirdly:

I have the lurgy. (Thank you man who coughed on me on the bus.) It’s not a serious lurgy, but I’d rather head it off at the pass if I can right now, which meant getting the jobs that really needed doing done, and then curling up in bed with plenty of drink and my knitting.

I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear how much knitting for bump has been going on recently. But little projects are perfect for the summer, especially along side the bigger projects I want to get done. This is a bit of both. It’s a baby version of the Elizabeth Zimmermann Garter Stitch blanket (here is Brooklyntweed’s recently completed version.)

I’m knitting it in Oxford Kitchen Yarn Aran, with the center panels in undyed and the outer sections in a colour that has yet to be decided upon. (It’s a good way of working out how much yarn i’m going to need, since one center panel is an eighth of the whole thing.)

Also on the needles is a Shetland Shorty in 21st Century Yarns Silk.

I’ve had this yarn for a few years now. I bought it orginally to make some sort of wrap to wear at our wedding. To be honest the scarf/wrap i made didn’t get much wear, though it worked with the outfit. But I had alot of the silk left, and i’ve always wanted to make something from it, even if it meant ripping back the original scarf. (Which it probably will, and i’m fine with that.)

I’m hoping the Shetland Shorty will work well. (Though it’s slightly on hold till i get a pointer needle since the k2togs in silk are driving me a bit batty.)

As for recent FOs…

Everyone Needs A Blue Rabbit

Ravelry post or Lion Brand Link to Pattern.

This was knit with Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton (and luckily I have enough left over for another couple if it proves popular.)

It was a very quick, very cute knit. A good alternative to baby socks or booties if you need a last minute gift.

Blue Sky Country Kiddie

Ravelry post or Link to pattern.

Oh Blue Sky Alpaca Silk how i love you! (And I still have 1 1/3 skeins left to make something else - maybe some fingerless mitts for me - I’m thinking of getting a skein of the red, and striping them. :)

I really love this pattern. In fact I’m planning to knit another one, though sleeveless as per the original pattern, from the left over ball of cash cotton left over from my tunic top. :)

I added the lace - it was crying out for something to be added to it, given i was using an even coloured yarn.

Drops Autumn Leaf Scarf

Ravelry post or Link to pattern.

This was made using the 22g i had left over after making my sideways garter stitch scarf (which I love!)

It proved to be a totally down to the wire project, but i had *just* enough yarn thank goodness.

(This is another pattern that knits up in no time at all. And it looks like it’ll stay on really well. At least while they are small. :)

Mossy Jacket

Ravelry post or Link to pattern.

This was my first time knitting with Noro. Again, it was another knitting down to the wire project. In fact I ended up knitting the sleeves from two ends of what was left of the second ball, so that i could keep them even. I think I ended up with about 6m of yarn left to spare.

The moss edging is Kilcarra aran.

And finally…

Our tv room. Finally decorated the weekend before last. \o/

Lengthways Garter Stitch Scarf by Me

My Ravelry Post: here
Yarn: Mobair by Victoria Smedley baby alpaca and silk - about 200g
Needles: 4mm
Pattern: With something this simple it became all about the details. So: Long tail cast on, 380st. Garter back and forth till it was as wide as I wanted it, and I was running out of yarn, and then a sewn cast off, so that the cast on and cast off edges were identical. (As previously posted, the cast off took FOREVER but looks fabulous.)

Conclusion: After blocking this scarf ended up about 12″ longer than I was expecting. This is no bad thing, since I love to wrap my scarves around and around and around. HOWEVER it has forced me to start washing my swatches before I measure them, if I’m all chance of getting an accurate gauge, which was something I really did need to learn.

But yeah - I’m loving what finally feels like an indian summer after months of rain, and grey skies, but once it’s gets cooler this is going to be the staple scarf of the year I think.

Sewn cast offs look amazing, and it would be a mistake to finish this project any other way.

However, with 380 stitches, it’s going to take an absolute AGE.

Photos in about a week. ;)

This may end up being a very quick knit, given that I started it yesterday and I’m half way through already. The yarn is Baby Alpaca and Silk from Mobair (who unfortunately don’t have a website. :( that I bought at a craft show at Blenheim Palace a month or so ago. (Liz blogged about it here.)

Anyways I bought about 200g and always planned to make a scarf (for myself) but the lace patterns I tried didn’t really work with the yarn, which I realised after a while, really just wanted to be left alone to do it’s own thing, and show off in a simple way. So inspired by how my Ruana was coming along, a given that actually I get really bored when I knit scarves back and forth width-wise I decided to cast on a WHOLE MASS of stitches and knit it length ways.

So here is the recipe:

Long tail cast on (of sorts, in that actually I used the same method as with the ruana, in that I used one end of one ball, and one end of the other so that I never ran out of yarn when I was casting on. Yes you have another end to darn in, but I don’t care about that), about 380 stitches on 4mm needles (my new addi turbo lace needle. *hearts*).

Knit back and forth until either I run out of yarn or the scarf is wide enough. (Any left overs will get added to the Ruana stash, and I’m good with that.)

Cast off using the sewn cast off for Knitting Without Rules, so that it looks and acts the same as the cast on.

Done.

I don’t know why I’m enjoying such mindless knitting at the moment. Certainly it makes watching the Tour de France easier (oh Vino - you utter star!) Mind you when my sister gets back from the US next week with the books that I ordered, I’m planning to use them to start on the shawl for my other grandma, and really - in the meantime - when I finish this scarf, I should spend some more time on the waistcoat for W’s mum - (can you tell I’ve started to avoid it? Horrible intarsia pretending to be fairisle! Even just the darning in I’ve created so far - only 6″ into the project - is bringing me out in a cold sweat!)