3 FOs

First FO report in 2012! 3 FOs in this post, of which only one is the first knit of 2012:

Something Lush.

Lush Capelet
Yarn: Bergere de France Chenille in Corbeau, 3 x 50g
Pattern: Lush by yours truly
Afterthoughts: Truly luscious, understated class. A perfect companion to formal events such as weddings, proms or a special dinner. Provides the perfect balance for coverage without being too flashy.  I can’t wait to wear this capelet to the next formal event! Will be great as many of my favourite dresses are a little bare at the shoulders. This capelet is a chameleon in disguise.

Worn to the side for a chic asymmetric look.

Worn as an oversized (animal-friendly!) fur collar.

Worn slightly lower with an updo for clean but feminine lines.

Worn slightly lower with hair down for a sweet, youthful look.

The possibilities are endless – and only limited by your creativity.

This isn’t a plain ole St st chenille knit, too! The blocks of basketweave st provides subtle interest, utilising the knitted characteristics of this thick and plush yarn.

Side view.

Back view.

This capelet is, unfortunately, a little big for me. But I will gift this to my mom (who had been eyeing this little gem while I worked on it) and make another one for myself. This is such a quick and easy knit I don’t mind knitting a few others, even!

Instant glam. Instant gratification. This capelet may not be much of a challenge to most knitters but its really useful to have one to reach for when you need to dress up for a special occasion.

Shh… We’re not done!

Rowing Mitts
Yarn: Colourmart Cashmere Blend, Salio. DK-weight, approximately 70g.
Pattern: Made up as I went along.
Afterthoughts: Love! I wore this pair of mitts every chilly morning when I rowed the boat out with my companion on our fishing trips. The fingertips portion is lovingly felted, naturally, over time.

Front

Back

I made these on the 12-hour plane ride. I couldn’t sleep because the kid behind me kept kicking my seat and I don’t have the guts (nor was I bothered) to make a complaint. Plus, I need a pair of mitts when I touch down. (:

I know they look funny on me in my t-shirt. But these were awesome mitts when I’m in winter attire. They were light, warm and really soft. They looked absolutely tiny when I was first done but like my knittin-tuition told me, they were not too big or too small after blocking.

Remember this hat?

Pöllö Hat
Yarn: KnitLob’s Sampo in Valeau Laulu (sp?), 90% Finnsheep wool + 10% nylon, worsted, 0.5 x 100g
Pattern: Made up as I went along.
Afterthoughts: What is cuter than owls in your hat? Sheltered owls in your hat! Hoot!

Sheltered owls. Branches? Roofs of barns? Its up to your interpretation. I say, branches for mine. (:

I do like this design and beanie. But I made it too short (was too excited over wearing my first knit made from local yarn back then. ) I still have quite a lot of this yarn left so I will most probably rip back and make it longer.

I love this green. My sidekick helped me pick this colour because I couldn’t make up my mind when faced with all the pretty colours this yarn came in. I think this was a good choice. Kiitos!

Over and out. Now I really need to sleep. It had been a long day executing a barbeque party for a very good friend of mine. (:

Lush Capelet – Seeking Test-knitters

Seeking test knitters for this simple but elegant capelet.

Information:

• Sizes: 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 42) inches around shoulders. (Note: it should be rather snug around the shoulders for it to stay on comfortably. So if your shoulders measures about 36 inches around, I will suggest the 34 inches size.)
• Project needs app. 100 (100, 100, 150, 150, 150) yds of bulky chenille yarn such as Bergere de France’s Chenille and 1.5m of thick satin ribbon (at least 2 inches wide). Suggested yarn substitution: Lion Brand Chenille Thick & Quick or Lion Brand Velvetspun.
• Stitches used are Knit, Purl, Knit Front and Back, and Knit Two Together. (And of course Casting on and Binding off…)
• Some hand-sewing involved. Simple back-stitching will do.
• Time frame for entire test-knitting process is 1 week. As this is a rather small knit with bulky yarn it goes quite fast. Possible obstacles are getting the right yarn and getting used to knitting with thick chenille yarn.

Thanks!

As One Year Ends, Another Begins.

2011 had been rather eventful, both knit-wise and in my life.
It was a bittersweet year of endings and beginnings,
mostly sweet and changes are all for the better.

So what will 2012 be?
2012 will be a good year. (:

I have dug up last year’s resolutions:

Knit-wise…

• Not buy any yarn (except maybe that felted tweed I’ve been eyeing for a while now…)
• Create 3 knitting patterns
• Knit 20 items

Among other things such as…

• Wear earrings more often
• Learn to cook better
• Take more pictures
• Make more friends

Opps. I definitely bought some yarn, including that felted tweed.
But I also exceeded expectations creating 5 knitting patterns as well as cleaned up one old pattern, of which 2 are available for free.
As for the number of items I’ve knitted in 2011…

44!
More than twice of what I aimed for.
I suppose that sufficiently compensates for breaking the resolution regarding yarn-buying.

I have managed to do my annual Yarn-Spring-Cleaning.
Yes, I’ve decided to turn it into an annual thing.
This year’s YSC is surprisingly easy.
I suppose last year’s efforts paid off.
I now have packed my stash monster neatly into bags.

My cupboard is deep so I have 2 layers of bags of yarn. But I’m not worried about forgetting which yarn are inside because I have also updated the yarn inventory log.

The Stash Monster had been split into different weights with each yarn’s various locations, colour, yardage and amount marked down in the log. Each cupboard is tagged with an alphabet, each shelve with a number and each bag is tagged with a number. (For example, the 5th bag in the 1st shelve of the cupboard pictured is tagged as A1-5). I am in the process of transferring that data into a neat table which I will print out and use for reference whenever I need to search for a yarn.

Yes, 2012 will be a good year. (:

So, new resolutions!

Knit-wise…

• Yarn Acquisition Quota: 1 kg
• Create 5 knitting patterns
• Clean up 1 old pattern (I’m thinking Klisa)
• Knit 30 items

Among other things such as

• Finish learning and polish up that Beethoven’s Sonata (all 3 movements) and that Chopin piece.
• Reduce use of plastic bags – Remember to bring my own shopping bag. Maybe knit one?
• Learn a new language sufficiently to hold simple conversations.
• Go jogging consistently
• Learn to cook more dishes

I guess that is enough. This will be the year that I’m finally no longer a student (hooray!) so I suppose it will be quite a busy year.

I’ve been working on a new design the past couple of days.. A simple capelet that I intend to make into a free pattern. The knitting part is completed – only finishings left. And of course the pattern writing.

I have also been working on something else craft-related:

This is an awesome kit I got for Christmas. Cross-stitch iPhone cover – right up my alley! I’ve been working on it on and off the past couple of days. I’m a little concerned about keeping it clean. Perhaps spraying some lacquer or some sort of coating over the finished project will help keep dirt and grease off the cotton embroidery.

This is the first dish I’ve cooked since I returned from the long trip. Yummy yummy mushroom with pasta.

I went for a walk in Chinatown some time last week and took a couple of pics.

Pots of tiny Mandarin Orange plants were for sale.. These are real oranges growing from real plants! Some people buy them as new year decorations for their home.

More new year decorations. Red and gold with auspicious words and pictures.

Back to work on the Yarn Inventory Log. (:

… Civilisation

Or, rather, urban areas. Because we behave in very civilised manner in the forests as well.

What is this?!

Yarn! In a supermarket! I love this place already. *knit-alert: Monet’s Dream and Ballerina Zetor!*

And for some reason, there was a van with 2 sheeps inside rolling in hay, right in the middle of the central part of town. I squealed when I saw this. Very pleasantly surprised!

Yarn! Again! This time in a department store. I didn’t manage to look through this because I didn’t spot it till I was in a rush to leave. Next time, I suppose. Yes, there will be a next time.

Lovely LYS. Titityy (sounds like ti-ti-tue). I was told that it is describing the sound a bird makes.

I got a gift voucher for this shop for Christmas. *happy dance* I had previously bought some Zauberball and Knitlob’s Lair Handyed Finnsheep yarn. When I got the voucher, I went back and bought some Malabrigo Worsted. I did want to get some more local yarn but they have mostly international yarn (except for Knitlob’s Lair). I will show the loot from this trip in another post, though.

We visited quite a number of churches. We did go to other places too but I am more fascinated with the churches.

Inside the church pictured above.

Another church. I didn’t take a pic of the exterior because it was already dark. But it seems to be shaped like a big red barn.

They had an unguarded grand piano in that church. A Steinway and Sons one, no less! So I took the liberty of playing a short tune on it.

At yet another church where I went to attend a wedding. I took quite a few pictures before someone translated the announcement for me: no photography (except by the official photographer and videographer). Opps.

This church in the capital is amazing. It is a church built in a rock. Yes, all that rock is natural, not brought in from somewhere else. How cool is that?

I only have pics of the exterior for this and the following churches because it was late when I got there and they were all closed.

All that walking makes one tired. And you know its time to go home when someone starts acting silly like this. *knit-alert: Ballerina Zetor, Meret and unreported mitts! I was also wearing Monet’s Dream but its under my coat.*

So. Home. Comfort.

Nothing speaks comfort in winter like a pair of handknitted socks.

Koti Socks
Yarn: Knitlob’s Lair “Sampo” in “Villiviini” It doesn’t seem to exist in Ravelry.
Pattern: Mine – made it up as I went. I made these cuff-down.
Afterthoughts:  This yarn makes very sturdy house socks. 90% Finnsheep wool and 10% nylon. Because the previous sock I made for the recipient was prone to hole-iness *coughcough* I decided to knit another pair out of sturdy local yarn. It works. This one lasts. But I didn’t quite enjoy knitting with it. It has a fair bit of VM and bleed quite a bit while I was knitting with it… So I had a purple line on my yarn finger that looked like a painful welt. But this seems to be good socks. The recipient wore it almost everyday. (:

I bought 2 hanks and have quite a fair bit leftover. I will probably use it with the other green one I have leftover from the beanie.

I fudged the heel and it worked! I was pretty happy with myself.

We (my hostess’ daughter and I) had fun cooking much good food together. She showed me how to make cinnamon buns and doughnuts and I showed her how to make chinese dumplings.

I had cooked chinese food on a number of occasions. When we catch a fish, I usually steam it chinese style. I really wanted to try my hostess’ fish soup but we didn’t catch anymore fish (the lake froze over). Perhaps next time.

This is the end of my blog about my trip. I have much to catch up with on this blog. New year resolutions (really late), updating the sidebar with the correct year…  And also, Chinese New Year. Yes, its Chinese New Year already! Really early this year.

So, Xin Nian Kuai Le  (Happy New Year) and Gong Xi Fa Cai (may you prosper)  to all of you!  :D

Forest Green

That is today’s theme.

Forest Green.

This will be quite a heavy post so I’ll let the images tell most of the story.

And of course we start with an FO that is….. Green!

Bethlehem
Yarn: Elann Super Kydd in Forest Green, 2.3 x 25g
Pattern: Print ‘O the Wave Stole by Eunny Jang
Modifications: Only did full edging for 3 sides because I was running out of time to Christmas. Also made it less wide.. I don’t remember how many sts I CO-ed but there are 2.5 motifs.
Afterthoughts: Beautiful pattern. I will perhaps revisit this pattern one day.

This was a Christmas present for my wonderful hostess on this trip.

The shawl measures approximately 1.5-2 metres long. I still have quite a bit of yarn leftover from the 3rd ball, but it probably won’t be much leftover if I had finished the last side of edging. That edging eats yarn like a monster.

My camera lens was scratched during my trip so please try to ignore the blurry blotch in my photos.

My hostess seems to like this quite much, too. She wore it often and tells people that a girl from Singapore knitted it. How sweet is that?

You probably noticed that I’m wearing my Zen on that day. Sans belt! Turns out if its cold, it doesn’t feel all that fluffy and bulky afterall. In fact, it was really nice and toasty, except the cold shoulders. But its so pretty I don’t mind that.

It was a really windy day when I took these pictures. Very eventful, too. We had very strong winds for a couple of days and trees had fallen. We spent most of that day clearing fallen trees – cutting and moving them as one of them had fallen right in front of the summer cottage, missing the porch by just a hair’s breadth! We lost power for almost 2 days that day, too. My hostess lit many candles and the fireplace was kept busy. It was an interesting experience but I’m glad it happened after Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas…

I met Santa Claus! And LOOK at my cute little slippers! My wonderful hostess had made them (knitted, felted, then needle-felted the white heart) for me for Christmas. Aren’t they the cutest little slippers ever? It kept my toes happy the rest of my trip. I have just washed this today (together with other knits I’ve brought on my trip) and will store it carefully till I next travel to a cold place.

How is “Christmas” or awesome-red-felted-slippers-christmas-gift in theme with “Forest Green”?

Well, “Forest Green” is also the name of a hymn tune adapted from an English folk ballad (source: wikipedia). You have most probably heard it before… in O Little Town of Bethlehem. Ah, yes, now all the pieces fall into place.

My hostess’ daughter baked this beautiful cake for Christmas. She is a good baker and we had worked on a few ‘baking projects’ together on this trip. More in future, I hope!

Guess what can put such a smile on my host’s face?

Receiving handknitted socks for Christmas!

Kiri Socks
Yarn: Knitpicks Stroll in Sapphire Heather, 1.8 x 50g
Pattern: My own.
Afterthoughts: Satisfied with this knit. (:

My host is a baseball fan and in his youth was in the team which won the national championship. Therefore this logo holds a special place in his heart. My informant had told me this sweet piece of information well ahead of my trip so I had managed to finish this pair of socks before my trip. Well, almost. I had to seam up one of them before blocking while I was there. Will give more details about this pattern at a later date.

In anycase, it was well received and my host promised to wear it on the next reunion with his team. (:

It had been a beautiful Christmas that I’m not going to forget anytime soon.

I was surrounded by forests most of the time.

These wild hay grow in the lake. I had never seen hay in this form and was greatly amused when told that the yellow grass growing in the lake is actually hay! We went to the lake everyday to fish until the day the lake froze over.

We had been rather successful at fishing. *Knit-alert* I have knitted this beanie while I was there, from locally dyed and purchased wool! But will do the FO report at a later date, when I have better pictures.

I believe this was the biggest fish we caught. What a monster!

On the gutting table. This is one of my favourite picture.. I just love all the texture in here. A little gruesome but this is real.

Nature contains such vibrant and beautiful colours.

How is it possible that such beautiful nature is created by chance? It can’t be.

*Knit-alert* Mitts, to be reported at a later date.

And for the next post, we will travel to…

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue…

Sorry for the abrupt absence after the previous post. Something cropped up so I had to go out of town for a while again. But now I’m back for real!

I’ve been putting together the pictures before I had to leave and despite trying to keep to the bare minimum, I ended up with so much material that I’ll have to spread this out over 2-3 posts. But I’ll try to put in the FOs and knitting bits around the theme of the posts.

Today’s theme is BLUE.

And we shall begin with an FO I had just before I left on my long trip.

Surprise, surprise, its kinda blue!

Blue Wonder
Yarn: Jaggerspun Heather 2/8 in Sapphire with 2 strands held together and the same cashmere blend as used in Khair.
Pattern: My own creation. Shaping and fair-isle design – all from my brain.
Afterthoughts: This turned out to be a gorgeous headgear for the intended recipient, who seems to like it quite much. I love this grey cashmere blend yarn from colourmart – it is absolutely delightful.. A little sticky to work with but forms a beautiful fabric when washed. I’m a little sad that I’m running out of this yarn.

This was one of the christmas knits for 2011 and I took quite a risk trying this without following any pattern, so close to my trip.

It was a little big for me, but fits great on the recipient. I wish I’ve taken more notes while knitting this so I can write a pattern for it. Perhaps I should try to recreate it.

This design is actually inspired by this awesome project on ravelry. A beanie design that shimmers in and out of the contrast colour, creating a masculine, subtle interest – that incorporates colourwork – without being ostentatious?

Oh, yes!

The characteristics and colours of the yarn chosen adds to the rustic appeal of this polished but kinda rugged beanie.

A look at the wrong side. I was contemplating lining this beanie but the floats were so tame it felt like I’m covering up right side number 2 if I added a lining. Plus, it feels more like a hand-knitted gift to be cherished if I didn’t line it. (Oh yes, I’m good at convincing myself out of tasks. Sometimes. I insist that this isn’t one of those situations.) Its like the beanie is saying “Hey, I’m seriously hand-knitted. Love me!”

It doesn’t lie flat. But I suppose good-fitting hats tend to be that way?

This was one of the last knits of 2011.

I was not wearing a new knit… I had to borrow this beret I knitted for my mom, for my trip. I have a couple of hats but I wanted something a little loose and subtle.  This did turn out to be a little too loose for me, though.

The following few pictures are taken on my trip:

Cold. Beautiful. Blue. Icy.

~

Tadaima~ I Am Back!

… But I am in the process of unpacking so this is just a short notice. Will be back soon with plenty of yarny updates, FOs and other good stuff.

We have our winners! And something for everyone, too.

The random number generator came up with numbers 28 and 22.

Congratulations to G.K.Green and Claudia!
I will be contacting you shortly.

I really enjoyed reading about your knits. Thanks to everyone who participated!

I have another mini FO, some little -but really pretty and fun- Christmas decoration ideas to share, as well as other bits and pieces for this post. This will probably be my last official post this year as I will be going away soon. I might still pop in with updates now and then if conditions allow. So, Merry Christmas in advance!

To begin with, meet my my newest needle. My pet-name for it is “giant toothpick”. I could not find a pair of needles (nor priced in the range) that I like. So I went to my favourite thrift shop, bought a pair of 4.2mm (yes, odd… But I couldn’t find 4.5mm – only 4.2mm, believe it or not. ) bamboo needles and chopped it in half.

Maybe one day I will go about sharpening the top half needles so I will have 2 pairs of “giant toothpicks”. The usable ones measures a little under 6 inches in length. I made these specifically for knitting with lace mohair, in particularly lace shawls. The needles are pretty light and portable with nice pointy ends. Perfect. I’m very happy with them.

Something I’m working on. Another Christmas knit (oh, yes, still going on about that. ) I’m making this up as I go along and so far I love it! I love the colour combination. I’m going for subtlety here and I love how the colours work with the rustic look. The colourwork is such that it seems to shimmer and blend into the blue. Really excited to see how this turns out. This is a rather basic and straightforward one so I will offer it as a free pattern if it turns out well. Wish me luck!

Giving Heart Fingerless Mittlets
Yarn: Rowan Rowanspun 4 ply in Sugar 0.5 x 25g, and leftover fingering weight yarn I dyed in Elder Wood.
Pattern: A Giving Heart Fingerless Mitts by myself
Modifications: Changed the fair-isle pattern a little to achieve a smaller fingerless mitt. As I used light fingering weight yarn, I used 2mm needles throughout the entire project. This sized down to 6 inch (circumference) mittlets.

I found a stray ball of this rowanspun yarn in my stash while digging for leftover yarns to make yet another mitt from this newest pattern of mine. I think I originally bought 10 balls (eons ago) but the other 9 balls are nowhere to be found, and not even recorded in my yarn log. So I decided to just use it up. I have enough for another one, but perhaps I will make something to go with these cute little mittlets.  Another Christmas knit down. (:

I’ve become kinda addicted to folding origami snowflakes recently.

They make festive window decoration when made with opaque paper.

Perfect for thin handmade paper.

They are pretty tree (or anything) decoration for Christmas when folded with metallic paper as well. Great for cards or as bookmarks too.

Interested? You can find the video tutorial here. That video has very clear demonstrations so I strongly suggest giving it a try!
Tip: I use a knitting needle to help me get to the corners and folds with precision.

Another origami-ish suggestion for Christmas. I made this simple photo tutorial for a friend and decided to post it here as well.
Click on the pic for a bigger image.

And last, but not least, some tags I had designed. I print this out on an A5 photo paper, cut it out, write the recipient’s name (with short message) at the back, punch a hole and tie it to gifts. A simple quick way to spruce up a present!
Click on the pic for a bigger image.

That’s all for now. I hope I get to update again soon.

Happy holidays~!

A Giveaway and Flamma

Before I begin on the FO, I’d like to talk about a giveaway I’m hosting. This is probably the first time I’m doing this and I hope I get it right…

On the theme of Christmas knits (that had been all I’ve been talking about on this blog lately… My apologies) and a giving spirit, 2 participants will receive a copy of my “A Giving Heart Fingerless Mitts” (or any one of my other patterns if so preferred).

To participate simply tell me (comment below or email me: kessaknitsATyahooDOTcom), about one of your christmas knits – what it is, who it is for and why you chose to make that. If you do not have a christmas knit, tell me about any knitting project you’re working on.

Deadline: Sunday 11th December 2011 midnight (00:00, standard time +0000 UTC).

One entry per participant. You don’t have to tell me your name; just be sure that there is a way I can contact you if you win. I will tag each participant with a number and choose the 2 winners using a random number generator.

Good luck!

Now on to the FO…

Another Christmas knit down. (:

Flamma
Yarn: Laines du Nord Kiddy Print Orange/Maroon Colourway, 1 x 50g
Pattern: Based loosely on Wisp by Cheryl Niamath
Modifications: Rather equal rows of lace and garter st portions. Thicker yarn, bigger needles…
Afterthoughts: Easy and quick project. Was completed in one night.

This one is for my mom. She likes red and colours associated with fire.

I rushed this as a gift for my mom just before she went on a holiday to somewhere cooler with my dad. Yes, I do realise I could’ve skipped the rushing part if I had thought of this earlier… She likes it and put it on immediately to try it out. But she was not wise enough to bring it along (she haven’t been to cooler climates before and has little experience). Oh well.

I usually don’t like working with mohair and prints. But for this colour I think the print actually worked to the FO’s advantage. It gave the orange more depth.

A sizeable scarf that can act as a little shawl as well. I used the an entire ball for this scarf and a couple of metres of this yarn leftover from another project to finish the last 2-3 rows.

This fluffy and lofty scarf reminds me of flames.

To be honest, I don’t usually like true orange colours. Orangey colours like salmon, peach or coral is fine. But I avoid true orange because it makes my skin tone look sallow. However, this orange, perhaps due to the maroon prints, did not have the effect that orange usually have.

Getting a little overwhelmed by all the mohair pieces recently. I’m halfway through yet another lace mohair shawl, this time in a dark colour, for a christmas gift. Edgings are painful..

A Giving Heart Fingerless Mitt

Pattern now available.

A Giving Heart Fingerless Mitt

A giving heart radiates warmth,
just like the glowing embers of charcoal.

An easy Fair-isle project that makes a perfect little gift.

Suitable for intermediate knitters with a little experience in Fair-Isle technique.

This pattern had been test knitted.

Size:
7 inch circumference

Yarn:
MC – App 200 yd heavy fingering weight
CC – App 150 yd heavy fingering weight

Needles:
US 0 (2mm) and US 2.5 (3mm) DPNs or circulars.

Techniques:
Knitting in the round
Fair Isle in the round and flat (that means purling over WS in pattern too)

This pattern is charted.

Notes:

Suggestion for sizing up/down, use thicker/thinner yarn with appropriate needles.

The most challenging part of this little project is probably when knitting fair-isle flat. That part is done only over a few rows, though.

If you need to knit an impressive christmas present within a short time, this is the pattern for you. Each mitt is easily completed within a couple of hours!