Luxurious Mitred Blanket

I have incredible delusions about my knitting. When I started this blanket, from Jo Sharp Knit 9, I seriously thought that I would be finished in a month or so. What could be nicer than sitting in front of the television with a very simple knit from luxurious yarn? Hardly anything of course, but I failed to consider several important points.



1. I don't watch much television
2. I have a lot of works-in-progress, all sitting next to the couch and keen to be worked on.
3. A 5 square blanket is not very big, and lends itself to expansion.
4. Sewing up is not my favourite thing.



I've ended up with a 8 square x 6 square blanket. Clearly it is no longer according to the pattern. I do wonder if this is what always happens to mitred blankets, as there are a plethora of patterns for them on Ravelry - everyone must make their own version!



It is beautifully soft and snuggly. I feel quite decadent wrapped up in a mix of wool, cashmere,mohair, silk and alpaca, and would never have thought of making such a luxurious blanket without Jo Sharp's pattern. She uses alternating strands of Alpaca Kid Lustre, Silk road Aran Tweed and Classic Double Knitting Wool in her version, with the same colourways throughout, but my version slips in a bit of DK silk road tweed, and uses a few more colours for some subtle variation between the blocks.



I am sorry to admit that it took me nearly 2 years of patchy work to finish this project, but the good news is that I have already started another one - in cottons!

Wash cloth and hand towel - Strange knitting?

When I first started knitting, it would never have occurred to me to knit something that is readily available in the shops, and not particularly expensive in its most modest versions.
However, my brain has been addled altered by knitting exposure, and when it was getting a bit hot around here to knit woolly things in the middle of the day, somehow I started knitting handtowels to match my bathroom. I am really pleased with them







Doesn't everyone happen to have stray balls of yarn wandering into the bathroom so that you can see how well they co-ordinate with the bath?
Maybe I shouldn't ask that question ;)

I do have a pattern for a washcloth and towel, in Jo Sharp Knit 2, but this pattern book was not in my vicinity when the urge to knit these overcame me, so I had to make it up with a vague recollection of the picture. I think I came pretty close.

The washers are all moss stitch, and the hand towels have a  moss stitch border and a stocking stitch middle.

The yarns I have used are Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran, 10ply cotton with microfibre.

This yarn makes a lovely absorbent towel or washer after the first wash through the washing machine. However, the Chamba (dark maroon) did run a little for the first week or so, although never enough to stain the pale yarn Solstice permanently, nor to mark the skin.

Having made these humble items, I find them incredibly luxurious to use. They are certainly on the list for my knitting-in-front-of-the-telly projects.

Twisted Drop Stitch Vest, Knit 7

This short sleeved cardigan from Jo Sharp Knit 7 is one of the quickest garments I have ever knit, not excepting baby clothes.

It is knit with 2 strands of yarn, one 8ply Alpaca Kid Lustre and one 8ply Soho Summer Cotton, on 10mm needles. I have made the smallest size, for my daughter who wears an Australian size 8-10, and it is quite loose on her. I am thinking of making another one and trying to size down the pattern.

I used shade Province 853 in the Kid Lustre, and Fog 250 in the cotton. I used one ball less of both yarns than called for in the pattern. A few customers have knit this cardigan, and they also used at least one ball less of each yarn for the short sleeved "vest" version, but found they needed all the balls recommended for the long sleeved version.

Daisy cardigan

I love the colour Carmen in Jo Sharp's Soho Summer DK cotton, and have been wanting to make something from it for ages.
I started to knit a sundress top for my niece, putting in some purl stitch daisies that I graphed to co-ordinate with a blue red and white Asian daisy print, but after I had knit the panel with the raised daisies, I thought it was too tall for a back bodice sundress on a 3 year old, so decided to turn it into a cargidan instead. Because I had started already, I had to write the pattern as I went along, but I am very happy with it now that the cardigan is finished, don't you love the buttons?

Now I just have to make a dress to match.

Wisp, a stole in Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair

Here is a stole I finished quite a while ago. I gave it to my mother for her birthday, and she had not got around to bringing it into the shop for photographs until last week.
The free pattern is Wisp by Cheryl Niamath, from Knitty 2007.
I have used 2 balls of Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair in colour Cranberry.

Knit 5, Eyelet Cardigan

I have just finished the eyelet cardigan from Jo Sharp Knit 5. Whilst I am happy with the final result, I did not have plain sailing with this pattern due to fitting issues. I have described these in greater detail in my notes on Ravelry, but I admit to a lot of reverse knitting and work with the calculator at the armhole and upper sleeve. This is why I have been knitting this since April - sometimes knitting has to rest in the bag for a few weeks and think about its bad behaviour.

I particularly like the eyelet finish at the neck and waist. I think this gives just enough detail at the back to make the cardigan interesting. The closer fit of the single rib below the waist also appeals to me.
I made a few changes to the pattern aside from the fitting. I made full length sleeves, and used the eyelet stitch pattern within the rib buttoning band instead of making buttonholes. I like the effect of this buttoning band very much. It needed a lot more buttons, as the eyelet pattern holes are small.

My favourite part of knitting this cardigan was the luscious texture of the alpaca silk georgette yarn. I used colour 750, Briar. I think the texture of the cardigan will make it a staple of my wardrobe.

Hannah's hand warmers

Hannah made these to use for early morning band practices at school (she plays the clarinet, saxophone and piano), and has worn them for this purpose all winter. She kindly agreed to bring them into the shop for a photo shoot, but has only just got around to it. She has just washed the hand warmers ready to put away for next year.

You may remember that Hannah only really started knitting this year. These fingerless gloves were her first project knitted in the round (double pointed needles) and her first project with a stitch pattern. This does not show up terribly well in the photo, but there is a wave stitch pattern that shows up very distinctly in real life.
The adjustments Hannah made to the pattern were to enlarge the hole for the thumb, and to make the hand portion slightly longer. Hannah thinks whoever wrote the pattern must have tiny hands.





The pattern is "Wave Hand Warmers" from "101 One Skein Wonders" edited by Judith Durant.
Hannah used one 50g ball of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in colour 128 Heather for her hand warmers. The pattern called for a 100g skein of worsted weight yarn. We think this much yarn would leave you enough for another pair. Hannah finds the Silkroad yarn very comfortable to wear, and it has washed well, with no fuzziness.

Knit 5 Sleeveless rib top

It is really warm here today, so I thought I would delay posting about Hannah's gauntlets (very warm and cosy, but a little winterish for today), and write about my purple spring weather top instead. It has been waiting in my wardrobe for 3 months after all!
This is from Jo Sharp Knit 5, and I really like it, despite the little problem I had falling into a trance during the middle single rib section and making it too long. Next time, and there will definitely be a next time, I will make the middle section a more flattering length. I am thinking of a green version.


The only changes I made this time were short row shaping across the bust, and garter stitch at the edges of the shoulder straps in order to prevent rolling in.
I knit this in Soho Summer DK Cotton, just like the pattern called for, in the gorgeous colour currant 234.

Jo Sharp Ultra Beret

My daughter needed a black beret for a recent dance performance, so I went looking for a pattern, but did not find one I liked, so I made up my own pattern for a simply cabled beret, using my favourite black yarn from the shop.

I am really pleased with how this turned out. I used Jo Sharp Ultra in 721 Nero. This is about a 12-14 ply, or category 5 yarn, so it knit really, really quickly - in one afternoon whilst also intermittently serving customers.

My daughter wore this with a black trench coat, for about 5 seconds at the start of a scene, so I don't have a photograph of it in action. Her favourite bit is the i-cord stalk at the top.

Knit 7 Origami Bolero Jacket

Here is one of our regular customers, Enid, in her Origami Bolero Jacket from Jo Sharp's Knit 7.

 

Enid prefers the jacket in its bolero incantation, to wear with jeans, but says she has some more formal wide leg black pants that she thinks will make a great outfit with the fitted cardigan direction. I am hoping to see this outfit too. Enid particularly likes the asymmetrical back of the shrug section of the jacket. She found the jacket very quick to knit.

 

Enid has used the colourway from version 1, but made long sleeves as in version 2. She did need an extra ball of SSK bisque cotton for the longer sleeves. She has a few half balls left over, and is planning a stripey knitted hat to wear with the jacket.

Jo Sharp Origami Jacket

When I first saw a preview of Knit 7 I fell in love with the Origami Bolero Jacket. I could hardly wait for the book to arrive. However, when I did get my hands on a copy, I could not instantly obtain all the colours of the original designs, so fiddled with some other colour combinations to see what I could do with this clever pattern.
My final choices for yarn were
A.Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran Cotton 667 Dew (as in pattern)
B.Jo Sharp Summer DK Cotton 256 Bisque (as in pattern)
C.Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre 857 Elderberry (pattern uses 860 Cork).
D. and F. Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette 752 Ecru (pattern 758 Devon and 751 Pebble)
E. Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette 750 Briar

I am very happy with the jacket, and think I will wear it a lot this winter. The weight of the yarn mixtures is just perfect for a subtropical winter. I made the larger size, with the full length sleeves - version 2, but used the yarn types according to version 1 (A-F yarns). I was a little concerned that the arms would be too tight on me for an outer garment, as they are fairly close fitting on the model photograph, and slim arms are not exactly my fitting problem, but found that the lace pattern stretched beautifully to make a very comfortable garment over a knit top.
I used 5.5mm needles for the lace sections, but needed to go down to a 5mm needle for the moss stitch in order to obtain the correct gauge. This is unusual for me, I tend to knit rather firmly, and more often increase needle size - so check your tension very carefully before making this jacket. This is emphasised in the pattern instructions, and I agree totally, the tension is different in this pattern.

I love the way the jacket can be worn as a cardigan or as a bolero. There are quite a few patterns around that claim the garment can be worn in different ways, but frequently one way is far superior to the other. In this pattern, I find the garment equally successful worn with either end up. This is wonderful design.

Although it is not shown in the magazine, I think a third option is to wear the jacket in the bolero direction, fastened at the front. This gives yet another sillhouette to this versatile jacket. I think the length and style of the jacket works really well with my favourite pants pattern of the moment - the Marlene trousers #105 from Burda World of Fashion Magazine August 2008. Here is a back view of the fitted cardigan option. In Knit 7 the very slim and gorgeous model has a lot of room at the back in this view, as there are not a lot of curves at the front. Those of us with more bust end up with a much better fitting cargigan at the back IMO!

Several people have bought yarn for this jacket in the last few days, after trying on mine, which is very flattering. Most people are leaning towards the version 1 colourway, but I love the deep colours in Version 2 as well.
My next project is from Knit 5 - the eyelet cardigan, as I found the silk georgette so gorgeous with which to knit.

The origami jacket was a lovely quick knit, with plenty of interest for me in the stitch pattern and colour changes.