Jennie's Class Headband

Whilst I am an inveterate out of season knitter, and have just finished something enormous, of 12 ply alpaca, with cables (it has to be mysterious, as it may end up as a pattern in a magazine, how exciting!), other people are much more sensible about warm weather knitting.
Here is Jennie's headband, her own pattern, made from the light, viscose-cotton blend of Aslan Trends Class.



Had I considered such a clever project, I would have thought that Class would be a little too slippery for a headband, but Jennie finds that the elasticity of stocking stitch is sufficient to hold the band in place, and the slight slipperiness means that the band does not grab at her hair.

The Anita wrap

Some time ago, I wrote a pattern with my mother, so that she could knit a wrap inspired by one my sister had seen in an expensive boutique in the Dandenongs. The wrap turned out fabulously well, and because my sister will be getting the original wrap, I wanted one too. Unfortunately, I had to knit it myself (are you reading this Mum?).


With great luck, I have managed to make one that I like even better than my sister's - and she has to wait for hers until her birthday. I feel sibling superiority (are you reading this Anita?). It is a bit sad that I have not grown out of enjoying this feeling. :)

I have been able to wear the wrap a few times, even though I knit it in Spring, which is usually far too hot for luscious mohair and alpaca.

I knit the wrap from Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed and Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair. I am writing up the pattern for the shop - it looks simple, and ended up being easy to knit once I worked out the kinks, but picking the right tension and the right combination of yarns to get the texture I wanted took a lot of test knitting. I love this wrap. I think I will knit another one in a different yarn combination.

Jan's Regia socks

Jan has been on a sock mission lately. She has knit several pairs, but I am having a hard time persuading her to bring them in for Show and Tell. I strongly suspect that they are snapped up by the recipients before she has a chance to let us admire them.


This pair is for her lucky granddaughter. The yarn is Regia sock wool by Kaffe Fassett, 4254 Mirage, which has beautiful subtle earthy colours. For some strange reason this photograph looks rather blue on my computer monitor, in real life imagine a more purple and brown tone.

Jan has used an older pattern for her socks, she thinks it is an Heirloom pattern, but has been using it for so long that the origin is a bit of a mystery. I love the knit1 purl 3 rib, it looks terrific and is snug yet stretchy.

Stitch Bliss, Gympie, Queensland, Australia. We love knitting, wool, yarn and stitching.

Green Beret

Recently we held one of our Next Step Knitting classes at the shop. It was great fun, although unfortunately, I forgot to take photographs of the finished objects.
Except, of course for my finished object. I knit along with the class to demonstrate different techniques in the pattern.


This yet another version of my cable beret pattern. I have used Shade #710,Cardomon Silkroad Ultra for this one, I love this colour. I am now fancying a co-ordinating scarf for next winter.

Quick knitting

My niece turned 4 last week. I had bought her a book, my stand by present, but I really wanted to make her something.

I hunted through the stash, and found 2 balls of powderpuff in a colour I am sure should be called "4-year old pink". I am not a huge fan of powderpuff, but it is soft, machine washable, and I had some, which made it quite attractive all of a sudden. I knit two strands together on 7mm needles, and this garter stitch scarf took less than two hours.
Sometimes making a gift takes less time than shopping.

Baby Blanket in Baby Bamboo

When I came into the shop the other day, I saw this new display by Sharon.


(I told you she was keen on baby things right at the moment)

It is made from Sirdar Baby Bamboo shade 155, Limey. This shade is not on the website shop yet, but I will have it up soon.



The pattern is simple, but the stitch changes give it lovely texture and make the blanket interesting to knit.



The pattern book is Baby Bamboo Too, 346

Moorland Lass Pam

I was all set to show you Sharon's baby bamboo blanket today, but Pam visited me this morning to show me her Moorland cardigan. She is feeling shy and asked for a headless shot, which is a real pity, as she is very happy with this project, and her lovely smile shows it! .




Pam bought this pattern and yarn a little while ago, planning to use it whilst she was travelling to West Australia. However, she knitted it up so quickly that she was able to wear the cardigan through almost the entire 3 week trip, but unfortunately had left herself nothing to knit. She told me that she and her friend had to knit one end each of her friend's project. (I think she was joking). Personally, I am always quite worried that I will run out of knitting whilst I am travelling, and take several balls of yarn "just in case". I think it is a bit like packing food for a picnic - far better to come home with left overs than to not have enough whilst you are out enjoying yourself. :)



The pattern is Moorland Lass, design F from Crofter 349. It is clever of Pam to have spotted this gem of a pattern in the book, as it is practically hidden - no big photo in the book, and not even pictured in the small photos on the back of the cover.
Pam chose colourway 60 - Loganberry, of the Sirdar DK Crofter for her cardigan.