0 Comments The Baby Blue that Turned Out to be Peppermint

Funny story about some yarn now. It's been living in the stash for as long as 6 years – my mum got it when she was buying some sock yarn to make me a pair of nice Christmassy green socks back in 2009, and unlike its green-colour colleague, it never got to any use until now. Those socks were the first time my mum knit anything in ages, and I suspect it was also the last time she ever did. 

Quite frankly, I was squeamish about the baby blue colour of the yarn to use it on anything. I mean, the colour itself is fine, it was just (1) the matter of matching it with the rest of my wardrobe, and (2) there was too little of it to make anything substantial – only two 50g skeins 135m each. 

Serial knitter that I have become, I felt sorry for those sad little skeins bearing their existence in a dark box inside a cabinet, so I made it my purpose (for about 30 minutes) to find a suitable project to use them on. Pinterest to the rescue, as usual.

A cute little pattern came along called Shawlini by Kathy Kelly. It is originally from Ravelry, but I did in fact find it on Pinterest in what to my opinion is the best execution for this particular pattern in candy pink colour. It is also a crochet pattern, and I figured it would be a nice and quick project to use up the long overdue yarn.

So, I geared up with a 5.5mm crochet hook, and was at it the next free evening. And oh wonders! The baby blue yarn began transforming into pastel, almost translucent peppermint as it turned into the shawlette. For some reason, the colour appeared different from what it looked like in a skein. But hell, that was definitely more like it!

Nearly all the yarn was used, as expected, leaving minor leftovers for some cute and quick crochet gifts. The shawlette, as it turns out, is a narrow but really wide triangular scarf. In my case it is 150cm/4'9" long and 25cm/10" at the widest part inclusive of the shell ornament.

The shape like that is particularly practical when it comes to covering overcoat collars, and it also kind of eliminates the problem of doing something with loose ends – they are thin enough to tie them together and hide under the wider middle section without having a massive bump on your chest.

As per usual, it was only after I was done with it and blocking that I realised I had done something wrong. I am not a very experience crocheter [yet], so instead of using both loops to make a new row I was using back loops, which resulted in textured vertical stripes all over the shawlette. Not that it looks bad or anything, just one of those things you learn once you got to do them wrong first.

Otherwise, the pattern was very easy to read, and making it only took me a couple of evenings including the shell border. The loose stitch here will allow some air through while pure wool will be keeping the neck quite warm – perfect for those spring winds.

I have to say, the colour transformation was pretty lucky. Peppermint should be a perfect match for a lilac light wool spring coat I am currently making for myself (to be shared here once it is finished, of course). Plus it can brighten up pretty much any neutral colour, which is just the kind of spring accessory you want in your collection :)

E.V.

2 Comments Aubergine Goodness

I am tireless when it comes to knitting, it seems. Just recently I finished this ridiculously lengthy project, and guess what? I started another one the very same evening! Crazy me, I know. But I suppose I simply got too used to making something with my hands in the evenings while watching TV with family. Kind of like a newly acquired habit.

So, there goes that. Anyway, you may or may not know that one of the biggest public holidays celebrated here in Russia is approaching rapidly – the 8th of March or International Women's day. This day girls and women of all ages are being shown their appreciation in the shape of flowers, gifts and other possible goodies by their families and friends.

It is also the first holiday of spring, and generally the weather would already have started getting nicer, warmer and greener. So everybody is getting kind of hyped around that time, the happy kind, naturally. Ah, the sweet anticipation! 

Since the weather is fairly unpredictable here during mid-season, despite the spring bloom, and simply knowing that my mother loves her warmers, I chose to make her one of those cuddly rectangular shawlettes/wraps to wear at home.

This lovely "lace capelet" pattern by Tanis Gray was featured in Vogue Knitting SS2010 issue. I set my eyes on this one about a year ago, when I was doing my random pattern browsing on the Internet, and instantly knew I would LOVE to make one of those (damn these manipulative bastards with their sleek and elegant professional photographs!) And now was the perfect occasion.

I took my mum yarn shopping some time back when I was still on my cardi project, to have the yarn all good and ready by the time I was done. She picked some soft 100% wool in a lovely saturated aubergine'y colour (nearly identical to Rowan's Kid Classic in colour 835 Royal). We got a total of four 100g skeins 250m each, and I ended up using up almost precisely three skeins. 

It was a relatively fast knit, I was done with it in about a week working evenings. Patterns are very simple and are well explained, making them practically foolproof. And knitting with 5mm needles was such a treat, too!

The middle lace part and the border are knit separately and and then joined together before blocking. Gathering the two pieces was a bit tricky, mostly because of counting stitches you have to raise, and I hate doing that. I then blocked the finished capelet by gently steam ironing it, going twice on the middle section since the lace motif was stubborn and bubbly. 

A slight confusion was that despite following the guidelines precisely, the finished piece was noticeably larger than stated measures especially in width. Although in my case it turned out even better to have it that way – moar knitted cuddliness! On top of that, made from pure wool the capelet is very warm yet soft. Needless to say, my mother loved it! 

So, here goes the gift I made for my mum. I gave it to her already, because she kind of saw the whole process of making it anyway. I know it is a couple of weeks early, but I was starting it in advance in case it'd take me a while to make. So will need to buy a box of chocolates on the actual day, I suppose :)

I hope you guys like it, too! Let me know what you think in the comments ;)

E.V.

0 Comments "A Time to Reap" Mitts

As promised some time ago, I'm sharing the result of knitting some fingerless mitts from Rowan Fine Art yarn I had left from the making of Onerva shawl. I found this lovely pattern from Ravelry on Pinterest (as I would), and I instantly knew what I will be using the leftover yarn on. I followed the pattern in every step, although I did use slightly bigger needles to get the required gauge.

Knitting this model was relatively hassle-free, if you leave out the fact that it took me almost one hour and two failed attempts of knitting the first inch of it to tame the set of double-pointed needles that kept falling out and retreating under a sofa. Although it got easier after some time, I have to admit, I did not master knitting with those, as you can clearly see the ladders on all four sides of each mitt. Quite annoying. But a good thing they're symmetrical.

The pattern is probably the easiest I could pick (although quite tedious since I hate knitting large portions in stockinette stitch), but this simplicity is what attracted me to the pattern in the first place, so no complaining here. Unfortunately the miniature lace insert at the top and bottom got kind of lost in all the colours, but the mitts still ended up looking nice.

Now to the part I kind of dreaded – the thumb gusset. I agree, dreading it would be a big word to use, but since I've never faced such a task before, it felt like a big step for me. In reality it was one of the easiest things, although it did add some volume to the stockinette part. The funniest part was knitting the tiny thumb with only 6-7 stitches on each of the three remaining needles – it turned out looking like a tiny mushroom!

Thumb gusset

Again, since it was my first ever attempt, there can be seen some ladders around the gusset. Well, I'm sure that with these things practice makes perfect, and that in time I will master the art of knitting with perfect tension throughout!

Just like in the original pattern, they come quite high up the arm and are slightly slouchy in the wrist, which creates that effortless comfort look. They work (and look) perfect with 3/4 or half-sleeve tops, keeping the arms fully covered in those colder days and giving them an extra layer under the coat. The fitting is also rather elegant to be able to leave them on indoors where there is no requirement to appear formal. 

Here, I hope you liked them! Take care for now.

E.V.

0 Comments The Crown Jewel

Hello again! It's Christmas time! And although in Russia we do not celebrate catholic Christmas, it has become a lovely and heart-warming habit of mine after living in the UK. 

Don't you just love it when everything lights up in bright colours all around, when Christmas markets come to town where they serve you piping hot street foods, caramel apples and mulled wine? Mmmmm... I sure do!

And I do love the hassle of picking-buying/making-wrapping-and-delivering gifts to their respective recipients. I am an enthusiast gift-giver, so it is possibly my most favourite part of the whole annual Christmas fever. 

This year I bought rather than made most of the presents and postcards (ironically enough, I enjoyed being able to send out a few this year since I am away). But when nearly all of them were already wrapped and ready to go under a Christmas tree, I found this delightful crochet pattern which I simply HAD to make.

The tutorial is in Dutch (mind that I don't speak a word of it), but the pictures are pretty self-explanatory, and it is quite easy to pick up the required number of stitches from the text. 

I made the crowns a bit more festive-looking by heavily 'bejewelling' them with sparkly seed beads and sequins I got stashed from another project I never got to finish. I put them both on brooch pins I got from John Lewis' crafts department, which have neat little holes in them for easier sewing.

I got so excited while making them that I completely missed out on the opportunity to take a few snaps of the actual process, and this is literally the only picture I have of them before they were added to the other presents. But that shouldn't be much of a problem, because you can see the final result fairly well.

One of these would look adorable on a blazer lapel, a chunky-knit cardigan, a comfy turtle-neck, and even on a winter hat if you truly aim for some royal feel one of these days! 

E.V.

P.S. Will definitely make one for myself! <3

0 Comments The Wedding Gift | Imported Post

I resurrected my deleted blog for the sole purpose of exporting this post about a crochet throw I made as a wedding gift for my friend this summer. Luckily, it hasn't been 90 days since I deleted it, so all the lovely pictures of the throw from various angles are safe and sound. Plus, it did save me some time on re-writing the entire post. Although I did some minor editing to the original text, like cutting the now out-of-context intro and tweaking some sentences to sound better:

"Here's to the oh-so-expected celebration of my classmate's wedding which I attended back in August and the gift I brought.

Considering that this was the first wedding I ever attended, the decision of what to give as a gift was not an easy one for me. Starting from the beginning I didn't want to give money (although it is a fairly common option) as I thought I could come up with something a little more personal. Traditionally (I suppose not only in Russia), the wedding gift should be something to better the just established household of the newlyweds. For instance, in Soviet times a set of good quality bed linens would be a great option. Now that things like that are not as hard to come by, one needs to be a bit more creative.

One of the older Burda Style magazines had a nice crocheted throw in it, and I thought to myself "how hard can it be?" Crocheting should take less time than knitting something this size, and I'm a fast knitter anyway... Well, long story short, "to add a little creativity into the gift" turned out to be "spending a month making it every single day with no exception". 

The throw is a mosaic made out of 8x6 square motifs sewn together, and finished off with a crocheted frill all around as below. Less than halfway through, I decided to 'cheat' a little by reducing the number of squares and making the throw 7x5 squares instead. Good thing that due to the thicker yarn each motif was already slightly bigger, so the end result turned out to be of roughly the same measurements as initially planned. 

Good thing I cheated, because I was literally finishing, blocking and wrapping it only few hours before I had to catch my train to Riga. 

The finished throw turned out quite large and cozy, and frankly, I would make one of my own if I wasn't so sick of it towards the end. The colour, I felt, was ideal for this piece, and thus it was well worth waiting for a week for just enough yarn in this colour to be delivered to the store. 

It was very good to know that my friend was actually looking for something of the kind for their new place, so the gift definitely served its purpose very well."

I do hope you like it! Making it had its ups and downs, but overall I'd say I enjoyed the process. What I enjoyed even more though, is the fact that the friend who got it still to this time drops an occasional compliment saying how she likes it and how well it fits their place. Conclusion - the goal of giving something memorable was achieved!

E.V.

0 Comments Onerva | My First Shawl Project

As I have probably mentioned somewhere before (or maybe it was in my old blog which ceased to exist by now...), I had spent the last six years living happily in the UK, and it just so happened that I had to return to Russia just before the Summer start this year. 

During the period from August to mid-November the longest I have stayed in one place was literally 10 days. These few months were busy and, frankly, quite exhausting, both physically and mentally. Since then I've been staying put here in Moscow, and although I did manage to catch quite a few pleasant autumn days, soon enough the harsh reality that was waiting just around the corner became apparent: the Russian Winter is coming... (GoT pun intended)

I faced one major problem with the first negative temperatures outside - I have no winter warmers appropriate for Russian weather! When I say appropriate I mean warm and manageable. Especially since you have to keep taking it off and putting it back on again when you go in and out of premises/transport. And, preferably something that wouldn't completely ruin my hair, and here is where the shawl part comes in.

The idea of knitting a triangular shawl has haunted me for some time now, and I finally got a solid excuse to do it! In this particular case I was finding a pattern specifically for the yarn I already had in abundance, the lovely Rowan Fine Art in colour Raven (just over one full skein). After a brief search on Pinterest I found the beautiful yet simple Onerva shawl which had both the desired gauge and just the right amount of lacy-ness. 

The shawl was completed in about a week, which is not at all long for such a project. The knitting went quite smoothly with only a couple of spots I had to rectify (mostly resulting from my own negligence), and the pattern was rather intuitive too, which meant little concentration on counting stitches. And, after casting off and blocking this lovely lace - here it is! 

Love how you can see the colour transition through the pattern!

The only problem with it is that I expected to use up most of the yarn by the end of this project since I kind of wanted to get rid of it. In fact I only used a half of what I had! Well, some of the 'leftovers' went towards a lovely Christmas gift for one of my friends (not going to reveal what it is just yet :p ), and whatever is left looks to be just enough for these lovely fingerless mitts with a very poetic pattern name "A Time to Reap", which I will show you as soon as they are finished and I manage to take a few nice shots of them ;)

E.V.