The babies are coming….

How cute are my little honorary nieces?

Finally finished – Poetry in Motion

This is Ashley Knowlton’s lovely Poet’s Pullover, which is so named because of its lovely billowing sleeves. I used King Cole Merino DK to make this, and I have to say it’s not the greatest pure wool yarn in the world – it’s already showing a bit of pilling under the arms. But hey, at £2.50 a ball, who’s complaining?

This was an incredibly speedy knit – despite featuring 14 inches of 2×2 ribbing.

In other news, here is the lovely KJ working on her very first scarf – she’s my star knitting pupil….

(Disclaimer – this is no thanks to my teaching ability, which is somewhere close to zero!)

Finally finished: Twiggy tunic

This speedy knit is made from Adriafil Llama yarn, which is cosy, but sheds like crazy! It’s perfect for the Edinburgh weather that I’m currently enjoying – North Berwick beach is blustery in January! I couldn’t bring myself to take my coat off outside – it was that windy – so I snapped a quick pic while enjoying some hot choc in a cafe with the Mr.

The freelance life for me

Why yes, that is a gin and tonic in my hand

 

 

Cria-stmas Time

My Cria is nearly finished in time for Christmas! Sneaky peek…

Finally finished – Cadence

Oh, I love this. I used Wendy Norse Chunky (a journalist’s freebie, and actually rather nice for an acrylic blend). It’s a super-fast knit, top down and mindless. Love it!

Photo taken by the Tarr Steps, an Iron Age bridge on Exmoor. I got very excited at this (being something of an archaeology geek) and skipped cheerily across them several times, until I noticed a man on the opposite riverbank waiting for me to clear off so he could take a photo of the bridge. Whoops!

Finally finished – Owls mark II

Oh, how I love this pattern.

Knitted using yarn doubled on 5.5mm needles.
I adore this, the fit is perfect.

(Excuse the gratuitous boob shot – I just wanted to show off my owls! No, that is not a euphemism)
Mods: Smaller gauge – at least 3-4 more sts per inch than stated in the pattern
Elbow-length sleeves
Moved the back increases to the sides, while keeping the back decreases as set in the pattern – this gave me a much better fit.
Overall I’m very pleased with this – I wear it all the time and it always gets lots of compliments.

Little Green pattern is here!

You can see more photos here or buy your copy by clicking  

Super fine

I have these yummy and squishable skeins to play with, from these lovely people

The yarn is Spud and Chloe Fine, which is a gorgeous sock weight that’s 80% superwash merino and 20% silk. The sheen and squish are just glorious. What to do with them? I can see this making for some pretty lush colourwork, but I can also envision a single, luscious colour splashed across a floating expanse of lacy loveliness. We shall see…

In the meantime, I’m not sure I can bring myself to remove the adorable labels…

Carnival time

We went to the St Paul’s Carnival at the weekend – cider, adorable schoolkids dressed as lions, lovely people, giant speakers that shake the ground, getting our reggae reggae skank on, and did I mention the food?

Jerk chicken, rice and peas….

…cooked by this man. I love caribbean street food so much that I sometimes dream about it.

It’s almost impossible to replicate at home because you need to get the chicken really, really hot so the skin goes crisp and lovely. As this necessitates an enormous metal oil drum barbecue thing, it’s not really something to try in one’s kitchen. Curried goat can be done successfully a la casa – I have a friend who makes it to perfection – but it does require the procuring of a goat, which in most of the UK is easier said than done…

I promise that my next post will involve knitting!