Brown baby vest

I am not blogging much these warm days, but have been knitting quite a bit. This vest was started way back in January, but disappeared for a while in my knitting basket. My needle and yarn preferences have changed a lot the last year, to thinner and thinner favourites, but knitting with 3 mm needles still is a bit too much for me. I love the result, but not the process. Luckily childrens garments are so small that I manage to finish them anyway. And this vest is incredibly soft, stretchy and non-itchy. The magic of alpaca wool!

The pattern is from the danish book Kæk og klassisk børnestrik by Lene Holme Samsøe, and won`t be the last pattern I knit from this book. It has a lot of great looking childrens patterns in a variety of yarns. This vest has great fit, and has already been worn several times by my daughter. I made the edgings in a contrast colour, which is less bright than in the pictures. I originally wanted to use orange, to give it a 70`s retro feel, but didn`t have any orange yarn in my stash. All in all I am happy, and think this will see a lot of wear.

Pattern: Feminin rib by Lene Holme Samsøe

Yarn: Thin alpaca from Du store alpaca

Needles: 3 mm

Yarn used: 75 grams

Size: 2 years

Ravelled here

Pretty in pink?

I am not very fond of pink, but I can live with the darker pinks. So when I saw this poncho in a Drops magazine, I knew I had to make it once. The yarn has been lying around for ages, but I never got around to actually make it. Until now. It just took four days to knit this, and one evening to do the finishing. The poncho is knitted in the round with three threads of thin alpaca yarn in different colours, so it is a breeze to make it. Very fast, very soft. 

I haven`t been able to make modelled photos of this yet, I think I will wait until I have finished the matching crocheted hat (ran out of yarn and am waiting for more). This is a free pattern from Garnstudio, and I absolutely recommend it. The only change I did, was to use brown yarn instead of the suggested green. 

Pattern: Poncho with hat from Garnstudio

Yarn: Thin alpaca from Du store alpakka, bright pink, dark pink and brown.

Yarn for edgings: Easy from Sandnes garn

Needles: 6 mm

Yarn used: 240 grams

Size: 3/4 years

Ravelled here

Lazy spring

It seems like spring has a bad influence on my blogging. I have knitted though, and this hat was finished many weeks ago. It is a pattern many have made before me - Felicity. A well written and easy pattern, which gives a great fit. I did a couple of modifications, I started with a k1p1 rib instead of stockinette, and used 5 mm needles to make it fit my big head. It worked out perfectly. The yarn is leftovers from 3 different skeins of Noro Silk Garden, I think they matched just fine. A soft hat which has seen a lot of wear already.

Pattern: from Knitology, ravelled here

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden

Colourway: different leftovers

Needles: 5 mm (4.5 mm for the ribbing)

Yarn used: 100 grams

Cute cushions

When I started seeing these pin cushions in different blogs and Ravelry, I couldn`t resist making some too. I used the pattern from Liselottes blog (in danish) and quickly made three out of leftovers in my stash. The pin cushions are a great way to use leftover yarn, and also make qute little gifts for crafting friends. I have given away two and kept one, but might make more of these later. 

The pattern is simple: you crochet two hexagons, crochet them together and fill them with stuffing before they`re closed. The best thing about this: you don`t have to weave in any ends, you can just tuck them on the inside.

If you`re interested in reusing materials, you can do like me and fill the pin cushions with otherwise useless yarn. I keep a bag in my knitting basket, and put all left over yarn and yarn ends in it. When I need stuffing I can use it - no wool wasted! 

Modified hat

Another quick project which was done in a couple of evenings. A friend of mine started to make these hats for her kids, from their own design wishes. They wanted a baggy hat with a big pompon. Since I`m neither very young nor very cool anymore, I decided to go for a tight version without pompons.

I found this combination of yarns to be quite smart - and a great stash busting idea. I often find that yarns with multiple colours look a lot better in the skein than knitted. But this was a good way to show the colours in a more subtle way. To make the hat almost windproof, I used 4,5 mm needles and cast on 51 stitches. I continued in seed stitch until the hat was almost done, and then knitted 2 together evenly spread around the hat a few rounds.

Pattern: Improvised, based on a friend`s idea.
Yarn: Mirasol Sulka - colourway 204 cocoa
and Mirasol Hacho - colourway 300 tutti frutti

Yarn used: 100 grams

Needles: 4,5 mm

Ravelled here

Easy fun

This shawl is dead easy, and a perfect thing to knit when your mind is busy with other things. After finishing my first shawl I had to start another one with a colourway of Evilla that has been lying around for a long time. I don`t know what`s with me and itchy yarns, I love both Evilla and Lopi. Maybe it`s because I don`t itch easy, or because itchy wool garments remind me of my childhood (I grewup with sheep close by).

Pattern: Sjal x 1926 by Kathrine Gregersen
Yarn: Evilla art yarn 6/2
Colourway: A-3
Yarn used: 100 grams
Needles: 5,5 mm

French connection

It`s been way too long since my last blog post - it`s been a busy spring time up north. Let me start by praising this french knitting magazine I just discovered. Previously I have bought a couple of issues of Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits and Knit1. Nice magazines with interesting articles, but the majority of the patterns didn`t really appeal to me. Too feminine, too much lace, flowers, cables, drape and ruffles. Nice on others, but just not my style.

Phildar is something completely different, and I totally love it! No flowers, lace, ruffles or cables (well, actually there is one). Just plane, simple designs with cool shapes. Feminine garments, but in a different way. Suddenly I could relate to the magazine I was reading (but don`t expect much to read in this magazine, it contains nothing but knitting patterns).

It is thanks to Sharon in Canada that I discovered Phildar. I fell instantly in love with her Forest Bell sweater (Flickr here and Ravelry here). With her help I found the homepage of the magazine and ordered the english version right away. Now I just need to finish my WIPs and decide what yarn to use for the sweater...