Friday 31 October 2014

A month in knitting: October 2014

All done!  
 Baby blankets
In an attempt to use up some stash yarn I've been making some tiny baby blankets (20 inches/50 cm square) for Norfolk and Norwich Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (N&N NICU), and this month have cast off one Attic 24 neat ripple in white and yellow stripes. It's so cheery, and the ripples are really easy once you've memorised the pattern. An excellent tv/nursing project.


I've also finished a Shadow Box Throw in yellow, again for N&N NICU. Working it made me hungry as the colour so closely matches potato waffles. I love the texture of this one, and that it's made from one colour means very few ends to darn in!



Granny's Favourite
An old school-friend had a baby girl at the start of September, and as I enjoyed knitting my daughter's merino Granny's Favourite so much, I decided I would knit one for her too. Not quite so luxurious, it's knitted in James C. Brett Top Value DK, but it is machine washable, and cleared a little space in the cupboard. The shade of purple is one of my favourites, and knitting clothes for children under a year is speedy, so it was a very satisfying project.


Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret
I love this pattern, and this is the fourth I've knitted. It'll be a Christmas present for someone (I won't give any clues here, just in case she's reading), but was actually meant as a present for last year, oops. I found it in a cupboard when I was looking for something else, halfway through a round with no indication of where the round starts. No idea why I left it, I had fewer than ten rounds left. It's done now and I am as pleased with it as I was with the first three!


Pumpkin hat
A pumpkin hat for my daughter for autumn/Halloween. I've already blogged about it here.



Work(s) in progress  
Well, there's the wedding blanket (for more on that, see this post). It's making good progress, but work on it is restricted to when I'm at home as I'm a third of the way through and it's no longer portable!

Another Star Crossed Slouchy Beret. This one is purple and I'm pretty sure it's for me (although I know a lot of other worthy recipients who would love the colour, so that may change). I've actually finished it, but it needs blocking before I can cross it off the list.

A slouchy hat that I've been attempting to design for a bit. It's washed and blocked, but has stalled while I decide whether it needs a pom pom.

A third Granny's Favourite. It's in the same purple as the previous one, but in 12-18 months as a present for another friend; this pattern is definitely becoming a favourite!

A Christmas stocking for a friend's daughter. The stocking features lots of stranded colourwork and will certainly get its own blog post soon.

In out, shake it all about
In September I decided that it was time to knit down the stash a little as it was starting to take over, so am trying not to buy any more yarn until at least Christmas (not that I've managed!)...

In
  • 100 g Erica Knight for John Lewis DK, 100% wool; one ball in navy, one in cream. Nice and woolly, I'll be turning this into a cowl, hopefully in time for a friend's Christmas present, if not it'll have to be for her birthday in February
  • 1200 g Hayfield Bonus Aran to finish a blanket for a friend's wedding present, one ball each in Neon, Royal and Aran White
  • 100 g Sirdar Supersoft Aran in cream to use with some red I have in the cupboard for something festive
  • 400 g Drops Alaska for a Christmas stocking for a friend's daughter. More on that later!
  • 400 g Women's Institute aran in a lovely shade of turquoise - it's hopefully going to be turned into some hats for Christmas
  • Total in: 2200 g
Out
  • Neat ripple: 150 g
  • Shadow box: 184 g
  • Granny's favourite: 74 g
  • Star-crossed slouchy beret: 62 g
  • Pumpkin hat: 36 g
  • Gifts from stash (cheating I know, but other people had more use for it than I do): 100 g James C. Brett Pure Merino in purple; 100 g Jawoll Magic
  • Total out: 706 g
Total: + 1494 g
Better get working on that blanket so the numbers look better next month!

Aims for November
  1. Finish the Christmas stocking
  2. Get beyond the two-thirds mark on the wedding blanket
  3. Knit 3 hats for presents 
  4. Knit solely from stash...



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