Hayley

So.

This is what I came up with to compliment my 4! Ounce! Challenge! Handspun.

Called her "Hayley", because the idea was conceived whilst on a beach in Hayle, watching all 3 of my beautiful boys having the time of their lives in the sea.

Now, as you know, I test knit hats for the venerable WoollyWormhead, and I have to say I was a bit worried that this looked a lot like one of hers, but when you have a friend who is one of the most innovative hat designers ever, it'd be hard not to design something totally different.

I am not really a pattern designer, but when I do dip my toes in to the arena, I do it with care.

This hat flew out of my brain and onto the needles, no question, the yarn knew what it wanted to be.

It is my design, 100%, as it was designed for the yarn I spun from scratch.

It does translate over to millspun, as I test knitted it twice with some Radiance I took with me on holiday, but they don't drape and shine like this one does. They don't have the uniqueness of pure inspiration this one does.

I'll be writing the pattern up over the next week or so, as my deadline to be eligible to be a player for nice prizes is the end of September.

It'd be nice to win a prize, don't get me wrong, everyone likes to win something and be recognised for their work...but I took part in this challenge for me.

To see if I could do something like this, from start to finish, without having to invent some elaborate wimping out excuse and then hide for a while so peeps could forget I said I'd do something when I couldn't ;)

HaHa....that's me...I am an artist you know, dahhhling ;)

"BudgieBoo" Guimauve

I have wanted to make this hat since WoollyWormhead's book "Going Straight" was first published, but never quite had the perfect yarn for it.



I spun this yarn a month or so ago, and it's perfect for the modular, sideways design. There's meant to be ten panels in it, but because of my gauge and the fact I used handspun instead of Twilleys of Stamford Freedom Spirit DK, it would have been way too big. I knit the medium size first, and that came out too big at 8 panels, so I frogged (sobs) and made the small instead.....

Doodie-tastic

A friend of mine needed a little boost recently, so I made her a "Doodie" out of a skein of Radiance. "Doodie" is a pattern from WoollyWormhead's Wee Woolly Toppers Children's Hats Book....really easy to size up for an adult, in fact all I did was change the yarn..... :)


I was so in love with the style, I made one for me too, out of some handspun :) No bobble on mine though, bit of a crown decrease FAIL......lolz.....

Earth Mother Lacy Baktus

Okay, so I wasn't happy with the way the Triangular Prayer Shawl turned out when I'd finished it, it really wan't big ehough, so I frogged/knit a Lacy Baktus straight from it.
I am so pleased with it.......its really beautiful.

Prayer Shawl progress

Making good progress on my "Eath Mother" shawl...
One more skein to go......
**grins**

Arm twisting........

A customer emailed me to ask if I'd come out of the Woolly Wilderness just one last time......
I am rather pleased with the results......
**grins**

One sock down........

Woohoo!!!

Am well chuffed with it, and I had loads of yarn left out of the half I set aside for it :) I do like the solid purple trim though, and it is really stretchy too.

Knitterly content :)

Finally got around to knitting up my "Ode to Vincent" 3 ply handspun. Woollywormhead has used her half of the yarn, and said it looked lovely in reverse stocking stitch/garter stitch, so I followed her lead and knit one of her hats, Dulcie, from her book "Going Straight" :)

Its a really good fit, and has a wonderful drape!!! I started another straight away, for a neighbours daugher, and I'm just grafting it together now.....well not right now but its nearly finished anyway :)

Have been missing my wheel a lot since we've been so busy, so I am dedicating tonight to a new spinning project :)

Okaaaay...so I made another hat :)

I've been wanting to knit this one for a long time, ever since I got to try the test knit of it on at Woolfest 2007.... its from WoollyWormhead's Book Going Straight and it's called Rainbow Warrior......
I've finally got to knit it as part of a Ravelry Forum Knit-a-long......and I am so pleased with it!! I knit it with some gorgeous squooshy handspun I bought from Kari (Up the Mud Creek) on etsy especially for this project....as she designs her yarn especially to do the job of striping wonderfully :) Perfect for this hat!

I'm in The Green Parent, again!!!

The lovely Nic texted me today to say she'd seen my woollies in The Green Parent again...and then she sent this pic over to me!!! I've included a picture of the original woollies, which are now owned by Nyree Dawn of Bums and Roses
They look great, and of course, they are number 1..... **grins** hehehehe

Knitterly content :)

There's been a severe lack of knitterly content over the last month hasn't there, its all been about shameless self promotion :D

Here's some custom woollies I have finished over the last week or so.....yeah I know.....nothing for me.... **sighs**

Double Frill Crops

I am so please with how these have turned out.... I've never tried doing a double frill on the leg cuffs before!!! They are a little heavier than a standard pair of crops, because of the extra yarn used...but that will help with the drape :) I used DK for this very reason....a double cuff on an aran pair would have made them very heavy.

I had 100g of Merino/Alpaca DK in ivory, and the same again in pink.....and I dyed them both identically and then changed colour, throughout the garment, every 9 rows. This helps avoid pooling, and just generally makes the colour scheme a little more interesting :)

Floribunda Stuffienappy Set

Finished the woollies last night......I am really pleased with the leg cuffs!!!

Some knitting content....albeit work ;)

The top pair are for my skill swap, in a Large size. The yarn knitted perfectly to gauge...... :D They are off to the U S of A tomorrow, plus 200g of my handspun base yarn :)

The bottom two pairs are both in the "Rose Garden" colourway, and are a custom order from the website....

Very pleased with them all.....***grins***

Zooped.......again!!!!

Mrs Alfabette Zoope and I have done a skill swap again.....I bought the shirt and sent it over to her, and this is what she's done with it!!!! Its amazing, and I am SOOOOOOOO excited!!! Bought special sheep buttons for it and everything....yeah, i know.....sheep and skulls......odd combo ;)

I am spinning some BFL and Corriedale up to make a white and cream base yarn, then I'm going to dye it up and knit her little girl some shorts....

Thats my mission for this weekend....to finish spinning it!!!

Cable Twist Handspun beanie

I am really pleased with it, the yarn has striped beautifully....exactly the effect I was looking for when I spun Guinevere up. I have used the cable twist pattern in quite a few projects now, and it works well with either plain or variegated yarn.....

I just want it to be cold so I can wear it!!!!

Big Pants!!!!

Dyed with food grade dyes.....both XL :)

Dan's Hat!!!

An extremely quick knit.....finished it in about 3 hours :)
Dan loves it, and the yarn was a joy to knit with, and the colours are great.....

Enchanted Forest

This is one of my new colourways.....and I just had to see how it knitted up for myself.....so I used the last of my Organic merino and dyes 150g of the variegated and a 50g black trim. I am so pleased with them....!!!

They will be in my Instock shop tonight, hopefully :)