New Bunny

Our friends Alex and Harry had a little boy a few weeks ago and this is what I gave little Benjamin:

Ben's a bit too small to appreciate him right now, but hopefully he'll grow to love him, like I do.

I made him up as I went along, using a variety of techniques, and am pleased with the final result.

You may recognise the yarn. It's Koigu KPPPM and a lot nicer in real life than photos can show (much lighter, with that magical watercolour effect I find with Koigu, plus a great sheen). It has speckles of light burgundy, dark blue, yellow and pale pink on a creamy background, though it's hard to pick them up in photos unless you're looking really closely.

Originally I made a hat for Ben to match, but wasn't happy with the way it turned out, so I made Buzbee, one of Woolly Wormhead's Creations from Wee Woolly Toppers, a copy of which I have. It's a great book, with extremely-easy-to-follow patterns and some really innovative creations. Unfortunately I completely forgot to take photos before I gave the hat away with matching booties, but the booties are exactly the same as those I made for Joshua (my own pattern), if that rings a bell (again made with Malabrigo Worsted in Stone Blue). Like with Joshua, for some reason I was certain Ben was going to be a boy, so I didn't even make anything that a girl could wear as a back-up. Lucky for me my sixth sense was correct as I can envision me having had to burn the midnight oil otherwise!

In the meantime you'll have to content yourself with more images of Bunny until I have a photo of Ben in his hat (I made the 3-6 months size so he'd have something to grow into, so photos won't be coming for a while!):

It started with an arm...

Actually that's not true. It started with a leg on a provisional cast on. There also isn't a single seam! Everything is worked in the round and stitches are picked up, so there are no awkward joins either. That's why I made this one up, so I could tailor it to my wishes. While I am more confident in mattress stitch now, having mastered it with the cardigan, I still prefer knitting everything in the round where possible.

I've been very good this week, and when not staying late at work in the evenings, have concentrated solely on the cardigan, and have not even looked at the shawl, though it's been hard; I'm really looking forward to getting back to the Aeolian. So far the back and both fronts of the cardigan are finished, and I'm giving myself tomorrow to finish the tops of the arms, so I can seam on Sunday. Then I'll move on to the pockets.

We had a great knit night at Hammersmith SNB this Tuesday. All the regulars were there. I love hanging out knitting and chatting with them all.

Can You Guess What This Is?

It's for a friend so I can't say yet, but some of you may know!

I've also got some lovely Dream in Colour for a project for one of DH's relatives. I'd better get going on it as I have that and the camel cardigan to finish before Christmas.

This is Classy in Bermuda Teal, and I'm just waiting for the go-ahead on the colour so I can get started. I'll show you the project later, when I can.

By the way, I haven't heard from the winner of the yarn giveaway yet. Rebecca, please leave a comment or email me so I can contact you for your address and send the yarn off to you.

If I haven't heard in a couple of weeks, I'll draw another number.

Til next time x

Rainbow Bear

Another little bear, this one in Koigu:

Hes's multi-coloured and speckled! Can anyone give me some advice: do you think he needs a face? Or would it look too fussy?

Close-up of the colours:

Here's the tie I made DH a couple of weeks ago:

Yes, there's a colour join (blue to grey - I ran out of the blue, but I don't think it matters). I still have to stitch in a sliver of fabric along the neck-band, so I'll show you that another time. It's basically a slightly graduated moss stitch tube with the ends sewn up, and a stockinette neck-band. I'm quite pleased with it, and DH seems to like it, but if he doesn't like the feel of angora I'll just put it on Etsy.

I thought just I'd just show you some legwarmers I made about a year ago. I've been meaning to send them to my Sister in Edinburgh, and I'm making a pair for myself now. They look very long, but they're not when they're on, as you scrunch them up.

Finally, some peonies Alex gave me when she came for lunch last week. Aren't they beautiful? The petals look like paper.

I've got Monday Knit Night at Stash tomorrow and my own group on Tuesday!

Destash: Sale or Trade

Hi,

I have 8 skeins of Koigu KPPPM P716 89 for sale or trade (I’m happy to trade for another Koigu shade or different yarn altogether).

The earthy colour is beautiful - cream background with mainly maroon/burgundy and a few dark blue speckles in it. Overall it looks cream/burgundy speckled. Please see my Stash page on Ravelry for more photos (my Ravelry name: Rowanberry).

FREE SHIPPING TO ALL WORLD!

Comes from a pet-free and smoke-free home.

I originally bought it for the Big Bad Baby Blanket in the Stitch ‘N Bitch book and it would be perfect for that (I have already made one in the P118L colourway which is quite similar).

I paid $13.50 per skein (total $108). I’m happy to sell it for $80/£50 in total. Alternatively I’ll swap for the same no. of skeins of Koigu in a different shade, or another yarn altogether.

Thanks a lot, Rowan

Aren't these fetching!

I made these this weekend. They're a very quick knit and the yarn really shows off the cables. This was my first cabling project, and easy, despite the tight knitting (in order to use one skein, as specified). I'll have to make another pair for someone with the emergency skein I have - unfortunately in the same colour. Looking at the skein I couldn't believe I would get two gloves out of it, but I did.

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath for Knitty
Needle: US 6 / 4.0 mm

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran (1 skein = 87.5 yards (80.0m)/50g) Colorway: DBRA03
Yarn purchased at: Stash, Putney

Here in Brook Green Autumn is in full swing and the rowanberries are out on our street. My favourite time of year:

I'm getting ready for Christmas too with these mini Christmas trees to hang on the real tree. Some will be off in the post to my Mum, and I'll hang the others at our house. The pattern is by Frugal Knitting Haus. I've made them in snippets of malabrigo worsted and koigu (using a much smaller needle):

Welcome!

Hi Everyone,

Yes, it's yet another knitting blog! Just to introduce myself, my name is Rowan and I hope to be posting every three to four weeks.

I'm currently working on the Big Bad Baby Blanket from the (first) Stitch 'N Bitch book. It's progressing well and I only have 44 rows to go! I'll be sad when I finish it; I've loved working with the yarn - now I know why everyone loves KPPPM. I've stockpiled a few more skeins in different colourways for future versions. I did this one in #118L, as the book says but this is very much darker and more multi-coloured than that pictured. I suppose the colours must have changed dramatically over the years, and of course as it's hand dyed it depends on the dye lot. Has anyone been able to find KPPPM in #118 that actually looks like the light colourway in the book? I'd be interested to know. After much searching online I ordered mine from the States. It was a great service and I'm very happy with the colour now that I've decided to get over the fact that it's not the same as the one in the book!

Next up is something for my Sister but I can't tell you what it is in case she reads this. However, it does involve using two strands of two different yarns throughout and promises to be fun.

Yesterday I made a pilgrimage to Stash in Putney, probably my closest, but also best, LYS. I couldn't resist getting this:





The colour is garnet, #42. I fell in love with Malabrigo when I did my first felting project. The orange in the bag below was made of Malabrigo and it felted really well. It seems such a waste to felt such beautiful wool, which literally feels like you're pulling a sheep's fleece apart when you unravel it. Does anyone else think so? What are your favourite yarns? It's also pretty extravagant, so I think I'll use this new purchase for something where you can see the fibre, perhaps Ysolda's Urchin beret.

In other news, I am known for not being able to keep houseplants alive for very long (yes, even a hardy live-through-anything cactus died), so imagine my surprise when I returned home from work on Thursday to discover this:

Yes, our chilli plant has bloomed. There are some other little buds too, and the 8 other plants look like they might bud too - there's hope for me yet. My parents gave these to us last time they stayed with us so they're a nice reminder of that visit.

By the way, I live in West London (UK) and would love to know if anyone in the Hammersmith/Shepherds Bush area wants to arrange a knitting group, perhaps in a cafe nearby.

Well, I'm off to finish the blanket - hopefully blocking it tomorrow night. I'll post a photo when it's finished. Please feel free to leave me a comment, Rowan xx