French Press Slippers

They're finished!

In Malabrigo Worsted, Forest. Extremely quick, and the pattern's very well written, so easy to follow.

Josh's Hat

Remember this? Josh's Mum Sara texted me a photo of him in his hat this week. Looks like he's one happy boy. What a handsome little guy. Gotta love that Malabrigo.

Gentle Rose is going well, and it's very fast. I'm up to the armholes in just a week. Planning on finishing the back and two fronts by the end of the weekend, then it's on to the sleeves.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I have knitted all three parts together. And yes, those of you who know me will realise immediately that this is to avoid seaming! My reasons are two-fold: A, with a little modification and calculation, it's easier and quicker; and B, there are no visible or feel-able seams whatsoever, so it looks and feels better. It's a winner all-round!

There's a nice moss stitch border at the bottom (love a good moss edge; it flattens, doesn't curl and the texture is always great), plus a lovely cable edging at the front. I haven't done cables for ages, and have really loved getting back into them. They're so much easier than you think they're going to be, so if you're in any doubt, take it from me, and try it.

Winter roses from when Julia came over the other night. I love roses with a tinge of pink or red at the edge...

Little Joshua's Gifts

Little Joshua arrived two weeks ago and we went over to give his parents, our good friends, his pressies:


Booties from my own pattern:

An Umbilical Cord Hat:

And a little bear, complete with matching scarf:

Joshua may be too little for them at the moment, but he'll soon grow into them.

I'm back!

Sorry for the long delay, but I've been busy.

What with finishing lots of Christmas presents (my poor family members!), designing some projects of my own which I have called the Ripple Collection (the three russet-hued items below - check out my Etsy) and managing to squeeze in a break in Cornwall, I've been pretty busy.

Here's a glimpse of the last six weeks in photo's:

The mittens below are from the pattern by the eminently talented Malin.

Our week in Cornwall was wonderful. After my poor DH's spate of working til 2am and doing all-nighters at the office it was great that he downed tools and let me whisk him away down to the farthest, most south westerly point in the country.

The rugged landscape, stormy seas and little harbour villages really moved me, and I was inspired to pick up the needles. Look out for the Cornish Collection. Coming soon....

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