The Sunday Yarn - 21 February 2021

It's been two days over four years since my last Sunday yarn post - wow!  As knitting is something I'm doing regularly these days, and plan to get through a good amount of this year, I expect to have a fair few update posts on how projects are going.  If yarncrafts aren't your thing, please feel free to just skip this post.  I know not everyone is interested in knitting or making clothes in general.

Today I'd like to share the completion of a long knitting project.  This first photo I took of this jumper was date stamped 26 November 2019 and it was finally completed last month, in late January 2021.  I wasn't working on it all that time.  In fact, there was a long break between what you can see here and taking it back up in either late April or early May of 2020 after we'd moved and I'd completed all those chunky knits you may have seen in my 2020 Needlecrafts Review post.   There was another break late autumn when I had some pain in my shoulders.

Once I'd exercised that out so that I could knit comfortably again, I finished it up as soon as I reasonably can (when you consider I had 8 needlework projects on the go at one point!) and now it's in use.  I'm happy to say that Sir was wearing it this morning.

Knit in Wendy wool blend aran from a Hayfield Bonus Aran pattern downloaded from Lovecrafts.com  When I got it, it was free, but later appeared for sale.  You may be able to still get hold of s free copy if you're interested in making one yourself.  The sizes go from child to men's, with a choice of V necked, round necked and collared versions.

I've already begun a soft mulberry pink, round necked one for me. :)  More on that in a future Sunday post.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2021

The Sunday Yarn - 19 Feb 2017

At the moment, I have a virus - possibly a touch of the 'flu, so I'm not getting much embroidery done.  However, I have been able to do a decent amount of knitting and I wanted to share the results with you this afternoon.

First of all, I've completed all the knitting on a new baby project, the cream cardigan above.  It needs a bit of a press, some buttons and some embroidery now.  The arms seem a little too long to me, but it might also be that they're a bit 'thin'.  The pattern said to use size 6 (5mm) needles with the DK yarn, but I found it a bit too loose, so used size 8's (4mm).

The sample here is me having a go at cabling using an on-line tutorial I found last night.  I changed direction twice (to see how it worked), thus the odd look about it.  I also used up an old 4 ply yarn on this, so that was good. ☺  Always pleased to use up odds and ends.

And I'm almost at the end of my first ball of yarn on my scarf.  I wish I'd use another 10-20 stitches in this one so that it'd be wider, but I'm certainly not starting again now!  It'll be fine in use and will be long enough to layer up.

Next, apart from the finishings on the two recent baby knits, will be making a start on the full size things for me! ☺  I'll be using mostly chunky yarn, so it'll be similar to knitting a baby garment in 4 ply.  The 4th thing I have in mind to do for me is for super chunky, so even quicker and easier!  My mum's ordered a waistcoat using the oddments of chunky yarn too, so shouldn't have much in the way of bits and pieces hanging around afterwards.

Back to embroidery tomorrow and, all being well and I'm able to edit a post in time, there'll be some more detail on the silver thread work on the wedding dress project.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2017

The Sunday Yarn - 5 Feb 2017

How long is it since I last wrote a Sunday Yarn post?  A long time, methinks.  Perhaps for some of the baby projects last year?

I have two pregnant friends again (different ones from last year) and I'm also planning to enter the knitting categories in one or more shows this coming summer, so I'll be keeping my knitting needles busy as well as my embroidery ones.

As you can see from the photo of the blue cardigan above, I've worked my 'go-to' baby girl pattern again - I think this will be the 5th time now, but the first in a premature size.  The Otley Show has a class 'specially for baby jackets to go to the local premature baby unit, so I wanted to join in. ☺  I got some lovely, pure cotton yarn for this one.

Below is my 60% worked, rather narrow, bright pink scarf.  The yarn for this one is wonderfully soft too - 50% cotton and 50% bamboo.  It's done in double stocking stitch and will be for me.  Mum gave me a pair of bright pink gloves and so I decided to knit a scarf to go with them.

Last, but not least, we have the two bigger patterns I bought the other day with some of the yarn to work them in.  The jumper/sweater (on the right) is in a girls' size rather than adults', but I'm sure I can size it up OK.  I bought the same yarn as seen on the photo for that one, and another one I really liked to work the other one in.  I might even make two of those - do another in black.  We shall see.

More updates when I've more progress to share.

Back to embroidery tomorrow.  I only write yarncrafts posts on occasional Sundays - my blog isn't changing direction.☺)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2017

Finished the Pink Baby Cardy

I finished the knitting part of the cardy yesterday morning and did the embroidery part today.  The buttons are a bit too big, to be honest, but they can be squeezed through the buttonholes eventually!!  I sewed them on with yellow pearl #5 thread in order to make a flower centre look.

Here's a close-up of the embroidered part.

The frustrating part now is that I had worked hard to get it done in time to take to my dentist tomorrow morning when I was to go for the second part of a treatment needing two sessions.  I got a call this morning to say she'd actually had the baby over the weekend (so I daresay a 0-3 months size would have been OK!!) and, not only does my poor tooth have to wait another fortnight to be sorted out fully (owww!), but I don't know how I'm meant to get the cardy to new mum!  I plan to drop it in at the surgery tomorrow and ask any of her colleagues who are going to visit to take it with them....

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Knitting again....

OK, it's no longer Sunday anywhere on the planet, but I thought I'd just quickly share this with you as I haven't a suitable update on my stumpwork dragonfly.  Basically, I made a mess of the first needlelace wing and couldn't quite get the hang of the body, so I put it on one side for a little while and got on with another baby cardy - this time for my dentist whose having a little girl very soon.  The poor lady has had to put up with me a lot recently, and it's not over yet - I still have another treatment a week on Wednesday, so I thought I'd make a little something for her baby.  Besides, I've rather missed knitting...

This won't be unfamiliar to anyone whose been reading my blog for a few months as it's the same pattern as I've already worked in white and pale green for another baby.  I decided to work this one again as it was relatively quick and easy and, as I want to be able to hand it over when I have the next lot of treatment, speed was of the essence. What you see in the photo here was all done between Wednesday mid-afternoon and Sunday evening, although I don't think I got much done on Saturday.  I did loads yesterday afternoon and evening - from finishing the first sleeve, through the whole of the second to almost completing the first of the fronts!

I plan to look for white flower buttons in town later on and to do some embroidery on it similar to the first, white set that I did a few months ago.  This time I've plumped for the 3-6 month size as the other baby was so big at birth that the 0-3 month was already too small for her!  She's now about 4-5 months and is well into 6-12 month clothes in width, if not in length. I've never seen such a fat baby!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

The Sunday Yarn - 31 March 2013

Here is my latest baby knit finish, very likely 'the last in the present series', i.e. until any other babes are in the offing!!

I put off and put off doing the neckline edge on this one as the pattern stated to do the whole thing on one, straight needle, but I couldn't see that being possible as it would stretch the small space at the button band dreadfully.  So, I bought a 60cm circular needle and used that instead.  It took a while to get used to it and it still stretched a lot (I should have used a 40cm one, it seems), but I managed it in the end and the whole things was finished late this last week.

Below is a close up showing the yarn and the knitted fabric more clearly.

So, I don't know when my next yarncrafts post will be, but I think the next project will be to make myself a warm wooly, esp as patterns using the thicker yarns seem to require about the same amount of stitches and rows as a baby cardy in double knitting!!  I need to get hold of suitable materials and take it from there.

I'm pleased with all that I've learned in knitting over the past six months and I feel that I've picked up some really valuable skills that I can use again later on for practical things.  Let's see how soon I can get back to it...

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Finished in February

(Incorporating this week's Work in Progress Wednesday and Sunday Yarn postings!)

These were the goals I set myself for February, complete with photos on progress etc:

* Finish the rabbit - done!  I finished this yesterday, on 28th, so it just qualifies for Anna Scott's Finished in Feb challenge (and I'll post the photos there soon too...)

This was how far I'd got at the beginning of the month:

And this is how it looks finished:

With a side-on shot to show clearly the raised elements:

I just need to decide what to do with it and who to give it to.  A Chinese friend has just been telling me how much she loves it and wants to see what it looks like in her room, 'wants that rabbit' etc, but I'm not quite soft enough to give in to that.  I'll decide who it goes to and, as I was taught never to ask for things, but always to wait until offered ("'I want' never gets" was one of my mum's favourite phrases!!), it won't go to anyone who tries to wangle it out of me!!=)  Besides, she was waggling away at the raised ear and, if it was in her possession, I'd give it a week before the wire was through, she'd be forever fiddling with it!  You know how some people just cannot seem to keep from playing with things like that?  Well, I won't be giving stumpwork pieces to them....

* Finish the feather I wish I could say this was done too, but it's only got this far after, I think, two sessions:

* Finish the peach baby knit  I'm almost done with this, coming up to 95%, and indeed would be done if only I hadn't felt that getting all the neck edge on one straight needle was going to be both uncomfortable to work and would over-stretch the button bands.  I'm going to get a circular needle to work it on.  Wouldn't you??

So, during the month, I finished the front as far as I could, did both the sleeves, then also did the button band and buttonhole bands.  

* Try some of the cabling pattern samples in the book  Didn't get to this.

* Try some miniature bedding ideas now I've got some fabrics for them  Didn't get to this either.

* Get to '50% complete' level on sampler  I think I did manage this one.  Here are the month beginning and end photos (nothing new as I haven't touched it since 12 Feb!):

* Make a start on one or two projects from the embroidery list - when first two on this list are done!  Didn't finish anything in time to start this.

* Continue CED challenge  Yup, keeping up, no problem.  Creativity is to found in so many areas that it's almost easier to do it than not!

* Report back on 1 March and continue to post regularly in the meantime.  Doing so right now and made 8 posts during the month.  Not too bad - an average of two per week.

I've decided not to set any goals for March as I'm feeling really weary after so many colds etc and I don't need the stress of feeling I have to do certain things at the mo.  I'll probably do them anyway, but I felt quite a lot of pressure to meet goals towards the end of last month and didn't have the energy to put much time in on them, so it was disappointing in the end.  So, I'll give myself a breather for now.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

The Sun- er, MONday Yarn!

Well, it should still be Sunday somewhere, still 133 minutes to go....

I've now completed all the main pieces on the peach baby wooly.  There are only the neckband and button plackets to go now and that won't take long.  After that, there's only construction to go and I should have the finished item to share with you on Sunday.=)

It's been a bit tricky to get on with creative things of late, although I have fulfilled the 'Creative Every Day' challenge come rain, shine, snow, nasty cough, house guests or hospital visit!!!=)  I should get at least two of the three things I wanted to finish during February done and will try hard on the third as well.  I'm really confined to home at the mo with a bad cough that gets irritated by exertion, (even talking!) and cold, so it's a good time to relax with my essential oil burner on and get up to date with some goal work.  Even all the ironing is up to date, so I can create with a good conscience.

Have a good week, all and I hope to report back on Wednesday.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

The Sunday Yarn - 17 Feb 2013

Just a quickie today to show you the sleeve I finished yesterday.  I'm still using the second ball of yarn, but there really is only enough left for the trims on the front now, so it's a good thing that I found a third.=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

The Sunday Yarn - 10 Feb 2013

I'm very pleased to be able to share this photo.  As you can probably work out, it's the front of the current baby knit I'm doing, but it caused me some difficulties and this photo is the proof of my having 'got it' and overcome the troubles.  Hurrah!

I was having awful trouble working out what all the bits hanging around on safety pins were, but reading on in the pattern and closely comparing the pattern photo and my work so far helped me to understand what was expected and that cleared up a lot of mist.

Another problem I had was learning, the hard way, to both make a note on the pattern where I've got to and also to compare the pattern with the completed side of the top before knitting on regardless and missing out about half a dozen rows that were key to keeping the pattern and level of the tops genuinely even!!  So, there was some unpicking done - 15 rows worth, and that's not easy with a pattern that you just daren't pull out and then pick the stitches back up onto the needle as there are extra loops made that don't pick up well like that and all sorts of things that are over-challenging for a novice like me, so I had to remove them stitch by stitch - in effect, knitting backwards!!  Well, it's done now!=)

As I mentioned on one of my CED posts, I've managed to get hold of a 3rd ball of this yarn - even the same dye lot (I happened to be keeping a label in my diary so it was on hand if I had a chance to get some more), so I can complete the sleeves in the same colour.  I now just have to decide if I want to do them in pattern, or to do it the easier way and stocking stitch them.  Whatever I decide, I hope to get one of them done this week.  It feels good to have got over a real stumbling block with this one and to feel that it's moving forward again.  So, yes, I'm very pleased indeed to be making this post.

:-)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

The Sunday Yarn - 27 Jan 2013

You can see above the back of the peachy-pink baby jumper (or 'sweater' if you prefer, which I think is a horrible word!  It makes it sound like a garment that makes you need to wash!!).  The pattern is intriguing.  It's worked over 12 rows: 3 lots of pattern A, then 3 lots of B, both of which have pattern row-pearl row as a working method.  What's intriguing about it is that, although the holes in the pattern seem to move to the left then the right, the pattern is the same for all the moves - i.e. the hole creation isn't one stitch to the left or right each time.  I can't help but think that knitting is a very clever business!!

The thing that really bothers me about this pattern is that the writers have clearly underestimated the amount of yarn needed.  It says 0-3 months and 3-6 months sizes need only 1 50g ball and the 6-12 months size (which I'm doing) needs 2.  Well, what you see above represents the entire of the first ball and a little bit of the second and, no, no sleeves have been worked yet, so I'm rather doubtful that there'll be enough left.  I can't get any more as this yarn was picked up for 99p a ball (only two of them left) in a yarn sale.  I can only think that the white thread in this fancy yarn makes it heavier and that one needs more per pattern than with a simpler yarn.  Make sense to anyone?  Anyway, once the front and plackets are done, then I'll try the sleeves, but I think I'll have to do only the cuffs in this yarn and the main part of the sleeve in plain white.  Sigh!  It'll look OK, but it wasn't what I was planning.

This is how far I've got with the front.  The left front is worked all the way up and cast off, and I've just started building up the right front, but it's rather complex, what with two lots of stitches being held on safety pins and all!  I'm interested to see how this all works out and, indeed, if I've even got it right!

And I thought knitting was a fairly basic sort of thing.  How wrong was that??  I've got a book on cabling out of the library and the same author has written one on lacy knitting, so I want to see if that's available for free as well.=)  So much to learn...  That's the trouble with me, I want to know everything!!  (OK, just one of my troubles, I know!)

Not so long ago I had a second go at crochet.  Again, I could make the chain with relative ease, but I just could NOT follow this diagram to progress further.  The problem is that it's OK as far as it goes, but there's no diagram showing you where the yarn is when you pick it up - this diagram shows only the yarn threads picked up and moved to the side!  Without seeing what it looks like before this stage, I don't know which loops to go for.  I've found some videos on YouTube that may be more helpful so, when I come back to having another go at crochet, I'll try those out and see if they can clarify this mysterious process somewhat.  I suppose I need someone to teach me really, but my mum could never 'get' crochet, so my usual oracle is no good.  Oh, yes, there's Sarah, isn't there?  Mmmm, maybe I need to ask her around...=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

The Sunday Yarn - 6 Jan 2013

And here, at last, we proudly display the last word on the lemon baby cardy.  I carefully pressed it (from the reverse, through a tea towel and onto a terry one), then attached the buttons.

Here's a close-up of the pretty buttons I got.  The contrast doesn't show up as well as I'd hoped it would (despite photo editing), as the buttons are a nice white colour.  Here they look lemon to match the knitting.

At times I found the knitting of this piece a bit relentless as it had no whole rows of any one stitch - everything was in pattern and, of course, being only 4-ply yarn, it took more stitches and a few more rows to knit than the other two have, being DK.  Having said that, I love the colour, the pattern and the texture and would seriously consider making a larger one for myself one day.  It would make a nice spring and summer cardy.=)

Today I can also show you the complete finish of the green set.  As you can see, I've finished it with light green buttons and matching ribbon in the mittens.

I thought the lemon knitted 'fabric' was fancy enough without stitchery and the buttons just added the finishing touch, but this one needed something, so I did this small embroidery on the cardigan front.  I didn't want to do as much stitchery as last time, so tried something a little different with the ribbon rose.  I don't like the effect as much, but it's given the eye a bit more of a focal point than just plain knitting.

As you can see, there wasn't any too much yarn left at the end!!  However, as the lemon pattern said I needed 3 balls to make the 6-12 months size and this is what was left of the 2nd, I'm not complaining!=)

I'm well on with the next piece already and will show you that next Sunday.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

The Sunday Yarn - 16 December 2012

Today we proudly announce:

THE COMPLETION OF THE YELLOW CARDIGAN!

OK, not 100% finished, as I've yet to buy and attach some buttons and it could use a press etc too.  I'm hoping to get some slightly novel ones, maybe flower shaped, but it's getting something both small enough and without any sharp edges that little Vivienne (I don't know yet how they're spelling it, but this will do as a guess for now!) could hurt herself on.

Here's the process of picking up and knitting all the borders.  First I'd to part assemble all 5 pieces and then pick up along the cast (bound) off edges.  Here's a terrific video on picking up and knitting stitches on YouTube.

When that was done, the right hand border came next including the buttonholes.

Then, finally, the plain left hand border. I don't know why, but I struggled to pick up as many stitches on this side and actually ended up with six fewer than on the right hand border.  I doubt it matters though.  I do wish I'd got one or two lower down though as it looks a little bit 'pulled' up to the border from the edge of the front pieces.  You can see the 2mm crochet hook I used to pick up the stitches in this shot.  The yarn is quite fine (4 ply) and the stitches quite small, so I really couldn't put the knitting needle through to pick them up that way.

There's nothing like enough yarn left for me to attempt any of the other things on the pattern (mittens etc).  In fact, I was quite tense to see if it would even stretch to finishing the cardy itself as I only had two balls and I did a size that said it needed three.

The green cardy is also now complete, but I'll save that to show you next week.=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

The Sunday Yarn - 2 Dec 2012

As you can see in the photo above, I messed up the shaping of the cardigan's left front!  I'd sewn it in place and pinned the right front on before I realised that I must have read the pattern wrong at some point and ended up with the shaping the wrong way around at the top.  Duh!

Thankfully, there were only a few, short rows to pull out (once I'd detached it from the sleeve again, that is) and it's now back on the needles waiting for me to feel up to tackling getting it the right way around.  I can't think how I managed to do this, (must have missed a row somewhere and there was also at least one error in the pattern - a rogue purl row - that someone else had spotted and warned me of), but I did think it looked a rather odd shape and wondered how it would sew together....

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

The Sunday Yarn - 25 Nov 2012 and Things For Sale!

Do weeks fly, or what?  I actually did a little embroidery this week and yesterday I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate, which was great!  I really enjoyed it as it's been four years since I was last able to go and, whilst I didn't buy many supplies, I did get some good fabric colouring things, lots of new ideas and the realisation that it really IS embroidery that I like best when it comes to textile crafts.  I didn't even look at any yarns, knitting patterns or that kind of thing!  So, I daresay yarncrafts will not be a prominent feature here long-term, but I will do some here and there.  I want to learn crochet and pick a few more knitting skills (cabling and colour changes for a start), so that I have the skills under my belt for another time.=)

Here's where the two cardigan projects are up to.  As you can see, all pieces are finished now and they just need preliminary assembly and it's on to the hated 'pick up and knit' part to do the borders etc.  Hmm, the left hand yellow sleeve is inside-out!!  The green bit on the needle is the first part of a mitten, which was rather stupid of me to start when I hadn't done the border and am low on yarn - DUH!

Here's the promised external hard drive cover that I did for my hubby a couple of weeks ago.  It's made with Sirdar 55% wool blend chunky yarn and was chosen by Sir himself.  It's not that the hard drive needed padding (or even keeping warm!!), but he wanted it to be bright and 'unmissable' so that he didn't leave it behind in among all the other dull, black technology things that seem to fill up desks wherever you are these days.  He's pleased with it and you might be able to see that I left a hole in the top left hand corner so that the operation lights can easily be seen.=)

I've just been busy taking advantage of the current free listing event on E-bay UK and have uploaded some things that some readers may be interested in.  There are several really good quality, nicely designed embroidery kits available in cross stitch, blackwork, goldwork, stumpwork, Brazilian and silk shading/freestyle as well as some other counted thread charts (PLEASE someone buy the hardanger angels!)  With two exceptions (listed as 'part kit's), they're all new and complete, although I've opened them up to look at the contents.  I realise that I'm never actually going to work them, so better off to pass them on to someone who will and will enjoy them!  Could that be you?  I hope so.... I've also listed some coloured card blanks with oval apertures, some party-type clothes in small sizes, hair decorations and a few other things.  Please have a look here at the listings as I've made them all available globally.  Someone's already bid on the large Brazilian kit, feel free to compete with her....!!=)  (I did try to put some mini photos here, but I just could NOT get the formatting satisfactory, so I've scrapped the idea!)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

The Sunday Yarn - 18 Nov 2012

I haven't posted a yarncrafts update for the last few Sundays, but I have been knitting!

Here's the progress on the 4-ply lemon cardy, which is the 6-12 months size:

And here's the current status of the light green one.  This is a 3-6 months one, but is wider than the lemon one (which is a little longer though).  So, I wonder how they'll be in actual use!

So, just the two sleeves to finish and then it's onto assembly and the borders - neither of which jobs are my favourite part of the process!!

Apart from that I've also done an external hard-drive cover for DH, but I'll wait until I have better light to take a picture of that as I had to take the above in artificial light and they're not up to my usual standard as a result.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

The Sunday Yarn - 21 Oct 2012

This week has seen me working on two baby cardigans at once!  I'm 'sharing' the size 10 (3.25mm) needles between the two patterns, which isn't strictly necessary as there are another two pairs in my mum's needle bag, but doing it this way makes me work on both and not just do the easy and quick one to the neglect of the slower, more complex design with the finer yarn as I have to make sure that the right guage needles are free at the right time.

I've got almost one sleeve done on the lemon piece.  I do like this one - both the snuggly yarn (texture AND colour) and the pattern, but it takes a fair bit longer, of course.  I've 30 rows left to do on this sleeve now.  The first of the two balls of yarn is coming to an end and I'm beginning to get concerned that there'll be enough!  I've decided not to even attempt matching mittens as I'm sure there won't be enough yarn for those.

I've also started this green version of the white one I've already done.  This one is a size larger and, wouldn't you know it, the back is actually larger than the lemon back even though the lemon one is a size larger again! Go figure, as you American ladies say!=)  Anyway, I plan to decorate this one with purple trims and flowers but, as it's a larger size, I doubt I'll have enough yarn for bootees as well, so I'll just settle for mittens this time.

I was browsing the shop where I got the lemon yarn and found two balls of the flecked peachy-pink below going for only 99p each. There were also stacks of yellow ones, but I liked this one best and the shade seemed to me to be far more suited to a Chinese baby's colouring than our blue-ish pinks would be.

That's all for this week, I'm afraid!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

The Sunday Yarn - 14 Oct 2012

I haven't done much knitting over the past week to be honest.  My readers who are really only interested in my embroidery will be pleased to know that I've been pressing on with two projects there - one completed and the other not far off (no, not the sampler!!), so knitting has been a little neglected.  Having said that, I managed to finish the back of the current baby cardigan I'm working on last night.  What puzzles me is why the right hand armhole (when viewed like this, from the back) looks so much lower than the left when it really is only one row!  Odd.

Another Ravelry (a HUGE yarncraft forum) member said she'd worked this pattern and that it had mistakes in it, so I'm a bit concerned about how it will go from here given that I'm only in the elementary stages of learning to knit.  From looking at the pattern and comparing it to the photo, I actually can't see how the pattern corresponds to the top section of the left and right fronts, so I'll need to go carefully there.  I think I'll take a break from this one for the time being as this is a 6-12 month old baby pattern and I still have a couple of 3-6 month ones I want to do.  Doesn't make sense to do it this way around!!

The other day I got one of my stitching magazine IKEA files off the shelf to put away the latest issue of 'Stitch' (and the first one I've bought in over 3 years) and came across this:

I'd been looking for it all over the place!  It'sf from a 1972 women's magazine and my mum must have saved it back then.  She gave it to me in the early 1980s and I'd kept it ever since, just mislaid it recently when I decided to take up knitting seriously.  It details how to work 60 different patterns, some with one colour but using cables and other fancy patterns and others with up to four different colours.  Just what I wanted to learn some more pretty stuff!

So, I might do a little playing around with some of these and make some small samples soon.  I wonder if anyone else has a copy of this still??=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

The Sunday Yarn - 7 Oct 2012

Greetings and welcome to the Sunday yarncrafts update.  One project is coming along surprisingly well and the other is now totally finished and ready for handover tomorrow evening.=)

The lemon 4-ply cardigan back is coming along much better and faster than I expected, although I have had one or two hitches and 'pull backs' when I missed wrapping the yarn around the needle for the extra stitch  needed when creating a 'hole'.  Of course, I've since realised that I could just pick up some yarn from the row rather than risk pulling it out, esp. as it can be pretty tricky to catch all the stitches when they're off the needle.  I seriously recommend paying enough attention to not make mistakes!!  Here's how far I've got with the back and, as you can see, I've already begun decreasing for the sleeve edges.

Here is a small close-up of the pattern.  I really like this one and the yarn is so lovely and soft - aptly named 'Snuggly'!!

Here are the mittens that you saw last week, but now with the finishing touch of some pretty, red ribbon.

During the week I also made some matching bootees, which have been trimmed up with the same embroidered design and a slightly wider ribbon.  Knitting these was quite an education as, at one point, it divided into three sections, then I had to pick up stitches along the side of the middle section in order to finish  as a whole bootee only needing the back and bottom sewing up.  Of course, I did the stitchery before sewing up, just as with the mitts.

Here's the complete layette now, which will be handed over to Yufei tomorrow. She's really huge and still has a month to go.  Poor thing's very uncomfortable so we wanted to give her this quite early to cheer her up a bit.  She already has two boys and said a while ago she wanted a daughter to 'make pretty', so this is my contribution to her plan!!

I hope to get a photo of the baby wearing them to post sometime soon!=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012