Prodigal Knitter

Noro Sekku Scarf

2010-12-23T06:11:00.005Z

This scarf is a simple feather and fan pattern.

FREE PATTERN
Cast on 78 stitiches and work 4 rows garter stitch on 2.5mm needles

4 row pattern
Row 1 - S1, K to end
Row 2 - S1, P to last 3 stitches, K to end
Row 3 - S1, K2, (K2 tog 3 times) *(Yfwd K1 6 times) (K2 tog 6 times) Repeat from * until 9 stitches remain, (k2 tog 3 times) K3
Row4 - S1 K to end

When scarf is as long as you want it, work 4 rows garter stitch and cast off. 2 whole balls of sekku will make a scart approx 8 ft long - mine is 6 foot and took about half of the second ball.
Finished scarf is approx 7 inches wide.

Opal Baby Sweater

2009-02-20T06:25:00.005Z

If you are using opal sock yarn, be very careful if you are worried about matching the patterns. It's more complicated than it looks! This was made from one ball of one of the Hundertwasser colours (I forget which). Very easy pattern. The neck gave me a bit of trouble - it was gaping a bit - so I re-did it using a smaller needle size. I will put the pattern up if anyone wants it.

Woolly Neck Warmer

2008-10-16T10:33:00.004+01:00

I could not resist the 3D qualities of this neck - warmer. I'm sorry to say that my neck proved unsuitable so my daughter has been pressed into service. Not sure if she will wear it - she compains about anything remotely scratchy - this is noro silk garden. The pattern is called Tudora Cheryl Marling and is available here

Back again

2008-09-09T06:26:00.003+01:00

Well I am the prodigal knitter - I'm allowed to come back more than once! I've been sewing bags all summer but now the blessed autumn has arrived and I'm starting to knit again, launched by the fab London iknit day on 6 September. I bought some Socktopus yarn for a baby surprise jacket, some neeedles, some buttons, some more yarn and some more yarn.....

More hats

2008-01-12T08:31:00.000Z

Celtic Bag

2008-01-09T06:39:00.000Z

I made this bag for a friend who keeps threatening to lose her handbag in the pub. She needed something which was small enough to keep on in the pub, but would hold her keys, phone and credit card. The photos were not successful but I was particularly pleased with the contrast lining, a red silky chinese material. The knitted part is a wide celtic style cable from one of the harmony books, done on rowan scottish tweek DK. The handle is in i-cord which is continuous with the side panels.

The Magic of Blocking

2007-11-25T10:09:00.001Z

This scarf is in Rowan Kidsilk Haze - colour marmalade. What a difference a bit of water makes!

Hats

2007-11-18T09:46:00.000Z

I've knitted four of these now for my son and his various friends. They all seem to have large heads (compared with the recommended measurements seen in patterns). Are people still getting larger?

One month on only two hats have been stolen, left on trains, lost, not to be found....

I think I will be knitting more.

This one is in Rowan DK Scottish Tweed and the pattern was adapted from Knitty summer 2006.

Winter arrives

2007-10-23T15:59:00.000+01:00

The knitter's favourite season. The scarf is in noro silk garden; the neck warmer, ready to be blocked, is in Rowan Kid Classic.

The Return

2007-08-01T08:29:00.000+01:00

Some years ago I sold my Rowan magazines on Ebay and gave my knitting needles to Oxfam.

A few weeks ago, driven by the memory of a pattern for a Sanquhar sweater in a book of traditional knitting patterns, and perhaps by the current fashion for all things black and white, I started searching the internet for a pattern for the traditional Sanquhar glove. I found it in Japan (www.tata-tatao.to/knit/sanquhar/e-howtoknit.html).

The picture is of my first attempt, with the smallest finger still to do. I used a lace weight yarn and 2¼mm double pointed needles. The glove is coming out a reasonable size but the thumb is too long. I will probably undo this, then decide whether it is worth knitting the second glove.

There are various mysteries in the pattern (written in English but by someone whose first language is probably Japanese), the greatest of these is how to alternate the pattern up the fingers, where there are 3 pattern blocks to be divided between 2 patterns. To solve this problem I used a third pattern from a glove pictures on a Scottish museum website http://futuremuseum.co.uk/default.aspx?Id=461