What a Difference the Photo Makes!

You will see from the above photo that I have finished the waistcoat for my father in law. You will not be able to see how nice it really is because the photo is rubbish. The whole process of getting even this photo was a pain though. First of all, my younger and better looking model had returned to university and was not able to take part in the photo shoot. Secondly, the waistcoat turned out to be a little small for post-Christmas Ian, and thirdly the entire ground floor of our house looked like a tip and I couldn't find anywhere decent to take the photo. I could also say fourthly Ian didn't put the waistcoat on properly, despite being told to, but that sounds a bit miserable so I won't. I'll just think it.

Still, I was fairly pleased with this, although it was boring to make. Yarn, lovely undyed bluefaced leicester DK from the shop. Pattern from the Sublime DK book (2nd, I think). Chosen because it was a long vest, which should help keep out the chill and is easy to take on and off. Useful as my father in law is quite elderly.

I will try and get a photo of the little lemon cardigan I have knitted up over the weekend and then next week I should have a surprise garment to show you.....

Lacy Problem....

I am working well on my knitting projects and hope to show you a photo of a new waistcoat I finished for my father in law tomorrow. With that out of the way, I have started (and almost finished) a very pretty lemon cardigan for my friend's baby. Again, photo soon.

Lucy is due to graduate this year. She hopes to make a dress for her graduation ball and has asked me to make her a lacy shawl (or wrap) to go with it. I have gone through our stock of lace yarns and came away very confused. Now, I am not a lace knitter and the few attempts I have had have been very half hearted and ended up looking very half hearted too. So this is my chance to really come to terms with this type of knitting. But, the variety of yarns is confusing too. We have in stock lovely silk yarn from Hipknits, shown below:

but this is very fine and I'm not sure about that. We have some gorgeous cashmere from Knitwitches which is heavier, however the ball is a summer one.

I have masses of undyed laceweight yarns in all kinds of weight and mix so I could actually dye some yarn myself - which might be a nice idea if I get it right. Any suggestions or tips for lace novices would be very gratefully received.

These are a few of my favourite things....

Here is an action shot of Rex modelling his new coat. His head is blurred because I have just said 'would you like a biscuit Rex?' The pattern was a free one from the Patons Yarns website. I used some flecked acrylic I had in my store cupboard, so this was a good destashing exercise as well. In fact this little project encompassed many of my favourite things - dogs, knitting and flecked yarn - perfect!

Rex sort of likes his coat. He is a little dog with much character, but it has to be said, little brains. So, you hold out the jumper and he will trot along to you and put his head through the hole. A short wrestling match then ensues whilst you get his legs through, but this doesn't usually take long. And there you have it - Rex in his coat! By now, he is looking bemused and wondering exactly how it all happened.

Here is another picture, hopefully showing less of the recycling (compulsory in Devon) and more of the coat's pattern:



Now, I really am going to finish a few of the many projects that are hanging around.

Happy New Year!

Although it's a little late, Happy New Year to you all! Hope it's a really good one. So far, it's been pretty reasonable here. We had friends staying for New Year and so our New Year's Eve was busy and on New Year's day we went for our traditional walk on Dartmoor. This year Ian wanted to do a long walk at Haytor. This is the second walk we have attempted here with our friends at New Year. This is now the second time we have had to abandon it. The first time, which was probably 4 years ago was abandoned because of the rain and hail making it too unpleasant. This year it was the mist and the freezing cold. We couldn't really see much more than a few yards, which was funny really as just a few hundred yards down the hill, it was sunny and although cold, very pleasant. Here is a photo of my friend's son - it all looks a bit spooky doesn't it?



A freezing wind had obviously been blowing across Dartmoor and formed amazing feather-like icicles on the rocks. Have a look at this:



I thought it might be very cold and so on New Year's Eve, I found the time to knit a short coat for Rex using the rest of the Colourscape from Lucy's beret. This was accompanied by much jeering from my friends who thought Rex should be a tough Jack Russell. We managed to rise above the laughing, and Rex was certainly very pleased with his jumper when on Dartmoor. After we left Dartmoor we went for a much longer walk at Bovey Tracey (around 5 mins from Haytor by car). It was glorious, although cold and I have to say that Rex did look a bit sissy, particularly when other, more hardy dogs came to examine him.


As you can see, the jumper stretched a bit and ended up resembling a 50s Brigette Bardot kind of look - not particularly the look Rex wanted I fear. So, I have searched the Internet and have found a super pattern called 'Biscuits and Bones Dog Coat' from the Patons site, which I am going to start this evening. Watch this space!