I got chosen for another test knit by Emily from Tincanknits, this time for a great summer top, which is definitely going to get a lot of wear this summer. It took less than a week to make, and even though it looked small while knitting, it stretched to the right size.
I used Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace in a sea green colour and used less than two skeins.
Today we went to the monthly meet-up in Famalicão which is now being held in the brand new yarn store Dona Agulha. Another great afternoon spent knitting, chatting and having some tea and snacks.
Great friends, fantastic food = a great night out.
So I previously posted photos of a test knit I did for a little baby girl dress, here is the 2-3yr old version.
Having loved the effect I got from the 0-3 month version. I decided to go stripey again for this dress. However, I didn’t have enough of the Lopo Xavier yarn in stash to make a bigger dress, instead I choose some Garnstudio Drops Cotton Light from stash in Light Blue (27) and Dark Lavender (24) for this great combination.
After the first evening of knitting, more stitches, so a bit slower.
And here it is finished. I added a little crochet flower which is attached with a safety pin, so it can easily be removed and placed elsewhere.
And a few close-up shots…
This cutie pie was found wandering the streets (and most likely got his by a car) by my sister sometime last year. She’s been nursing him back to health, but she isn’t able to keep him. He is still a bit timid around new people, but give him some food and you’ll win him over soon enough. He’s great with cats (my sister has 4 of them), but not too keen of rabbits (there’s one at my sister’s house that attacks him). He’s also pretty good with other dogs. It seems this lucky dog has finally found his forever home. Good luck to you Obi Wan, may the force be with you.
I might have mentioned before that I’m addicted to Test Knitting. I just couldn’t pass up this super quick test knit when it became available on Ravelry.
It’s a lace square and the idea is to make several of them to then create a blanket. But the test knitting requirements were just for one square, which I completed in about 1.5hrs-2hrs. I test knitted the sock yarn version, and I dug around in my “left over” box and found some Tiziano Red Malabrigo Sock and with 3.75mm needles this is how my square turned out. After blocking it’s an 18cm x 18cm block. There is also the option to knit this in two colours, using one for the lace part in the middle and another colour for the border. I chose to use just the one colour, but I might be tempted to try the two-tone version in the future.
Now to find time to knit more of these so I can turn it into a blanket. I think this will be a summer project.
The KAL is now officialy over, and I’ve received all 12 patterns plus an extra, however I’m only on my 2nd project of the KAL. Reason, I started with the bigger projects and a lot of other participants in the KAL started with the smaller accessories.
The moment I saw the pictures for the KEX BLANKET, I just knew I had to knit it. I really wanted to knit this blanket, but I just didn’t have enough yarn in my stash to complete this project, so I planned to put this project on the back burner for now as I wasn’t going to buy any yarn in the first 6 months of 2013. Easier said that done of course. The pattern was really calling to me, I just had to knit it, so I went online and searched for the perfect yarn to substitute the originally called from Brooklyn Tweed Shelter which would be too expensive. I ended up choosing a yarn I’d only worked with once before, but which I’d loved, Rowan Felted Tweed.
Joana at Ovelha Negra helped me choose the colours. We started with what would be the main colour which I needed the most skeins off, so the choice was between the two browns she had in stock, I ended up choosing the lighter of the two.
My colour A.
Next I had to choose three more colours that would all go well with Colour A, but also with each other and I ended up choosing a Forest Green, a Blue and a Purple/Pink.
Colour B.
Colour C.
Colour D (it’s blue trust me, the photo didn’t come out too good).
I was really pleased with the colour combination in the shop, but once I started knitting with Colour A and B I started doubting myself, but I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and push on.
This is the blanket so far, I’ve only completed the first section, but I’m glad I pushed on I am really loving it so far. The purple/pink is just what the blanket need to give it that brightness. I still have a ways to go before completing this and as it’s a large project (too big to carry with me to and from work everyday), I only work on it in the evenings, so it might take me several months yet. At least it should be ready for next winter.
Now to just figure out how to keep it safe from my dogs, as Mr. Rusty has pretty much claimed it already.
Yesterday morning I spent the morning at Ovelha Negra with Joana. I couldn’t resist the lovely Malabrigo Sock and Lace that had recently come into the store, and I came away with Persia, Rayon Vert and Abril in Sock and two shades of blues in Lace (I didn’t memorize the name, nor did I take photos).
I also bought some Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace for a Test Knit (yes, another one, I’m addicted) that I signed up for. This time it’s for Tincanknits via the Free Pattern Testers Group on Ravelry. I choose a nice light sea green colour (44025).
I managed to do several rows while still at the shop before I stopped for lunch and then headed down to the now usual locale of Confeitaria Ateneia for the March Knitting Meet-up. We had another enjoyable afternoon, which lasted until around 19.oo again. Most of the usual crowd showed up and we had a couple of new faces.
Filomena showed up with her new sock yarn, Yarn Adventures Sock, in these four colours, the top two went home with me, I wasn’t able to resist. I already have a project in mind, if only I had more hours to knit, then I could get a lot more projects finished.
Fernanda was busy on her Wedgewood by Stephen West using Noro Kureyon Sock and Malabrigo Sock
Marta was in the middle of making a cardigan in Rowan Felted Tweed, she’s actually using the same dark green that I’m using in my Kex Blanket (which also made a short appearance at the meet-up, I just didn’t take any photos).
Fernanda had finished her version of Metalouse my Stephen West which she’d been working on during last month’s meet-up. She used Noro Kureyon Sock and Dona Maria, it came out super soft.
These lovely cuffs were a gift from our friend Batixa from Lisboa for Fernanda, I think almost everyone tried them on, we all admired them in any case.
Here is Filomena working on an Aestlight shawl using her Yarn Adventures Classic in various shades.
If you happen to be in Porto around the 27th of April, why don’t you come along and join our group, everyone is welcome.
I took the dogs out for a walk on the beach two weeks ago, its was extremely windy and we didn’t stay too long. The dogs weren’t enjoying themselves too much, but it was great weather for the Kite Surfers. I didn’t go to my usual beach, instead I went to Matosinhos close to Castelo do Queijo.
There was a dog barking on a balcony of one of the apartments across the road and that’s what caught their attention.
Someone seemed to have lost their head at the beach….
