Let the pompom speak

A couple of months ago I came across the most fantabulous pompoms on Etsy and couldn’t resist impulse buying them (to be found here). They are everything fluffy unicorn dreams are made of, and I knew immediately there was no way my knitting could ever upstage them. I also knew that one of these pompoms would lend itself perfectly as a gift to one of my friends, which is how I ended up making this cute little hat.

Pattern: Frais by Alicia Plummer
Yarn: Malabrigo Arroyo in the ‘natural’ colourway

I kept both the pattern and yarn as simple as possible, but obviously without ending up knitting a boring hat. The neatly folded rim combined with the eye-of-the-partridge stitch running across the head made for interesting, yet very quick and simple knitting.

It is of course the pompom that does all of the talking in this hat. It.is.so.pretty!

And luckily for me I have another one in my stash, waiting patiently for me to make a decision on matching yarn + pattern. I’m trying to find a yarn that is a bit wilder in terms of colours, but that will still combine nicely with all the colours in the pompom. To be continued..

Feb 10

FO: Invincible Summer shawl

Hello dear little blog space of mine, it’s been so long since I’ve visited and even longer since I last had an FO to share. Luckily, I have finally finished and handed in my PhD thesis, so this is all about to change! Now I can proudly share my first FO of 2018.

Pattern: Invincible Summer shawl by Susanne Sommer (published in issue 2 of Laine magazine)
Yarn: Spingodin sock yarn in the colours veenhout, hunebed, sneeuwuil & mos

This was such a perfect winter knit for me. Firstly, because I loved working with all the muted grey colours and then getting to finish it up with a pop of bright green. Secondly, because this is a truly massive shawl that I can fully wrap myself in during these still very cold winter days.

The shawl is triangular and looks like a whole bunch of garter stitch (which is obviously true), but is very interesting to knit nonetheless. Along the spine of the shawl, as well as the border, you get to work lots of brioche stitch, alternating between one and two colour brioche. Susanne Sommer has published tons of shawl designs which incorporate brioche, all equally stunning. After already finishing the Cosmic Wonder brioche shawl last year I am completely sold on the idea and will hopefully make tons more.

I pretty much followed the muted colour palette as it is published in the magazine, but this could easily be the perfect shawl to work up all those single skeins of bright speckled yarn you have lying around. I’m happy I got to use a Dutch dyer for this shawl, it’s always nice to see what amazing yarns fellow-dutchies can create. I truly love all four of these colours and could easily imagine myself using them again to make a sweater (which is secretly my 2018 knitting goal, year of the sweater anyone?).

What knits are you working on this winter?

Dec 31

Last FOs of 2017

Hello lovely knitterly people. It’s been almost 2 months since I last reported here, which is unheard of! I swear my absence was with good reason. I have been non-stop writing and as a result my PhD thesis is now almost ready to be submitted. Besides writing I have also been on a job hunt, and I’m glad to say with success. As of May next year I will be working and living in Paris! It’s a bit stressful at the moment with all the thesis work and thinking I have to move country in mere months, but at the same time I AM SO EXCITED!

On the knitting front things have obviously been a lot slower. Which is not to say I haven’t been knitting at all, and I have two final FOs to show off for this year. The first is the Netherton Pullover, which was featured in the reissued version of the very first Pom Pom quarterly. With all the stress going on I was looking for a simple project with lots of stockinette and for once I didn’t feel like knitting socks (shocker!). This sweater was perfect for this purpose. As a bonus I knit this beauty up in only 2 weeks. So if you are looking for a quick gratification project, I can highly recommend this one. The yarn I used is from Debonnaire yarns (the Sprite DK base) in the pacific colourway.

And then there’s one more FO. I started this hat last February intending it as a gift. After finishing and washing it I realised it was way way too big and it was frogged, but never reknit. We had such a cold spell a couple of weeks ago that I was craving this hat badly, so the yarn got a second chance and was made into a pretty cable hat after all. The pattern is called Bough and I used Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in the Long Johns colourway.

Now I know I have been MIA for awhile, but I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas period and better yet will have a wonderful NYE tonight. What are you looking forward to in 2018?

Nov 5

FO: Wilderflower sockblank socks

Pattern: Vanilla sock pattern
Yarn: The Mermaird yarnery sockblank in the Wildflowers colourway

Last week my second ever pair of socks made out of sockblanks came off the needles (the first pair were these super fun pineapple socks), and I still believe the concept is a lot of fun. Over the years I have definitely developed a knack for imagining what yarns will knit up like, but with sockblanks I am a complete novice. I imagined these particular socks to be a 100 times more busy than they actually are. In hindsight they could have easily been combined with a simple lace pattern.

I don’t regret knitting these into vanilla socks though, especially because it highlights how the two socks have a different colour emphasis. The colour in one sock reminds me of tropical sunrise sort of scenes, whereas the blue sock feels a bit more wintery.

I think last year I’ve been sticking fish lips kiss heels into basically all of my vanilla socks (mostly because I have the pattern memorised), but I decided to go with a good ole heel flap in this pair.

And as a rule, I always have a pair of simple socks on the needles, so a new cast on has already happened.

Oct 29

FO: Cosmic Wonder shawl

It’s been AGES since my last FO post (end of August to be exact), but mentally prepare yourself for an FO parade this month (with medium expectations please, it’ll just be a couple), starting today with the cosmic wonder shawl!!

Pattern: Cosmic Wonder shawl by Jenn Emerson
Yarn: Stranded Dyeworks Oasis in Blue Rinse, Ice Skating Party and Naive Watercolour

This is my first time working with Brioche stitch and I’m really sold. I’m guessing especially because this is a shawl, but it is so wonderfully squishy, which is a pleasure to wrap around your neck. In the pictures above you can see a side by side to see how the ‘dark’ and ‘light’ side look. I had no idea how blocking would affect the brioche sections, but it opened them right open like it would with lace knitting. This also meant that an already sizeable shawl turned truly massive.

If one of the colours is looking familiar, I actually made a pair of socks out of Naive Watercolour in the beginning of the year, and it was pretty interesting how differently it knits up with long repeats. I’m particularly loving it in the I-cord bind off.

The saddest part of this shawl is that it is a sample knit for Amy of Stranded Dyeworks, which means next week this will be on its way to the UK and I won’t get to snuggle up in it this winter. There’s only one solution I’m afraid, which is keeping the shawl for myself.. Ok that’s not the solution, that would be horribly mean. I’ll just have to make another one to keep for myself. The good thing is that this shawl eats yarn (almost 3 full skeins!) and will work in 100 different combinations. Which mean I can go on an epic stash dive and come up with new combinations of colours!