Little Purl of the Orient

The best is yet to come

Hopped down to Cheer Wool yesterday during lunch and how nice to bum into Ingrid and Yam. Not only did I bought some Silk Garden for a pair of EZ Mitered Mittens, 2 balls of Puppyarn Bari came home with me too for a hat that I saw on Ravelry. I’ve been resisting the power of Ravelry but how futile that is.

 

Although it is definitely not woolen hat or mittens wearing weather here in Hong Kong, my role as a knitter would definitely be undermined if I’m asked to lend winter accessories and have nothing decent to offer. This actually happened when youngest SIL needed some for her family’s holiday to Japan recently. So going forward, I’m going to strengthen my arsenal of winter accessories, at least they should be colour coordinated, no?

 

Talking about accessories, I made the Luxe Neckwarmer from Knit 2 Together using the 1.5 balls of leftover cashmere from MIL’s Juiliet. And I absolutely love it! The cowl measures about 9 inches across and I found that it is the perfect width for me.

Earlier on, I made the Stacked Eyelet Cowl with 1 ball and a bit of the Louisa Harding Angora in stash. I knitted in a looser gauge to make the cowl drapier but it stretched even more after a couple of wears, especially when I’m always taking it on and off through my head.

And I’m so lucky to receive the Morningside Cowl from Joy as a Christmas gift! It is fantastically knitted and so soft.

 

Now I realize why the cowl is the new scarf. I’m sure there’ll be more of these to come. I’ve already queued a number of patterns on Ravelry.

 

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BTW, have you been enjoying Moonstitches' Counting Days as much as I am? I’ve been snapping some photos here and there about with my phone camera, and hoping to post them in January. Interested to join me in the fun of Counting January?

 

Happy 2009, one and all! Let's hope that the Best is Yet to Come!

Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day!!

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This is the only Christmas gift I've time to knit this year. It's a Juliet (ravelry link) for mil in pure chunky Italian cashmere bought from House of Yarn. Thanks to Maryann for the organizing the yarn order and to Terry for telling me that this yarn is a perfect match for this pattern. She made one in Burgundy. Ever since my mil requested for a vest after seeing JY's turquoise tunic, I've been on a lookout for suitable patterns for her.

The sweater was not done on time for Christmas. Well, almost... I finally made it on Boxing Day, today. And my mil loves it! The colour appears to be greyish here but is in fact a seafoam green. I made the second smallest size (Size S) and knit it as is with Clover 15 (6.6mm) bamboo needles. It took 8.5 balls of House of Yarn Italian pure cashmere, chunky (can't remember the yardage and there's no ball band). The yarn is super soft and buttery except that some balls are irritably knotty.

It's quite a close call for a finish today as I didn't have the large buttons called for in my button stash. Instead of waiting for a few more days to go shop for buttons, luckily there are just 4 of these vintage plastic buttons that I got from eBay long ago in the box. The loops are made from Rowanspun 4 ply. All's well that ends well.

Linden - I like it!

I'm lost for words, I blame the cold that I'm now having. So just enjoy the photos of Linden by Veronik Avery that I just finished. BTW, the photos are all from the phone camera, ok, no?

The yarn I used was Madil 'Galles', I think I used 11 balls. Needles: Clover 15 (6.6mm) and Clover 10 (5.1mm). I knitted it as is, only modifying one side of the front (?) shaping to make the decreases symmetrical and shortening the back neck band. Oh, and I added more a few more rows to the bottom garter stitch band.

I just adore the small details like how the decreases are done and the selvedge to allow for seaming.

So, do I look like a sushi chef, hehe?