While the sales are on I decided to pick up a few balls of 4 Seasons Marvel 12 ply yarn to give it a whirl.
The colour range in the shop I visited was limited in comparison to the other weights of Marvel yarn but I chose this mustard yellow colour to make an acrylic scarf.
I normally use wool and natural fibres for winter scarves but I want to experiment with yarns that can be used by people who have allergies or reactions to wool.
The weight of the 12 ply doesn’t feel as thick as a wool 12 ply, and I want to make a chunky scarf, so I’m knitting this scarf in a basic rib pattern with two yarns at a time and 9mm straight needles.
Recently I bumped into an online yarn shop that was selling 10cm (4 inch) double-pointed knitting needles. I’d never seen them available in such a short length before and I immediately knew that I wanted to try them out.
I looked around Sydney but I couldn’t find any. I went to one of my favourite yarn shops and asked at the counter and the person told me they didn’t exist. I told her that I’d seen them online for sale in Europe and she told me that I should buy them online then (I guess she was having a bad day).
So I bought two sets of them online and I love the little needles! I’ve been using them to knit thumbs on mittens, and while there was a little bit of fear about dropping stitches, I find them quicker to manoeuvre than 20cm (8 inch) DPNs when working on a small circumference.
After my recent hiccup with fingerless mittens, I took a more sensible approach and knitted test swatches, took measurements, created charts to figure out stripe patterns and thumb increases, and came up with a variety of much better fitting fingerless mittens.
The end of financial year sale at Morris and Sons suckered me in so I stocked up on random colours and played around with stripes, ribs, and yarns. Continue reading →
Following my stranded knitting experiment, I settled on a quick project that would test out my skills. A headwarmer!
Oh dear, it didn’t go as I’d hoped.
I made up a basic repeatable pattern and knit it up with 10 ply (aran) yarn. As a flat piece I think this would have worked out well after blocking. As a piece of headgear it unfortunately falls short in the most important factor – horizontal stretch. Continue reading →
My recent obsession with knitting stripes has been a lead in to trying stranded colourwork knitting. I love the look of two-colour knits for socks, mittens, beanies and jumpers and I’ve been keen to try it out.
There are many different techniques and holds for both continental and English-style stranded colourwork knitting so if the following doesn’t work for you, don’t give up, check out some articles and videos, and you’ll find the most comfortable method for you. Continue reading →
Adventures while trying to make random things for fun by Niina (aka Give Me A Crown).
