Tag: Bear in Sheeps Clothing

So 2021 begins……

And I really wish you and yours a happy and above all healthy one.

This picture was taken in Dartmouth at the beginning of December, before we were once again plunged ( too late in my opinion) into a full lockdown.

The sweater in the pic is my newly finished Nili sweater by Christina Danaee. The yarn is German Town by Kelbourne Woolens, a totally new yarn to me. Also and unusually for me I bought this as a kit from Fig Tree Yarns based in Jersey. I’d fallen for the sweater as designed and Fig Tree are fabulous for US yarns if you are in the UK especially. It was an enjoyable quick knit ( and if you are new to colourwork ideal as you only knit a round in one colour at a time). Also shown is the Beret no 1 from My Favourite Things Knitwear. I have knitted so many of her patterns and they are always a joy to both knit and wear. Two new yarns were combined and worked beautifully. Yarntelier which is a Cashmere Lace from Yorkshire and Biches & Buches lè petit silk mohair. I’ve barely taken this off my head since completing it.

We were hugely fortunate in booking the most beautiful pink thatched cottage in a tiny village near Dartmouth, South Devon. As this is the general area we are hoping to move to this year (all planets aligning), it was wonderful to be here and back by the sea. Lily dog absolutely loved it and the week consisted of long walks, cooking lovely slow meals and yarn related goodness (me) catching up on reading ( himself) plus singeing fur in front of the fire ( hound).

Our hideaway cottage.
This is another My Favourite Things Sweater too – Sweater no 3. Worked in Erika Knights Wool Local knitted double plus a strand of Bear in Sheeps Clothing Bear Fluff.

Socks were the order of the day for my holiday project. Those of you that know me appreciate I have a very debilitating condition, that of second sock (& glove) itis. This means I generally have one sock, glove , mitt lying around forlornly awaiting a mate. Therefore what did I decide to do with these socks? – make them as over the knee boot socks knitted on 1.5mm & 2mm pins. What an utterly wonderful idea! Now (& you may have guessed this), I’ve finished one 😁. Now in my defence I love it and the second is due to be cast on. I have however had to rest my fingers with a slip n slide knit as they are not behaving ( darn you EDS). I also treated myself to the tiny circular set from Chiagoo for socks and gloves which are wonderful.

One sock down…….. Yarn is Zebra from Life in The Long Grass with some Grey Sheep Hampshire 4ply for the contrast.

Before Christmas I decided to knit my mum a cardigan to wear as a hug as we are not able to see her. This was the result and she loves it.

A hug in a cardigan.
The pattern and yarn are from the lovely Trine, CaMaRose. The pattern is Dreamy and the yarn Snefnug which translates to snowflake. I bought both from Loop in London.

Now the beginning of this year is to be spent on completing some of my ever present WIP’s. One of these will be the very long socks! Plus I’m currently really enjoying one of the supremely talented Di Gilpins patterns. Oak. This is a very sculpted sweater which was inspired by a Stag appearing from the forest. There is a lot of cable and then the back has further cable latticed into it after completion to form a 3D peplum. I’m knitting this in her beautiful and incredibly soft Scottish lambswool.

A taster to show you the stunning yarn for Oak.
The sweater behind is one I’ve finally finished for himself which just awaits suede elbow patches. I’ll show you both when fully complete.

My other WIP which was my New Year Cast on is a cardigan. I’ve cast this on to rest my hands as it is knitted on 4mm needles. It is the Winter Whispers cardigan from Loop. A crew neck, semi fitted cardigan with a twisted cable yoke. I’m knitting this is some gorgeous Bear Rustic DK from my stash. The colourway is Roxanne. However the amount of yarn I have means I’m knitting a size down (🙈), time to work off the cheese & mince pies. 😁

Nails to match project. 😁

Now I’ve also increased my store of knitiq’s blocking mats. These now come in a choice of cases. Either the cream linen or the retro pattern. I love both (I do write for knit iq but have no affiliated sales with them so opinions are always true).

The new patterned case from knit iq. This can be bought separately from the mats too.

I’ll finish off with a little Christmas & knitty montage of some of my favourite treats.

Stay well everyone and will chat soon.

Lots of love Magpie 😘

A most beautiful leather 03 bag bought from Hide & Hammer. Beyul yak yarn from Kettle Yarn co ready for a first knit from Winters Amirisu magazine. Must haves from Tribes Yarn plus a gifted bag from Milli. 🤗
The Starry Night candle is from Chase and Wonder and the lovely mini tree display Bloom and Wild.
Finally the knitty tree decoration is from Liberty.
I’m now on a no spend January! 🤣

Hello Autumn. 🍁🍂

So here in Blighty the nights are drawing in, in fact 20:00 hrs last night found himself watering the plants by torchlight. Helpfully assisted by the Lily hound.

The Lily Hound

Now I don’t imagine I’m in the minority here in liking sweater weather, woodland / coastal walks and a roaring fire. Quite aside from the knitty element my autoimmune conditions do not like the heat and really make their displeasure known. I am therefore delighted to have finished my autumn version of Ghosthorses which I used Spincycle’s dyed in the wool in Stay Out of the Forest. I love everything about this.

Ghosthorses pattern from Boyland Knitworks.

I’ve also almost finished my first memory piece which is Andrea Mowry’s Rose Cardigan. I’ve knitted this in memory of my close friend Jacqui who died in December. She loved roses so it seemed a fitting piece. Throughout the project I remembered the fun and not so fun times we had shared in over thirty years of friendship. She and her husband John were like honorary siblings and I do miss them ( John died suddenly a few months before Jacqui). Regular readers will know this is how Lily came to live with us and now happily rules the Magpie roost. I used yarn from the lovely Bernie Bear ( A Bear in Sheeps Clothing ). The colours used made up the Cognac colourway. I’ve just finished the edging so need to attach and then give it a final block.

Rose Cardigan in Cognac colourway ( awaiting edging ).

Now as usual I’ve far far to many things on the go, let alone those projects I’m waiting to start on. The three that I’m hoping to finish over the next few weeks are The Nili Sweater by Xtinawithwolves. This is knitted in Germantown from Kelbourne Woolens. A totally new yarn for me and a departure from my usual UK fine yarns as it is a US worsted. I’m very impressed so far. I’m only a few rows in but you can see the design developing.

Nili Sweater.

My second project is for Mr Magpie. He said he would like a fine knit merino, not a fussy design to replace a rather lovely one than has a few pesky moth nips now. The So Basic Sweater from Max the Knitter fits the brief perfectly. I’m using a really nice 4 ply from Fyberspates in Bronze and Silver. It must be love as the blooming thing is on 3.5mm pins.

So Basic Sweater – Max the Knitter.

Lastly in this current phase are the Lucky Sunflower Mitts from Charlotte Stone ( Stoneknits). These are great trans – seasonal mitts for autumn and I’m using stash yarn from John Arbon for the mc and contrast in the form of Mad Tosh’s Unicorn Tails.

Lucky Sunflower 🌻

Finally you may remember I said I was writing a few bits for KnitIQ- those of my favourite blocks. This is a post I wrote last month on my thoughts on knitting & fast fashion. If you have chance to read it I’d love to hear your thoughts. https://knitiq.com/blogs/articles/is-knitting-becoming-fast-fashion

Now I’m off to continue to try and bring some order to my post lockdown life, I have no idea where all this yarn has come from……

Until next time stay safe & crafty.

Love

Magpie. 😘

Yarn, Yarn and more Yarn!

Hello Everyone.

I do hope you and yours continue to be well in these ever stranger times.

Now as some of you know around the time of my last bout of surgery the collective opinion from my various medical teams ( the majority of whom were also work colleagues & friends so pulled no punches) was that I needed to give up work for good to maximise my health situation. It wasn’t easy but I did so and have now formally retired from the NHS after thirty five years, some fourteen years early.

I am the eternal optimist but was very concerned about filling my time and using my brain. Surgery, finishing work and going straight into Shielded status for Covid has been surreal to say the least. I don’t quite know what I’ve been doing with the time (although I’ve embraced the advice for an afternoon rest and 14:00 finds me and the Lily hound on the sofa, with a blanket and audiobook. These ninety year olds who go off climbing mountains would do well to take a leaf out of my book)!

Now when I say I don’t know what I’ve been doing a glance into the spare room suggests I’ve spent most of this time buying yarn. I shall show you as I start projects or you may think I have a problem 🙈

A special skein of Quivet that comes in it’s own leather case. More on the reason for this indulgence later. The bag is one of my beloved #03 from Nu at Hide and Hammer. Gin and Bear it was a gift from Bernie ( we did manage a virtual G&T last week).

Now projects. The giant charity blanket was finished and the lovely lady who won the bidding for it was delighted (see title pic for the finished beast). I have to confess I was quite nervous until I heard from her. She also wanted a special date on it but being herringbone it was impossible to incorporate so we decided on a separate knitted panel appliquéd on.

All complete.

Last time we spoke I was about to cast on the Ingalls Sweater by Caitlin Hunter (Boyland Knitworks) in some fine dk from John Arbon Textiles. Not only did I cast it on I also finished it and adore the slouchy design with it’s dipped back hem.

Comfort summer knit.

I still have too many WIP’s and still can’t manage more than around three hours yarny stuff a day but never mind. It is making me think more about each cast on. One such project is one of my memory pieces. Having lost so many friends and family in a short space of time I decided to knit things that would remind me of them individually (as well as the planned Harlequin Blanket that I don’t yet have the dexterity for).

The first of these is the Rose cardigan from Andrea Mowry which will remind me of my friend Jacqui who died in December (Lily’s original owner). This is a lovely cardigan in a fade reminiscent of a rose blooms. Jackie adored her roses so this seemed fitting. It is in a pallet called Cognac dyed in Ireland by the lovely Bernie (Bear In Sheeps Clothing) and I bought it from Tribe Yarns in Richmond (Milli always has a fab selection of goodies so well worth a virtual or when able a physical visit).

Now the gorgeous skein of Quivet I showed you earlier. This was a total indulgence I admit as a form of celebration treat. Regular readers may remember in the past I’ve chatted about a young company called KnitIQ who I first encountered after purchasing some of their brilliant blocking mats. Anyway they dropped me a line asking if I would like to write for their blog occassionally. After establishing it actually was me they had meant to email I jumped at the chance so if you pop across to their site at any time you may come across a post by yours truly. My first one is on their now, all about washing your wool. 🐏 https://knitiq.com/blogs/articles/how-to-wash-wool (In the interest of transparency they do pay me for articles but there are no affiliated links). I just added this in cos I’m a little bit proud 🦚 that they liked my writing and that is why I treated myself to the Quivet so that I remember that lovely things can happen when you least expect them too.

Stay safe everyone and here is to more settled times.

Love

Magpie. 😘