A mini KAL update for the Diamond Jubilee

Source: Vogue Knitting 

Hello! Following the most wonderful wedding of a family friend yesterday, it's been a day of national celebration in honour of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee today. Unfortunately the huge picnic that was planned for our village was cancelled due to the heavy rain so we were confined to an afternoon of watching the celebrations from the sofa. 

On the plus side, the kids asked to go to my mum's for the night, leaving us time to relax - which for D means playing some game or other on some console or other, and for me.... lots of KNITTING! Consequently, the Color Affection shawl for the June Knitalong is making speedy progress (despite a little setback earlier in the day involving a long ladder and a small crochet hook) so I'm much further into it than anticipated.

Some observations so far:

- the shape is (so far) longer and thinner than I expected 

- it knits up REALLY quickly, or seems to because of the frequent changes between the 3 different yarns, and even more so when your 3rd yarn is multicoloured like mine (pictured)

- this pattern would be perfect for a new knitter who wants to make something which looks more complicated than it is. There is very little to remember and the pattern is simple to knit and easy to follow.

I'll post a proper update on Tuesday, but in the meantime, in response to a few requests, even if you don't have an Instagram account you can see the photos being posted there via this online gallery. You can also follow the conversation on the Facebook page and Twitter. Full details of the KAL are here if you're still thinking about taking part. 

Fingers crossed that the weather improves for the rest of the 'long weekend' plans in the UK.

 International readers, I hope you have a wonderful start to your working week. 

Happy Jubilee, everyone! 

xxxx

Did you ever....?

Did you ever finish knitting something at the start of the week and think there was no hurry to block it.... and then completely forget about it until Friday morning? Then, in a panic, get your 3 year old to take photos of the (still unblocked) item before she goes to pre-school? And they are all blurry, except for one headless shot which includes more of the fireplace than the item? (Thank goodness for cropping and text boxes!) So it is with much kerfuffle that I present to you.....

PATTERN: Framlingham by Joanne Scrace

YARN: Blacker Yarns pure dyed British wool DK 

Detailed Ravelry notes here. 

This is a really nice pattern, which Joanne asked me to test knit,  and the FO deserves much better pictures than this, so I'll add more to the Ravelry project page when it's blocked out and photographed with more appropriate clothing/accessories. There are three different lengths - I made the shortest (I'm 5'3") and with the waist shaping, I think it's surprisingly flattering of the fuller figure, although you can't really see that here.  I rarely knit clothing for myself as it's hard not to feel swamped if I make something that fits my bust, but being in one piece and from the top-down it was easy to see when the hips were wide enough and to tweak a little, as required. 

I will certainly come back to this design as it would be lovely in a thinner yarn with a nice drape - this purple DK was from my stash and it's quite stiff and dense, but I'm pleased with how it turned out anyway. It'll be even better when washed, I'm sure. I imagine this worn over a long-sleeved white top with jeans. If you'd like to have a go at making one, you can use the code "CWTCH" to get a 20% discount on the pattern until the end of June! 

The reason I wasn't thinking about having this ready for a "Ta-dah" today? It's been a busy Jubilee week (as much as I'd love to post photos of the hat parade and the entire school country dancing, there are too many other children in them all)....

.... and the June Shawl Knitalong has just started!!!! I've cast on my Color Affection and am hoping to get as much as I can done today as we've a very busy bank holiday weekend ahead including a wedding, a picnic, and a couple more Jubilee parties.  

I'll be back with an update soon, and will leave you with links to FO Friday & Creative Friday. 

Hope you have a great weekend - whatever you're doing!

xxx

WIP-less Wednesday?

With Framlingham awaiting a Friday 'Ta-dah', and a few days before the June Shawl Knitalong starts, I'm taking a little time to wind some scrap yarns and mini-skeins on my nostepinne.... and  to make a few little addtions to my Hexipuff pile.

I'm still reading Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy - Book 3) - discovery of the "text to speech" function on my Kindle has meant I could multi-task a bit more this week, although the electronic voice takes some getting used to. (If you didn't know you could do this and want to give it a try - the instructions are here. )

There are plenty of works in progress and books at Tami's & Ginny's. 

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

xxx

Phew!

With just a few days to go, the yarn I ordered for the June Shawl Knitalong arrived this morning (I missed the postman while I was at the school and had to drive around looking for him, but that's nothing new). I am really hoping that the colours are going to work. Here, take a look...

YARNS: 3 x Noro Aya (#19) 50% cotton/ 35% silk/ 15%wool

2 x Knitting Goddess 4ply sock yarn (Slate) - 75% super wash merino/ 25% nylon

2 x Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash (Ecru) - 75% new wool/ 25% nylon 

I'm hoping for something light and scrumptious, like this one which was my inspiration. 

Source: Cristinitace on Ravelry

The Slate is more blue than the grey in this picture - I am hoping to add a little warmth and suit my colouring. I think it'll be a case of loving it, or wishing I'd stuck to a safer choice of colours - let's hope it's the first. Costs were kept down by finding a discounted source for the Noro, using Jawoll from my stash and buying additional yarn from the Knitting Goddess using the special 15% discount code for the KAL. 

If you'd like to read more about the Knitalong, take a look at the FAQs post. There is also some general (yarn choice) chat over on Facebook. If you search the tag #JSKknitalong at Twitter or Instagram* you'll also find a few posts. The first progress post here on the blog will be a week from today - Tuesday 5th June - which is also the day we're having a party for the Jubilee and following a weekend at a wedding, so I may not have made much progress but I'm sure some of you will :)

Linking in today with Frontier Dreams - Keep Calm {Crafting On} - some great posts there! 

xxx

*Important note: If using Instagram and you want your photos to show up in the #JSKknitalong gallery, ensure your account settings are "public".

Everything's Rose-y

Finally, some warm weather has arrived in South East England! 

Our house was previously owned by a retired couple who seem to have spent a lot of time on the garden. We are no gardeners, so it's taken on a slightly more natural look these days, but it's so wonderful to open the curtains each morning and see what else has bloomed. There are lots of roses - red, white, pink and some of mixed colours - they are very pretty but, I'll be honest, the simplicity of the clematis and colour of the chives make them my favourites. The chives also match my almost-finished jumper, but more of that another day. 

I wore So Strawberry Pogona this morning before the heat, and as much as I dislike being in front of the camera (especially when I'm taking the picture myself!), I love it enough to make an exception for the people who asked for an action picture. It's so easy to wear, I expect to be making at least one more. 

Back tomorrow with an update on the June Shawl Knitalong - I'd love to see which three colours you're using - you can tag any pics on Twitter or Instagram using #JSKknitalong.