Friday Finish and an WIP

Everything is in one post this week. A beautiful finish. The project I've been focusing on this week. And a lovely surprise at the end.

Finished my Bampton Cowl last week. Took pictures last weekend in the snow. Most of the snow melted during the week but we're supposed to get a lot more this weekend. Should be fun.

A nice size. I don't really like cowls that go around twice. This cowl is made with sport weight yarn (leftover from my Branches and Buds Pullover). I still have some of this creamy/beige left.

Stretches out nice.

Looks amazing after blocking.

And I've been trying to get my Spotlight sweater done for tomorrow. The yarn is Feisty Fibres and the dyer of the yarn is in town tonight and tomorrow (doing a trunk show at my work). I would love to have it done but I don't think that's going to happen. Unless I skip sleeping tonight.

And I was surprised with flowers this morning. It's our 16th anniversary today, and even though my husband is currently living in England, he sent me these. And they smell great. 

Friday Finishes!

Lot of finishes to share today! Get comfy and let's get started!

First up is the test-knit I made last month. The pattern, Little Bit Nostalgia, is up on ravelry. Used a gradient yarn that I've shown pictures of on here before. 

Lovely lace pattern. You change needle sizes about half way through which makes the cowl come in a bit at the top.

Sits nice around the neck.

And is quite long.

During the holidays, my job is going to require me to work a couple late nights. With my husband now in England for work, I wanted to give our youngest, Floyd, a little something special to cuddle with at night when I'm not here. I suggested a stuffed animal of some kind. He asked for a rainbow heart. I bought an acrylic yarn and used this pattern. Crocheted up pretty quick.

I think he likes it.

Finished another cowl. Yarn bought from work and is Malabrigo, Caracol in the Diana colourway. Pattern is Waltz Through the Forest. A quick knit that I was able to make during down time at work over the course of a couple days. 

It was quite long after washing. I laid it flat to dry for a bit, then put it in the dryer which helped a lot.

Got to love the colours in this yarn. It reminded me of a stained glass window. Resistance was futile.

And I finally finished a pair of socks! And they're for me! Realized I have been using the Fish Lips Kiss heel for socks for a year now and this is the first pair I've kept for myself.  And they are the same length. Must not have pulled the one up all the way for the picture. 

Very colorful. And very comfy. Yarn was from JoAnn's and I can't remember exactly what it is. Need to find the ball band.

A Barley hat, pattern by Tin Can Knits and my first sample for my job. Used two yarns held together, one of them being mohair - Sugar Bush Bliss and Drizzle. Hat is super soft. I might need to make one of these for me to keep.

Fits great. But taking selfies on a rainy day is hard.

And I got my sewing machine out! Made a quick Halloween table runner.

But since I didn't have Halloween fabric for the back, I decided to make the back a second Fall themed table runner making it reversible.

I used orange for the top thread and the bobbin for the quilting. Orange goes through the black squares on the Halloween side. And through the orange squares on the Fall side. Think the Fall side needs some appliqué but it's good enough to use now.

And one last little finish. This is actually one of seven Poppies that I made. Above is one of two I made using this pattern. I made five more using this pattern, version 5. They're smaller and have the four classic petals.

One of the things I missed while living in the States (which I didn't expect to miss), was wearing Poppies in November and Remembrance Day. The Veterans Day sales kind of piss me off. Here, it is a solemn day, time to remember the dead, not get a great deal at a store. Okay, stepping off soap box now.

What did you finish this week? I'll have more to share next week as I finished another cowl last night and blocked it. Still need to take pictures. Maybe I'll get some more WIP's finished to share. Fingers crossed.

Friday Finishes!

It's rainy and cold here today, so let's look back at a couple finishes I had this month when it was hot and sunny.

I finished the Owlet for my son. It's chunky/bulky weight yarn, not great for asking a kid to model in the summer. But he loved it and was proud to show it off. He'll be gifted this sweater for Christmas, when it's more weather appropriate.

The back. I originally had yellow buttons set aside but I only had enough for 5 owls (there are 13 on his sweater). I wanted all the owls to have button eyes, so I found some other buttons in my stash and used yellow thread to attach them.

He's getting to be a great model.

Less sun in his face for this one. And you can see that his pants are on backwards. Something I didn't notice until I downloaded the pictures from the camera to the computer. Band-aid is from a fall down the stairs earlier this month.

Close-up of the owls.

And I finished my Hello, Hello shawl almost 2 weeks ago. Took pictures of it this week when the weather was crazy hot. I think my cheeks get redder and redder in these pictures. It was too hot to take pictures with a huge shawl wrapped around my neck. 

I think it's the biggest shawl I've ever knit. 

Wrapped around with the green yarn closest to my face.

And with the variegated. 

Another picture to show how big it is.

And if you made it this far, you get to see my finished Spero hat. 

It was a fun knit that ended up taking me forever due to moving, it really should have only taken me a weekend. And I really like the idea of a basic hat with an accent panel. Makes it special.

Have you had any finishes this month?

Friday Finish - Branches and Buds Pullover

On Wednesday's post, I included a sneak peek of my finished Branches and Buds pullover. It was my August Camp Loopy project and needed to be finished by midnight, August 31st. I'm glad to say I made it, knitting the second sleeve in less than 24 hours!

Here's the sneak peek again. I'm still blown away that I did colour work. And that it lies flat! Now I keep looking at sweaters with colour work. Fun, fun, fun.

My husband got out of bed on the 31st to take this picture of me to post on the Loopy Ewe site. I finished just after 11pm on the 31st. Ends weren't woven in yet and it definitely wasn't blocked.

Post-blocking pictures. Yarn relaxed and softened. Feels great. Yarn is Rosy Green Wool, Cheeky Merino Joy in the Cream and Coffee Bean colourways. Cream was a limited edition and no longer available at The Loopy Ewe, but other colours are, here. 

I haven't added any buds to my sweater yet as I haven't been able to decide how many to put on, if any. I have some olive green (leftover from my Fogliame cardigan) set aside for buds. I kind of want to do a lot or none at all.  Might do a few and see how I like them.

So happy I didn't give up and finished it. I love it!

And yes, I plan to use my mom's lovely garden for finished pics. Until the snow comes.

Did you have any finishes this week?

Friday Finishes - A Cardigan and a Couple Hats

I finished my July Camp Loopy project, an Old Growth cardigan, almost a week ago. Blocked it this week, but I haven't taken any post-blocking photos, yet. Maybe this week. Below are some pre-blocking pics. And some hats I made this week.

Not sure about the collar. Might fold it over and sew it down. And the sleeves really grew after blocking. Very tempted to throw it in the dryer for a couple minutes to try and shrink it a tad.

Had enough yarn leftover to make a matching hat.

Used the chart for the smallest tree from the cardigan pattern. I did throw it in the dryer for 10 minutes as it really stretched during blocking.

And I made a second hat this week. For some crazy reason, I decided to make myself a Branches & Buds sweater for my August Camp Loopy project and ordered the yarn. Then I realized it's color work and I suck at that. Decided a hat is good practice. Used one of the sweater charts and worsted weight yarn and my tension wasn't terrible. Going to make a second one this weekend to practice some more before casting the sweater on Tuesday. This hat will be going to Jen for her Hat-a-Long for Halos of Hope.

Did you have any finishes this week?

Friday Finish - Salita Shrug

Finished knitting my Salita shrug almost a month ago, but I haven't shared it here, until today. When I dedicated myself to it, it knit up pretty quick. I thought I would get bored since it's kind of like knitting a blanket but I didn't. Yarn used was, Universal yarns, Bamboo Pop, 50% cotton and 50% Bamboo. Makes it light and airy, which is nice.

Side view. Thought this picture would be an outtake as I was still adjusting the shrug in the front, but I ended up liking it.

Front view.

Back. I was nervous about how long it was going to be, but I am very happy with it.

Stuck my elbows out to try and show how much room there is. 

Did you have any finishes this week? Or past month? 

Weekends are for...

... Finishing WIP's! My goal this weekend was to finish up a bunch of WIP's and I'm happy to say I succeeded. Here's what I was able to complete.

Last Monday, my daughter and I went to a workshop on Sashiko embroidery at our local library. I was hoping to learn a little more of the history of it. Instead, we were given materials and a quick tutorial on how to do it (and how not to do it) and given the rest of the time to stitch. Neither of us finished that night, but I did finish mine this weekend. 

And here is my daughter's. Now we're trying to decide what to do with them. I admit I added a bunch of Sashiko patterns to my embroidery board on pinterest. A little addictive? Yes.

Sunday morning I finished crocheting button flowers for my mom. I think I've made over a hundred for her. These are the last 14 and I'll be giving them to her later this week.

And I used a lot of embroidery floss to make them. I kept the wrappers in case I wanted to get more of the same colours. Each one did 3 buttons.

And I finished my first Rin block. I had half of the outside circle left to sew on. Then I basted the centre circle and stitched down both sides. Yes, my fingers were very busy stitching this weekend.

And this lovely? That is my finished Salita shrug, blocked and sleeve seams sewn. Hope to take it out for a proper photo shoot this week to share here on Friday. 

Trying to end June on a high note by finishing up more WIP's. We'll see what more I can complete this week. Did you have a crafty weekend?