Knitting by Candle Light

I love knitting lace but over the last couple of years I've discovered that much as I like the idea of it, I don't enjoy using laceweight. I do love sock yarn though and there are so many beautiful yarns out there. I always think that it's a shame to hide them away in your shoes though. If you buy something that pretty, why not show it off?

So, this is a little something that I've been working on for a while and when the lovely ladies from my knitting group offered to test knit my latest pattern, who was I to say no? So with extra thanks to Christine for knitting and modeling the two versions pictured, I bring you my Candle Light Shawl.

I designed it to be made from one 100g skein of yarn, you know one of those pretty indie dyed ones that we all love (mine included!). Why hide it when you can wrap yourself up in it and show it off? It's quite a simple lace pattern to remember and so it's a great pattern even if you're just starting out knitting lace. Maybe I'm overdoing the enthusiasm a little but it's my pattern and I do rather like it, I hope you will too. If you want to knit it yourself you can buy the pattern for £2.50 through Ravelry. Here's a little link that should take you there, whether you're a rav user or not.

The pink version was knitted in the Natural Dye Studio Nino using 4mm needles and the pewter coloured one was made from Posh yarn Lei on 3.5mm. They're both beautiful but completely different in size. It always amazes me how much difference needle size can make to lace, personally I like to use 5mm with sock yarn as I like mine nice and open. It all comes down to personal preference though. Anyway, happy knitting :)

FO - round neck crochet cardi

Pattern: Top Down Round Yoke Cardigan by Milobo
Yarn: 8 balls of Mirage by Adriafil
Hook: 6mm

I absolutely love this cardigan and have worn it loads even with the current cold snap. (I have lots of long sleeve tshirts luckily!) The pattern itself is a bit of a strange one as you have to download and use Knitware design software to make it. The demo is free (available here) and once you start playing with it, really easy to use. Milobo walks you through a tutorial with the options she used to generate her pattern so you can make your own to fit yourself according to your tension. Once you've generated your pattern you just paste it into word (or something similar) so you can tweak it and print it. The wooden button was a charity shop find and it works really well.

This is the first time that I've use this yarn and I'm really pleased with it. It's a great colour and worked really well with the pattern. I think I'll definately be using it again, perhaps even for the little man as it feels like it's going to wear well and being machine washable is definately a bonus.