Some Ends

The beginning of a new month is always a fun time because I get to cast on for a new pair of socks and crochet up the latest square patterns in the Block-a-month CAL.  I'm also conscious that I have a significant number of works-in-progress and I need to stay on top of things otherwise it can get a bit overwhelming.

So, whilst starting something new is exciting, it's also good to be able to say that I've got some finished objects.

First of all, there's the Funky Grandpa cardigan that I've enjoyed knitting.

It only took two and a half weeks to make, despite being 4 ply weight yarn.

I love the colourful stripes that the pink variegated yarn creates.

The cardigan was a top-down knit but was basically the reverse of how I would normally knit a cardigan.  If I was doing this pattern again (which is a distinct possibility)  I'd knit it bottom-up instead.  The stitches for the sleeves were supposed to be picked up around the armhole and then knitted top-down.  I don't like this method, so I knitted mine bottom-up instead, which allowed me to shape the sleeve head better.  Full details of this project on Ravelry, here.

It's a very comfortable cardigan, just perfect to wear with jeans (I'm more of a skirts and dresses girl, so this is a nice change for me).

Last weekend we stayed over in Sheffield with Grace.  I needed a portable project to work on over the weekend, so I cast on for some fingerless mittens.

The yarn is a gorgeous soft alpaca that Grace had given me.  The colour is a lovely deep purple.

The pattern is called Susie Rogers' Reading Mitts and is a free Ravelry download.  You can see full details of this project on my Ravelry page, here.  A perfect weekend project.

Now I'm back to the socks and the squares, and I still have my (now very enormous) Sophie's Universe blanket to finish off.  Bye for now.