Autumn Aran Jumper

I have knitted this Aran jumper for myself to wear for cool autumn days. I made the same jumper last winter in Aran weight wool which is really thick for the winter months, but I wanted a lighter weight one for the autumn when it is cool but not winter cold, so I made the same pattern using double knitting wool instead of Aran.

Cushion cover finished

Here is the finished article. I decided against the cabled back and did a garter stitch stripe instead, to match the squares that were done in garter stitch. Dear hubby thinks it will be great in the car, so in the car it will go! We aim to please!

Knitting squares

I was given a pattern for knitting squares directly onto one another so doing away with having to sew them together. I used just left over double knitting wool I happened to have in my stash, hence the odd arrangement of colours. The pattern worked very well and I was pleased with the end result. My hubby has claimed it as his "wuss" blanket for when he needs a "horizontal"

When I was making the above blanket I thought the pattern would lend itself well to two colours and tweaked it a bit to achieve the effect I was looking for. This is going to be a cushion cover but I thought I would do the back differently so that I can chop and change sides whenever I feel like it. You can see how far I have got on the bottom picture.

Lots of sewing and knitting

No tatting recently but lots of sewing. The heart cushion is for my grand-niece and the Scottie dog pin cushion is for my daughter-in-law who is crazy about all things Scottie dog.

I have knitted quite a few Aran jumpers and I am now doing a blanket in squares to use up oddments of wool.

Knitting & crochet

Here, as promised, is the Aran cardigan that I made for myself. I like it so much that I am going to make myself another one in beige, but this time I shall add pockets. I had some wool left over and so I knitted my little great-nephew an Aran jumper with it. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to his mum!

I had a lot of ends of cones of wool and decided, while I was waiting to buy the wool for my beige cardigan, I would crochet some squares and make a little bed/lap cover for my dear old mum! I  made 5 squares of 7 different colour combinations and tried to put the squares together in a continuous pattern. I also made 3 different variations of square pattern, just to make it a little more interesting. I only had enough of 3 colours to do the edging, but I think it worked out quite nicely!

 

Green Cowl

Here, as promised are pictures of the green cowl now completed. As you can see, I only did the diamond pattern all round for this one. It made it quicker to make as I didn't have to keep referring to the pattern chart!

Knitted Cowl for Charlie

Since joining in with the Tatting Pattern Central I have discovered Knitting Pattern Central and made the mistake of showing Charlie, my daughter-in-law, the site. She browsed through the patterns and all I could hear was Ooo's and Ahhh's and ended up with a request.

Here is the first one that she has chosen and this is the LINK to the pattern. I really enjoyed knitting this cowel. It is a lovely pattern and it made such a change from tatting. I like it so much that I am making another one in shades of green, but I am only doing the diamond pattern. I will post a pic when I have finished it.

Christmas knitting

My tatting is on hold at the moment as I am now concentrating on knitting presents for Christmas.

The cardigan shown is one I have just done (it took me 10 days to complete....it would have been less, but I had to wait for the zip) and did not have pockets in the pattern so I made up my own. What use is a jacket without pockets! This cardy is acutally a birthday present for our best friend, Allan's, 65th, which is only 4 days before Christmas!

I won't be able to start my next garment until Thursday.....that is when my next lot of wool will arrive. I use 4 ply cone wool and put two strands together to make double knitting weight and three strands together for Aran weight. I find this much better than buying wool of the actual weight, especially if it is acrylic. It produces a much tighter knit and keeps its shape wash after wash. I also use smaller needles and adjust the stitch count for the tension. With the cardy just done it was three strands of different colours, dark brown, camel and beige, which made an interesting tweed look.

Knitting whilst visiting

I have spent a lot of time visiting my Mum and my DH in hospital and so I have spent the time knitting myself an Aran Jacket. The pattern did not have pockets, but what use is a jacket without pockets? Not a difficult task to do and so my version has now got pockets. Got to have somewhere to put the tatting shuttles! LOL

First Aran Jumper Finished

Here is the first Aran jumper in the Christmas present bundle to be finished.

I managed the V neck OK and the guesswork with the number of stitches in the neckband worked first time! I wasn't sure if I had enough stitches in the neckband and therefore decided to do it double length, fold it over and instead of casting off, catch each stitch down when sewing down the fold. This way I could ensure that the neck opening would not end up being pulled too tight!

DH also decided that he wanted the sleeves to be narrower than knitting patterns usually are as they always seem to bag under the arms. I did this by reducing the amount of stitches increased on every 4th row by 4 stitches....doing the same amount of increases every 6th row as the pattern stated therefore ending up with 4 stitches less overall....then compensating on the decrease section by continuing with just decreasing 2 stitches every other row all the way up instead of changing to decreasing 4 stitches every other row at the top section. I hope this all makes sense!

I am pleased to announce that it fits DH perfectly! He is extremely pleased but it now has to go

off to Santa for delivery on Christmas Day! LOL

The Aran Marathon has begun!

I decided to knit myself an Aran cardigan/jacket, with pockets, as I couldn't find one in the shops that I liked. I haven't knitted for a couple of years because of arthritis in my right wrist and right shoulder, but now that both joints have been operated on successfully I thought I would try knitting again.

I am delighted to say that I have not had any problems in the actual knitting, but I have had one great big problem!!! This problem goes by the name of Dear Husband! "I want you to knit me one first" says DH. So I dutifully start doing one his size. When I have knitted the back he kindly informed me that he didn't want a cardigan, he wanted a V neck jumper! The pattern booklet I bought didn't have a V neck jumper in it and so I have had to make one up as I went along!

This is what I have done so far!