Velvety goodness

October 9, 2019 stgeorgeknits6 Comments

I’m much more comfortable with knitting than I am with crochet. Crochet projects can very easily not get finished. They can collect dust for a long time if I’m not careful. Well, it was time to finish this scarf.

This is a very soft chenille scarf, done with trebles and chain stitches only. It’s Sirdar Chenille DK yarn and although it’s quite bulky, it doesn’t feel too bulky because of the net-like finish. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would.

I haven’t blocked this. I’m not sure how well chenille yarn would block so I didn’t bother. It’ll be crunched up around my neck, so who cares if it’s blocked or not? I certainly don’t.

Autumn is pretty much finished here (we had our first bit of snow today!). The other day it was nice and sunny, a rare thing this autumn, so I rushed to get pictures with the lovely reds of the ground.

Happy ~~knitting~~ crochet!

Jumping for Joy

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 stgeorgeknits14 Comments

I wanted to make a pair of crochet slippers – my first. I had some sock yarn from Lidl, which I used doubled, based loosely on this pattern. The patterns is by Drops Design and named ‘Jump for Joy’, which I was not doing when I unraveled for the third time.

The forth attempt was finally a good one, and the second slipper after that was done quickly. I made the heel part higher than in the pattern because I wanted the slippers to stay on properly.

And then I made a pair for the hubby, too. I left out the scalloped edge on these – I thought they’d look more masculine that way.

Happy crocheting!

Crochet · Stash busting

Wasp fooling

May 18, 2019 stgeorgeknits1 Comment

I’m really struggling for time at the moment. I keep knitting a little in the evenings but my usual bottle neck, photographing the finished items (or any item for that matter) and blogging about them is getting an even bigger bottle neck. Still, such is life, I guess. I assume our normal service will resume sooner or later.

In the meantime, my sister asked me to make a fake wasp nest. They have lots of wasps bothering their BBQ times and she’s getting sick of them. Apparently, a fake wasp nest sends the message to any wasps that this place is already taken, bugger off. And, in theory, they should do that. How well this works in practice will be seen later, I guess.

My sister might be a little late though, because the fake wasp nest should go in place before the real wasps make any nests. Apparently, a crumbled up newspaper or stuffed coffee filter bag would do the same job. This crochet nest is a high-end luxury version that will last a bit longer. Years, in fact.

Happy knitting!

Crochet · Hats · Outdoors · Stash busting

Fall on the fells

January 29, 2019 stgeorgeknitsLeave a comment

I’ve decided a hundred times that I would crochet more. I want to learn to crochet better and to be more comfortable and relaxed about it. And still I don’t crochet that often. I guess knitting just takes priority every time. But I do make the odd, simple crochet project once I put my mind to it.

I crocheted these cool, simple hats with some leftover yarn from a cardigan project. The blue is for my hubby and it has one more increase round than the white one, which is mine. The yarn is Novita Samos, which is 50% cotton and 50% acrylic. It’s a very spongy yarn and it feels nice and it’s lovely to knit and crochet.

There’s me wearing my cool hat just before snow came. I love this hat for hikes because it’s non-itchy and it stays well in place. It’s warm but not hot, even when it’s not cold.

This place is close to where we live. We usually cycle there because it’s so much faster and then we might continue by foot on top of the fell. The climb up here is a bit of a struggle as the path turns almost vertical at one point. You need good brakes on the way back down. The view out over the fells is especially nice in the autumn and is typical Lappish landscape.

Happy knitting!

Crochet · Outdoors · Reflective yarn

Shiny things

January 11, 2019 stgeorgeknits4 Comments

I like knitting jumpers and other big things and I even crochet big things at times. Sometimes, however, it’s nice to knit or crochet something really small. Not miniature small but just small. Instead of working on something for weeks or even months (or god forbid, years), it makes a change to get several items finished in just one afternoon.

Before Christmas I started crocheting these little hearts. I’m not terribly good at crocheting but I can handle simple things and these hearts seemed simple enough. They are actually (according to the pattern) decorations for Christmas lights. I left out a hanging loop and attached a pin back to the rear. The yarn is Novita Hohde (it could be translated as “Shine” or “Glow”), which is a nice worsted weight yarn with reflective fiber. Pin this on your coat, hat or bag and you are a little bit more visible during these dark winter months. It’s obviously not a replacement for a proper reflector, but surely anything helps.

I popped these in the envelopes with my Christmas cards!

The pattern I used is here and it’s in English! I thought about crocheting other shapes too; stars or flowers and a skull would be nice, but I haven’t found small enough patterns yet. I wouldn’t like to pin a reflector that looks like a table cloth on my coat. I do like this puffy heart and I might try one later. Crocheted with reflective yarn and a string added, it could dangle.

As a side note, did you know that a reflector is a Finnish invention?

Happy knitting!