My Year of Jumper knitting

2018 was a year of jumper knitting for me!  I have knit 4 jumpers this year, and looking at them, they represent the four seasons.

SPRING

"Birkin" from Laine magazine issue 2, designed by Caitlin Hunter.
I loved choosing the colours for the flowers on this yoke, they remind me of violets and pansies and wearing this jumper cheers me up and makes me feel fresh.

SUMMER

"Zweig" designed by Caitlin Hunter. This jumper has a pretty lace section that I really enjoyed knitting. I chose the colours to coordinate with my brown hair and blue jeans, so this is really easy to wear, and I feel a bit special wearing it. It's quite light and easy to layer if the weather is a bit cooler.

AUTUMN

"Afterparty" from Laine magazine issue 6, designed by Astrid Troland. I knit this as a favour to the magazine, by knitting it from a draft of the pattern I was able to send in any errors I encountered. It felt good to be helpful, but it was a lot of work and not a lot of reward. The original wool to be used was expensive and not a lot available to purchase, so I knit it in a lower priced wool and I do love it.

WINTER

"Ninian" from Marie Wallin's pattern book called "Shetland." Now this took a long time! I saw someone wearing this at 2018 Edinburgh Yarn Festival, and was really impressed with the colours and repeating patterns.  I started knitting my own version whilst on holiday in Orkney and Shetland. This took a lot of work, but I did enjoy it. It is my first ever time to make something so intricate. I overestimated my size and knit it too big. But I will leave it as it is and use it as a coat for outdoor activities.

So how will my 2019 look? I have already completed one jumper, and am planning a few more, but I definitely want to sew a few garments and make a few quilts. Thanks for reading! x

Baa-ble Hat

To promote Shetland Wool week Donna Smith has designed a free knitting pattern for download.  As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to give this a go, as I love sheep and especially these little black faced sheep which I get to see quite a lot where I live in Perthshire, Scotland.

I have only ever knit one other hat using this stranded colour work technique, and I am happily surprised that once I had the needles in my hand it all came back to me and I hadn't forgotten anything!

Technique

I used a short length circular needle for the entire hat, but when I got close to the crown and there weren't many stitches left I used the 'magic loop' technique where I just pull some of the needle cord through any gap in the stitches to make the knitting into a triangle shape.

I also keep the main colour I am using for each row in my right hand and knit as normal, and the additional feature colour I keep on the left side.  When I enter my right needle into the left to start a stitch I simply loop the yarn over from the strand on my left.  When it comes to a gap of more than 5 or 6 sttiches all I did was pick up the ball of yarn from my left side and take it under and over the looping strand on my right side.  (I should have taken a video I guess).
Here is what the inside ends up looking like:

Perfect for Scottish weather, as it almost acts as two layers!  I used the recommended yarn and colours, and bought it directly from Jamieson's of Shetland.  But there are already so many other gorgeous Baa-ble hats to be seen in an array of colours using the hashtag #baable on social media.

This will be the first pom pom I have ever worn!  And I don't feel one bit silly, instead wearing it makes me feel proud of my ability to make such a fun pattern with such beautiful wool.

Bird's eye view

Gamboling sheep in all their glory, front and back.