Hi - just popping in to say that I have a new home.  Lots of new news (some exceptionally exciting and some a rather traumatic!) has been shared over on forestpoppy.com.  It should have been a seamless transition but I think there has been a hiccup which I'm working on at the moment.  In the meantime can you update your blog feed and so on to the new address? - forestpoppy.com - or sign up for email updates at the new site?........and hopefully you can carry on catching up with my ramblings over there from now on.  There's a couple of posts live now so scroll down to fully catch up!

Looking forward to seeing you there!  Hoping you're all well.  Picture below is a bit of a giveaway for some of the news!

Shearwater Kaftan in Nani Iro Double Gauze

I'm doing some tinkering on the blog and need to delete all my draft posts........I found this one, which has been hanging around for a couple of years I think. Anyhow, I'm not sure why I never completed the post but it seems a shame to relegate it to the waste bin.

In short, it is a Shearwater Kaftan (one of three I have made - the first was another Nani Iro double gauze made while I was pregnant with Katie and was so comfortable - double gauze is really the best fabric ever invented).  I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest recollection where I found the Nani Iro, I think it was probably a UK online shop.  Previous double gauze purchases came from overseas but it is pretty easy to get hold of here now - yay!

It is a lovely straight forward pattern.  Slightly fitted and perfect for summer  Just what it says on the packet in fact!  I think I made this one a little too long (it worked well with a bump but less so without one) and the next one was a wee bit shorter and probably a little more flattering.  Not sure what else to say - if you're looking for an easy summer top to sew then I'd definitely recommend you give it a go!

Autumn Woods Shawl

I'm so pleased to finally show you my Autumn Woods Shawl.  It was actually finished in May but with so much going on I just haven't found the right time to remember to photograph it.  I really wanted to do it justice and a woodland walk last week was the perfect opportunity.  The bracken has turned to it's beautiful autumn-winter russet colour, the lichen was a soft green, the shadows on the larch bark were deep grey and the skies were blue.  It was entirely down to luck that the colours worked so well but I was pretty pleased with myself anyhow.

 

I wanted to try knitting a shawl, one that would keep me cosy on winter afternoons - when I tend to sit and sew (if I am lucky, Katie sleeps and everything else is caught up on).  There's often an hour or so when the house grows colder but I don't feel I should have any heating on, so a shawl is the perfect answer.  I knew I wanted to use Quince and Co Finch in the following colours:: Kittywake, Pomegranate, Bird's Egg, and Split Pea (I added Clay later, once I realised I'd like to increase the size ).  The colours were inspired by this scarf.  Finch is a lovely yarn to knit with, it is soft but feels as if it will last forever and there's an ever-so-slight halo to it which really makes the pretty colours sing.

 

The pattern is the Serena Shadow Shawl.  After a lot of Ravelry searching I found what I wanted - to match the yarn and the way I wanted to work the stripes.  It suited me perfectly - I knit this through our period of renovations and then selling, packing and buying.  Long rows and colour changes to anticipate were exactly what I needed at the time.  I suspect I should have put more thought into where to make the colour splits so that I ended up with more even depths to the colour bands......I had hoped they'd gradually decrease towards the bottom of the shawl.  There's a few mistakes too, including one whole row knit in the wrong stitch, somehow I didn't spot that for several more rows.  Since it is a workhorse of a shawl, to be worn at home, I really don't mind - certainly not enough to frog back those long long rows.

 

Now I'm on the look out for my next shawl pattern.  Something a little more fancy I think, and maybe a little smaller to wear under a winter coat.  Any suggestions?  I'd also like to knit a wee shawl/scarf for each of the girls - again, I'd love some suggestions!

 

My Ravelry notes are here.