Knitted Christmas Presents

Since I noticed that there are quite few readers from Russia visiting my blog I decided to duplicate it in Russian as well. Let it be a novelty of 2013 :)
Т.к. статистика показывает, что мой блог читает достаточно много читателей из России, я решила дублировать сообщения на русском языке. Как всегда начинать лучше с Нового года :)

After the busy Christmas time when I worked as a tourist guide for my visiting friends, I am finally ready to show knitted and crochet projects that I made as Christmas presents. Both knitted scarfs are Kim Hargreaves's designs. I noticed that I become more and more addicted to her books. I like how precise and carefully elaborated they are. Not to mention classical and very British style of her patterns.
После суматошных новогодних каникул, когда я выполняла роль гида для своих гостей, я наконец могу похвастаться вязаными подарками, которые я приготовила к Новому году. Это два вязаных шарфа, оба по дизайнам Ким Харгривз. Мне все больше и больше нравятся её модели, особенно то, как тщательно и детально составлены описания. Кроме того, мне близок сдержанный и консервативный (или классический) стиль её моделей.

Adore scarf from book Misty. I used two skeins of Lanosa Chinchilla (~ 500 meter in total), needles # 5. This scarf is very delicate and airy.
Шарф из книги Мисти. 2 мотка=500 метров Ланоса Шиншилла, спицы №5. Очень нежная воздушная вещь.

 

 

 

 The second present is also scarf but is a completely different one, very thick and warm. The pattern is Thunder from Shadows book. The yarn is Rowan Cocoon, 3,5 skeins knitted on needles # 6,5. I call it Thunder in Tundra because yarn colour called Tundra.

Второй шарф - полная противоположность, очень теплый и толстый. Пряжа Кокон от Рован, ушло 3,5 мотка, осталось еще на шапочку. Цвет пряжи называется Тундра :), то, что надо для нашего климата :).

 

 

The third present is not for a person but for my kitchen :). Since I try to get rid of yarn leftovers I used some of them to crochet place mats. The pattern is a free DROPS design .

Третий подарок я сделала для своей кухни. Т.к. стараюсь освобождаться от остатков пряжи, связала крючком вот такие коврики для кухонного стола. Описание на сайте Дропс.

 

 

 

Also as a part of stash busting made this little pulse warmers. I had very little leftover of kidsilk and I found this mittens to utilise it.

Заодно покажу еще один маленький проектик, для утилизации остатков пряжи. У меня было совсем чуть-чуть кид силка, куда-то хотелось пристроить. Нашлись вот эти митенки.

 

 

 

 

Till later :)

Winter Knitting

Winter came to Moscow and we have already a lot of snow. I hear often "you live in Russia and you are accustomed to cold", but No, I am not, I like feel warm and cosy.
This year I made another scarf for myself. It is more than two meters long and very warm and makes a nice wrap. I tried to use this yarn in some other patterns but they didn't get much wear so I decided to find it a proper use finally. I work on cleaning my yarn stash and try to use the remainders of yarn from previous projects.
The pattern for the scarf is Heath by Kim Hargreaves.

To the scarf I added a new hat. The pattern is from some French magazine.

More later as usually! Have a Happy Holiday season!

"Haste Makes Waste"

I reworked the jersey dress I complained about in the previous post.

The reason for that bubble at the back was that I soaked the cloth before sewing and hang it to dry. The sides of the fabric stretched and I cut it as it was. What a fool I was! This kind of things happens when I want to finish a garment quickly, usually in one day. I sew mostly on weekends and sometimes delaying half-ready garment for another week just burns my hands. 'Haste makes waste' as they say.
So I had to spend extra time unripping the back, removing the zipper and steam ironing the back to return it to a normal size. It's amazing how ironing could make miracles to sewing!
I didn't put the zipper back because I can easily get into the dress without it. But I added lining made from thin rayon knit and now I am more or less content with the result.
The dress is very comfortable and I wore it several times already.

I've been thinking about making a little black dress next but spontaneously bought another knitted fabric and have already started a wrap dress. It is a variation of Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress.
HeathersSphere from SEWspicious Minds recently published a nice collection of patterns for wrap dresses. I don't have access to all these patterns so I turned to my collection of Burda Moden magazines. I am going to use the pattern #115 from 5/2006.

This is a fabric I am going to use for this dress. My camera can't capture the real colour, in reality it is darker and has more khaki hue.

I decided not to rush with this dress but make everything slowly and very accurately.

***

Some new finished knitting projects. A new hat and scarf for my son since it was rather cold here. I used free patterns from Junghans-Wolle web site. I like their patterns, they are so clear and precise, it is always a pleasure to use them and they turn out well.

 

 See you later!

Lace Scarf in Kid Silk (DROPS 108-4 Scarf in Lace Pattern)

Pattern: 108-4 a – scarf in lace pattern in ”Kid-Silk” by Drops
Yarn: Kid Seta Super (75% Mohair, 25% Silk)
Needles: size 3,5
Size: 29 cm wide and 165 cm long

Of course I couldn't keep wearing it today and was complimented by a total stranger who said that the scarf is not just beautiful but VERY beautiful :))).

Frosted Glow Scarflette

This is a little scarflette I made from the remains of yarn from this beret . The pattern is free and could be found in this blog.

 

This is a lovely pattern suitable for beginners in lace knitting.

Man's hats and scarf

I knitted these two hats and a scarf for my son. All three pieces have been made from the same yarn, a blend of alpaca, wool and acrilic.

First one is made using two threads of this yarn. This is the easiest pattern ever, suitable for beginners. This hat could be done in a couple of hours. Free pattern is available at BrooklynTweed website.

Second is a set of a hat and a scarf. This is also a free pattern from Junghans-Wolle web site.
I made some changes in the original design. First, I made the hat a little bit deeper. Second, I had to completely redo the scarf because after wearing it a couple of times in the original size my son said that it is too narrow and he needs a wider one. So in the new version width had been increased 1,5 times.