T.Bunny Knits

Grrrrrrrrrrrowl Cowl

2012-01-31T19:32:00.000Z

Well hello there knitty friends, I know its been a while since I posted anything and I am a whole 1 day ahead of schedule but here goes.......,

In keeping with my new years resolution with cowl pattern releases let me introduce you to my first cowl pattern for February....the Growl Cowl:

(picture by jewelandarlin)

This is a textured wrapped cowl made from 2 lovely skins of Mirasol's Kutama, 50% Wool, 50% Alpaca squishy goodness. This is an extremely warm cowl for a loved one and with that cold weather front setting in this is a perfect weekend knit. If you ask me this is the perfect Valentines gift for him,I bet even Bear Grylls would be jealous!!!

The best part is that this pattern is absolutely free and is currently one of the in house patterns at This Is Knit and you can also find the pattern over here.

I hope you like it, Enjoy!!!
Nadia

Idyllic Irish Knits - Maleficent

2012-01-22T23:37:00.000Z

I know you have all been biting your nails waiting for these pictures to go live (I joke, I joke) but finally I do have some nice pictures of the FO's I designed for Idyllic Irish Knits. There is one I am really fond of and I find very hard to say goodbye too (I may even swipe the test knit for myself) and that one could only be .... Maleficent.

I have to say I love the texture, the weight and the pure elegance of this knit. I also handmade the wire wrapped feather shawl pin which I think really adds something to this piece. She can be worn as a shawl, wrap, scarf or cowl and is a mighty 87 inches long!

All of the accessories in the Enchanted Collection (some you will see soon, others will take a little bit longer) are based around my favourite fairytales from the Brothers Grimm, Lewis Carroll and Hans Christian Anderson. As always there is a bit of Disney influence (I am an 80's child after all) but I tried mostly to make for people I know would wear these pieces.

I hope you like what you see and what is to come. I enjoyed every last minute of it

Idyllic Irish Knits - Sneak Peak

2012-01-18T12:15:00.000Z

January has been a very busy month over here and with less than a week to go before the new etsy shop is up and running properly, I thought it was about time to give you guys a sneak peak into one of our Eventide accessories. I could draw this out....but I think a short and sweet post is what is needed.

*Drum roll ........please..........................*

Ladies and gentlefolk, let me introduce to you .......Storm .....

Storm is a very adaptable cowl / wrap and I love the colour way and textures I finally ended up with. This can be worn so many ways to give a dramatic or eye catching cowl or a warm and snuggle friendly wrap. As this is one of the pieces for the etsy shop the pattern will not be available until the end of season. Yes I am going to make you wait until next week for the full pictures but I might just add a few treats here on the blog a little later on.

Cowl #2 - Noni

2012-01-06T17:40:00.001Z

Well as I said January was going to be a busy month over here and without delay can I introduce you to Noni:

Noni was designed for my sister Fiona who happens to be called Noni in our house and I thought it fitting to name the cowl after her. One of the great things about this cowl is that it is just so versatile. I love garments that you put time in to making that you can wear just about anywhere. Throw them in your bag and they are ready to go. Noni can be worn as a cowl (long or short), a snood, a wrap to the side or front and with the beaded inserted ties can be pulled into a top like this:

In fact there are so many ways I will post a few photos at the end of this blog post. One of the other amazing things about this cowl is that it is incredibly soft. Yip this is no ordinary cowl, she is made from 1 skein of Malabrigo Rios and one skein of Debbie Bliss Party Angel so it really is like wrapping yourself in pure luxury. The other great thing is that both yarns have many colorways that you could make this unique to you.

One other point I would like to discuss in this post is shawl pins. Now I know that many of you will laugh at this but I have just found these magnetic nova steel pins that are in This is Knit (please don't laugh I really didn't realise they were magnetic) Just look how pretty this leaf design is:

and best of all no holes in your knitting, FANTASTIC! Ok now I am going to bombard you with pictures of my cowl. It is currently being uploaded to Ravelry as we speak.

Aint she a beaut!

New Year - New Pattern

2012-01-04T19:59:00.004Z

First of all a very happy new year to you all, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I have been very busy working away with my little elves so that 2012 could be a fresh start to all things related to T. Bunny Knits. There have been a few changes and some hard work going on, so I hope you all enjoy things to come

In December I decided that 2012 for me was going to be the year of the cowl. Yes that's right the cowl. Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that the cowl has not gotten the recognition it deserves over the years, so every month here at T. Bunny Knits there will be at least one cowl pattern from myself. Now January being the bleak month it is, I have decided that there will be 2 cowl pattern releases along with some other accessories over the month. So without further delay I give you the first cowl pattern of 2012:

Ruby

Ruby is an emergency winter knit for those surprise post xmas birthdays or when the weather catches you off guard and your standing at train platforms and bus stops trying to keep warm. Knitted on 15mm needles and 3 skeins of Polaris, if you grab your yarn on the way home Ruby is ready for you to go to work with the next day. Constructed from garter stitch with seed stitch details its a fast knit but will keep you interested. You can find ruby to download here.

Now another change here at T. Bunny Knits, is that for some of my pattern releases I have allowed some fellow knitters to sell the finished garments from my patterns and these can be found over on the T. Bunny Knits etsy shop here.

And finally.....over on the T. Bunny etsy shop you will also find some of my stitch markers like the ones pictured below. If you keep an eye out over the coming months you may even see a few more surprises!.

Christmas Craft Bags

2011-11-24T14:39:00.001Z

I realise it is the 24th of November but I needed to get a start on my Christmas crafts. I am knitting or crafting a lot of presents this year (as requested) so I need to get ahead on my wrapping too! This whole idea came to me while doing the mundane shopping trip to Tesco. Then I spied these plain red bags for 30 cent each (also on a 3 for 2 offer!!) and my craft-sense started tingling.

Materials:

Plain bags from Tesco or craft store
Some xmas decorations (I got my snowflakes 8 for 2 euro in the euro shop)
Some glue
Xmas stamps (I got mine in the Art & Hobby shop for 2 euro)
Ink pad
Glitter

The first thing I did was to fix my snowflake on to the center of the bag using some glue like so.

Then I stamped on the xmas stamps and decorated with some glitter. Its easy simple fast and I have lots of tissue paper to make the bags even prettier :) I also think its a great idea to keep kids entertained for an afternoon. Here is my snowflake bag and I'm off to make some more.

It started with a bunny....

2011-10-11T10:40:00.002+01:00

For my 28th birthday, my boyfriend asked me what I wanted. I thought about it and I said "A bunny". This, this I have come to realise was my first mistake.

My second mistake was visiting a pet shop in town for fish food and I saw this little madam. The pet shop lady asked if I wanted to hold her, I almost gave in but didn't and I went home . A week later myself and himself where again in the pet shop. The little bunny was still there, all alone in her cage. The pet shop lady remembered me and again asked if I wanted to hold her, I again said no.......himself on the other hand said YES. This my friends was the the second mistake. The lady placed the little bunny into J's arms. She snuggled down and with big brown eyes looked up at him as if to say "Please don't leave me here". The little bun was named Berry and taken home that day. Our lives have never been the same since. This was the third and final mistake and that is all you get......3 strikes.......

The moment I described, that is the only time that Berry has EVER been cuddled, she is not a cuddle bunny. I am jealous of any bunny owners who get bunny snuggles. For me to have snuggles, I have to get down on the ground, to her level where she will flop out beside me and 'allow' me to pet her.

Our houses have never been the same, cables are chewed like she has an addiction to electric shock treatment. Our books have been chewed as if she has a say in what we read, fantasy is ok but she is not a fan of cookbooks. Berry has tantrums like a 3 yr old, where she pulls DVD's out of the holder one by one, LOTR has never been the same.This has occurred so much now that we have constructed our very own bunny warning, as seen below:

Berry is a sweet little bun when you do not get in her way or take away whatever she has decided is HER chew toy (it doesn't matter if its your favourite pair of shoes). She has bonded with our new second bun, Ninja ( thats a whole other bog post), so well that we are not allowed to pet him without her permission, lack of permission gets you bitten in the rear!

This all said, we spend so much time laughing at both of their antics and as angry as a bunny gets, its incredibly hard not to laugh in their face while their huge floppy ears are flailing about as they throw things. It is impossible to shout at them, when your knitting is 'fixed' as they now lie on your feet flopped out, back bunny paws facing upward. We love our buns both and with the last picture how could you not.

Make and Do Saturday

2011-10-08T22:00:00.001+01:00

I do realise that this is suppose to be a 'knit' blog but I had to share my crafty Saturday. Halloween is my favourite holiday, I love the spirit, the costumes, the crafts and well, best of all the treats! So for the month of October, I am going to be 'crafting' some items, doing some pumpkin carving and of course lots of knitting. All of which I will be sharing on my blog.

All of this started with some browsing on pinterest.com , while thinking of a theme and a colour scheme I liked. Then it all happened at once, I went into a Euro shop and found a child's witches broom for a euro, a bunch of black roses for a euro, some doilies for a euro and a black frame for guess what....a euro. I ran home with my purchases and started on my destruction with glee. I ripped the broom apart, I wrenched the roses into pieces and got out some overpriced spray paint from the Art & Hobby shop. Tearing through my hoards under the stairs I found some glass jars I saved too. Now I had all my ingredients, I started making and doing.

My two glass jars were covered in the lacy part of the doilies and spray painted black. While these were drying I made my flower arrangement and printed out some subway art. When the paint was dry I added all of this together on chest of drawers along with our friendly house Troll!

The next thing I am really proud of is our photo display, though I still havn't figured out how to hang these properly but I really do love them. Lets face it, who doesn't like some cereal box art????? I just cut some cereal boxes in half, covered them in fabric / paper. Then I added some mounts and pictures. The ribbon I got for about 3 euro from The Woolen Mills and the buttons I already had. I just played with the ribbon etc till I found a display I liked. The photos were taken by my other half and I just picked ones that went with the autumn vibe I had going.

Well, I hope I inspired you to get crafting for the month of October. I am going to leave you with my favourite picture of this little project and that is the pattern my glass jar makes when lit. Have (an albeit early) Happy Halloween.

*runs off to think up some bunny costumes*

Baby Blanket Bunday

2011-10-03T21:13:00.005+01:00

For those of you who have seen me knit this in public, you will know how much I hated making this blanket. I hated the yarn, how it was knitting up and I was just generally bored. Well what can I say, its amazing how blocking changes a project. This blanket went from a gift I was ashamed to give away, to something I am really proud of.

The blanket by itself I thought was a bit bland as you can see here so I decided to add a monogram to the bottom corner. I shaped after about an hour of working out a chart for the letter L, I got down to working on it and it turned out really well and I know a certain lady who is going to be over the moon with this for her new daughter.

Today I also made myself a new menu board for my fridge. Its basically a frame with fancy wrapping paper inside it. Then using a dry wipe marker you can write whatever you like on the glass. I imagine it is going to end up as my craft to do list but I like it :)

Oh and because you asked yet another picture of my bun and yes she dissapproves.....Happy Bunday Everyone.

Stash Busting Saturday

2011-10-01T19:23:00.002+01:00

Today was a rainy, horrible Saturday and I decided today would be stash busting day. For a long time now I have wanted to frame the last knitted garment I made my mum but I was unsure how to go about it. I'm not sure where this whole idea came from but the three above pictures are my new addition to my craft area.

This item is the flower scarf by Robyn Dilberto, its a fantastic knit and I made mine from half a ball of drops alpaca in raspberry. The brioche stitch allows this to be warm while giving this alot more texture then you would expect from a 5-ply yarn. I really do love this and I knew I would never wear it so I am glad this has now found a home.

The knitted section of T.Bunny Knits came from a number of different ideas but I will try and explain how it is constructed. The knitting needles at the bottom are cocktail sticks with one point cut off. I then added a bead that I use for stitch markers, by placing a small amount of glue on the stick and holding the bead in place for a minute. The small balls of yarn are bits of leftovers with the purple ball a small section of the DKC's homespun yarn. The letters were made by printing out a the words in a large font, using this as a template I cut these out in cardboard from an old ceral box. I then covered them in glue and wrapped them in james c brett twinkle yarn. The backing is knitted from some 80's stash yarn that I inherited from my friends mother. The photo does it no justice here but its cream with multi-coloured embroidery yarn spun into it.

The final drawing above is my bunny logo that a wonderful artist named Liz Seaver drew for me. If you guys have the time you should have a quick listen to her music, there are no words to describe her amazing voice, even if I am a teeny weeny bit biased. I need to fix these in the frames properly and the letters need setting, but I thought you guys would like a quick view into my idea for stash busting. I now have to cast on for the Contemporary Irish Knits KAL that is happening over here. I am aiming for Straboy but lets see how it goes :/

And for no reason at all here is a gratuitous picture of my inspiration:

September Knitting

2011-09-22T02:37:00.003+01:00

September has always been a month when I get this internal burst of energy to be creative and start to knuckle down. I have no idea why it has become this way, maybe I am just conditioned from my years in education but I am more than happy to take advantage of it.

With this new found energy in tow, I sat down and actually started using my Ravelry queue for its intended purpose. The projects are slowly ticking to the top and I actually come away with the feeling of being productive. As I am not working at the moment, I get to fully enjoy all there is about having a hobby, a craft of my own. I get to be productive while job hunting. I get to watch something beautiful grow and evolve before my eyes depending on my mood of the day and most of all the objects of my creativity brings other people happiness too, for example my recently completed baby knits pictured here.

I now have my very first large stash of yarn, most of which have projects in mind but there are one or two that are still floaters. These are the ones that interest me most as they are yet to be pinned down. These are the ones from which my inspiration stems every time I go near my stash box. I have noticed, that even if I don't want to or feel like it, I find myself smiling just at the potential projects, gifts or even ugh's.

With this new energy and stash combined, I plan my queue with people that I care about in mind.Very few projects are for myself, so those that are will be cast on at the same time as gifts, for when that green eyed monster comes around. Or in the case of this week, my wrist gives in and I need to swap from heavy projects to lightweight. Doing this and having this craft does give me a sense of fulfillment that I have never had from anything else, even when the projects are ughs! Which I find to be amazing, in a time when people are unemployed, cutting back on spending etc.

One thing I have to say before I go, is that I would not have met the people I have nor have these feelings of fulfillment, joy or productiveness without having been raised the way I have by two very strong willed women. So to both my mum and my nana, a massive THANK YOU from the once uninterested child, the one who would never sit quiet enough to finish that teddy bear or hot water bottle cover. Thank you for passing on your knowledge, for having the patience to teach me. I only hope that one day, I can give something similar to a little girl of my own, though if she is anything like me, I will be long gone grey before I can get her to sit quiet enough. :)

~ Back To Knitting (Sort of) ~

2011-09-02T13:09:00.000+01:00

I don't really know where to start here, I have not posted anything in a long while mostly due to my mum becoming terminally ill and then passing away earlier this year. After that I had no interest in knitting, blogging or anything other then work and home. So first of all apologies for the lack of anything exciting happening around here. Most of my projects are still as they were in February but some progress has been made recently, mostly because of a really amazing knitter whirl123. So instead of a very long summary of the last few months, I decided to start with a short post on the crafts of this week.

This week has taught me a lot of new craft related things, the picture above of some beautiful stitch-markers was by far the most rewarding. The picture does not do them justice, the blue stitch-markers are especially beautiful. Mostly this came about because I kept getting angry at my stitch markers stopping at 8mm needles. I knit quite a lot on 8mm+ needles so I just decided to learn how to make my own. I am very please at these results.

Next on my needles at the moment is Snug by Hinke. This pattern is great and I can see from the construction techniques why it is so popular. There are a few things with this though the size is an issue as it is only written in one size but the many good people of Ravelry have many fantastic notes on adaptations for bigger sizes. This one below on my needles is my first Snug in the original size soon to be adapted for a 6 - 9 months size. All I have left to do is finish the hood and sew on the buttons. I will later post the technique I have in my notes on the detachable cables for provisional cast on. This saved me so much work when it came to the hood.

Finally this week on my needles is the garter stitch baby kimono by Joji Locatelli. This pattern I adapted heavily for a gauge of 6 sts/inch on 3.25mm needles with DK yarn. Also I am putting a hood on the kimono and edging it in black. This pattern is great and easy to follow and is quite fast for the size of the needles but it is tedious which is why Snug was cast on. This is turning out to be more of a coat then its original intention but I will decide if I like it when its finished.

That is pretty much my week apart from some craft related trial baking for handMaid craft day tomorrow. There will be some mini sponge buns on the baking stall from myself and please those of you who can come along, even if your not a knitter there is cake and coffee and oodles of fun to be had.

Free Cowl Pattern for Xmas

2010-12-10T01:43:00.009Z

To cheer up a rather bleak December, I thought I would post this pattern for a quick knit chunky mobius cowl. It also has the advantage of being a stash buster of a knit using only 2 x 50g balls (198 yards) of bulky 12 ply yarn. Here I used Debbie Bliss Glen as the colour gradient in the yarn gives a nice texture to the double seed stitch and allows it to be soft and snuggle friendly at the same time. So for those of you looking for a last minute knit for the big day this could be right up your tree :)

Materials:
Size 6.0 mm (10 US) circular needles
1 Stitch marker
2 Skeins of bulky 12ply yarn
Contrast waste yarn for I-cord if required.

Gauge: 16 sts x 20 rows = 4 inches in double seed stitch.

Double Seed Stitch Pattern:
Row 1: K1, P1 to end of round
Row 2: P1, K1 to end of round
Row 3: P1, K1 to end of round
Row 4: K1, P1 to end of round.

Pattern Instructions:
1. Cast on 100 stitches using the moebius cast on.
2. Start the double seed stitch pattern as described above and work in pattern until piece measures 6 inches. (At this point due to the yarn I rotated each ball every 2 rows to obtain an overall blended effect)
3. Knit one round (use one ball of yarn from now on if using gradient yarn this allows for an edging trim contrast colour).
4. *K8, K2tog, yo* to end of round
5. Knit one round.
6. Bind off loosely.

If you want to place the I-cord as shown opposite, cast on 3 sts and work an I-cord until it measures 12 inches in length and sew on as shown opposite or use your creative side, you never know what happens when you start to play with an I-cord.

~ Pattern Launch and KAL (A Guide to Scarf Knits....) ~

2010-11-23T13:50:00.001Z

Well I guess this has been a long time in the making but a few of my patterns are available for download from here or you can browse my pattern page. As more objects finish testing, more links will go live but for now I just wanted to say a huge thank you to whirl123 and Rosmeary for all your help over the last few months. Whirl123 (aka Wendy) your amazing and one day I aim to be as web efficient as you, it just may take me a while.Over the next while I will add more patterns slowly to Ravelry but for now with everything that is happening I'm delighted with the mails and response from people (its all helpful).

To change the subject ever so slightly, my KAL project is taking its time but now that I have a little free time this week, Ill get right back on the needles. So for those of you who don't know the constant knitter is running a KAL this November and it is the gorgeous lace-ribbon-scarf by Vernoik Avery (Knitty spring 2008) . Now scarf knitting to me has always been a little tedious because I get halfway and I'm bored but this scarf is actually a fun TV knit with changes every 11 rows to keep you interested. I myself had a few false starts with the pattern but if you check out the forum, you will see that almost everyone had some problem or other, so without further a do here is my guide to scarf knitting:

Always have tea / chocolate and a stash of movies / tv you want to catch up on.
If need be, use your scarf project to convert your unsuspecting housemate / loved one into learning the craft and end up getting them to knit/ crochet some of it for you (heh heh)
If number two fails try bribery with chocolate from step one, ensuring the person that the scarf knitting will be "therapeutic".....................
Order your children to do a few rows as punishment!! (warning this only works on scarves that are easy to knit and your child may end up hating the craft altogther)
You could conduct a scarf swap with someone (again bribery works well here).
Teach your pet how to knit or crochet ( I have actually thought long and hard about whether or not I could teach Berry how to hold needles or if I tied them to her paws would she make anything)
Use thick yarn and large needles the project will go faster.
Find a friend who wants to knit the same scarf as you and have a sort of buddy system, this works really well.
Now this final step should only be used if your making the scarf for a friend or loved one who wanted the scarf because of a magazine or some famous person was wearing it and its "the" new hot fashion trend... knit/ crochet the scarf so they can see you working on it and say how much you would love that cup of tea or dinner *ahem* and say you would stop knitting but this scarf is has to be so long it will never be finished in time for *......insert relevant event here........* (use puppy eyes at your own risk) they will feel guilty and offer to make you tea or dinner or if your lucky offer you something nice in return for your knitting / crochet skills

and finally because I think this blog post is too long already, just enjoy the mindless knitting of a scarf, if you can't, just remember all those times you worked long and hard on intricate lace details or figuring out new cast - on or bind off methods, use the scarf as a treat to your knitting self. It will be over all too soon and in the end we all love our scarves anway, just look at these happy faces:

~ Pattern Designs & TCK KAL Nov 2010 ~

2010-11-09T14:21:00.000Z

As most of you know I have been a bit behind with getting my patterns up and out there. Theres has been so much going on personally with family and friends and with temping that I'm sorry to say knitting took second string, but over the last while these patterns have all been uploaded and are now going through the last few tweaks. I have to say, I had no idea how much work it would take to link a few sites together and those of you who know me personally, know that I lack website design skills, but thanks to a lot of work by whirl123 (and a very steep learning curve for me) we are almost there and updates will be announced through TCK website.

For those of you taking part in the November KAL for the Lace Ribbon Scarf on the constant knitter forums,
you know that I had to step down from running it due to my mums health and the lovely chicwithstix took over along with the constant knitter herself and they are both doing a wonderful job. Sadly my scarf is only on its third repeat as you can see but I just can't seem to get into this project. I know ye have assured me that the more you do the more addictive this knit gets but I say thats because you don't live with a destructo-bunny and its obsessed male owner!!!! I was on my third repeat which I had to rip back as my lovely bunny and BF were having races up and down our living room floor.

now I think I have rambled on long enough and I am off for that cuppa and some peace and quiet knitting.

~ Knitting and Stitching Show 2010 RDS ~

2010-10-28T15:36:00.003+01:00

First of all apologies for my blog being, well basically dead for the last 6 weeks a lot of things have happened so I never got a chance to post. Secondly, I am posting about this years Knitting and Stitching show in the RDS, to give you guys a sample of the amazing things on display/for sale at this years exhibit. I was lucky enough to get to the RDS early this morning to grab one of the first glimpses of the exhibition. There are so many stalls to choose from but I will stick to my own personal favorites.

First of all it was lovely to see This IS Knit at K13 (if any of ye are looking for them). Their stand is easy to spot even from the gallery as this gorgeous dress above is on display, along with a scribble stole and some gorgeous Louisa Harding garments, personally the Louisa Harding shrug (long sleeve) in ribbon was my favorite.

Also the gorgeous Laura Hogan is upstairs in the gallery, drop in and say hi, she has some gorgeous yarns for sale and a citron on display for squishing. From up on the gallery one of my favorite designers could be spotted. The lovely Heather Finn had some gorgeous inspiring pieces, my favorite was this delightful petitcoat knitted dress, her stand is definitely worth a look.

For those of you who are looking for a bargain the black sheep are back in their normal spot at R1, with some rowan and other yarns on sale per kilo. If your looking for something a bit different then I recommend taking a look at Knitting For Fun and Oliver Twists. Knitting for Fun have an amazing display of wool that has been dyed the most beautiful, eye-catching shades and Oliver Twists have some spun silk which is impossible to pass just take a look:

If you are looking for Stephanie of The Yarn Room, she is hidden by this pillar of fish but she has some gorgeous rainbow yarn for sale and some very nice knitting kits. Do pay her a visit she is lovely to talk to and very good at advising what to knit with the yarn on display.

I won’t blather on for much longer but I will post the rest of the pictures from today so you guys can take a look at the gorgeous things on display. There are some amazing bead shops including Dublin’s Beads and Bling and Yellow Brick Road and there are some amazing crafts on display I’m just partial to the knitting sections. Oh and keep an eye on the guys with the cameras, they were a bit snap happy earlier today. I hope you get to make it, at least for a browse, I managed to grab a few skeins of tasty yarn from TIK and Knitting for Fun but if you really want a yarn stash ask claire42 for advice she is amazing at devising a game plan for the show, I was so impressed. !!

~ Gold Top Ripping and Debbie Bliss Glenn ~

2010-09-09T17:28:00.001+01:00

Its been a while since my last post as I have been trying to get some pictures taken while the bad weather is here and I have been a little busy trying to finish up some projects on my needles. With the cold weather creeping in I thought hmmmmmm its time for winter garments!!! Among those I came up with, I finally have the pattern down for my Debbie Bliss Neck warmers / Cowls (AKA presents for the DCU girls) I kept this one to an Irish feel combining a lace ribbing (more complicated than it looks I promise) with some Celtic Irish cables to give them a little Irish elegance this winter. There is a quick pic of the trial below but Im not giving away the whole cable just yet but keep an eye out for these quick knit gems!!!

I have also been trying to finish up my Gold Party Top (yes its still unnamed) but myself and my knitting have had more arguments lately then actual progress. After almost a days worth of knitting, the top had to be ripped back to before the decreases *sigh* if it wasn't for the pretty yarn dazzling me with its brilliance I would store this one away but at least it adds some sunshine into a rather wet and depressing week!! I have a sneaky pic where you can see the warm glow of the yarn and a little of the detailed edge.

The rest of my patterns will be uploaded to to theconstantknitter.ie this month and the vine shrug is just coming to the end of its test knitting phase on ravelry and will be available soon. A big thank you to the test knitters mayogirl, grandmaKiss and shirlthegirl43 from ravelry and soon to join the camp Schnitter!! It is lovely to see the projects in different yarns. With this post coming to a close and the gathering dark clouds outside its time for a hot chocolate with marshmallows I think before I battle the weather for the trek to Brooks!!

~ Socks Ahoy ~

2010-08-24T21:08:00.001+01:00

Ok so for those of you who know me and have been at knitting gatherings with me, you know that I am not a sock lover. I do not knit socks!! Yet I now believe that my mistake was that I always made toe up socks. Today I sat down while procrastinating (with coffee, cake and NCIS) and above is the result. I was trying out some different sizes, I'm a small but I'm wearing a medium size in the pic. I was trying out a pattern for gauntlets and socks and above is the result of my mathematical skills at work (or play its a fine line with me).

The cuff is ribbing which flows into my fake cable which then flows down the side of the sock, it has just enough going on to avoid the "boring sock syndrome" while the 4 row repeat pattern (which looks more complicated than it is) gives it a little bit of juice!! Its possible to knit these while watching tv which in my book is a plus :) I tried to grab some pictures but I know they arnt the best I will be knocking on johns door sometime soon with socks and gauntlets to be pictured. If anyone is interested in test knitting these can you send me a mail please? to the side is a picture of the cuff and below is a picture of the main pattern section. I think I am slowly being won over by sock knitting and I am starting to have dreams of symphonie double points. This is also my" try and win Diane over" socks...... so my question is "will these make your needles leap into action"?

~ New Blog and Cruise Visitors ~

2010-08-18T09:16:00.002+01:00

Well as you all can see the construction of my new blog is well underway , just my blog title and my bunny to go. I hope you all like it. The pages will go live in conjunction with the patterns going live in September here. Let me know what you all think and if there are any issues (loading times etc.) I can change things around.

As I posted yesterday, I had a little visit to Rosemary (to squish some yarn and to drop off some patterns) this coincided with afternoon tea and coffee (with baked goods :D) and a rather large visit from a number of knitting cruise members!!!!! Now the first thing that went into my head was "knitting cruise - Whats a knitting cruise?" Well a knitting cruise is apparently what it says on the tin, just like a bridge cruise etc except knitting is encouraged on board the luxury liner and these lucky ladies got to sale from port to port visiting new and exciting yarn shops at every destination. Some of these ladies had quiet the stash already but here in Dublin they visited This is Knit, The Jameson Distillery and finally for some refreshment and more yarn squishing The Constant Knitter. I didnt manage to grab that many photos between the laughter, baked goods and FO's the ladies had brought along, but here are a few:

Clapotis in Angora!!!!!!

Afternoon tea

Wool and Tea (Better than the boat I heard!!!)

Yarn and Whiskey!!!!!!!

I was also lucky enough to meet two lovely ladies Kim and Karen from Maryland, USA who loved my Vine Shrug so much they bought yarn to make their own!!!! So they made me a very happy bunny :)

~Construction and Morning Coffee~

2010-08-17T09:19:00.003+01:00

Hi all, I am just sitting down with my morning coffee and I apologise for the mess that is my blog at the moment. It will be changing until I get it right. Though you will be glad to hear that my patterns will be going live very soon so stay tuned, but if any of ye would like a quick glimpse at an advanced copy, then you will have to visit Rosemary and she might let you take a peek. I'm off to Rosemary for a visit and a chat later today and I might just post what I find later on. You never know what is going to happen when you visit last time I got addicted to angora and made my first cowl which I will post later on.

~ Times are a Changing ~

2010-08-10T09:09:00.000+01:00

Well there has never been a more apt saying to describe where I am right now. A lot of things over the last few weeks have driven me crazy or lead me to believe that for me there is definitely no way back to chemistry for me :) Im not too sad about this however but I shall none the less strive to find something to fill that void.

And so in looking for something too fill that void, I turned to knitting and fiber related things. Now recently I found Flick's (from Ravelry) blog and I have decided I was naive about my blog and its time for a proper change in a good way so if I stop posting its for all our benefits believe me.

My second realisation came when I got some what drawn to the picture above, now angora tweed hmmmmmm not that inspiring by itself and the projects on ravelry made me even more glum. But that picture stayed with me for a while, I love the mix of angora and viscose and I have decided that this week it is my mission to make this even more beautiful and I shall post my efforts when im done :) I have some musings on what I can do here and Im just a little excited :)

I think I am going to keep my projects a little under wraps for a while so no postings and no wip's for a while if i see you at the FFF meetings or any of the DKC gatherings you may get a sneek peek into what im doing but you will have to be very very good :)

My Visit to the Constant Knitter

2010-08-08T10:31:00.003+01:00

Although the constant knitter is mainly an online yarn shop, Rosemary does offer the chance to call up and visit her collection (often with some wonderful tea on offer too!!!!) so having nothing better to do on a rainy Saturday,I visited the constant knitter and I was surprised by how much stock rosemary has. I tried to do it justice in the following pics and I also tried to curl up in a few of those containers alas im too big sob Not to mention those shiny, shiny stitch markers by “MweaG” which are just stunning!!!! well done you !!!! (I tried to do them justice)

I was mostly surprised by the tweed and viscose mixtures looking so well together and how soft the tweed actually was, I’m used to scratchy tweed but this is beautiful.

Another yarn set I managed to spy is the vivaldi mohair mix. Now I think Rosemary is holding out and keeping all the good stuff at the back but I managed to grab this while she was making me tea…….

For those lace knitters among you I snapped these pics of the manos lace and kid silk bins and this is just a taste of the colours available. ( i also squeezed some drops dk weight in here too)

I couldnt even try and mention the craftspun, alpaca and countless other yarns in the ceiling to floor display.

Not to ramble on too much, I’m just going to post the rest of the pics I stole today, I hope they do it justice and at the end I just had to take a special pic of the dark purple nepal yarn because its just heavenly!!!!! Thanks for letting me visit for so long rosemary, I came away inspired!!!!!!!!! If your in the area I recommend seeing if you can call and visit!!!!!!!!!

~ Haze Shrug - Take Two ~

2010-08-03T22:43:00.000+01:00

Yes I decided to adapt my Haze Shrug as I put up earlier and I made this one from sock yarn. I will be posting the pattern soon but here are some rough pics to wet your apatite. I love how this feels and I love how it changes colour depending on the light I tried to show that here..Enjoy.

~ Sneek Peek ~

2010-07-31T20:57:00.000+01:00

So I have been very quiet lately because I have been so busy with a few top secret projects, but just for you guys here are some pics of things to come this autumn/ winter. I hope you like what you see!!!!!!

Now what could possibly be going on with these balls of luxury yarn?????? Stay tuned and find out soon......

~ Baby Sweater ~

2010-07-08T16:37:00.001+01:00

I needed a baby sweater in a hurry so I looked again on ravelry to try and find something quick to knit and I found this baby-sweater-open-front---raglan-sleeve by Linda Borhn. I have to say i didnt enjoy making it mostly because of the pattern, I found it infuriating to knit and the yarn doesnt sew up too well either. This project did turn out ok in the end though and it is lovely and soft and the matching booties (in two sizes) are so cute.

I did make some changes to the pattern, in stead of ribbing i have a seed stitch border and I have a garter stitch row on the sleeves to go with my booties and baby joes :) For more pictures just look up my rav page :) And I will post pics of this on soon as this couch cushion pic makes it look all uneven i promise its not :)

~ Marshmallow Knitting ~

2010-07-08T09:11:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was in a position like many of you have before were you needed a quick gift that was not too expensive. Now luckily enough i noticed this yarn the day before and I went straight back bought it and 4 meters of sparkly purple trimming and the result was Katies Sparkly Marshmallow Scarf (which im now finding hard to give away as purple is my favorite colour too!!!!

I added pics here of it so you can have a goo it works out pretty ok cost wise and is done in about an hour including weaving in the trimming. The one bad thing i have to say about it is that this cant really be called knitting its more like wrapping a scarf together so great for little ones if they want to learn how to knit.

After this was so quick and I had loads of yarn left over (if you can call it yarn) so I made the skninny scarf from the rest of the ball. I looks great, I didnt use any trimming on it and it was done in about 30 minutes. Though the one thing everyone has failed to mention is that you spend at least an hour untangling the material before you can use it, but in the end 2 scarves for the price of one (while watching the footie)and they arnt too shabby if I do say so myself. (now just try and look past the transformers t shirt and look at the scarf :) )

~ Angel Hairband ~

2010-06-19T14:52:00.001+01:00

A week with no sleep or waking up early with this weather is going to make anyone crazy. So after my second week in a row of bad sleeping, I decided to tire myself out (at 3 in the morning), with some rummaging in my yarn drawer and left over extras........ the result is the Angel hairband :) (I'm quite proud actually.)

There are a number of things you are going to need before you start this:

waste yarn or whatever you want your band colour to be
a pattern you like (I'll post mine on here)
elastic band or old hairband you want to cover
needles (I used 3.5 mm)
Needles for sewing or if your lucky to have it fabric glue

So to make the band, you measure the circumference of your head mine is 19 inches (aren't you all glad you know that). so is the length you want it to be. next choose a width, I choose 2 inches. Now check the pattern you want against your measurements and see if they are compatible or swap needles till they are. The pattern I used is as follows:

I cast on 21 stitches (5 stitches to allow me to wrap over my elastic band and 16 stitches for my pattern). For your stitches here count your pattern and how wide your band is and use plain stitches for the width of your band.
For the first 5 stitches on either side, I knit or purl depending on if its the rs or ws. The rest follow the pattern below which was on a really really old and badly photocopied school jumper pattern, but I like it.
When its long enough cast off with a long tail.
Block (if a lace pattern is used).
Now wrap the plain knitted stitches around the elastic and seem up on the wrong side, being careful not to sew into the band just the knitted piece. If using a hairband just fold over those stitches until you can slide your band though.
Sew the elastic together, followed by the knittned piece to form a round. TA!!!!!DA!!! your done :)

Pattern:

(16 sts and 15 row repeat)

1st row (rs): k5, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k5.

2nd and every alternative row: Purl.

3rd row: k3, K2 tog, yo, k1, yo, sl1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k4.

5th row: k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k3.

7th row: k1, k2tog, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, sl1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k2.

9th row: K2tog, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl1, k1, psso, k1.

11th row: K2, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl 1, k1, psso, yo, k2tog, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog.

13th row: K3. yo, sl1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k2.

15th row: K4, yo, sl1, k1, psso, k2, yo, sl1, k1, k2tog, yo, k3.

enjoy :)

~ Ribbed Lace Bolero ~

2010-06-14T20:43:00.002+01:00

Ok so a few weeks ago I cast on Kelly Maher's Ribbed Lace Bolero. I dropped a stitch and had to rip it back to the ribbing...now I can hear you all screaming "why...couldnt you just use a crochet needle to pick it up? " erm no and its because of my stupid wool. Im using cygent double knit because its soft and and I had some left over from a project a little while ago. The wool is horrible, it splits and breaks easily. Now I didn't have this problem back with my other balls, just this one.

So with having to rip it back I got sick of knitting it so I moved on to other things. I have to say this is not a project I enjoyed knitting but it think tis the wool and not the pattern. The pattern is easy to follow and is fairly easy to knit. I just think I'm having a bad knitting month.

~ Black arches Shrug ~

2010-06-14T20:34:00.002+01:00

Im just going to post pictures at the moment :) keep you all in suspense hee hee

~ Haze Shrug ~

2010-06-11T20:06:00.005+01:00

I wanted a quick knit to cover the top of my black dress at the back. I decided to see what my scribble mitt pattern would look like with lace weight yarn and to my surprise it looks GREAT. I have to say another big thank you to Rosemary for the wool, you were right it looks amazing. For those of you interested I bought the yarn here.

I cast on 40 stitches but I am really petite, If I was doing this again I would use a minimum of 50 stitches, the pattern is worked over 3 + 1 stitches so you can adapt it for yourself.

1. I did 10 rows of seed stitch on 5.5mm needles, with a long tail cast on.

2. I changed to 8 mm needles and carried out the pattern here for my scribble mitts: http://tbunny.blogspot.com/2010/06/scribble-mitts.html

3. When it reached from shoulder to shoulder across my back, I changed back again to size 5.5mm needles and did 10 rows of seed stitch again. (If you want longer sleeves, just continue for the length required and sow in the ends a little longer. This does adapt to a bell short sleeve well)

4. cast off and leave a long tail.

5. The area that has the seed stitch and the first two rows of pattern you sow in with the cast off tails on either side. and ta da there you go a shrug made in a day :) Don't forget to block I steamed blocked it as I wanted to wear it the day I made it.

Hope this helps, I will post a proper one soon, im really hungry.

~ Scribble Mitts ~

2010-06-10T14:22:00.002+01:00

After finishing my scribble scarf, I was left with one ball of the Eskimo chunky wool and some time to play with (as my dads train was running late) so off I went, I found a really old pattern from my school days that had a diagonal trellis effect and I wanted this but only on one side and so the Scribbble Mitts were born. This is a really easy pattern to follow for those of you interested I have posted it below. This wool makes the pattern a lot more complicated looking then it is, so if you are repeating this with plain yarn the effect will be quiet different.

The Pattern:
Note: when knitting across the row make sure your knitting into the back of all of the stitches, esp if using this pattern for the haze shrug.

1. This pattern was worked over 4 stitches. I cast on 20 stitches with a long tail cast on.

2. Knit across the row.

3. P1, *Purl 3 stitches together keeping them on the left needle, yo, and Purl the same 3 stitches again, P1*. (This produces a fake star like pattern). Repeat * this to end of row.

4. Knit across the row being careful to knit all the stitches and yo.

5. P3, Purl 3 stitches together keeping them on the left needle, yo, and Purl the same 3 stitches again.*p1,Purl 3 stitches together keeping them on the left needle, yo, and Purl the same 3 stitches again* repeat * To last 2 stitches and P2.

Just repeat these rows until the desired length is reached.

6. How you finish them is up to you. I finished on a knit row and turned and instead of purling while casting off I knitted, giving a chunkier edge because I always end up ripping my mitts at the top, while I'm out or running onto a bus or something stupid. Remember to leave a tail while casting off.

7. To sew these mitts I just used the tail from the cast on and cast off to sew up the sides with the reverse side side facing out. Leaving a gap for my thumb. Woot!! here you have some quick individual finished mitts.

I hope this entertained you for a hour or two. Best of Luck if you try them.

~ The Scribble ~

2010-06-09T22:32:00.000+01:00

Well as all you knitters know, alot of the time inspiration comes from others and well with me, this one happens to be from another DKC meeting at the chocolate bar. I really can't stress enough how wonderfully helpful these people are. I have yet to go to a meeting (I do miss quiet a few though) and not sit beside someone new. This meeting lead to a combination of chic with stix and the constant knitter introducing me to the scribble scarf!!.

I was instantly hooked, it was young, funky and yes made with my new obsession ..........kid silk. I was thinking "hmmm this is a good project to use up old yarn from winter projects" and it looked quick and easy. I had the yarn from the visit to the constant knitter store, I had the needles......there was nothing left to do except abandon my new bunny to the care of my boyfriend and pack my bag for the weekend and head home to visit my nana :) I cast on, on a Saturday and by the time I left on Sunday (full to the brim with tea and Fox's party rings from my nana) I was done with one ball of kid silk. I loved how this project just evolved, and so far any of the projects I have seen mixed with varying weighted yarns all look completely different and mine is no exception. I hope you like what I have done with this, I enjoyed it very much I just cant decide to cast off now or to make it a bit longer. I guess time and some more herbal tea (supplied by nora) will tell.

~ Wisp!! and a DKC Meeting ~

2010-06-09T16:36:00.002+01:00

At the end of spring, start of this summer I moved back to Dublin after a short spell at home. I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting The Dublin Knit Collective at the Chocolate Bar on Harcourt street. I had never met any of these wonderful women before but with a very friendly chicwithstix on the forums on Ravelry I sucked it up and went on down :) Here I met Rosmary (aka theconstantknitter) and I was introduced not only to a wonderful creative group but to yarn I had never even dreamt of. After a few hot chocolates it was decided a trip to theconstantknitter store was in order.

Not only does Rosemary have wonderful yarn, she is a delight to deal with and she has great advice. Now I have one bad thing to say (not really) and that is she introduced me to kid silk ...ahem it is WONDERFUL to knit with :) its like knitting with air. Since then I have become a yarn snob (yes I hang my head in shame) and my wallet is noticing (as a student my wallet hates my yarn urges) but now I am completely addicted with three other projects waiting in my que ....all to be made with kid silk. One for my friend Nora who would like a Wisp in kid silk too for her birthday and others for myself because I now dont want to knit with anything else.!!!!!!!!!

So having met with Rosemary and walked away with 4 skeins of kid silk 2 in purple haze and 2 in beautiful ice blue. I had no idea what I was going to make with them. A few emails (quiet a few sorry rosemary) went back and forth between rosemary and myself and low and behold she found just the thing Wisp by Cheryl Niamath. I grabbed out my needles and by the next DKC meeting at the chocolate bar I had used one ball of kid silk and I was about two thirds done.

Now each section of wisp took me about 40 mins to knit...how do I know???? well each episode of Battlestar Galactica (new series) was roughly 40 mins and each section of this beautiful knit was made while re-watching this wonderful series. So along with some woot!!! moments and some tears I finished my Wisp. But grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to ebay because I am still waiting on my Star buttons for the end of this.

~ Rivendell- A Wrap for Someone Special! ~

2010-06-09T16:07:00.002+01:00

Rivendell was my first attempt at designing. I wanted something that had meaning for the person I was making it for and low and behold (after a few false starts) Rivendell was born. Lots of people have asked me where I started with this and it really was a combination of a few things. I have a pattern book called "The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches" by Harmony Guides which I flicked through (again with a cup of tea in tow) and I liked some of the panel patterns unfortunately none of them was quiet what I was looking for. I wanted some with a Celtic feel but gave an elegant neckline and drew your attention to the persons face.

I also liked the versatility of the "highlander" type stole I had made previously, so I came up with this beauty. I made it holding the cygnet grey mix yarn double stranded for warmth and I introduced a crossing cable at either edge. I also started an insert panel but did not allow this to evlove into a cabling pattern untill after the first 20 or so rows. This gave a river like effect to the cabling on either end, slow to start but quiet busy and fast in the middle. This also did not pull the wrap too tight at the edges allow the width of the wrap to be used fully. There are also some eyelet type stitches in here either side of the panel insert. I have to say I really really didnt want to give this away when it was finished.

Please do not let the bad photos fool you, this was actually lovely to wear and suited the girl really, really well. It was made for a dress and to hide a pregnancy bump and it worked :) It works into a nice scarf too as well as a wrap or a stole. I did pull my hair out a little on the false starts but once I had decided on what it was I wanted it was easy :)

~ Sexy Jumper !! ~

2010-06-09T15:31:00.001+01:00

So I got incredibly sick of all those bulky jumpers to keep warm last winter, in my ramblings through books at the library, I found the book "Fitted Knits" by Stephanie Japel. Now this lady is amazing!!!!!! I love her online classes, her ideas at recycling and her books and from which I have learned a great deal about fitting clothes specifically knitware properly. I don't know how many times I got sick of a project simply because it was coming out too big or just shapeless. I really detest spending money on yarn and lots of time to make something that doesn't fit properly.

So I borrowed the book from the library (with the help of a friend as I had lost my card as usual) sat down with a notepad and a cup of really fancy german blend herbal tea (thank you Nora!!) and I learned how to refit patterns for my shape. The result was this lovely warm jumper and guess what .....it actually fit!!!! Now, I really have to thank THECrazyGirl on rav . As the pattern i choose was /perfect-periwinkle-turtleneck-tube-vest from "Fitted Knits" and Leslie helped me so much with progressing from the turtle neck to the main section, as the pattern was quiet complicated here and I could not get it right. All I can say is a BIG, BIG thank you to someone who is half way around the world and still took the time to help me, so if there are any of you near any of leslie's yarn shops please pop in, the lady is truly an amazing lady.

Yes I know, you have had a sneeky look at the pattern before finishing my post and yes they do look different. I wanted something longer and that drew less attention to my chest so instead of starting the ribbing after the increasing rows just under your chest as suggested by Stephanie in the pattern, I continued in stockinette stitch while carrying the ribbing from the collar to the hem. I also increased the length of the jumper to draw more attention to my shape and to cover my bum (cause admit it girls, it gets cold in winter!!). I brought the ribbing back in for a hem, in a semi circle type of effect in the front and back joining up with the ribbing I had carried from the neck down. Vola!!!! one fitted jumper that I can wear as much to the pub as I can to work. Its stretchy and comfy so if your feeling crappy about yourself just slip this little wonder on and it does wonders for self esteem. This project got me through writing up my MSc. it was my therapy for those days when writing a thesis was the last thing I wanted to do. It helped with writers block and with the lack of good telly coming out of the xmas period. Seriously girls this is a timeless keeper and I cant recommend it enough.

~ A Shawl Called Steve!!! ~

2010-06-09T14:58:00.001+01:00

ok so the winter of 2009 was so cold here in Dublin that I needed something to go outside my coat like a wrap or a shawl but nothing I saw seemed warm enough. I scanned through Ravelry looking at the pattern browser with a cup of coffee and I found a pattern called the Highlander Stole by Wenlan Chia. I loved the big chunky cabling and thought hmmmmmmmmmmm now if I used really really chunky wool like Seriously Chunky by cygnet.

I used size 20 mm needles and 3 - 4 balls of wool and some loose cabling like that of the highlander stole and ta!!! da!!! a day later I had one warm stole :) The best thing about this wrap is that it can be worn all through the year with vests or long sleeve t-shirts whatever way you like :) It is also so versatile have a search around ravelry to see what others have done with this idea. It was so popular at xmas I had to make another 3 one for my sis, my mum and my nana. :)

~ Lelah Top ~

2010-06-09T13:17:00.001+01:00

First of all this top can be found on Ravelry by Christine Buhariar here.

I wanted a summer knit that was relatively quick to knit and finish so i started off with this pattern. If you are going to cast on please please do at least three repeats of lace pattern to work out your gauge. This lace part increases ALOT after the first and second row so instead of doing two repeats and working out your gauge take your time, do a few repeats and work it out. Believe me its a lot easier then having to rip it back like I had to. After further researching the posts on this top on ravelry, I found out that a number of people had the same problem as I had so I cant say it enough put the prep work in at the beginning. :)

I followed the pattern as written, from the bottom up, with 13 repeats of lace pattern, but i swapped the needle size to a size smaller for the last repeat of lace and for the eyelet holes. Then i swapped to a 4mm needle for the top stockinette part. I added short rows for a lower back as described by purlparable's including wrapping for a cleaner finish. I dont particularly like a strapless knit so I added wide baby blue ribbons that are removable, with a baby blue ribbon in the eyelet rows.

To block this knit I used the steaming method (I know I can hear the cries of knitters out there). I know its lazy but I used Freedom Gorgeous by Twilleys of Stamford which is 75% bamboo. Now, having never used bamboo before I was surprised at how much this stretched, so I steam blocked this lace part by placing a towel under and over the top and by lightly spraying the top with water, folding the towel over the top and steam pressing the top. This finished the top beautifully the lace pattern looked stunning when blocked.

If anyone is having problems with this top just drop me a mail or a comment and I will try and help you if I can. Also if any of you out there are looking for a decent yarn store check out the constant knitter.