My finished architect's scarf!

I took these photos inside on this blustery day, having been for a walk and forgotten all about the scarf. Don't you find that capturing the colours can be quite frustrating? Much better to be inside with some tea and Swiss roll for an awkward knitting photo shoot. This is officially my Homely Hero's scarf, a super early Christmas present, and its also my first serious knitting project completed.

Some knitting facts:

Black Forest worsted weight malabrigo from Get Knitted in Bristol - 2 skeins
I used 4mm needles and the scarf is about 6 feet long
The lilac shade naturally fell into a subtle zigzag throughout the scarf
It took me almost two months to knit - I needed some serious willpower to get me through the 3rd quarter
I'm so so glad I've finally finished it, and, believe it or not, I'm a third of the way through a second, in malabrigo loro barranquero on 5mm needles. It might be done by the end of January...

j'aime des coeurs de cannelle

Heart no. 2

I must admit I nicked this idea from the 'nature's harvest' website, which also tempts me to buy some of their 'create your own' stuff. Its a bit rough and ready, using a sewing machine to sew round a heart is very tricky, and then I realised I hadn't hemmed the pocket. Anyway...

I've also finished the architect's scarf (at last!) and will post photos tomorrow, I have to wait for the weekends to see some daylight.

This weekend I made...

My first Christmas decoration, a scented heart. It has a clove sachet inside, and a cinnamon stick on top. And that's malabrigo alpine pearl wool as the 'ribbon'.

My list of Christmas decorations to make, mostly in red gingham, is (note, none of these are original ideas (hangs head in creative shame) but have been nicked from various shops in Bath, and a certain book of the month);

two Christmassy placemats for trays

several small hearts, as above, for the tree

four hearts hanging one below the other with cinnamon sticks in between spelling 'Noel'

a garland of alternate Christmas trees and stars to hang across the fireplace

several scented stars, in blue fabric

This weekend I made...

I made my curtains! This could have been one of those sewing projects that never, but no, I found my way to the fabric shop and we were on the road. They did not have the pink check I dreamt of, but instead I found this rather lovely blue/green/pink cotton check at a rather reasonable £4 a metre. 7 metres of the stuff I bought, 6.5metres after the initial wash and tumble dry, 3 metres per curtain, and 0.5metre for tabtops and tie backs.

After just 14 hours bent over my tiny singer sewing machine my glorious first ever proper sewing project was complete! The only person I actually know to have made their own curtains is my mum, and I duly rang her up feeling very proud of myself.

But truth to tell, this is the first time I have sewn something like this, and to a even vaguely careful eye there are many faults. Wavy sewing, bunched thread in hidden places, shortcuts and creases where I didn't bother to iron. I would be ashamed to give these curtains to anyone. They are not lined, they don't have curtain hooks or rings, there is no cord to move them. They are the very basic version of beginner curtains.

I love them with all my heart.

knit knit knit

So, it was English Yarns that came up trumps with plenty of Heather and now I'm back to knitting happily along, and all the wiser for it I daresay. Also in the post this week was the rather lux Cabbages and Roses catalogue, which turns out to be a brown cardboard folder containing very large postcards of their products, with info on the back. An example is the picture in the sidebar with the pink checked curtains.



This is my new sewing project, a pair of pink checked curtains for the absurdly tall sash windows in my bathroom, though not with the £16 per metre fabric from Cabbages and Roses(!). Instead I shall investigate a tiny fabric shop in Bath on saturday. If its not too hard I might try and reupholster an armchair, gulp. Finally my sister sent me this lovely Habitat knitted stocking, check out those pompoms. Awful photo, the large snowflake in the centre is in purple. I might do some christmas knitting of my own soon.

Otherwise, progress is oh so slow on the architect's scarf, especially as the stitches seem so small compared with the branwen sweater. I love varied colours in very dark wool, and have been very tempted by the Dream in Colour wool featured on Weaverknits website. But how to track it down? We're getting the train to London for the day in late December, and I'll be heading straight for Liberty; fabric and wool dept. and Stash Yarns.