caz crafts

i bought the yarn for this cowl in new york last august and just love, love, love it. it’s so soft and warm and cosy. i got it at knitty city which i would recommend to any  knitter visiting the big apple. the shop is great and stuffed with so many beautiful yarns. i even was there twice (the second time without the impatiently hovering boyfriend ). it’s so great to go yarn shopping abroad – so much wool and yarn brands you don’t get at home! anyway, i also stumbled into the middle of a ravelry event there where some local fibre/yarn producers informed about different breeds of sheep, their wool, making of the yarn etc… had some nice chats with people and felt at home already

well, first i intended to knit a burberry inspired cowl with my cascade chunky but then i found this brioche cowl pattern and thought it would match the yarn a lot better and i was right. it turned out really warm and comfortable and you can pull one loop over the head (which i had to use this morning when it was rainy and stormy on the way to work)

grafting the the cowl in the end was a little tricky. it’s impossible to graft brioche stitch without a visible seam. and i couldn’t pull the yarn ends too tight because i didn’t want to loose the stretchiness. but i’m ok with the result.

i’m wearing this cowl nonstop at the moment – my favourite piece of knitting

pattern: brioche rib hooded cowl by lisa rosen

yarn: cascade yarns 128 superwash chunky, 100% superwash merino – used about 2.5 skeins

needles: 8.0 mm circular

very quick project with a nice fit. perfect as short notice present.

pattern: molly by erin ruth

yarn: soft merino my wolle rödel. 100% merino

needles: i’m not sure what i used. 4mm or 4.5mm and smaller needle size for ribbing

thanks to marei for modeling her christmas present:

this hat was inspired by a hat hermione wore in one of the harry potter movies. it’s not my own pattern actually, but as soon as i saw it on ravelry i knew it was the perfect pattern for my cozy merino/possum yarn i brought with me from new zealand! and i was right – the hat turned out just the perfect size and so lush! can you see how fluffy the hat is from the photos?!

pattern: hermione hearts ron by christy aylesworth

yarn: touch possum yarn, 420m/100g, 60% merino/30% possum/10% nylon. used less then half a skein

needles: 3mm dpns (was just right as i’m not a tight knitter)

may i present you: mr kiwi. he was fun to knit – the eyes and legs are attached directly to the body by picking up stitches. i liked that because you don’t have problems sewing them on. knitting these little animals you always have to sew millions of yarn ends though, but i guess there’s no way to avoid that

he’ll be the mascot of our new zealand trip in oktober/november 2011.

pattern: kiwi by kahra grae

yarn: brown and white are scraps of lana grossa cool wool (100% merino), the legs are lana groassa meilenweit cotton sock yarn (cotton, wool, polyamid) and the blue on the eyes is old maiden aunt sock yarn.

needles: 3mm dpns

i did it! i finished a sweater! it fits, although it turned out really big and heavy. but it’s comfy and warm and will be use a lot on the cold and chilly days to come!

i had problems with knitting the long rows back and forth. it seems i knit tighter than i purl and thus produced an annoying zebra pattern. tried to get rid of that effect by using two different needles – a smaller size for the purl ws rows. it kinda worked and blocking did the rest so that it’s hardly visible anymore.

this pattern took me about 5 months to finish. not to knit, but to finish i’m really crap at finishing big projects. i have so many ideas and rather start 3 new ones than finish one big project. all that finishing, weaving in ends. boooohhh!

pattern: effortless cardigan by hannah fettig

yarn: stahlsche wolle big, 100% wool, 84m/50g, used 15 skeins.  this was a “for free” project because my mum found the yarn in a red cross shop for just a few € and thought it was perfect for her knitting addicted daughter. she was right

needles: hm, i don’t remember. i didn’t write it down in my ravelry project on time before i forgot it. i think it must have been 3.5mm or 4mm needles.

same as mentioned before: no specific recipient, just longing for instant gratification and using up my stash.

pattern: felix’s cardigan by jacki kelly

yarn: schachenmayr nomotta cotton light. 80m/50g, 55% cotton, 45% acrylic. about 2.2 skeins of the beige, about 0.7 skeins of the red. again a gift from anna. thanks! the yarn is lovely – feels great. usually i don’t like using acrylic at all, but this is very cosy!

needles: 4 mm circular and dpns

may i present you: maile. a very cute baby cardigan. when ever i was bored and annoyed of big projects theses last few months i knit baby clothes. nothing to suspect here, people no baby on the way. baby clothes are just perfect instant gratification projects and perfect to use up small amounts of yarn in my stash. and the perfect gift for friends who become parents. or i’ll just stash the clothes for my own kids some day. either way: perfect.

i loved this pattern. it’s always fun to knit patterns that are seamless. why? no seams

pattern: maile sweater by nikki van de car

yarn: schewe fidibus, a little more than one skein used. 40% mohair, 60% acrylic. thanks to anna for the yarn-gift!

needles: 3.5mm circular needle and dpns

… doesn’t it!? has it actually been july when i last posted here?

it doesn’t mean i was lazy and didn’t craft, i was just incredibly busy. with work, private life, travelling…

but i’ll try to do better. and will start…. NOW

i made this bag for my friend who wants to give it to her sister for her birthday.

i forgot how much work it is to cut all the pieces, iron on interfacing, making a ribbon… the actual sewing together is the smallest and fastest part. it’s fun anyhow

pattern: dotted dream by ottobre design. i enlarged the pattern by 1.5 as i did before.

materials: ikea fabric, iron on interfacing, turquoise ribbon

i had a lot of “snowy wood in january” yarn left over from the baby surprise jacket. so i made a matching thorpe hat to go with it. and now i still have leftovers. maybe matching booties?!

pattern: thorpe hat by kirsten kapur

yarn: handspun. superwash merino. snowy wood in january  . shades of light blue, green, purple and white.

needles: 4.0mm dpns and crochet needle