Gwlân Blog

Hello!  Just to say I am blogging here these days

Caterpillars

My son absolutely loves 'The Hungry Caterpillar'.  At school they dedicated a whole half term to to the book.  It is such a great story and it is fab for learning all sorts of things...numbers...days of the week...butterfly life cycles...my boy has been in his element!

I've promised to make him a pair of hungry caterpillar socks for ages.  To my mind the Hungry Caterpillar is perfect sock inspiration - it naturally has a green body and a red head which obviously becomes the toe.

I did some experimentation with the pattern and the yarn before arriving at the result above.  The initial yarn I used was a bit too variegated for the caterpillar body even though some of the colour changes matched the caterpillar in the book perfectly.  It may have worked for an adult sized pair of socks but there were too many colour changes for  small child sized socks.  I had some beautiful green semi-sold Esme sock yarn from Posh Yarns in my stash which I used instead - it worked really well with the garter ridges.  Being a semi-solid colour there is a subtle variation in colour which you can't see in the photo but it is quite Hungry Caterpiller-esque in real life.  The toes are made with some basic 4-ply red yarn for the toes.

Currently the socks technically are non-eyed caterpillars but it is very difficult to remove them from an adoring 4 year old for facial modification!  I may crochet some tiny eyes in due course but I think even without the socks give a nod toward's the book's main character!

Socks

I went to Wonderwool a few weeks ago and bought this lovely sock yarn.  It's 'Jitterbug' by Colinette yarns - a fabulous Welsh yarn company.  I was so pleased to see them at Wonderwool this year - I've been a fan of theirs for absolutely ages but whenever I've been to Wonderwool in the past they've not been there :-(

This colour way is called 'Paintbox'.  I love it because it looks as if my children got hold of some white yarn and a pot of felt tip pens.  As it happens the socks were made for my eldest daughter as a little gift.  Last week she spent two nights away from home on a school trip to Snowdonia.  It sounds as though they had a ball - these socks were worn for a trek up Snowdon!  Hopefully they kept her feet comfy in her walking shoes.

I'm working on a pair of socks for child number 2 at the moment.  I don't think, however, the baby will get some for a while - I can't keep up with the rate at which that one is growing.  Too big too fast!

Bella Hat

Above is the Bella Cable Hat I made for my best friend Bev for Christmas.  This particular photo doesn't do much justice to the lovely green colour but the one below of me modelling it does.
The pattern is from Rowan's 'Winter Warmers' book by Martin Storey  - a collection of cosy accessories knitted in chunky alpaca and Rowan's Lima/Lima Colour yarn.  The hat uses the latter.  I must say I was a bit dubious about the yarn when I bought it - it has a chain like construction - but it knitted up beautifully and is wonderfully soft.  It's a relatively quick knit on 5mm and 5.5mm needles and the cable design maintains the interest and is relatively straightforward to remember.  As I was pressed for time I made the body of the hat a little shorter than the pattern specified so the result was more snug than slouchy.  Bev absolutely loved it and has been struggling to take it off.

One of my knitterly resolutions - and I really should list them on here one day soon - is to start my Christmas knitting earlier this year.  I probably said this last year as well!  My plan is to decide on the knitted gift relatively soon and not deviate from it - part of this time's problem was I couldn't decide between socks, mittens and hats so I made some of each!  Better, I think, to stick with one project type for all.  My indecision of October/November meant that I had no time left to knit some Christmas projects I had in mind for my home.  You live and learn but you don't always end up putting it into practise!

Happy New Year!

This blog has been sorely neglected for the last three months!  I grossly underestimated how much more hectic life would be with my Busy Boy at half day school ... yes, I do have two and a half hours every day for just myself and Baby M but I am on the road all the time!  Never mind, as busy and hectic as it is I am thoroughly enjoying the hustle and bustle and general madness that three children brings!

Despite this I have kept my hand in with my knitting.  As I've mentioned before knitting is my main creative outlet at the moment with it being far more sociable and portable than sewing.  I thought I'd share my first finish of 2015 - 'Oleum' socks:

I confess to have started these back in September but my fraught Christmas knitting got in the way and the poor second sock lost it's way amongst Christmas jumpers, hats and mismatched mittens.  This leads me to share my first knitting resolution of 2015 - I will finish one pair of socks at a time ;-)

Anyway, 'Oleum' is a fabulous pattern by Rachel Coopey for Baaramewe in Leeds/Harrogate.  The pattern was released in August at the same time as this lovely limited edition 'Titus Goddess' yarn in 'Shades of Aire' colourway.  I love the lace panel in the middle of the sock and the garter stitch toe detail - just beautiful.

I have another pair of Rachel Coopey socks I'd like to finish by the end of January (I've been inspired by a winter knit along on Ravelry) and an ever growing stash of Titus Goddess/Titus that I must start making a dent in soon so I hope the next few months will be productive!

Varsity Socks

The 'new' term is no longer that new.  School is in full swing and parking there is increasingly difficult because of it's proximity to the University.  However, the weather has been largely good allowing plenty of walking to and from school and I love the hustle bustle of my local area, especially as Autumn deepens.

The above socks were made as a gift for my friend's daughter who has just started University in Bristol.  Moving away at 18 is such a big step - I remember being so desperately homesick for the whole of my first term at University.  There is nothing better at such a time as surrounding oneself with a few home comforts and what better comfort than a pair of hand knitted socks!

The pattern is the basic Regia 4-ply sock pattern and the wool is Fortissima Socka stars and stripes.  I've had it in my stash for a while but it was perfect for a new student who is a lover of all things American.  It really is the time of year for sock knitting!

Summer's End

The new school term is upon me and I am not quite sure where the holidays went. We have glorious weather today but despite the blue sky, there is a cool breeze and the sunshine is that odd sort that indicates that Summer in waning and Autumn is around the corner.
For me, this is no bad thing because Autumn is my favourite season, but this year the end of Summer signifies a milestone in family life as my Boy started half-day school yesterday. I know he is going to love it and will thrive there, just as my eldest daughter has, but the days this week have been tinged with a little bit of sadness none the less!

Many knitting projects have been worked on over the school holidays, some even completed. Wherever I went my knitting went too - although even I thought taking it to a spa day was a step too far but I'd be lying if I didn't say I considered it!

An exciting development here at home has been the opening of Swansea Bay Yarns quite literally in my stomping ground. It is a fantastic shop, owned by the lovely Morgan and it has a beautiful selection of yarns. It it there I purchased a ball of CashmeRed - a glorious 3-ply 100% cashmere yarn which is just divine and as a bonus you get to chose a free pattern when you buy a ball! This is what I made with mine ...

... a very cute bag hat :-). It is knitted in one piece on 3mm needles and not only knits up beautifully but it luxuriously soft. Perfect for baby gifts - as long as the baby has trustworthy parents who will hand wash cashmere! This hat was made for baby Arianna who is three months old. I couldn't resist trying it on my little munchkin before gifting it though ;-)

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