- Insert Knitting Pun Here -

I've mentioned before that I love knitting, but hate sewing up hand-knitted garments  - I'm never quite satisfied with the final look. I started this cardigan a while ago:

Emu 2638. I made the cardigan on the girl in the foreground; I was put off making the jumper because of the evil look on the model's face!

I've finished it and guess what? I'm actually pleased with it! Here it is:

I used Millamia Naturally Soft Merino in Midnight, which knitted up quickly and smoothly, and looks great on the lacy panels on the front:

 I find it hard to follow a pattern to the letter, and always meddle with it; this one was no exception. The back was supposed to be knitted plain, but I added a lacy panel to the centre back:

I also made the sleeves a few inches shorter than recommended - I almost always push them up, so I thought I'd save time and just not knit that extra length.

I almost never button a cardi up, but I had some cute little buttons that I really wanted to add:

This is probably the only time you'll see it buttoned up because when it is, it's SO HOT, as in really, REALLY warm:

*The following will only mean anyhthing to you if you can knit* The reason this one went together well was down to the fact that I knitted a rib at the the side of each piece where a seam was intended. ie the first 2 sticthes ofa row would be k1, p1. This meant that when it came to sewing up time, there was a ready-made 'guide' for stitching the pieces together. I'll definitely be using this technique for future knits as it worked really well.

But that's not all I've been knitting; here are some socks I finished :

 
This is only my second pair, but socks are so much fun to knit! I can totally understand why there are so many books devoted to the subject - I definitely intend to knit more!

And that's not all - I also made this headband out of stars which I knitted out of scraps of lurex thread, then attached to a piece of elastic.

The pattern for the stars was from an old Christmas issue of 'The Knitter'.
 
Those are my knitted bits and pieces. There's another cardigan on my needles which hopefully I can share with you soon!

Can't Stop Knitting

Sewing's my first love, but I always have some knitting on the go. I'm far less successful with it, but I keep trying!

I just finished this jumper, the pattern of which was in the Knitter magazine:

 Here's my slightly baggy version:

I followed the directions diligently, but after a few wears it seems to have grown around the middle:

Oh well...... it's not going to stop me wearing it. It's lovely and soft (I used Artesano extra fine wool) and I love the lacy panels:

Not to be put off, I've jumped straight in to 2 more knitting projects, both from the 60's, and both cardigans (Can't ever have enough cardigans). Here's the first one:

I'm knitting the piece on the left, out of navy blue Millamia double knitting (that's worsted, for the benefit of North American readers). I seem to be racing through this, and have already finished the back piece:

Close up of the lace panel

I'm not good at waiting to finish a project before starting a new one, so I've gone ahead and started this cardigan:

I'm making the crew neck version on the left. Pretty boring, you say? No! I'm jazzing it up by  knitting the ribbing in scraps of metallic thread and the body in Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-ply. Here's the start of the back:

Sparkly ribbing!

As I said before, I'm not as successful with knitting, and this project illustrates that beautifully. I started this some time ago:

It was going quite well, except for the fact that it was way too small! I'd made some adjustments that I thought would make it work, but there was no way it was going to fit. The only thing for it was to admit defeat and start something new, and so we have the start of the lurex rib cardi.

Let's hope these ones's work out - see you soon!