Knitting for Miniatures

Knitting in miniature

I was in a shop near Kenmare, in County Kerry this week, and saw this beautiful hand crafted piece of knitting in a frame, complete with little needles and tiny balls of wool – the frame is only about ten or twelve inches high, so this little piece must have been made by teeny tiny hands, maybe even by the fairies!   Wouldn’t it be the perfect present for a keen knitter?

Linked to Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge.

Travel Theme : Off Centre

My photos today are mostly taken in Blarney Castle when my daughter was visiting last August, as you can see there was a little ‘yarn bombing‘ going on in the young trees.   If you haven’t heard of yarn bombing, or guerilla knitting (and we overheard a few confused American visitors saying ‘but whats the point?’)   this is what Wiki says about it

Yarn bombing, yarnbombing, yarnstorming, guerrilla knitting, urban knitting or graffiti knitting is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk.

Linked to Where’s My Backpack challenge

Silent Sunday : Hope your Day was relaxing

One Word Photo Challenge : Fuschia

Fuschia is a flower that grows wild along the hedges in late summer, and it can also be a colour, ranging from pink to a more mauve shade.   I think this lovely wool, with which I made cardigans for my grandchildren, has the perfect shades of fuschia

And here is the plant called fuschia, growing wild in West Cork

Fuschia in full bloom

Check out some more lovely fuschia shots over here

Yarn Bombing in Beautiful Blarney

When walking along the entrance to Blarney Castle, we came across some very interesting knitted pullovers on the trees, keeping them warm for the coming winter, and showing off the skills of some creative knitters.

A few American tourists that we passed seemed to be a bit perplexed about why the trees were decorated like this,  and for anyone else that is wondering what yarn bombing is, here is an excerpt from the always knowledgeable Wikipedia:

Yarn bombing, yarnbombing, yarnstorming, guerrilla knitting, urban knitting or graffiti knitting is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk.

While yarn installations – called yarn bombs or yarnstorms – may last for years, they are considered non-permanent, and, unlike other forms of graffiti, can be easily removed if necessary. Nonetheless, the practice is still technically illegal, though it is not often prosecuted vigorously.

While other forms of graffiti may be expressive, decorative, territorial, socio-political commentary, advertising or vandalism, yarn bombing was initially almost exclusively about reclaiming and personalizing sterile or cold public places. It has since developed with groups graffiti knitting and crocheting worldwide, each with their own agendas and public graffiti knitting projects being run.

Have you come across some yarn bombing in your area?    Let’s have some pictures!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Crafty work

 

 

Knitting on the Go!

Right now I have two projects on the go….well with the bad weather outside, and a nice cosy fire inside, what’s a girl to do….

I bought some beautiful Sirdar Escape DK at Vibes & Scribes – what an amazing shop this is, go down into the basement, and I dare you to come out without being tempted to buy something!  They have wool, wool and more wool, knitting needles, patterns, ideas and help, and an arts and crafts shop on the ground floor.    Sorry, I got distracted there.     The wool is self striping, and mine is in shades of pink, purple, peach, tangerine, and I am making cardigans for my grandchildren.  The pattern is one from Ravelry (another favourite place) and is called Sweet and Simple Cardigan -it is knit in one piece to the armholes, and then divided, and the fronts and back worked separately.   There is a wide band in garter stitch and then stocking stitch for the rest,  and it looks lovely when you see the effect, though when I showed my granddaughter on Skype what I was doing, she wasn’t impressed and said ‘that doesn’t look like a cardigan’…just wait Caitlin, it’s growing every day!

Pretty in Pink

Growing slowly

My second project is a shrug for me.   I bought a lovely vintage dress on my last trip to Dublin, and as it is sleeveless, I thought it needed something for when I am out on a posh night out!    It’s another Ravelry pattern- Irish Moss Shrug, it has a 4 row pattern, and is a bit slower than the plain knitting.   I am almost finished the first ball now and am about half way through.   The wool is Aria Double Knitting, and has little black sequins on it so it will be nice for night time.  I tried to take a few photos but the black doesn’t photograph too well, I may have to wait till it’s finished and I am wearing it over my new dress.

Progress on My Knitting

My shawlette is moving!  I think ..and hope..I am about half way through.  It is not a very simple pattern, with the result I have to follow the pattern for every row, but I learned a few new things since starting, like w+t…wrap and turn, something I never came across before, but it seems to be working, after a fashion anyway. Even if there are a few mistakes,no one is going to stop me in the street and examine my work for exactness!

This seems to be the widest part of the work, so, as they say, its all downhill from here.

My shawlette, making progress.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Beginning

Hello again and Happy New Year to all my followers and friends.    Christmas was a busy time with my family around, sadly they have now left to go back home to Dublin and Norway, and now that the new year has begun, it’s time to start blogging again.

I have started a new knitting project, and as you can see from the photo, so far it is a very small beginning, and I am still getting used to the pattern.   Eventually, I will have a ‘Marin Shawlette’ described as reversible, symmetrical, with long points and a shape that curves gently around your neck!   I am following a pattern, and it starts off with 2 stitches, gradually increasing till I have about 70 stitches, and then decreasing again till I get back to 2 stitches.   This is part of a lovely craft present I got for Christmas (Thank you J & S)  – a  knitting bag, complete with some colourful balls of wool, needles, markers and patterns, so I am looking forward to making use of the different Irish wools.   I will let you know how the work in progress is going.   What are you working on at the moment, now that the mad frenzy of the festive season is winding down?

The beginning of something warm and cosy

Knit One, Purl One

I have started knitting again, it was a favourite pastime of mine some years ago, but the needles have been ‘resting’ in a wardrobe for some time, but with all the gorgeous wools coming into the shops now, I thought I would start doing a few simple things again.  I like to knit while aimlessly watching something not-too-riveting on TV, or just catching up with some posts on my reader.

I made some ear/head warmers for my grandchildren, very simple straight knitting, they could have been hats if I kept going and did a bit of decreasing, but they look great as they are, and will be much appreciated in the Norwegian winter.

I also made something similar for my 13 month old grandson, but he wouldn’t keep it on his head long enough to take a photo, so it may be some time before he wears it.

About a month ago, I found a lovely wool shop in Kinsale, and saw, and instantly fell in love with this gorgeous red wool, it’s called Can Can Disco, doesn’t the colour remind you of Christmas time?   I had never seen this type of lacy knitting before, it’s called ribbon yarn, the lady in the shop kindly gave me a demonstration on how to knit with it, and it is very simple, only takes 7 stitches, and one ball of wool.   I  have passed it on to my daughter to brighten up her winter wardrobe!  Maybe I will make another one for myself, as this one only took a few hours.

Christmas Red

My next project is some wrist warmers, I found lots of lovely patterns on Ravelry.com, and chose the Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers pattern, for a quick and easy knit. I am somewhat impatient, so love all these patterns that grow so quickly,and are finished in no time!

She is learning fast.

I am trying to pass on my little bit of knitting knowledge, so I am showing my 7 year old granddaughter the basics of knitting, now that I am back home, I hope that she will keep practising, and we will have another ‘scarf knitter’ before too long!