Hello lovely readers, how are you? I hope you've been able to spend some time crafting during the hot and glorious weather we've enjoyed here in the UK. I managed to sneak a bit of time here and there to sit in the garden, breathe in all of that lovely fresh air and knit and crochet (albeit with slightly sweaty hands!!!).
A new design commission
I've been spending a lot of time designing and knitting squares for a new Knit-along, and I can't wait to share it with you. I had lots of help with the knitting, thanks to Nicky for her patience and perfect stitches. I'm at the sewing up stage now - eek - I need to dig deep for a bit of patience. Mattress stitch here I come!!!
I chose to use Scheepjes Stone Washed and River Washed for the KAL blanket, primarily because the colours are gorgeous, they both knit up beautifully and are affordable and washable. Before the KAL is launched, I will share some sneaky peaks and how I chose my colours.
New shade of River Washed
Then, unexpectedly, in the post, I received a 50g ball of River Washed from Scheepjes in one of their eight new colourways. River Washed has two threads of different shades running through it, which creates a beautiful blend of colour. It's a cotton and acrylic mix, that is gorgeous to knit with and all of the colours are named after rivers.
The shade I received was called Tiber (958) and it's a mix of Teal/green and mustard/chartreuse. It's a warming, gentle colourway that I found really soothing on the eye. It's hard to believe that the fibre content is cotton and acrylic because it really does feel and knit up like wool (and it's perfect for fairisle).
The thing I love about River Washed and Stone Washed is that they contain a great metreage of 130m, which means you can knit a lot of stitches with just one ball and they both give amazing stitch definition.
What to make?
I pondered for a while as to what I could make, mainly to see how the colour knits up, but I didn't really want to waste the ball by just knitting and crocheting up a couple of squares that would end up in my 'tension square' drawer. Instead, I wanted to make a single project that used up all of the yarn, with no left overs, and I wanted the project to be really useful too.
Then as I was sat, sewing together my blanket squares, I had a light-bulb moment. Each of my KAL squares were around 19cm/7.5in, and I was surprised that each square had only used up around 20-22g of the Scheepjes Stone Washed or River Washed.
It struck me that the square fitted around my hand, so I could knit 2 squares from one ball and seam each one to make a pair of hand warmers/fingerless mittens, leaving hole in the seam for a thumb. I always use mattress stitch for my seams as it gives an invisible finish.
Warmer Hands
Then, as I cast on, I remembered a project that I had thought about earlier in the year, which I'd called my "Warmer Hands" Project, with the aim of using my stash yarn to knit or crochet mittens/gloves/hand warmers/wrist warmers for charity. I thought it would be a great way to work through my stash, with my "use it or lose it" campaign in mind.So I'll soon be launching my "Warmer Hands" project so that you can join in too. In the meantime, here is my free pattern called "Ruggen" which means "Ridge" in Dutch (which is where Scheepjes is manufactured). In the meantime, I've attached the free pattern here for you so that you can join me if you want to. I will blog separately all about the project and what to do with your mittens.
Download your free Ruggen pattern here.
And don't forget to share your finished mittens with my Ravelry group. Click here to join the group.
I just need to knit up another mitten to finish my first pair and I'll only have another 99 pairs to go (edit - my daughter has claimed this pair, so I still have 100 pairs to go!!!).
That's all from me, for now, but I'll be back soon.
Happy Crafting,
Lynne xx
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Blog links:
Scheepjes
Ravelry
'Use it or Lose it' Campaign
Disclaimer
I received the ball of Scheepjes River Washed as a free sample and was not asked nor did I receive any payment to write this review. All views are my own.
