Ready for winter

I started knitting this jumper back in February but then the weather suddenly improved and it was too hot to knit. So after finishing my shawl in October I pulled my knitting out again and finally finished this jumper last weekend. I've tried it on and I'm pleased with the fit. According to our weather forecast we are due a week of cooler weather next week (in single figure Celsius) so it's more than likely that I will be wearing it then.

Pattern: Hayfield 9219

Wool: Stylecraft Special aran with wool, New Denim

Crochet finishes and Knitting starts

In January, I crocheted a shawl for my mum and a scarf for my sister. I'm glad to say that both of them were delighted with their gifts.
I ended up crocheting each item twice! I have no idea why but even though my tension swatch was fine, the finished products ended up shorter than they should have. However, all's well that ends well, the dimensions were better second time around.

Nordic Shawl - Annette Ciccarelli
Wool: Bergere De France IDEAL wool. Colours as suggested except
 I used purple instead of light pink and navy for turquoise.
This meant changing the order of some of the colours.

Granny square triangle shawl
Wool: Mille Colori Socks and Lace Luxe No. 859.0059 - 2 skeins

I love the gold 'thread' woven through this wool and my sister fell in love with the autumnal colours.
Here is a fuller view of the final crochet if worn as a shawl.

Even though our winter has been very mild, I wanted an Aran sweater so I've started this design from Hayfield.

My mum's local wool shop didn't have the Hayfield Bonus Aran wool I wanted so I bought Stylecraft Special Aran in Denim instead. I love how this is knitting up. It is lovely and soft. I'm going to have a new jumper for next winter.

Hayfield Bonus Aran Pattern No. 9219
Wool: Stylecraft Special Aran in Denim

A scarf and other knitting

I decided I wanted a simple, long scarf so I knitted a single rib scarf in Anny Blatt fine kid wool. It took longer to knit up than I thought it would but it was perfect for working on in the evenings as I didn't have to concentrate too hard on what I was doing.

Single rib scarf using one each of 2.75mm and 6.5mm needles
Anny Blatt fine kid wool, Carmin

I also wanted a simple sweater that would knit up quickly so I'm knitting this sweater in Anny Blatt fine kid, Genepi. The back is almost finished. As I am a tight knitter, I am using 6.5mm rather than the recommended 6mm knitting needles for this jumper.

Jumper using Anny Blatt fine kid, Genepi on 6.5mm needles

Needless to say with all this knitting, I'm doing very little stitching at the moment. However, as my Granny used to say 'A change is as good as a rest' and I find it hard to sit in the evenings and not be doing something with my hands.