Retro 70's Look

Continuing the theme of knitted mittens on this blog, another pair came off the needles last week. The Bunty Mitts by Ella Austin have a retro feel to the design. It was the bold flower and leaf pattern that caught my eye. Very reminiscent of the 1970's wall paper and fabrics I remember from my childhood. They also look very cheerful for these cold, dull, winter days we're having here in NW Scotland at the moment.

The pattern is well written with a chart for the colour work. I needed to watch the tension as the yarn is carried across more than five stitches in places. Also needed a fair amount of concentration. I lost the plot a few times, pulling back the stitches more than once, but it was worth the effort re-knitting. I particularly like the strip effect on the thumbs with the smaller flower detail. My Bunty Mitts project details can be found on Ravelry here.

Here's the information on the yarn I used: Yarn Stories Fine Merino 4ply 50g balls in French Navy, Cream, Burnt Sienna. 

Seven Skeins - Buachaille Yarn

When I heard Kate Davies was developing her own yarn range, I was interested to find out more about it and decided to sign up for the Seven Skeins club. It included the yarn, a book of patterns along with a project tote bag.

The new yarn range is called Buachaille, the wool is sourced from Scottish sheep and then spun in a mill in Yorkshire. The yarn selection that arrived in the post included three natural colours and four dyed shades. The yarn and patterns all have a Scottish name theme such as Haar, Squall and Highland Coo. I especially like the name "Between Weathers" (mid blue, second from the left in the picture).

The book includes 12 patterns for knitted accessories, 5 traditional Scottish food recipes and a detailed description of a walk around the West Highland mountain Buachaille Etive Mor.

Recently completed  were the "Pawkies" stranded mittens in the "Between Weathers" and "Ptarmigan" colours, I'm pleased with the way these turned out. The yarn is a pleasure to work with, it has a rustic look without feeling coarse, in fact it is very soft.

 

Enjoyed making these gloves and they fit well. I might be making another pair in a different colour combination.

Snowy days and winter knits

The weather has turned wintry. After feeding the sheep, a brisk walk in the snow, it's time for a cup of tea and sit by the fire, browse a magazine, finish a few knits and start a new project.

Typical view from the window over the last few days...

Typical view inside over the last few days...

The latest project is under way, another pair of socks. However, I did some research into a different pattern and found the Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku on Ravelry. Very similar to my favourite Simple Ribbed Socks pattern by Kate Atherley but with a herringbone type design incorporated into the rib. I'm using the Blue Moon hand dyed Indigo by The Border Tart. The stitch pattern is worked over two rows and very easy to remember. It's good to have something that's not too demanding, I can still look out of the window at the changing scenery and knit at the same time - in theory.