Flutterby Patch

My knitted shawl is finished

You may have seen my knitted shawl in progress on 3 September. Well the good news is, I've finished it. The idea was to use up lots of odds and ends of colourful chunky yarn that had been squirrel away in a cupboard for years. Using size 7.5 mm needles I cast on 12 stitches and began knitting in garter stitch, increasing one stitch at the beginning of each row. The pattern was simply random stripes.

By the time the shawl was 18 in (45 cm) long I was beginning to find the whole thing was getting too bulky and stitches were falling of my needles! I like to improvise so decided to divide the work into three. I carried on knitting the centre stitches while the right and left sides were held on spare needles. The centre required no shaping and I was able to judge just how long I wanted the finished shawl before casting off. My finished length is only 27 in/70 cm as I didn't want it too large. Next I knitted the same number of rows on the left side (increasing one stitch at the beginning of every row on the the outside edge only). Cast off. Then I completed the right side (increasing at the right hand edge) and cast off. The stripes on each of the three sections don't match but the random pattern is very pleasing. I grafted the three sections together and finally I trimmed the shawl with a 4 in/10 cm fringe and the job was done.

The result - a deliciously warm, cosy and very colourful shawl.

Knitting an odd selection

Specialist yarn shops sprung up all over Britain in those heady days of hand knitting in the 1980s. At that time I experimented with the most gorgous chunkies and fluffies with the result that I now have a large bag full of yarn, all different lengths, colours and thicknesses. It has been waiting to be put to good use for a long time and I've thought long and hard about what I could knit from this odd selection. I wasn't looking for an ambitious project just something simple that hopefully wouldn't require a pattern. Then recently I read a book about the Austrain artist Hundertwasser. Oh those glorious colours he used! My mind was made up; I must create something with my yarn selection.

Work in progress

Using 7.5 mm needles I cast on 12 stitches in chunky yarn and began knitting (garter stitch). Work is still in progress. I increase one stitch at the beginning of every row and make stripes 3 - 4 rows long. A short length is just sufficient for one row. Two or three finer yarns together are roughly equivalent to chunky. Fluffy, fancy, smooth and knobbly, nothing is excluded. Everything is slowly getting used and I'm about half finished. All the yarn ends are at the edges and won't need sewing in as they will become part of the fringe to be added when knitting is finished. It will become one large tringular shape with the two short edges fringed. Guessed what it is?......That'sright.... A Hundertwasser inspired shawl.

If you aren't familiar with Hundertwasser's vividly colourful paintings just type his name into your search engine 'images', you'll get a very comprehensive selection. Ooh! Those colours!

Knitting acorns

I went for a stroll in our wood yesterday looking for acorns high in the branches of the old oaks but there seems to be a poor crop this year. I can't think why. No doubt someone would suggest global warming as the cause but trees often take a rest after producing heavy crops the previous year. This would seem to be a more obvious explanation as last year's crop was enormous. I returned home with a handful of oak twigs and leaves and the idea that knitting acorns shouldn't be too difficult .... it wasn't.

 

I had great fun experimenting and produced a variety of different sizes.
I used scraps of double knitting yarn and 3 mm needles. The number of stitches cast on and rows knitted depends on the size of acorn required (my finished acorns measured approx 3 cm x 2 cm). I found the most realistic ones were knitted in 2 pieces (see below).

For the top cast on 12 stitches. Knit 10 rows stocking stitch. Row 11, knit 2 stitches together right across the row (6 stitches remaining). Row 12, purl 2 stitches together across row (3 stitches remaining). Break off yarn (allowing 15 cm) and using sewing needle thread yarn through the remaining stitches and gather. Stitch side seam. 

The acorn cup is done in moss stitch (k1 p1) but reverse stocking also looks effective. Cast on 13 stitches and knit 8 rows. Break off yarn (allowing 15 cm) and using a sewing needle thread yarn through the 13 stitches and gather. Make a little twisted cord using 2 strands of yarn for the stem of the cup. Insert knotted end of stem into the gathered edge before closing and stitch side seam. Now stuff the acorn (top half only) with a small amount of fibre filling. Don't fill it too full or it will be too fat! Close the end and insert it into the acorn cup. Stitch two halves together securely. Job done!

 

Note reverse stocking stitch is used for the acorn cup on the left. The remaining three have cups knitted in moss stitch.

Above - a magical gold and silver acorn. On reflection I think using finer knitting needles and adding more stitches and rows would have produced a better acorn. They'd be great as Xmas decorations

Finally I wanted to make an acorn girl with a smiling face! I used the same method as before but instead of adding a stem I made a long twisted cord to create a necklace. The features were stitched onto the face after stuffing. A red crayon produced glowing cheeks and little yellow plaits stitched below the hat gave the finishing touch.
They say mighty oaks from little acorns grow so perhaps its lucky that I don't have enough yarn to knit enough acorns to fill a tree!