A brown jersey and a yellow shawl

I finished two projects that have been hanging around for a while. Yay!

The first is a very plain, cosy brown jersey that I started back in August. I actually finished it over a week ago, but I had to wait for suitable photo-taking weather (it was over 30 degrees and putting on a jersey was unthinkable, and then it rained for a week)...

It may be plain, but I think it will be a great 'wardrobe staple'. I'm thinking of making another one with full-length sleeves, in a different colour. More photos and yarn & pattern info are on my Ravelry project page.

I also finished off a bright (very bright!) yellow shawl in a cotton/cashmere blend. It's an asymmetrical triangle shape, with a bobbled fringe. The bobbles were kind of awkward, but I was pretty fast by the end. Likewise with the short-row shaping. :)

Blocking via washing-line

I ran out of yarn - this is the bit I 'fudged'. Looks fine after blocking!

It's nice and big, and drapes really well thanks to the cotton content. Nice and easy to wear - for fans of yellow, anyway! I wore it out shopping on Saturday, and posed in a few colourful places on the way:

Blending in with the brollies

Squid! <3

Waiting for yarn to dry...

My honeycomb cardie (Iðunn) is neeeearly finished! The sleeves are done and I've woven in the ends, but then I had to wash it before the steeking stage.
And now I have to wait for it to dry. :p

My cardie, slowly drying after its bath. Curse you, winter.

'Steeking' is the process of cutting up the centre of a jersey to turn it into a cardigan - apparently it's perfectly safe if you 'secure' the surrounding stitches first by sewing or crocheting through them. Because I'm using a fuzzy, feltable wool, crochet will do the trick.

This video tutorial by the designer Ragga shows how it's done:

A couple of before-steeking shots (it fits!):

In the meantime I've started on the next project, which will be Ysolda's Blank Canvas jersey. As per the name, it's a very plain-and-basic style of jersey which should be extremely useful. I've chosen a nice soft dark brown cashmere from Colourmart, which has (very affordable) yarn in all sorts of fibres and blends. My swatch has come out at the correct gauge, and Mum has measured the relevant bits of my torso, so I'm good to go. :)

Winding my Blank Canvas yarn...

The wonders of blocking

I finished a hat this weekend. It had been in 'time out' for a week or so, after I was forced to undo a few inches of knitting because it was painfully clear that I was going to run out of yarn. So instead of making the larger, floppier version, I backtracked and made the less-slouchy version. The pattern is Purl Beret from The Purl Bee - a great simple hat pattern for using up partial skeins of sock yarn. I used the leftover yarn from making my fingerless gloves.

I love blocking my finished projects! It tidies them up, and you can fine-tune the shape and size after trying the thing on. For this hat, I soaked it in a bowl of cool water for 20 minutes or so, carefully squeezed the water out, and got more water out by sandwiching it in a folded towel and treading on it. Then I slipped a dinner plate inside the hat, and sat the plate on top of a bowl in an out-of-the-way spot. 24 hours later, the hat was ready to wear!

Before blocking:

While blocking:

After blocking (with helpful feline):

Ta da!