How to make a bobble

Slowly!  Carefully!  Not while watching TV!  I recently started a cardigan that required a row of bobbles at the bottom, which was very pretty.  I spent an AGE doing them and managed to get only one wrong - I somehow ended up with a hole next to the bobble which I had planned to sew closed later.  However, I soon realised that the yarn I was using for the cardigan (it was a substitute) wasn't working and abandoned the work.  

I was really please, though, that I'd had a go at making bobbles.  I'd always believed that they were very difficult and that I wouldn't be able to manage, or wouldn't have the patience for them.  But, as long as there aren't too many, it isn't hard at all.  It does require patience, though.  And my top tip is to pull that yarn VERY tightly when finishing it off.  Also, when you knit or purl the next row, knit very tightly again.  And no, I have no idea how I managed to make that hole next to the bobble - obviously I must have forgotten one of the many steps!  Easy to do.

So concentrate!

I did a practise square before starting the project

The row of bobbles long the hem

A close up

My new project with Sirdar's Pattercake

I love all the yellows for spring!

I've discovered that a fancy bag from a shop makes a great place to keep my WIP!

When is a square not a square?

I just love the colours of the Sirdar Pattercake yarns.  So delicious!  But what do I knit with them?  I couldn't resist the one called Seaside Surprise as it contained all my daughter's favourite colours.  I decided to knit the blanket pattern printed on the inside of the band, though I used two "cakes" instead of one.  I've knitted this kind of square before and knew exactly what was going to happen:  no matter how careful I was with the increases and decreases, the "square" would end up being kite-shaped.  For some unbelievably weird reason (which the more scientific of you may be able to explain), the number of decreases does NOT equal the number of increases.  So although I used two identical balls of wool, the decrease side ended up much longer.  Also there wasn't enough to end it so the last corner looks as if it has been snipped off!
But after struggling for months with dolls' clothes, it was nice to knit something easy and pretty.
My daughter's room has been transformed by the blanket.  With the introduction of the turquoise and aqua colours, the yellow in the room has found a perfect contrast.  Needless to say, the room only looks so lovely because my daughter is at university!  Aside from prettying up the space, the blanket serves no real purpose.  I just like looking at it.

 

You can still buy the yarn from Deramores here.

A Poncho for Easter

For fun I thought I'd knit a poncho for my daughter, using up old wool and the easiest pattern of all:  cast on three stitches, make one stitch at the start of every row.  But the edge didn't look very neat so I thought I'd try it by making two stitches at the centre of every knit row.  It took me several goes - and much pulling out - to get to this point.  Except I had no idea that this kind of increasing, though it leaves a pretty lacy hole, also does something to the knitting that "bends" it i.e. it wasn't flat.  A poncho really needs to be flat!  I'd had so much fun sorting out the different stripes I was going to do but realised after several days of intense knitting that this was going to be disastrous.  The wool was too thin and it wasn't ever going to lie flat and it was going to take me nine years to finish the poncho!

So I did the next best thing:  I found a pattern for a super chunky poncho, bought some Sirdar Squiggle on sale at Black Sheep and in less than ten days, I had one completed poncho, ten thousand tassels and all!!  In fact, I was tying the last of the tassels while my daughter was hunting for easter eggs on Easter Sunday!  Needless to say, she hasn't taken it off since, except to bath and go to bed!

This is probably the most popular thing I've ever made!  I'm so impressed I think I might make myself an elegant cream on and cable it, with a cable edging rather than tassels (otherwise they'll end up in my illicit mugs of coffee....!)

Fantastically easy to knit - you end up with a large rectangle with a bite taken out!

Ready for blocking

The weight of the wool drags it down a little so that it hangs well and ends up quite long!

The pattern asked for a cast-on and cast-off neckline - I knitted two rows to make it stronger

We love this Squiggle wool - easy to knit with and great fun

Take care to cut all the tassels EXACTLY the same length - Squiggle is very curly and we inadvertently ended up with different lengths!  Much shouting ensued but in the end, you don't notice it too much.  Tying the knots for the tassels is very easy.  When I first looked at this pattern, I thought it was crochetted!!

The pattern used is Sirdar 2359 for Denim Ultra.  Yarn used is Squiggle shade 0603 Funkadelic.  Currently on sale at www.blacksheepwools.com