Bobble Blue - FINISHED!

Bobble Blue has been a long time coming. I first fell in love with the pattern when I lived in England in 2006. I had a subscription to Interweave Knits given to me that year, and the picture of the model sitting outside the cafe in her bright blue Bobble Blue tempted me.

On a mini-break over that summer to Pembrokeshire in Wales, I visited an Angora goat farm, Blueberry Angora, which sold yarn direct to the public, and I bought enough for a sweater in a gorgeous maroon colour (called Russet Red). It was so fun to visit the farm, I got to meet the little goats that contributed to my yarn! The yarn was a little scratchy, but fine to knit with and I would mostly wear this knit over a turtle neck or long sleeved top.

I started knitting, and loved doing the cables and bobbles, so much fun to see them pop! Then we traveled for four months and moved to Australia. Bobble Blue was put in the bottom of a box. Finally I had inspiration to finish the last few bits – picking up stitches for the collar, and seaming it together, and blocking. I even bought some buttons, which was the last thing to do. But I wasn’t sure about the buttons, so I didn’t sew them on.

Another move, across town this time, instead of across countries, and I was inspired to finally finish it off. I bought different buttons, and sewed them on. It was done!

It is now a bit too big for me, I’ve lost weight since I first started it, but I I’m still really pleased. It’s not the most flattering garment, but it is so warm and the perfect thing to wear in a Sydney Winter, when it’s not quite cold enough for a coat.

I’ve got one more sweater with a similar story (started in England, complete except for inserting a zipper). Poor Rosedale, it was actually finished, except I sewed the wrong type of zipper into it, so once I unzipped it I couldn’t zip it up again. I have finally bought a new zipper, so that is my goal for next week!

Details

Started: October 2006
Yarn: 6 skeins of Russet Red Aran, 80% Angora, 20% wool, bought August 2006
Pattern:  Bobble Blue, Interweave Knits
Completed knitting : February 2009
Sewed on buttons: May 2011







To check out other finished things, check out Tami Ami's blog!

Envy Neck-warmer

I wanted a quick, easy project and Envy fit the bill. It had everything I liked, seed stitch, cables, and was a really cute pattern. Check out the photos with the pattern, they are fantastic!

This was really easy, only cast-on with 20 stitches and an easy cable patten. I didn't use a cable needle for it. I knit it on 8mm bamboo needles instead of 9mm, since that was what I had and I didn't want to buy another pair of needles, I don't knit bulky stuff very often.

I used Morris Fuel, which is a 100% bulky wool in a gorgeous bright purple, used just over one 50g skein. It isn't plied, but was easy to knit with, didn't split much, it looked like it may have broke if I pulled tightly, but I knit this very loosely since I was on smaller needle and I didn't have any problems.

I did make button holes, it is meant to have three big buttons, but I didn't have any suitable buttons in my stash. I've used this bright red flower brooch I got for Christmas for the time being, and I really like it. If I see some nice buttons, I'll grab them and put them on. I'm not sure whether to get buttons to match or to contrast the purple.

Don't look too closely, as you can see I haven't weaved in the ends yet!