cosmicpluto knits!

cozy cashmere

I knit up this little cowl ages ago and never blogged it! I’ve been terribly remiss in my FO shoots. This one is just single round stripes in some leftovers of DK weight cashmere, mostly Handmaiden 4ply. It was a pleasure to knit up, and super warm.

A little print pattern will be available at lettuce knit starting this weekend – we have lots of Handmaiden 4-ply cashmere too!

P.S. Since several people have asked about the ornaments – the sweaters are based on the pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and the little Santa hat and stocking are my own. I’ll put up a wee pattern for them this weekend!

little sweatshop of decorations

I’ve been working away on a bunch of wee things for the holidays.

But it’s not all tiny sweaters around here! While looking for scrap yarns to knit them with, I came across a handspun sweater I started ages ago. I’ve decided to pick it back up rather than ripping it, and it’s very pleasing indeed.

a bit of before and after

Whew. Between working on setting up my new apartment, working at lettuce knit, working on my own stuff, and enjoying the summer food and general enjoyment, it’s been a busy month! The barest hint of fall is in the air, though it’s still pretty warm during the daytime, and I’ve been knitting bits and pieces on tons of projects.

Time for some photos!

Living room – before

Living room – after, with my new chair from Design Republic.

Bedroom – before

Bedroom – after

Foods! Scallion pancakes with scallions from the farmer’s market – so, so delicious. The dipping sauce is stellar too.

Tiny peach pies! I didn’t have enough peaches for a full pie (because I’ve been eating so many of them) so I made a few minis instead, in a muffin tin.

Knitting? Sure. I’ve been nuts for a tubular cast on.

In Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock:

And in Malabrigo sock, too:

settling in

I’ve been in my new apartment for a little over a week, and it’s starting to come together – I do have more trips to Ikea in my future though!

Amidst all the packing, moving, unpacking and setting up, I have been knitting:

Tanis Fiber Arts green label in Midnight – aran weight works up soooo fast!

A sweater in Koigu – the opposite of fast, but it is beautiful.

I haven’t been taking tons of photos, but I’m trying to get back into the habit. Here are some more glimpses of what I’ve been up to the past few weeks.

Oy, so disorganized! I’m happy to have such a nice full sized bedroom for my new office, though. It even has a closet!

Darrin!

I have a surprise for you! A brand new pattern available for free in Knitty – the Darrin cardigan!

Perfect knitting for the summer since it is knit in a couple easy pieces (that aren’t huge to carry around with you), Darrin is a relaxed, cozy tunic length cardigan with a ribbed belt.

Add Darrin to your faves and queue on Ravelry! Lots more photos there, too.

Special thanks to Jasmine Cirjanic for her awesome work as a model, and Kelbourne Woolens for their gorgeous Road to China Light!

the yarns

Hey all. It’s been awhile! I guess I needed a bit of recovery after my trip – the post-vacation vacation. I spent it dealing with family stuff and staying in a lot! The house I live in (I rent one of the apartments) is up for sale now, so there was a bit of disruption with cleaning it up and stuff as well. Hopefully I won’t have to move any time soon.

So what did I bring back from my travels? Not very much! I was carrying a 40L backpack, so I couldn’t carry much extra – it never went over 14 kg (airline max is 23 kg). I did mail back a few packages of random things that I picked up, mostly maps, magazines and a bit of yarn too.

From Loop in London, just a few skeins of Wollemeise! I’m hoping to make a little lacy cardigan with the green, and maybe a shawl with the purple.

From Alice at Socktopus, some of her fabulous hand dyed fingering weight yarn! Can’t wait to play with these.

And from Purl City Yarns in Manchester, a fabulous assortment of local Manchester yarns and some other British stuff including Natural Dye Studio and Fyberspates. Yum.

As you can see, I picked up a lot of single skeins – it really wasn’t the time to be buying sweater quantities of anything. I do enjoy the challenge of dealing with single skeins so I’m hoping to come up with some fun accessories in the coming months. I’m starting work on my fall collection, which I’m hoping to release in August or early September. It’s a bit tricky to think about in the summer, but after a couple days of hot weather (and broken air conditioning, d’oh) today is lovely and cool. I’m hoping to draw some inspiration from things I saw on this trip, and put together a set of patterns with a little something for everyone.

I can’t believe it’s June already though! Better get crackin’.