FO: ‘Enid’

Enid is finally off the needles, ends woven in and blocked! She was a WIP for a while… Being a 4-ply knit from the bottom-up it did take a while to get through the swathe of chocolate brown stockinette in-the-round and a couple of other projects managed to sneak in along the way! But, she is here and I think she is a success!

I don’t think this one is likely to get worn ‘properly’ for a while yet though- that 100% Alpaca is pretty warm and being mid-August – even in the UK – it’s not really Alpaca weather! Even this quick photo shoot was a tad uncomfortable!

But the fit is good and I *love* the colours! There was lots of deliberation and a definite pause before I started on the yoke while I spent some time with various combinations! It’s so *hard* to make decisions when you can have (almost) anything you want!

To be honest, the stranded colour work could have looser floats – it seems no matter how long/loose I think I am leaving them they are always just slightly too tight and the result is a yoke that has a very slight puckered look to it in places. I’m prepared to live with that though – and as the yarn is Alpaca it has a halo that almost lends itself to that slightly textured effect…

I decided to leave the neck and bottom to roll naturally rather than hem as per the pattern. I like the effect at the neck better than the turned and stitched option which I tried first. I might hem the bottom edge at some point once I’ve got a feel for how it sits ‘in action’.

You can see all the yarn details here (Rav link) but it’s all Artesano Alpaca 4 ply which was wonderful to work with and comes in the most wonderful shades…

Mmmm… the sun is shining!

After a long cold Winter and Spring full of woolly hats and mittens, of cold noses and frozen toes the sun is finally with us! Throwing off the woollies for a couple of months, the pleasure of bare feet in long grass and freezing sea water – I love summer! The only dilemma is what to knit!! Nothing too heavy to carry to picnics and beach trips, nothing that has no prospect of being rapturously worn the moment it’s off the needles… So, we move to lightweight yarns and airy wraps and shawls, cotton vests and cardigans.

Top of my list of new yarn to get to grips with this sunny season is the brand new Manos Lace. A mix of baby Alpaca, Silk & Cashmere this is truly luxurious and although the fibres are certainly woolly they’re fine and light and airy.

Just a selection of the beautiful shades available.

If you’ve not tackled lace knitting before then don’t be put off by the resemblance to embroidery floss! Lots of patterns abound that require just one skein of this wonderful yarn and remember, it’s just knit and purl

I’m thinking this, or maybe one of these to start with?

snowy alpacas…

We live just around the corner from these beautiful Alpacas…

We often stop to say hello when we are out for a walk. Conditions in rural Suffolk aren’t often like the Andean mountains that these animals are native to but this last week I imagine they felt quite at home!

There are 12 of them, all different and they  have such expressive faces! I believe that the land owner rents out the field to the owner  of the Alpacas in return for their fleeces – I really should investigate further! That is fine Alpaca fleece!

We had a lovely visit to a local Alpaca farm recently, complete with a fascinating tour around their Mini Mill. The boys got to pet an Alpaca, learnt about their diet, habitat and fleece and I discovered a shop full of locally bred, locally spun Alpaca yarn! I will be revisiting (without the children!) in the New Year…