Monday 23 September 2013

Adriafil Accessories

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

After the most glorious summer the weather has suddenly turned decidedly chillier and the nights are definitely drawing in so the time has come to think about winter accessories and (dare I say it) Christmas presents.  To this end, I have been busily knitting little one and two ball projects suitable for keeping us warm in the coming months and also suitable for quick, easy, easy on the pocket gifts.

I've made all of this batch from yarns made by Adriafil - wonderfully different, slightly luxurious yarns from Italy.  First we have a pair of wrist warmers knitted from just one ball of Cristallo:


















I weighed the ball and then split it into two halves and knitted the two pieces at the same time to ensure they're exactly the same length!  One pair of wrist warmers for just £5.55 - easy!

Next I knitted a fur-edged hat using Furetto for the edging and Stylecraft Life Chunky for the body of the hat:


















One ball of Furetto and one ball of Life Chunky is just £9.34 and, in fact, there's enough chunky left over to make two hats so for just £15.33 you could have two fur edged hats.

Tucked in there you can also see a Furetto scarf:


















Just two balls of Furetto, 9mm needles, 15 sts and - voila - warm, cosy scarf for just £11.98.

Then I made a slight eccentric (but very warm) cowl from just one ball of Dakota:



















this is dead easy and good fun - and one ball of Dakota is just £6.99.  Shown with the Cowl is a hat made from Vesuvio - this is designed by Adriafil and takes just 3 balls - very thick yarn so it's really, really warm!

All of these patterns (except the Vesuvio hat) are my own designs so the patterns are FREE when you buy the yarn!

Hopefully this will give everyone inspiration for this Christmas and, if you're in Penzance in the next two weeks, all of these are currently on display in our window!

I include this picture just because FB likes it!


Thursday 12 September 2013

New Yarns From Adriafil!

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk

It's always busy at this time of year with new yarns arriving almost daily for the start of the autumn/winter season and this year, happily, the weather has co-operated and there's definitely an autumnal chill in the evenings.  Our latest delivery came in a pile of boxes from Italy - which are always great fun to open and coo over!

This year we have 3 new yarns to spoil ourselves with.  The first is Alchimia - a multi-coloured Super Chunky which has the same tension as Stylecraft's Life Super Chunky and Astrakhan so can be knitted to their patterns too - result!  The colours are gorgeous:


and there are two patterns in the yarn itself as well.  This fab, cosy, comfy winter sweater:

and this equally lovely cosy waistcoat:

Our second yarn is the superchunky Vesuvio - presumably so called because of the flashes of flame colour which run throughout:

This yarn comes with 3 cosy, winter patterns - a hat and snood/shoulder warmer:

and for a really dramatic look - an amazing poncho:

Finally, we have Cristallo - which is a glitzy, glamorous Aran weight yarn:

with one knitted sweater pattern:

and one amazing crochet jacket:

Sadly I'm really not sure that my crocheting is up to that, although it is one of the nicest crochet patterns I've seen around for a while.

Coming soon is the new Milano from Debbie Bliss and I will update you on some recently completed projects - I just need a day where some free time and dry weather coincide - don't hold your breath - free time is harder to find than dry weather, especially when you have a son off to University and 200 name tapes which need sewing in (his first year in Halls comes with inclusive laundry service - which is great - but he keeps on buying new clothes and, for the record, I really, really, really hate sewing name tapes into socks!).









Tuesday 3 September 2013

In the Digey, St Ives

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk


I found this card today - and I love it!

I wonder if FB and I are re-incarnations of this old couple - the hoary old fisherman and the slightly sad lady sitting on her steps knitting ..............

Their cottage probably now rents for £800 per week as a holiday let ....................!