Knitting - Hubby's giant yellow scarf

Pattern: Made up as I went
Yarn: Home Farm Wensleydales "Big Wool" in Amber
Needle: 9mm
Size: About 8" wide and 6+ feet

What I did:
Hubby requested a chunky scarf to go with his navy overcoat for winter, and said he was open to having an interesting colour. I found the Home Farm Wensleydales stand at the British Wool show in York, and they had the perfect chunky yarn in the perfect yellow.



We browsed for a pattern which he liked, but most of the patterns he chose were for lighter weight yarns, so I took those as inspiration and charted a 6-strand cable. After I knitted the first repeat I got hubby's feedback, and he was concerned it was too wide. So, I started again with a narrower cable, a bit more garter stitch, and a nice fast knit!

I realised quite early on that the three balls of yarn wouldn't be enough for the length of scarf that I wanted, so I got in touch with the owner of HFW who confirmed that they had some of the same dyelot left, and that she'd be happy to send me some. Resisting the temptation to buy lots more of their yarn (it's seriously scrumptious!) I ordered just one more ball.



Verdict: I love it. He loves it. It's going to be super warm!

If you like this pattern, it's available in my Ravelry Store.

Knitting - Yoga Socks

Pattern: Made up as I went
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock; S184
Needle: 2.5mm

What I did:
Instead of knitting a heel, I put some stitches onto waste yarn and then continued in pattern down the foot.
I picked up around the heel and worked eight rounds of ribbing.

I measured my foot, the length of the cuff and leg should be the same as the length of the foot and toe cuff, for these socks. I wound the Noro into four small balls. I cast on my usual amount of stitches (64) and worked a ribbed cuff, two at a time from two of the balls, changing colour every four rows, for twelve rows.

Once the foot was long enough, I went back to just one ball of yarn and worked twelve rounds of ribbing, then cast-off loosely.

Verdict: I'm pretty pleased with them. I'll be wearing them to my yoga retreat, so I may update with how they fared in the wild.

Update: 
If I were to make these again, I'd add a toe-tab to keep them in the right place, I also think I could have made the foot/cuff a little longer.

Sewing - Draped Top from Sew Magazine

I bought the Sew Magazine Vintage special recently. It has such a variety of patterns in it. I was really excited about the Vogue pattern that came with the magazine, but inside I found a lovely 1920's-inspired draped top.

Pattern: Not really a pattern, just a guide in the magazine.

This fabric was leftover from the Simplicity 2369 dress that I made for my wedding anniversary. It's a knit of unknown composition, but I suspect it's probably polyester.

Modifications and adjustments
Since this is a draft-it-yourself pattern, I didn't make any modifications. When I make it again, I'm going to learn how to use the invisible hem foot on my sewing machine rather than wonderweb (hemming web) because I think it will make the sleeves drape nicely.

I also think it would work well with more fabric on the front neck for a really drapey look, and it might also be nice in a woven fabric, though I'd want a bit more ease around the hips in that case.