Daphne Purse

I am done my first project from the Knitting Little Luxuries book - The Daphne Purse. For some reason, I had trouble finding Louisa Harding yarn both online and in my LYS. So, the yarn I chose in the end was Phildar Tweedy in a green/yellow/blue tweed. I had really hoped to find a straw coloured yarn so that the purse could have a truly "straw-like" look, but couldn't find any such yarn in any of the shops I visited.

So, I made lemonade from lemons and knit the purse in the greeny tweed. The colour of the yarn reminded me of spring, which got me thinking about flowering trees which led me to try my hand at embroidering a cherry tree with white, cream, light blue and periwinkle flowers. (I know that cherry trees usually have a whitish pinkish bloom, but I took some creative license). I browsed around on www.deviantart.com for some artistic inspiration as to how my cherry tree should look and found artist Niten11 had what I wanted. On a side note, as much as I like my cherry tree, I do wish now that I had followed the design the purse has in the book.

If you also plan on using Phildar Tweedy for this project, you'll only need about 3 skeins of yarn. The purse looks small in my picture, but all of my measurements and gauge were according to pattern. Sewing up the bag was a snap and the iron-on interfacing really helped to give the purse some sturdiness. Lovely!

Cecily Beanie

I just finished my first project from Knitting Little Luxuries- the Cecily Beanie, as modeled by my beagle Malcolm. The yarn is by Fable and is baby alpaca in the color Ethereal Blue. The buttons are vintage from my grandmother. The cards they came on had 8 buttons for 22cents! This hat is super easy. It is really for me, not Malcolm, but I needed a head model and he loves to model hats. Now, onto the Daphne purse!

Can't wait to see what others are working on from the book!

A New Year = A New Project

And yet, I felt almost guilty as I cast on for my chosen project: the Diane Cardigan, from the "Feminine" category of Louisa Harding's book. I'm a sort-of beginner knitter, having learned the basic knit/purl as a small child and then abandoned my needles for years, picking up the craft again only late last year. Though I've only just become re-acquainted with knitting, I instantly fell prey to an ailment a lot of more experienced knitters I know seem to suffer from: cast-on overload. I kid you not -- I have no less than five projects in the works right now! But somehow, after I'd purchased Knitting Little Luxuries, I still couldn't resist running out to add even more to my ever-growing stash and getting the wonderful new stuff onto my needles right away.

I decided to stick with Louisa's recommended yarns, partly because I don't have much experience with swapping yarn, and partly because once I saw "Impressions," the yarn that would make up the main body of the cardigan, I was instantly smitten. It's a mohair/polyamid blend that creates a gorgeous, tweedy-yet-elegant fabric when knit. The color in the book's Diane not being one that would look good with my skin tone, I chose shade #11 instead: a fluffy gray-silver ball.



I also picked out a shade of the other yarn, used for the lacy trim on the sweater, Louisa Harding "Grace." At the time, the light silver color just seemed to mesh so well with the variegated shades of the mohair yarn, and I still think it's gorgeous, but I ultimately decided that the lace would look better if it was a darker shade than the sweater itself. So, my two balls of "Grace" are on their way to becoming a Cecily beanie. I figure any beanie with hand-sewn mother-of-pearl buttons on it will be handled delicately enough to be made of silk and wool, no? :)


So, while the hunt continues for a dark blue-gray silk yarn for my Diane's lace, the mohair has begun to slowly take shape...



To be continued.

Check out our slideshow!

Welcome Knitting Daily Readers

Are you planning to make the Cecily Beanie from this book? Come join our KAL! The pattern was made available for free on the Knitting Daily website today (the only free pattern from the book on the Web). This KAL is open to anyone, and we'll be working on all patterns from the book.

What to do first?

Soooo Many really good projects that I LOVE are in this book. Should I start with the daphne purse, elsie mittens, belle wrap or the victoria fingerless mittens? I think my first project will be the Juliet Scarf. I have a few balls of prism angora in mink and embers that i have been waiting for the right project for and this is it. Although I have never done a lace pattern before, I'm really excited about casting on for this project. The scarf is just beautiful and I hope mine will turn out half as nice as the picture in Louisa's book.

Pamper Yourself and Join our KAL

Knitting Little Luxuries (Interweave Press, publication November 2007) is a book of simple, beautiful, quick-to-knit projects that are perfect to make as gifts, but better yet, to pamper yourself. After the holiday DIY gifting rush, set aside some time for YOU YOU YOU - put on your favorite relaxing music, pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, nibble on some chocolates, and settle into the winter season with a beautiful project in an amazing, sumptuous fiber.

This knitalong is designed for knitters from across the globe who are working on projects from the new book Knitting Little Luxuries: Beautiful Accessories to Knit. Here we will share our photos of finished patterns or works-in-progress, ideas for variations, or suggestions for different yarns for the designs in the book.

Take the Pamper Yourself in 2008 Challenge and join our knitalong by emailing knitalong (AT) interweave (DOT) com; please put "Knitting Luxuries" in your subject line and we'll send you the official Blogger.com invitation to join. Which project will be first on your wish list?