Gone thriftin'

The  op-shop

I went to Padstow today to buy a pair of Rock and Roll dance shoes and chanced upon the most lovely op-shop ever. There was something endearing about the dimly-lit shop and the organised mess. It's the kind of shop that whispers, "come, discover treasures." And so, once I got in, I put my stuff down, reached my hands in and dug. 

I went a little overboard with the jumpers. But I have no regrets. Besides, they were on sale for half the price! Behold, the most lovely jumper in the world.

Front and back of landscape jumper

And here are two other jumpers and a couple of other things I bought from the shop. 

Neon orange jumper without a tag and probably handmade

Tiffany blue jumper with amazing cable design

Pin

White shoulder bag

Last but not least, this was the look of the day. I am honestly starting to fall in love with my red lipstick. It might have something to do with how it looks with my hair...

Ciao! x

DIY Inspiration: Neon Knitwear

Neon green yarn

I have to say that this is the brightest idea ever. Literally. 


Actually, the idea to make a knitted neon jumper came to me when I saw a local shop selling (cheap) neon green yarn. I don't think I've ever come across neon yarn before! Since I've been looking for a neon jumper, why not knit one myself? 

(via)

This knitted jumper from Topshop is the ideal shape and design that I want for my jumper. I shall start sourcing for a good pattern for knitting my neon jumper.


And yes, I use cheap yarn. 


x

FO: Knitted Cowl

The cowl/shawl/scarf thing I knitted has finally reached my friend in Germany! Woah, I posted it on 31st Oct and it only just reached her this week. This is definitely wayyyy more than the 3 - 10 days that the post office staff said. Oh well, it doesn't matter now because it has reached her!


I made this cowl using the Noble Cowl pattern by Emily, which is available for free on Ravelry. It's a really really popular pattern amongst knitters on Ravelry, with a total of 1640 projects (and counting!)


Knitting this cowl was quite a joy because I have not knitted lace stitches for quite a while. The only thing that I was not pleased about was the loose stitches at the beginning of the round. It's my own fault, really. I think my tension were too loose at the beginning. 

Loose stitches at the beginning of the round :(

The right tension

Unblocked FO

This is how the cowl looked right after casting them off the needles. It's obvious that it needed blocking, so I blocked it using a steam iron. Steam iron worked in this cause because I used a wool-blend yarn. I like using a steam iron to block my knitting project because it makes the knitted FO really smooth and flat. More importantly, it's quick and immediate!! I love watching a bunched up knitting project transform into a real finished product after blocking.

Blocked! :) THIS IS WHY BLOCKING IS SO IMPORTANT!

All right, that's all for now! I have been doing some embroidery as Christmas presents. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish them up and show them to everyone soon! Has everyone started on making Christmas presents? 


P.S.: If you ask a question as Anonymous, please please leave an email so that I can contact you directly!

A gentleman's ascot

Recently I've been into knitting ascot. They are mini projects that knit up quickly to give almost instant gratification and also, they can be knitted with one ball or less!

I've actually knitted Vickie Howell's Lana and Clark Ascot using Moda Vera Jelly yarn, the blue-white one that you can see from my previous post. It's meant to be a present to my friend, so I don't think I"m going to upload pictures of it so soon. What I can say is that I really felt like making another one for myself after that. (^_^)

But before I do that, I decided to make a black and white ruffled ascot look-alike. It's actually inspired by the Vickie Howell's The Formality Scarf and the ruffles seen in the knitted project "Pretty Pillows" that was featured in the Knitty Gritty Knits book that I got from the local library.

I really like the way it all turned out, although I didn't thought it'd actually look like this when I first started out. It's not really an ascot anymore. I think it looks more like a unique necklace. But one thing I have to admit is that the back doesn't look pretty with my haphazard sewing.