Rainbow ripple

Rainbow ripple
Originally uploaded by nigelpcat

This is fun!
It's a simple pattern to make a scarf, pinched from examples seen on Ravelry.
I'm knitting as fast as I can as this is for Isobel who's 12. No one else at school will have anything like this!

Dyed with Ashwood acid dye

Dyed with Ashwood acid dye
Originally uploaded by nigelpcat

This is the most delicious yarn - dk weight alpaca/blue faced leicester from Violet Green dyed in the microwave. A bit of Ashwood dye and quite a lot of clingfilm - and voila!
I was hoping for 100g of dark and 100g of pastel colour, which I almost got. The contrast is not quite as much as I hoped for but the colours are huge fun.

Japanese Feather Stole

Japanese Feather Stole
Originally uploaded by nigelpcat

The pattern is a download (can't remember where though), and it's lovely to knit. Not difficult but not boring either. I made the stole size, just 4 pattern repeats would make a lovely scarf. The picture doesn't show the wavy edges, shame. I used about 500yds of Knitwtchesyarns hand dyed lacewight/4ply silk (a good weight whatever it's called) in Flame and US6 needles.
The silk came from the Ally Pally show in October and was as gorgeous as any in the whole show. The silk blocked really well too which shows off the pattern.
Definitely recommend this to anyone.

Hemlock Ring

Hemlock Ring
Originally uploaded by nigelpcat

This was fun to knit (until each round got too big), and again many thanks to Brooklyntweed's blog for leading the way.
It's big enough to keep the knees warm in the winter but I got fed up with going round and round so did not reach the end of the original pattern.
I used New Lanark's Donegal Silk Tweed in russet, which is warm and rustic but not at all scratchy. The other bonus is that it is cheap. Very. So great stuff indeed.