November 2014 – Anna Testadoro

Posted on 17 November 2014 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO: Flouncy Dress and Matching Socks

An old friend from school ordered a dress and matching socks from me last November and I used this DROPS pattern for both.

I’ve knitted this pattern once before for a friend in Australia, but this time I used DROPS Alpaca as it was meant for someone in our colder climates. I love the pattern, especially the skirt. You start with an insane amount of stitches, in the region of 400+, with this thin yarn it’s a mission. But then it turns into this amazing skirt, knitting it made me really happy.

My friend picked the colours and I think they’re unusual, but really, really nice for a girl.

The orange top called for double moss stitch, which finishes the dress off really nicely.

And then the little socks I knitted in the orange.

I have to say I didn’t love this pattern, I just don’t think it looks very pretty. Maybe that’s because I am not entirely happy with how my knit stitches look against the purl…but I think I am just being harsh on myself.

Posted on 7 November 2014 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO Friday: Two Sets of Wrist Warmers

Early this year I made two sets of wrist warmers for a good German friend of mine. I used this pattern for the first set.

I LOVE this pattern, the intricateness and laciness of it. It was a pleasure to knit it and I think it looks even better finished.

My friend picked the colour and I love it, I would actually like a pair for myself in this colour.

While the pattern is easy to knit it was a little time consuming, maybe because back when I was knitting them I hadn’t knitted in the round for a little while.

My friend loved them, especially the colour and how pretty the lace turned out.

The second pair of wrist warmers I knitted for my friend was this pattern.

I used DROPS Alpaca for this pair and I simply love the colour.

These were a little more delicate and very, very soft. I am not a huge fan of the lace of this pattern, but overall the pattern works really well I think.

But I do love the edges, they just add a little extra prettiness.

Posted on 6 November 2014 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: TBT: Baby Luke in one of his Cardigans

I am still working my way through the FOs from the last few years and found the perfect one for throwback Thursday, my boy Luke when he was a baby in one of my knits.

I have to admit that I don’t actually remember the pattern, and I knitted it when I had just picked up my knitting mojo again in a few years. So it’s not the nicest cardigan I’ve ever knitted :-).

But I do like the colours I’ve chosen. The colours I picked after we were told we were having a girl, but then it changed to a boy…so I wanted to stick to gender neutral colours.

And I did find two shots of my little man wearing the cardigan…and almost entirely my handknits.

I can’t wait to put another baby in these things, only until March to wait :-).

Posted on 4 November 2014 by Anna — 3 Comments

FO’s: 9 Boleros

Earlier this year, in June, Milliemanu ordered some boleros from me.

I used this Sirdar pattern as a basis, but then made some pretty major amends to it. I have to say, I know why I like the DROPS patterns, they are just so well written, this one wasn’t at all.

DROPS like to make their patterns easy and without too much seaming, but this was the opposite. However, changing it to how I liked it, made it much more enjoyable.

I used double strands of DROPS BabyAlpacaSilk,. which made it a gorgeously soft and scrumptious finished object. So, here are pictures of the nine boleros.

Bolero One

Bolero Two

Bolero Three

Bolero Four

Bolero Five

Bolero Six

Bolero Seven

Bolero Eight

Bolero Nine

Posted on 3 November 2014 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO: Kid Gloves

Milliemanu ordered some kid gloves in pink last year, which I managed to knit in November in a couple of days.

They’re a nice and easy glove pattern, I had only knit adult gloves before, and mainly mittens for kids. This meant that each of the fingers were a bit of a challenge, but in the end they worked out well.

There’s not really that much more to say about them.

They were made to match one of the hats I posted about last week.