Last Wednesday of 2015

Well it is here, the last Wednesday of this year!

I hope all of your festive events of last week were wonderful :)

We are still having marvelous weather here, but at least it is cool outside so it does kinda feel like it could be winter.

These are my projects from this week:

First up is my shawl I have finally got to the red bit of my cake of yarn :)

I am just about at the border of the shawl and am hoping that I manage to finish this project before the new year.

I am still enjoying this project very much, although the rows are incredibly long right now so progress is pretty slow.

My sock yarn for the 2016 Sock-Along has been caked and is ready to go :)

I am so thrilled that so many of you will be joining me in this challenge, I can't wait to see all the gorgeous pairs of handmade goodness that will get created over the next year.

I will be starting off with a pair of Jaywalker socks and am knitting it with some Hand-dyed sock yarn which I got from a local dyer.

My next project which will be started as soon as the shawl is off the needles is Avalanche.

I will be knitting this also in some gorgeous locally dyed merino singles.

As you may see a pattern emerging I do plan on making a couple of my projects with locally purchased, hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn in an attempt to support my local community.

Today, I have also managed to start with a warp for some cute looking Kitchen towels.

I am hoping to have my new loom set up in the next month or so and this will be the first project I make once it is ready :)

Reading Wise: I received some new titles from Jas for Christmas and jumped right into the first of these which is Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. So far I am enjoying the story.

What have you been up to this week?

Don't forget to drop by on Friday and share your FOs of this week with me, I look forward to seeing what you manage to complete.

I will be sharing this post with all of my creative friends for this week, so drop on over there for some great inspiration.

Have a Happy New Year!

I look forward to seeing you again on the other side.

x

FO Friday Fun!

Welcome to this week's FO Friday Fun :)

Feel free to join in by linking your finished objects of the week below.

This week I have managed to finish Jas's Socks, just in time for her birthday which is today :)

I made a couple of changes with these socks in that I only did 18 of the 20 repeats of the pattern on the legs and I substituted the heel flap for the boomerang heel, which I prefer!

These socks are knit in Drops Fabel.

If you are interested in knitting 12 pairs of socks with me through 2016 I would love to have you join me :)
You can find out more HERE

I hope you are having a festive Christmas and look forward to seeing what you have managed to complete this week.

x

An InLinkz Link-up

Tutorial Thursday Month-Long Linky Party

Welcome back to another month of linking fun!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas!
What have you created for this festive season?

Get creative and share your craft tutorials with us all!

I would love to see them, so share them below :)

Feel free to link up all your crafts below.

I look forward to visiting all of the links I find below.

If you would like a button for your site feel free to use the one below:

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<a href="http://www.marigoldsloft.com" rel="nofollow" title="Marigolds' Loft"><img src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i51/marigoldsloft/button_8.jpg" alt="Marigolds' Loft" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

Made it :)

I apologize about the dark coloured photo today, I hope to have added some colour back into my WIP line-up by next week :)

I don't have very many projects to share with you today so let me get right into showing them off.

My shawl hasn't grown much since last week, but over the next week - probably until the end of the year - it will be a solo project so I hope to manage some miles on it over the next week!

This is some stash yarn I have found and luckily for me it has a rainbow in it - so I plan on joining in the Rainbow-along that Dianne @ Suburban Stitcher will be hosting in February 2016. I have ordered some new rainbow sock wool so as soon as that arrives I will decide which one will be my definite choice.

I managed to finish Jas's Socks - Whew! 

I will show them to you on Friday, feel free to come and join me and show off your FOs for this week there too :)

My goal for 2016 is to achieve knitting a pair of socks a month for the entire 2016.

If you would like to rise to the challenge and join me in the quest for 12 finished pairs of socks by December I would love to have some company.

You can read all about my Sock-along 2016 HERE

Reading wise: I have finished "Wool" and am just about to begin a new title.

With that I have finished my 2015 Book Challenge and am amazed that I actually finished 22 books this year :)

At the moment I am delving into a sewing book and really quite enjoying it ;)

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Until then I wish you a fantastic festive season.

x

And the Rainbow Yarn goes to.........

The winner of this gorgeous cake of rainbow yarn is..........

Marianne!

Your beautiful Misae shawl has won - Congratulations!

Your yarn will be on it's way to you shortly.

Marianne's shawl was knit using Wollehimmel, Wolke 7 - Gletscher.

The other breath-taking shawl that was entered into the competition was knit by Karin:

There were other shawls that were started but not quite completed, mine included, but I wanted to share those with you too as they are all so pretty and unique it would be a shame not to!

This Misae shawl is being knit by my wonderful friend Uschi :)

She is knitting hers with Wolke 7 - Lebkuchen

This gorgeous combo of yarn is being knit up by the lovely Regula @ Babjezas Wundertüte

And lastly, my Shawl in Progress:

My shawl is being knit in Wolke 7 - Eisenherz

Thank you to all of you ladies who took part in this Shawl-Along, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have :)

A big thank you to Andrea of Wollehimmel for sponsoring the wonderful Prize!

I look forward to knitting a whole lot more KALs with you next year.

Have a super week!

x

Sock-Along 2016

I have decided to try and knit 12 pairs of socks - 1 pair a month for the duration of 2016.

I would love it if you would join me.

These are the socks that I have tentatively planned for each of the months:
(These may well change over the year, depending on what tickles my fancy at the beginning of each month, but I will update you as soon as it does if it does :) )

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October 

November

December

This is an open Sock-Along, which means that any sock pattern you choose is eligible.

You can knit the same patterns I am knitting or your own choice.

Are you up for the challenge?

I hope I am. 

I think it would be wonderful to have other knitters join me as it will be a great motivation to keep on the path of 12 socks, especially if there are others doing the challenge with me.

I have opened a Thread in the Ravelry group for and will open new threads for each month where you can share your month's projects and chat :)

I look forward to having you join me over the next year to accomplish 12 pairs of awesome socks!

Edit: There are also now gorgeous Prizes to be won! Three winners (1 for each month) will be drawn at the end of a three month cycle (First draw at the end of March and then End of June, September and December) and each of the 3 winners will win something amazing!

To take part all you need to do is become a member of Marigolds' Loft Group on Ravelry  and finish a pair of socks that you cast on in the same month!
Share you progress in the WIP/FO Thread on Ravelry and you will be automatically entered into the Draw!

Good Luck!

You will hear more about the lovely sponsors over the next while.

If you would like a sock-along button for your blog - Here you go :)

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<a href="http://www.marigoldsloft.com" rel="nofollow" title="Marigolds' Loft"><img src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i51/marigoldsloft/button_10.jpg" alt="Marigolds' Loft" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

You can also share your sock-progress over on Instagram!
Use the Hashtag #sockalong2016, #marigoldsloft :)

I would love to connect with you on Instagram!
You can find me - Marigoldsloft

FO Friday Fun

This week I also have something finished to share with you.

I have managed to complete my Silver Haze Cardigan!

It was a wonderful bulky knit which I modified in that I knit it in one piece and in the round (my favourite to knit any kind of pullover :))

I knit the project in Drops Andes and love how squishy it is after it's first wash.

I decided that I would make my own buttons for this project and I like the way they turned out.

I guess I could have made them a colour that would have been closer to that of the cardigan, but somehow I really like how they stand out on the FO.

Perhaps they will start to become odd-looking in the future, but then I will make some others that I can appreciate again :)

What have you managed to finish this week?

Feel free to link up your finished objects for the week below.

See you next time.

x

An InLinkz Link-up

Tutorial Thursday Month-Long Linky Party

Welcome back to another month of linking fun!

December is here and with it a lot of Festive craft making!

Get creative and share your craft tutorials with us all!

I would love to see them, so share them below :)

Feel free to link up all your crafts below.

I look forward to visiting all of the links I find below.

If you would like a button for your site feel free to use the one below:

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.marigoldsloft.com" rel="nofollow" title="Marigolds' Loft"><img src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i51/marigoldsloft/button_8.jpg" alt="Marigolds' Loft" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

It feels like Winter but doesn't look like it.......

Outside temperatures this week are below zero, and yet we still have sunny skies!

I almost feel as if I am back in Africa again, the winters there were also very deceiving. As long as you looked out the window, you could believe that the day was a fine and warm one, until you took a step outside....BRRRR!

This last week it has been the same here, very untypical for a European winter, sunny and blue skies that is.

Anyway the alps are snow-capped - so there really should be no illusion as to what season we are in, I do wish it would snow though - hopefully in time for Christmas next week, that would be lovely!

So this week has been a weaving intensive week.

Above you can see the waffle weave kitchen towels that a client of mine is finishing off - I think they are coming along very nicely :)

Since I have taken over the weaving studio in January, I have had a computer-driven Loom that has been doing my head in as I could not get it to do what I wanted.

But as of today this problem no longer exists as I think we are finally getting along!

The proof is in the pudding as we all know, but so far it is coming along nicely:

Weaving aside, I have not done very much shawl knitting this week as I am trying to finish of Jas's Socks before her birthday next week, so my entire focus has been on them.

I have turned the heel and am on my way to the toes.

I am trying to get through at least 3 pattern repeats per day as I know that will be the only way to get there on time, but all in all they are growing nicely.

I look forward to having some more time to spend on my shawl and hope to have that close to the end before the end of the year.

I have finished my bulky cardigan which I will share with you all on Friday.

Do come past then and share your finished FOs with us all, I would love to see what you manage to complete this week.

I will be sharing this post with all my lovely creative weekly friends, so do hop on over there for some delightful inspiration :)

See you all soon.

x

Shawl-Along Link Up

This Shawl-Along flew by so quickly!

How did you find the pattern?

Did you enjoy it?

The time has come to find ourselves a winner.

Share your finished shawl below or in the Ravelry thread to grab yourself a spot to win this gorgeous Rainbow yarn from Andrea @ Wollehimmel.

You have until Saturday 19th December to share your finished shawls.

Thereafter a winner will be announced (Monday 21st December).

Winner will be chosen by a random number generator.

Good Luck!

x

An InLinkz Link-up

FO Friday Fun

This week I am going to show off my friend's (who doesn't have internet) shawl!

She took part in the Shawl-Along and would like to take part in the competition to win the gorgeous Rainbow yarn from Andrea @ Wollehimel

This is her entry:

Isn't it beautiful?

If you took part in the Shawl-along, be sure to link your images of your beauties from Sunday onward to be in the running for the Prize :)

Do you have a finished object that you would like to share with us?

Feel free to do so below.

Have a super weekend.

x

An InLinkz Link-up

Tutorial Thursday Month-Long Linky Party

Welcome back to another month of linking fun!

December is here and with it a lot of Festive craft making!

Get creative and share your craft tutorials with us all!

I would love to see them, so share them below :)

Feel free to link up all your crafts below.

I look forward to visiting all of the links I find below.

If you would like a button for your site feel free to use the one below:

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.marigoldsloft.com" rel="nofollow" title="Marigolds' Loft"><img src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i51/marigoldsloft/button_8.jpg" alt="Marigolds' Loft" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

Quiet Wednesdays

It is soooo quiet here today!

It is the first time in 7 weeks that we do not have builders in the house and rather weird!

I find it incredible how quickly we adapt to our environment and the various noises that it brings with it.

Over the past 6 weeks we have had intense banging and drilling, and now the stillness :)

I am not complaining - it is wonderful, but very different.

Our build is not yet finished, but with the festive season on our doorstep all the work is going down a notch. We will also be doing most of the work ourselves from here on in, so we will only have the possibility to work on the reno when we have a couple of hours to spare.

Taking advantage of the stillness and the cleanish floorspace I have taken my photo for today to incorporate my spinning wheel.

I have had this wheel for quite a while now (roughly 2 years :O) and have only sat in front of it a couple of times - purely because I kept getting frustrated as it just did not want to do what I wanted of it!

Last week I had the chance to go and take a spinning lesson and I have been practicing since then :)

Apparently you can start to call yourself a spinner once you have spun about 1kg of yarn - well I still have roughly 950g to go :D LOL!

I am managing to get the yarn spun a lot thinner than my first attempts and I am actually starting to enjoy the process of the spinning now :)

Let me tell you about this week's WIPs.

These are Jas's Socks.

They have grown a little since last week and I am hoping to get some more done on them today.

I am enjoying the pattern and do hope to have them done in time for her birthday.

Here is my Misae

Due to the build I have had little to no time to spend on this really enjoyable pattern and I don't think I will be able to finish it before the Shawl-along deadline on Monday :(

I know that some of you out there have been progressing wonderfully and I look forward to seeing all the lovely Misae Shawls on Monday (I will have a linky here on the blog then. You can also share your finished shawls over on Ravelry) 

Do be sure to share your gorgeous pics, all finished shawls will be in the running to win a ball of beautiful Rainbow yarn from Andrea @ Wollehimmel.

Reading Wise: I am still reading the same title as last time and am enjoying the book :)

What have you been up to this week?

I will be sharing this post with all of my creative weekly friends so do pop on over there for some inspiration :)

See you soon.

Feel free to drop by on Fridays and share your Finished objects with us all :)

x