Calico and Ivy Archives - Handmade by Carolyn

Winding cable scarf; grey and brown

12/07/2011 3:42 am \ 15 Comments \ Carolyn

This is a scarf I finished last year, but never blogged about for some reason, which is peculiar since I have worn it once or twice… just never got around to photographing it, I guess. I discovered it anew in my recent winter woolies sort-out.
I knitted it using a pattern that was just on two photocopied, typed sheets stapled together, from Calico and Ivy from where I bought the wool; so I expect it was probably designed by one of the talented ladies at that store. The design is a cable but instead of twisting over and over the same way to finish up with that classic barley twist cable design; in this design the cable was twisted first one way then the other, so you end up with a meandering cable, that loops in and out of the scarf in a lazy snake-through-the-grass kind of a way. It is cleverly reversible, so both sides look pretty much identical; thus satisfying a slight pet peeve of mine about right-side-and-wrong-side scarves… The ends are tapered to a lovely curved arrowhead point, quite an unusual feature. I should wear it more because I always get compliments for it, but I have this feeling that being of an eclectic mix of neutrals that it doesn’t end up going with any colour much except for other neutrals! Yup, I am very strict about how I mix my neutrals and my colours; I have quite firm views on which colours go together and which colours don’t, and the shade is so vital and just has to be taken into consideration also… I know, pretty neurotic huh?
Anyhoo, the long and short; this scarf looks great with other earthy neutrals, but I don’t tend to ever wear it with any actual colours. So perhaps not as versatile as I first envisioned when I selected this wool!
The wool is a Noro yarn, hand-dyed in Japan, and I’m afraid the tags with the type of yard and the colour has long been tossed out…. so I cannot provide you with this info. Sorry!

Details:
Scarf; hand knitted by me, using Noro yarns, to a design by Calico and Ivy
Brown top; Metalicus
Black top; Sexy Woman, found secondhand
Skirt; my own design; charcoal jersey knit
Tights; Spencer Lacy
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Calico and Ivy, daily outfit, Knitted, scarf

Semi-Fauve socks

30/08/2010 6:29 am \ 6 Comments \ Carolyn

Just in time to see in the last days of winter (yay!) last night I finished some new SOCKS!! I’m dubbing these the “Semi-Fauve socks”; as obviously only half of each sock bears the wild vivid gaudy colours that was one of the the hallmarks of the Fauve school of artists. From the heel down to the toe is knitted in Koigu KPM sock yarn, colour 2410, a more sombre but still intense navy blue.
He he, before starting these I needed to divide the remainder of the ball of Noro Kureyon sock yarn (colour S102) equally for the two socks, so unwound the ball completely, and started measuring and dividing and of course got into a horrible hopeless tangle…! When he saw me painstakingly teasing out the tangles centimetre by centimetre my husband just laughed but I persisted until the whole gnarled mess had been teased apart and wound up into two little balls of equal yardage. Took at least half an hour… Yes, I am that stubborn and obsessive when I put my mind to it… and I loathe waste… As I did it I was reassuring myself the entire time that I was helping stave off Alzheimers. Isn’t the performance of small hand-eye co-ordination tasks that require focus and concentration supposed to help keep your brain functioning optimally? Well I hope so, because if so then knitting my own socks is sure to be giving me a few extra years of lucidity…!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Calico and Ivy, Knitted, Patons knitting book C11, socks

Bluey/pink loopy scarf

25/08/2010 5:29 am \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made quite a lot of these loopy scarves, here and here are two of them… this is the one I made for Mum’s birthday a few years back. She looks lovely in this group of blues and purply pinks, I reckon…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Calico and Ivy, Knitted, scarf

The wind and the tides as our companions…

07/08/2010 9:50 am \ 6 Comments \ Carolyn

Walking along a wintery morning beach.

The wind whips at our hair, tying curly tangles in sudden lusty gusts, prompting me to seek the warm sanctuary of my cosy handknit hoodie about my ears and saving the hair from a cruel tussle with the hairbrush when I get home…

This is Sienna’s favourite place to be in the whole world. When we are here she regains the unalloyed joie de vivre of a puppy; uncomplicated, pure and complete in her appreciation of soft sand and rippling water. The tide is her playmate, her partner in the crime of meaningless high-spirited fun. The peekaboo waves are an irresistible tease, their behind-her-back whispering a gentle and cheeky provocateur demanding her stern attention…

And sadly for her it’s out with the hose and the hairbrush at home…!

Details:

(ancient) Jeans; Country Road (should probably re-fashion these as they are embarrassingly shabby now, but find myself strangely clinging very hard to the store-bought clothes I still have since my Wardrobe Re-fashion pledge…)

Tshirt and charcoal cardigan; Country Road

Wristwarmers; Sportsgirl

Hoodie; knitted by me to my own design, Jo Sharp Silk Road yarn in colour Ambrosia

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Calico and Ivy, cardigan, Knitted, own design, Sienna

Black with rose-pink accents

28/07/2010 4:50 am \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

My husband wittily suggested I title my post “Amish chic”, he he cheeky… It’s my hat. But we’ve lived amongst the Amish and I never saw an Amish lady in jeans. “Amish menswear chic”? I hope not. I prefer to think I look more …err, “kind of equestrian”?… yeah, well maybe.
Yesterday I visited a second hand shop and op shop with my friend E, or “went thrifting” as Americans say…! (lol, I’m already imagining my grandmother, a stickler for correct English, giving me a strict grammar lesson on that one! But hey, language is supposed to be an organic ever-changing tool for communication, right? Right.)
Oh, back to the haul. I got this hat in an op-shop, it’s of stiff felt and lovely. I also picked up two Metalicus cardigans and a lovely beaded Wheels and Doll-baby cardigan second hand, the latter only needs a few buttons stitching on more firmly to be perfect. Score!! And I’m so thrilled I got my Metalicus fix without having to break my Wardrobe Re-fashion pledge!
This morning I noticed for the first time that this scarf actually goes beautifully with the little silk chiffon pockets on my cardigan. A small detail. Just a touch of rosy pink to warm up the black elsewhere.
And since lately we are having reasonably warm sunny weather today I’m wearing a summer top, a little white lacy short-sleeved thing, last seen here. Believe it or not I still have three lengths of different white lace in my stash, awaiting my attention… I’m really being very good about my stash. I’ve cut out four more projects ready to go. Unfortunately three of them still require a visit to the fabric shop, to pick up some needed extras such as a bit of extra lining for one, some matching braid or ribbon for another and some buttons and braid for the other. I just hope I can escape from the store without succumbing to the siren call of all the new spring fabrics that I know will be there… wish me strength…

Details:
Top; my own design variations on New Look 6483, ivory cotton and crocheted lace inset strips
Cardigan; Alannah Hill
Scarf; knitted using 3 balls Colinette chenille
Jeans; Burda 7863, black denim
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies
Hat; op shop

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, Calico and Ivy, jeans, Knitted, New Look 6483, own design, scarf, Spotlight, top

Birthday scarf

17/07/2010 3:05 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

It was A’s birthday a week ago, my sister-in-law, and I’ve made her a loopy scarf for a present. She has a lovely olive complexion and reddish and caramel highlights in her dark hair, so I’m thinking these warm strong colours will suit her beautifully. I’ve held off putting the scarf up here because I think she reads this blog occasionally and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise of her pressie by her reading about it and seeing it here first! until I had a chance to go over to visit her… I hope she likes it!
The pattern I used is the same as this scarf, using one ball of Colinette Fandango, a scrummy all-cotton yarn.

Details:
Scarf; knitted using one ball of Colinette Fandango
Top; Country Road
Cardigan; Country Road, found secondhand, originally oyster white and dyed
Jeans; Soon
Boots; Mina Martini, from Marie Claire shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Calico and Ivy, dyeing, scarf

Noro baggy beanie

14/07/2010 3:48 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

So, here is the other baggy beanie I’ve made for this winter. This is made using one ball of Noro Kuryon? I think? I bought it a few months ago, and have lost the tag so colourway is unknown, sorry!… It’s my own design, but obviously there’s nothing tricky or difficult about making a beanie. The beauty in this beanie is in the lovely knobbly wool, and it’s woods-y shades of moss green, heather-y purple, a touch of fungal yellow, all shades of brown and deepest charcoal.

Tension: 12 sts and 20 rows to 1ocm square

Cast on 60 stitches.
k2, P2 rib to end
repeat for another 11 rows (12 rows rib in total)
Continue in stocking stitch (K 1 row, P 1 row) for another 24cm length, Decrease for crown as follows:
K4 K2 together, repeat to end of row (50 stitches)
P 1 row
K3, K2 together, repeat to end of row (40 stitches)
P 1 row
K2, K2 together, repeat until end of row (30 stitches)
P 1 row
K1, K 2 together, repeat until end of row (20 stitches)
P 2 together until end of row (10 stitches)

Cut thread leaving tail of 15cm, thread through wool needle, pass through stitches left on knitting needle, pull tight and tie off. Sew up seam of beanie… done!

Can be worn long and baggy, or the ribbing rolled up to make it a little shorter 🙂

Details:
Beanie; made by me to my own design, Noro Kureyon
Skirt; made by me, Vogue 7303, olive green corduroy
Top, tights and cardigan; all Metalicus
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Calico and Ivy, hat, Knitted, own design, Sienna, skirt, Vogue 7303

Spicey Rose chenille scarf

19/06/2010 4:26 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

Here I’m in soccer Mum mode again… we lost…
Not to worry, my scrummy scarf is to be talked about here today. I’ve possibly worn this before on the blog but not mentioned anything about its province, so today it gets a post of its own. I wish I could remember the name of the Colinette yarn I used; I bought and knitted it up about four years ago and it’s since been discontinued and I can’t find any old tags or any info on the net to enlighten me. The best I can do is to tell you it’s a chenille in a beautiful array of toasty, spicy, berry-preserves colours guaranteed to start warming you up before you’ve even wrapped it around your neck…
I bought 3 balls, cast on 80 stitches and just knitted in garter stitch until all three balls had gone. Now usually I prefer not to use garter stitch in a scarf as it has a sort of “first scarf” look about it, but it this yarn’s case I think it works all right.
Sorry about the slightly blurry close-up. I didn’t notice how bad this photo was when I looked in my camera’s viewfinder (I think I might need spectacles!), but no matter as you can still get a feel for these lovely colours and generous dimensions of this scarf which have made it such a “nice” component of my winter wardrobe. Inverted commas on the rather lame usage of “nice” there, because I couldn’t think of a suitably rave-y-type adjective that perfectly encompasses the versatility of a scarf that works just as well as a casual scarf, as here, and yet capably transforms into an evening stole when I want it to… if I wasn’t so lazy I would get dressed up to show it in evening mode, but that will have to wait for another post.