That's Jazzy, Ellen!

Many, many years ago, in a land far, far away, there once was a knitter who knit jazzy clothes for her children and children's dolls. The children loved the jazzy clothes and the children's dolls loved them also. The knitter even won an award for the jazziest garment in a regional fashion show. Then the knitter found another job, stopped knitting and lost her jazziness. Many years passed and the knitter, who was no longer a knitter, decided she should try to find her jazziness again, so she began searching. She searched and searched but found nothing. She tried making things but none of it was jazzy. "Oh dear!", she cried. "How can I find my jazziness?"

Fairytale?  No, not really. The above description describes me pretty accurately. 

Before Christmas I promised Andrea a sweater but explained that it would be knit after Christmas. Last week when I was preparing to knit it, I asked Andrea if she had any ideas. She said she wanted a cropped sweater, with a boat neck and to make it jazzy like when she was a kid. Hmm.... where to begin? A jazzy sweater for a child is very different from a jazzy sweater for an adult. Oh well. I have to start somewhere!

The sweater featured below is my first attempt at "jazzy".  Of course, Ellen was all about modelling this one! It's machine knit with Patons Canadiana, with Berlini Bunny Soft and Magical Treat used as accents (hand knit and crocheted). The Magical Treat has a lot of sparkle that I didn't capture well in the photos. Sometimes I find inspiration for colour combinations in nature. This sweater is inspired by 'winter twilight' where the sky is dark blue, there's pink from a setting sun and the stars are becoming visible.

This is the beginning of my study of jazziness! :-)

Back

Front patch is a pocket.

What's a Scrunchy Funnel, Ellen?

Actually it's a scrunchy 'neck' funnel. It's a great neck piece that fits nicely inside a coat. Sometimes I find scarves and cowls too bulky. When wearing some scarves and cowls, I can't do my winter coat up all the way and my neck still gets cold. With a scrunchy funnel, you can wear it and still do up your coat. It creates that necessary extra layer and keeps out the chill.

I tried to get Ellen to model this piece but it just wouldn't work because she doesn't have a head. Alana saved the day! We went to Bowring Park last Saturday afternoon later in the day to get that nice last light. It was -9C, but Alana was a great model and bared the cold with a big smile. At the end of the photo shoot, I gave her the scrunchy funnel. She certainly deserved to have it! :-)  As a matter of fact, Alana was wearing a cowl when she picked me up, but when she modelled the scrunchy funnel and I gave it to her, she left it on because it was warmer and fit the neck of her winter coat much better than the cowl. Mission accomplished! (Actually I borrowed the cowl because I didn't wear a scarf at all! What was I thinking?!)

The Scrunchy Neck Funnel is machine knit with 2 balls of Patons Classic Wool DK Superwash Wool.  This wool is lovely and soft when washed, and it's super warm.

The pattern for the Scrunchy Neck Funnel is available for purchase here.

While Alana and I were at the park I got a few shots of the sliders and the sun going down. It was a nice outing and photo shoot despite the cold. When we were done at the Park we went to our house  for supper and tea, to warm up!

This photo give some idea of how steep this hill really is.
You can't appreciate the steepness from the side view (next photo).

Is That a Scarf With Pockets, Ellen?!

Yes! That's exactly what it is - with a brim hat too! The scarf is handy for times when you are on the bus stop and your hands are cold, when you need somewhere to pop your keys for a minute or when you're in line at the airport and need an extra pocket while you straighten away your luggage. The brim hat fits the head snugly but not tight.

I knit this set back in late summer and we did the photo shoot the day before hurricane Lesley in September; the same day we shot the pics for Misunders'nood. I know the hat fits nicely because my model, Jennifer, braved the high wind for this photo shoot and didn't lose the hat!  

I submitted the pattern to the Knit Picks Independent Designers Program for acceptance and they accepted it. Yay! It was posted to their website in December. The pattern is for sale here.

I used Knit Picks Swish Bulky (100% Superwash Merino Wool) for this scarf and hat. I did knit another set in Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed and it also came out quite nice, however, the Swish Bulky duo was a nicer finished product. It was softer and had more of a coziness about it. If you decide to knit this and use a different bulky yarn than Swish Bulky, make sure you have the correct number of yards. For example, Swish Bulky comes in 100 gram skeins and has 137 yards, but Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed comes in 85 gram balls and has 108 yards. So, while you will need only one skein of Swish Bulky for the hat, you would need 2 balls of Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed. Get my drift? :-)

Ellen did come along for this shoot but the longer we stayed at Cape Spear, the harder the wind blew! Jennifer helped Ellen model a sweater that I posted back in September. I'll include another picture here so that Ellen can be included in this post. You know how she hates to be left out!