Design A542 - Brown & Chamois Poncho

I've made another poncho, this time using a beige mix of Colinette Banyan, which is not quite a vintage yarn, but it is no longer part of their current range, along with some not-quite-vintage but definitely discontinued Patons Orient in shade Rich. Colinette Yarns was established in the 1970s by Colinette and Geoff Sansbury, who ran it together for years, creating interesting yarns and even more interesting hand-dyed colourways. I don't know if Geoff is still around, but Colinette passed away around 2015/2016. The company is now run by their son, Sam, with a much smaller range. The Patons Orient turned out to be too thin for my liking as I started working with it, so I undid the small amount I had done and doubled it up to make it thicker.

So, the yarns I have put together for this poncho are the multi-coloured/multi-toned Banyan Chamois, this time it's a cone of 500g (I have two of them), which is 49% Cotton, 51% Viscose and the gorgeous colour and texture of Patons Orient shade Rich, which is 50% Polyamide, 30% Acrylic, 15% Mohair and 5% Wool.

Banyan Chamois

Patons Orient in shade Rich

The design consists of six crochet panels, which are then joined together to form a cohesive piece. Additional crochet is added to both the top and bottom, and the piece is finished off with fringing/tassels.

The panels are joined in a way that creates a visible, textured line of stitches between each panel, and are an integral part of the design. The poncho is designed to be worn square, allowing a whole crochet panel to drape and cover each arm. However, it also looks good when worn in the traditional triangular poncho style, if you prefer. The construction is designed primarily for the square method. It is pretty generous in size but isn't overly long in the body length, so depending on your bust size, it may only just cover "your girls" if you're quite busty, or it may hang down to your waist if you're quite petite. It is designed for adults. Please pay attention to the measurements across the neck opening and measure around the top of the breastplate/shoulders, including the arms, to ensure it stays in place without falling straight off you or the person you are buying it for and landing on the ground.

I didn't take any work-in-progress photos. I began on 25th September and finished on 28th September 2025. The overall fibre content on this one is 28% Polyamide, 22% Viscose, 21.5% Cotton, 17% Acrylic, 8.5% Mohair and 3% Wool. The measurements are 14" across the neck, for a 28" opening and 15" from the neck to the bottom of the crochet (not including the tassels). I have lots of both yarns left over to make other things at a later date.

Design A542 - Red & Black Mohair Poncho

I like the poncho I made a few days ago so much that I decided to make a second one.  This time, I chose some vintage Jaeger Mohair Silk yarn that I bought in 2014; it was already quite old back then.

I have this yarn in two colours, black and red, and it is composed of 78% Mohair, 17% Wool, and 5% Silk.

I didn't take any work-in-progress photos this time, so get ready to be blasted back to the late 1980s/early 1990s for this very retro look. 

The design consists of six crochet panels, which are then joined together to form a cohesive piece. Additional crochet is added to both the top and bottom, and the piece is finished off with fringing/tassels.

The panels are joined in a way that creates a visible, textured line of stitches between each panel, and are an integral part of the design. The poncho is designed to be worn square, allowing a whole crochet panel to drape and cover each arm. However, it also looks good when worn in the traditional triangular poncho style, if you prefer. The construction is designed primarily for the square method. It is pretty generous in size but isn't overly long in the body length, so depending on your bust size, it may only just cover "your girls" if you're quite busty, or it may hang down to your waist if you're quite petite. It is designed for adults. Please pay attention to the measurements across the neck opening and measure around the top of the breastplate/shoulders, including the arms, to ensure it stays in place without falling straight off you or the person you are buying it for and landing on the ground.

I began making this on 30th August and finished on 2nd September 2025.

The measurements of this one are larger than the first one I made.  The measurement across the neck is 16", giving a very generous 32" opening, and the length from the neck to the bottom of the crochet is also 16" (not including the tassels).  Being made from Mohair, not everyone will be able to tolerate the fibres in this one; it can be itchy for many people, but it is very fluffy, warm, and snuggly if you can tolerate Mohair.

Aqua and White Lacy Crochet Scarf

I am sticking with this gorgeous scarf pattern but going back to the Vintage aqua blue Luxury Mohair by Chevy that I used to make a broomstick lace scarf and pairing it with some off white Vintage Lister Lee Tahiti.  The overall fibre content shifts slightly to be 79% Mohair, 13% Wool, 8% Nylon.

78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon

81% Mohair (including 9% Kid Mohair), 14% Wool, 5% Nylon

This Lister Lee Tahiti is very nice and I would say that it is the softest Mohair yarn that I have ever worked with so far.  I do have some very well world-wide known Rowan Kidsilk Haze, which is a laceweight Mohair yarn, but I cannot compare it to that as I have never gotten around to using the Rowan yet.  I do have a good amount of vintage Lister Lee Tamarisk, which is kind of a finer version of the Tahiti, so that will interesting when I get around to working that up in the future, and I had to pinch a bit of it for the off-white fringing as I ran out of the Tahiti so had to combine the two for the fringing.  I digress.

So, straight in with the finished product photos.

Summer Berries Lacy Crochet Scarf

I love this crochet scarf pattern so much that I am going to stick with it for a while and make a few of these in different colours.  So, I've picked up the left overs of the Colinette Mohair Summer Berries from the broomstick lace scarf I made and paired it with some vintage Lister Lee Tahiti in a lilac colour, which looks like it will work with the Summer Berries.

78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon

81% Mohair (including 9% Kid Mohair), 14% Wool, 5% Nylon

I've not used the vintage Tahiti before, I have some of this in other colours, and it is very soft, much softer than the Colinette Mohair, probably the Kid Mohair element has something to do with it.  The overall fibre content shifts slightly to be 79% Mohair, 13% Wool, 8% Nylon. With the differences in colour of the Colinette Mohair skeins, due to it being "hand-dyed", I used up some of the darker left overs for the middle section and then switched to the lightest skein for outer edge sections.  This does show up on the scarf and gives and interesting effect.

Once again, no work-in-progress photos, so straight to the finished product.

Summer Berries Broomstick Lace Scarf

I have a couple of skeins/part used hand-wound balls of Colinette Mohair in shade Summer Berries.  I wound them into cakes, when it then became obvious that there was a lot of difference between the skeins.  This is normal and expected with Colinette yarns and there are even instructions on the band that states this fact and to alternate between two or more skeins when working with them.  One is very very light, one is dark and then the part skein is even darker than the second one!    

The pattern that I am working has a standard length of 118 rows, which is what I worked.  I worked only with the two darkest skeins and alternated between them every two pattern repeats. The yarn is 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon

I didn't take any work-in-progress photos but I did hold it up against the light for an interesting stained glass effect.

Aqua Mohair Broomstick Lace Scarf

My next scarf is again some vintage Mohair but this time only one of the 5 balls have a label so I have no idea if they are all the same dyelot but they are Luxury Mohair by Chevy.

I am sticking with making broomstick lace scarves for now.  The yarn is 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.  The pattern that I am working has a standard length of 118 rows and this is what I worked.

Once again I didn't take any work-in-progress photos and this colour is just beautiful.

Red Mohair Broomstick Lace Scarf

I've decided that I need to use up some of the smaller amounts of vintage yarns to make smaller and quicker to make items that still fit within the lace theme of the shop but that might be more marketable and at a lower price point.  I have 10 balls of Charisma 83% Mohair Rich but 7 balls have one dye lot and the other three have 2 different dye lot's between them.  

Using the 3 rogue balls with odd dye lots I decided to make a broomstick lace scarf, putting the two balls with the same dyelot on the ends and the other ball in the middle.  The yarn is 83% Mohair, 9% Wool, 8% Nylon.  The pattern that I am working has a standard length of 118 rows but I worked 134 rows to use up as much of the yarn as possible and to make sure that the same number of rows were worked for each of the balls of yarn with the same dye lot so that if there is any slight difference in colour those sections would be equal.

I didn't take any work-in-progress photos.  I must get back into the habit of doing that!

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 15

The Tradition

Day 15 is called Krampus and the tradition comes from Austria. Krampus is one of the variations of "Santa's helper", where the helper is assigned the naughty list duties.  Krampus is an anthropomorphic goat figure with one human foot and a very long tongue. He is said to have accompanied Saint Nicholas on visits to children on the night of 5th December, immediately before the Feast of Saint Nicholas on 6th December, and he would warn the children to be good otherwise he will return on Christmas Eve with Saint Nicholas and punish naughty children with birch rods.  After WWI the Krampus tradition began to be banned and replaced their Saint Nicholas traditions with the kinder version of the American Santa Claus.

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is 40% Mohair, 20% Merino, 20% Bamboo, 16% South American Wool, 4% Viscose.  This blend represents arguably the most terrifying Christmas tradition I have ever come across.  This blend is called Krampus, who is like the polar opposite of Father Christmas, so instead of giving children gifts for behaving he scares them into behaving.  The figure of Krampus is large, horned, has fangs and even as an adult I think if some threatened me with Krampus I would probably start behaving myself.   This blend is very interesting looking, it's dark grey, as Krampus is usually depicted as dark greys, browns and blacks.  This contains Mohair, Merino, Viscose and Bamboo.  There is a lot of Mohair in here, which gives a nice drapey feel to it and whereas Merino blends tend to feel quite squishy this definitely feels smoother and a little bit more lank, which is actually quite nice, makes a nice change.  So the Bamboo and the Viscose that is dotted throughout here gives a lovely tweedy effect and actually the colour of the Merino has been lightened by the Mohair in it.  This is a very versatile blend.  If you're spinning it you probably don't want to spin it too tightly because the Mohair in it could risk it feeling a little bit harsh and a little bit hairy.  If you give it a nice light spin and a light ply it will keep the bulk of the Merino.

My Thoughts

I like this one.  It has lots of different shades of grey and black interspersed with blue viscose nepps which will give texture and interest to the finished yarn.  My initial thoughts were to work this with something equally dark from my stash but then I decided to buy an additional 50g when they became available.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not always correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they gave on the chat boards are incorrect and different to what was printed on the bags. They gave us the fibre as 60% Fable, 40% Mohair.  What?  I don't recall ever seeing a mysterious Fable animal in a field, is that a sheep, a goat, a horse, what is that?  Oh, right, Fable, as in the name of a blend in the shop, so we have to go find out what that is ourselves and work out what we actually have here.  Fable is 33.33% each Merino, Bamboo and Viscose Tweed, but wait a second, Viscose Tweed is itself made up of 80% South American Wool, 20% Viscose.   This means that the overall fibre content is 40% Mohair, 20% Merino, 20% Bamboo, 16% South American Wool, 4% Viscose. 

What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 1

So, following the arrival of the Advent Calendar about a week and a half ago, I have since decided to throw the fibre packaging away as it really isn't worth the hassle of trying to do anything with it.

This year's advent calendar is themed on different "Holiday Traditions" from around the world.  I will say "Holiday" because there are numerous religions and faiths that celebrate at this time of year and it's not necessarily called "Christmas", there are many other names for many different celebrations.

The Tradition

Day 1 is called Gävle Goat and the tradition comes from Sweden where a huge goat is made of straw every year and erected in the town of Gävle at Slottstorget (Castle Square).  It is basically a giant version of the traditional Yule Goat decoration.  This tradition started in 1966 when an advertising consultant by the name of Stig Gavlén (1927-2018) came up with the idea of placing a giant version of the traditional decoration in the square and the giant goat has been subject to all sorts of vandalism and destruction since then, usually by human hand but sometimes by nature.  As of December 2023, 42 out of 58 goats have been destroyed by burning or some other cause.  It is now illegal to destroy the goat and if you get caught doing so it is a 3 month prison term for you.  The first one built in 1966 stood at around 13 metres tall and the height has varied over the years, with one year it being just 2 metres tall and then this year it stands at around 12 metres tall.  

The Fibre

The fibre is 80% Mohair, 20% Flax and represents the Goat and the Straw element of the tradition. The flax brings a little bit of texture to the blend and the blend has a fantastic sheen to it.  Anything you knit with the spun yarn will have a little bit of texture and colour running through it.

My Thoughts

It's not a fibre that I am particularly familiar with so this will be interesting.  As usual I will wait until I have opened all of the packets before I decide what I will do with it.  I am hoping to create great pairings with other packets of fibre from either this year or last year, as I have used very little of last year's advent calendar.

As what I often do, due to a busy life, I am writing up these blog posts some time after the event so the first photos are what I took on the day of opening using my mobile phone and the early December natural light, which isn't always the best, and the next photos have been taken some time after using my proper camera and my little lit pop up studio and the colours are more true to life. I am also including a close up photo of each of the pattern strips that are on the packets, each one is different, and some are of a different clarity/quality, that is not my photography skills but rather the printed design and this must be down to the original image source.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not necessarily correct and there are no fibre content percentages.  This information has been provided in the online chat boards for this advent calendar and in some instances, where they have used amounts of other blends that they produce along with other fibres to make this new blend, we have collectively asked for further clarification and then the fibre content has changed quite considerably.  What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details and before "World of Wool".  Petty much the only thing that will show up on the black packaging are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags, they all have my scribble on them.

Advent Calendar Day 17

So this is a really small packet compared to the others and only weighs 60g, all of them besides the 24th are just over 100g.  Very disappointed on opening it as it isn't spinning fibre, its a ball of boucle yarn and I'm not a fan of boucle yarn.  It's their Hoop yarn in shade Blue Jay and actually it's 75% Mohair, 20% Wool, 5% Nylon and someone who prepared the info slips has been at the sherry again as they think its 100% Mohair along with whoever prepared the ball bands because that adds up to 105% on there and thirdly it weighs 60g, not the 50g stated on the ball band.  What a mess up, no wonder they've taken the opportunity to get rid of them.  I will most likely use it as suggested, as a ply with something else.  Todays festive saying is "run run rudolph" and now Bruce Springstein is in my head.

A516 in Grey Mohair

And its straight on with the next.  Another of A516 designs and again in Vintage Mohair, this time it's a lilac'y grey.

I done a lot more of the pattern repeats on this one as I have more of this yarn and this makes for a larger shawl.  I done another of the same flower brooches that will be supplied with the shawl when it goes in my Etsy shop.

A516 in Kingfisher Mohair

No sooner have I finished my first shawl in a while than I am on with the next one using some brightly coloured vintage Mohair yarn in shade Kingfisher.  I love the colour of this.

This is the second of a newish design, the first one being done April 2019 and its a simple pattern but really pretty.  I decided to make a simple crochet flower brooch with some of the leftover yarn and this will be supplied with the shawl when it finally makes it to my shop.

I've made something for myself

I needed to make something for myself, I never make anything for myself so now is my chance.  I started this way back in September and it got put the side whilst I dealt with all sorts of family issues and you may notice a little bit of a line on the second work-in-progress photo.  This is where I stopped, left it for a while, and then picked it back up again and just shows a little bit of difference in the tension but it all washed and blocked out.  Blocking helps to even the stitches out.

I made it using this Whistlebare Yeavering Bell yarn that is 60% Mohair, 40% Wensleydale and I found that it shed like hell.  I was covered in Mohair every time I knit.  I have no plans to add this design to my range as the pattern designer does not allow you to use the pattern for commercial purposes, however small amount of sales you might have, so I won't be going there.  I will be sticking to patterns from designers and yarn companies that allow you to use their patterns to make items to sell.

I apologise for the variation of colour in the photos, I just can't get them all the same due to different lighting at the point of photography.  I have tried to edit them as best as I could to represent the actual colour but I'm still finding this almost impossible.

Yep, its another Design A2 - Salmon Mohair

I decided to use up the leftovers from a Custom shawl next, I bought a little extra whilst I could just in case of any miscalculations or emergencies such as bad or damaged yarn, seeing as this is vintage yarn and almost impossible to get hold of.  It was a miracle I was able to find any.

This is Charisma Fashion Mohair from Colours by Adrian of Edinburgh in shade Salmon and its 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.

Its a lovely, pretty yarn, but its Mohair and does shed but not as bad as some that I've used in the past.

Once again, the product photos were taken a number of months after I made the shawl as I had a lot going on and I'd put so much weight on that I couldn't fit into the wedding dress so I had to lose weight before I could do the photo shoot.

Another Design A2 - Colinette Fire

Carrying on with my Design A2 roll, I have picked a single skein of Colinette Mohair in shade Fire and this yarn has been discontinued some time.  Its 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.  Again, I used all of the skein.  I made this so fast that I didn't take any progress photos, nor did I take any when I washed and blocked it.

These product photos were taken several months after I made the item.

Another completed custom order - Design A197

Back in November I sold a shawlette to a customer and she contact me soon afterwards to ask if I could make another, exactly the same using the same yarn, but larger as it perfectly matches a Mantilla (Chapel Veil) that she intends to wear to her daughters first Holy Communion in May 2019 and that she wants to keep the shawlette already purchased so her daughter can wear it.

This posed me a bit of a problem as most of the yarns I use are either hand spun or vintage and in most cases if I don't have any left it is impossible to get more.  In this case it was some vintage Mohair called Charisma Luxury Fashion Mohair by Colours by Adrian of Edinburgh in shade Salmon.

I searched every where I could think of online and found nothing other than some very similar mohair and mohair-type yarns on Ebay and so I bought a few bits and pieces that might be a good match, which when they arrived they turned out not be such a good colour match after all.  Whilst waiting for some of these yarns to arrive I did finally manage to track some of the exact same yarn down, more expensive than what I paid for it originally but then the original yarn did come via Ebay, I do love a bargain, but this was coming from a shop that sells vintage yarns so is bound to be more expensive anyway.

After a little bit of back and forth regarding sizes and prices etc the order was placed and paid for with the instruction of not to rush, enjoy Christmas and to get it to her by the end of January if I could.  Brilliant, that gives me plenty of time to get it done.

Side by side of before and after washing and blocking.

My daughter modelling it for me to show off the size and pattern.  So pretty.

White Mohair Old Fashioned Cape - Design D194

No rest for the wicked, straight on with the next capelet.  I chose some vintage white mohair for this one.  I seem to be favouring the handspun or the mohair lately, I don't know why that is.

This is some vintage Mohair yarn called Tahiti by Lister (UK) Ltd from around 1976.  Its double-knit weight and is 67% Mohair, 28% Wool, 5% Nylon.  Its not as high quality as I usual buy but at 67% Mohair its pretty close.

The only problem with working with mohair are the fly-away fibres that seem to shed as you work which make me sneeze and makes my eyes itch a little.  This one is lightweight compared to the green one, the yarn is nowhere near as dense.

Such a pretty capelet needs pretty buttons and I've chosen some silver coloured diamante/rhinestone buttons that I bought a few years ago specifically for wedding capes.

Dark Red-Black Lace Shawlette - Design A197

That was such a quick little shawlette to make that I have sorted out the yarn to make two more.  This one is some vintage mohair with sparkles running through it.

This is Paris by Wendy Yarns, long since discontinued, and its 81% Mohair, 11% Wool, 8% Nylon and the colour is called Antibes.

As I was knitting it up the colours reminded me of something and then I realised what it was.  About 15 years ago I worked at Birmingham International Airport for Alpha Retail, the company that ran the Duty Free shops, and although I worked primarily behind the scenes in the offices I knew most of the products that we sold.  It reminded me of Dior's Fahrenheit bottle, not for long though, it soon changed into a more stripey pattern.

Because of the long colour changes in the yarn it made it difficult when it came time to join in the next ball of yarn and I had to wind yarn off and cut and join in the right place to try to keep the colour sequence flowing.  I've done that before with a baby jacket!

The photos really don't do this shawl justice and its so much nicer in real life.