SB168 - Custom order for two capelets

Way back in October I was contacted about a custom order for two capelets in a particular colour combination.  The lady knew what colour she wanted so I took myself off to the local craft shop to have a look at what they had in stock and I picked up a couple of things but nothing like what the lady wanted.  She sent me a photo of yarn that she had seen and I tried to get it here in the UK, searching online but nothing for that yarn thickness in that particular colour.  I did find it on a US website, got excited, but then I got kicked off the website with the message that was something along the lines of "You're in an EU country, you do not have permission to view this site".  Very strange but not the first time I've had this happen.  The customer informed me that she would get the yarn, a Super Bulky weight yarn.

Soon after, the customer messaged me to say that she had got the yarn and would send it to me, so I gave her my address.  Fast forward a number of weeks and the yarn arrived with me on 23rd January, along with a few things that the customer sent to me as gifts.  It wasn't the yarn that I was expecting, so that was a shock when I opened the box and was I initially perplexed at what I was looking at, as some of the gifts were yarn.  Once I read the letter that was enclosed and figured it out I worked out that I would have to knit this yarn holding four strands together to make it the right thickness for the pattern as the yarn she had sent was only Double Knit weight.  It wasn't easy keeping it all together, smooth and the colours aligned with each other, but I did as best as I could and I did manage it, slower than usual, but hey-ho.

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.

Good Old Fashioned Cape - Design D194

Staying with my own handspun yarn, this time I have opted for some lovely Falkand/Soy Silk that I spun back in 2012 and put that with a fairly simple little cape that just has lace along the bottom edge.  If you would like to know more about the yarn here is a post I wrote at the time of spinning.

I'm grateful to be knitting this right now as its really cold and with this lot sat on my lap as I work its keeping me warm.  Its got a good weight to it too.  Still needs to be washed, shaped and dried.

I decided that a vintage style cape needs vintage style buttons and these were only one of a couple of types that I have that actually 'worked' with the design and the colours of the yarn.

Yes, I think another one of these would be great in the shop, in a different colour of course!

Twilight Capelet - Design SB168 Small

I loved working with the Rowan Romance so much that I stayed with it for my next projects only this time I used some blue that I had in my yarn stash called Twilight and I decided to make the small capelet again that I had previously made using Colinette Point 5 in shade Morocco.

I wasn't entirely sure if I had enough yarn to make two of these but as it happens there was just enough to finish them both and both were made in one day, 25th February 2014.

Marble Capelet - Design W419

This is my second capelet in this design.  I've chosen Colinette Tagliatelli in shade Marble, a ribbon type yarn 90% Merino, 10% Nylon and its hand-dyed in Wales.

Started crocheting with 6mm hook on 19th December and finished on 30th December 2011.  Blocking made a huge difference to the capelet and opened up the lace and made it drape as it should.

I used some peridot green lustre glass beads for the end of the fringing.

Burnt Ochre Capelet - Design W419

There's a bit of a new thing going around called "exploded lace", where you take an old fashioned doily pattern and instead of crocheting it in fine cotton using a tiny crochet hook, you use a slightly chunky yarn and big crochet hook and "explode" the lace.  This is made using that technique with the pattern modified, to remove what would have been the centre of the doily, to make way for your head to fit through.

I'm using Colinette Skye, a discontinued yarn, in shade Burnt Ochre and its an Aran weight 100% wool.  I started on 15th December and was finished by 18th December 2011.

I love how this has turned out.  I wasn't sure what beads to add to the fringing but I'd been given a bag full of old costume jewellery and beaded necklaces that used to belong to my late gran and late mother, mostly broken or seen better days and many were just plastic but there were some nice made of glass beads that could be repurposed.  I had taken these apart and cleaned all the beads and in amongst them were these foil lined amber glass beads.

After blocking I popped it over one of our black cushions to see the effect if was worn with a LBT.  Stunning!