The Knitting days of Christmas

What a Christmas! Monkey and I have finally returned home after our festive trip round the relatives and I have managed to heave my mince pie-enhanced figure onto the sofa to do a bit of blogging and of course a lot of knitting.

First of all let me show you all the lovely knitterly gifts I received from my generous relatives. I think that the fact that I am totally obsessed with knitting means that pretty much everything I got was wool related! Anyway, you may wish to step back from your keyboard to avoid drool related problems as you read the list below:

For the first gift of Christmas,

my family gave to me,

A Knit Tin full of goodies.

For the second gift of Christmas,

my family gave to me,

Two Kim Hargreaves’ kits*,

And a Knit Tin full of goodies.

For the third gift of Christmas,

my family gave to me,

cute blue sky needles,

Two Kim Hargreaves’ kits,

And a Knit Tin full of goodies.

For the fourth gift of Christmas,

my family gave to me,

three sets of markers,

cute blue sky needles,

Two Kim Hargreaves’ kits,

And a Knit Tin full of goodies.

For the fifth gift of Christmas,

my family gave to me,

A book of Finishing Techniques,

three sets of markers,

cute blue sky needles,

Two Kim Hargreaves’ kits,

And a Knit Tin full of goodies.

For the sixth gift of Christmas,

my family gave to me,

A clever needle sizer**,

three sets of markers,

cute blue sky needles,

Two Kim Hargreaves’ kits,

And a Knit Tin full of goodies.

*Buttercup and Fay
**Absolutely adorable you have to check out this link.

I received lots of other lovely non-knitting gifts too. The best of which was a slow cooker (Crock Pot)! If anyone has any good recipes please let me know.

Over Christmas I knitted a Jaywalker, as pictured in true Christmas style above (this has to be the most popular sock pattern ever doesn‘t it? I think I am the last person in blogland to knit one). Notice the “a”- I’ve only knitted one so far but I’m part way through the second and I’ll post some better photos of them when I have a pair. I have to admit I’m not a big sock knitter but I’ve really enjoyed knitting these and I love the Hip Knits variegated cashmere I’m using. It is so soft and it is interesting waiting to see what the colours will do on the different parts of the socks. So maybe I won’t leave it so long before I knit a pair of socks next time. Although finishing something and then having to knit the exact same thing all over again is a bit annoying. Maybe I’ll just knit odd socks from now on…

Anyway I’m going to go and ponder on my new year’s resolutions.

FO: Cobweb

Pattern: Cobweb from Rowan 40

Yarn: Rowan Kid Silk Haze (shade Hurricane)

Needles: 3.75mm my trusty Denise interchangeables. (How does anyone knit without them?)

I finished Cobweb! I actually finished on Sunday but I’ve had to wait until I finished work to get some daylight photographs. I’m pleased with it, although I wish I had an outfit to put on the dummy that would go with it but I couldn't find one - let's hope my brother's girlfriend can!

I didn’t crochet the flowers that are supposed to go down the neckline as I though in this colour it might look a bit much - what do you think I've still got time if you think it would look better?


I also sewed the front edges together so that it is pulled on over the head rather than fastened as a cardigan. I think that I like this, but I did it mainly as I couldn’t find the perfect button.

Anyway, now that I have finished Cobweb I’ve been finding it hard to decide on what to knit next. I’ve finally started my Kim Hargreaves’ kit, which my Mum gave me last Christmas. It is Hawthorn in the Cocoa colour way.

I’ve also cast on for some lace. I didn’t enter the Snow White competition as in the end I was too busy to get things sorted. I was silly leaving it so late but I’ll knit up the pattern anyway. Maybe I’ll enter the January competition…

Also I’ve been doing a fair bit of stash enhancement. Aren’t all these yarns gorgeous? What I love about buying lace weight yarns is that you only need a couple of balls to knit an entire shawl.

Jaggerspun Zephyr in Basil and Ruby
Posh yarns Arabella in a stunning colour called Swoon
Merino Lace weight from Heirloom lace . I also bought some blocking wires from them which I can’t wait to try out. The people who run the site are lovely by the way.

I had an embarrassing incident when I went to the last I Knit London night. It is a long story but my Mum phoned the bar to check I’d got there safely and got the waitress to come over to the group to check. There was me trying to look sophisticated with my gin and tonic and addi turbos flashing away and in seconds I felt like a school girl who has stayed out too late! Everyone laughed at me! Not only that but she used my maiden name which got me very confused and enabled me, unfortunately, to draw even more attention to the incident by debating whether the message was actually meant for me. At least everyone in the group will remember my name from now on…

That’s all my knitting news for now. I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!


photos

Slow progress

I’m being so slow with Cobweb, not sure why. But I’m determined to get a move on and finish so that I can’t get on with something else. Just one sleeve left to go. I am going to do a few quick little knits and definitely some lace as soon as I’m done. I have a design for some lace that I’m thinking of entering in the Purlescence competition but I’m not sure whether to or not yet.
Last week was so much better than the week before, especially going to the ELDS and meeting Gosia. Even Monkey enjoyed the show and we bought a glass penguin Christmas tree decoration from one of the stalls.

I love Christmas trees, but they have to be real ones (sorry for the non-sustainable approach but we do shred it afterwards!) and they have to be decorated in a higgedly piggedly style. I like collections of decorations that people have built up over the years and which have memories behind them. Here is a picture of our tree (I know it is early but I’d have one in June if I could). The new penguin is on the left.

Here is a meme that I saw here and here and couldn‘t resist. One word answers, no explanation.
Yourself: dreamer
Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): Monkey
Your hair: chocolate
Your mother: kind
Your father: mischievous
Your favourite Item: Bear
Your dream last night: Searching
Your favourite drink: Grasshopper
Your dream car: train
The room you are in: lounge
Your ex: forgotten
Your fear: loss
What you want to be in 10 years? mother
Who you hung out with last night? Monkey
What you're not: tidy
Muffins: English
One of your wish list items: this
Time: variable
The last thing you did: knit
What you are wearing: smile
Your favourite weather: calm
Your favourite book: Beneficence
The last thing you ate: sandwich
Your life: contented
Your mood: peaceful
Your best friend: two
What are you thinking about right now? fire
Your car: feet
What are you doing at this moment: waiting
Your summer: anticipated
Your relationship status: loved
What is on your TV? aerial
What is the weather like? wild
When is the last time you laughed? morning
Who do you tag? anyone

Half full or half empty?

It has been an interesting week, but I’m not quite sure whether it was good-interesting or bad-interesting. I’ll let you decide how I should be viewing my proverbial glass.

Half Empty
1. Take a good look at my progress on Cobweb above. Not bad you might think, the back and two fronts. Yes I’ve knitted the back and two fronts but take a better look at the fronts…that’s right TWO LEFT FRONTS! I don’t know how I did it. I think that when I knit on the train on my way to work I go into some sort of knitting trance.

2. Talking about the knitting train-trance, on Thursday I (yet again) got on the wrong train home. This time it wasn’t as much my fault. As usual Our train broke down and the train driver made an announcement to get on the next train. I did this but what the train driver had actually meant was get on the next train to where you want to go. I ended up in some windswept, desolate, place with only one platform and a sign that swayed slowly backwards and forwards making a sinister creaking sound. I finally got home about two hours later than I should have done.

3. I’m a big Posh Yarn fan, if you hadn’t already guessed, and I have been DESPERATE to buy some of the One Off Wednesday (OWW) yarn that Dee posts every Wednesday, but it goes up while I am at work and sells out before I get home. Anyway, this Wednesday 4 o’clock arrived and my boss headed off to get a coffee. ‘Ha Ha!’ I thought ‘my chance has come’ and quickly I located a gorgeous skein of dark blue cobweb weight yarn called Sombre. I got to the payment bit, entered my name and address and… my boss came back from the tea point. I pretended to be reading papers (naughty I know) and waited for him to sit down and look the other way. But by the time that he does and I tried to start entering my credit card details the yarn has gone from my basket. It is a tragic tale.

But now for the other sides of the stories...

Half Full

1. On Cobweb , the second side turned out better than the first so I’ll be keeping that one.

2. On the train journey, my husband took me out for a meal to cheer me up and we had a lovely time.

3. On the Posh Yarn… nope sorry there is no upside to this tale. But I have taken consolation by stroking my Posh Yarn stash and muttering to myself and I have started designing a Celtic knot stole to use this beautiful blue lace weight yarn with.

Oh and I have posted the Gerda pattern link in my previous post or sidebar.

FO: Gerda Stole

Yarn: Cecilia Cobweb lace weight yarn (50% cashmere / 50% silk) in raspberry from Posh yarn
Needles: 2.00 mm addi turbo circular
Pattern: Mine! and I’ve called it Gerda.

ETA: Please see the pattern link in the sidebar

Gerda is the name of the little girl in the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson (you can find the story here). You probably know the story, Kay (her best friend) gets tiny shards of a broken mirror, which once belonged to a wicked goblin, in his eyes and his heart. This makes him become cynical and cruel and he starts to be mean to Gerda whom he once loved. Then one day as he is playing on his sledge the Snow Queen comes and carries him away to her palace. Gerda pines for Kay and eventually sets off in search of him, meeting a kind witch, talking ravens, a prince, and a robber girl along the way. Eventually she finds the palace and Kay who is cold and still. The happy ending? Well, if you don’t know it you can read it for yourselves.

I called the stole Gerda because of its wintry design - snowdrops and snowflakes. I also felt that the red colour and the geometric shapes gave it a Scandinavian feel (Hans Christian Anderson was Danish). I can imagine wearing it on a clear dark night for a midnight kiss on New Year’s eve. I’m thinking of knitting another one in white Kid Silk Haze.

I am so pleased with the stole and I can’t wait to give it to my Gran for Christmas! Yet again I saw the blocking miracle, it’s no wonder lace is so addictive when you can take a crumpled ball of unpromising knitting, wash it, pin it out and be left with something light and crisp and beautiful.

Update: I have put a pdf of the Gerda pattern here. Beware that it may not be perfect, but if anyone does knit it please feel free to contact me and ask what on earth I was thinking!

Gerda Stole pattern pdf

It's not like a black fly in your Chardonnay but it is ironic…

This weekend Monkey and I took up our old carpets as we are finally getting our new ones delivered - two months after we ordered them (by the way don’t shop at Epsom Carpet World it is truly appalling!). Monkey and I met when we were both actuarial students and I think that this may account for the fact that we are pretty risk-averse individuals. Hence this is a picture of me ready to take up carpets (excuse the bad hair and old clothes). We even discussed the merits of the different safety gloves available. Imagine what we would be like if we had to do something really dangerous… like put up a shelf! Where does the irony come into this tale? I flicked myself hard in the eye with the elastic of the safety goggles as I took them off. Pain and some food for thought.

Anyway, I have just cast-on for Cobweb from Rowan 40, is there anything more lovely together than Kid Silk Haze and sparkly little beads?

This also means that my stole is lying tightly pinned out in the other room. I’m so excited to have finished it - photos soon!
By the way check out Gosia's most recent post about the East London Design Show it sounds great!

Dolly bag

This is a very quick post but I wanted to do it because I know I haven’t posted any finished items for a while. I have just got round to finishing off this little bag. It is the Rowan Dolly Bag kit that came free with this year’s membership. I made it in Rowan Handknit cotton (2x50g) (shade: Celery).


I lined it using silk left over from making my wedding dress last year (extravagant as it was £50 per metre!). And I finished it off by threading some very fine silk ribbon through the ribbing, fastening it in a bow and sewing on a seed pearl. I think that it was actually this small touch that made the bag actually feel finished.


I think it is very cute but I’m not 100% sure what I will use it for. I’m tempted to hang it from the drawer handle of my dressing table with my hair clips and clasps in, as it is so pretty and girly. I was thinking of giving it as a present, but everyone I know seems to dislike knitted bags, so the one person who will really appreciate it is getting it... me!

Sorry about the bad lighting!

Delicious Autumn

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. “ George Elliot


The rain is hitting the windows and dripping steadily down the tiles of the roof, which I can see from our roof-top flat. The mornings are dark and misty as I walk to work, and when I walk home in the evening the street lights make patterns that look like fireworks on the wet tarmac. And I am happy, I’m an autumn person. The smell of musty leaves and the thought of damp walks in a park, where the fir trees drip gently with rain onto the grass, makes me happy and the slight chill in the air and the dark, dark, nights make me feel like something exciting might happen…


Anyway, here is what is happening to night… Monkey and I are very cosy in our flat, our gas fire is jumping merrily in the corner and I can smell baking! For my birthday I received this book from some lovely friends, Roast Figs, Sugar Snow: Food to Warm the Soul. It is a book full of delicious comfort food that is just right for this time of year and I want to make every recipe. So today I am making the Italian Christmas Cake (350g of dark chocolate!) and the Beef Pie (yum, yum!).

Knitting? There has been some, mostly of the stole - I really want to finish it soon, so that I can see whether it has worked out. But I have also been thinking about my new buttons (see previous post) and the jacket I want to make.

This is a photo of a jacket I have seen in Monsoon and I would love to knit something similar in moss stitch or basketweave in a raspberry colour or cream to use my new buttons on. If you know of anything similar please let me know… if not I might have to try and make it up, which could be very messy!

Monkey sticks

Firstly I have to apologise for the photos in this post but it is dark in the mornings and dark when I get home so there is no chance of getting a flash-free photo.


I have to show you my goodies from the Knitting and Stitching Show! I could have pawned all my worldly goods and I wouldn’t have had enough money to buy everything I wanted there. So I think I was very good just buying what I did - although I did have mild pangs of guilt when I added up everything I’d spent!


First up my Nichols’ buttonsI can’t tell you how much these cost because it makes me blush. But they were worth every penny, I’ve been stalking their website for ages now. I want to knit a nice jacket to use them on.


Secondly, two balls of HipKnits cashmere yarn. A lace weight in a duckegg blue that is softer than anything I’ve felt before and a sock yarn in a lovely mix of crimsons and school-greys.


Thirdly, MONKEY STICKS!! Yes, that is really what they are called and my Monkey insisted on buying them for me. How could I say no? They are beautiful rosewood DPNs in their own little wooden case - so sweet. I can’t wait to use them. I bought them from the Foreign Strand stall.


Fourthly, I bought Interweave Knits Fall ‘06 and Erika Knight’s Glamour which is a gorgeous book and I love it.

Now that I have shown off my purchases, I want to tell you all about my other knitting excursion. I went to a knitting group called I knit London last night. It was so great to meet other knitters in the flesh and to just chat with some nice people over a gin and tonic. I’m quite shy so I almost didn’t go but I’m really glad I did and I’ll definitely be there for the next meeting.

Champagne and flowers

There hasn’t been an awful lot of knitting happening in the past few days I’m afraid. I have done two more repeats of my stole but it doesn’t make for very exciting photographs. I have, however, been playing around with my blog. Please could you let me know what you think of the new look and whether there are any gremlins lurking that I haven’t spotted? It took much longer than I expected to make all the changes but it was fun. The colours from the little drawing of the mermaid I did, didn’t seem to come out that well, but I’m still quite pleased with it.

I can't go to Ally Pally on Saturday anymore, as I had forgotten that we are going to a friend's wedding that evening and I hadn't realised that it would take us nearly two hours to get to Alexandra Palace, but don't worry I'm going on Friday instead as our carpets aren't being delivered this week (long and very annoying story). I'm really disappointed that I won't get to meet Dawn though.

Last weekend Monkey and I went to see my family in Devon. It was lovely. We stayed for two nights in the hotel where we had our wedding reception. We decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary a bit early as we are really busy next weekend. Monkey had ordered a bottle of champagne and a beautiful bouquet of flowers to be in the room when we arrived. My whole family came for a meal at the hotel and we had a wonderful time. The photograph above shows the amazing view we had from the window of our hotel room.

It was lovely to see my parents, my gran and my brother and his girlfriend. I miss my family so much, as I don’t really get to see them much while we are living here.

On Monday we stopped at Stourhead National Trust property on our drive back. The gardens are truly magical and I’m going to bore you with some photographs I took (click on them to see them bigger if you like). I love the first of these, it shows a golden tree shinning against the darkness of the rest of the woods, and it is hard to describe how enchanting it looked in real life.

This last photo shows what our favourite neighbours had done to the front of our house (a beautiful Arts and Crafts style building in a conservation area converted into flats) while we had been away...

Once upon a time...

There are so many things to write about. Firstly have you seen this competition? What a brilliant idea - it has definitely got me thinking. The story this month that designs must be based on is Cinderella. I love fairy tales, especially those written by the brothers Grimm. I can remember being read these as a child by my Mum and I still have the old, hardback copy with its beautiful black and white illustrations. I recently bought a new edition of their complete work and I have been treating myself to a couple of dark tales before I go to sleep each night. My Mum is a wonderful story teller, she is a primary school teacher and I have a sneaking suspicion that one of her favourite parts of the job is holding the group of little people spellbound as she reads to them.

This week I started the Rowan dolly bag pattern, I’m really enjoying knitting this. The textures are so interesting and he wool shows them up really well. I also like the colour, it makes me think of cool, crisp apples.

My stole/scarf is still coming along well. I’m knitting this on the train and the bag at home so progress on both is steady rather than fast.

I’ve also just bought the Simple Knitted Bodice pattern. Everyone knows this pattern, it has taken blog knitters by storm. However, I had resisted, I thought it was nice but then I saw this version of it and I HAD TO HAVE IT!! The only worry I have is that I wanted to really blow the budget and buy the Tilli Tomas yarn but, after hearing about the current price fixing controversy on Lime and Violet, I’m thinking about substituting with something else. Actually, I’ve just found an update that says that Tilli Tomas have dropped their key stone policy - so I get to spend a fortune on yarn after all! Now I just need to save up…

To be content with what one has is the greatest and truest of riches.

Ahhhhhhhh! That is a sigh of contentment. I have just finished a cup of tea and a homemade scone with lashings of clotted cream and jam and our elephant teapot is smiling contentedly with its little belly still warm from the tea. I don’t think that life gets much better than this but I’m always willing to be proved wrong.

Anyway, back to the knitting - I have been knitting lace. I was originally intending to knit using the orchid yarn I described in my last post but, due to a little over exhilaration on the part of my husband when he tried to help me wind it up, it is now sitting in a tangled heap waiting for me to gather enough patience together to undo it. This however did not deter me from starting the stole and I have begun to knit it in a raspberry coloured cobweb-weight yarn from Posh Yarns. This means it will be a bit lighter and slimmer than I originally intended, but I am actually really happy with how it is going so far. I think I will add a border but I’m waiting to see how much yarn I have left by the time I finish.

The pictures don't really show the lace pattern very well as it is so gloomy today that I can't get a picture at all without the flash.

I almost forgot to say - my husband has bought tickets for the Knitting and Stitching show in London on 14 October and they arrived earlier this week. I can’t wait to go! Plus the 14th is the day before my birthday AND our wedding anniversary so I am expecting to be treated to a few knitting presents! Anyway, if you are going perhaps I’ll bump into you. I will be the over-excited lady pulling along a slightly bored looking (but extremely handsome) husband.

Better late than never...

Matilda Jane is finished! In my last post I said I was very nearly finished and after that I was determined that my next post would have the finished article in it. I’m a stubborn so-and-so and this has meant that I haven’t been able to post for 12 days. I just hadn’t factored in the fact that I needed buttons and ribbon and that it would take ages to dry out when I was blocking it.

But finally here it is!



Pattern: Matilda Jane by Ysolda
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton in Inky and Gypsy
Needles: Denise interchangeable (this pattern really uses the interchangeable to their best, lots of different length circulars required.

I really enjoyed knitting this, the pattern is very well written and although it is mostly stocking stitch there is hardly a row without any shaping to keep you interested. If I knitted it again I would knit it on slightly smaller needles, as I think I would prefer the fabric to be a little bit stiffer.

Anyway that is that.

Next knit! I’m starting some new lace and I’m going to use the Posh Yarns wool I got in the first Lace club delivery. It is a beautiful deep purple shade called orchid and it is just so soft and beautiful that when I first got it in the post I just kept picking it up and staring at it. Since I last posted I have bought two books on knitting lace, Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls by Martha Waterman and Gossamer Webs by Galina Khmeleva and Carol Noble. I thoroughly recommend both of these books, they both follow a similar format: a history of the particular type of lace and then details of the techniques used and advice on how to design your own shawls. They both even have a short section on how to wear a shawl! So I have come up with a design that I am hoping to make for my Gran for Christmas if it turns out ok. I think the most difficult part will be estimating how long I can make the shawl with the amount of wool I have, especially if I add an edging to it.

I’m trying to think if I have any other news… but all I think I have left to tell you is that we have bought a carpet! Well it is exciting for us anyway. It is a not very practical shade of cream called buttermilk!

By the way thank you for all the advice after my last post. It really cheered me up, I had a horrible feeling that my annoyance at the fridges and motorbikes in the back garden was just me overreacting so it was good to see that even rational people like yourselves would be annoyed!

Guilt

Guilt is something that I am very good at. You know that stomach-turning, wake-you-up-in-the-middle-of-the night type of guilt? I’m not a bad person, I mean I haven’t got anything weighing too heavily on my mind but it is the small things that seem to haunt me. Like my new wool (pictured above)- did I really need it? Am I being too extravagant. Obviously the answer is ‘no’. Mainly because this is beautiful yarn (Rowan Kid Silk Haze - shade hurricane); it is for a present (I’m going to knit Cobweb from Rowan 40 for my brother’s girlfriend for Christmas); and Dreamcatcher made me do it (well effectively - I mean how you can show pictures of yarn like that on your blog and not expect people to give in to temptation?).


Matilda Jane is going well I’ve completed the body and just need to finish the trims and the sleeves - I’ve set myself the challenge to finish it this weekend (including the bank holiday) so hopefully I’ll be able to post a finished picture of it on Tuesday.

The title of this post came from the other guilt that is playing on my mind. Today I complained to my neighbours about the three fridges that have been sitting by the side of the house (it is converted into 5 flats) for the past 2 months. I feel terrible now, I’m not usually a complainer but our house is just so beautiful that these fridges and the accompanying huge pile of bin bags have been gnawing away at my sense of the aesthetic for a while. But the guilt now is awful, I actually didn’t properly complain just casually enquired whilst in the garden who the fridges might belong to… but I’m sure they saw through my feeble cover-up. Oh well, I’ll try not to stay awake all night worrying. I think I’ll take round a bottle of wine tomorrow…

Home

I’m sorry for the long delay between posts but I have been on holiday. We went down to stay at my parents in Devon for a week. I thought I would have access to the internet but in the end I didn’t hence the silence recently. Anyway, we had such a great time - it was so relaxing and I was very happy to be home. I get very homesick for Devon, green fields, beaches and quiet emptiness. But most of all I get homesick for my parents and it was lovely to spend some time with them. Monkey and I have decided not to leave it so long between visits next time.

Anyway knitting news, I wanted to knit something small and frivolous after finishing the lace stole so in the car on the way down to Devon I knitted the Hurry-Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch and Bitch Nation. They were fun to knit and I think they look fine, however, my brother has made me promise never to wear these in public! I knit the arm warmers in Noro Silk Garden which I had lying dejectedly at the bottom of my stash.

The photo is taken in Trelissick Gardens in Cornwall, they are on the coast and combine beautiful gardens with breath taking views - I have put the water tower cottage down on my wish list of places to stay. It is actually in the National Trust garden!

While I was on holiday I also started knitting Matilda Jane by Ysolda . I’m really loving this pattern, it is very easy and the instructions are well written (plus aesthetically pleasing!) and as it is top down you can try it on for size as you knit. Ysolda is one talented girl and I always look forward to what she’ll be knitting next.

Anyway, I really want to catch up on all the blogs I’ve been missing while I was on holiday so I’d better go for now!

Okay, so you were all right…

Pattern: Print o’the Waves
Yarn: 100g Posh Yarn Cecila (50% cashmere 50% silk) in Ivory
Needles: 2mm (addi turbos - lovely)

I didn’t believe you but it is true the blocking process is miraculous. My Print o’the Waves stole is finished and I can’t describe to you how pleased I am with it. Last week I was very disheartened, I couldn’t see how what I had made could ever look good. I truly thought that I had wasted the last two months knitting this. But here it is and it is beautiful, I know that sounds conceited but I am just so surprised and pleased that I am letting myself be quite boastful about this!

The stole is feather-light and stirs in the breeze but the shaped edging still looks so crisp and sharp. I am very grateful to Eunny for providing this incredibly well written pattern on her website and I will definitely be knitting it again, although the next one I’m planning to make is lace weight rather than cobweb weight as my eyes need a rest from the 2mm needles.

Anyway, that is enough boasting from me, here is a last picture of the stole all packaged up and ready to send to Jo as an engagement present. By the way does anyone know what sort of care instructions I should give with this? I’ve only ever given knitted gifts to family before and I tend to end up washing those myself!

Knitting news

I’m nearing the end of the Print o’the Waves stole and hope to be able to post the finished article at the beginning of next week. In the mean time I thought I’d share some of the knitterly things I’ve been enjoying this week with you…

The first on my list is the CraftLit pod cast which I’ve been enjoying so much. I’ve been downloading it and listening on my MP3 player on the way to work every day this week. It is labelled as a ‘podcast for knitters who love books’ and every week after an intelligent discussion on craft (usually knitting) you get to listen to a couple of chapters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. There are currently 15 Episodes of the pod cast up on the blog and I’m on episode 10. I love Austen’s books and it is very relaxing to listen to this on a baking hot train out of London.

The second item on my list is new blogs. I have to admit that recently I’ve been pretty busy and haven’t been reading too many blogs (other than those on my blogroll which I try to never miss!) But the other day I had a bit of a wander around some of the rings I belong to and found this blog - visit if you have time because Malgosia has some stunning finished projects on her site.

Third thing is the new Rowan magazine is out! I was so excited this morning, the first few pages left me feeling a bit nonplussed but the two later collections Kindred Spirit and Legend had so many items I would like to make! The magazine isn’t up on the website yet so I can’t post pictures but I’ll try and remember to do a review once I’ve had a better look at it. I can’t wait to hear what everyone else thinks of it.


This picture is apparently a map of my website(you can try it out for yourselves here ).

Perseverance

Thank you for all the lovely comments on Butterfly. It cheered me up after an extremely busy day at work today. The House of Commons recess begins next week so all the Ministers are trying to get their parliamentary questions, submissions etc out of the way which means I’ve had a whole lot of briefing to do.

Anyway, the other day I was reading noblinknit’s blog and she was discussing the need to get past the block of being near the end of a project and worrying it won't turn out as well as planned. And I realised that is what I have with my Print o’the Waves stole . I am so near finishing but I’ve suddenly slowed down and started focussing on other things and it’s because I’m worried that all the hard work I’ve put in will end up worthless. As you can see from the picture, it’s not exactly looking stunning at the moment (more like a malformed cauliflower). But now I’ve decided to get on with it, so expect to see a finished stole soon! Besides I want to start something new…

If nothing ever changed there would be no butterflies…

I’ve finished my holiday project! It was Butterfly from Rowan 37. I finished the knitting on holiday but then couldn’t seem to find the time to finish it off. But now I have and I’m so pleased. It's such a nice top, pretty, floaty, delicate and frivolous. I loved knitting this for the following reasons:

1. It used kid silk haze and beads (always a good combination!)

2. It was incredibly quick to knit

3. It was easy enough to be done in the car etc but still involved enough complications to keep it fun
and best of all…



4. It only took just over one ball of KSH to knit. Honestly I’ve just weighed my second ball and there was 16g out of the 25g left. Plus I got the yarn free from Rowan last time I joined so it was even more of a bargain.
I would definitely knit this pattern again. In fact I probably will, probably in green or grey.







Note also the new skirt I bought in the Monsoon sale today! I had to queue for a very long time but it was half price…