WIP Wednesday: 18th September 2019: Nothing to see here...

You know the theory that once the kids are back at school, you'll have all the time in the world to get *all the things* done? Well, that hasn't really happened after the summer holidays this year: I was away for a weekend, one of the kids had a sickness bug, and suddenly all the 'September' deadlines were upon me. All of which means, I haven't had much to share with you recently.

I've been having a bit of stash guilt recently: there is yarn in the cupboards that I love, and fully intended using way before now, and yet it's still sat there, waiting for its moment. That guilt did prompt me to cast on a new pair of socks, in some seasonal yarn that I picked up a couple of years ago from Strawberry Fields Yarns (she has some in stock at the time of writing), so, fingers crossed, by Halloween, I will have some suitably Halloween-y stripey socks to wear! I'm knitting the socks as a single tube and adding the heels, toes and cuffs at the end. To make sure I use as much of the yarn as possible, I have done a few rows at the start in some bright pink waste yarn. I'm undecided on the colour for the toes, heels and cuffs, but, the longer I stare at it, the bright pink is starting to look like a contender.*

The other thing I have on the needles this week is a sample for a collaboration between Knit Now and Deramores, which I'm knitting in Deramores Studio Chunky, a surprisingly nice acrylic yarn: it is wonderfully round and has amazing stitch definition.* The pattern will be published in an issue of Knit Now later this year, so keep your eyes peeled.

My Lush cardigan has seen some work: the body is complete, and I have knitted the first three inches of one sleeve. I know a lot of people complain about being on 'sleeve island', but at the minute that seems like quite a good place to be! I'm really hoping to get the cardigan finished by the end of September, so it can have at least a couple of wears before Winter comes, but at this point that is feeling more like an optimistic wish!

One thing that I am excited about at the minute is the return of sock-weather! I wear sandals all summer, so my sock drawer has been completely neglected, but I've worn hand-knitted socks on three days this week and it's only Wednesday, so hooray for that!

What are you working on this Wednesday? Share in the comments below, I can't wait to hear from you!

*These socks will count towards my Marathon Sock KAL, a knit along that is currently happening in my Ravelry group. If you want to find out more, read this blog post.

**Yarn supplied by Deramores as yarn support.

WIP Wednesday: 31st July 2019: Was it the same dyelot?

Hello! Today is WIP (work in progress) Wednesday, my weekly look at what is currently on my needles. If you'd like to join in, let me know what you're working on in the comments section, or post a link to your own WIP Wednesday blog post.

This week is a two-project week: one garment and (inevitably) one pair of socks.

The garment is, as you would expect from last week's WIP Wednesday post, my Lush cardigan, and I have made excellent progress: I have completed the collar and yoke, and have separated for the sleeves. I have even sort-of tried it on and I think it fits! Hooray! I am really enjoying this pattern; the construction is very clever without being complicated, and the knitting is very satisfying. I'm not expecting to get the cardigan completed by Woolness this weekend (kids do tend to stop me from spending all my time knitting), but I am certain that I'll have it done by the end of August, just in time for autumn.

The socks are a new cast on (no, I have not finished my sock snake yet). I am knitting these for my aunt, and they were getting a little behind the ideal schedule, so I cast them on late last week and knitted on them all weekend. The first sock was completed by the end of Saturday, and I cast the second one on immediately. I did stall a little when it came to casting on the second sock: I stared at the second ball of yarn (the yarn is Bergere de France Goomy 50,* which comes in 50 g balls) for a good period of time before I realised that it had been wound in the opposite direction to the first. On realising this, I did try to find a centre-pull thread, but couldn't, so gave up and hand-wound the ball before casting on.

I'm working the heel of the second sock, and am a little disappointed that sock two is definitely coming out darker than sock one. I am certain the balls were from the same dyelot (but have lost one ball band, so there's a chance they may not be), so I'm not sure what's going on. Fingers crossed my aunt doesn't mind.

What are you working on this WIP Wednesday?

*Affiliate link.

WIP Wednesday: 23rd July 2019: Lush-ious lace

Hello! Today is WIP (work in progress) Wednesday, my weekly look at what is currently on my needles. If you'd like to join in, let me know what you're working on in the comments section, or post a link to your own WIP Wednesday blog post.

This week the summer holidays are in full swing, and I have cast on an indulgent project that I have been meaning to knit for ages: a Lush cardigan. I have been eyeing this pattern by Tin Can Knits ever since it came out (in 2013!), but it's taken until now for it to get to the top of my queue.

The cardigan has a really interesting construction: the lace yoke panel is knitted first (lengthways), then the collar, sleeves and body are picked up and worked from the lace band. I'm knitting mine in West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley DK, which has been discontinued, so I got it for a bit of a bargain price a few weeks ago.

I cast on the yoke band on Saturday, and it worked up really quickly. So quickly that I finished it on Monday evening! The instructions have you block the band before you pick up the stitches, so I am currently waiting (impatiently) for the band to dry so I can pick up the collar stitches. The lace looks absolutely fabulous, and I cannot wait to get on with the rest of the cardigan.

I had anticipated this cardigan being my 'summer project', which I would knit over the course of the six-week summer holidays, but at the current rate, I'm suddenly optimistic that I might be able to have the cardigan finished in time for me to wear it to Woolness at the start of August. Do you think I can do it?!

What's currently on your needles?

Best Year Ever CKAL

Last year at The Flock launch party I met a lovely blogger and podcaster called Nikki.* I have been listening to her podcast Tea and Possibilities ever since (and if you haven't checked out her podcast already, I would definitely recommend it, especially if you like knitting, books, tea and Harry Potter; it's a lovely cheerful corner of the internet). This year Nikki is running a year long knit and crochet along (might even be a craft along, you'd have to check) called the Best Year Ever CKAL in her Ravelry group,* and the aim is to make four things over the course of the year that make you happy.

I know that joining in a CKAL so early in the year is clearly a breech of my "no more KALs" rule, but this one is pretty straightforward, and I was planning on making (at least) four things over the course of the year anyway, so I'm definitely on board. All you have to do is make four things and post about them in Nikki's Ravelry group.

So what are my four happy-making things?

1. Antler jumper 

I cast on an Antler cardigan for myself last year and rapidly decided I had started the wrong size and that I wanted a jumper rather than a cardigan. This year I am going to get that back on the needles and get the garment I want.

I'll be knitting it in Sirdar Wool Rich Aran, which I believe is discontinued - I managed to snag ten balls (that's a full kilo) for just over £25 last January with this garment in mind.

 

2. Lush cardigan

I have loved this Tin Can Knits pattern since before it came out a few years ago (I think I snuck a look at it on a testing thread). The cardigan is beautiful, and so unusual. I bought the yarn for it in a clearance sale at the department store near my parents' house at some point in 2015, definitely with a plan to use it for this pattern, and haven't got round to casting it on yet, but will do this year. For a minute I thought about completing it time for a yarn retreat I'm going to at the end of February, then remembered that was a crazy idea!

3. A squishy purple shawl

Having said I only got one ball of wool for Christmas, this week's post proved me wrong when the Christmas present from my brother arrived: two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in an amazing shade of purple. This will definitely become a shawl for me to replace the purple one I made last year that was too itchy for me to wear. I'll probably use one of Susan Ashcroft's shawl patterns as I want to use every last scrap of yarn, and the Love Train shawl I made last year gets a lot of wear.

4. A reindeer head

I have talked myself out of knitting a unicorn head as my husband doesn't want an animal head up on the wall all year round, boo. But I think I can probably get away with a reindeer head instead as it only has to be out for about a month per year (though I am tempted to leave it up in the spare room all year round and decorate it seasonally for guests to appreciate).

What happy things are you planning on working on this year?

 

*You will need to be logged into Ravelry for these links to work. Ravelry is free to sign up to, and is an excellent resource for all things related to knitting and crochet.

 

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