Yarning Along: Christmas in July

Today's Yarning Along post sees me well in to my Christmas knitting. Yes, I know it's July, but this is a sample for a pattern that I want to have out by September 1st so that people who think July is too early for Christmas knitting can knit it in the autumn. Having said that, even before I designed knitwear for a living I thought that getting the Christmas knitting out of the way in the summer was a good plan as there's always far too much going on in November and December.

I am about to hit a stumbling block with this jumper. I have knitted the back and both sleeves and they have gone smoothly, so this morning I dug out the yarn for the front. The front will feature intarsia, and I cannot find my bobbins anywhere! I have located five, which is a pretty poor show as I own at least fifty! I'll wind the background and main colour on to the bobbins I can find, and improvise (get in a tangle) with the rest.

The weather is miserable, so I'm cheering things up with a summer-themed stitch marker

I am still reading The Lake House, but have made it to the final quarter, and am really enjoying it. The story threads are all starting to come together now, and I really want to know how it ends. Hopefully I'll find a couple of hours to finish reading it over the weekend.

Linking up with Rachel for Yarning Along. Over to her page to find out what other people are reading and crafting.

Yarning Along: Hello Summer!

After a week of warm weather, this morning I was woken by the glorious sound of rain! Ironic for the first day of summer, but equally pretty standard for the UK. The rain is a huge relief, the temperature has gone down by 10 degrees (Celsius), and everything feels much fresher. The rain didn't even get in the way of the day's plan, which was to go to the shopping mall about 20 minutes north of us and spend the day sorting out birthday presents for several small people, so hooray for that!

This week is a two-project two-book week.

First we have socks for my son. It's his birthday soon and I said to him that I wanted to knit him some socks. He immediately dashed off to his room and located the yarn that we bought together on Yarn Shop Day and said 'You could use my yarn mum'. Sorted. These socks will be much quicker than usual, and I'm whizzing through them. I've just done the heel of the first sock and am confident I can get the whole pair done by the end of the weekend.

The second project is a children's jumper with a Christmas theme. You can't work out what it is from the 20 rows I've done so far, but I'll give you a clue: it's a self-published version of a pattern that I had published in a magazine a few years ago. Any guesses? I'm re-knitting the jumper in different yarn (Stylecraft Life DK,* which is one of my favourite DK yarns - an acrylic-wool blend that is woolly without being scratchy, and easy-care without being squeaky. Perfect), and I've redone the raglan shaping, as my design skills have improved over the years. Fingers crossed I might have a good chunk to show you next week.

On the book front I am still going with The Lake House. I'm on page 141, which I think is pretty much where I abandoned it last time. I'm enjoying it, but am only reading for a few minutes each day, so am not getting through it quickly!

The second book is The Careful Use of Compliments, which I picked up from a little library shelf at our local swimming pool last week. The book is a very easy read, so I'm keeping it in my bag for reading when I'm out and about. I'm really enjoying it and its easy-going pace. The book is part of the Isabel Dalhousie series by Alexander McCall Smith, and this is the first I've read, though not the first in the series, not that it matters as enough background is given as you're reading. The story is set in Edinburgh, and has a very similar feel to the 44 Scotland Street books, which I also enjoyed.

Oh, and I blocked the blue cardigan I was knitting last week. It is pretty cute!**

As ever, linking up with Rachel for Yarning Along.

*Affiliate link.

**The pattern should be out in the next couple of weeks, watch this space...

Yarning Along: Whistling by!

The past week has whistled by, I genuinely have no idea where it's gone. When I last posted it was election night, and I was looking forward to spending the evening and early hours knitting away busily, which I proceeded to do. After the exit poll predicting a hung parliament, seats were called rather slower than usual, so I knitted my Barley Twist sample until 12.30, then called it a day and went to bed. I don't think I slept terribly well, and got up at 5 to watch the declarations for the final few seats, and spent the rest of the day, and large portions of this week, following the fall-out on the radio, TV, and internet.

All the time I have spent watching election coverage this week probably goes some way to explaining why I have read so little. I am still reading The Lake House by Kate Morton, and am enjoying it, not that I have much to show for my limited reading time this week. At the current rate of reading, borrowing a book from the library last week looks excessively optimistic...

My knitting time this week has been dedicated to knitting a sample for a magazine, which I'll get to share with you in the autumn. Yesterday I finally got back to my Barley Twist sample and now have a completed yoke and a decent amount of the body done. I have a couple of weeks until the pattern launches in my Ravelry store, so plenty of time, especially as the cardigan is in aran-weight yarn, and only in age 2! I spent a lovely hour or so sat in the garden yesterday knitting, accompanied by my shiny new Griffindor bag, which is perfect for throwing knitting in when I'm out and about.

One thing I have been enjoying this week is watching all the bees pollinating the flowers. Every morning on our walk to and from school my daughter delights in bending down to sniff the flowers and watch the bees. She finds them fascinating, and they are absolutely everywhere at the minute - mostly huge fat bumble bees - so there are plenty of opportunities for bee-watching!

 

 

What have you been excited about this week?

 

Joining in with Rachel for Yarning Along.

Goldilocks and the three knitting needles

It's half term this week, so knitting has to be easy and portable. So far this week I have finished the first of the pair of socks I shared for Yarning Along last week (I still can't share much, I want to do a big reveal when I have both done), then stole the needles from them to finish my Yarn Shop Day socks, which are done, hooray! The needles then got transferred to my pink striped socks that I'm knitting for the Brit Knit KAL* that is being run by Amy of Stranded Dyeworks.

Finished socks

Why do I keep transferring my needles between projects? It turns out I'm like Goldilocks when it comes to knitting needles: the Hiya Hiya sharps are too sharp (and are being donated to a friend; in combination with my knitting style the needles are lethal!), the cheap needles my Yarn Shop Day socks were on have awful joins, and I've bent one of the tips. The red and blue socks were on Knit Pro Novas and those needles are just right: the tips are not so pointy they hurt my pushing finger, but not so blunt it takes effort to 'find' the stitches. Which is why they are being passed between sock projects (yes, I should just buy some more, I will next time I order yarn). I'll finish the first pink sock, then return the needles to the red, blue and yellow socks, knit the second of those, then use the needles again for the second pink sock.

A bit bent!

Too sharp!

Reading has been slow since last week. I gave up on the book I was reading (Be Frank With Me); I'm sure it was interesting, but the writing style wasn't working for me and I didn't get beyond page 50. Last night I restarted The Lake House by Kate Morton, which I started reading last year, but got distracted from. I'm only a chapter in, but am hoping to make good progress over the next week - Kate Morton's writing style is definitely one I enjoy and I tend to read her books very quickly.

The sign of a good book - an intergrated book mark!

This morning the kids and I went to the cinema to see a kids' screening of Sing which I very much enjoyed. The story is based around an X-Factor style singing competition devised to save someone's theatre, and features lots of characters who find themselves through singing. I found the film cute without being nauseating, and there were plenty of jokes for everyone, so I'd definitely recommend it if you have young children who want entertaining.

Joining in with Rachel for Yarning Along.

*Ravelry link; you need to be logged into Ravelry for this link to work.