I thought if I left it any longer it'd be plain rude to the lovely lady who gave me it, so, here it is!
It was awarded in appreciation of my swap-bot package that I sent to her, I've not recieved mine yet, but then I was an early bird and everyone else has until mid-September to post. In one way, I get a real kick out of selecting the goodies and posting them off, that's why I joined Secret Pal again this year, (not that I don't mind a few surprises myself!).
Anyway, in the spirit of these things, I'm nominating both Mel's, U.K and U.S.A for different reasons; Woolydoodles for being a great and generous mate who's always ready to listen ( and fellow yarnhead!), and Pell Melling for both her generosity and her great wit! You girls/ladies/women (insert as appropriate!) both rock!
I'm also retrospectively nominating Knit-me- purl-me for being a great Secret Pal in SP10, for lovely packages despite the trials of moving and for being great fun too!
Anyway, as promised, here's some knitting Pr0n.
First there's the cashmere (poss with silk?) that I spent 2 days unwinding from it's loosely spun 4 strands into more tightly spun 2 ply which will be perfect for socks once it's had a dip in the dyepot. There's around 200yards per skein so there should be plenty.
The Gansey socks continue apace, (Though I wish I had sock blockers!). I'm all finished on the first and after all the travelling over the weekend, the second's certainly grown. I'm familiar enough with the pattern to make these travelling knitting and they'll have plenty of opportunity this weekend too!The learning experience bit comes from this...
..It's the back of a cardi that I've designed from scratch myself. I figure if I'm going to teach others about designing your own knitwear, I need to get my own collywobbles out of the way first! This is about the eighth draft design, my living room is scattered with sheets of paper with scribbles, calculations, Barbara Walker Treasuries et. al.
I decided yesterday that I was so wiped out that my brain could have some excercise instead of my feet so, I took plenty of measurements, scoped out plenty of stitch patterns (before discarding them all!) and raided my stash for a cheap, quick knit yarn that would hold my interest and still look good despite simple styling. The solution? James Brett Marble chunky. I have plenty of patterns for it but at under £4 for a 200g ball, it won't cost the earth to replace if necessary, looks pretty and knits up quick on 6mm needles- my idea of heaven!
There's shaping within the garment itself rather than on the edges and varying amounts of rib on the sides for extra stretch/closeness. The front will have a v-neck and collar and has a curved edge at the bottom. I am writing up the pattern as I go, it's a bit two-steps-forward, one back, but it's fun and that's the main thing. I'll keep you posted on pregress as I go.
Despite having rather a lot of things on the needles (and yes, the Cable Jacket's still in the running, it just doesn't photograph well!), I needed to work out what to knit for my Spoilee whom I am Secret Pal to. The nifty thing is, because this will go out in the last package, this isn't actually a spoiler because she'll find out who I am then anyway!
The pattern is Eunny Jang's Print of the Wave Stole, a lovely knit and with a repeating 12 row pattern, quite easy to do.
I started just before the weekend and am already halfway through this side so I'm happy I can fit it into my schedule in plenty of time. I have other plans for the first package which for now must remain a mystery......
More next time plus what I got from the Stitch Fair!
1 comment:
Funny you should mention what you're knitting for your secret pal, because I've just decided what to make you! I hope you're going to like it.
The gansey socks are just divine.
Have had fun going back through your blog getting to know you. I'd say we have a bit in common.
happy knitting
Anon
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