Shrug It Off Goes Out For Coffee

I completed Shrug It Off last weekend, and although in theory I knitted it for work wear, it didn't quite feel right for that this week. But today, a leisurely Sunday, I have slipped it on over a vest and denim skirt, and it feels just right:

So one for a casual weekend I think - and that's ok, as I need those kinds of clothes too.

During the week, I have slogged on with the Honeycomb Cable Cushion, the end being now in sight (should happen today), and in preparation I have organised my yarn trunk for the next project - a bunch of accessories out of all the single skeins I bought travelling through North America last year...

Yesterday saw me very briefly in London, meeting some old friends and I had just a little bit of time at Waterloo Station before our rendevous - so I took myself around the corner to I Knit London, and picked up a few treats - the Spring edition of Spin Off, a generous skein of laceweight "I Knit or Dye" in a rich purple colour (called The Queen of Denmark, I think), and yet another pattern book! I just can't resist them. This one is Hilde Isegar's Strikketoj and I bought it particularly for the 1990s sweater, which I want to recreate in my own collection of bits and pieces, and then rock with jeans and ankle boots next autumn. So a project to pick up and put down over the summer, which seems to have finally arrived - and unlike a lot of knitters, I don't mind summer knitting at all.

The Honeycomb Cable Cushion, and Purple Lilacs

This is my project for the Woolsack Cultural Olympiad. I am knitting this chunky yarn on my 5.5mm Knitpro Circular, at quite a tight tension, as requested by the project, and the cables are hard on my hands! I plan to do the other side (which will be the back) in plain moss stitch due to this, and also due to this it has been progressing rather more slowly than I'd hoped - although I only started it on Saturday afternoon, and it is now Monday, so I suppose that's not too bad!

Spring has finally sprung - a bit anyway - here in the frozen north of the UK, and I brought some lilacs (one of my favourite flowers) into the house from the garden yesterday, making me think of summer colours and summer knitting at last...

Shrugs, Cushions, the Cultural Olympiad, and Thrifting

Readers, it is a cold and damp afternoon in Yorkshire - very disappointing for May - and I am planning an afternoon of knitting, podcasts, and maybe a good film or drama if I can find one on the box. So I am hoping to finish Shrug It Off today - here is my progress so far:

Once done, I have another project ready to go - a cushion for the Woolsack Cultural Olympiad drive (http://www.woolsack.org/), which I am doing as part of my WI group. The cushion needs to involve British wool, and be a certain size. Each althlete participating in the London Olympics and Paralympics will recieve a cushion as a gift from the British public. Although I loved this cushion on the left from Sheepfold:

I decided to use up my leftover Yorkshire Tweed Chunky (from the Humber Star pullover I did for the husband several years ago):

and do a single coloured cushion, probably adapting the Honeycomb Cable Cushion pattern from the book I am currently obsessed with - Jenny Lord's Purls of Wisdom.

Despite the horrible weather I did have to pop out to the farmers market today and to run a few errands, so I also popped in to one of our local charity shops here in North Yorkshire and thrifted these:

A printed Monsoon shirt dress a pair of jeggings, all for £8. I do love a bargain...

Expect a report about the finished Shrug It Off soon!

More spinning

In between bouts of knitting Shrug It Off, after I finally sorted out a gauge to suit my limited amount of yarn and give the drape I am looking for, I have continued to spin the alpaca tops, bought many moons ago at Ali Palli:

The alpaca spins beautifully; it drafts like a dream and it's relatively easy to spin a fine yarn, provided I prepare it well. I have this much more to spin:

It isn't all that much - I might have enough for the Weavers Wool Shawl, or a hat and something small, perhaps. Once finished, I am hoping a neighbour comes through on his offer to provide me with a couple of sheep fleeces after his two sheep are sheared. I plan to try spinning these "in the grease" - and am hoping that I will slowly find wool easier to spin. If I spin at least one of the fleeces by the end of the year, I'll treat myself to a wheel!

Yarn Knows What It Wants To Be

Generally, I think yarn knows what it wants to be, and sometimes it isn't what I want it to be!

This has been the case with the Safire cardigan. A very pretty cardigan, it seems to want a lightweight worsted, with plenty of drape. My King Cole Merino is a heavy, 100% wool worsted. This week, as I worked on Safire, I felt I was fighting the yarn. Last night I gave up, took the needles out and surfed Ravelry for another option - not that easy; I have far less than a sweater's worth, and want something plain yet stylish I can throw over light tops at work and at the weekend. But I did find this:

This is Shrug It Off, a pattern from Vickie Howell's Caron range, and it is free on Ravelry. It will be an easy knit, suitable for those tired after-work evenings this coming week. I have swatched it and the yarn seems to like it better. I hope it works - shrugs can be great, or terrible, in my experience. I like them longer in length, with sleeve coverage, and with some drape, so I am knitting up a needle size on the body and have cast on for the largest size.

Casting on - Safire

With the afghan draped over the guest bed in our spare room, the first spun project tucked away in a drawer, the first hank of alpaca spun, and Karina's beret ready to go in a postpack, I found myself with nothing on the needles (having abandoned the Pointless Shawl for the time being).

So I used a little of my bank holiday weekend yesterday to clear out my wardrobe, and identify gaps, and I am a little low on colour in my sweaters and cardigans. In my stash, I had 6 50g balls of red King Cole pure merino superwash in an aran weight, bought on a trip to Whitby last autumn:

That is the beautiful Whitby Abbey, of course, not where I bought the yarn! There is a great yarn shop in Whitby  (Bobbins - www.bobbins.co.uk/), which specialises in gansey patterns and yarn and one of these days I mean to treat myself...

Anyway, 300g of aran is not enough to do a full sweater or cardigan, but might be enough for something spring like and cropped or half sleeved, and on Ravelry I found this:

This is Safire, a free download by Hilary Smith Callis, and I cast on last night:

In aran weight, this shouldn't take long, and it's top-down, so no seaming, so I hope to be wearing it in a few weeks time, hopefully (at last) without always having to wear a jacket over it - our late spring has been cold and wet! I have a dull task to do today, and plan to reward myself every once in a while with a few rows, so it should have grown quite a lot by tonight.

Classic Beret

This is the Classic Beret from Jenny Lord's Purls of Wisdom: The Book of Knitting. Knitted in Windermere Classics Wool Rich Aran, in a heather grey colourway. This will be a gift for Karina, but I like it a lot and will likely do one for myself next. A great instant gratification project, it took me three evenings nursing a cold on the sofa!