Finished Objects and a Return to Spinning

This past weekend saw one completely finished object - the Apple Strudel Cardigan:

Not the greatest pic in the world - I will take a better one when I wear it for the first time - but it is all done and warm and snuggly for those autumn weekends ahead.

I also managed to finish the first Magic Loop sock:

The second is OTK, with the leg complete and the heel turned. One long evening of TV watching (maybe tonight) will finish it off. And I will be relieved - these have been a slog, not because of the technique, but because I always seem to knit them when I'm feeling tired and hence I've made tons of mistakes and had to rip a few times.

I also returned to spinning at the weekend, in my new "spinning studio" - really just our summerhouse, cleared out a bit - and this hank of pure wool, from the raw fleece given to me by our neighbours - is drying out today after a soak in some cold water, ready to be balled up.

This is the first step in my plan to drop spindle and knit enough yarn for the Rocky Coast Cardigan from Coastal Knits. I have swatched up a small square, and the light, lofty yarn this fleece is spinning up as should be perfect. I hope my spinning will improve as I go - it is still very slubby, and I haven't decided what I'll do about plying yet.
But readers - if I achieve this goal, I will reward myself witha wheel!

Knitting, and Reading About Knitting, For Me

I enjoy knitting for other people, although tend to choose only those who appreciate the effort that goes into handmade work - which means my family and a few close friends usually. But I have set aside Sundays to knit for myself at the moment, and this is my current WIP for cool, rainy Sundays at the moment:

This is the Apple Strudel cardigan from Yarn Forward, December 2008 - an aran weight, top down, cabled cardigan which I am knitting in budget-friendly Windermere wool-blend aran (800g for £12). Sure, not the best quality yarn in the world, but a lovely tweedy grey and soft to the touch. If I work hard, I will finish it in time for our summer trip to Scotland in August, where I know from past experience I will need it!  I do have two other projects OTK - if it ever gets warm again in the UK, I can switch back to the American project, which uses the immensely beautiful (and beautifully named) Hempathy yarn.  Also, I am having, as they say in German, a kleine Pause with Spring Cloud as I am sure it is a little too small and I am debating with myself about whether it will block bigger or whether I should just reknit the body...boring.

My exciting news this week was the arrival in the post of a book I have been lusting after for some time - Coastal Knits, a self published book of 10 patterns by Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig. I want to knit everything in this lovely book, which is superbly presented (although if you already have New England Knits, by MacDonald and LaBarre, as I do, it does tend to continue this theme, as many of the designs echo each other. This is not a criticism, as both are happily living on my bookshelf - but if you are budgetting you probably could get away with one or the other of these two lovely books). However, for me, yet another to put on my bookshelf for browsing through when I don't feel like knitting, or have nothing to knit (rare!), and also for pattern design and layout inspiration!  Highly recommended.