Sweet pea is indeed sweet

I've finally attached the fringing and woven in all the ends. Here is the finished object!
The fringing really does make it feel more luxurious and helps the shawl hang better. I'm really pleased with this, my first piece of real crochet, and am almost tempted to start another.

Progress, but no finished objects

The Finn wool jumper is coming along, although I am gritting my teeth and just knitting and knitting. I've finished the first section of stocking stitch for the body, and at least have a pattern section now for interest. I'm knitting this back and forth, as I simply could not convert the pattern to work correctly in the round, and had to frog it twice.

I've finished the sweet pea shawl crochet, so only the fringing and blocking to go.

I've turned the heel on the second sock, so just need to work the foot now.

Let's talk about some of the winter magazines. I was very disappointed with the holiday edition of Vogue Knitting, especially after the fabulous summer issue. Many of the designs looked shapeless or downright unflattering. There was one traditional Aran I admired, but probably won't knit. I'm always on the lookout for patterns featuring Koigu, and I liked the idea of knitting hexagons in different colours, but thought the final coat looked rather garish.

The November issue of Knit Today had more to interest me. Another traditional Aran, this time for men, and a simple sweater with an unusual basket weave and Turkish rib pattern. there was also a very pretty bobble bag that's crying out to me.

Visit to iknit

I went to iknit on Thursday night, the newest knitting shop in London. The shop has great opening hours for normal working knitters, opening until 9pm or 11pm in the week, and open all day Saturday and Sunday. This is a real contrast to the other recent openings, which have highly restricted hours only suitable for those who don't have to work to support their yarn habit!

The shop is a little tricky to find, but is on a lovely leafy square, and is very welcoming. Craig and Gerard somehow manage to hold down full time jobs in addition to running the shop, and there were assorted knitters relaxing and knitting when I visited.

There is a good range of different brands, including hand dyed yarns. The only difficulty is that the quantities and colours stocked are quite limited, making it difficult to buy sufficient yarn for larger projects. Great for socks, scarves and bags though, and they will always order a particular colour if you want it.

I had been after some Colinette Prism for a jacket, but unfortunately they had one less skein than I needed, so instead I opted for a couple of different coloured skeins for scarves. Prism is lovely to knit with, and nice and quick, so may come in handy if I need any emergency Christmas gifts. I also succumbed to some sock yarn, a much needed needle gauge and some beads.

Christmas knitting

I've rashly committed to knitting two Christmas gifts. The greater challenge is to produce a grey Finn sheep wool jumper for my DH. I've spent ages doing major calculations to change the gauge of a pattern he likes, but already think I'm going to have to make another set of alterations. I'm knitting on fine needles too, so this project is going to involve knitting like the wind to get to the finish line. I'm settling in for acres of stocking stitch.



My sister is more modest in her expectation of a pair of socks. However, I have yet to finish my first pair of socks, so it is still somewhat ambitious. She brought round a pair of socks that were handknitted by her mother in law, so that I could get a feel for the style she likes. The pattern on these is really attractive, a sort of varying rib.

And finally, the sweet pea shawl is progressing, and provides a bit of light relief from the Finn wool jumper.