Rain = knitting time

Holiday in England in May = abysmal weather = lots of knitting time
So it's not all bad...

Last week's break coincided with a deluge and unseasonally low temperatures. Fortunately, the house we had taken was light and airy, and I had a good supply of knitting projects. The final score was 1 finished object, 1 knitted but needs making up, 2 new projects started and 1 ongoing WIP.

Taking a closer look:

The finished project was a cabled hat. This came from the great book One Skein, and was knitted in the specified Rowan Polar yarn. This is the first time I have used the yarn, and I was impressed with how soft, lofty and warm it was. I intended to make it for my father, but when he tried it, it somehow didn't suit him, so my DH is a happy recipient instead. My father has however, issued a detailed specification of what kind of hat he wants and specific colours.



The knitted up but needs finishing item is a small purse made from the Daria yarn I just bought from Loop. This pattern is a quick and easy Magknits one. The purse needs a lining and button to complete it. It may take longer for me to sew a lining than it did to knit the purse. The yarn is fun, and perfect for a small project like this.


The new projects were a chevron tie and a shawl, both multidirectional projects. The tie would have been easy had I selected a variegated yarn with short colour changes. Unfortunately, I chose Noro Silk Garden, and after knitting the first couple of inches, I realised I was going to end up with ugly six inch colour blocks, not stripes. To avoid this, I have been slowly and painfully cutting the yarn and joining in colours at frequent intervals. There are going to be a lot of ends to darn in.


The shawl is presenting its own challenges. I started off using a pale pink and green boucle yarn, but the result was just too girly for me. So I frogged, and switched to the colours below. I know, it looks like more pink and green, right? But the colours are a bit stronger and I'm happier with it. However, the frogging continues, as I'm finding it hard to keep the increases in the right place. The only solution seems to be count stitches every two rows, so I don't go wrong for too long without catching the mistake. It also needs a longer circular needle, but now I'm home I should be able to fix that.



The ongoing WIP is tote exchange candidate 1. I decided to photograph it after all, as it bears no resemblance to a tote or indeed any imaginable FO, so it's hardly going to spoil the surprise. I'm fervently hoping that 1) it shrinks. A lot. 2) when I add the trim and pocket in contrasting colour, it looks more lively.



Wow, most productive post so far. I'll go and lie down now.