What I knit on my holidays - part #1

This was my backup holiday project. Without a current portable project on the go and a new project to start which I wasn't entirely sure would work I packed this "very easy" hat pattern, the right size needles, and a ball of handspun just in case.



I didn't get quite as much done as I thought I would on the journey (due to the need to assist with the navigation on A roads rather than motorways) but I had a couple of good sessions in Ireland and have really motored on since I got back.



I'm just about ready to work the decrease round and then it's on to 8 inches of two by two rib.



What's that marking the beginning of my round?



Whilst in Stirling I was bemoaning my lack of matching stitchmarkers and Mel very kindly offered to make me some. These were waiting for me on the doormat when we got back from holiday. They are soo pretty - thank you Mel!

Short cuts

I love taking short cuts. I love thinking you're miles away from the finish and then one quick short cut and presto you're there.

Pattern: Arisaig by Ysolda Teague
Needles: 2.75mm
Yarn: My handspun Shetland in fingering weight
Ravelled: here
Mods: it's sleeveless!



Looking back at my notes in Ravelry I started this almost a year ago (24/07/2009). I made good progress and then got stuck on "sleeve mountain" in November. I did have another go at scaling that particular summit when I picked this up again last week but then decided that life was too short and that I quite wanted a sleeveless top anyway.



I'm especially pleased with the ties which look very neat in 1x1 rib and were nowhere near as soul-destroying to knit as you might think. They really whipped up.



I think that this is the first non-sock or shawl garment that I've knitted from my own handspun and I'm really happy with how it's all turned out. In fact I'm ridiculously proud. I have to restrain myself from going up to people and telling them "I made this, I made this out of fluff!". Hurrah for the miracle of spinning.

Flipping awesome

Another project, this time started way on the train from Les Houches to Geneva at the end of August, to which I put the finishing touches—a button and a crochet buttonhole apiece—last week.

Felix very kindly took some photos in the glorious Sussex sunshine.



I love the way the sunlight catches those sproingy little Shetland fibres. As you can see I'm wearing the mittens here with the flip-tops buttoned back. Funnily enough I have been wearing them with the tops over my fingers ever since - it has just got so bitterly cold in the mornings and evenings - and they're splendidly practical. I just flip back the tops whenever I need to fumble for my keys or my bus pass and then it's back into the lovely warm mittens as soon as the need for manual dexterity is over.

Pattern: my own (not written up yet)
Needles: 3mm dpns (I think - must make more notes)
Yarn: about 1/2 ball of cream and 2/3 ball fawn fingering weight Shetland from Garthenor Organic Pure Wool. (You should pop by to their site just to see the galloping sheep!)

I'll do my best to knit another pair and make better notes this time.

Kicks and flicks

I'm very excited! It's jive week in Strictly and I have new shoes.



They're ecoSneaks from Simple Shoes. I came across them in Schuh this evening and I was rather taken with their ethical policies and use of recycled materials (including old tyres and milk cartons). However, I have to confess that although I love the idea of ethical shoes the main factor was that I loved the pink laces against the grey suede and thought that they'd look rather fabulous with my collection of knee length skirts.



Now all I need are the fabulous stripy grey tights I saw in M&S earlier.

I'm also very excited about the OGWSD guild meeting tomorrow. It feels like ages since the last guild meeting in the summer so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and settling down to some quality time with the wheel. I've got some Shetland singles on the wheel which I'm about halfway through plying and I think I'll take along the Welsh grey and Massam fibre to go into my British sheep breeds handspun blanket. This isn't because I'm running out of Shetland fibre, in fact I think I might already have enough spun and plied for the rest of my Arisaig cardigan and I don't want to have too much two-ply left over - I have already have enough leftovers in my stash.

Autumn days

We had the most glorious October day yesterday. It was so sunny that I was almost too warm sitting outside with my knitting at lunchtime.



I'd been a little concerned that I might struggle a little to find my bearings when I picked up the left front of the Arisaig cardigan after a break of a couple of months but the simple lace pattern and the fact that it's easy to count the increases and decreases by the repeats of the lace meant that I was able to carry on as though I had never left off.

The very steep decreases for the front neckline meant that every row was a little but shorter and I was able to make really good progress before the end of the day. I would have made even better progress if I hadn't got so carried away that I knit about 2 inches past the start of the armhole and had to rip back to the right place (oops!). Having had sizing issues with lace cardigans in the past (yes, I'm talking about you here, Katharine vest) I thought that this would be a good moment to block the back and check that the lace and ribbing really would stretch out to the required dimensions.



Yay! I even held a real piece of clothing up against it to make sure and so can now knit on with confidence.

Holiday knits

Whilst on holiday I finally figured out what to knit with my two balls of fingering weight Shetland from Garthenor Organic Pure Wool and acst on for a pair of striped, flip-top, mittens. Although I was knitting them on the train and in Geneva at the end of our holiday where the temperature was in the high twenties I think that the thought of warm woolly mittens was inspired by our trip to the Mer de Glace near Chamonix where a pair of gloves really would have come in handy. I love the natural look and feel of the organic Shetland yarn. You can really pick out the individual fibres and imagine the raw fleece or even the sheep that it came from, so unlike an anonymous merino.

Starting small

I'm so excited about knitting Arisaig that I couldn't even wait to finish spinning the yarn before I cast on.



The pattern starts off with 10 rows of 2x2 rib on tiny needles (2.25mm). I only have this size in a pair of Prym metal straights.



These are the suckers that the airlines have in mind when they tell you that knitting needles are dangerous objects. It's going to be a relief to finish my ten rows and move onto the relatively chunky size of 2.75mm I can tell you.