Clan Obsession

I'll skip past the usual apologies for not posting for a while and move on to some knitting.

What do you think of this?

It's the start of a fairisle sock using the wonderful Yarn Yard Clan in Soot and Saffron.  Lovely to knit with and I am loving the contrast.  Can you see the problem?  Probably not as you have no sense of scale from that shot.  Well - for some unknown reason I cast on the same number of stitches and used my normal size needle (2.5mm) and expected them to be a good fit - yeah - well that didn't work out at all well.  The sock has been frogged and now been cast on again with lots more stitches (72 - but maybe it should be 80?)  Re-thinking the pattern too.  The one above was corrugated rib and then a pattern taken from Alice Starmore's Fairisle book.  Now I am thinking of doing Stained Glass Window Socks which look lovely - but just with the two colours.  

In other sock news I have finished ONE - a mojo sock.  Do you like it?  It was a fun knit - and I must cast on the second one soon before it gets added to the single sock jar of doom.  Knitted using autumn-coloured Yarn Yard Clan.

Such a cool sock - looks great off the foot too - all wibbly wobbly.

Also on my needles are some Slip-Stitch Socks in yummy daffodil coloured yarn.  This yarn was especially dyed for me by Natalie from The Yarn Yard on what was otherwise a very blue day. (Huge thanks to Judy who insisted that I got some new yarn - what a lovely lady - do check out her blog!)  Natalie asked what I would like and I roamed away from my normal colour range and looked out of the window onto some flowering daffodils - and this is the yarn to match.  Isn't it gorgeous?  And isn't Natalie talented?  Oh yes!!  

Excuse the blurry shot:

Oh this one is in focus:

Do you think I have a small Yarn Yard Clan obsession?  Maybe a little ;-)

Here's my secret Clan stash (with a little Natural Dye Studio hidden in there):

A bad knitting week

It's not been the best of knitting weeks. I'm seem to have hit a bit of a rut.

I have lots of projects I am really wanting to get my needles into but just can't seem to clarify my thoughts and wool.

First up was the lovely dress I was making for Orla. It's a Zoe Mellor pattern called Daisy Dress. It's a lovely, simple dress made in cotton with a big flower on - perfect for Orla. I chose and bought some lilac and pink wool with blue for the flower. Being me I resisted making it on straight needles and cast it on with circulars, adapting the pattern accordingly. All was going well until I had a session knitting in the dark at my God-daughter's dance show. I wasn't really concentrating on the knitting - just letting the stitches happen. When I picked it up the next day I noticed I had managed to knit the row counter *into* the dress. The only options were to cut into the loop on the row counter or to frog back. So I put it into my bag and hoped the knitting fairies would sort it out. I'll continue this story in a while.

In the meantime... remember the jumper for Martin? (Mentioned on my February Update.) Well much as I love it - I do need to have the pattern with me at all times - and that is hard work for me and I found I wasn't picking it up at all. Knitting the Daisy Dress for Orla prompted me to re-think the jumper - plain stocking stitch on circular needles is ideal for me at the moment - pretty much brain-free. I frogged the Cheesy Puffs. So - I reached for my Elizabeth Zimmermann Knitter's Almanac knowing she had a simple pattern in there and cast on the Hurry Up Last Minute Sweater. Unfortunately I didn't really think it through. I swatched and cast on using huge needles. After a few rows I realised it was too loose - the needles were simply too big - so my yarn is simply not chunky enough for this pattern.

At knitting group this week - Louise frogged back the Daisy Dress (bless her) and saved the stray stitch marker. So - I was just picking it up to knit again - and it was laid out flat on two circulars and it made me appreciate the full size of it. It was *huge*. Big enough to fit me, never mind Orla (she's a petite 3-year old!) So - it had to be frogged along with the Martin jumper - not a good day. So now both are sitting off the needles - waiting for the chance to start again!

In the meantime I cast on and started knitting Martin Storey's Hardwick Slipover. I have completely changed the colours and the yarn and am really pleased with it... until I noticed that I have a twist on my circular needles and am going to have to frog it all back again....

Is someone trying to tell me something??

I do have something wonderful to blog about though - but will need to take photos first...

Rosedale United

I have been working on this jumper forever - or so it seems. It is being knitted on circular needles and is seemingly a dream to knit. Yet it is killing me. I have frogged it back countless times - how difficult can a jumper be? I am knitting it in the lovely Noro Kureyon with lovely green and brown stripes and I am loving it so much.

It's just that flippin' Intarsia panel - I cannot do it. Look:










See what I mean? It's a mess. I learnt how to do a lovely wrap and turn and that did help on one side - but the other side continues to be a disaster.

So I have admitted defeat and have frogged the Intarsia panel out and just knitting a plain jumper - which is still looking fabulous as it's Noro Kureyon.

To cheer myself up I have just cast on my first Tomten jacket - I just hope Orla hasn't grown too much by the time I finish it...