Mittens hit a Brick Wall

Well my gorgeous mittens have hit a brick wall.  I now have two finished outer mittens and they look lovely.

This was aided by new purchase.  After working with the colourwork chart, I remembered how difficult it is to keep the paper pattern on my lap and keep marking it off.  I did use highlighter tape, which was great but didn't stop the paper bending and sliding off my lap.  As I know that after this project I'll be doing more stranded colourwork and lace charts I decided to splash out on something I've wanted for a while.

It's the Knit Pro Chart Holder.  It is the same fabric finish as the needle case I have, which is designed to hold my KnitPro Options, plus a small project.  (I have to confess my case doesn't have room for a project as it is stuffed full of notions!)  This chart holder is the larger size and I got it from Hulu.  I've used them before and they are great for service, plus they have a great magazine selection, though sometimes I wish I could choose to have something delivered from them, that I didn't have to sign for!  At least it arrives properly if you have to sign for it, I suppose, but it does mean waiting in for a package that could fit through the letterbox.

This chart holder has three small powerful magnets that hold the paper in place.  There is a long magnetic strip that you use to mark your current row and then you can close the whole thing up to keep it marked properly.  The closure tab also is used to keep the chart upright, if required, either in landscape or portrait mode.

You can see on the above picture the highlighter tape that I had been using.  I believe that you can get longer strips of highlighter tape, which would be better for marking long rows than the little tabs I have.

I have blurred out the charts, as this is not a free pattern!  I used to have something very similar to this chart holder, that I used when I used to do cross stitch, except it was a metal sheet that was attached to my sewing frame.  This is much better for carrying around with my knitting and it is better for sitting on my lap, which is usually where my patterns rest.

So with my new whizzy chart holder you'd think everything would be going quickly, and it did, as you can see from my outer mittens.  But things have ground to a halt somewhat after finishing the lining of my first mitten.  It looks great.

I love how crisp the lining edge looks after picking up and knitting stitches from under the I-Cord cast on.  It even looks great when you put the mitten on.

What you can't see from this picture, is how bunched up the lining is.  The picture below, shows a little bit of how the tip of the liner is bulging out the mitten top.

But it is only when you look at the actual liner that you can see the real extent of the problem.

After hitting this brick wall, I decided to have a look at the helpful notes section of the projects page for this pattern.  I should have done this before I started knitting, as I am not the only person to have this problem.  Lucyann's notes give her changes to the liner to make it smaller.  I'm not sure if I need to change things quite so drastically, but this is what has caused me to pause.

I need to reduce the bunching at the top.  I'm almost tempted to rip back the top edge of the liner and reduce it back to before the decreases, plus a few more rows, then perform the decreases , plus a few extra and then graft the end closed rather than pulling the stitches together to form a bulky ring of stitches.  I think that might work.

I want to get these mittens right.  They aren't any good to me if they are uncomfortable, no matter how nice they look.  Someone suggested that I line the mittens with fleece, and I'm sort of thinking that might work well, especially as I have enough Noro left to knit another pair of mittens.  If I saved the main yarn and didn't knit the liners, then I could knit someone else a pair of these mittens, and I KNOW that idea would be popular, as everyone who has seen these mittens wants to steal them from me!

So, while I have some thinking to do, I hope that this problem can be resolved soon, as the weather is getting colder and I need to get some wear from my lovely new warm mittens.

To look at other works in progress, that hopefully don't need so many problems solving, click on the button.

Working on Mittens

As the title suggests, I am currently working on mittens.  I was inspired by the mittens I knit for Martin at Christmas.  These new ones are marvellous mittens and everyone wants to steal them from me.  I am enjoying these mittens so much, and I am drawing out their knitting so I can knit them for longer.  It helps of course the this Winter is yet to really kick in, and my hands haven't yet required mighty mittens of great thickness.  If it gets colder I may speed up my knitting process.

So after all this preamble I will share my first finished outer mitten.

This is a Fiddlehead Mitten which is designed by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn.  I loved this design from the first time I saw it, but as it required several contrast yarns, I decided that I wouldn't be knitting it anytime soon.  But, a few weeks ago I found two skeins of Noro Silk Garden Lite that needed to be scooped up and made into something beautiful.  They needed to be Fiddlehead Mittens.  I decided that in order to maximise the buttery softness of this yarn, it should be teamed up with a contrast yarn that was equally soft.  I decided on Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK.  I am really happy with my yarn choices.

This design uses an I-Cord cast on, which I'd never done before, but I really like the nice rounded edge it creates.  The instructions in the pattern were clear enough that I didn't have to go looking for a tutorial.  I think I may use it in the future on something else, as it's a useful new technique to add to my repertoire.

Now I have started to knit in the Continental style, I have found stranded knitting so much more simple.  I hold the contrast yarn in my left hand and the main yarn in my right hand and knit the appropriate colour with the relevant hand.  It speeds thing up no end.  I also chose to knit the mitten inside out so the floats didn't pull across the back of the fabric.

As you can see, I've done pretty long floats across the back, but as there is a lining to the mittens I didn't think it would matter, as I will not be able to catch the floats when I wear the mittens.

I really have enjoyed watching the colours gradually change on the contrast yarn (the Noro) as the long stripes emerge.  It makes it as effective as having several contrast colours, but without the hassle of weaving in ends!

I have done the cast on to the second mitten and plan to take this project with me for a train ride back to York to see my family this weekend.  I hope to then gently block these outer mittens and then I will have to pick up from the I-Cord cast on and knit the inners in the Cashmerino yarn.  These are going to a VERY cozy pair of mittens as effectively they will be three layers thick.  I am going to be toasty warm and stylish too!

To check out other projects still in progress, click on the button!

Test Knitting a Hat

Whenever I create a new pattern these days, I try to get it test knit.  I have found it to be an invaluable part of the pattern writing process.  Designing a knit, for me, is the easy part.  The hard part is actually writing it down in a way that is easy to understand and straight forward to read.  I think my pattern writing skills improve with each pattern I get tested.  This progress is not only because "practice makes perfect" but also because of the feedback I get from my testers.  I can't afford to pay people to test my patterns, mainly because I sell one-two patterns a week, so  I use the Ravelry Group, Free Pattern Testers.  The members of this group are very generous with their time and their knowledge and I have received a wealth of feedback that has assisted me not only in the basic structure of the patterns but also in the format in which they are presented.

When I have had a flurry of patterns tested I always feel the need to give back to the group, by taking part in someone else's pattern test.  My most recent excursion into pattern testing was the adult version of "The Little Windows Hat".  This pattern was originally published in Petite Purls, a free online magazine that focuses on patterns for children.  The designer Kristle Chester, decided to create an adult version of that hat, which is where I came in.

I decided to splash out and use Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and bought a ball of dark grey and one of purple.  My reasoning behind these colours was that they were fairly gender neutral, as was the style of the hat.

The hat has a cable edging that is grafted together and then stitches picked up to form the main body of the hat.  The hat is then knit with a combination of fair isle and cabling to produce the lovely lattice effect.

There were two methods of decreasing for the crown.  I chose the advanced version, because I was feeling brave and I preferred the effect on the crown.

It is a shame that most people never get to see the top of your hat, unless you bow a lot, which I don't. I then blocked it using a bowl that I taped to a rolled up piece of card, recycled from a cereal packet.  As a technique for blocking hats it worked quite well.  I may use it again.

This yarn is so soft and warm and it is wonderful to wear on your head.  Having a hat knit in fair isle with such warm yarn is very desirable for our current winter climate, however as I have just finished knitting a hat for myself which is toasty warm, I am planning on putting it aside for my Christmas 2010 Gift Stash.  Is that really really sad of me, or just good advanced planning?  I have to admit there were things I gave for Christmas 2009 that were knit in the January of that year, so maybe this is a good pattern to get into, especially as I have so many gifts each year to give.  I also think having emergency gifts on hand can help when you have poor health (like me) and are not always able to manage things like gift shopping at the last minute.

The pattern for this hat is available for free, but you have to subscribe to Kristle's newsletter to get it, which can be done through this link.

So this is it for my current testing, but I think I probably owe the group another one before I list some more patterns, which aren't written, or designed as yet.  I am having a little break from pattern writing for the whole of January.  I am enjoying the lack of pressure, with having no patterns in the works and no gifts with deadlines.  I think I probably pushed myself too hard in December and have paid the price in becoming very run down.  Hence the plague of colds and coughs I have suffered since Christmas.  So for now, I will just enjoy our new lounge and sit in front of the fire and knit randomly according to whim, rather than according to deadlines, it almost feels like a holiday!

Bag and Purse Combo

Even though I have been surrounded by crashes and bangs over the last week, I did manage to sneak in some felting. As my favourite bag, my On Target Bag, is being demanded to pose for sales purposes at Mary Clare, I decided that was reason enough to knit another. Being the Crafty Cripple that I am, I couldn't do the same bag again, because that would be boring, and besides that would mean I would have two bags the same when the first one was returned. I decided to knit and felt a whole new bag. It was a bit experimental, but on the whole I'm pretty pleased with it.

As you can see, the bag has no handles and has not been lined, because though I was able to fight my way through the clutter, to the washing machine, there is no surface clear enough to sew a lining and attach the handles.

I used two skeins of Brigantia Aran weight yarn, one in Delphinium and one in Gun Metal. I have used this yarn for felting before and feel it is very reasonable in price, it felts well and one skein can produce quite a sizeable project.

I knit the bag in the round and decreased and increased to get the points and the zig-zags. This meant that the bag is only one strand of yarn thick. When it came to the bottom of the bag, I used short row shaping, between each point, to add a triangle and make the bottom edge straight. I then reduced at 4 places in the knitting to produce a rectangular base. I grafted the bottom edges together, then added an applied i-cord to the top edge of the bag, and again at the base of the bag. I-cord at the edge of fabric to be fulled, is a great way to ensure that the fabric doesn't curl and distort. I added it at the base to provide stability and extra strength.

When I line the bag, I will attach tabs to fix the handles to the bag. The handles I purchased, are made by Prym and I picked them up at John Lewis.

I think they look like leather, but are actually made of cotton. I hope they will suit this bag, and they are long enough to fit over my shoulder.

With the yarn I had left, I decided to make a little purse/wallet to clip inside the bag. That way, I could find things like keys, glasses or mobile phone. To get the zig-zag pattern this time, I made up a simple pattern in fair isle and knit it stranded fashion. I even found a video on how to knit backwards, which made the whole thing much easier than normal. I hate doing the purl rows on flat stranded knitting, but this project was too bulky, for the small size, to do it in the round. I wish I'd known how to do it before I did the short row shaping on the large bag, it would have made the whole process much quicker.

I plan on lining the purse with the same fabric I line the bag in, then attaching it with a clip to a tab inside the bag. I also intend to add a zip. When put together (without the lining fabric), all the bits look like this.

I think it will work well, and once I get round to sewing it all together, I'll post the pictures. I already know what fabric I'm going to use and it is lovely.

In summary, I am pleased with the bag, but if I made it again I would use smaller needles and make it slightly wider. I would also full it to make a more dense fabric as there are thin patches where the increases are made on the zig-zags. But, for all that, I think once it is lined, the bag will do the job it was made to do, look pretty on my arm.

Ridiculous Slippers & Presents in the Post

I have finally finished my ridiculously large slippers. What do you think?



The pen is to show scale. But can you imagine what they look like on my feet....



Yup, pretty silly. I really, really hope that these shrink enough, because the yarn really seems to suit the pattern, and I think the different colours blending together through felting will give real interest on such a basic shape as these.

I seem to have got into a bit of a crochet habit, what with the slippers and also my notions bag. I decided that as I only had around 2/3rds of a ball left of the yarn I used to crochet my notions bag I would make a cord, either to use as a handle or to use to wrap around the bag instead of buttons, I still have not decided which. Instead of doing an I-Cord, or a crocheted cord, I dug out my little impulse buy from a few weeks ago.



It is a French knitting dolly. I used these when I was a child, at a friend's house. I haven't used one since and I saw it a couple of weeks ago and bought it on impulse, for pure nostalgia's sake. It was tricky to start with, but once I got going I think it is much quicker than an I-Cord, plus its just a little bit different. Let's face it, different is quite often fun.

I had a bit of a tidy up last night. When I was ill over the weekend I ended up getting all teary because I couldn't find something that I wanted. You know how it is when you feel so weak and wobbly and only one thing will do to cheer you up, and when you can't find it you feel even worse than before you started looking? You don't know? Well I do! I promised myself when I got better I would sort out the chaos that surrounds my sofa. So last night I was feeling a bit brighter and decided that I would make space in my "ongoing projects box" for all my ongoing projects. So I emptied out the box, oh and found the thing I was looking for, and took a good hard look at my stuff. I decided that I was going to be ruthless and cast aside the things I knew I didn't want to finish, to make room for all the things I did want to finish.

Last night I finally frogged my hideous Fair Isle Tank Top. It was such a relief to finally acknowledge that there was no way in hell I was ever going to finish it. I put the yarn in with the Fair Isle bag I am still working on, and whatever is left over will probably be used for a project I am starting in January. I will tell you more about that project in a future blog. The next thing I frogged was the plarn bag I started months ago. It really hurt my hands knitting this and I have come to the conclusion that I used needles that were too small. I will try knitting with plarn again in the future, but at the moment I have too many other projects ongoing to go back to this one.

So now I can finally see the floor around the sofa again and all is right with the world. Oh and the thing I was looking for, it was this...



I made it months ago and I finally got a pin to attach it something with. So at last I can add this pretty flower to my coat lapel as was intended at it's conception.

Now this would normally be the end of my ramblings, but I have got to tell you about my presents before I go. I got two things in the post today, that were knitting related and designed to make me smile. The first was a box, in which was lots of little gifts, as well as my kitty, from craftybunny, from Ravelry's group Knitted Kitty Swap. I love this group! I sent off my Pumpkin Puss today as my part of the exchange and I received the truly cuddly CookieCat.



Not only did I get this box of goodies, but my yarn from Jamieson's finally turned up. I purchased this at the Harrogate show and I have been waiting for it with baited breath ever since. Isn't it yummy!



Now I can start my Porom Hat. Oh such a toasty warm head I shall have. Yippeee! Phew I think I am giddy from the relief of not being the illest girl in the world any more. I most go have a quick lie down before I pick up my needles again, or I might do myself a mischief.

Too many WIPs

I officially have too many WIPS. I went to college last week and pulled out the bag with my college project in it, from my craft box. I packed all the other things I needed to take with me; my library books, my needles and spare yarn, folders of patterns and notes and put everything into my shopper.

Yes I am terribly embarrassing and have a shopper like the little old ladies take round the market. My only excuses are that I have lots to carry, I am poorly and its quite a chic black and grey model rather than a tartan one. I know that doesn't appear much different, but let me assure you it is - at least in my head!

Back to my story, I got to college and opened up the shopper and started pulling out all my stuff until I got to the project bag. I opened it up and inside it was the fair isle tank top from hell! I couldn't believe it, I was so cross with myself. I had just looked at the wool inside the bag and it is of course the same wool I am using for my fair isle bag, which was designed to use the tank top wool. I was very cross with myself as I was unable to work on my current project in class. I obviously have far too many WIPs and I do not want this problem to reoccur and for me to end up taking the wrong project bag when I go out.

I have come up with a solution. In the spirit of Ravelry, I have decided to label each WIP. I have printed out little labels with a photo of the project, and the title so that I can easily see what is inside the bag.



I use bags from Tesco as my project bags most of the time. I do use my Little Acorn Bag but it is only one bag, and it is quite small. The Tesco bags are pretty large as they are designed for shopping, but they can be screwed up small, they are light, smooth, so delicate yarn does not get caught on edges and cheap at 75p each. They have worked very well as project bags but they did cause the earlier mix up because they all look alike. I'm hoping that the new labels, will stop any further confusion.



Talking about my fair isle bag, it is coming along nicely and my tutor is very impressed with my design skill. I hope she is still impressed when it is all finished off and the design written up as I offered her a copy of the pattern. It might be nice to get her input into the pattern writing side of things as she obviously knows what she is talking about, being a tutor and all!

As I have currently too many WIPS I decided yesterday to start another one. It was only a quicky though.



This will be a felted glasses case. The pattern was a freebie from Plain Jane Creations, via her Ravelry page. This lovely lady in Australia writes an interesting blog with great photos and she designs fabulous felted items. I have a link to her blog in the list to the left, under "Blogs That I Like".



Now that this project is all knitted up, all that is required is felting. I am going to make a stack of small items to be felted and do one big session in the run up to Christmas, though I am intending to keep the glasses case for myself.

When I have photos of my felted items I will post them as soon as possible, but it may be a little while before I have enough to warrant turning on the washing machine. Hopefully having one thing finished, will encourage me to get on with some more to add to the pile.

Creating a Pattern

I am creating my first proper pattern. I don't mean the basic tinkering that everyone does, but the actual starting from scratch with NOTHING to help me. It is slow going but am quite proud of the progress so far.

This leap in my knitting career has been brought about by my true loathing of the Fair Isle Tank Top that I have been doing for college. This was a huge project that I would never wear and would take forever. I decided that what I needed to do was find a nice small pattern that I could knock up quickly and get the thing over and done with. I have spent DAYS looking at Ravelry patterns and could not find anything that fit my requirements i.e. DK wool, small, free, not hugely patterned, not too simply patterned. I know I was probably being overly fussy but I just could not find anything I wanted to make. Then I remembered a messenger bag that I had as a teenager. It was made in cotton but it was fair isle. I loved that bag so much it eventually died a slow and lingering death. This bag inspired me. I decided that "surely it's not THAT hard to make a bag pattern". I don't know if it is too hard or not yet, but I can tell you that so far it is going well.

I started off designing the pattern using a cross stitch design program. This enabled me to create a fair isle pattern that struck a balance between complexity and simplicity that suited me. It was designed with the wool, that I had already bought, in mind and I feel it works well with these colours.



This is what I have knit so far. I decided to knit in the round and this has made a huge difference in my knitting. The stitches are not all compressed together and I can see what I am knitting. The floats are much looser than previous attempts at fair isle and the speed I am knitting is much quicker. I have also used stitch markers at each repeat of the pattern, so when I get distracted I can easily find my place again. This has eased my progress quite significantly.



As this project progresses I am going to keep track of what I am doing and try and write up the pattern. I don't think anyone will want to use it, but I think creating a pattern will be a very valuable exercise.

In addition to this fair isle project, I am trying to crack on with Christmas presents. I will post the presents after Christmas as I don't want to spoil any surprises!

More New Projects

I can't seem to stop making new things. I really should concentrate on finishing a few things off, but I think it is my way of avoiding the torture that is the fair isle.

After complaining about college and being forced to make the dreaded tank top, I am enjoying the projects being set again. We are making a crochet necklace, using wire and beads. I picked up the beads and wire at Mary Clare at the Knitting Group last week. So far I have only been threading the beads, but I think this will be pretty when I have finished.

I went into Fenwicks to pick up a clasp for the new necklace and whilst I was there I was tempted by the discounts on offer. I thought I was being virtuous earlier after spotting the yummy knitwear downstairs that cost a fortune. I walked away from the accessories and went to get what I came for (the clasp and a crochet hook in the right size). Hah! is all I can say. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. I picked up a glass pendant and some more beads and wire to go with it. I am going to make a really glamorous necklace for my Christmas present stash, with my haul. When I have these projects looking more interesting, than piles of components, I will take photos.

Then after seeing all the aforementioned yummy accessories I was tempted into buying some really nice cheap Sirdar Juniper yarn.



It was so pretty I couldn't resist. I only bought two balls and thought I could make a scarf, a la the yummy downstairs accessories, with it for my Christmas present stash. I found a really great pattern and started knitting. Only, as it was my first attempt at cabling I went a bit wrong a couple of times. After frogging the yarn twice, it began to look a little ropey, so I desisted from the attempt to carry on. I also worked out that I didn't have enough for this scarf pattern and it would require another trip to purchase extra. So instead, I decided to knit something else, starting with the untouched ball first and adding in the slightly ropey yarn later in the pattern.

I had been searching for ages for a hat pattern and finally pinned down a basic beanie pattern by Woolly Wormhead. She does some cracking hats and I will probably splash out on her ebook, Going Straight at some point, which by some strange kind of alchemy fitted this yarn exactly. Hmm maybe it was some sort of subconscious cosmic buying accident? Ahh well it can't be helped, a hat for me it is then!



So despite all my good intentions to walk away from the nice accessories, I ended up splashing out on myself after all. My only consolation is that my hat will cost £4.75 and all the fun of knitting it, whereas the hats on sale where more like £15.00 and not in such nice wool. I intend to finish this quickly because it is cold at the moment and I need a new hat. I always wear hats in winter and this one will be toasty warm.

Hopefully with my next post I will have some more completed pictures to show you.

Crazy Critter

I have been making a crazy critter for my puss cat. She deserves a present because she is confined to barracks with a poorly leg. She has also been enjoying the felting that I have been doing. She guards it for me while it is drying.

I crocheted the crazy critter in double crochet using some reclaimed wool. It hardly took any time at all, but I quite enjoyed having a little play with wool. I particularly like the twirly legs. I am hoping that my cat will enjoy playing with it as much as I enjoyed making it.



I have also been trying to do some more fair isle. I am really not enjoying this project, but I will keep trudging on with it. I hope it will get easier, it surely can't get any more difficult can it?

Wot I have learned.

I have been very studious over the last couple of weeks, and have not been knitting for pleasure - well it was a pleasure but the projects were not things I would have picked. The beauty of doing a college course in knitting and crochet is being forced out of my comfort zone into choppy seas. (sorry about the sailing analogy it must be the wave patterns getting into my subconscious).

This term we are learning all about colour. The first exercise was intarsia. It was a simple little heart with spots.



Whilst the heart itself worked out quite well and I caught my threads the way I was taught, you can see the threads were a wee bit tight and as a result I have one misshapen blob of knitted mass. I don't think even blocking would help this terrible case. Thank goodness it was only an exercise or I would have been forced to frog it. I think I will keep my heart in my folder of work, to remind me of the mistakes I have made.

My second project is a V-necked tank top in fair isle. This is definitely a project I would not have chosen for myself, because I am not a big fan of fair isle. I prefer my knits to be made interesting with texture, rather than colour. However the project is certainly challenging, and I am sure that I will be very proud once the item is complete. To make life a little more interesting I have taught myself to knit two handed to prevent twisted yarn and it is very slow going at the moment. I do believe that as I get more assured in this technique the knitting will become more straight forward and much faster than knitting with only one strand at a time.



So far I have completed my swatch (see the waves!), the rib at the bottom and only about 5 rows of pattern. I have already unravelled around 3 and half rows, some of them twice. It is so hard to concentrate when people will insist on talking to me. For some reason that keeps happening at the knitting group - who'd a thunk it!

I am glad that I had already learnt my threads were too tight across the back. As you can see above, the swatch I did was much better than the heart swatch. I think the whole project will become easier with time, but I am not banking on it. I am only grateful that this is an ongoing project and we are not expected to finish it quickly, otherwise there would be one VERY disappointed tutor.

More spending.... is it getting out of hand?

t is official. I am spending far too much money on my new hobby/addiction. I'm sure when I started ceramics I didn't spend this much on tool and materials. I certainly didn't buy magazines and books galore.

My mum came to visit this week and I used the opportunity to get a lift to my local yarn store. I haven't been because it would require a taxi journey or a lift and my partner wouldn't enjoy watching me browse for an hour, and I didn't want to splash out on a taxi if it was a rubbish shop. So I waited until my mum's visit. And it was certainly worth a visit. The store is called Mary Clare and it was shrine to all things crafty. This is dangerous as I could pop in for a knitting needle and end up buying some cross stitch threads, beads and ten tonnes of wool.

My mum and I wandered around the shop is a daze for over an hour. I succumbed and bought some wool and a book. The book was Purseanalities by Eva Weichmann and is full of some great bag patterns, especially felted ones. I thought it would inspire and inform the felted knitting bag I am making. The yarn I bought was brilliant as well. The colour of the wool I bought, for my knitting bag, ties in all the colours in the other yarns I have already bought. Thank goodness, because some of the colours were a little too far apart, but now I have a link to complete all the contrasts.



I must now stop buying yarn for this particular bag. However I know that the combination of my new book and the felting section of my new favourite store are a dangerous mix, especially when you consider my obsession with all things bag shaped.

On top of the these purchases, I also bought a couple of balls of yarn to add to those I had bought earlier in the week for my first fairisle project. I have had to get four colours that go together for this pattern. I am a little scared about this project because I started the swatch on Tuesday and I have only got this far...



I would like to add that in terms of scale the pattern is only 40 stitches across. Its not looking good for how long the whole tank top is going to take. I know the tutor said it was meant to last the whole term, but I think it is more likely to take the whole year! However I am very pleased with the colours I am going to use. The two used in the swatch and these as well .....




What do you think? I hope the teal, which is slightly darker in reality, will help lift the tank, and also help it to go over a gorgeous teal polo neck I bought this year. I didn't think of the polo neck until just now, but I think it was in my subconsciousness when I bought the yarn.

On top of my shopping spree yesterday, I also took the opportunity of my Mum being around to get dropped off at Borders on her way back to the motorway. It was nice and sunny and I didn't want to waste the day at home when I was feeling pretty well. I bought a couple of novels and then I bought another couple of knitting magazines, oh and then I happened to pass the knitting section and another book just jumped into my basket. I didn't mean to let it happen. It was against my will honest! It was "The Knitter's Bible". It is so clear and full of great diagrams I felt that it would be essential for my progression through my new hobby.

Hmmm, though I am really pleased with all my new purchases I think I will slow down a bit now. Perhaps I will wait until Christmas to buy new books. My mum has also offered to get me a knitting magazine subscription for my present this year, thank goodness, the cost certainly racks up. I think I will be asking for wool vouchers this year from everyone else. Do they do Wool Vouchers??? They should if they don't.

The trouble with this resolution is that my knitting group meets at Borders, and there is also a weekly knitting group at Mary Clare that I will probably be going to aswell. I think I will have to leave my Switch card at home and only take enough cash for the taxi home, it'is the only way!