A few stitches here and a few more there and my knitting is coming along nicely. I decided to scrap any ideas of using my own pattern and, since the stitch counts were nearly identical, I have decided that I am making Kniterella’s Chevron Stripe. The change in pattern won’t be discernible to anyone other than me and quite frankly sometimes it is nice not to think. It is that nice kind of knit, where it is can just be picked up and put down, but the combination of colour changes and pattern mean that it doesn’t get boring. I am getting close to the next colour change, I need to switch the charcoal (as I am almost out) and I will be using pink or orange as the contrast colour…or maybe back to yellow…you can never go wrong with yellow.

——

Tomorrow is Official Release Date for Crochet at Play!! Make sure to stop by as there will be a party!!

I must have had some good thrifting karma coming to me, because the last 2 weeks have been amazing for charity shop finds.  You know how it goes – weeks and weeks of  nothing and then BOOM! you strike gold – your heart starts racing the minute you see it and you know it will be yours.

First, above, is the amazing dressing table Kevin and I found last week for…£35.  We’d been to Ikea the day before, looking for a chest of drawers for our bedroom. We don’t fold much (ahem), but most modern chests seem to hold 1 pair of jeans or are way out of our budget. As we walked through the (endless) rows of flat pack furniture, I told Kev that we’d just have to wait for the right piece of furniture to come to us because there was no way in the world I was coming home with another piece of cheap MDF. Well, the moment I saw this little beauty nestled in the corner of the charity shop the next day, I knew it was coming home with us. The manager of the shop it was in (the same one where I found my spinning wheel) took great pains to show us how “damaged” it was. Kevin and I just looked at her like she was crazy – a few scuffs on an old piece of furniture is a given, no?

My second score of the week is this beautiful wool shawl.  It is a Hap Shawl (the kind upon which my recent design Alchemilla was based) with a central panel of  plain stitches edged by a ripple and lace border.  This one is unusual to the ones I have seen elsewhere, as the central panel is actually constructed on the bias. I spent ages in the coffee shop after buying it staring at the construction, gently tugging at the lace to see where the decreases and increases fell. It certainly feels like Shetland wool (and being in Scotland, this isn’t so hard to believe ).  It is a beautiful piece of hand knitting – hours and hours of work…for the grand price of £5.

I didn’t need it. I would easily have left it, but I simply could not walk away. I always feel quite teary when I see other people’s hand work in charity shops. All of that hard work…*sniff*. And now I get a knitted shawl to replace the one I made that didn’t suit (that is winging my way to my sister) – perfect karma, if you ask me.

I know. More yellow? More grey? More chevrons?

I can not get enough. The pattern is a sort of left over idea from a recent crochet design and the yarn is Nature Spun Sport by Brown Sheep from the same project – things I didn’t end up using because they didn’t work well in crochet, but were too good to leave in my head. It is my nature to obsess – to research all I can about a topic until I can find nothing else to read or to eat the same food for days on end. I totally get the idea of artists exploring the same techniques or ideas over and over in different ways through series of works – for me that is golden yellow and chevrons. This won’t be a published design as such, partially because it turns out to be too similar to this  (a design I only recently discovered and had one of those “I should have designed that!” moments), but it needs to get out of my head and use up some yarn stash. Plus, its nice just to make without any real plans for it.

And as for the needles…  if you remember, I was quite disparaging of both the Addi Clicks and my Knit Pro needles.  Despite my best efforts, I could never love either set. The cables were ok, the joins weren’t great and then Theo learned he could snap the Knit Pros, well, I went looking for another set.  I was recommend the Chiaogoo by Anni, Ruth and Joeli and I must say they were so right.  They are lovely sharp needles, very sturdy and the cables are a dream.  I like that they also go down to a US size 2, which is unusual for interchangeables and ,as I tend to have to work down a needle size, this is hugely useful. The tips are longer than the Addis, but much less slippy and really a joy to work with.  I can not recommend them highly enough.

Yarn special ordered from Elly. Needles bought here.

Thank you so much for all of the love – on the book, on The Crochet Project, on everything!!  I am eternally grateful for every pin, share, kind word, email, tweet and hug (real or virtual) I have received on this journey. I’ll stop now, but be warned, there will be a super gushy post coming soon.

Anyway, as I said last week, I have been knitting. A lot.  Most free moments…when photos were uploading, when layouts were being checked, on the train to and from Edinburgh Yarn Festival, I have had needles in hand. But unlike last week, this   project is one of those “plan your wardrobe around it for a week” accessories – Quince and Co’s Avery.

You may remember that last year, I made one of these for my mother when she was visiting.  She had to wrestle me to the ground to take it off of me, I wanted to keep it that badly.  However, being as she is essentially the most wonderful mother I could ever hope for, I relented.  And waited for 2 things: 1. the right yarn and 2. the time.

Like my mom’s avery, mine is knit out of Babylonglegs Aran wool.  However, while my mom’s was Flump – a loosely spun merino, this is Semi-Precious, a 50/50 merino and silk mix.  I have had the wool in a DK weight before and loved it, but the Aran is just…butter.  So smooth and plump and a dream to work with.  The colour is Cortez Gold – and EXACTLY as wonderfully electrifying as the images above.  I LOVE it.  LOVE.  The only thing is that I should have accounted more for the drape of this beautiful yarn and knit it in a tighter gauge to provide a shade more structure.  However, that is me being picky as it is the most wonderful thing to wear.

And it matches my pjs – THAT, my friends, is a sign of a great accessory.

Looking forward into the remainder of 2013, I feel a bit sick with everything that needs to be done.  A lot of designing is on the cards (yay), combined with Capturing Childhood, a certain book release, and life with 3 children…there is no doubt that it is going to be crazy.

However, at the moment, there are no making deadlines and other projects are in a bit of a limbo. However, when you have crocheted or knit every day for 18months, not having something to make feels a bit strange.  So I have lined up a bit of making for me.  Makers and designers know that it is a rare luxury to make something solely for ones self, having so many things that aren’t in the correct size or need to stay with a publisher. So I thought a little reward knitting was in order.

First up is this textured shawl, based on this one.  It is knit in Malabrigo silky merino, left over from a project in Crochet at Play. And while it is beautiful to look at, it does not suit me at all.  Something about the shape or the colour just doesn’t work. So it, like most other things, will be sent off to someone else to love.

And that is ok, because it just means I have an excuse for more knitting.