Sunday 6 May 2007

KNITTING PROGRESS

This shall be a bit of a shorter post than usual, due to the simple fact that I do not have much to show for the past fortnight on the knitting front!


Have you ever been there, where despite being surrounded by tons of patterns and yarn, you just can't decide what to make, maybe it is a case of being just to spoilt for choice! I have been wanting to make a summery top for a while now, something that is quick and simple that will be made hopefully before the summer is in full swing. The trouble is all the summer patterns that I do like, tend to be just that little bit too revealing for me, they certainly would look better with a tan, and not the milky white skin that I have been blessed with ;-) and fake tans don't really work for me either as I usually end up looking like a streaky tango person! And DB suggestion that you can always wear a cardigan over the top is not very helpful either! Err does that not defeat the object of making something summery!


I had ordered some lovely Jaegar Aqua cotton yarn in a light purple heather shade and at the same time ordered the Jaegar summer pattern booklet, feeling sure that there would be something that I could make, but when it arrived, although I love the yarn, the booklet did not contain one pattern that I wanted to make, let alone wear!


So over this past fortnight, I have been starting and frogging several tops, and almost feeling in a panic that I may have lost the knitting mojo! But then I came across this pattern



It is Flirt from a rather old issue of Rowan, Book no 27, that is the great thing with Rowan patterns, they never really date and can be used time and time again.

This is a great pattern for TV watching too, there are only two eyelet rows in a 24 row pattern the rest in between apart from the usual shaping is good old plain stocking stitch, The Jaegar Aqua is a lovely yarn to knit with too, almost a cross between cotton glace and 4 ply! This is my progress so far on the back!
















I would have probably got quite a bit further, but have been interrupted by the arrival of these!



These books are written by Yarn Harlot and are absolutely fabulous, I just can't put them down, I think every knitter at some point can relate to the quotes and stories in this book and at least makes you feel that the love of yarn is not really so insane!

DB's black socks are no more, Yup they've been frogged, I was making them from Debbie Bliss Merino DK yarn and I have been worrying about the durability of them for a while and then on the last ball I was using the yarn itself was just full of knotted ends, not at all what you want with sock yarn and I has had not purchased any spare, thought I would be best to order some more rather than run out at the end, to then find out that the yarn has been discontinued, can you believe it. I looked on ebay and found some. but then dropped out when three balls went up to sixteen pounds, as much I wanted to knit him these socks, paying in excess of £5.25 a ball, when the yarn cost only £3.50 in the first place, cannot be justified! So instead I have used the money and ordered from Blue Moon Fibers, two skeins of their medium weight yarn in the shade called In the Navy for him instead, at least I will be making them in a lovely yarn that I like and will hopefully look much nicer than plain black! I am hoping the skeins will arrive soon so I can get started, it's his birthday in June also, so fingers crossed that I will get them finished for then!


Talking of Blue Moon Fibers, the second sock kit has arrived and is a pattern called grasshopper, the yarn is absolutely gorgeous and soft and also contains silk, The grasshopper pattern is a lace pattern, something which I never done before, and is a toe-up sock again with a windershin heel, which is also new to me. I am looking forward to starting them, but must get other WIPs finished first.


I have started the second Monsoon sock and that is coming on well, as I am about half way up the foot, I am looking forward to having these finished so I can wear them ;-)




So that's it til next time Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday and fingers crossed for the sunshine to come back!

8 comments:

Judith said...

Lovely socks! That new yarn from Blue Moon looks very cool, too!

I've knit socks with the Jaeger Aqua and I loved it, except for the fact that my hands get tired from knitting with cotton (so little give).

Hugs and good knitting!

Linda said...

Your progress on the summer top looks good and the socks are lovely!

CurlyBrunette said...

I think we are on the same wavelength because I am on the same exact spot on my top also. Granted its not the same pattern but thats OK. I also just ordered from Blue Moon again! I couldnt resist all the bright colors any longer and I needed a yarn for a shawl class I am taking in June. The navy color is great for a mans sock. I'll post yarn pics as soon as it arrives which I hope is as quickly as you will get yours!

artyfartykat said...

I know that bogged down feeling, loads of wool and can't make a descision!
The socks look fab and I love the new STR colourway too

Kat said...

I have tagged you! Check out my blog!

Kathleen in Ormond Beach said...

Hi there!
Thanks for stopping by the ol' blog. I hope you enjoy the sock pattern, the heels and toes are super strong.
Can't wait to see Flirt finished - it looks like a perfect summer top :)
Kathleen

Anonymous said...

I've made the Flirt top! It's lovely and I wear it every summer. The bottom does curl up but I faced it with some petersham ribbon and it's no more a problem.

Love your colour too.

RoxyK said...

Glad you found a pattern. I hate the 'I don't know what I want to make' feeling. Most annoying, especially if you're practically surrounded by yarn!

I love my collection of Rowan mags and often go through them ;)

The Silkie yarn is fab isn't it? I've tried and hated magic loop and 2 circs before - I much prefer my DPNs but good to try. Never tried the cast on either but no doubt it is on one of the Lucy Neatby DVDs.

Much better idea to do DBs socks in STR - will be much more enjoyable to knit and last much longer ;)