Knitting Progress on go slow!

Well, the knitting progress has been somewhat rather patchy over the last fortnight, work has gone busy, what with month end to deal with and also the end of the tax year, so all I wanted to do when I got home, is watch a bit of TV and fall asleep.

However I did manage to start the Monsoon STR sock, after a couple of tricky starts with the toe-up, this as previously mentioned I have never done before, but armed with lots of advice on the kal, I did my provincial crochet cast on, now somewhere I read it's best to do this with a brighter or lighter yarn, so is easier to see when having to unpick, so for some strange bizarre reason I thought I'd use some horrendous bright orange cheap acrylic I had lying around, to be honest I can't even remember buying this particular ball of yarn, as it is so gaudy, I can't imagine wanting to make anything with it, but thought this would be ideal, but oh no, when it came to unpick, the orange fibres got well and truly stuck inside the lovely monsoon yarn. Arggh, I had no choice but to cut that piece off and start all over again, this time using a smooth white 4 ply cotton, I have managed to do a few rows of rib on the foot, and I love the way the colours are pooling together.

I have made some progress with DB's Trekking sock, this also has a short row heel, but the instructions given for turning this one, are different to the Monsoon sock, where as on the Monsoon you actually wrap the yarn round the stitch before turning to prevent a hole, on the trekking stitch you actually do a yarn forward, and then when it comes to working the stitches back up, you need to kind knit into the stitch then knit into the back of the yarn forward to prevent a hole, well I must have tried and frogged this at least four times, but each time ended up with the most wonderful lacy heel you could imagine, not at all right for men's socks so on my final attempt I used the wrap round method and hey presto worked perfectly, so I learnt a good lesson there. Here is the progress on these so far.

Over the bank holiday weekend, with the glorious weather, I have been having a few problems on what to make, you may find this quite strange, but I do not really have lots and lots of yarn in the stash, although I have knitted from an early age, it is only the last year or so, I have taken an interest again, so usually I have only bought yarn for a particular project that I want to make. I never really have much luck with sale yarn, my nearest LYS is John Lewis's in Nottingham, and there actual yarn selection has gradually got smaller over the years, so what yarn they do have on sale is usually just a bucket of odd balls and never enough to actually make a whole garment. My other local store, which is about a 20 minute drive away is Yarn at Beeston, which is a fabulous shop, but parking can be difficult, and I am always a bit wary of leaving the car on the street for any length of time, so I usually have to get DB to take me, so he can wait in the car, while I nip in, but there is nothing worse than feeling rushed when in a yarn shop ;-) and although he says he doesn't mind waiting, I don't think he means hours, which is usually what it takes for me to pick and choose. I do not have much luck with on-line sale yarn either, not sure if it's my moniter but when I think I have a bargain, and the yarn arrives, the colour never looks right and it never surprises me why it ended up in the sale. So here I have four days off work, with some time to actually do some knitting, but not got the right yarn or right quantity in stash to make anything for the summer.I was going to get DB to take me to Yarn yesterday (Saturday) but on Friday poor Tess developed a small lump on a very precarious part of her bottom, although wasn't causing her too much distress, it was upsetting for us, so we booked her into the vets yesterday morning, the job of taking her is easier said than done, she's fine walking up to the door, tail wagging but then with one sniff when the door is opened, thats it, tail between her legs and feet digging into the ground and won't budge, strange when she was younger, she never minded the vet examining her but now she gets so nervous, and although she would never bite, it took the two of us to hold her steady, while the lady vet felt all around her, it appears she has a small cyst, and after a course of antibiotics, she may need to go back to have the lump removed next week. Crikey though, I think I must have chosen the wrong career, we was literally in there for three minutes, and we was walking out with a bottle of fourteen small tablets and a bill for forty-five pounds, not that I am complaining about paying, as with all pet owners, the well being of our little furry animals is something you just can't put a price on!

So after that, I didn't get to go to Yarn and of course the yarn shops are now closed over Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Still I will go next weekend instead.

Although, I could always start Caister, I am not sure with the stripes, does anyone know if it's best to carry the yarn up the sides or keep cutting the yarn and having hundreds of end to sew in. the stripes at some parts would mean carrying up as much as ten rows and then on some are only two, but if I do carry the yarn up the sides, cause I am working with four colours, would this make the seam too bulky to sew. the yarn used is 4ply cotton, I would appreciate any suggestions!

I have very nearly finished the cropped cardigan, the neckband is now finished and sewn in place, I did the three needle bind off and am very pleased with the result. I just need to sew on buttons and press stud, and I haven't forgotten the promise of a picture, so I will get one ready for next post.

As the weather is nice and sunny, we shall be off on a nice bike ride today on the Harley!!!