In addition to this the project that has been on my needles longer than I care to mention is finally finished. Basalt tank was not a fun knit and consequently got hidden at the bottom of the basket for months. I managed to pick it up one last time and spent a day doing all the tedious finishing. I was finding the piece more of a struggle because it seemed to be on the small side. Happily after blocking it to within an inch of its life it has turned out a good fit. I have a new summer top… result!

I am now down to only three WIP’s and have an overwhelming urge to choose &cast on some new projects. I am resisting this. One of WIP’s is Calm by Kim Hargreaves and it is over half complete but it is pink so I suspect that is the next project that will be harshly neglected, particularly if I cast on anything new. Silly I know, but the colour is REALLY irritating me. It is going in the dye pot as soon as it is finished. If I stick at it it will not actually take that long. Nothing on Size 8 needles takes that long.

I am off to look up patterns on Ravelry….

The clue is in the pattern.... It is a top NOT a dress!

Due to the overwhelming disinterest in the play suit caption competition I think I shall have to award the skein to the sole entrant, Helen A. I am pretty certain Helen writes but does not knit so I might give her the option of coffee & cake or lunch or a book or some such… Ms A?? What would you prefer?

Recently I have been doing silly amounts of stuff. I finished the Moebius Cowl in mid February and have been wearing more than a little. All the previous baby knitting plans were thrown out the window when I discovered Aviatrix by Just Jussi & knit 2 in quick succession. Following that I got stuck into some of my original handspun and finally knit up EZ’s Snail Hat. I have had that hat in my Ravelry queue since forever. It was nice to get to knitting it. Both patterns are so quick and easy and so basic that there was no need to refer to the patterns after reading them over. Perfect handbag knitting projects. I suspect more will be made of both… just possibly.

The Héla cardigan is now completed. The scary first steeking experience has been confronted & worked out perfectly. I chose the pattern on the basis that it would be an ideal first try at this technique. Álafoss Lopi yarn is bulky & knits up so fast that I would only have wasted a week if I had cocked up the steek. This did not prevent me from putting the project down for weeks while I built up the courage to actually cut the steek. Nice to know that in future if I want to kit up a cardigan/sweater in a week I know exactly what to go for. It is highly likely that I will make another of these with no steek as I like the fabric so much & the elegance of the yoke. Might design my own yoke though just to add some interest.

The latest cast on is Calm by Kim Hargreaves… another project that has been planned for a while. I bought the Rowan Kidsilk Aura for it well over a year ago. It might even be 2 years. I have converted the patter and am knitting it in the round. Another first. Never converted a flat pattern before. It seems to be going smoothly. I have knit the body and need to cast on the arms which I will do magic loop for sanity sake. I doubt I will ever knit arms in any other way. It would be like me to have an attack of 2nd Arm Syndrome. I knit my first pair of sock using magic loop so have never experience 2nd Sock Syndrome. I may have been corrupted. It is so good. In the time since I bought the yarn I have come to hate the colour so once it is finished this project is going straight in the dye pot. I can count the times I have worn pink since I was an adult on one hand. I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought that yarn, it was not even on sale! anyway easy fixed. Just have to decide what colour I wat to dye it now.

There are a couple of other ongoing projects that are kinda hibernating or just going slow. I am so close to finishing the Basalt Tank that I just need to sit down for half a day and get it over with. Given that Spring is here I really should do that. I could take it on my Easter Holiday to Greece. The Spoke Shawl is coming on slowly. It is constantly in my bag & consequently only really gets attention on my journey to work. It is about 40% done at a guess. I have no idea how large I want to make it really. I might just keep going until the yarn runs out

I think that is it for the knitting.

There has been lots of other stuff going on other than the knitting. Mostly getting into spinning now my ankle is getting better. I think I will leave that for another post as I am currently itching to get back to some beautiful fiber that arrived today from The Felt Studio UK.

For those that are wondering those spots are part of the pattern…..

This has totally made my day & caused a flurry of activity. There is nothing like a vote of confidence to kick you out of a rut.

Upon getting home after being treated to a celebratory breakfast at my favourite restaurant I got stuck into a lot of stuff.

Straight away I had to sort out the Etsy sight which need a fair few items delisting. This was promptly followed by a bit of gloating on twitter and my personal Facebook page. I then FINALLY got to sorting out the YarnArtSerious Fan Page on Facebook, in particular linking it with Etsy. I do not know why I had a block on doing that… it only took me 3 months or so to get around to it

Next on the list is a new round of dyeing… I have lots and lots of lovely yarn waiting for me to get on and dye it. Inflicting the smell of dye & heated vinegar on Himself is really not fair & tends to cause a quick retreat… particularly on the weekend. As a result I have not done a session for a while & have missed it. I love playing with colour & revel the physical process.

You really know you have done something with your time when there is a lot of beautiful yarn to show for it… the house smells of vinegar & the cat & Himself have not been seen for hours, but hey they will be back when they are hungry….. never mind that the kitchen will be in no fit state for cooking…

***mental note *** check the seasonal opening hours of the local takeaway & weather forecast… not looking to good on that front in the UK at the moment!

This could take a bit of organisation as I really do need to do it when I have the flat to myself & the other inhabitants have a safe, warm place to hide….

My Christmas present was a Lace and a Jumbo flyer for my Ashford

I have more than a little roving to spin up. There are 4 colours of Shetland waiting to be spun into lace so I can start on a traditional Shetland shawl.

There is also the Corriedale that needs to be spun so I can get on with the previously mentioned baby knitting that I have had such a block on.

I am taking the attitude that the already arrived and pending arrival are not really that fussed so I should not be too worried that I have missed one deadline and there is another looming… is that a spectacular bit of rationalisation? Think it might be… hmmm.

I get to do some spinning using both the new Lace flyer and Jumbo flyer any way you look at it and will work through some of the fibre stash so I am happy.

I do not have to be ANYWHERE.

There is nothing in particular that I HAVE TO DO.

Wonderful unaccounted for TIME….. approximately 240 hours of it!

If I sleep 8 hours a day (which I could not manage without sedatives) that is still 160 hours.

That is more than 4 weeks worth of working time….. that is a MONTH!

I could achieve QUITE  A LOT in a month…

This requires some THOUGHT…. more will follow shortly.

For a brief couple of days I had only one project on the needles… which was very odd and did not last long.

I have now got a two Elizabeth Zimmerman patterns cast on. The Spoke Shawl is a very basic seven spoke pattern. I am trying to replicate Meg Swansen’s version shown in The Knitting Workshop.

Early stage of the Elizabeth Zimmermann Spoke Shawl

The second pattern is even more straight forward, it is the Moebius Cowl in plain garter stitch. I am using my own hand dyed yarn for this piece. It is really nice seeing how it works up. This particular yarn is super wash merino lace, the yardage is approx. 377 yards per skein. Given that I only made one skein of this Autumn colourway I am putting in sections of Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Pumpkin colour which is giving it a lovely variegated texture as well as colour. It is great portable, mindless knitting.

Finally I get around to knitting with my own hand dyed yarn.

The Basalt Tank by Norah Gaughan is near as damn it finished… never mind it is not likely to be very useful until the summer.

In addition to this I am trying to get the Peak Hood Scarf by Ysolda Teague done as a Christmas gift & I still have not made the gift for a baby that is now at least three months old. Oh and there is more baby knitting I need to start… and I just received wool for a Norwegian Cardigan pattern I am itching to cast on.

The might account for why I have not been blogging for over three weeks….

In addition to the knitting the next week is going to be taken up with getting some more dyeing done in readiness for an advertisement on Ravelry in the second half of December. It is going to be interesting to see if it does anything to improve my Etsy sales.

I am looking forward to seeing what happens…

The I-cord has really given it some structure & a complete look

Himself patiently modelling his Bog Jacket

Ravelry Notes: lots more photos there if it is of interest.

My first 2 featured yarns on Ravelry... more to follow soon!

There are only 2 yarns listed at the moment but more will follow shortly.

I have the next couple of days off so with some luck the weather will be kind and I will be able to get some more photos done and do some more listing

The silk & merino/silk blend are almost ready & there is the DK Shetland & Blue Faced Leicester to finish with. I am going to be busy!