Moving....

After years of trying to sell her home with no interest, Mum found a buyer who wanted to be in by December. There was a mad period of looking at places for her to move to - she wanted to stay in the same area nearer to her friends and my youngest sister. Eventually she found a place and there was a mad session of packing up 40 years of life in a large property to move into a smaller place.

I visited at the end of November and spent 3 days emptying wardrobes - we've just been to visit her new home and this time spent the weekend building wardrobes and unpacking the clothes! I now know where I get that particular addiction from!

We've also been busy at work, preparing for an inspection; having the inspection and preparing to move office. That has been delayed slightly but I've nearly condensed 2x4drawer filing cabinets; 2x 6ft high bookcases and my desk drawer contents into the one box that we are being allowed to take to the new building.

I'll be sad to leave this office as it was feasible to get to I Knit London and back in my lunch break. The new office is about 30 minutes bus ride further away but near a swimming pool so 2012 might be the year I try to get fitter!

There's been plenty of knitting movement - nearly all the xmas knitting has gone to it's new owners - snag is I forgot to take any photos this year. I've got miles of stocking stitch planned for the xmas drive to Wales and a chunky project for sofa knitting over the festive break.

Shawl Saga

Well the saga of this year's Rowan Tree exchange is finally over!

Knitting for other knitters is sometimes nerve-wracking; sometimes exhilarating and sometimes it pushes you into stretching your boundaries. This year was all three!

I knew the intended recipient loved lace & that she loved jewel colours - no problem there then. Then the reality dawned that she also owns a wonderful LYS and can take her pick of yarn. Stalking her posts on Ravelry gave me some ideas for patterns and then I realised there was a significant birthday around the exchange time - everything crystallised once I found the yarn!

I knitted the shawl in I Knit or Dye's Alpaca/Cashmere/Silk mix (the jury is still out as to if this is a 1 or 2ply yarn) in a wonderful colour "Off to see the Wizard" - so new to I Knit London that I picked it off Gerard's drying rack whilst still damp!

Most of the problems I had in knitting it were due to needle malfunction or operator error - I should not knit lace when tired or leave it lying around at knit night!

The pattern is Vesper by Paulina Popiolek - there were 2 mistakes in the pattern that were amended and republished within an hour of being noticed. The pattern was also reformatted and a new copy sent - excellent service from Paulina. Very clearly written and I really miss working on it.

My home is not conducive to blocking large shawls and when I took it to Mum's there was a new baby & a 3 1/2 year old that made it impossible so I wimped out and sent it without a thorough blocking and I can only hope I'm forgiven for doing so!

Here's some of the final pictures:

An indication of the size compared with a 3 seater sofa

An indication of the drape

Stitch patterns

I'm pleased with the fact that I made myself undo large chunks to get it right, I can still see a few minor errors but on the whole I'm fairly proud of my knitting exchange for this year.