I have now finished knitting the Sienna Cardigan it just needs sewing up and buttons finding! I have a sneaky feeling that I have overcompensated for my normal loose gauge and that this could be a snug fit - perhaps a severe blocking will help!
Work continues on the purple alpaca shawl and this is a very easy commuter knit as I only have to remember 3 pattern rows. perhaps now that I'm back to commuting I'll get it finished soon. This could be scary if I manage to finish 3 things in January!!!
The Hap shawl is on hold, basically because I got bored with long rounds of garter stitch. i will get motivated soon as I want this finished in early February.
On the travel front, I've just confirmed that I will be travelling with the Knitted Garden to Brighton in February and Glasgow in March and have got organised and booked flight and accommodation.
Brighton - Creative Stitches 9-11 February
Glasgow - Creative Stitches 8-11 March
Volunteers needed for the Knit and Natter stands
There's progress at home as well, Matt is beginning to feel more human.
Matt says thank you to everyone for the good wishes!
The District Nurse called to change his dressing this morning and he's more comfortable now. He's managed to stagger as far as the bathroom and his computer, so life is nearly back to normal except that I haven't knitted a stitch all day.
Matt went into hospital this morning for an op that was postponed from June. He's home now feeling very sore and sorry for himself. It's not that long ago that this op would have necessitated a few nights in hospital. The aftercare instructions make fun reading - I doubt if either of us will get much sleep tonight thinking of all the possible side effects! The poor boy keeps saying "I'm sorry" everytime he needs something.
On the plus side whilst hunting for clean sheets to put on the bed (well the district nurse is coming tomorrow so the bedding needs to match at least) I found the missing sleeve - it might have lain in the ironing basket undiscovered for years!
Work on the Sienna cardigan has come to a crashing holt - I've managed to misplace the sleeve I am working on. Last seen on Sunday just before I left home to go to the Royal Albert Hall. I'm hoping it is somewhere in the flat and not lost. I remember switching handbags for my night out but can't visualise if I packed the knitting or not.
I think I'll stitch the rest of it together, knit the bands and collar and then hope that either the original sleeve turns up or that I have enough yarn left to knit a third sleeve!
The night out was great. Mum and my sister Kate joined Matt and I to see the Cirque de Soleil. Kate had managed to book us into a box and we had a fantastic view of all the trapeze work. As a child when we went to the circus I always wanted to be one of the girls who rode on the elephants. I think I recognised even then that there was no way I could reach to the dizzy heights of the trapeze.
The yarn from Liberty's was of the Jaeger EFM variety - 2 lots of 2 packs of chunky in Loam and Auburn and 2 packs of Aran in Passion. Nothing planned as yet but a few ideas bubbling under.
There has been quite a bit of discussion in the blog world about sock clubs recently - so much so that even I started looking at them! I decided I like the idea of a small package of yarn arriving each month so have signed up for The Yarn Yard .
Not wanting to wait for my first official package I also ordered a couple of other bits which arrived yesterday.
The yarn may well become the basis of my xmas knitting as this year I plan to start early and have bought a copy of One Skein Wonders to help me achieve this!
Finally a photo of the first finished (and already most worn) item of 2007
The Hand Maiden cashmere has been knitted up into a hat. A hat that I love so much I wore it at work all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - infact if I could take it off my head you might get a photo of it!
Wearing it at work prompted a few hat orders or perhaps it was the threat of more bad weather to come in the UK! My copy of "One Skein Wonders" arrived yesterday and there are quite a few patterns in there I want to make and hopefully use up some stash.
Tonight at Liberty's saw a larger than usual group with new visitors and several new projects on the go. I staggered home under the weight of a Liberty Sale bag and now have at least 3 more projects in the offing - it would have been churlish not to buy when they had just taken a further delivery of sale yarn from my favourite range of yarn.
Saturday
Bus, train station - no trains, back to the bus. Next train station (on a different line), train - wrong destination; change trains; change trains again then walk in the pouring rain to Stash!
Meet up with the birthday girl Dawn, Jill, Sue, Wibbo (who is on a Knitting from Stash plan), Nickerjac and others.
Fondle yarn, look at books, talk, knit, drink coffee, buy planned items,
knit, talk , laugh, make unplanned purchase of one skein of yarn,
knit some more
and then leave for the journey home.
Walk in rain, train (to the normal station), walk, wait for next train, cancelled, wait half an hour, next train delayed. Get on delayed train which stops at the first stop and then goes fast (not stopping) to the last station on the line. No trains back to where I live. Can't find a bus that goes any where near where I live. Phone Matt, wait in the rain for him to drive and pick me up.
Sunday
Ache, cough, sneeze, try to knit lace pattern from Aussie magazine,
ache, sleep,
I saw the New Year in sitting at my MIL's picking up the stitches for the lace edging to the Hap shawl. This will now be my commuter knitting for the next few weeks.
Never being one to have just one project one the go (more like 100) I spent Monday working on another new project - the Sienna Cardigan from Fall 06 IK. I'm using Jaeger's Extra Fine Merino Chunky in the hope that the difference in gauge will make it fit me. I made a large swatch aka the right front and am fairly happy with the fabric I'm getting. Sizewise it also looks as if it will work so I'm happy.
Our New Year's celebrations were quiet, unlike some of those elsewhere when drunken louts went on the rampage damaging a local bus shelter; they then attacked cars parked outside the residential home for adults with learning difficulties where my sister was working. Then they smashed the residents satelite dish, ripped the wires out and caused a great deal of terror to innocent people.
I hope they had the hangovers from hell today!