knitwise

Autumn...

Autumn is definitively in. There is a chill in the air,  leaves are falling  and birds are packing their bags...

Winter is not that far away (supermarkets are already displaying advent calendars,  in case we forget...).  Autumn is thus the season to gather your harvest for the long dark months spent indoors.

Knitters are no exception.  I have been visiting quite a few blogs recently and it seems that everybody is looking anxiously through their stash,  tidying up,  deciding on which future pattern(s),  ordering wool and needles.  In brief, they are getting ready for serious Winter knitting.  The fever has finally caught up with me and although I have got enough yarn for two or three projects lined up,  I thought about adding one more to the list (you never know, it might be a harsh Winter...).

After seeing MJ 's beautiful Flower Basket Shawl,  I thought it was about time I tried my hand at lace knitting.  I have had the pattern for ages but was a bit anxious of starting something I had never done before.  But I suppose I'll never know if I don't try...  I still have to get the yarn though... and I am searching the net for the best options.  If you have any suggestions as to which is the best yarn for this pattern,  I'll be pleased to hear from you.

In the meantime,  I am now past the armholes decreases on Bianca's back  and I am over the moon!   It is amazing how even 20 odd stitches less on your needles increase  your knitting speed...   and also the fact that I have stopped messing about with the Valenciennes KSH cardigan... for  a while.

Down Memory Lane...

When I am knitting,  my mind wanders and maybe it shouldn't sometimes considering the mistakes I have to rectify afterwards...  Recently,  while working on Bianca's back,  off it went again,  down Memory Lane this time...

When I was little,  my Mum used to knit a lot.   I remember Thursday afternoons (in France there was no school on Thursdays then)  spent watching children TV with my brothers and the sound of my mother's needles clicking away in the background.  There was no pink frilly cardi or jumper for me as everything was handed down to my brothers once I had outgrown the garment.  Once  it had reached my youngest brother and he, in his turn, had outgrown it,  it was carefully unravelled,  the wool was washed  and rewinded into balls usually with the help of my father or one of us.

The "new" wool would be used as stripes for a new jumper,  hats, scarves or mittens and even pom-poms.   If I was lucky I might end up with a new outfit for my doll or Nounours (my faithful teddy, photographed here with me,  who generously modelled my Branching Out scarf in an earlier post)...

Those were the days when knitting wasn't so much a hobby as a necessity.  Do you know anybody nowadays who unravels old jumpers to make new ones?...

Good and bad news...

Bad news:  my major plan was to get some Calmer wool at John Lewis  but  they did not have enough in the shade I wanted!...

Good news:  I did not leave empty handed.  This is what I came home with :

Some Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply and some Debbie Bliss Merino DK.  Yes, I know what I am going to make with them but I am not telling ... yet.

and   

Another knitting Classic.  I love so many designs in this book that it would take too long to list them all.  The question is: can I knit with the Denim cotton?  After my little problem with Cotton Glace (which I haven't resolved yet) I am a bit weary of cotton yarns.   The fact that Denim cotton shrinks after the first wash could help "even" my uneven stitches ???

Bad news:  The Valenciennes cardigan is giving me grief.   Actually it is not the pattern but the KSH itself and... me.  I don't pay attention enough and with KSH you MUST be vigilant at all times! (be warned...)  So after many knitting, frogging, ripping , re-knitting, re-frogging, re-ripping,  again and again,  I have decided to give Valenciennes and myself a break.  The lace border is done,  so I can safely put it aside and start again in the future  when I have forgotten what a pain KSH is to knit with...

Good news:  Bianca's back is growing smoothly and knitting with Rowan 4ply soft is a pleasure. So I am going to concentrate on this one for a little while.

Bad news: I went to support my children at their football match last night, and they lost 1-6 !

Shopping again...

No pictures of knitting to show you today as nothing interesting has happened that would require dusting the old camera...

I have started Bianca's back which is the same as the sleeve but wider,   and I have finished Valenciennes's lace border which is the same as before but longer...  Nothing exciting then.

Tomorrow,  after the shopping and ironing chores,  I am planning a long knitting session as I will have more time to myself!   Delphine has decided to join the Athletic training and Christian will have Orchestra practice,  both after school.  I think I am going to love Mondays this year....

Tuesday I am off to Southampton for my Autumn visit to John Lewis.  It is time to gather up wool for serious Winter knitting and I want to see the colours for real and feel the yarns before I make the final decision(s).   I am more organised this time and will take a list with me of yarn requirements for two (or maybe three) projects which are waiting (im)patiently in the queue...

Everybody at home thinks I am really weird to get so excited at the prospect of buying wool.  They look at me sometimes as if I am an alien or somebody with a very serious mental disorder and I am sure I can read pity in their eyes too...  But I don't really care...   Roll on Tuesday!!!

New books on my shelves...

As I have taken up knitting only last year after at least a decade of absence,  my knitting library was  in serious need of updating.  I am adding little by little according to the state of my purse and here are my latest acquisitions:

I was really looking forward to this new book from the Rowan Classic collection and I have to say I am hugely disappointed!

Out of the 18 designs featured inside this book I can only find one pattern  that caught my eye and it is a scarf which I thought might provide a nice present for somebody.

I usually like Martin Storey's designs but this time I think he could have done better, much better indeed...

Sigh!...

I know, I know... it's an oldie,  but I have wanted it for a long,  long time,  and one must read the Classics.

Now THIS is a different story.  I LOVE  this book!

A few patterns in this book will definitively end up on my knitting list.  I have already a soft spot for Joy,  Fleur,  Mili,  Oriel  and the ever so popular  Selina...

I still like a lot of others but they might prove a bit out of my reach in terms of experience.

So my advice,  if you haven't already got it,  is to buy it....

Sadly,  this one is to follow shortly,  I hope.

I  cannot comment yet on this book by Louisa Harding but I have seen a preview and two patterns  have caught my eyes:

and 

Hope there will be more...

New project...

I haven't achieved much this week  on the knitting front with all the excitement of the return to school and work.  I haven't had yet the opportunity to enjoy the new peace at home.   Next week, hopefully I will,  and I might make some noticeable progress...

Bianca's first sleeve should have been  finished by now,  but  I encounted a knot in the 4ply soft and have to re-thread all the beads.  This is the second time it happens and I am not very impressed with Rowan.  In disgust,  I have put Bianca aside for a little while to give me the time to cool off...

To rest a bit from all this bead-knitting,  I have started a new project,  with the solemn promise to myself that I will definitively stick to NO MORE than two projects at one time!

I am knitting the Valenciennes cardigan which was introduced to me by the very talented Caro.  I haven't got a picture to show you,  but you can see hers in her Galerie Tricot.  It is beautiful and she is making another one!!!   Thanks Caro for the inspiration and the help you have given me.  Valenciennes is knitted in Rowan KSH and Dewberry  is the colour I have chosen.   I have started the lace border from which I'll have to pick stitches to form the body which is knitted in one piece.  I haven't got very far,  here is a preview of what it looks like at the moment :

I have found KSH very fiddly to knit with, but it is so soft and so light!!  Obviously not a winter cardi but if I am lucky enough to finish it and make it as beautiful as Caro's,  I am thinking of wearing it over a nice camisole maybe at  Christmas???... 

Back to earth...

I am back from a little trip to Paradise and it's back to Reality for me with a ton of washing and ironing to do, shopping for the start of school next Tuesday, etc...

My eyes are still full of sunshine and I am still in slow gear due to the gentle Greek way of life which says Tomorrow is another day...  So instead of attacking the ironing,  as Reason tells me,  I should really do,  I am stopping for a chat.

A couple of shots to show you what I have just left behind: 

Apart from eating lovely Greek food, soaking up as much sun as I could, swimming and... resting,  I managed to do a few rows of knitting.  Actually I did more than I thought I would do and started the decreases on my sleeve:

I know, it is not much to show for two weeks, but it is the best I could do...  Try to knit with wasps constantly buzzing around you and you will know what I mean...  And as I said before, this is also 4ply knitting we're talking about...

Notice in the background the cookery book I brought back with the wild hope to re-create some of the beautiful dishes I tasted there...