knitwise

What's brewing?

I am back from Paris where we had a lovely and exhausting time visiting family and friends,  eating,  drinking,  talking,  laughing and  still finding time for a bit of touring.  Alas no time for knitting...

I have managed to pick up my needles for a few rows on Bianca's  front before going last night to a pre-Halloween party.  A combination of  Indian food,  wine,  a game of Atmosfear  and the change to Winter time left me with a hangover this morning which didn't get better this afternoon when we went to watch our children lose another football match...

School starts again tomorrow and I don't have to go back to work before Friday.  Back to some peace and quiet,   I might be able to get on with a few more rows...

A few days away...

No blogging from me next week as we're off for a few days to visit my family in France.  We haven't been over for about two years and it will be so good to see everybody again.  There will be a lot of talking,  eating  and  drinking (??? ). Not much time for knitting I am afraid!

Apart from visiting Family and Friends,  there will be a little time to ourselves for a bit of touring.  Now the problem is :  the children want to go there,  my husband wants to go there  and I would like to go back there.

The children have already won as my brother got us the tickets.  We only have a few days and we will have to squeeze our trips around socialising.  We won't be able to do the three, so what will it be???  Probably something else...  Who knows, I might even be able to locate a Phildar shop???  I doubt very much I will be allowed to stop though...

FBS = FO

I have finished my Flower Basket Shawl this week-end and I really enjoyed my first lace knitting project.

I could not take pictures outside as the weather was foul here this afternoon but the pattern stands out quite well against the window.

I have made this shawl shoulder length but it somehow came out shorter than the expected size.  I have used a 2ply Shetland laceweight from Heirloom Knitting and it blocked beautifully.  If   I decide to make another one,  I will knit at least two more repeats.

This one is for my Mother-in-Law for her birthday.

Hope she likes it as much as I do...

Now, because of this,   Bianca has been neglected and it is about time I pick her up again...

Things I want to do...

Following Iris 's lead,   here is my list of things I wish to do:

• Spend Christmas in Scandinavia.

• Design my own sweaters.
• Live in a very rural place far from the madding crowd.
• Own a wool shop.
• See the Fall in New England.

• Get organized.
• Learn to speak Italian.
• Have Tea at the Ritz.

• Stop time .... so I can do all these things!!!

If you like the idea of listing your wishes,  have a go yourself  and publish it on your blog.  It is fun to sit and write down one's dreams and read others' as well.

Knit behind...

Bianca's back is finished at last. Two fronts and one sleeve to go... 

The Flower Basket Shawl is knitting itself nicely.  I have done 4 repeats of the pattern out of 8.  The problem with shawls is,  as you go along , the rows get longer...   But I am loving it!

I am still waiting for my GGH Soft Kid to re-start the Valenciennes Cardigan.  This could be weeks as the wool has to be re-ordered from Germany.  But I am not too bothered at the moment as I have plenty to keep me busy.

So,  as you can see I am knitting in earnest but it doesn't stop me reading other people's blogs...  Unfortunately (for me) I keep discovering nice things being knitted and keep adding them to my list of To-do's...

There are  two knitalongs  running simultaneously at the moment for this Phildar pattern which I have discovered very recently.:  The Colchique knitalongs in English and French.  Both have the pattern in Pdf to download. 

I have never joined a Knitalong  before for two reasons:  1)  I am not ready because I have too many projects on the needles and by the time I join it won't be a Knitalong but a Knit-way-behind (this is the case for this one)  or  2) I am ready but the Knitalong has been and gone ages ago and people have moved on to others pastures (my FBS is a good example: everybody has done it and here I am three trains behind...).

So I have downloaded the pattern because I like this jumper,  but don't be surprised if you find it on my needles in two years time...

October changes...

I have made my final decision and ordered some laceweight yarn from Heirloom Knitting who has sent me  an e-mail today to tell me it is on its way. 

Soon this  could be on my needles .  A quick trip to my LYS tomorrow to get the right size needles (hope they have got them in stock)  and I will be ready and eager to start... 

I have also worked on my Valenciennes cardigan or rather I have tried to figure out where I was going wrong.  I tried a sample knitting with some 4ply cotton and it wasn't me after all!  There was an error in the instructions.  But I have decided not to carry on with the KSH and to start all over again with some GGH Soft Kid instead.  I have used it before and know I get on well with it.  So watch out for the next posts which might be eventful as I will be knitting on three fronts.  Oh dear!  Didn't I say that I would stick to no more than two projects at one time?  Well,  promises are meant to be broken sometimes...

Finally,  I made a detour via Amazon.co.uk and ordered two books,  one for inspiration and the other to add a bit of mystery to my knitting time...

Both are impulse buys and I will tell you what I think of them when they get here (which could be weeks... because I opted for the slow dispatch to avoid paying postage. Yes I am mean...)