Much knitting progress has happened this week and I can actually share some of it with you today!
I am really enjoying my Get Garter Beret from Woolly Wormhead and I am now two thirds complete on it, having worked four of the six panels. It’s a sideways knit beret that’s also on the bias and the crown shaping is achieved with short row shaping. When I had done two panels I was convinced it was never going to be big enough, but with four completed I am a lot more confident. The yarn, Neps and Tatties from Ewe & Ply in ‘Raisin Girl’ is fantastic and I really like the little ‘neps’ in cream and brown that randomly poke out of the surface of the knitting.
Sue has been asking for a Woodstock (Snoopy’s pal) from the kit that came with Knit Now Issue 133. Last night I knitted all the pieces, which took just over half an hour. I think it’s going to take longer than that to assemble! It doesn’t look much like Woodstock at the moment, just seven small, scrappy bits of knitting… Hopefully by next week I’ll have something more bird shaped to show you.
The baking is continuing and my loaves are getting quite consistent now which is very encouraging! I think the problem previously was a combination of too much water and over-proving the dough. I’ve even managed to use up most of the jar of discard I accumulated while getting Audrey2 up to full strength; this week we’ve had vegan sourdough banana bread and seeded sourdough crackers, both of which have been lovely. I haven’t taken any photos of them though.
On the ‘secret knitting’ front, I have finished the first item!! Half of it has been blocked and the other half is currently taking up residence on the lounge floor. It took me an hour and a quarter to pin out this morning. The trickiest part was in working out what measurements to pin it to. I know the final measurements I want, but I also knew that this particular project would ‘relax’ after being unpinned, so I needed to block it larger than I wanted it to end up. Adding 10% to the width seems to have done the trick.
On Sunday I cast on for the second secret project. I’d done two rows when it occurred to me that as I’d not used this yarn before (and the ball band says it whitens and fluffs up after washing and blocking) it would be a good idea to do a couple of swatches to make sure the needle size I’d originally intended to use would work with this yarn. I tried the intended size and a couple of sizes larger in case any ‘fluffiness’ obscured the design. Both actually looked good, although the original needle size gave the main fabric more stability, so I’ve stuck with it and now I’ve done a couple of inches of the main project. It’s going to be gorgeous though I say it myself.
Do you remember I said that this yarn had been spun ‘in the grease’ and smelt wonderfully sheepy? Having lanolin still in the fibres has already had a good effect on my hands and some of the splits are healing – hurray! I’m looking forward to getting really stuck into this project and also hoping to try out some more of their yarns in the future. I’m also looking forward to being able to show you what I’ve been doing – but it will be another seven months before I can do that!
At least five of the roses are still in flower and the fuchsias are looking very blousy! It’s weird how warm it still is a lot of the time (sometimes it seems warmer outside than in!), and the birds are really enjoying themselves in the bushes, pecking little creatures from the stems. Various parts of the garden still need tidying up before the winter, like doing the last mow and cutting down the crocosmia, and I’m hoping the weather continues to hold until after I’ve met my first deadline which is just under two weeks away.
That’s all from me today. Stay safe and do more of what makes you happy. K x