The yarn is pure cashmere in a creamy shade of burnt orange, from Handmaiden Fine Yarns. No problem there. The pattern is "Ishbel" from Ysolda Teague's "Whimsical Little Knits" e-book. No problem there. The knitting is by me, and that seems to be my problem. I was enjoying this too much. It was causing me to snuggle into my favorite chair and sigh. This is always a bad sign. Knitting is like the sea. You should never turn your back on it. You should never allow you mind to wander too far, or it will swallow you up. There are many, many versions of "Ishbel" on Ravelry. Everyone was Oooing and Ahhhing about this pattern. It's easy, and quick, and wearable and well written. I threw myself into the water without my bathing suit on. The water felt great, so great in fact, that I was knitting with my eyes half shut, and a Mona Lisa smile. Now I'm drowning, and all I can think to say is "feck". Somewhere along the right hand side of the triangle, I missed a couple of yarn overs. It's almost invisible. It took me a good ten minutes to find them. I'm underwater, staring at 176 sts, wondering what to do. I'm going to have to force this cashmere to do unspeakable things. I'm going to have to compromise my knitting ethics, in order to save myself.
Earlier this week, I was also forced to fudge my way out of a corner. These may look like an innocent pair of baby booties, but they hide a dark secret. It's hidden in their soles (pun intended). I found an extra stitch at the end of a row of kitchnering, and I just tucked it into the seam. Upon knitting the second booty, I realized that I'd have to make the same mistake in order for the soles to match. Despite this slack handed approach, they're darn cute. The pattern is "Tiny Shoes", and is also from Ysolda Teague's new book "Whimsical Little Knits".
I really love the little buttons I found for them. I'll certainly be making more of them, with leftover sock yarn.
Now they need to make their way to the post office, and then to the mommy to be. They probably won't travel very far after they make it onto the feet of the baby, but these will be very well traveled booties. The yarn is from Canada, it came to me via Virginia, it was knit in France, and will be mailed off to Minnesota. All of that flying makes my green side cringe, but at least I was able to get two projects out of the yarn, and the labor was my own.....justification.....complete.
This last photo, is of a swatch for a new sweater. This is knit with yarn form our vacation. It's "Monet", 30% cashmere/70% Merino, by Ixia. I think the ratio of cashmere to wool is perfect. It still has that lovely halo, and feather light feel, but the wool will make it harder wearing. Also, I won't bust into tears if my little boy decides to smear some yogurt on the shoulder. There is no doubt in my mind that he will decide to do this.
The pattern I'm swatching for is "Ali" from Kim Hargreaves new book "Breeze". Truth be told, this is not the first Hargreaves pattern I've attempted. I've got two projects that never really made it past the first four inches. This one shows more promise. It's less complicated, and has a lot of basketweave, which I find addictive. The swatch is beautiful. The fabric is light. It's a perfect weight for a cardigan, and there's enough room between the stitches for the cashmere to bloom a little, after washing. FYI, you should always knit cashmere a little bit looser to allow for the bloom. It gets softer with each hand wash. I'm going to keep the swatch near to me, like a carrot on a stick. I'm determined to finish a sweater for myself before the cold weather sets in. Before I go, I wanted to add that I'm not just being artsy with my photography. Greens tend to get really weird when I post them to the blog. I thought I might try and trick my camera into giving me a more accurate green, by including a contrasting green in the photo. I'm pleased to report that my sneaky tricks have worked. Note to self, be more sneaky with the electronics.
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