Playing Catch-Up

I know. It's been a long time. Over a month since my last entry. I knew when I started up this blog again that it was going to be difficult. Writing does not come as easily to me as it once did. ME/CFS flare ups can be long lasting and the fatigue, both mental and physical, they cause, makes writing even more difficult.

While I haven't been writing, I have been knitting, and spinning, and crocheting.

"Cloudy Night"

"Candy Floss"

 These are my finished spinning projects. The left and top one are both purple fibres which have been plied together, while the one on the right is a blue and grey. I sometimes name my new yarn, sometimes not.

"Dulcie" (Ravelry link) is a crochet sweater/top made out of motifs sewn or joined together. There are three kinds of motifs: squares, pentagons, and hexagons. I've nearly finished now, with just about a dozen hexagons to go and then the sewing up, but the picture left gives a good indication of the colours I've chosen. It's a paid for pattern from one of my favourite indy dyers, The Natural Dye Studio. The wife of the operation provides pattern support for their yarn, and is a keen crocheter, so all the patterns are crochet. While I  have a lot of their yarn, I wanted to make this top a little lighter than the wool it was calling for, so I made it out of a cotton/bamboo blend.


These Hermione's Everyday Socks (Ravelry Link) were made for the Ravellenic Games. The goal was to challenge yourself, and since I had in the past had difficulty making socks that fit me, the goal was to do that. I ended up, quite by mistake in the first sock, putting more stitches in the heel gusset than the pattern called for, and I think that's what my problem in the past has been. These extra stitches made the heel wider (I think) and that was where I was having trouble fitting the sock. I also increased the needle size. The next challenge is to replicate the experiment!
This hat is by Wooly Wormhead, one of the premier hat designers of the knitting world. I have really grown to like her hats, although many are slouchy - I don't wear slouch very well. This is one that was designed slouchy, and I've taken and shortened it to suit my tastes. It's called Pavone, (Ravelry link) which is Italian for "peacock" and the little holes are surrounded by a motif that looks like a peacock. It's a fun little hat. I made it out of cotton, and it will be one of my few handknit summer hats.

This is the back of a pullover that I am making for my housemate, Katharina. She requested it last summer, and bought the yarn; I started it right before Christmas. It's called Lundy, (Ravelry link)  and is a glorious thing of cables and rib. I am so slow at cables and rib. But it is coming right along. I've had it on hiatus since the start of the Olympics, but will be jumping back into it as soon as I finish Dulcie. I actually did the second half in one long day of knitting, so I'm reasonably confident I can knit the rest of it up pretty quickly. The yarn is Aran weight, so it's nothing like the laceweight sweater I'm working on.

 Said sweater is Marco, (Ravelry link) which is made from the Natural Dye Studio's Angel laceweight. This yarn is my favourite base, and is very soft and warm. The sweater is a pullover, knit from the top down, and uses a drop stitch pattern. I'm about two-thirds through the first arm, so there's just the other arm and a small cowl neck to go and I'm done. I've had this on the needles since last September, so I'll be glad to finish.

My next article for new knitters (and crocheters) I hope to make about magazines. Do you have any favourites you'd like me to talk about?