Yarn swift!

I've had this Fyberspates fairy wool for a few months now. It came in a long skien which needs to be put into a ball, but trying to wind it has proved extremely difficult. It's cobweb weight, and gets tangled no matter what I wrap it around - be it chair legs or my own legs. I decided the only way to do it would be to get a swift, so started looking around for one. Well, it turns out they are quite expensive, and second hand ones are near impossible to come by. Freecycle came through for me though in a rare moment of win, and I am now the proud owner of a small-ish umbrella swift. I thought it would be difficult to use, since it's not a plain wooden one, but it's marvellous. It hold the yarn really well. Now, if only it would undo the knots that worked their way in before, I would be set.

I've also started my Gentle Rose cardigan. It was something to work on between being on stage last week in our annual Gilbert and Sullivan production, and kept me calm and focused. I've found myself making all kinds of errors on the purl rows - I keep slipping purl stitches instead of working them. This led to a lot of holes, so I ended up ripping 19 rows out after deciding I didn't want holes in my lovely jumper. I mean, I spent £85 on the yarn for it (most of it was birthday money) so I really want it to be something special. Because of the mistakes, I've slowed down my knitting quite a bit to make sure everything is perfect. It means the jumper won't knit up as quickly as I may like, but at least the weather is getting warmer. Hopefully, the quality of Malabingo worsted merino means I will have a stunning cardi to wear for many years to come.

Baby Flap Cap

I have been very bad in not posting for so long. I kept thinking I had an excuse in that I really haven't been knitting much on my projects, but checking my last entry, I haven't even mentioned my newest, so Bad Dori!

I recently recieved some news from a good friend from my uni days that she was expecting her second child, a daughter. I met her first daughter when I went home in November and caught up with  her and her husband, another good friend from the same period. Really excited for her, and keen to make up for not knitting anything for their first, I decided to make a hat for the second and a stuffed animal for the first. The first likes cats, so a cat it will be. But first, the hat!

My mother had given me some Lion Brand Homespun Baby when I went home, and I decided to put it to good use. It's light enough blue that I don't think the pink-blue divide will be insulted, and I double checked with the new mother, who says she has no problem with colour. You can't tell very well from the picture, but it has little flaps on the sides, and is very soft and lovely. And machine washable! I knitted it mostly in the round, and have just switched to DPNs for the crown, where it gets too small for my round needles.

The yarn has played havoc with my hands, cramping them up and making knitting difficult. I don't know if it's because it's chunky (the first chunky I have worked with), since none of my other projects are being such a pain. If that's so, I'm rather cross, as I have a chunky poncho with hood in mind to make and was really looking forward to it. Still, it could be something else about the yarn, such as the fact that it kinks around a bit and is generally a bit wierd.

Edit: I finished it up today at my LYS's natterers group. I thought it turned out quite well: