Being busy - where does the time go?

Back of the Bronze Oxide shawl

Front of the shawl

 Well, it has been another busy week. I finished the first of my current test knits -the shawl. It is really heavy and should be very cosy for the winter.

I also managed to finish putting together the packs for my talk and workshop later in the year. It may be months early, but at least I won't be getting everything put together at the last minute...... unless there are going to be many more than fifty coming along. I did make sixty, so I'm hoping that will be more than enough. You can see my preparations for this workshop and the packs here.

Starting the colourwork

yarn colours for new test knit

This is going to be an interesting knit. Another jumper for my grand daughter. This one has a design of wolves around the neckline. Called "Wolf in sheeps clothing", it is the first time I have worked with more than one colour at a time using the fairisle technique. There are lots of markers in place helping me to keep track of the design repeats. Not enough completed to be able to show you the design yet, I'm just hoping that the colours I have chosen will do this beautiful design justice. It has been designed by the same person who designed Colibri, which you can see here.

Crazy patchwork challenge

At Pinfold last week we were looking at crazy patchwork. I have barely started decorating mine as you can see. I'm hoping to fit a lot more embroidery in before you see this again. Buttons and things too.

Overlocker ready for action

 My overlocker is out again ready to help me finish the tops I am rebuilding. You can see the fabric for the two tops here. The front and back are now stitched together at the shoulders, waiting for me to get on with adding the cap sleeves and sorting out the binding for around the neck. Hopefully it will be ready to wear very soon now. I really could do with some more summery tops before the summer vanishes again......

Front view

Back view

What a couple of weeks!

Ella with her new friend Sasha

Well, there has been quite a lot of sewing which I can't show you, as well as some knitting. The sewing cannot yet be shown since it is ready to be unveiled later this week. It is the result of the colour challenge which I organised for NWCQ. I shall post photos after Thursday.

The biggest change over the past few days is that we are now a two dog household. Can I introduce Sasha. She joined Ella in our house just a week ago and has been settling in well. She was a rescue and is around three years old. As you can see she is a similar size and weight to Ella who is a Husky-Akita cross. Sasha appears to be an Akita-Alsatian cross.

Rosamund

My waistcoat is nearing completion. I am just knitting around the border at the moment. The plastic safety pins are showing the positioning of the buttonholes which will be made in a few more rows time. With 712 stitches on my circular needles this is proving to be a bit of a marathon. The pattern asks for a long knitted strip rather than a knitted on border. However, this will work better with my remaining yarn. As you can see I have only knitted two rows of the navy and am continuing with the turquoise. I have just about enough of the navy left to do a final row and also the cast off.

I have also been involved with an exhibition. You can see photos of the stand here.

Quilting, knitting and enjoying the countryside

Completed shawl neck cabled jumper

Well, since my last post there has been a completed project - this cabled jumper. The pattern dates from 1989 and the yarn has languished in my stash for rather too long. There wasn't quite enough, hence the decision to add the brown for the shawl collar. The two yarns are the same make and vintage, luckily. The jumper is really cosy to wear too.

Taking up an abandoned project

I started this one back in 2011, so it has been hiding away in my knitting bag for far too long. I had completed the back and half of one front when I got bored with it. Now I am half way up the second front. It will be a sleeveless waistcoat. The pattern is from the Rowan Classic 4ply designs for men and women. The designs are by Martin Storey and the yarn used is no longer available - it is Rowan's Cashsoft 4ply. An unusual purchase for me since I very rarely buy the wool suggested by a knitting pattern. The colours chosen are my own and not that used in the original pattern. The design is called Rosamund.

Close up of some of the pattern

I've also been out walking too. My long suffering dog Ella by my side.She loves the walks, but hates the idea of being the subject of photographs.

Walkies

Hence the look on her furry face.

My long suffering companion

We had stopped by the river, opposite the weir shown in the photo above. It is a lovely spot with a bench. Perfect for a short stop to sit and admire the scenery.

I have no photos of the quilting as yet. Not any that I can share. The project is the result of a challenge and it needs to be completed before being shared with the NWCQ group. I wrote about it here.