What’s On?

Wow! There’s been so much going on around here lately that I haven’t had a moment to post about works in progress. There are plenty of interesting things on the needles, too! First, swatches. Above is a snippet I’ve worked with newly acquired Drops Alpaca Silk that I picked up when we were at Wool-Tyme. Though I haven’t quite hit upon the perfect stitch combination, I can say that this yarn is positively dreamy! It is so fuzzy and fluffy and light, yet with the drape of alpaca and the silkiness of…well, silk. And I think the color is divine. I have a sweater sketched and am just working out the particulars. Judging from the swatch, it will work up quite quickly, which is good because I’d like to wear it!

Here’s something! My Martha Cardigan is getting close to being finished. The body is done and I’m a little over half way through the first sleeve. It took a minute and a few cracks at swatching the bottom border but finally I found something I’m really happy with. I’ll repeat a truncated version on the cuffs. I’ve enjoyed every minute of this sweater. The utterly simple shape meant I could just enjoy the knitting, no head-scratching required. The yarn, Rowan Felted Tweed, has been an unexpected joy. I didn’t know what to expect from it, yet was drawn to it in the store. It has turned out to be an airy, fluffy woolen-spun yarn that belies its name. I kind of expected something called “felted tweed” to be much heavier and denser and more serious. This is like knitting a pussy willow, and just about the same color, too!

Remember my enthusiasm about sock blanks a couple of weeks ago? Well, I managed to find one by Regia during a recent trip to Knit Traders in Kingston. I was not particularly struck by the dyes in this blank but really wanted to try knitting with one. I have to say, I’m pretty happy! For a work horse, Regia makes a good, durable, reliable sock yarn and I enjoy that ‘toothiness’ while knitting socks. For a somewhat boring diagonally striped blank, the color way is looking pretty exciting, I think, with little slivers of peacock through deep purple and navy blue. I’m using a simple waffle pattern that’s easily memorized. Fun!

On Friday morning, I awoke with a fully formed shawl idea in my head. I don’t know if I dreamed it or what, but it was front and center in my brain when I opened my eyes. It involved a strange little skein I bought last year at Needle in a Haystack last year called Tahiti. It is a smooth, silky cotton yarn with a long, slow, gradual stripe pattern. I hadn’t laid eyes on the yarn since the summer so, before I finished my first cup of coffee, I was tearing my stash apart looking for it. I didn’t want the idea to desert me before I could look into it. After an hour of digging, I found it and immediately remembered why I bought it. It’s very pretty! So pretty that I dashed into Picton to grab another skein which luckily was the same dye lot. Some things are just meant to be 😉