Quick knitting update…

Finished. Yay!

Tuesday Catch Up…

So we survived the backlash of Hurricane Ofelia which being honest for us up North (53.6°) it was just another day of autumn, although with all the Sahara sand in the air, mixed with the smoke and fire dust from Portugal made for interesting skies.  It was as if the world was coming to an end, a little like in Flash Gordon, all we needed was Zarkov and it would have been complete.  With the so-called storm came two claps of thunder, 17°c (very warm for us), a black sky turning red and 70mph winds.  The red sky lasted for about 6 hours, then the sun came out and normality resumed.

WIP – Admirals Braid.  I have finished the front of the sweater, and the middle 13 stitches for the neck braid are on a holding needle awaiting the completion of the rest of the garment in order to pick up stitches and do that.  So the next part is the back, which, apart from doing the 3×3 ribbing on 7mm, is now standard stocking stitch on 8mm, and as you could imagine, boredom sets in quite fast just knitting a row and purling a row continuously.  However, I am determined to get it finished soon as the cold weather will be starting soon, and zero on the thermometer will soon be here.

This morning we decided to go for a walk in the woods.  If you have read my other posts on morning walks you will know that we have 22 miles of coast and approximately 5 square miles of pinewoods, so lots to explore.  Today was no exception.  We started off in a place that we knew, and all of a sudden were off the beaten track and into wooded areas that we had not been in before.  Lots to see, and discover, including this rather charming little house right in the middle of the woods.  I say charming, but who is to say that Leatherhead is not in there carving up bodies for his next Hallowe’en outfit?  If it was not for the car on the drive I would have guessed at it being an abandoned house, but looking through the windows, from where I took the photo that is, I am not going to tempt fate and end up sewn into a mask or bodysuit, it looked lived in, just.

The walk off the beaten track ended up with us walking 4k, yes we did get lost, and only for GPS on my phone got us back to the car.  Harper must have walked twice that distance, let’s face it, dogs just cannot walk in straight lines.

One great positive from the cold weather, I was able to wear my knitted socks, they were so warm and comfortable and I could have kept walking for hours.  If you have not seen them in previous posts, these are the ones I wore today.

 

Progress, Sweater So Far…

Since the passing of Lilu, I have not been in the mood to knit, so in effect, since my last knitting post update on this sweater, I had not done a single stitch. The last few days I decided to delve back into it, and not before time.

The nights are drawing in and the weather is definitely on the change, Autumn is in full flow and Winter is on the brow and heading this way fast. Friday night I dove back into it and made quite a bit of progress. Later that evening whilst letting Harper out into the garden to do her business I heard Canadian Geese approaching, and by the sound of it, the flock was enormous. After a minute they started flying over the garden and were making the most incredible sound. The sound of geese fills me with sadness as it is a marker for the end of summer and that autumn is truly in flow, but at the same time, it makes me happy to see all these gracious birds heading over to winter at Martin Mere, which is not too far from us. These geese took over 15 minutes to pass over, all the time I stood in the garden looking up smiling, listening, and of cause getting wet as the rain it never stops.

This moment in the garden has spurred me on to finish off my sweater, so the next month I intend to complete it before the cold hits hard.

I have done 54cm of the garment and have 5cm to go until I start the armholes, so with that, the front should be finished quite fast.

The rest it does not really have a pattern, just plain back and arms. I have never had to sew a knitted garment together, so that will be a small challenge, but rest assured, I can sew and have over the years have done lots of sewing both by hand and machine (I have my own sewing machine).

More updates to come as I complete each bit.

Sweater Update

I thought I would post an update on the chunky sweater I am making myself. I had to get a 120cm 8mm circular needle as the straight needles I have are just not long enough.

This is where I am with the front so far.

Drops Project

I won a £100 voucher on LoveKnitting.com back in April and decided that I would make myself a sweater for winter. I have lots of ones that I want to make but thought this Drops Admiral’s Braid would be my first one.

I cast on, then realised I was not sure what n edge stitch was, as I have never needed one, so a quick trot about the internet, and hey presto, I now which one of the many I need to use.

Then, starting the pattern rib I read M.1 as make one, as most people would, then when getting to the end of the repeats I was left with 19 stiches on my needle. I re-read the pattern and no, it seems wrong. I then thought that rather than the repeat from * to * 4 times (5 in total) I would remove one of the repeats and be left with 31 stitches.  Looking again at the pattern I noticed that there was a little chart M.1 with 31 stitches. BINGO! I sussed it out, so frogged the lot and am about to start again.

I keep telling myself to read the whole pattern before starting, but my advice seems to fall on my deaf ears, and of course, I screw things up again. Will I ever learn?

Stay tuned for updates.