March went by in a fast but happy blur of doing things other than almanac knitting!  I think this was the first project of the Knit Along not to stall for me with copious amounts of ripping back!  I was okay with the colourwork cushion and got it finished in the first ten days of March!  WoooHooo! The black trellis pattern over two different shades of escape was quite stained glass like in effect which was the aim!  #2 daughter saw the cushion and asked if it was up for grabs so it will go to a good home later this month as a birthday gift!  

This meant that I was free for a over a fortnight to knit the silk garden Noro tunic that had been on the back burner (though this started with me ripping it right back to the beginning - dont know what I was thinking but it was twice as long as I needed - well thats a slight exageration - the neck and shoulder shaping came up to over my head)!  It is such a lovely yarn to knit with that I forgave it, cast on again but with a couple of small alterations to the pattern and now I am knitting it in the round and am almost to the smocking part which is the really exciting bit!  Its Noro  book 24 the swing tunic with smocking detail. Knitting it in the round makes the stripe effect of the Noro really pleasing, on some rows there is just a hint of a new colour and sometimes just one thin line interspersed with the other shades. 

I made lots of dishcloths and face flannels too from the gorgeous peaches and cream cottons for some last minute pretty and practical gift giving!  With a fair wind I can churn out a couple of those in an evening. The finished gift is always so well received when wrapped up with a funky bar of soap that it makes it a pleasure to do.   

April, for anyone knitting along with the Almanac, is baby blanket knitting and a lot of grafting or weaving (kitchener stitch I think).  I have done two squares now and it just isnt grabbing me :(  However, my plan will be to make another cushion using the same countrystyle dk in black for the edges and same escape for the blocks as I used in March’s project.  Ive completed two blocks and with a bit of luck may get this one sewn up in time for the birthday girl to have a pair of cushions for her birthday! 

While Aprils project hasnt really “done” it for me, May just cant come quickly enough and I have been and bought the yarn for it already.  Details to follow but my project involves some gorgeous Rowan Felted Tweed and some divine Rowan Kidsilk Haze!  These are my two favourite yarns and anyone who knows me will realise how very, very happy this has made me!  All the warm and lovely sunshine means happy days too!

I think I got myself overly excited and a bit carried away with the prospect of knitting the Hermione scarf!  It is a must make and cant wait project for me but not really right for almanac knitting in March: I have come to my senses!!  I really love this scarf dont get me wrong - but  attempting to knit this some two meters of 35cm wide pure loveliness in one month is delusional (though if possible it would have been within the loose rules - I checked with Ruth)!   I now realise that it would take a huge knitting miracle (or huge tear in my time space continuum) and no cooking or cleaning for the month to find the time to finish it by the end of March and then I probably wouldnt need to wear it until maybe September or October! The pressure of trying to knit it within the month may well have spoiled the fun too -so what to make instead now? 

Vicki suggested that I make the scarf anyway, but like a background project just a few rows now and again - soothing like sock knitting!  That way I will enjoy the project far more especially putting the colour scheme  together and I can then just knit a bit when the mood takes me with no deadline other than the changing seasons! Really sensible idea!

 I have been flitting from one possible project to another and have found myself dithering between many possibilities but as tomorrow is 1st March  I dearly wanted to make a decision today so I could get the yarn and at least cast on tomorrow! (I probably wont be waiting up until midnight this time as that just spells a possible re-run of the ripping back aran fiasco of January!  I really dont think it was the champagne then just tired non - thinking brain)!

So having fluttered between  a few possibilities I find myself contemplating again one of the first projects that I thought of a couple of weeks ago - a cushion cover!  I could use Elizabeth Zimmermans chart in the almanac as the basis of the pattern and knit it in the round as per the colourwork sweater. I  could use sirdar escape in bright colourways and black countrystyle (both dk) in the hope that the finised article will look like some of the quilts in the 3 counties quilt shows which look like black ironwork gates leading into bright gardens or like a stained glass window.  It would be much smaller than the sweater so a big possibility I could have it completed within the month.  

 So  ……..   now I have settled on the idea I am feeing quite a bit happier.  I bought some escape and country style this afternoon in readiness so I am sort of committed to the project now and I am looking forward to casting on tomorrow!  I can take my time to put together the colourscheme for the scarf later this week and see if there is anything in my stash!  Happydays!

I am delighted to say that this months almanac knitting went quite smoothly for me!  There was a little ripping back in parts but I havent done a top down sweater before this one and I am a convert now!  I did an adult sized garment this month as I did a little person aran last month and wish to stay in the “rules” of the group! Thankfully they are very loose rules!  The beauty of this sweater is the lack of making up at the end!  No sewing up just some weaving in of ends!  The gull lace pattern is such an easy repeat and in an aran weight yarn (I used the Amy Butler aran that I ripped back from a midwest modern kimono wrap that i had made and never worn) it was a really speedy knit!   This one is really “me” and I think I will wear it lots! I had some lovely heart shaped buttons as a gift a while ago that I was keeping for something special and they tone in so well I have to say I am delighted with the finished article! I wore it today and I am very “in like” with it!

I am knitting some socks while waiting for March 1st to cast on for the colourwork project - though I have to say I dont think I will be doing the sweater as in the almanac (my personal time space continuum wont stretch that far Im afraid…..). 

I am going to check with Ruth and see if a Ravelry scarf pattern will be allowed  in the spirit of the knit-a-long!  I am quite a Harry Potter fan and have just managed to track down a pattern for the scarf Hermione wears in the Half Blood Prince.  I will tweak the colours a bit but it will essentially be the same as the one Hermione wears on her return from the three broomsticks when Katie Bell gets cursed by the  necklace intended as a gift for dumbledore.  (gosh thats sounds seriously geeky I need to get out more I think!)!  Its a fabulous fairisle colourwork longish scarf knitted in the round - I do hope it will be allowed as I cant wait to start it now.  I love the planning of a new project possibly more than finishing something sometimes dont you?…

My new year got off to a ripping start - not really in a good way either!  I signed up for the Knit Along with the Almanac on Ravelry and at The Knitting Parlour way back in November I think it was.  Bought gorgeous Rico Essentials merino aran in a lovely teal colour to make a baby version of the aran sweater for my great nephew.  Waited and waited for the BBC Big Ben Bongs - family kissing and hugging and fireworks display to finish so I could cast on!  Knitting in the round away I went on the welt and managed to knit a few inches up through the welt and start cabling!  It was amazing how quickly it was knitting up!!  Now right here I have to admit that there was a little imbibing of champagne around midnight (as it was a very little  I dont think it was the champagne I really dont . . .) however, in the light of new years day the little garment looked very little and no wonder it was knitting up super fast as I had cast on for a 3 to 6 month old and the intended recipient is already a year old! So I ripped back! 

No worries it was only 1st January start again!  I was using a basic sweater pattern for guidance on size only and was going to add my own cabling patterns and knit it in the round as per Elizabeth Z’s  suggestions so I cast on again (the right size this time)! As I am getting towards the underarms I am really not liking my design it needed more purling on each side of the cables and a more intricate pattern and well just something else really so I half heartedly knit a bit more hoping it would be ok but it was no good it wasnt right, I wasnt happy with it.  So I ripped back!

At this point I am still fond of the yarn and eager for great nephew to have a warm sweater while the weather is still cold so I cast on again but put the project in the sin bin and at the back of my mind while I soothed myself by knitting socks and handwarmers!  I Kind of lost track of the time and realised half way through a pair of socks that I needed to sort out the aran and get it finished before February!  So I dug it out - but cast on a tunic in noro for me (brain like a butterfly flitting from one project to the next)- but it is so lovely to be knitting with noro again and I have now completed the back of that and will keep on having a little knit of it even though I have lots and lots of other things I ought to be doing…..

So we come to today and it must be about 26th January I think and my little (very little) aran sweater is finally finished (except the buttons) all knitted up and sewn together and I am quite ok with it.  I tried a couple of new to me techniques and it has turned out alright - but not fab.   

I am amazed by and in awe of some of the other knitalongers projects though! (Not sure that knitalongers is a proper word but hope you understand).  Some have managed adult sized complex aran sweaters knitted in the round and with steeking to come like Ruth:- or for little ones but knitted in dk so with lots of stitches and complicated patterns like Lesley:- or tunic style flared tops with complex shaping like Vicki’s; -  they are all really super cool and genious - totally fab!

February calls for baby knitting but it was my intention to do the February Lady Jumper still in keeping with the spirit of the Almanac and by way of making up for doing a baby jumper in January.  I have some lovely Amy Butler aran to use for that (it is currently being a kimono wrap top but I intend to rip that back to provide plenty of yarn for the February project)…  some more ripping for me then……

shop front dec 2010 snowflake

This is our christmas window and eagle-eyed followers will notice that it is an exact copy of our 2007 one! We decided that instead of overwhelming ourselves we would use the time we normally spend on knitting for the window on our own christmas knitting so hopefully none of us will need to do any panic knitting on Christmas Eve!

I have just posted my christmas knitting to my best friend in Madrid for her new baby, not yet born but due on Christmas Eve I think. It is the first year that I have finished early but that’s only because it had to be posted today. I do have a bit of sewing to do and have an elf costume to make for the school christmas party on thursday. Luckily the other child wants to go as a reindeer for which there is a lot less making required.

Today in the shop people have been stocking up on wool ready for the return of actual snow on Thursday. It could be a white Christmas!

We have added our new hampers to the website in case you are after last-minute present ideas and our Knit-Pro needles, Stitch Nation yarns and new accessories like blocking wires are all on here now and are great gifts to yourself or a knitting buddy.

So happy Christmas knitting! If you’re short of ideas for the new year, we are hosting the ‘Knit the Almanac 2011′ group on Ravelry. Find us and join for a challenging knitting year in 2011!

Amy Butler is making her annual visit to us on Wednesday 18th August for a yarn-tasting evening. In a break from tradition, we are having the do at the shop because rather than a formal talk, Amy will be mingling and chatting and signing books instead. So we have a very limited number of tickets on sale for £3.50. This gets you in to the best party in town (!) plus a little goody bag of Amy’s yarn to try and endless wine and nibbles plus we will be offering discounts on all of Amy’s products for the evening. Please ring the shop on 01684 892079 to purchase a ticket or just call in to buy one. It will be entry by ticket only because of the space limitations.