Lifetime supply of acrylic

First off, I finally managed to bring myself to finish my green scarf. I couldn't get a good shot of the whole scarf, but here's a close-up of the lace.


Th yarn is Stroud Wool Socrates Supermerino-Bamboo-Silk from Violetgreen. I used two very similar colours of green, as I originally only ordered 100g for a pair of socks but decided to use it for a scarf instead and by then they did not have the original colourway. But I changed colours every few rows and it is barely noticeable. My husband didn't like the colour, but I think it's quite nice for the spring. The pattern is from Victorian Lace Today and I worked the main part of the scarf in slip-stitch pattern, which, needless to say, mad it very boring. Still, it's done now. It is not a favourite, but it turned out ok.

This weekend I decided to start turning what I call my 'lifetime supply of acrylics' from this:



Into this:
I think I originally bought the acrylic to knit golf club covers as a gift for a friend who took up golf. I never knit them and she hasn't played golf in over a year, so no loss there... The yarn is Sirdar Wash'nWear DK in black and baby blue and despite being acrylic it is not bad to knit with. I knit a couple of simple scrubbie-type things. I started using one in the kitchen and I hope it won't fall apart too quickly. My husband is making fun of me knitting a sponge, but it looks cuter than the store-bought ones and is super-quick to make.

I also read the Diving-Bell and the Butterfly this weekend for my book club. It was really short, but I didn't find it very engaging. Obviously, I feel sorry for the main character, but that doesn't make the book a literary success for me.

Roza's socks nr. 1

I have finally managed to finish something, even if it just the first of a pair of socks. The pattern is Roza's socks from Interweave Knits and the yarn is Arauncania Ranco Solid. I am going to cast on tonight to avoid second-sock syndrome, although now that I have the first sock I am really keen to knit the second one. The yarn is really nice to work with and the colour's great - it goes well with jeans!. The brioche rib pattern, however, does get a bit boring. This was the first time I felt completely comfortable with the kitchener's stitch.


I also started swatching for one of my bigger projects; the Debbie Bliss cardigan. I hate swatching when I am really really keen to cast on - I feel like I'm being held back from really starting. The yarn is a DK weight merino from Colourmart. It comes on cones, still oiled. It is a bit splitty, but should be nice to knit with if I use my Addi lace needles. It feels more like 4-ply when it's on the cone, but blooms absolutely beautifully when washed. I adore the colour and my gauge is fine too. This should be a really beautiful cardigan for next autumn!




I also bought some yarn for the printed silk cardigan. I really want to knit this pattern, but I had the hardest time choosing the yarn for it. A pair of earrings and my new Banana Republic dress inspired me to knit it in burnt orange, but I just couldn't find the right thing. So I bought some cotton-cashmere off Colourmart on impulse. It was a bit more than I budgeted, but not much more. The colour is definitely lighter than I thought it would be - the colourway was called terracotta. Still, I think I'll keep it. I have kept a cone on my coffee table since Monday, when it arrived, and the colour is definitely growing on me. It also looks nice with the Banana Republic dress... I'm just worried that it won't go well with my complexion. I should knit up a swatch and see how the colour and texture change when I wash it.


I also bought some cashcotton DK off ebay when I was researching yarn for different projects. I was initially worried about the colour, but it is gorgeous. First I thought I'd use it for the dollar and a half cardigan, now I'm not so sure. I also bought some cashcotton 4-ply from stash, because it was cheap. So this month was a bit of a cashcotton month and I overindulged on yarn again. I am still thinking of picking up some discontinued Jaeger merino while there is still some around - it is really cheap. Oh and I picked out the yarn one more summer project that

Knitting progress

My 4ply summer top is progressing slowly but steadily. I am hoping that it will be done by mid-June at the latest, which means I should be able to get quite a bit of wear out of it this summer (assuming it will look good enough to wear in public, which at the moment it looks like it will).

The placed cable aran sweater is progressing much faster of course. I'm enjoying knitting with aran yarn after all my 4ply projects. But as to be honest, I haven't had that much time to knit over the last few weeks, I'm only up to the start of the cable pattern. Not that I will get to wear it much for a while, if the weather stays as nice as it is at the moment. Not that that's a complaint!

All my other UFOs are hibernating at the moment, save for Roza's socks, which I take out every few days to knit a pattern repeat or two. It's a very nice-looking pattern (even my husband commented on how nice it was!) but I find it a bit boring after a while.

I finally bought some yarn today for Dollar and a Half Cardigan on on Ebay. I was thinking of trying Cashcotton DK with it - I'm not sure I'll get the right gauge, but the price was right and I got seduced. In any case, the yarn should be nice and I'll definitely use it for something or other!

Isn't this the cutest measuring tape? I got it from Vintagepoppy on Etsy.

Books and such

After teaching today I walked to the library near Trafalgar square to borrow some books. This library usually has a good selection, unlike the library close to where I live. My local library seems to mainly stock chick-lit, 'romance' novels and thrillers. When I got there, it turned out that it was closed for refurbishment - maybe the council could have advertised this on its libraries page, rather than the fact that they put some kind of video on Youtube? So I ended up going into Waterstones and buying three books in a three for two deal with a gift voucher and some loyalty points. I haven't bought novels in ages - I've been going to the library instead, - so I'm feeling a bit guilty, as I am bound to end up giving one or two of them to charity. Still, books aren't that bad value compared to cinema tickets or even DVDs.

I bought the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - it is quite surprising that I haven't read this one yet. I haven't seen the movie either. The second book is the new Alexander McCall Smith book, The World According to Bertie, which I was planning to buy anyway. I like his novels when I am in the mood for something light and for beach holidays. The third book is On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, which I am hoping will be very good.

It was sort of silly though to buy three books, when I was planning to order some off the internet as well. I started reading a library copy of A Suitable Boy, but since the book is about 1000 pages, I felt that maybe I should get my own copy. I might just re-borrow it from the library now. I am also planning to buy Reason For God, because it was recommended by one of the pastors at my church. And my book group picked Diving Bell and Butterfly as our next read. It sounds thoroughly depressing and neither of the libraries I go to stocks it. At least it's cheap on Amazon, but it may just go straight to charity after the book group meet...

At home I had a package waiting for me: I finally got the two old Rowan magazines I ordered about two weeks ago (or was it just last week?) I really liked the designs on Ravelry, but I think if I just picked them up in the shop, I wouldn't buy them. Maybe it's the styling? At least now I have quite a few 4ply cotton patterns, which is what I wanted. And there are definitely a couple of patterns here that I would like to knit. Still, unlike Interweave Knits, leafing through them is definitely an anticlimax. But I do love the Kaffee Fassett blanket in Magazine 37, even though I haven't even seen it online.