BANG on the spot. Again.

I looked at the inside of the sweater real hard for about 5 minutes weighing whether I can get away with the tails or not. The perfectionist streak prevailed again, so I started weaveing in without further ado...

I can't remember an instance when this perfectionist streak of mine wasn't BANG on the spot. See this?

On the outside it looks like this:

Here are new colours for the sweater. I'll use those on sleeves. This is going to be a riotous one!

The neck is finished (and tested).

The tediousness of weaving in was successfully counterbalanced by a cup of lavender tea :)



Sleeves next.

I am slightly distracted by starting a new sock though. Socks have become a permanent feature of my lifestyle. I even might have subscribed to this Rockin' Sock Club thingy if it wasn't closed. I calculate that, if I knit socks at a current rate, I'll knit through all my sock yarn before end of June (knitting deadline for end of May prevents more spectacular result). Any tips for getting awesome sock yarn to boost my supplies?

The Magic Of Knitting

I don't know what it is about this sweater but whenever I get to work on it, it feels like I'm out of the woods with tricky bits of life and on quiet waters of day-to-day existence, with looming absence of deadlines and colossal undertakings. Strange, because this sweater is a bit of daunting piece of work in itself.

It cheers me up. It takes me some place else - like a good book! It's almost like it makes me be really present to just how lovely my life is (very much present, especially when I work the stages where shaping and pattern are both involved :)

The riotous colours are so stimulating to look at and the feel of yarn is pure sensuality. Oh, I so love this alpaca!

There is something about the aesthetic of this kind of fabric, which feels so perfectly unspoilt and innocent. It's like a tribute to the magic of childhood...

I've been hooked on this sweater for two days in a row, and have managed to progress the work quite a bit.

Today I shaped the neck and grafted the shoulder seams. It went really fast - I love how quickly children's garments knit up!

Now I'm waiting for 'Nick post' to arrive. He's picking up some extra supplies for me from Loop. I realised I've run out of grey and I need it to be able to finish off the rib on the neck.

Oh, also wanted to highly recommend this book, as the source of inspiration for this project, which I am enjoying so much. It's brilliant! A little obvious, hmm.

You Can Knit

It was a "blast off" day last Saturday for a spring series of ten sessions of knitting course for beginners, and what a lovely start it was! The class takes place in a spacious room situated in an old building on Upper St, N1. In the middle of the room there is a large round table, which got covered completely by various knitting "paraphernalia".

There is a lot to get one's teeth into... Various knitting implements:

A few pieces from my collection to exemplify the scope of possibilities:

Ample reference materials to inspire and facilitate:

A handful of samples, just because:

The class is tiny, and its size has a lot of appeal for me as I have been so busy lately that I am in serious need for some kind of "refuge" from my mad day-to-day frenzy of activities. I'm really looking forward to choosing and making a start on our projects - I think I should start something new as well (Oh, please have mercy, do not point out to me how many unfinished projects I already have hanging around!) Saturday morning was very enjoyable, a course sandwiched between 2 leisurely bike rides, and then I got home to find out that everyone was out in the park so I decided to read in bed. And then as to round off day's perfection children appeared in the door completely "invisible" behind a huge bouquet of spring flowers. The scent of these flowers is something out of this world!

PS: I cannot believe that I have checked out of the blogging world for so long. I swear, it felt like a week to me! Bear with me guys, I am very curious to find out what you've all been up to. Need to make time for rambling around people's blogs instead of bedtime stories :)

Serial Secret Project

I got carried away knitting like a maniac and abandoned this space in a most unforgivable fashion... I actually forgot about Stitchville, and forgot that I missed it!

One of the projects I was working on was upgrading N's sock draw in an attempt to mark his Landmark Birthday this month. The gift was received with utmost gratitude and appreciation, and the project is still on - as in "I have a dozen more pairs of socks to knit". This sock knitting thing is seriously addictive. By the end (I am not as far gone as to acknowledge that there is NO end) of it I'll be a complete sock-oholic :)

Off I go now to prepare for the first session of You Can Knit tomorrow. Very much looking forward to it!