And much more seasonally appropriate – Still by Kim Hargreaves (again!). In Calmer, sadly discontinued. But when I see two knots in ten centimetres – I’m suddenly not quite so surprised it’s been discontinued. Most of the balls I’ve used for this project have had knots in them, but this is ridiculous.

And why does vertical ribbing seem to take so much longer than horizontal?!?

I’m not the most organised of knitters. Hang on, maybe I’m an over organised knitter. (Just look at my Ravelry queue/stash!) Either way, I’ve not got good timing. Just as the really cold weather hit, I finished Arielle.

‘Cos you know, I’m clever like that.

Specs:
Pattern: Arielle by Kim Hargreaves from the Misty book.
Yarn: Back room bargain from Bendigo Woollen Mills, I think it’s Capri, it’s a 4ply (fingering) Wool/Cotton blend
Needles: 2mm & 2.5mm Dyakcraft Heavy Metal Interchangeables.
Dates: Started May 12, 2013, finished July 7, 2013. (I’ve really slowed down of late!)
Mods: Knit exactly as the pattern, a mod in putting it together though!

The yarn was picked up at the Bendigo Woollen Mills two years ago when David and I went on our road trip to Victoria – I’ve got some more in white that I’m looking forward to using. It’s a lovely yarn to work with, very different from Rowan Wool Cotton 4ply which is another fave of mine. The Rowan feels more “woolly”, this feels much more “cotton-y” It’s a shame it’s discontinued – but I picked it up for $3 a ball!

The pattern is from one of Kim’s summer books, Misty. It’s also discontinued, which is sad, because I think it’s one of her best. It’s not available anywhere else, as far as I know. It’s a great knit, as I’ve nearly always found with Kim’s patterns. And it looks nice on – no modelled photos yet, it’s been way too cold! There was one problem though, which a few people have mentioned on Ravelry.

That sleeve was not going to sit nicely in that armhole. At this point, I was beginning to think that Kim had led me astray. I went back to the Ravelry projects, and someone else had come up with a fix that worked beautifully!
The pattern tells you to seam the side seams of the top, then the side seams of the sleeve, then fit the sleeve into the armhole. I seriously doubt that would work as it is. Instead the fix was to seam the side of the top, then sew the short ends of the sleeve into the base of the armhole and fit the armscye into the rest of the armhole.

Bingo.

Perfection.

Now for something more weather appropriate!

I was putting away my washing today which turned into a wardrobe purge. I threw out a lot of stuff, but am still left with a lot of stuff. It got me wondering about how I choose my projects. I don’t wear a lot of what I knit. Sometimes something takes my eye and I cast on straight away without really putting much thought into it. And once it’s finished, I’ll often wear it a bit, then it gets relegated to the back of the wardrobe where it sits until I have a purge. Why? Sometimes something just doesn’t sit right. Sometimes it’s a little small or a little large. My weight has yoyo’d a bit over the past few years – not a lot, but enough that I have clothes in two sizes. Sometimes it just doesn’t suit me when I’m done. There’s a bunch of stuff that was suitable to wear at the shop, not so much at the library. It’s not just knitting, sewing too. At least with ready to wear, you can try it on and decide if you like it. That’s a bit harder with a concept. I need to put a lot more thought into stuff before I cast on.

That said, my latest project will get a lot of wear, I think!

Love it!

Specs:
Pattern: Water and Stone by Veera Välimäki
Yarn: Wollmeise DK “So Long Kitty” 2.5 skeins
Needles: Dyakcraft Darn Pretty Interchngeables, 4mm
Mods: None.

There’s a mistake or two in the cables, but I’m not going to point them out. And I’m a perfectionist – if I can live with it, anyone can. The pattern is great – easy to follow, and the cables give you enough to think about that the length doesn’t get (too) boring before you’re done.

The Wollmeise? Ugh. I love Wollmeise. I love the yarn, I love the colours, especially this one. (Duh. It’s pink) The DK skeins? Ugh. Ugh. I made my Kauai in it, and those skeins (from her very first DK update!) were fine. These? The first one was fine. The next two took me several hours to wind. Halfway through I swore that if it weren’t wollmeise, it’d be in the bin. There are threads on Ravelry about the tangles, but nothing prepared me for this. Once it was wound, and I’d gotten over my little temper tantrum, I fell in love all over again. It’s gorgeous to knit.

I do fear that it’s going to pill though. (That’s okay, I just bought a Lilly brush!)

Seriously, this won’t be found at the back of the wardrobe!