Wednesday 30 December 2009

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
















Here are two pics of my first post Christmas project. I bought this yarn from a follower who ended up with a stall at the Sally Army Christmas Fair. Its a lovely hand dyed yarn that she makes in her own studio. The colour is much nicer than my two indoor pictures show. I know all projects should be photographed outside but at the moment in London we seem to have about 1 hour of daylight and no hours of sunshine. Its also too cold and wet to photograph anything outdoors.

I am trying to teach myself lace. I managed the fishtail mits but now find any but the easiest lace pattern really hard, its not something you can do while watching telly! I get easily bored trying to knit scarves so I have decided to treat this as a lace sampler and teach myself lace patterns starting with the easiest one in my book of knitting patterns and working my way up. I hope the finished project still looks nice.

I got an Elizabeth Zimmerman book for Christmas and I have just read it from cover to cover. That's the first knitting book that I have found you can read almost like a novel...she has some weird and wonderful ideas and a great way of chatting to make you laugh and think. I'm not so sure about her patterns. I would like to make the seamless sweater since I do hate to sew. Her cut and sew patterns would be very difficult for me as they seem to assume more than a nodding aquaintace with ordinary sewing techniques. Most of the things she tells you to do I have never even heard of, basting? Anyway back to the seamless sweater, all very well except I can't wear sweaters anymore. I seem to have developed a wool alergy (how ironic for a knitter/crocheter) which is worse around my neck and upper chest. I can only wear cardigans or at a push a jumper with a very deep v neck. I will have to ask my mum when she comes to visit me for my birthday.