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Energised

There was a brief discussion on one of the Ravelry boards about whether it is a good thing to frog (rip back) unfinished projects that are hibernating. I had just frogged the two single socks that I mentioned before and I said I thought doing this releases creative energy. Well, I must have actually meant what I said!

Yellow socks: done and worn.

Red socks: done and on my feet as I type (but not with my feet).

New pair of socks in Trekking (plain, Dawn!): started.

Languishing scarf for Thomas in his old school colours: picked up, being knitted and due to be presented at Christmas (I am knitting this in secret).

Aran for my brother: sleeve nearly finished. I realise it won't be possible to finish this for Christmas (even if I hadn't picked up the husband scarf) and so I will present it with one completed sleeve and then I will be able to assess whether I have got all the measurements right.

'Pretty Thing' by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee: a Christmas present for one sister-in-law under way in cashmere that I dyed myself in the summer. I can't link to Ravelry just at the moment - it seems to be down - but the pattern is up there. It's a very pretty little lacy cowl and I'm loving knitting it.

 

Ideas for hats, tea cosies, gloves and mittens: circulating in my head but being resisted just for a little bit longer.

What a lovely day

I've just been up to the allotment and have picked this:

plus some potatoes. Here we have courgettes (rather large), patty pan squash, borlotti beans (semi-dried), french beans, tomatoes, lettuce and blackberries. The lettuce is quite interesting. I bought the seeds last year in Vilnius market (Lithuania). I have to say, however, that the lettuces are a little disappointing - not nearly as crisp as I'd hoped.

I have started work on my first job at home, a book on higher education management, which actually isn't as dull as it sounds. I had most of August off and was able to think about which way I'd like to go. When I was still in my job I was rather bored and was getting far more satisfaction out of knitting, spinning and dyeing than I was out of work and so I thought I might change direction completely and try to find work of some kind in that field. It was when I thought I would sell some hand-dyed wool on Etsy that I realised that I'm actually not cut out for it. The whole business of marketing oneself and one's wares is such hard work and, frankly, not my cup of tea at all. I think I'll stick to working at what I know best - editing, mainly academic books but with a willingness to tackle other types of text as they come my way.

Today is the sort of day when it's great to be freelance. I can take advantage of the sun and put in a few hours' work absolutely to suit myself.

Progress on the aran is going well, by the way. I'm nearly back to where I was before I ripped back. I'm definitely getting quicker and, I think, just a little more even.

'You don't know where it's been!'

I have mixed feelings about buying withdrawn library books. They're often a bit sticky when you pick them up. Who might have handled them? What else might they have handled? Yuck. So I try not to think about it when I'm buying up very out of print detective novels (thrillers!). After a while they become my books only, and I don't mind their pedigree. In fact it can be fascinating in its own right.

A favourite author of mine is Anthony Gilbert (who she?). I have quite a few of the Mr Crook novels - all bought second-hand.

Death takes a Wife is a very typical AG title (as often as possible, insert 'death' or 'kill'). The fascinating thing about this book is its provenance, however. This book has had some adventures!

 

Out for the Kill had a quieter life, maybe. The Branch Librarian sounds very strict...

 

Footsteps behind Me only came from Wolverhampton, but the Spring Vale Branch Library sounds a nice place.

 

I got to here with the aran:

  and then had to go back to here:

  because I'd forgotten to include the side panel stitches!

The plan

It took me a little while to decide on the cables that I'm going to use in Patrick's aran. This was a very enjoyable process - I suspect it'll be the most fun part of the whole project! I chose cables from different books and therefore they weren't drawn to the same scale. Also, one of them wasn't charted at all. Therefore I decided just to draw them all again using the photocopier for the repeats. I now have a long strip: here's just half of it.

Working from the centre (right of the photo) we have Saxon Braid (Barbara Walker III), OXO (traditional), twisted stitch zigzag (adapted from Inishmore by A Starmore), mini honeycomb (Janet Szabo), Aran Braid (Janet Szabo).

A room of one's own

Every woman needs one, as Virginia Woolf declared. As some readers may know, I've recently left my part-time editorial job and am setting up as a freelance editor (once again; I've done it before). I've been spending the last couple of days fitting up Peter's old bedroom as my new office: making IKEA shelving, desk, chair, etc. It has been very satisfying, although these enterprises are never as straightforward as you think they're going to be! Now I just need a bit of professional help to fix some bookshelves to the wall so that they don't topple over, because our floors are rather uneven. Lastly, I'm going to buy an iMac but I'm holding off until the new Snow Leopard operating system is out. I was lucky enough to get a voluntary redundancy package from work and so this is the treat I promised myself.

In knitting, I have started Patrick's (my brother's) aran. In the Janet Szabo method you start with the shoulder straps, and so here is strap  no. 1. (The background is one of my favourite 1960s (?) teatowels rescued from my mother's house.)

Adventures in Aran

No, I haven't been visiting islands off the west coast of Ireland, but I've been exploring Aran knitting. In my last post I included photos of swatches of the central motif of Inishmore (Alice Starmore pattern) knitted in Troon from Texere. It's nice yarn, but it was too tweedy and hairy to give a truly sculptural look to the twisted stitches that are such a feature of that pattern. I ordered some basic undyed aran from New Lanark Mill and while I was waiting for it to arrive we went for a few days to Monmouth. I took the Barbara Walker stitch dictionaries with me and played with different stitches. I bought the grey yarn in Monmouth. It's Tivoli Celtic something (I'd never heard of it before) and it's superwash aran. I think it looks and feels lovely when it's knitted up but it had an unpleasant plasticky feel to knit with and split easily. It's more expensive than the Troon or New Lanark, too.

Once home, I launched into Inishmore, with the undyed aran. Now, Alice Starmore is well known for her fiendishly tight tension - 22 stitches to 4 inches with aran wool! I couldn't get there with this wool, even on 3.75 mm needles. I did try, but the combination of wool, needles and twisted stitches was unworkable. I had to have a sensible chat with myself and bravely undid the 4 inches or so that I had knitted.

So, on to plan B, which was to follow the Janet Szabo method as described in her Follow-the-Leader Aran Knitalong pattern. This is a top-down pattern and, a bit like EZ patterns, is modular. I've been playing around with cable patterns that I like and am nearly ready to launch into the project. I'm knitting it for my brother (big chest!).

When I find some smooth, tightly spun but not stringy aran that can take tight knitting I will knit myself an Inishmore. The original was knit in Rowan Magpie, by the way.