Bluey Greens and Greeny Blues, and Some Grey

Knitting
I've finished the first ball of Teal Feather on the Gaia shawl. I could start on the second ball without waiting until the skein of Matisse is in my hot little hands, but I've told myself I'm not going to. The skein of Matisse that I bought off someone on Ravelry is taking rather a long time to come through the post.


This gives me an opportunity to knock Dapper on the head, which is almost done. I've finished the band of moss stitch around the neck and just have to cast off. The neckband was meant to be done as a separate strip and sewn on, but I'm giving this method a go instead as I think I'll get a neater result. It looks huge, but remember that it's cropped.

In real life, it's a bit greener than it looks, sort of verdigris.

I'm going to do another Pinwheel Blanket in All Seasons Cotton in turquoisey green and cream, but I'm not in a huge hurry to start that. Baby is due in June but it's not as if s/he will need a blanket immediately, is it? The mum is very allergic to everything, hence the ASC, but they live in Dubai so they probably won't need something very warm anyway. Something soft and washable is probably more to the point.

Ithink I've mentioned before that there's sometimes good knitting in the Swedish telly Wallanders. In a recent one, Wallander himself was wearing a knitted denim sweater which distracted me quite a lot from the plot and gave me a hankering to knit a denim sweater again. I thought I had this hankering under control because of the inherent foolishness of knitting something large only to end up with something small, not to mention the achingness of 100% cotton on the fingers, but nothing looks quite like faded indigo, does it?

Many years ago I knitted one of the Rowan Denim sweaters in Dawn French's Big Knits. (It was called Rowan Den'm'Nit then, for some reason.) I wasn't a Big Knits size then so I knitted the smallest size but I think I must have got the gauge wrong (I used to be a tight knitter) because it wasn't as big as it should have been, and it always made me feel as if I was suffocating. I think that after shrinking the fabric just became too dense and I always felt, not to put too fine a point on it, sweaty when I wore it.


I don't think I wore it very often and a few years ago I sold it on eBay, but now I'm thinking of knitting it again, in a larger size. Has anyone else found Rowan Denim clammy to wear? Or should I just go up a needle size and stop worrying? I like some of the sweaters in Rowan Denim and in Denim People, but I think this one is straightforward enough without just being endless stocking stitch.

I have a copy of Denim People, but I don't think I've got Rowan Denim, which is curently on offer on eBay.com at $175, down from $249. A bargain, obviously.

Everest
My neighbours came to collect their plant and tell me all about their trip. They haven't finished weeding out their photos yet, but they did bring me a present.


It's yak, bought in a shop in Kathmandu. I had thought yaks were brown but this is shades of grey. I think it's spun on a white core. It's very floaty and fluffy.

And this too, which is silk. In my favourite colour, just a tiny bit greener than the photograph.

I think the yak will become a stole / scarf, and the silk something tiny and exquisite for around the neck.

Election
A friend is coming round to pick me after (her) work) and take me to vote, and then we're going to get fish and chips. It is hoped that this will cheer us up.