Shag Noir

Knitting
I finished the latest Shag. There was a lighter flash at the end of the second ball which placed itself very effectively at one end of the scarf.
Every time I walk past it, I think of black and white films. I do find the yarn (Rowan Tapestry) a tiny bit scratchy, but not so much that I can't wear it.

And I've started yet another repeat project, this time another Pinwheel Blanket. One of my friends is due this week ('I'm due to be sectioned on 9th April,' she said in a text, which is quite a good joke in British English) and it's a boy, so I'm doing this one in shades of blue All Seasons Cotton. I started it with this very clever circular cast on from Theresa's blog which makes a nice neat start.


After wrestling for hours with the beginning of my first Pinwheel, I now start these by knitting backwards and forwards for the first few rows - knitting five stitches on four needles doesn't do anything for my temper - and sew up the hole afterwards.

Theresa also shows how to do Norwegian purl, which allows you to do ribbing or moss stitch without eternally taking the yarn backwards and forwards and is one of the cleverest things I know. I haven't perfected doing it yet, but I practise from time to time and intend one day to do a piece of moss stitch that isn't horribly slack.


Since I snapped this, I've started on the third colour, which is a vivid turquoise.

Something New
I am however in the planning stages of a new project which will use a pattern I haven't done before, and a new-to-me yarn too, so things should brighten up soon. The yarn is on its way from Canada; another essential ingredient will soon be on its way New Jersey; and then swatching can begin. I have a horrible feeing that I'm cruising for a fall and it will all, as my aunt says, 'come a box of eggs', but let's hope not.

Patterns
I bought this gorgeous book last week.


It's called Little Luxury Knits, and isn't to be confused with Knitting Little Luxuries, which came out at the end of 2007. Why do they do that? Don't they know I'm confused enough already? The first one brought out my inner Presbyterian, who can be quite a powerful force - she's the one who didn't want me to buy the iPod Touch before my birthday. She did a lot of harumphing about why would you need a pattern to knit a thing like that? and so on, so I didn't buy it, but this one has brought out my inner butterfly and I've been cooing over it pretty steadily since I got it home. Haven't cast on anything yet.

Lots of pictures here.

I've also fallen very heavily for Kim Hargreaves' new collection, Breeze, but I haven't bought it yet. It appears that having been fairly successful in stopping buying yarn, I am now buying pattern books instead. It reminds me of when my father saw a hypnotherapist to see if he (the hypnotist) could stop him (my father) smoking: after examining him and learning how long he had been smoking and how much, the hypnotist said that he could, but he didn't know what he might start doing instead.

Ospreys
Exciting news from the ospreys' nest: a suitor has arrived. He isn't ringed so they don't know where he's from, and they've called him Odin. Her name is EJ, from her leg ring, but I like to think that it stands for Elizabeth Jane or something - given the Scottish angle, maybe Elspeth Janet. There's still time for another man to show up, but this one has been bringing her fish and generally doing his best to impress her.

Mavis and Mags

Well, here's the first Mavis sleeve. I don't think the sleeve cap is right, but rather than rip it and do it again now, I'm going to do the other sleeve and see how the cap on that turns out: if they're the same then that's how they're meant to be, and if the second one's better I'll know what I'm trying to do with the first one. The schematics for this aren't very detailed and are driving me a bit bats; it would be helpful to know the length of the sleeve above the beginning of the decreases, but it isn't shown. I've started the second one.
I'm thinking about giving myself a day off from this because I'm in danger of hating it. I've told myself I can't do anything else until this is finished, but I think this might misfire and I might not knit anything at all, so I'm going to have a day or two off. I wish those vintage Boye needles would turn up and then I would know what I'm doing next.

I got the new Rowan mag (43) last week; I don't usually find much of interest in the Spring issues of knitting mags, as they tend to be lacy pastels, neither of which make my heart beat faster, but there are a few possibles. The Spook top is lovely (yes, I know it's lacy and pastel, but it's not very lacy and I wouldn't use a pastel shade) although I can't quite see that my rather dull life would offer any opportunity to wear it. The Purity shawl is absolutely delicious (ditto ditto). It looks like a stole in the photos, but from the pattern it seems to be a triangle; there isn't a schematic. I was going to recommend it to Jean as she's a Sharon Miller fan, but she has forsworn Kidsilk Haze forever, so she won't be interested. Unless she did it in a different yarn, of course. I like the ripped Earthly. Those of you who have been taking notes may remember that I knitted a distressed sweater last year so I probably won't do another one, but it's nice to see it.

I also got the new book of All Seasons Cotton patterns, All Seasons at the Mill. I like this yarn a lot, so I bought the book as a matter of principle rather than because it swept me off my feet. The patterns are fairly basic but could provide a starting off point; I think a selection of sort of seaside patterns would suit this yarn better; it's very soft on the skin, quite warm, and has very good stitch definition and I don't think these patterns particularly exploit those characteristics. I have quite a lot of All Seasons Cotton hidden in my wardrobe, so I think I'll do the Wrap Top, and maybe the Hooded Top, although I would shorten that as long tops make my legs look strangely short and stumpy. Although it doesn't say so anywhere, it looks as if this book was modelled by Rowan staff, which is a nice touch.

On a completely trivial note, I was very disappointed with the names in this book. Wrap Top? Hooded Top? Mans [sic] Jacket? Did somebody forget to make up catchy names for them? The mag was a bit dull in this regard too: Kaffe Stripes? Surely that name's been used before?

I bought a vintage pattern on eBay tonight; I don't intend to knit it but I couldn't resist. I'll show you when it arrives.