One project gal!

For most of my knitting life I've stuck to one project at a time. Concentrate on one thing, no distractions, no 2nd and 3rd projects fighting for attention. Complete said project before casting on for something new. This has worked for me for more years than I care to count. Then I amassed too much stash with too many beautiful yarns crying out to be cast on for just one more project! This has not worked well for me at all. About a month ago, I decided to have 4 projects otn; I thought the variety would make a change, it'd be nice to have the choice of what to work on. Bad Mistake! One by one, my four projects have hit the shagpile! Last night was the final straw; my posh yarn lace shawl was frogged again, and I just cannot figure out where the problem is but the pattern simply isn't working out. I don't know if there's a typo in the stitch library I'm using, if my eyes are going nuts trying to focus on the dark colour, if my concentration is off.....! I've had a stressful month at work, I don't want to do stressful knitting. After all, it's supposed to be a relaxing past-time, isn't it? I like to feel I'm making progress; I hate knitting 2 rows then pulling out 4! So I'm going back to what I do best, no more multi-task knitting for me! I'll complete my Posh Yarn dk cardi then start something new! My yarn deserves it, and so do I!

Knitting mishaps

The knitting hasn't been going terribly well. Apart from not having had much time to sit with yarn and needles, everything I've done has had to be frogged.This is going ok though, but then it's just stocking stitch, so not much comfort there! I've done a bit more work on this since the photo was taken; the back is almost complete. It's still the best yarn I've ever used, so soft and gorgeous colours, so I'm pretty pleased with this project.
This one isn't too bad, but I'm struggling to make any headway. It's Posh Yarn "Arabella" laceweight and I'm working on another big scarf like Vivid, which I love and have worn so much over this past winter. I'm using 3.25mm needles which give a nice lacey effect without it being too loose. I worked 8 repeats of this chevron border and I'm now on the main panel, but I haven't got to the stage where I'm comfortable with the pattern, and it's a dark shade of burgundy which is difficult to knit in the electric light, so this is one of the projects that I have to keep frogging. I resorted to a lifeline at the end of the border.
I started a shawl with the yarn I dyed at Liz's workshop last year; I'm not too fond of shawls, way too many stitches for my liking, and I lost my place after about a dozen rows of 300+ stitches, so that got frogged completely! I haven't had much luck with that yarn at all - I've made 3 false starts with it, so I think I'll make her a stole instead.
So after all the recent mishaps, I'm consoling myself with these, which I bought from Norfolk Yarns, when the Cambridge ktog group went to Norwich for the day. The green hand painted is Araucania Ranco, approx 4ply and lovely fresh colours - 4 skeins of that.
And this is my first ever purchase of Noro! Two skeins of Korchoran, soft enough for a cosy scarf, in pretty hues of purple and blue. Thanks Rosie, for organising a great day out!

The Good Life

I wouldn't describe myself as a gardener, not by any stretch of the imagination! Plants, especially those of the indoor variety, tend not to thrive from a little TLC administered by my less than green fingers. However, having been assured that, with a little preparation it's not that difficult, I've decided to try my hand at a few veg's. These are my salad leaves..........

....and here we have a selection of winter veg's - brussels sprouts, calabrese, cauliflower and cabbage. I also have some runner bean, carrot, parsnip and sweetcorn seeds to sow. This is quite a challenge for me and I'm not at all convinced that the outcome will be favourable, but you have to start somewhere and I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew (pun not intended). I definately won't be giving up the day job to become self sufficient!
So back to the more familiar knitting. I finished the gloves for daughter n°1; these were well received (picture below) but I had a bit of a moment and made the second glove considerably larger than the first! She doesn't seem to mind - they keep her hands warm, and what else could you need from a pair of gloves?!

I've also started this, with the Posh Yarn "Amelia". This yarn is absolutely the best I've ever knit with! It's oooh soooo soft, the colours are delicious - can you tell that I love it? I only hope my veg's are as satisfying! There are a couple of other new things started, but they're even less to look at than this is, so I'll get a bit further on before I take photos.

The gloves of two sizes!