The Wool Palace

The old man is snoring

Progress has been slow but steady over the past week.  A trip to London netted me plenty of knitting time - 3 hours each way.  I reached the milestone of the first armhole on the Cabled Blanket Coat and have managed to get to the heel flap of my second springtime sock.

Since we got back on Friday I've been working on my Clapotis-lite.  Using the Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock I'm getting a scarf about 12 inches across.  I'm three-quarters of my way through my second skein and the piece is just under 3 feet long which is pretty much bang on target for the look I want - a 6 foot finished length.

Does anyone else suffer from the same schizophrenia with measurements?  I am perfectly happy to use centimetres for garments, but socks and scarves make more sense in inches and feet. 

Whew!  I let things slide there for a while, for no good reason really.  Anyway, here I am back after a week's silence.

It would be nice to dazzle you with the amazing progress I have made in the week but sadly that is not to be.  I have been knitting every day but only in small bursts.   Work has been keeping me very busy and we are now into half term, which means trips to the dentist and hairdresser, as well as trying to squeeze some fun in as well.

In the spirit of full disclosure I have taken photos of where I'm at with all the various projects.  I actually took these last week, so I am a bit further along, but there's enough here to give you a general idea of where I'm at.

Two socks, one for me, one for Sam.  I've seen people advocate knitting socks from alternate pairs to avoid Second Sock Syndrome, so I decided to give it a go.  I don't think it really works for me, as now I feel that all I have is two unfinished pairs, which I find pretty discouraging.  I think I'll go back to one pair at a time.

This is a Clapotis-lite for me.  I fell in love with the yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock in Embers) at Get Knitted and decided it had to be a scarf.  I settled on the Clapotis pattern but fancied a slimmer version.  I'm doing the same number of stitches as the original pattern calls for, but am using 3.25mm needles.  If it all goes to plan I should end up with something approximately scarf width, light enough to wear on windy spring days.

My beloved Cabled Blanket Coat continues.  As you can see, there are no more miscrossed cables.  Progress is slow but steady.  One repeat is 12 rows long and takes around an hour, so there's usually only one done each evening.  I am coming close to the point where I shape the first armhole, which will be an exciting day.

Despite the slow progress, I am still enjoying the knitting.  I love the fabric the Cascade 220 makes.  I see more of this yarn in my future...

That was the week that was

It's been a busy week.  Two days in London for work, then straight back into meetings and things down here.

Throw in two poorly children and an ear infection for me and you've got a week that I'll be glad to see the back of.

I'm pretty peeved that we seem to be the only spot in the country that didn't get any snow.  To add insult to injury, we can actually see snow from our window, on the beginnings of Exmoor, less than 10 miles away.  And, despite not having snow, we have had lots of freezing cold temperatures and plenty of sleet and rain - so all the bad bits of winter weather with none of the payoffs.

Can you tell I'm a bit grumpy?  Not much knitting has been done as I've spent most of my time sitting round drinking cups of tea and eating biscuits and complaining about my ear - that is, when I'm not running around photocopying stacks of agendas and planning documents, taking the stacks to the Post Office, sorting out annual accounts and all sorts of other exciting stuff.

Hey ho.  Things can only get better.  I'll knuckle down over the weekend and hopefully will have some positive progress reports for you on Monday.

Temperate zone

After the grey, we've been enjoying some gloriously sunny days.  All around, there are signs that winter's grip is loosening.

The early appearance of daffodils might suggest that this winter's grip has been more of a limp handshake than anything with substance.

It was the sight of my neighbour's beautiful purple crocuses, in full bloom, that made me realise why this yarn has been especially appealing lately.

Time for a pair of spring socks I think.

A good yarn

So, I ripped it.  You knew I would really didn't you?

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions and the links to Cara's tutorial, which is excellent.

However, given that I had done all the cables on that row wrong, it would have meant cutting, redoing and grafting 8 cables, plus darning in all the ends.  I thought that was going a bit far, although I'm bookmarking the tutorial for use in the future.

Also, when I took a closer look at things, I realised I had also done the cable too soon and needed to add another 4 rows before the twist.

There was nothing for it but to rip.  I took Tracy's suggestion of a quiet place and a glass of wine and did the dirty deed.  A couple of hours and a DVD later, I'm almost back to where I was on Tuesday.

No point in any photos, as it looks almost the same as the last one, without the mistake.  I'm sure it will all be worth it when it's done.