A finish! Freedom Spirit Chevron Jacket

I'm back and I have a finish to show you. Actually I have a few but I'll post them later when I have better pictures. So where have I been? Manchester again to see my sister. It was half term and so we jumped in the car and disappeared for a lovely few days. I forgot to post on the blog before I disappeared. Oops. Had this jacket been in the smaller size, I might not have got it back as Hazel loved it. In fact, she'd quite like one of her own! I think I might have to track down some washing machine friendly yarn and make her one.

So back to the pattern - I loved it! Can you tell? I have actually deigned to be in one of the pictures of my finished projects, I'm usually the one behind the camera. The yarn is superb to knit and the design shows off the patterning within the yarn perfectly. Although I checked my tension before knitting, I have used more yarn than the stated amounts in the pattern. About 1.5 balls extra in the end. I also made the collar shorter by about two inches but I think it is more than long enough as it is. I made the medium but as the sizing seems pretty generous, I think I could possibly have got away with the smaller size. It does make me look a bit like a chunky monkey but as I love both the colour and the pattern, I really don't care.

Will I knit it again? Almost definately.

You know it's Autumn when .....

The leaves begin to change colour and booze grows on trees!
Well the berries do anyhow. Take some sloes, cheap gin and a pile of sugar throw it all together and wait for the magic to happen.

In the meantime drink some of the Sloe Gin you made last year, tonic is definately optional. Cheers everyone :)

Indian Summer round 2

I have developed a bit of a love hate relationship with this shawl. I love the look of the pattern and I would dearly love to have it finished and wearable but there's no denying that I really dislike the way that the pattern is written. It's been lurking in the naughty corner for nearly a month but then I discovered that Tess had included the pattern in her book. The library doesn't stock the book so I sent out an SOS to my lovely SnB ladies and Nadia has lent me her copy.
At first glance I thought the pattern had been amended but no, it's no different to the pdf I already have. I'm actually pleased to see that it's rated as advanced as I am sure that no beginner would be able to interpret the pattern correctly. It took three of us from our knitting group to make sense of it fully and between us we've been crocheting for 60+ years and even then, I have effectively rewritten the pattern.

Having said that I'm now making headway with it again although yesterday afternoon my original attempt looked like this:
Yes, I frogged it. Don't panic - it now looks like this which is a distinct improvement.
I'm still fudging the pattern a bit but as the book has a some new photos I have been able to jiggle the pattern a bit to make it work as it should. Both sides of the shawl are now done and and I am now ready to start the main shawl body. It's actually growing very quickly again - probably the reason why I love crochet so much. Although the huge hook and two strands of yarn could have something to do with it. If it carries on like this, I might even finish it over the weekend.

Moggle has a picture review of Tess's book on her blog here and here. There are some lovely designs and definately a few more that I will try out even after the problems I've had with this one.

Question: Would you match the stripes?

It's been a funny old week again this week and not much blogging has been done or knitting for that matter. The earache has turned into a cold and I spent most of yesterday feeling sorry for myself. A good night's sleep later and I'm ready to roll again. What a difference a day makes!

So what's happened since Sunday? Well, I have my first pattern from Sockamania to try out. It's a pretty sock with a cable up each side and both a toe up or top down option. Anni produces a new pattern for the group each month - that's some commitment! You can buy all previous pattern from her Etsy shop and there I one or two that I would really like to try. What really caught my eye this week is that Kate aka Bronte has written a new pattern for the most fabulous lacy socks. The pattern's called Rosamond and you can get it here. It's a definate add on to my to do list, I can see why Fiona was sidetracked by it!

I've also finished my first Jaywalker. The pattern shows off the striping in the yarn really well. but I haven't cast on the second sock yet as I have a bit of a dilemna - do I match the stripes or not?

I think I probably need too as they are so striking and my inner perfectionist is screaming at me. Unfortunately, the first sock starts with a couple of rows of green and the toe of the sock actually starts the next white band (although it's not visible on the piccie). It's only two rows of green and the stripes would be in almost the same position it probably wouldn't notice, well not too much. Maybe. Hmm, I think I'll knit something else for a couple of days and have a think on it.