Catching up

This is Ella blocking, all flat! I've worn her a couple of times, and she's nice and warm, and I'm pleased I paid attention to alternating the more- and less-variegated skeins in knitting her.



This is the Zauberball I mentioned in my last post, in the process of becoming the dragon's breath scarf (so named because this is an adaptation of the flickering flames pattern, and red). I'm a lot further on now than in this picture - I just haven't taken any photos for ages.

I've finally finished both Lucas's Tomten and the red cardigan, both of which were waiting for fastenings, and I'd failed to find the green toggles and reddish-purple ribbon, respectively, I wanted, so in the end I plied some yarn (orange for tomten and the silk mix edging yarn for the red cardigan) against itself twice to make cord ties. The double plying means the cord is stable, and it's four times thicker than the working yarn, which is a good thickness.

I've now got three knitting projects on the go, and they're all actually in progress: yesterday I worked on all three of them, depending on how much my eyes were free to look at them:

• Coriolis socks (almost no looking-at required) while working through some of the reading for the first week of my course


• Dragon's breath scarf (some looking-at required) while watching TV


• Selbu modern hat (lots of looking-at required) while listening to music

Snippets of progress

The news in brief:

• Went with Frax and Kauket to see Brenda Dayne knitting on the fourth plinth on Saturday, and then went to the pub with aforementioned plus a load of other knitters who had come for the same reason. F, K and I were by chance all knitting Coriolis, and we all made decent progress, and I made the acquaintance of an Oxford knitter who knows lots of the same people I do.


• On the same trip, went to iKnit, and bought a Zauberball in shades of reds. Have made plans for a flame-patterned scarf.


• Ella is finished and soaking, in preparation for my first ever excursion into blocking. It's very three-dimensional at the moment, so I'm eagerly awaiting the lace-blocking miracle that's reputed to happen.

Project promiscuity (Ella)

This is what Ella looks like at the moment (photo taken without flash to better capture the texture):



It's crazily three-dimensional, with squarish bobbles that pop up or down, and I keep having to stretch it out to reassure myself that it will probably block flat:



I'm only a few rows away from the point where the back splits into the two fronts, which is good going, especially since I've been knitting most of this in the same timeframe as Wisteria.

Making progress and starting new

This is the current state of the Ella:



It's lots of fun to knit, I've got the pattern memorised, and it's progressing quickly. However, today was cold and rainy, and I was not dressed warmly enough, so I spent the day shivering and fantasising about getting home and putting on a warm snuggly jumper. The only problem is that I don't own such a jumper. Enter Wisteria...



The slightly fuzzy nature of the yarn means the camera doesn't focus where the eye does, so these cables are actually visible in the flesh. I'm a bit worried the collar is too wide, but I expect the cables (crosses on every round!) will pull it in more as it goes along, so I'm not panicking yet. And it's beautiful, and the yarn is lovely and soft, and I'm smitten.

Weekend of crafty goodness

I spent this weekend with Frax and J, dyeing lots and lots of yarn, knitting (and spinning for me), and watching a hefty chunk of Battlestar Galactica.

This is what I came home with:



That's overdyed yak yarn (previously salmon pink, cream and grey) at the front, a whole load of previously-undyed Cumbrian wool yarn at the middle and the back (it's semi-solid rather than solid, but more consistent in colour in real life than it looks in the photo), and some handspun undyed grey wool in the middle-back (this is going to be Wisteria). It feels as if I suddenly have lots of new yarn, and I've even started knitting the violet wool:



There's a lot more of it now than when I took the photo, but this is Ella from Knitty, and it's working out rather nicely :-)