Spitting Yarn

I think I have been a late sufferer of the ennui that Anna wrote about back in August. Work has frustrated my attempts to get into the meat of a knitting project. Bleurgh. That’s my lousy explanation for why I haven’t been blogging as much as usual recently.

The ennui manifested itself by a sequence of fibre-set backs, the main one of which is responsible for the non-appearance of any Kiri progress shots! I had also hoped to whip up a pair of nice cashmere socks using the Crusoe pattern. Because I am a twit, I didn’t read the many and various comments about the pattern on the Interweb, which noted that it knitted up quite small. When I knitted it up, I found that it was – you guessed it – too small. So, I adjusted the pattern, but my frustration must have affected the tension as it still turned out on the small side(!) It looked very pretty before I frogged it though:

It was my first attempt using the much vaunted magic loop method, which is great! I got into some difficulties with the gusset portion but I hope to tackle that on my next attempt. I think I need the Fiber Trends booklet, which the lovely Sue at Get Knitted has promised to get hold of for us all.

Despite all this, I did get my knitting mojo back on my trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally, last Sunday! Man, I nearly wept when I saw all that colour and texture everywhere. It was difficult to know where to look next! I intended to be methodical, but I ended up bouncing from stall to stall like some demented ping pong ball. Highlights were the Hip Knits and Get Knitted stalls, as it was nice to see them IRL. Alchemy Yarns were scrummy, as were the Silkwood yarns. Speaking of which, check this out:

Nice, eh? I’m happy to say that I didn’t go too crazy. The only other goody I picked up was some Colinette Skye in a couple of colourways, including the lovely ‘rose garden’:

Anyway, at Knitting Hill I cast on for the multidirectional scarf using the Colinette Skye in the other colourway, Zebra:

Anyway, all is good now.