Yes there has been knitting, and more than that

knitting progress. Finished objects and long abandoned objects are getting some time with me. I'm still on leave, for another week and a half, but like a perfect holiday its been lazy and relaxing. I did have a huge list of things that I wanted to get done, but some where along the line I realized that working thru the list changed nothing .. and perhaps the best thing for me and now and the family was just to 'be'. Of course I'm slow, it took until now to work that out, with only a week of leave left. Amongst it all there has been knitting, and catching up with friends, and baking and making, and gardening, and relaxing. This blog is intended as a thinking space for my knitting, and along with that goes a little bit of show and tell. I've been reading and thinking about some wonderful blog entries that celebrate the new opportunities a new calender year brings to focus on what is important. Here where the Yarn Harlot reminds knitters and others about the word 'enough', she explains it much more elegantly and completely than I can, and here, where Jocelyn shifts the focus slightly from resolutions to watchwords or guide-words for life. Both these ideas I like ... so much so I have adopted the ideas as my own, keeping words like enough and deliberate, and balance, and enjoyment to the front of my kniting focus and I hope also my life. Last year I took on several projects that were not of my own choosing, which I found tedious to complete. This year I intend to return to the heart of my interest in knitting, and work mostly on things that excite me, that are interesting to knit, and to perhaps not be so distracted.

The secret project is gone, handed off to the next busy bee in the chain, and the eldest cub has new socks. I'm pleased with how these turned out, especially as one of my own socks now has a hole under the heel, just where these are reinforced but a slip stitch.

One of the projects that has been lingering in my knitting basket is a Shetland blanket. I had charted a lace pattern for the blue band, complete with the mitered increases. As I worked the lace pattern I didn't like it, I can't quite explain it, and I know that lace looks best once it is done and blocked and one shouldn't decide before then .. but I just felt the pattern wasn't working for this yarn and colour and band.

So I frogged it, and hauled out the pile of a knitting books with lace edging and flicked through. These books lived in a pile in the living area for a few days while I browsed. When I frogged it youngest knitting cub was shocked, but relaxed once I had them back on the needles, its good for new knitters so see that kind of activity isn't it?

Meanwhile I picked up the stitches and made sure they were all sitting on the needles the right way, and that I had an equal amount of stitches on each side. I worked 2 rounds of plain garter stitch and I'm close to deciding what pattern will be tried next.

There are two other 'lingering' projects in my knit basket, this one is a linen lace basket liner. I'm surprised at how nice the linen is to knit on KnitPicks metal needles. I had imagined that linen would be a tough knit - but perhaps the smooth needles and the fine yarn make this easier. This project began as a class exercise in the Knitters Study group, and was on knitting 'shapes'. I'm building it as I go with no pattern and just guessing about where to place the increases to keep it flat. I'm not sure the eyelet band will block flat .. but live with hope it will and knowledge that it can be frogged if not. Some time in the next few rounds I have to pick a edging to work around it .... so those books are likely to stay in the living area for a few more days while I browse for an edging for this.

Today is Friday, and I have a plan to return to a more 'scheduled' week next week in preparation for 'work' the week after. Normal twice a week blog service will return ..... if my planning goes as planned.

take care ..... na Stella