Summertime Knitting

Well in typical British summer weather we’re either melting or considering lighting the log burner! Today is wet and humid so an ideal time to get my act together regarding a new post ( sorry it’s been a while, two completely unexpected family bereavements sent my writing mojo awol).

As usual I have far too many WIP’s in progress, I have no idea how it happens. Now, I tell myself ( in much the same way I tell myself I don’t need more yarn ), no starting anything else until this is complete . ‘This’ refers to 2 projects. A requires no thought TV/ travel project and something that makes me concentrate removing the white noise from my brain. Currently I have 7 ongoing projects, I can only conclude the bad knitting sprite 🧚‍♀️ casts them on when I’m sleeping.

A little more about some of these:

Quite a departure for me is Camisole no 2 from My Favourite Things ( @myfavouritethings.knitwear ). I’m knitting this up in Rhubarb Juice from Knitting for Olive. It’s an ethically produced pure silk which is beautiful to work with. It’s a departure in that it is a fitted, ribbed cami and with my current ‘let’s keep you alive ‘drugs I’m heavier than I’m comfortable with, however I’ve decided that the fact I’m currently well is more important than losing that 8kg! This shows it just cast on ( the feature pic is at Hampton Court Flower Show where a few rounds were completed sitting with a glass of fizz listening to Jazz). This also shows my lovely new bag which I bought from Antler & Acorn ( @antlerandacornuk )which perfectly matched my project. Also making a guest appearance is The Old Mad Cat whose vet continues to coo over him saying ‘isn’t he a marvel ‘. She however doesn’t live with the fact that his nocturnal chattyiness now requires a verbal response from you, if he doesn’t get one he puts his mouth next to your ear and shouts, on average every 90 minutes throughout the night!

The second I’m currently working frantically to finish is the Shifty Sweater from Andrea Mowry. I’m using totally delicious yarns from one of my favourite suppliers: The Little Grey Sheep ( http://www.thelittlegreysheep.co.uk @thelittlegreysheep ). Their yarns epitomise flock to project as they live a very pampered life, are cared for and sheared by their resident shepherdess. The yarn is then spun ( not at the farm ) before being returned for dyeing by the owner. I have never been disappointed by any of the yarn I’ve purchased from them. The base colourway for this is Sahara which is stunning with contrasts of Acid Rain, A Summer Abroad and Reputation, what Reputation! These are working perfectly together and there is just a sleeve to go.

This pic also shows a marker from Rebecca’s Room (@rebeccasroom ) where I happily add knitty trinkets to my shopping basket. Plus another ( I know, I know ) project bag. This one from Hide & Hammer ( @hideandhammer ), in my defence I just happened to be online as these were released and as they are as hard to come by as hens teeth I snapped it up.

As you know from last time I also have Fettle from Erika Knight ( http://www.erikaknight.co.uk @knightkraft ) in progress using her new Wool Local which is gorgeous.

I do have a bit of her thing for her yarns ( as in a collection requiring curating) and I may or may not have just ordered some Wildwool ( a nettle & wool mix ) to knit up her Downhill dress! I was really torn on the shade to pick for the dress but have decided on Dawdle as it will be perfect under Eastwind ( which features a guest appearance from British Blue 100 ). I also absolutly love one of the new colours in Wild Wool called Swagger, a burnt orange so may well do a second Downhill next year using that as I adore sweater dresses.

What I do need to do is decide what I definitely want to complete before my winter hand rebuilding extravaganza begins which is planned for around November- Noooooo Knitting for ages ( but worth it in the long run ). My plan is to finish the above plus definitely start and finish Eastwind by Emily Foden ( @violaemily )from her lovely Knits about Winter book. Some of you will recall the yarn for this was a total treat from me to me after my left hand was redesigned last winter so time to start.

A project just commenced that will go on hold is a blanket. As I mentioned we’ve had some sudden deaths in the family, unexpected and too young. I decided to commence a memory blanket and the gorgeous Harlequin one from CaMaRose.dk (@camarosedk ) was perfect. In part as it was designed from her memories of Tivoli in Copenhagen it felt it was meant to be as this was where we visited following the death of my father as a memory trip a couple of years ago. The pattern plus the yarn shades I’ve chosen are shown here, I purchased them from one of my favourite knitting stores – Loop ( @looplondonloves ) and they also have kits in the pattern colourway. Eventually it will form a special throw for my vintage day bed.

As an aside none of the insta links / names to any of the above are affiliated. They are purely small businesses I enjoy buying from (and to make it easier for you to peruse should you wish to as it saves you messaging me to ask where things are from).

This year was my first visit to Hampton Court and I loved it. It felt so much more relaxed than Chelsea and so on a final note here are a couple of pics of my favourite show garden there called Naturecraft, plant dyed skeins and fabric drying in the sun were my idea of garden perfection.

Next time we chat I hopefully will have made more progress on my WIP’s and finalised my to do before surgery list. I’m also planning to carry on sharing some of my favourite things / folk / businesses as am trying really hard to move away from the big corporation guys when it comes to buying and a lot of the people I do buy from I’ve discovered by others sharing.

Until next time

Love

Magpie 😘