Am I crazy?

Is it just me or is everyone knitting jumpers (sweaters) at the moment? It seems like lots the podcasters and bloggers I follow are anyway. Maybe I just notice it more because it's exactly what I want to do next.

I wore my Aidez for the first time yesterday, and it is so warm and cosy that I want a whole wardrobe full of woolly jumpers and cardigans. But when I try to find the wool to knit a jumper, I am not-so-pleasantly surprised. It seems like a jumper's worth of wool doesn't come any cheaper than €40 ($52/£35), even the bargains online add up to that with shipping. I'm a student without a job, so I was preparing myself for quite a bit of saving.

Then This is Knit, a lovely knitting shop in Dublin, wrote a blog post about a new yarn they're stocking. Araucania Botany Lace in some beautiful semi-solid colours. And it struck me that I could probably knit a Featherweight cardigan out of 2 skeins for a grand total of €24 ($31/£21).  And for some reason the alarm bells in my head are not ringing to warn me away from kntting a cardigan in such a fine yarn...

It looks like a loose gauge, so it won't be as slow as socks, and people who have commented on the pattern on Ravelry seem to suggest it goes much more quickly than they expected. And by the time I'm finished the cardigan it will probably be too warm for a big bulky Aidez anyway, so a featherweight might be perfect.

Am I crazy to consider knitting a laceweight cardigan, or would it be even more crazy to not take advantage of the €16 savings?

St Patrick's Day Knitting

Good morning! The sun was shining directly through my bedroom window this morning and gave me some perfect light to photograph my most recent thing to be proud of.

Last night I sat down with my Aidez cardigan and decided it was time to finally sew up the seams, weave in the ends and make it wearable. The cardigan's been finished for a month now, I should really stop putting off finishing.

I played a few podcasts, and some podcasters were talking about the knitting they're doing to wear on St. Patrick's Day, and it struck me that my green Aidez will be finished right on cue to be worn on Sunday.

It's currently blocking, but I wish it were dry because it has just started snowing here in Dublin and a big cosy Aidez would be the perfect thing to wear on a cold day like this.

Weaving in Ends

Weaving in ends is probably my least favourite thing about knitting. So much work has gone into the item, so much excitement as it nears completion, so much pride when the last stitch is cast off, and then when you're looking forward so much to showing the world the thing you've accomplished it's still not ready to be worn. I used to be very good about weaving in the ends straight away, but now I let it drag on and on. I have to admit, sometimes I just tie them in a knot so I can wear something before weaving in the ends.

These were the items I brought on the train last weekend hoping to get the ends woven in once and for all.

I managed to do one sock and a half-hearted job on the cowl. (You can see where I did my knot trick on it!) And yes, I wore the socks before the second one was done.

And that Aidez. It is beautiful, and I can't wait to finish it and finally have my first 100% wool hand-knit cardigan, but the amount of seaming to be done is so off-putting.

Next time I knit a jumper I'll remember to it in one piece!

Picking up where I left off

Do you get more motivated to knit after you finish a certain project?

I always do. I think it's the feeling of accomplishment that pushes me towards the finish line on projects which are taking longer.

Last week, after I finished my cosy red cowl, I picked up where I left off on my Aidez cardigan. This is an absolutely beautiful cardigan, and I'm knitting it with really nice wool. It's Cascade Eco + in a gorgeous shade of green with flecks of blue and yellow, and I love how it looks so far.

But it's cabled, and cables take me so long to knit and it felt like my progress was very slow, so I took a break. I knit the back and front panels already, so all that's left to knit is the two sleeves, which I cast on yesterday morning.

I'm knitting them in the round so that I'll have less seaming to do at the end, and so far I've knit about 14 inches of the first sleeve. It's knitting up much faster than I thought it would. Maybe by this time next week I'll have a whole new cardigan!

Here's a picture of my progress:

As for the cowl, I've worn it every day since I finished it, and it feels like it gets softer the more I wear it! It's so snuggly and warm, and I've got loads of compliments on it. I haven't enlisted anyone to take a picture of me wearing it yet because I keep forgetting to bring my camera to college, but I'm hoping to do that some time soon.

Finito

I've surprised myself!

Writing about my cowl seems to have given me the motivation I needed to finish it. I think I may have done more in the past 24 hours than I had done all week!

So here is a quick picture. My room is dark so I've tried to brighten it up a little. Hopefully I'll get some better ones in the morning.

What a great end to the weekend :)

Possibly my favourite knit yet!

It's been such a long time since I've had a minute to sit down and write a blog post! I had deadline after deadline this term in college, and this weekend is the first chance I'm getting to catch my breath.

Not only have I been too busy to make time for my blog, I haven't even had much time for knitting. I think I might have to train myself to knit while reading to help me get through the next few months of college work!

The worst part might just be that I didn't get to show you my birthday wool! I haven't photographed it all, so I will get round to that and show it off over the next few posts.

The first, and most exciting thing I'll show you is my Mirasol Tuhu. It is a DK weight yarn in a llama, merino and angora blend, and I think it might just be the softest wool I've ever felt! It makes it all the sweeter that I got it at 50% off with free shipping. I bought it in the Cranberry colourway, and my, my, it's gorgeous!

There has been some pretty chilly weather here in Ireland of late, so I knew I wanted some sort of soft, cosy cowl to keep me warm. I loved this one from Purl Soho, but I was worried it might be so simple I'd find it boring. How wrong I was. I love simple! Simple means I can knit in the dark and it still feels like no work at all.

I also thought that simple would mean it'd knit up in about two minutes, but I don't get a chance to knit every day so the cowl is taking its time. Here it is a few days ago:

If it looks as lovely as Purl Soho's when it's finished, this cowl has the potential to be my favourite project yet. So soft, so comfy, so cosy and so simple, I don't think I could ask for anything more!

I've run out of knitting!

Well not really, but my ball of wool for my cardigan is very nearly gone so this is what I'm doing for the evening:

(Yes, I've put an Instagram-type effect on the photo because I took it with my laptop's low-quality in-built webcam and it wouldn't be very nice otherwise.)

I'm winding wool by hand. It is a boring, monotonous job, but I have a few knitting podcasts at the ready to keep me company. And I might need a few, because this is no average-sized ball of wool. It's a whole 250g of Cascade Eco +. ("Less ends to weave in at the end," I keep reminding myself.)

I've given up on centre-pull balls of wool. They keep falling apart at the end, and I'm rarely in the mood to spend my knitting time untangling knots.

On the bright side, wearing the wool like this has made me realise it'd be oh so warm and pretty and comfy knitted into a squishy green cowl. And I might even have enough left over after I finish my Aidez cardigan. We shall see...