Stitches of a different kind

Don't you think this hydragea is a lovely bright colour? We have acid soil and it wreaks havoc with pink hydrangeas, turning them a murky, dirty lilac colour. Last year we transplanted them into pots, adding some lime to the compost - and it seems to have done the trick nicely -

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything for such a long time! I have had a bit more time to myself over the last few weeks and have used it to get several jobs completed that have been outstanding for a long time. Although this hasn't involved any knitting, it has involved tiny needles and acres (?) of fabric:
Firstly, I decided to make two pairs of curtains for our home - one pair for the dining room (with a matching runner from the offcuts of length):

Secondly, curtains for our living room and cushions to co-ordinate:

Needless to say this has curtailed my knitting time, but I do now have two full strips of my 'Fish' throw completed, now I just have to get started on the third one. And I am going to promise to try to post more regularly in future (!)

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Is there such a thing as 'Investment Knitting'?

Following my knitting revival came a succession of plans and lists of items that were to be produced - some sooner than others. One of the first Rowan patterns I completed was 'Lisette' by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan 36. Boy, was I a proud girl when this was finished! It was my first experience of knitting with a Rowan yarn, and nothing has yet shifted 4-ply Soft from the top of my list of the best yarns for drape and finish. It has virtually no 'bloom', washes brilliantly and wears as new. The colour is aptly called 'Beetroot' and is a bit darker than the picture below. The pattern was straightforward to knit, and as a result I think I will forever be partial to a Kim Hargreaves pattern. The edging was knitted separately and sewn on, which was a challenge for me as I am not too confident of my hand sewing skills when it comes to knitted fabric! I have learnt many things since I knitted this a couple of years ago. One of them is never to carry 'live' stitc...

Shade Card Ripple - Ta Dah!

This is the blanket I made - it is based on the ripple pattern made famous by Lucy from Attic 24 . It fits a double bed perfectly. I used a 3.5mm crochet hook and one of each of the colours from Jamieson's double knitting (25g) shade card. I used around 409 ch to start with and around 220 rows. This is the blanket Mum made. She used the second half of each ball once I had completed the rows on my blanket. Again a 3.5mm hook was used, but this time she used a chevron crochet pattern from The Gebtle Art of Knitting by Jane Brocket . She started with 360 ch and the same number of rows. It fits a sofa or a single bed beautifully. What do you think? We loved sharing this project - it gave us a lot of pleasure and many happy hooky hours! There's about 1200g of leftovers - all wound into magic balls and waiting for the next project...

All's well that casts off (with enough yarn)

This wasn't a good time of year to start blogging, I think. I have a growing pile of assignments to mark and lots of preparation for summer teaching to get underway (no long break for us nursing lecturers, unfortunately!). Yet I still want to knit and talk about knitting in preference to working. I need some discipline. I have just finished knitting Birch from Rowan 34. It started when I needed to buy an extra ball of Kidsilk Night to cast off about 100 stitches of the Froth scarf that was the free gift pattern from Rowan a few months ago. I was knitting it a second time for a gift. I was left with almost a full ball and thought it would be a good idea to buy 2 more and cast on for Birch (which I had always fancied knitting). After getting one third of the way through the shawl I had only one ball left: So off I went to buy another ball of yarn to complete the last few pattern repeats. Now I have about 3/4 of a ball left. Am I the only one who would find that frustrating? After all...

Stitches Galore

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