I have three items on the pins at the moment. I don’t think I have ever allowed myself that before, usually because it feels way too dis-organised – like I can’t settle on a project, but I am in love with these yarns and am in full-swing KnitBritish!
I have mentioned before that the Woolsack group on Ravlery have a thread to discuss ideas for your own projects knit with British wool. I was late catching onto the group and if you a not familiar with Woolsack I highly recommend that you have a browse of the website.
With knitting though I feel I am always learning and I love to challenge myself. I know I am not the greatest knitter in the world. I know I will never create masterpiece designs, but I truly get satisfaction from what I create. Maybe because I managed to knit with two colours at once (that was a big deal), maybe because I ripped that shawl back ten times before I got it right. A lot of the satisfaction of the thing is how you got to the finished object, isn’t it?
A little birdie may have mentioned last time that LovelyFella had knitbritished up a webspace for me….Well here it is!
I have been having the most fun! Since throwing myself head first into the idea of knitting British I have had nothing but fun and joy seeking out local grown, spun or dyed wool. JEWELS Have a look at just some of the utter jewels in the British Wool crown that I have stashed so far…. “Seeking out” is perhaps a redundant term as there is just so much British fibre out there, just yearning to be used. And it isn’t just our sheepy friends either, I can’t believe I have been buying alpaca wool imported from South America when there is an absolute wealth of yarn grown from flocks (packs?) all over the UK, even here in Shetland! My wishlist is continuing to bust! I really hope Santa thinks I have been a good girl this year. Currently I have coveting this sumptuous green UK Alpaca sock from John Arbon! It just yearns to be squeeshed! I will introduce more of the yarns in more detail as time goes on, but needless to say …
Here is Etterscabs. The last item I will make in non-British wool for the next year. The design is Aftur, by Védís Jónsdóttir and I knit it out of two necessities. 1) I wanted a lopapeysa style yoke jumper and 2) I had a lot of Drops Alaska in my stash that, while a wonderful wool, it was taking up too much space in the stash. Stash space that is needed for British wool for 2013! I am so delighted with this jumper, as you can see! I haven’t done a lot of colour-work, but I am so pleased with how it turned out. I altered the yoke pattern from the original and I made the sleeves a little longer and added just a little waist shaping (as I always look boxy in jumpers) my only slight regret is that I didn’t allow for more…ahem…movement…in the bustular area. But one needs to feel snug in this cold weather. I really don’t think I have been so happy with a creation in a long time. It had been blocking for …
It’s been tugging at my knitting belt for some time, ever since I was waxing knitical about a new yarn I was swatching, which came from a flock almost over the back garden from me (as the crow flies)… wouldn’t it be a great idea to knit as local or as British as possible? This year (belatedly, granted), I set myself the Great Cardi Knit of 2012 challenge and I have loved having a theme to knit to, so it has got me thinking about what I might challenge myself with in 2013…(ocht! I know it’s only September, but it’ll soon be upon us!) Last Monday I was on a train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, and while sipping my East Coast Trains, First Class coffee (which was a bit second rate, truth be told) I was looking out the window. We passed a fairly large field of sheep, resplendent in their growing winter fleeces…it got me to wondering what the price of wool was for this year and if farmers were coming off any better …
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