An FO!
Looking back at what I’ve knit so far this winter I seem to have been remarkably unproductive! True finished objects number one sweater and one scarf – pretty pathetic really. Of course there was “the project” that went horribly wrong but took up a fair amount of time. But other than that, I wonder where on earth the time went and why I have so little to show for it.
Well, I do have one more FO to add to the tally. Cosmic Pluto’s top down cardigan
Here’s a pre-blocking shot
You'll just have to take my word for it that it's going to look great after it's been blocked!
Pattern: here
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic in Bear. I used less than 5 50g balls, so it hasn’t been quite as big a stash buster as I thought. I have enough left for another reasonable sized project (cardigan, short sleeved top), or a number of small projects – scarf and gloves would be nice.
Needles: 5mm Addi Turbos
Time on needles: about 3 weeks I think
The pattern is excellent. Clear, well written instructions. Top down means the body is knitted all in one piece so no seaming! I love coming to the end of a project and only having a few ends to weave in. The shaping at the waist really helps, and I love the seed stitch edging. I didn’t bother with buttons and buttonholes as I never wear a cardigan closed.
The yarn is also highly recommended. It knits up beautifully, no splitting, and I didn’t come across a single knot (which is unusual for Rowan yarn in my experience). It’s much softer than it looks – definitely wearable next to the skin – and the mohair is not the sort that’s going to shed all over the place.
I’m extremely picky about finished garments and their wearability, but this one’s definitely a keeper! I love it. It's a perfect fit (another huge advantage of top down knitting) and I think it's destined to become a wardrobe staple for me this winter.
The Handmaiden Sea Silk scarf is not making such good progress, but I only knit it a couple of evenings a week – any more than that and I’d want to slit my wrists. The only thing keeping me going is that it does look very pretty.
In other news, our fleece finally went off to the mill this week. I’m not sure how long it takes to be processed, but I’m guessing we won’t have anything back for a couple of months. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
I can’t believe it’s only just over a week to Christmas. This is usually a pretty quiet time at work but this year it’s been manic the last couple of weeks and I’m just hoping I can clear my desk by Friday. We’re delaying our Christmas "do" until the New Year as one of the partners has gone off to Australia for a month to visit his daughter who’s working over there, and our year end is 31st January so we decided to have our “do” in February when we can celebrate what has been a very successful year for us. It’s only the second full trading year for the partnership but the business is already going really well. Things look good for the coming year too, so fingers crossed we can continue to grow the business while still having fun. Having had some truly dreadful experiences in my past I am continually thankful that my partners are such wonderful people to work with.
Only 3 weeks until we go back to France. Via the wonders of the internets we have managed to line up appointments to view 6 farms during the week we’ll be there. I can’t wait to go over again. We’ve started French lessons with a very nice lady who comes to the house on Friday afternoons. Eddie has his “beginner’s” hour with her first then I have an hour with her just chatting in French, reading French texts and newspapers. I’m finding with each week that more and more vocabulary is coming back to me so I’m hopeful that by the time we move I’ll be a lot more confident.
Eddie has taken a batch of goats to the abattoir this morning. It’s a hateful job sorting those that are going from those that are staying with us, and no matter how often we do it, it never seems to get any easier, but although we feel truly miserable I’m glad we feel this way. I don’t ever want the day to arrive when we can send our animals to their death without a second thought.
Well, I do have one more FO to add to the tally. Cosmic Pluto’s top down cardigan
Here’s a pre-blocking shot
You'll just have to take my word for it that it's going to look great after it's been blocked!
Pattern: here
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic in Bear. I used less than 5 50g balls, so it hasn’t been quite as big a stash buster as I thought. I have enough left for another reasonable sized project (cardigan, short sleeved top), or a number of small projects – scarf and gloves would be nice.
Needles: 5mm Addi Turbos
Time on needles: about 3 weeks I think
The pattern is excellent. Clear, well written instructions. Top down means the body is knitted all in one piece so no seaming! I love coming to the end of a project and only having a few ends to weave in. The shaping at the waist really helps, and I love the seed stitch edging. I didn’t bother with buttons and buttonholes as I never wear a cardigan closed.
The yarn is also highly recommended. It knits up beautifully, no splitting, and I didn’t come across a single knot (which is unusual for Rowan yarn in my experience). It’s much softer than it looks – definitely wearable next to the skin – and the mohair is not the sort that’s going to shed all over the place.
I’m extremely picky about finished garments and their wearability, but this one’s definitely a keeper! I love it. It's a perfect fit (another huge advantage of top down knitting) and I think it's destined to become a wardrobe staple for me this winter.
The Handmaiden Sea Silk scarf is not making such good progress, but I only knit it a couple of evenings a week – any more than that and I’d want to slit my wrists. The only thing keeping me going is that it does look very pretty.
In other news, our fleece finally went off to the mill this week. I’m not sure how long it takes to be processed, but I’m guessing we won’t have anything back for a couple of months. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
I can’t believe it’s only just over a week to Christmas. This is usually a pretty quiet time at work but this year it’s been manic the last couple of weeks and I’m just hoping I can clear my desk by Friday. We’re delaying our Christmas "do" until the New Year as one of the partners has gone off to Australia for a month to visit his daughter who’s working over there, and our year end is 31st January so we decided to have our “do” in February when we can celebrate what has been a very successful year for us. It’s only the second full trading year for the partnership but the business is already going really well. Things look good for the coming year too, so fingers crossed we can continue to grow the business while still having fun. Having had some truly dreadful experiences in my past I am continually thankful that my partners are such wonderful people to work with.
Only 3 weeks until we go back to France. Via the wonders of the internets we have managed to line up appointments to view 6 farms during the week we’ll be there. I can’t wait to go over again. We’ve started French lessons with a very nice lady who comes to the house on Friday afternoons. Eddie has his “beginner’s” hour with her first then I have an hour with her just chatting in French, reading French texts and newspapers. I’m finding with each week that more and more vocabulary is coming back to me so I’m hopeful that by the time we move I’ll be a lot more confident.
Eddie has taken a batch of goats to the abattoir this morning. It’s a hateful job sorting those that are going from those that are staying with us, and no matter how often we do it, it never seems to get any easier, but although we feel truly miserable I’m glad we feel this way. I don’t ever want the day to arrive when we can send our animals to their death without a second thought.
posted by Carolyn at 11:50 am
6 Comments:
I love that sweater! It looks great even in the pre-blocked stage so I can only imagine how fab it will be post-blocked!
I'm sending you good vibes for a quiet week ahead at work in the pre-holiday countdown. I'm looking forward to hearing about your farm search in France.
The sweater is gorgeous :)
Have fun in France.
The cardigan looks great, even unblocked -- well done!
Thank you for the cards -- I am resisting opening the birthday card until my actual birthday!
Have a wonderful trip to France, and give my best to Eddie.
Joyeux Noel!
Carolyn
You know that you can't keep them all (goats, not sweaters) but it must still be painful to part with the faces that you know. The upside is that they've had a good time with you and they've been living the goat equivalent of the good life. If/when you move will you take them all or will you have to reduce the flock before you go?
Gorgeous sweater!
And I love the scarf too.
Happy new Year! May 2007 be wonderful for you!
Just getting back to blogging after the x-mas break so I thought I'd stop by to wish you a Happy New Year! 2007 has so many exciting new things for you in stock, so I really hope it will be a fantastic year for you!!
Iris
xx
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