What I made, by Sharon

  I finished the Miss Babs armchair Traveller project last week, and I am absolutely crazy about it. I had such fun doing the beading, and it is one of those patterns that is easy to knit and still interesting. I knit it as per the wonderful Franklin Habit pattern, with one change, he warns the knitter not to skip the tassels, that they are absolutely necessary. I decided not to put them on, as I plan on wearing this scarf to work and tassels seem a little over the top. I love that this scarf can be worn as I imagine Franklin intended, basically as a yarn necklace, and I intend to wear it during summer like this. But I also adore the fact that it can also be worn wrapped repeatedly around the neck, making for a cosy scarf.

I've got finished items to show you, and work in progress going both nicely and interestingly, but that's not what I feel like writing about write now. Tonight I want to tell you what I'm not doing tonight .  Tonight I'm not knitting With the whole drama about my arms, someone (namely Katie ) mentioned that her osteo suggested she has a day off a week from knitting. I understand the logic of having a day off from something that you generally do far too much of. I have (at least) one alcohol free day a week. But actually finding the day that it would work for - on Monday's I go to Richmond Knitters, on Tuesdays I need to relax... there's always a reason I "have" to knit. Today I left the house without taking knitting, planning to go to work, CrossFit , home and then dinner at my parents. They asked me to go early, because my brother and his family, including young children, where coming. So I went over there without knitting, spinning or anything. No...

My next project is Firestarter socks, by Yarnmissa. I've had these in my queue for what feels like forever, but have been reluctant to start them, partly because they are toe up, which means learning a new construction, but also because I'm making them from handspun, which has been sitting in my stash since May 2012. My reluctance comes from the fact that my handspun socks (not all handspun socks, but certainly mine) don't wear as well as my mill spun socks.  Two unfortunate pieces of evidence for this can be found in my darning box right now. If you recall , I actually didn't originally intend to spin the yarn I am using for socks at all, I was trying for enough for a shawl, it just came out short. So, I'll knit socks from it, learn a new construction, and perhaps after some good wear get to practice my various methods of repairing socks.

It's my nieces fifth birthday this weekend, and I was trying to work out what to get her. I thought maybe a French Knitter / Knitting Nancy. I rang my local wool shop (which i s Wool Baa , and is directly between my work and my house) a call, and they thought that five years old was too young, but that a pompom maker would be right for that age. So I went and bought one, fondled some cashmere, and left with just the pom pom maker. I dug up some bits and pieces from my stash, so she will have something to use with it. My sister in law is many good things, but one thing she is not is crafty. Hopefully, even if not many pompoms get made, it will get my niece used to the idea that yarn is a thing that you have around, and that's its pretty and you can use for many things. I grew up in  a house with yarn, and everywhere I've lived since - including the six months I lived in a hostel, and the summer I lived on a boat, there has been at least a couple of balls of yarn.

As you may recall pretty much exactly a month ago I found my number . While I was a bit shocked at how high it was, I knew that I could just stop buying yarn, keep knitting away and the number would go down. Right? That's how it works. Except it doesn't. I've been a surprisingly efficient spinner, and then, Miss Babs armchair travellers all got a surprise. There were five different colours, and I got one that I love, but that I would never think of buying, so its perfect. It is paired with Miss Winkle, a Martina Behm (of Hitchhiker fame) shawl, which is perfect for such a wonderful, variegated yarn. So they you have it. Despite not buying yarn and knitting steadily away, my number continues to rise!

As mentioned, I finished Leon's vest last week, but we struggled to find a time to get pictures. We were going to do it on Wednesday night, but then the weather got gloriously warm. So today at the bus stop I finally snapped some shots.  I tried to apply what I learned in the Craftsy photo course like the rule of thirds, but I'm not convinced I've nailed it. Anyway, I think the photos are good enough to show how excellent this vest looks.  I actually don't think the twist collective photos do it justice at all. The cables are lovely, the ribbing makes it fit really well and the neck detailing is well thought out and interesting. And I personally thinks it suits Leon very well.

I've been knitting the latest Travelling with Miss Babs project, a long thin scarf that I can imagine wearing with summer dresses, and to work with sleeveless shift dresses. The pattern calls for 3.25 mm needles, and as there are only 21 stitches involved I got out my little straight signature needles, the ones I bought for the sock yarn blanket that I so rarely work on. I love knitting this. The yarn (Miss Babs Tarte) is lovely - a little splitty, but the Signatures are so sharp it doesn't matter. I haven't beaded for nearly a year and I'm enjoying the effect, as well as the process. I do keep on having to remind myself that it will look so much better after blocking, becasue it is a little bunchy and looks, well like unblocked lace. For me the only downside of this project is that it SO addictive, and I'm still (officially, at any rate) meant to me somewhat limiting my knitting time. But this is far too much fun to be sensible about.