Off the needles - knitting through life
Apr 19, 2015
The last month has been eventful Chez Penguin - some good, some bad. Involving a lot of travel - some expected, some not. There has been a fair amount of stress and a lot of emotion.
But through these things one calming and comforting factor has been knitting. I find it relaxing when I travel, occupies my mind when I'm waiting around and calms me down.
With the result that quite a few projects are off the needles or making a lot of progress.
This non-stop period started with a holiday in Austria. There was less skiing than there might have been due to me picking up a knee injury at the National Veteran Fencing Champs the week before - I'm such an action woman. But that just meant that when I wasn't on the mountain there were more opportunities to sit with my feet up in the hotel enjoying delicious cake and working on a few yarnie projects.
Which, in turn, meant my vintage inspired hat and mittens were available to wear on the colder days.
And I was able to make a start on my Surf on Slate shawlette using some fab Eden Cottage Hayton 4ply which has a touch of cashmere and is a delight to knit with.
This is an idea I've had for a while and is part of a series of shawls inspired by childhood experiences in Donegal.
The next few weeks were a sad time for my family and indeed took me back to Donegal. So the shawl was soon off the needles, as were an as yet unnamed pair of fingerless gloves - an unlabeled ball of sock yarn orphaned in a project bag was very clear on what it wanted to be.
Gloves of all types make great portable projects as do socks so I've made good progress on a couple of pairs - Hot Cross Socks (well it was Easter) pictured in the wonderful Regia Design Line Sizzle colourway and also some with a leaf design.
And in case I got bored, there were swatches and prep for the workshop I'm teaching in France this coming week.
Now I have to figure out what projects will go to France with me and what I might get off the needles. There are Eurostar journeys and coach trips, so let's see if I can get some more socks finished and perhaps make some significant headway on one or even two lace projects.