I am still having trouble with gauges and zimmerman sweaters. No matter how many times I knit a swatch and then count the stitches, divide by four, then multiply by my bust, the number of stitches always comes out way too much. What is up with this?

Finally, in a desperate attempt to making something lovely with some Lana Grossa I have, I just took 30 stitches off the 188 I was supposed to have and cast on. This is now the beginning of what I think will be a beautiful (raglan?) sweater.

I have never loved k2 p2 rib so much in my life. I want more of this wall, I bought it for $1.50/ball at Lincraft. I hope they have more.



Here is a close up of the wool, it's Lana Grossa Mylord in a beautiful grey with green slub and beautiful flecks of every other bright colour imaginable. It's going to make my finished object look like a homespun sweater that collided with a kindergarden painting.

Turkish ladies on the train and in Auburn keep exclaiming over my socks, because I'm knitting them the Turkish way, toe-up on four needles, knitting with the fifth. They then question me over my ethnic heritage and find that in fact I am very boring and simply taught myself from a book.

They also comment on my colours and advise me to use more contrasting colours for the pattern next time, but say my knitting is very nice!

I know the colours aren't perfect. The pair I'm making at the moment are the same colours as the pair in the entry below, but I'm using a bead motif instead of chimney grate, and the background is blue and the motif grey. It doesn't stand out very well, but you could also say that it is subtle. I don't know, I'm undecided.

Needless to say, I need to buy sock wool. Knitting these, I keep longing for some red. I keep wanting to just knit a central motif in red, to help bring out the rest of the pattern. Maybe I can stich over the top with a embroidery needle when I'm finished.

I taught myself to cable this week!

I don't do things by halves, my learning project was Jenna's Durrow Cable. I'm quite pleased with the result. Here it is.



It's pretty neat for a first attempt, but I'm sure further attempts will be even better. Needless to say, I am dreaming of celtic cabled jerseys. And Georgie, by Sarah Dallas of course. An easy cable ;)

Here, also, is a photo of the socks that I finished knitting long enough ago that they are already in New Zealand on the feet of their recipient, while she lounges around and watches the cricket. I would have taken a photo with them on an actual foot (Turkish socks look so strange until you actually see them three-dimensionally), but my friend Amy has much larger feet than me, and they would have just looked silly.

They were knit on Tulip 2.25mm bamboo dps with St Ives sock wool that my Mother brought back with her from Sussex.
The motif is called 'chimney grate' and was from a fantastic book I found in my library on traditional Anatolian sock knitting.



Now I don't know what to knit next. I want to knit Blaze, and several designs from Vintage Style, but have no money, which means I just have to eat my way through my stash, which means more socks, mittens and hats.

I am having a knitting slump which I think can only be improved by luxurious wool. Felted Tweed or Kidsilk Haze or something with alpaca or cashmere in it.

I tried Thandi again, with smaller needles and smoother mohair, and it looked really nice, was much easier on my hands etc... but I can never finish up the pattern repeat where I should at the end of the row. Knitting lace is hard. You can't really look back and see where you made a mistake.

I tried knitting Thandi from Jo Sharp's Gathering book tonight. I know you can't knit a scarf in one night, I worded it that way because I tried and failed.

I mastered the YO (yarn over) and the lace was coming out all nice and tree-ish, but the mohair I was using, teamed with the slipperyness of my bamboo needles, has left my fingers wirsts and forearms sore, in my left arm especially. So I frogged and put the mohair away to make ethereal mittens out of another day.

I think I am destined to knit for the rest of my life with circulars and dpns. Everytime I try and knit something with normal straight needles, my hands go all gnarled.

Still, the good news is that I taught myself how to knit cables on the way home on the train tonight. I have adapted a sock pattern from A Passion For Knitting so that I can knit it with heirloom sock yarn, and have just finished making a pair of socks in a navy heather for my Grandmama, I love them, I want to keep them for myself because they fit so perfectly and sleekly if you know what I mean.

My extended 60 stitch version used exactly one and a half balls of the argyle wool, which means I have exactly one and a half left to make a pair for myself. Yay. I really do want to try making a pair of cable socks though.

Down with tree stumps! Long live dpns!