WIP - most of them imaginary!

Things have been a little slow on the creative front of late, my rotator cuff injury is still hanging around and limiting my crafting hobbies severely. Humph, life without crafting is boring, and I'm discovering expensive, having spent many days of my last four weeks in Stockholm shopping instead of drawing or knitting!

My only drawing from 4 weeks in Stockholm! The growing Elk foal, Skansen.

I have started this Mohair Bias Loop (pattern by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas), in fact I've started it 5 times, but I've got a really good feeling about attempt number 6! Lucky number 6. I have discovered my tension with kidsilk is dreadful, not consistent at all. I finally reduced the number of stitches by 20% to get it back to the correct length (rather than reducing needle size, which A. I didn't have as a circular, and B. I want this open and not overly warm). Having finally settled on this size being correct, it's only taken a couple of nights to get halfway, so should finish this pretty quickly - I want it to take on holidays soon so there's a definite deadline.

Mohair Bias Loop in Rowan Kidsilk Haze Glamour

The tension issue has made me a bit nervous, last year I bought some lovely green mohair for a jumper for myself, the first adult jumper I would knit in 20 years! I was keen to get onto it for this winter, but now very worried about what sort of size or shape it may end up! I may have to knit up a few more scarves in mohair and work on this erratic tension.

I have also been carrying around this lovely ball of greenness for the last four weeks (ambitiously thinking I would finish the mohair loop, and a shawl during the four week trip). Having finally decided on a pattern for it, I'm itching to get started. I bought the yarn at 'Svenska Hemslöjdsföreningarnas Riksförbund' - The National Association of Handicrafts in Sweden. There was some confusion when I bought it as I asked what ply and length the skein was, the sales assistant was perplexed, it seems its a yarn for weaving, but I really like the colour and texture. This skein has done some miles already, I bought it on a previous trip, took it home to the UK, then took it back at the beginning of August, then home mid August, then back for another two weeks, and now back in the UK. We will have to plant a forest to repair our carbon footprint when these years of travel finish! 

(I wound this by hand, very proud of how neat it is!)

I've chosen 'Birch' by Rowan, after seeing a completed shawl in 'Wincent Garner' in Stockholm, when buying the kidsilk haze glamour there for the bias loop. I never would have picked it from the rubbish photo Rowan used on the pattern - really what are you supposed to get from this image? The perfect shawl to wear camping in your pyjamas perhaps?

image from knit rowan.com

  

I had gone round in circles trying to find a pattern, I blame Ravelry that I've become obsessed with trying lace knitting, especially shawls, and started buying lace weight skeins of loveliness. However hours of searching for patterns would result in lots I wanted to knit, but almost none I would consider wearing, at least not in public. Lets face it, people tag you as nanna for knitting in public, wearing a shawl would be the end! From the thousands of them being knitted up on Ravelry though I gather they must be more commonly worn in parts of the US (or perhaps they all wear them at home?). I did try a few on in Stockholm though, wrapping them more like scarves, and now can see that there are some that can be worn in more modern styles.

Ultimately I do want to work my way upto Celestarium, by the very talented, Audry Nicklin (over at Bear-ears.com, photo courtesy of Audry's website). 

I don't care how nerdy it may be, a knitted representation of the night sky from the pole? Awesome, bring it on. Since first seeing the pattern I have been on the search for just the right yarn, in the same amount of time Audry has written a pattern mapping the Southern Stars, and is about to release her first knitting book. One of us is much more productive in the knitting front! 

One final note of shawly nerdom, this one has made it into my Ravelry queue too, I may have to gift to a friend who I think would wear it way prouder than I. For some reason I can't resist the idea of knitting it though.

'Bigger on the inside' by Kate Atherley, photo by Amy Singer (available on Ravelry) 

With some yarns or patterns, resistance is futile.