Woolly progress

Hello again, sorry it's taken me a little longer to get back to you than I'd hoped. Ireland seems like a lifetime away now that I'm back at school. Luckily I've got lots of knitting evidence to show for a week of relaxation.

Exhibit A, my McCafferty shawl. You may remember that I'm taking part in a KAL on Ravelry. McCafferty has been designed by Lily France. She's only 12 years old and is very talented. In fact, she's just had her first pattern published in The Knitter magazine. You can read more about it here. Clever girl! I think we'll be hearing an awful lot about her in the future. The main body of the shawl is in garter stitch, with a lace mesh section. The lace edging is knitted on perpendicularly and attached to the main body of the shawl as you knit! I'm using some of the grey alpaca that I bought in France earlier this year. It is so soft and fluffy, it's going to be like being wrapped in a cloud when it's finished. It's quite hard to show you what the shawl looks like, as I can't stretch it out properly at the moment. But here's a little peep at the lace mesh border.

I had to join a new cake of yarn, so have been very brave and used the spit-splice method that Anne Hanson showed us at KnitNation. I can't actually see where the two ends are joined now, so I'm hoping that when it's blocked, they hold together. Watch this space!

Exhibit B, my Through the Loops Mystery KAL socks. I hurriedly printed out the pattern for clue 4 before leaving last weekend. The 'tiny trowels' pattern has continued down the foot, and looks lovely. Apologies for the way the socks look in this photo - they are a little crumpled from being stuffed in and out of my handbag all week. Nothing that a good blocking won't sort out once they're done. I just hope that I have enough yarn left to complete the toes. I just love the colours in this yarn. It comes from The Thylacine and Megan has just got a new website to showcase all her beautiful yarn and fibre. I especially love the way that you can look at all yarns in a particular colourway to compare them. Ooooooh, such delicious yarny temptations! Will you be able to resist?!

Exhibit C, stripy socks for my friend Michele's Dad. He loves bright colours, so hopefully these should be perfect for him! Plain vanilla socks using the sock generator pattern from Violet Green and a Trekking yarn.

Exhibit D, an extremely orange sock for Katy! Earlier this year, Kate sent me a skein of Wollmeise that she'd bought rather too eagerly, simply because it was Wollmeise, forgetting in her enthusiasm that she hated orange! I decided to make a pair of Circle socks, having rather liked some on Ravelry done in a solid colour. I cast on the first one in the departure lounge leaving England, and the second one leaving Ireland. I've still got a way to go before that one's done. It was my first real experience of knitting with Wollmeise, and I have to say that is a knitter's dream. Lovely, squishy, sproingy (is that a real word?!) yarn, with a fantastic stitch definition. My one big regret from KnitNation this summer is not buying enough yarn in one colourway to knit a garment other than socks. I shall try to remedy that if I get the chance next year!

Exhibit E, a spiralling scarf knitted with Koigu KPPPM. It's a simple pattern, basically knitting short rows either side of a central spine of knitting. I love knitting with Koigu. The colours are lovely, and the yarn feels great. This yarn was given to me by Erin, a Ravelry friend from Canada. We met up at KnitNation, and have arranged another get together at Christmas, when she is over in London again. A trip to Loop is planned, and I'm sure that we will be rather good at encouraging each other at yarn purchasing!

This photo shows the scarf flat - once it's done I promise that I'll post a modelled photo so that you can see it twisting away.

Exhibit F, my knitted gift for my Christmas swap partner. I'm taking part in another swap on Ravelry and this time my partner is Jean, an English lady living in France. I just love what I've made for her, but as she hasn't yet received my parcel, I can't show you, just in case she decides to pay my blog a visit! All I will say is that it used one skein of yarn, and was knitted in a couple of days!

I did make a small squishy purchase whilst in Ireland. I paid another visit to Spin a Yarn, now in Killarney. Three years ago I was lured into their Kenmare shop by a skein of Noro yarn, and my love of knitting was rekindled. Here's the scarf I made ........

and here's the yarn I bought, to be added to my Ten Stitch blankie in due course. Gorgeous, gorgeous colours!

And if that wasn't enough, I had the excitement of opening a squishy parcel when we got home. I won a giveway on Ve's blog, and was thrilled to receive these lovely goodies.

The kit will make a little cardigan for a 6 month size. I think I know where it's heading already! Just take a closer look at the little sheep buttons. Aren't they just perfect?!

Well, I think that I've managed to catch you up with all my holiday knitting. Before I go though, I must just share with you some news about my blog. I was browsing through Kai's blog yesterday, and was most interested to see that she'd published the top 30 knitting blogs, as recorded by Wikio. I was even more amazed to discover that The Woolly Adventures of a Knitting Kitty is number 2!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! I don't quite understand how the list is compiled, but I'm thrilled to be up there, sandwiched between Wendy Johnson and Ysolda! Bye for now! xxx