At long last - some knitting!

Hello there! It seems like ages since I actually talked yarny-stuff with you! But the knitting needles in the josiekitten household haven't been laying idle - far from it! I have some finished knits for your delectation and delight!

Firstly, my Spriteling shawl. I can't say that hand on heart, I really enjoyed knitting this. I am still such a novice lace knitter that nothing came intuitively to me as I was knitting. If I made a mistake (and believe me, I made plenty!), I didn't spot it until my stitch count was out a couple of rows later! So there was much frogging and reknitting, frogging and reknitting .......... until eventually, it was finished! I do absolutely love the finished shawl though, and the experience hasn't put me off knitting more lace!

It's got a really pretty crocheted edge, which is unusual. Here's another photo to give you a better idea of the overall shape and pattern of the shawl.

The yarn is Alice's own Sokkusu lightweight, and was wonderful to knit with. You can get a better idea of the subtle colour variations in this photo.

I've also finished my Monkey Bread infinity scarf. After test knitting the narrow version earlier in the year, I knew that I wanted a wider, even snugglier version in purple for next winter. It'll be the perfect thing for cold playground duties! I used the mink and cashmere yarn from Great Northern Yarns, and it is just scrummy!

The yarn is just so, so soft, and already has the cosiest bloom on it. I'm almost looking forward to colder weather, just so that I can wear it!!

I finished a pair of plain vanilla socks for one of my university friends. We meet up once a year in the autumn, and they all asked me to knit them a pair of socks! So one pair down, three pairs to go! It's nice, easy car knitting, so I should be able to get them finished while we are driving round Germany this summer.

I've finished the first of my Tesserae socks, using the sparkly purple yarn I got in a swap from Julia. It's another lovely pattern from Anne Hanson. I find myself being drawn more and more to her designs these days, and not looking elsewhere.

I'm currently knitting a sample sock for my LYS using some Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. I've chosen the pattern rpm from Knitty to try and show off the wonderful colour changes in the yarn. It feels quite thick and felted at the moment, but will hopefully soften up after a soak. I'll show you a picture next time. I've also got a couple of bits of test knitting in the pipeline, so once I get started, and am certain that I can share with you, I'll fill you in!

I've decided to join in the Tour de Fleece on Ravelry this summer. I was originally going to join the Rookies team for newish spinners, but have jumped ship to spin along with Team Superfleece. They sound like a pretty relaxed group, so it should be a lot of fun. I'm not too sure what spinning goals I'm going to set for myself yet. I'd like to be able to spin 100g of fibre to give me decent yardage - maybe enough for a pair of handspun socks! Perfect! I've been doing a little spinning over the last two weeks. The fibre was 75% British Alpaca and 25% merino. It's a 2-ply yarn, hopefully enought for a little something!!

I'm waiting for a parcel to arrive from the USA. My swap partner Kim and I decided to send each other another yarn-filled parcel. We should be getting them any day now!! I do love swaps! And the 2nd swap is now underway in the Fall in Full Color clubhouse, so I'm looking forward to getting to know my partner Melissa.

I have some even more exciting news to tell you too! Today we visited a cat sanctuary and picked out two young cats to come and live with us! They are both under a year old and will be coming to live chez josiekitten as soon as we are back from our holiday at the beginning of August! I can't wait to have little furry beings in the house again! Have a lovely week whatever you're doing, and I'll see you soon! xxx