Upon finishing my “We do so hate to be bored” tee, I struggled to pick up another project. I had a few things on the needles, which have been in hibernation, but none of them was saying “Knit me! Knit me!” I really wanted to start a cardigan with the Road to China Light yarn which Doug gave me for Christmas (not last year but the year before), but I am annoyed at that project. I plan to write a post about that soon with the title “The case of the lost yarn swatches”; clever readers will be able to figure out the source of my annoyance.

In the meantime, I desultorily kept going with my Gresham Wrap. The reason I am not enthused about it has nothing to do with the wrap itself, which is fun and pretty, but rather with the fact that the cream-coloured portion in the middle goes on FOREVER and furthermore is basically knitted in ribbing (it has a textured stitch which is the equivalent of knitting every second row in 1×1 ribbing). I have decided it is the TV knitting project and so I am slowly making progress; unfortunately for it, I am not much interested in watching TV. Here is a nice photo of it curled up in its place on the couch, catching the morning sun:

When we returned from Wales, I found a giant pile of yarn on my doorstep:

I recently took part in Kate Davies newest club and she gives a 10% discount during the club for any purchases from her store. I waited until the very last minute to place an order, both so that I could see each new design before committing and also because I couldn’t make up my mind. I ended up ordering kits for three projects (none of them from the current club):

Gruggle:

Hirne:

Collar de Pilar:

All of this luscious yarn will certainly keep my needles busy all year. However, when I was deciding what to cast on next, my Linum yarn from The Uncommon Thread jumped out at me. The yarn is a blend of 50% baby alpaca, 25%linen, and 25% silk. I pre-ordered it last summer and by the time it arrived, summer was over so I put it aside.

I can’t even describe how beautiful this yarn feels, and once I had knitted a swatch, I knew I had to cast on immediately. It is so lovely and the feel of it is fantastic: light and airy, it weighs nothing and is so soft.

Today, I tried it on just to make sure the fit was right, and it is perfect! Here you can see the shoulder:

Doug took a photo of the back and said “Are these stitches supposed to be falling off the needle?”

Argh! I shifted the stitches onto a long needle before trying it on, and still managed to lose some stitches. Thankfully, I have a husband who actually notices things like that!

I am so into this one. Doug is now making noises in the background: “Why can’t you knit a tee shirt for me?” etc etc. I dare anyone to touch this swatch and not want one.

Doug is cooking dinner and by the yummy aromas emanating from the kitchen it is nearly done! Good knitting everyone!