Knitting

I do this a lot.  Just ask my family.  But recently I have been trying to decide what to really make and what makes me really happy.  Putting a little more thought into what I am making and not just jumping on the band wagon because that is what others are making.  This past week has seen me rip back nearly a whole sweater and cast on a new one.  I was not happy with the sweater and the more I knitted the more I kept thinking that it was not really what I wanted to be making.  So off the needles it went and I casted on some different.  I decided to go back to knitting a designers design that I knew I would want to knit and wear.

I have never really thought that much about my knitting.  I know I am more comfortable knitting things flat and sewing up.  It is just the way I like.  I don't mind knitting in the round but I am happier knitting flat.  Also there are some designers I just know I like the garments - they tend to be the more classic designs. 

So for the time being I am going to make sure I stick with what I am happy with.  Surely the less pressure we put on ourselves the better.  Life and society put too much pressure on us already to fit in.  Let's relax and knit, do what makes us happy.

(Martha by Kim Hargreaves in Felted Tweed dk)

Saying Goodbye

Saying Goodbye is never easy.  Unfortunately we are having to say goodbye by to our beloved dog. Rusty.  We have been through so much together and it is a hard day.  But it will be better for him.  He is nearly 15 which considering what he has been through at the start of his life and more recently is a miracle he has been with us this long.  He has meant so much to us all, both friends and family.  Always there to greet people when they come to visit.  Always a friendly lick.  Just being there and having someone to share your woes with and  not answering back.  Always getting you out of the house when you don't really want to and making you feel so much better for doing so.  Sharing runs in fields and lanes, walks, hikes up mountains, playing frisbee, helping clear the plates when we can't finish our food, cleaning the kitchen floor of crumbs.  (Oh my goodness I shall have to sweep the floor more often now).  These are just some of the many things you have done for us but now is the time for you to go and we understand that even though we may be sad we still love you and will miss you terribly.

Yarn Along and end of silence (maybe)

I have not been on here for such a long time.  Knitting has been going on and reading has happened but I just haven't felt the where with all to blog about it.

I have been doing lots of sample knitting, knitting for others and pattern testing lately.  I have been enjoying this even though I do wish I had more knitting time during the day so that I could knit so much more but real life just seems to get in the way.  There always seems to be something else that needs doing and it always seems to take longer than I think.

The above knit is a sweater that I am knitting up as a sample for A Yarn Story in Bath for their shop.  The pattern is Stasis by Leila Raabe and is knit in Brooklyn Tweed Loft.  This is the first time I have used this yarn and also knit something by this designer.  I am loving both. 

As for reading I am reading 'A Respectable Trade' by Phillipa Gregory, an author whose writing style I really like.

Well, not much more to really say this time other than that I hope to blog a little more in 2018.