End of Summer

At least that is always how it feels coming home from our weeks holiday, never mind! But I've not been resting without knitting, fear not! I have been busy and have a number of FO's for you plus one I haven't photographed yet as well which is the 'Green Gables' top which was completed in time for WoolFest which really is a bit sinful - wearing Cotton to WoolFest!!! Well I would have been if we'd gone in for another day! The other FO finished before WoolFest are these wonderfully cozy socks:

They were finished only a few hours before WoolFest admittedly but still! And I was so reluctant to take them off as my feet were so toasty warm wearing them. I had planned to knit them up later in the year in time for Winter but I was in the midst of Cast On Fever and as they are knit in Sirdar Super Nova on 3.75mm needles they were a seriously quick knit. The pattern by the way is 'Log Cabin Socks' from 'Hand knit Holidays' by Melanie Falick. You will be seeing more of these socks!!

Next in the FO-fest is some overdue spinning starting with 109g / 194m of Merino/Silk plied with some fine kid mohair - what it will be I do not know but suspect this is calling to be a hat of some form or another. I'm hoping it will call to me and tell me what it wants to be. It's roughly aran weight and is a bit lightly spun in parts and certainly not evenly plied but it was the first bit of spinning I'd done in a while so I'll not worry about it and it is after all a very fluffy and soft yarn to stroke in times of stress!

And besides, why worry about lesser spun yarn when I'm happy knowing I've 4 bobbins full of some Merino/Silk blend from a WoolFest purchase I forgot to confess to tell you all about which was a giant 600g batt from Winghams which I am really enjoying spinning up. There is a plan with all this spinning and hopefully it will be enough to make the garment I have in mind. I'm not going to tell you about it yet as there will be maths involved with the yarn and pattern and I think I'll leave the reveal until I've made a start on the item in question and see if it's going to work or not. Suffice to say the inimitable Mrs Zimmermann is involved somewhere along the line in this grand project!! (Okay - not grand really but I'm a little nervous trying to spin enough consistently for a garment!)

And there's more! My current WIP - a lacey tie front shrug to provide a little warmth on all these balmy summers evenings we're having (sorry, wishful thinking!) - was a little to complex to knit all the way down to Devon. So, desperate for something to break the tedium of all those miles on the motorway out came some Colinette 4ply and Sensational Knitted Socks and here you have....

... some Lace Rib socks (on the M5). The yarn is more muted than it looks thanks to the sunshine and the flash (bad combination for yarn photography!) and makes me think of cottage gardens but isn't really great for showing up anything much of a pattern as you can see below. I'm just turning the heel on sock number 2 but have the slight hitch of not being able to find it at all, never mind so I think we'll have to wait for a finished pair for now!

I should also confess to having found some yarn shops whilst away as well and of course had to make a purchase to support the local economy, etc.. and so came away with just a little more sock yarn for the stash! (Like I really need more!)

So here you see 4 balls of Lana Grossa Melinweint Mega Boot Stretch (Mum yours is the one above the lary orange one that looks day glow!) and a hank of Jitterbug in Gaugain colourway which reminded me of the colour of the sea in glorious Devon. when my brain wakes up again I'll try to remember the names of the shops but for now will tell you one is in Totnes and was the first stockist of Colinette ever and the other is in Paignton.

I suppose I should leave you with some lovely scenery shots to calm the mind after all my wittering so here you go! Many thanks for all the comments, I will try to get round to catching up with you all as soon as possible but am drowning in laundry right now so bear with me!

*Blogger must be tired as well and doesn't seem to want to let you have any pretty scenery shots tonight so I'll let you see those again another time, after all I think I may have shown you enough FO's to last a while yet!