FO: Echo Wood

Well crikey, I just looked it up and I started this shawl nearly a year ago!  I don't even recall it taking me all that long to complete it's just taken me all that time to get round to blocking it.  How embarrassing!

I wanted to knit Echo Wood mostly to use up a skein of yarn I'd originally bought for the Dreamscape shawl MKAL back in 2018.  That called for 3 different shades of sock yarn and I had ended up ordering 4 because I couldn't pick online and needed to see the yarns in person.  I ended up with this skein of Knit Picks Hawthorne Speckle Handpaint in City Lights leftover and I loved it and really wanted to use it.

I paired it with some random black 4ply I bought on a cone about 15 years ago, I thought that the black would be perfect matched with the black speckle in the Knit Picks yarn and frankly I am hoping to use up the last of the black yarn, it is never ending!

The knitting of this was pretty straightforward as far as I remember and blocking was ridiculously easy, making me feel even more ridiculous about leaving it so long.  It really just needed wetting and smoothing into shape so I don't know what I'd been waiting for.  After blocking I then left weaving the ends in for over a week rather than just getting on and completing it.  I have been fairly busy with home working, home educating and sewing scrubs for the local hospital though so I won't beat myself up about that too much.

So it's finally done and I'm glad to have it in my collcetion, it's lovely and squish and warm and it looks really cool.  I love the acid yellow against the black and the cable detail around the edge.  Mostly I'm just happy to say it's finally done, mark it complete and move on to the next project without the nagging guilt of a project abandoned!

FO: Love is...Boo Knits MKAL

We all know I love a good mystery knit, in particular a Boo Knits mystery knit and the first one this year, Love is... started on Valentines Day.  This one was actually announced at the end of last year and I'd mostly forgotten about it so I was unable to get any of the gradient yarns that were produced for the knit along.  I'm really happy with the yarn I ended up getting, so no regrets there, but I'd recommend checking out the project gallery on Ravelry because there are some absolutely beautiful gradients on display there.

I decided to check out Natural Born Dyers Lorbanerry yarn, which was also recommended for this shawl and I ended up picking out a lovely soft pink which seemed like a perfect choice for a Valentines themed knit.  When it arrived I was honestly over the moon with this yarn.  It is so soft and shimmery and was a really lovely colour with subtle variances.

For beads I wanted something soft looking to give the finished item a romantic look.  This pattern requires around 1300 beads so I didn't want to pick anything too experimental because that would be a disaster on such a heavily beaded shawl.  I ended up choosing these grey AB Toho beads which I thought would contrast just ever so slightly without really standing out and just bring the right amount of sparkle.  When they arrived I was worried that they were too dark, and all together in the tube they do look very dark, but individually on the shawl they are perfect.

Knitting this shawl was pretty straightforward, there were 6 clues each of which felt pretty manageable. I enjoyed knitting it and after each clue I was relieved that I liked the way it was looking.  This shawl is a really good size and for the first time with one of these MKALs I very nearly used up all of my yarn.  I'm a slightly tighter knitter so very often I end up with a slightly smaller shawl and a bunch of yarn left over but this one turned out just right.

Blocking was a bit of an arse because we redecorated out bedroom earlier this year and my clocking mats and pins are....somewhere?  I had to do this one on a blanket with some highly unsuitable pins but the job got done and I'm happy with the result.

All in all I'm really pleased with this one and I can't wait to wear it outside.  Currently I'm mostly wearing sweatpants and jumpers so lacy shawls look a bit mad but one day I shall look put together once again and this shawl will be perfect come that day!

Hiiiiiiii!

Well, hello from my little home office!

Goodness aren't we living in interesting times?  I'm currently on my second full week of working from home.  It's all been a bit of a shock, obviously I was expecting it at some point but I left work one day, fully expecting to be going in the next day only to be told a couple of hours later that I would be WFH for the forseeable.  I'd already been issued a laptop, just in case, so I was good to go but it felt weird having not saying a bit of a mental "goodbye" to the place when I left.

I'm missing this spectacular building

Luckily I'd made an effort to spruce up out dining room/craft room/dumping ground a few weeks previously so I actually have somewhere nice to work.  I'd thrown out a load of stuff, moved everything around and changed all of the furniture to optimise the space available and got it so I was really happy with it.  Things have needed to be shuffled about a bit so I could get to work, but it's a nice environment to be in and honestly things could be worse.

My dining table is doing duty as my desk and cutting table.  I like that I have to clear away my laptop at the end of the day to use the table, it feels like 'going home' and just leaving work for the day.  I've had to squeeze the printer in between my cute little cases of craft supplies.  I need to find a better home for that though because it's really not the look I was going for!  The printer is going nineteen to the dozen at the moment though, printing homework and colouring sheets so it will have to stay there for the time being.

My sewing machine desk is also being used as a desk for homework.  This was not in the plan but the kids like the wheelie stool and I'm done arguing about it!

So here we are and for how long who can tell?  I've been getting plenty of time for making things, not having to do the school run and travel to and from work is saving me around 3 hours a day!  I blocked a shawl yesterday and will be weaving in ends and photographing that later.  I've got another shawl to be blocked (when I remember where I put it!) and another to finish the final row and block so I have plenty to share.  I hope everyone is healthy and safe and I'll be back soon with some actual knitting content.