Frustration

I am still trying to get the sleeve right on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I have reknit it using 3.5mm needles but have now found that I have what look like seam lines between each set of stitches on the double pins. I have ordered a 16 inch 3.5mm circular needle in the hope that if I frog again and knit using this I won't get the lines. They are hard to see on the picture, but I tried!
I have had a fairly eventful past week, having seen a gynaecologist on Tuesday and then finding myself having a laparoscopy the next day. I had a cyst on my left ovary which was large enough to need removing. It wasn't until during the procedure that the surgeon discovered that it looked a little suspicious and that there was no living ovarian tissue left. He went on to remove the ovary, cyst and fallopian tube. I am going to get the lab results tomorrow and hopefully all will be well. It has been a little worrying, but he thinks that it is benign. I have found it hard to concentrate on my knitting and subsequently the sleeve started to get on my nerves. I have put it to one side whilst I await the arrival of the circular needles.

Here is a picture of the project I started to keep my fingers busy whilst I wait. I wanted something simple and fairly mindless, as well as something that might use up my stash. Well here it is. It is a pinwheel baby blanket using some yarn that I have had knocking around for a while. I used some a few weeks ago for a baby sweater and now I am using the rest for a blanket. I have a couple of friends expecting babies so I am trying to get ahead of myself and knit something for them.

There isn't much else on the needle at present as I am waiting for Oli to go to Boston to pick up my Knitpicks package.

Tangled Yoke Cardigan - frogging

I ripped out the sleeve on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, I thought that it looked at bit baggy as I was trying it on. I have now cast on using 3.5mm needles instead of 3.75mm. I hope that it works. I think that as it gets near to the top of the sleeve I will use one of each size so that when I knit across the yoke using 3.75mm needles the gauge change is not too noticeable. It sounds a bit mad, but I want to try it to see. I love the yarn that I am using so I really want to be happy with the finished article. I may have enough for a sweater for Lily left over as I think I bought too much. It was a really good value buy and I hope to go back to Florence and buy some more.

Latest projects

I have been using my stash! I am so proud of myself for finding a use for some Noro Blossom that has been sitting in a box for about 2 years. I am making a tank top for Gad.
I am so proud of myself that I am making this for myself as a reward.
It is the Tangled Yoke cardigan from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I am using the cashmere that I bought in Florence in the summer. It is really soft and a lovely shade of pale blue. I have made good progress, having completed the body as far as the underarms and having knitted about half of the first sleeve. It is quick knitting and so far so good.


The garter stitch ribbing on the cuffs and bottom is really nice and I hope that the cardigan looks good when it is finished.
Knitting it in one piece has really inspired me to read Elizabeth Zimmerman and I bought 'The Opinionated Knitter' from the Socktopus stall when I went to Ally Pally last week to look around the knitting and stitching show. Socktopus is a new online store selling some great yarn, but they had an even greater selection of Elizabeth Zimmerman books at reasonable prices. I was really pleased to be able to look through them and choose which one I wanted to buy, rather than relying on reviews online. This one is a collection of her newletters which have some really great patterns in them. They are very inspiring and there are colour pictures of many of the designs that have been knitted up. I particularly liked the examples of stitch patterns that she included in some of her designs, charting them out for the reader to use.
I have now ordered some yarn from Knitpicks. I want to knit a saddle shoulder cardigan for Oli from my new book. They only ship to American and Canadian destinations, so as Oli is going to Boston I have had the parcel sent to some friends there and he will pick it up. I also purchased a little something for myself. I have long wanted some wooden interchangeable circular needles and now they stock them at Knitpicks. I can't wait!

Blackberry

Yesterday was a very sad day for us. We discovered that Blackberry had escaped from his hutch and run in the early hours of the morning and had been killed by a fox. Gad and Benjamin went out to feed him when they got up and couldn't find him. After searching the garden they found him. Gad was inconsolable all day and didn't feel calm until Oli returned from work and helped bury him. He was a great rabbit with a lovely personality and all the kids miss him.