I think I've decided

I have have a couple of days off blogging (you may have noticed). The weekends are always very busy for me at work and this weekend was busier than most, for reasons I won't go into here, lest it turn into the mother of all rants. If that weren't bad enough, I suffer from hayfever and the last few days have been particularly bad. So much so that on Sunday I found myself gasping for breath and almost unable to speak. While the not speaking part was a big relief for some, it wasn't much fun for me. I decided to take myself off to A & E (that's the ER for all you American English speakers out there). Of course, I had to wait until I'd finished work, so all this took place at dead of night.

The worst of it was that though I had knitting with me (we all know what happens when you set off anywhere without your knitting), I couldn't actually knit. I had that thing on the left index finger (just like in "ER") that beeps all the time. I found myself waiting for the next beep just to check I was still alive. In the right wrist I had a cannula, for drawing blood and giving IV drugs, which restricted movement somewhat. Then they told me to "relax". I ask you! After a deal of "relaxing", plenty of beeping and a shot of hydrocortisone, the doctor announced, "I'm thinking of sending you home." It never entered my head that he would be thinking of NOT sending me home! I finally got home at 3.30am and fell into bed, able to speak but too tired to do so.

This whole episode has left me fairly weak, hence no blogging. There's been a bit of knitting on the Highland Triangle - still a tangled mass/mess but nearly on to the edging. Edgings always take forever, so I don't foresee its being finished this week. That's the trouble with lace knitting for blogging purposes - everything takes so long. Not like all those folk who crank out scarves on 12mm needles with chunky wool at the rate of about one every two hours.

I've had a little go at the Two End Knitting. (Not a swatch, oh, no, no swatching for me.)



This shows the public side and a nice view of the cast on edge. You need to use three strands of yarn for the cast on and you also need three, or possibly four, hands. It didn't go too badly, considering I was labouring under the misfortune of only having the two hands. It's not Z-plied yarn, of course, and it's some rubbishy ACK-rylic that was on hand, so it did twist alarmingly. I was warned about this, so it didn't cause too much consternation. I found the best way to untangle everything was to let the knitting dangle and whirl round and not the yarn. I'm going to order some of that stuff (I think that would be yarn) from the Tasmanian place and have a real go later.

Here's a picture of the private side for those interested:



The first few rounds I did in the "proper" way (always bringing the back strand over the front strand), then I did a round the "wrong" way (bringing the back strand under the front one). You can see the sort of herringbone effect clearly here.

There is much to learn: purl stitches, the purl braid, the hook stitches, the "deep" stitches, using hook stitches with two colours (this is what I need to make that cute hat). There is a long way to go.

If you've read this far you're maybe wondering what it is I have decided. (You may also have nodded off, lost the thread completely, or even lost the will to live.) I have decided to make Rosy Fingered Dawn:



This is a pattern by Hazel Carter, available from Blackberry Ridge. I haven't decided yet if I should order the pattern alone or the kit. I've sent them an email asking which colours are included in the kit and price of postage for both kit and pattern and await their response. It's not that I don't want to order the yarn from them, it's just that it strikes me as odd to have knitting yarn sent half-way round the world when I can phone Jamieson & Smith and get "home grown" Shetland wool two days later. (and I get to hear that beautiful, soft Scots accent and imagine the ladies up there in Lerwick, gazing out at a loch or something.)

I'm going to try and get on to the edging for the Highland Triangle - some time this year would be good.