Catch up

Yes, she is still here and still knitting.

As some of you may know, September/October is not a great period of the year for me and I just lost my blogging mojo. Many thanks to Susanne for giving me a little nudge in the right direction.

I've been knitting DonnaRocco - a mystery KAL, mainly because it uses up an array of stash.

Here's the edging:



This uses some silk/cotton blend bought in the "boutique" (aka Charity/Thrift shop).

Then you knit a wedge shaped piece of simple faggoting, using short rows for shaping:



This is some slubby stuff (tt) bought on a cone so long ago that it is lost in the mists of time.

Then there are a few rows of stripes:



This bit used up a few different yarns.

Then it comes to the best bit (in my eyes) - the lace:



This is the state of play so far:



The original calls for another wedge shaped piece in order to make the finished item rectangular but I quite like the asymmetrical look of it now, so I might just do a few more stripes and cast off.

I've also been knitting the Every Way Wrap from the Fall IK. I'm using the cone of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino aran I got at SkipNorth earlier this year:



The garment appears very versatile and there is no shaping or sewing up of any description, so it's right up my street.

It's also nice to practise doing cables without a cable needle. I used these instructions from Grumperina. Most instructions for achieving this manoeuvre simply say to transpose the cable stitches and then knit them. These instructions explain how you can knit half of the cable stitches before you move the stitches. Clear as mud? Go and look at the pictures and all will become clear.

Anyway, we start with rows and rows (and rows) of 2 x 2 rib but once that's out of the way the excitement starts.

There's a moss stitch panel (seen here with a small portion of the dreaded ribbing):



and then there's the cable panel:



Reversible cables, too - very clever.

This is the progress to date:



Actually, I have got a little further than this now. I have completed the sixteen repeats of the cable pattern but find the wrap is not as long as I would like, so I'm working a few more repeats. Did I do a gauge swatch? What do you think?

There is other news - including three new jobs, all to do with knitting; the Knitting and Stitching show at Ally Pally; new books aplenty but it will all have to wait because now I want to go and knit.