January week 1

Well here we are then, a new month with a brand new page to fill with all sorts of crafty things!

If you’ve found your way here and you don’t know what it’s all about, then check out the background to my #knit365 project.

Each week (or maybe more if I’ve got something interesting to share) I’ll update on my progress, post some useful stats to how my week has been along with a couple of photos from the things I’m working on.

Week 1 – 1st to 6th Jan

In summary, week 1 was pretty good despite falling at the first hurdle and doing no knitting at all on New Years Day… too much refreshment to see out 2018 hampered progress so like any good resolution it started with gusto on Jan 2nd!

So what did I work on this week?

I cast on two projects this week, the first is an intarsia cushion for our flat knit in Rowan Hemp tweed which is a Martin Storey design for Rowan.  I really love Martin’s designs (despite him spelling his name wrong haha) and the colour work used to create the owl will look great when it’s finished. It’s constructed using a mix of intarsia and fair isle, so for my skill level it’s not one to work on while watching TV!

 

The second project I cast on this week is a cardigan for #niece1 and is knit in West Yorkshire Spinners Croft, the pattern is from their Shetland Colours range by Sarah Hatton. Using an Aran weight yarn means it’s a quick knit and the back was finished over two nights while binge watching Game of Thrones.

I really like the simple fair isle motif that takes you through a gradual colour change from the cream to the brown. I’ve got a long return train trip coming up next week so hope to get a lot of this cardigan done then – watch this space…

I also had a trip to Manchester this weekend to watch the musical Wicked with my other half and found some time before the matinee on Saturday to do some quiet knitting in a coffee shop – if you’re in Manchester and a coffee lover I would definitely recommend checking out Coffee Foundation!

And finally… of course no trip to Manchester would be complete without a visit to Countess Ablaze, an indi yarn dyer based in the Northern Quarter. My other half visited the shop a few months ago on a work trip to Manchester and picked me up a couple of skeins of chunky yarn which I’ve turned into cowls but this was my first time visiting.  Lovely friendly staff, wall to wall of amazing yarn in some fantastic colours!  As I was in Manchester to see Wicked it would be remiss of me to not buy a skein of this emerald city inspired yarn! Now to find a pattern…….

So that’s it for blog 1 – I don’t know if this is short or long, I guess time will tell!

If you’ve enjoyed reading please give me a like or a comment, I’d love to know what you think!