Colour Change !!

This is my progress on my SOTSii and for the first time I photographed it hanging up. I knew there was a colour change but did not realise it was so obvious. When the stole is lying on a sheet you can not see the colour change. I will overdye when I have finished but that sometimes makes it worse. You can not see the line when wearing the stole.

This is a close up. The next clue is now out and I am on leave so I can keep up this week and knit on some of my other works in progress. We were going to see our son who is out in France for the ski season but we could not get accommodation that we could afford. We will probably take him and his girlfriend away for a few days when he finishes.

We are going to take this opportunity to look for a camper van. I have wanted one since spending three weeks in one in New Zealand. We will be going up North to a company that imports Toyotas, so I will have loads of time to knit on the journey.

SOTSii Clue 5

Just in time! Finished knitting the clue last night but have worked a 16 hour day today and have only just managed to get a photo. Must now go to the group and get it entered in the competition. Still absolutely loving this KAL. It is my first but it will certainly not be my last. Must go, competition to enter!

Monkee!

Another awful photo but at least it shows progress on monkee. I have filled him with wheat so he can be used as a hot bottle or he works well as a doorstop. No legs yet, I wanted to see if he looked anything like a monkee first. This is a first attempt, someone at work wants one so I had to practise first.

Not much progress on my SOTSii shawl, none on Dem Fischer sin Fru, and I have signed up for two more! They do not start yet though so I can always dream of some FOs!!

I am in the middle of my shifts at the moment, just about to go on to nights and am suffering with a cold and cough. The shifts always seem twice as long when I don't feel 100%. Never mind, this set of shifts, one more set and then some more leave. It is the end of the leave year and so I have to use up the rest of my days. Perhaps some knitting time and even time to improve my poor spinning skills. (More dreams!!)

Knitting at Last!

Well I finally finished my 7 long shifts and managed to fit some knitting in. I finished clue 4 of SOTOii just in time for the next clue which I have just printed off. I am really enjoying this knitting. Perhaps I should print off all my patterns in installments because it makes me much more disciplined!

This will, apparently, make a knitted "monkee", but I am not entirely convinced at the moment. Not quite sure what it looks like at the moment. I will knit the eye patch next and then attempt to stuff it before I decide whether to make the arms and legs.

Not a very good picture I am afraid but this is the wool that I have chosen from my stash for the "Mystic Light" knitalong shawl which will be starting as the SOTSii finishes. It is some wool which I bought in New Zealand when i travelled there last year. It is a mixture which includes 40%possum and 60% wool. Not sure how it will knit up, will just have to wait and see.

As I have a day off today we decided to go to Wimbourne Minster to see what the market is like. Unfortunately I was not that impressed. It is a long way from the town centre and not as big as I expected. It was a nice trip down though and we had a pleasant lunch.

A few jobs to finish, dinner to cook, and then an evening of knitting to look forward to.

Knitting

A luxury of a lie in this morning! I have finished four early shifts (getting up at 5) and have a night shift tonight so I put a load of washing in and then had a cup of tea in bed. I didn't stay long though because I wanted to finish clue 3 of my stole. Not a good photo as I am still in my dressing gown and there is a frost outside. This is taken in the front room with a flash so the colour is not accurate. I would love to start clue 4 but must do some fitness training and housework first. Perhaps I will get some done in my rest period this afternoon.

I am also trying to knit a "monkee" but at the moment that just looks like a bundle of wool. I am thinking of stuffing him with wheat to make a wheat hot bottle. Not sure if it will work though.

Housework, here we come !

No Knitting

I have not disappeared off the face of the earth but it feels that way! I am in the middle of a long run of shifts and have had no time for knitting. I have not even managed to keep up with SOTSii. I am part way through clue 3 but clue 4 is already out. I set out to complete just ten rows each day but after a 12 hour shift and then an hour drive home I am too tired to concentrate. I just have to content myself with watching everybody else making progress. I find it fascinating seeing the differences in yarns and tensions and how different they all look. Hers hoping I manage some knitting next week !

Missing Photo

Somewhere between writing yesterday's epistle and posting it, this photo got lost. Not a very good one but does show that I am knitting squares rather than triangles. Between night shifts today so not much of anything done. Some knitting on a lace shawl but several mistakes so gave up. Expect I will have a busy night tonight so not much hope for much knitting tomorrow either.
Perhaps by tomorrow afternoon I might feel like making some progress on clue 3 of SOTOii.

Mistake Spotted

I have finished my two day shifts and have had little time for knitting unfortunately. Tonight I start my two night shifts so I have a lazy afternoon and time to knit. Clue 3 from SOTSii is out so I was looking forward to knitting some of it. I picked up my work and then spotted a mistake. If you look closely it can be seen in the photo. Top left hand side as you look at the photo. 2 holes are out of line. It is now fixed but I have not got on with clue 3 as I hoped. Never mind, I am loving this KAL.

I am also progressing with the cotton bedspread. I am doing this for a friend who started it but feels unable to finish it. It is an Annie Cole pattern but I have altered the way I am knitting it. It should be knitted in triangles but I am knitting 4 triangles at the same time using the magic loop method on a circular needle. I then use three needle cast off to join the squares.

My friend had started as triangles but as she had only completed two full ones and one part one I pulled them back and started again. It is a little tricky at the beginning with such a small number of stitches but it soon becomes easier.