Sunshine and Blue Skies

What do you do when the sky is grey and the ground is grey?
Knit up the brightest colours in your stash!

This is what I did on Sunday:

Please excuse the dusty stove!

The Betty tea cosy pattern by Ann Kingstone came in a “Best of the Web” leaflet within Knit Now Issue 16.  It is also available as a single pattern download or as part of an e-book on Ravelry.

I was smitten by this pattern’s wonderful textures in a single sheepy colour, but decided to use my two recent handspun acquisitions to knit up a stripey version as a gift.  The beautiful turquoise yarn was spun from Old Maiden Aunt fibres by CouthyQuine, a member of the Yarn Yard group on Ravelry and another Aberdeenshire resident – hello Susan!  The Easter-chick yellow shetland wool was spun by Janet Mitchell on the isle of Skye.  A truly Scottish project!

It was a compulsive piece of knitting.  I really enjoyed watching the stripes, the ripples and the cables developing and playing off one another.  I would like to knit it again in a single colour – it was such fun!

On Monday, a business trip to Edinburgh provided plenty of  good quality knitting time on the train.
Another turquoise yarn!

These are my Echeveria socks, a free pattern by Rachel Coopey for the Sock Knitters Anonymous group.
The colourwork section echoes the shapes within the lace – very clever!

Knitting them both at the same time, step by step, it feels like I am knitting twice as fast as usual.  I know it is just an illusion, but it is certainly keeping me motivated.

And sticking to the colour theme… say goodbye to my honey-colored vintage cardigan.  By the time you read this, it will be unravelled and that lovely Albayarn will be back in the stash.  Just because a pattern is old, it is not necessarily good,  a lesson I have learned all too well from my sewing exploits!