mixed berries scarf complete

Right, it’s done. The scarf that I started knitting up here with Lisa’s gorgeous yarn has just had its ends woven in.

It’s all garter stitch, and I simply cast on two stitches then increased one stitch at the beginning of every row. So wonderful just to be able to pick it up and put it down whenever I needed a little break from more strenuous activity. The longest side of the triangle measures 90cm, and I just stopped when I ran out of yarn. It’s not long enough to go round my neck on its own (unless I tuck it into the jacket or coat collar, if I’m wearing one) without being pinned at the front, but I love brooches so this suits me perfectly. You may notice the very beautiful silver, jet and mother-of-pearl gecko above, which came to me from a dear friend in Colorado (originally met through blogging). It is one of my most precious possessions, plus I have always had a soft spot for geckos. She didn’t know that when she sent it to me!

Now, somewhere in this house there is a bag with a chunky garter stitch tank top that needs to have the shoulders stitched up. I must find it soon because I can feel a necessary break coming on…  Moving day is only 5 days away – you won’t hear from me again before then, so see you on The Other Side :)

PS. The weather for tomorrow looks to be like the last perfect autumn day for Cape Town, so I’m looking very forward to the Kirstenbosch Market – the neck cushions to be given away have been allocated (via this blog) to people who became customers over six years ago. They remain customers and have always been wonderfully supportive of my various nutty ideas, but they’ve also become friends. Life is good.

 

 

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mixed berries and garter stitch

My crafty friend and fellow trader Theresa (she’s also included as a beneficiary in my will because anyone else would simply toss my long-accumulated mountain of fabrics, trims, beads and yarns in the rubbish) saw me knitting at the market. I need to have something mindless to knit (I’m still off the crochet) and the chunky tank top I had on the needles was perfect — and almost finished, just need to sew up the shoulders and sides then will model for you. She suggested I try what a friend of her’s did – make a shawl or scarf by casting on 2 stitches then increasing one stitch at the beginning of every row until your triangle is the size you want. I’m doing it in garter stitch.

and using 3.25mm needles and some very special hand-dyed “Mixed Berries” yarn sent as a gift from Lisa at Yarnchick last year. The garter stitch is perfect to show the different shades, and every row is different.

  

Once I’d got cracking and found my knitty sticks yesterday, I was too excited to look for my wool winder hence the loose drape over the back of the chair.  Yes yes, I know I should be working (or packing) but I’m getting such pleasure from the knitting that I keep thinking just one more row, okay okay, just three more….

In other news, plans for moving are going gaily ahead. I have ruthlessly pruned back the amount of furniture and tchotchkes I own, also sold fridge and microwave and anything else that will be duplicated on the ‘other side’. [Prince] Philip has a piano and crystal chandeliers that need special care in moving, but I’m just a happy commoner so my stuff is getting bunged into old fruit crates and supermarket boxes. My movers are called Two Men and a Truck. We are counting the days and have the champagne all lined up. Now, just to stop knitting….

Yarning along with Rachel (2)

My second post, after a mild nudge, to tie in with Rachel’s Yarning Along series (see what I did there?) Rachel’s right, it is interesting to see what other people are reading!

Well, all you UK readers will know this chap quite well. I wasn’t aware he’d written anything at all along these lines until a friend lent me this book and, I have to say, he makes reading history an absolutely captivating adventure. If there’s any irony to be found in a situation, Boris is your man, and his style is drily contemporary.  I’ve watched him in a couple of news reports and meetings on youtube and, while I have to say I wouldn’t like to work with the guy, he’d certainly be a whole lot of fun at a dinner party.

And the knitting? Yes, it is exactly what you thought it was – a meaningless rectangle of garter stitch with randomly chosen colours. But I’ve heard that the Mowbray Maternity Hospital is always glad to receive baby blankets – some of the mothers arrive and leave with practically nothing – so it might be turned into something like that (despite the odd mix). A baby won’t care what colours it’s wrapped in, anyway, and the nights are truly cold here now.

Knitting as life

Inspired by the shawl hanging over Tina’s bedroom door, I knitted one myself. I cast on 3, and inc 1 at each end of alternate rows until there were 171 sts., then c/off.  Plain garter stitch, and a mixture of yarns that had red or pink or orange in them.

I like making things up as I go along. That way, you only know you’ve got there when you’ve actually got there. Seems to be the story of my life, actually.  

To be continued…