Knitting in purple (part 1)

I have a theme going on here - purple. This is from the Erika Knight Classic book and is knitted in Kidsilk mohair. I just have to sew on the fastenings and sew on the ends - I must do it soon or it will sit for months.

I am using this alpaca to knit a waistcoat. I'm trying to design it myself. I wanted a deep rib and deep v but couldn't find a pattern

Since taking this picture I have finished this jacket/cardigan but I hate it so I'm about to start rattling it down. What was even worse is that I had to buy an extra ball of wool to finish it. Everything was wrong about it but the neck was the worst it was so loose and sitting away down at my shoulders.

Finally, this is a picture that Paul took and framed for my Valentine's present - I absolutely love it.

A whole new stash

I was at Twist Fibre in Newburgh on Saturday at a spinning class. It was really good fun but I seemed to have real problems with the concept 'clockwise' hence the arrow that was helpfully drawn on my spindle. Of course I couldn't leave without buying the equipment for my new project - you will see I like bold colours.

It is really enyable to do. I was told it was relaxing but I don't think I have quite mastered the technique to make it relaxing. I am still a long way from spining any wool I could knit with.

I also bought some wool to dye and then spin - not quite sure when I'm going to complete all these projects.

Here is me spinning, well I'm actually posing because I'm holding the wool the wrong way. You will see I am wearing quite a few hand knitted things. I think I may have commited a fashion faux pas as I read recently on a blog that you should only wear one hand knitted thing at a time. I also had on knitted gloves and scarf - it might be because I'm a big show off and as I was going to a wool shop where people appreciate hand knitted items. Anyway it is not my worst fashion disaster - I was a Bay City Roller fan - sorry you need to be over 40 to get that.

Finished transition gloves

I know that I have a reputation at the knitting group for not finishing things but as these required very little sewing and no button bands I finished them in under a week. I am really pleased with how they turned out. You can see that I used the darker colour at the end. I thought I wasn't going to have enough pink but I probably would have. If I did do them again I would use more contrasting colours and use smaller needles - even though I knitted them on size smaller than in the pattern they are still quite loose.