Fergus's Wallaby

I've finished the ribbing. It's blissful stuff to handle, and it produces a wonderful soft but somehow sort of crisp fabric, although it is undoubtedly _very_ orange. No wonder it was on sale.

I'm going to put a kangaroo pouch on the front. I made a genuine Wonderful Wallaby once, and found the attachment of the pouch rather difficult. In that pattern, you knit for about four inches above the ribbing, then go back and create a pouch just above the ribbing by pulling yarn through stitch by stitch with a crochet hook. I found it surprisingly difficult to keep going in a straight line.

I posted this problem to the Knitlist the other day, and Linda suggested (brilliantly) either knitting twice into every stitch along the stretch where the pouch is to start, and then separating every other stitch onto separate needles to serve as background and pouch; or putting in a row of purl stitches there, so that you can be guided by the purl bumps during the crochet-hook manoeuvre. I think maybe I'll refine that latter idea by actually knitting the stitches in a different yarn -- a scrap of Koigu should do nicely.

This whole enterprise is intended as mindless knitting to carry me through a visit from old friends, starting today. The trouble is, after I've knit four inches above the ribbing, I've got to attach the pouch, and that's _not_ mindless. I'll have to lock myself into the lavatory with a crochet hook. At the very least, I must locate a suitably small crochet hook and read the Wallaby instructions several times before our friends arrive. They are going to bring us some quinces from their tree! Unobtainable in shops here, and exquisitely delicious.