I felt sort of uneasy about how much money I had spent on knitting on Sunday, so yesterday I eased my conscience by spending even more.

In the morning I ordered Solveig Hisdal’s “Poetry in Stitches” and the Bohn “Norwegian Knitting Designs” book we were talking about, through Abebooks. I did it before I had seen your comments, Brigid, offering another source for the latter. I’m afraid to compare prices.

At midday the new Wool Gathering arrived, always an event. I ordered some more books from Meg.

Best of all, I wrote to Natalie at The Yarn Yard to ask if she had any more yarn like the March Club offering, so that I could knit a sweater for a little Miles boy – and she has dyed some for me specially! I’ve just had an email from her saying that it’s drying in front of the Aga.

My plan, when the Calcutta Cup ’06 sweater (above) is finished, is to spend a couple of weeks settling back into the saddle with Princess knitting, and then divide the week between that and the little-boy sweater. There’ll still be plenty of time to get Barak elected. Maybe Theo’s cashmere Koigu could follow on after Ketki’s gansey as Strathardle knitting. If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans for tomorrow.

Woolgathering

The project this time is a gansey. It’s rather interesting, to line Meg’s instructions up against Ketki’s gansey.

Don’t choose a vertical pattern, she says. They tend to pull in like ribbing, and be unflattering. Well, I’ve used a vertical pattern.

Keep the gussets in reverse st st, she says (brilliant!) so that they recede. “This keeps them out of the way visually, but they’re there when needed for flailing about.” Well, I haven’t done that.

Perpendicular shoulder straps are handsome, she says. I’m about to embark on mine.

And she likes the Channel Island cast on and split garter-stitch welt. I’ve done that.

I’ll take the booklet to Strathardle next time, for help in sloping the shoulder.

Comments

Judith, have you approached the Knitting and Crochet Guild about your Monarch books? They have a library as well as a museum of knitted things. Another possibility might be a library in Lerwick. I feel, perhaps sentimentally, that they take things more seriously up there. I’ve left all my stuff in my will to a knitting lawyer friend, postponing the problem.

Ron, yes, I’m trying to stick with EZ’s percentage system for the sweater. Meg says 35-40% of K for the top of the sleeve – I read somewhere that she altered her mother’s proportions slightly. I’ve got 39%; I fiddled around a bit to ensure that both body and sleeve, at that point, had a complete set of 18-stitch pattern repeats.