Two works in progress

 This is tv knitting - a cardigan in Sirdar's Haworth Tweed, in simple stripes.  I've used most of the colour range, but not the light oatmeal which tends to shout against these more muted colours.  It's some while since I used a regular commercial pattern from a mainstream yarn company, and even longer since I used the specified yarn.  

I did query a couple of points on the pattern, which is described as "triple-checked for accuracy " on the front page.  In a little inset box is a Tip about how to do intarsia - not a technique needed here, I'd have thought.  The Customer Service person replied that the sample, using nine colours, was knitted with the yarns carried up the side until needed.  Imagine what a cord that would produce!

This, on the other hand, is not tv knitting.  It is a pattern called Kilronan, a densely cabled DK cardigan with asymmetric cables.  Blink and you have to drop down a couple of rows to remedy your mistake. I chose a vibrant colour to make the most of its show-stopping qualities.  It could take a while.

Now, if, like me, you are interested in social history as well as knitting, you may be interested in my new blog, focusing on the history of the small Essex village where I live.  I am tracking what the censuses from 1841 onwards have to tell us about changes in this small community which was once dependent on wool and woollen cloth but by 1841 had moved over to silk and silk velvet production.

Here's the link: Coggeshall Chronicles

Midwinter Blanket

 Now that it has been gifted, this is the Midwinter Blanket by Martin Storey with three of the strips assembled.  The full item has thirty-five squares.

Choosing colours was  a puzzle.  Some of the finished pieces on the Rowan site use only two colours - a cream with a wine pattern colour  - and look very sophisticated.  There is a Festive colourway which is very bright, but a bit jazzy for my taste.  Someone else had used terracotta and black.  Here, I have used terracotta and a selection of dark colours against the oatmeal background.  This is Haworth Tweed, a 50% Merino 50% nylon blend with a smaller colour range than Felted Tweed - and less than half the price.

I realised part way through that the designer had used Fair Isle motifs from Sheila McGregor's "Traditional Fair Isle Pattern", so I chose some more to give more variety - so long as they were 25 or 27 row patterns they would work. I prefer a bit of symmetry so I reversed the stags and paired the tiles.

After I had done fifteen tiles I began to flag, but then I worked out a grid to be sure the final placements would work so that motivated me to continue.  Each tile took at least two hours to knit.

This is it almost finished - here you can see some different colours in it.  We worked out a 2023 tile.

 This one - the initials of the recipient - took a couple of tries.  The final choice is lettering from an antique French sampler.  The style and scale seems to fit better with the other tiles.

And this is it finished, showing how it fits in an armchair.  I edged it with applied i-cord, just to neaten the edges.  I was very pleased with it.