Knitting

Sometimes when you start knitting a project, even though you love the photos that entice you to knit, you fail to see that to complete it you need to knit and purl many long rows.  The body of this cardigan is 149 stitches of knit and purl for 16 inches, although I knit 15 as this will make for a better fit for me, which I thought I would never complete.  I have taken this with me everywhere this week even if I had only time to knit a row or two it has made the knitting, somehow, much easier to complete, I am a very slow purl knitter.  I had also forgotten that 15 inches of aran weight wool on 5mm needles knits up a lot quicker than using 4 ply on 3mm.  I have now joined the sleeves and have just started the first cable row.  I am really enjoying this project now.

I have finished reading the book I shared last week, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier which I loved.  It is the fictional account of the story behind the painting of the picture with the same name.  It is written from the perspective of the girl in the picture who is a maid in the house of the painter, Vermeer.  It is a wonderful book, one that I read in only a few days.  I have also read Why be Happy When you Could be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson this week.  This is an autobiographical story of the authors upbringing in Northern England in the 60s and 70s, adopted as a young baby this is a harrowing and honest story of her life with her adopted parents and the years hence including her search for her birth mother.  It is a story of hardship, no love, religion and emotional neglect despite this it is a wonderful read, one that I throughly recommend I will be seeking out other books by this author.  I am now reading a completely different book, The Devil's Acre by Matthew Plampin, set in Victorian England it is a story of intrigue, violence and mystery.  I am a few pages in and am enjoying it thus far.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress.

Knitting

I have been knitting all sorts this week but mostly working on my Antler Cardigan which I really want to get finished before I start on Christmas knitting.  I know that if I don't it will not get finished until spring when it will be more than likely too warm to wear it!  I am nearing the end of the second sleeve, the body is progressing well too but still has a fair way to go.  It is actually great knit to do whilst out and about as the pieces are not too big at the moment and the yarn balls so big, 100g, that I do not need to lug extra yarn about.

I shared a hat I was working on a while ago and was playing the knitting game of yardage chicken, when you are not quite sure if you are going to have enough yarn to complete a project.  I did run out a few rows from the end!  So I searched on Ravelry to find someone who had finished a project using the same yarn who might have a bit left.  Well one lovely knitted replied to my messages and sent me  enough yarn to finish the hat, hurray.  Now that the hat is finished the weather has warmed up and I have yet to wear it, I knitted this for myself to wear on the cooler summer days and evenings, I am sure it will get used in the Spring and Autumn.

I have started a new book this week and can't put it down.  Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is a work of fiction based on the painting of the same name by Vermeer.  The story is told through the eyes of the 'girl' a sixteen year old who becomes a maid in the painters household.  I am a few chapters in and am finding it a wonderful read.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress and Ginny for sharing of knitting and reading.