knitting neels

There has been a lot going on here, some good and some sad and some a mixture of both! For now, let me show you how that green top has been coming along. I finished the body of it last night.

Moss stitch hems always seem to suit cotton, I think. Don’t worry about the neckline for now. I am going to pick up and work a neckline that will overlap in the middle and button. I tried the whole thing on on Saturday night and I like the depth of the button band as well as how the waist shaping turned out. I just have to do the sleeves now – three-quarter lengths so hopefully they won’t be too torturous!

The weather has been a bit up and down here recently so during those chilly evenings I have been working on Pioneer. The body is about half done from the underarm.

Even though the Ultra Alpaca Lite is worked on the same needles and to the same tension as the green top, it is much slower going for some reason. It is probably the cables: there are tiny cables running down the centre back and along each side seam to make it fitted.

I suppose it is a little strange to be making a wool and alpaca t-shirt for summer but I am one of those people who, unless it is 30 degrees, constantly feels chilly so I think I will actually get a lot of wear out of it!

My sad/happy news is that I have left my job at the shop. As my piano commitments have increased over the year, so has the stress of working full time and trying to keep all balls in the air. I am happy with my decision to go back to the piano and to have clear goals in front of me. I have a lot of deadlines coming up this summer and it is great to finally have the time to give them my focussed attention. At the same time, I am sad to leave such a lovely little shop and to leave such a lovely staff! Still, it will be nice to go back to being a regular ole customer again.