Horray! The Feis is over! I played my concerto in the Morris Grant bursary tonight; it went well, but I didn’t win. It was great experience though. Anyway, it’s easter holidays now and time to think only of knitting (and crochet)! Horray!
First off, I want to show you the progress on the Purple Jumper. I was dreading the sleeves, but they’ve been growing quite nicely.
My dislike of knitting sleeves is aggravated by the fact that my arms are much longer than they should be in proportion to my legs. I’m not saying they’re longer than my legs (although it would be fun)… when I put my arms by my side, I can touch my elbows off my hips. And when I’m sitting down, I can fasten my elbow to my hip and still be able to touch my knee with my hand. That’s pretty long! It’s a problem when I play the piano: because my legs are so short, I have to sit quite close to be able to reach the pedals. But because my arms are so long, I have to sort of lean back too. I’ve worked on it so it doesn’t look too conspicuous, but sometimes it looks like I’m trying to slide under the piano 😀
I got all excited last night and decided to embark on the knitting of my mum’s birthday top. She’s celebrating her 60th birthday at the end of May, and I asked her if she’d like me to knit her something special. This is the beginning of Alouette from Vintage Knitting (Rowan). It’s also featured in Sarah Dallas’s Vintage Knits, but her pattern only has one size. I did a swatch a few weeks ago, but just wasn’t getting gauge with the wool I wanted to use (Tivoli Cruise in DK). Looking at the schematic, were I to follow the pattern for a 36″ chest, my top would be 41″ around. wtf? that’s enormous! So I figured, I’ll knit the 34″ pattern on the same needles and it will probably come out just right – my yarn is a bit heavier than the one recommended. Here’s how I’ve gotten on since casting on last night.
And here’s a more detailed picture of the great stitch pattern that’s emerging.
In other news, I still haven’t posted my SP’s last parcel – but I’m going to do it tomorrow. I have finally decided exactly what I’m going to put into it. I really hope she likes it. I’m going to the Aran Islands next week with Alb, so depending on what I find there, I hope to send some bonus gifts!
In drool news, I really want to knit Delphine from Magknits. I’m also planning on knitting ‘Salina’ from Vintage Knitting as a birthday present pour moi. I think I will get the wool for these, and the rest of the cotton for mum’s top, while I’m down in Galway with Alb. Mmmm wool shopping.