Everything changes but the fundamentals remain.

Very soon, sooner than you realise, it creeps up on us, I will be leaving work at RingaRosie and beginning a new chapter of my life. I am returning to University 25 years after I left to start a PGCE. I have loved working at RingaRosie and I have learnt so much and met so many lovely people that it will be a very difficult thing to say goodbye. Obviously as it is the very best LYS I will be a frequent visitor for my knitting supplies (like I don't have a spare room full of wool at all really). But it has been a home over the past couple of years and Barbara has been a very good and generous boss and I hope a friend, I will miss her!

The crochet blanket in king Cole Merino DK continues and these little squares are a fun carry along project to I expect to do some on the way to and from Uni in September. It's a nice pick up and put down project which I shall no doubt come back to over the coming month and years and it's now a nice size to work on with it over my knee keeping me warm. Actually it is a little cooler this evening than it has been and I notice the nights are drawing in. Summer isn't over by any means, I still have a week in Mum & Dad's caravan to look forward to after all!

The top-down garments keep coming and the third one is finished with the addition of it's buttons yesterday. It's based on the Custom Knits book instructions for Favourite Cardigan - I started the neckline higher and knitted it longer but apart from that it's pretty much as written. The yarn was in the sale too so a bargain knit!

Modeled photos to follow when it's not raining and DH isn't stressed by the summer holiday child care!

My other recent project has been some spinning of a merino cashmere and silk blend, no decent finished photo for this yet but a nice work in progress picture for you in the meantime. I am teaching a spinning class in Septemebr at Artison, so if you've a hankering for learning something new why not see if they have any places left? The food and friendly atmosphere are fabulous and I can think of few more pleasant ways to spend an afternoon that spinning!

Finally for now, another recent crochet project included just for it's bright colours and happiness. Do I know that Uni is the right thing to do? No. But I do know I will regret it if I don't try. Everything changes. Follow your bliss and do what makes you happy :) Wish me luck!

Finally Knitting Garments

I've finished a cardigan! My secret is top-down, knit in the round and therefore no sewing up, I foresee many more of this type of construction in my future :)

The pattern is by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Studio 24 and is called Stevie, I used Sublime Soya Cotton DK and it took 12 x 50gm balls. I think there's an error in row 40 so do check the Rowan website for errata if you're making one for yourself.

I also made a little top-down cardie with 7 skeins of Louisa Harding Willow Tweed recently - this is a lovely yarn, sadly discontinued now so going top-down meant I could use every inch of the skeins I had. Top-down raglan cardies follow a set method so it's easy to improvise a design using the basic formula.

My other big project recently has been a blanket by Kate Davies, I'll blog about that tomorrow as I need to get some decent photos to do it justice.

In other news my student finance is sorted out for September and my 'homework' arrived in the post today! Lots of reading to do, about how to teach reading...this is going to be a challenge and great fun too I hope. I shall need to find myself some study space so I can concentrate, I'm not sure I absorb new things as easily as I used to - teaching phonics ... hmmm... maybe I'll learn how to spell well after all this time of being hopeless.

Now I need to figure out how to study and knit at the same time :) the recent buzz of finished projects means I have cast on for a new caridgan straight away, I am going to need smarter clothes for teaching practice, this one os top-down too of course but Aran weight to make it knit up quicker - in theory anyway.