Wonderful knitting

Well I have to say that the year has started really well knitting wise. I have a couple of FOs already and a few lovely new WIP on the needles. Knitting Daily is proclaiming this the year of fearless knitting and that has made me think about what things I have always wanted to knit. once I'd got the hang of the basics these are the things that I always wanted to try:

1. Cables
2. Lace
3. Socks
4. Adult clothing
5. Entrelac

So far I have done all except entrelac, but only at a very basic level. So my first projects for the new year are:

Lace

This is the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits.

As soon as I saw it I decided that it would make the perfect present for my Nan who is turning 90 in March, but I have been too terrified to start it. I have had the yarn and needles sitting here for months but kept putting it off. However, after the success of my Branching Out I felt brave enough to start. The yarn is 2ply merino from The Knittery and is like knitting with sewing thread. It is so thin that it makes me feel all thumbs. I hope it gets easier! This is a progress shot so far. not much done but it's only a day's worth of knitting with no mistakes so far.

Real Adult Clothing

The second project on my needles is the Cobblestone Sweater, also from Interweave Knits (the impossible to get Fall 2007 edition - yay for subscriptions!)

I've been wanting to make Dan something for ages and I thought this would look great on him. I decided to have a bit of a splurge and bought some really speccy organic wool from Beaverslide. I had a really hard time choosing a colour as Dan always wears blue and I didn't want him to have another blue jumper. I'm not 100% sure that I chose the right colour but I'm just going to knit it up and see how we go. The yarn has the strangest feel to it. It doesn't even feel like real wool. But I diligently knitted up a swatch (yes, that's right folks 2 swatches in as many weeks!!) and washed it and it feels just gorgeous. That was enough to convince Dan that it will be a comfortable jumper so here's the start:

And now for the things that I have finished. I've already shown you some pictures of the Branching Out but I think this one is slightly better, well at least the colour is slightly better.

It was sent off last week so I'm hoping it has arrived in France by now. Will let you know when I hear.

The other FO is the maternity shrug. The bamboo yarn was a little slippery but looked great knitted up and has made a fabulous top. I haven't actually got a photo of me wearing it. I tried in the mirror but it was so dirty that I looked like a smudge. I know I could clean the mirror but that could take weeks. But here is a pic of the finished item:

This is preblocking so there are a few ends hanging out, but post blocking it really does look great. I'll see if I can get Dan to take a decent picture of me in it, which could be rather hard considering the ginormous state of my tummy!

Wow, I can't believe I found time to write all of that! Off to watch Play School now. Bye!