Flaming June finalised

Quite what to do?

A new wool shop has opened today and I just had to pay a visit. I actually do need some wool. I am coming to the end of  the Flaming June log cabin and have run out of the dark brown. The original wool was bought in a shop some 3 hours' drive from where I am today so I thought I'd take a look around the local wool shops here to see if I could find a ball of the require yarn. Sadly not but I did buy some beautiful new baby alpaca:

I didn't actually need the baby alpaca in the same way that I needed a ball of the brown acrylic, in fact I didn't need it in any way at all. I did, today, finish a baby bamboo cardigan

and there is nothing I can do with the Flaming June until I get the ball of brown but it is not as if I have nothing to knit. I decided to just take a little look at the current works in progress or about to be cast on or " that will be good for" projects and, well, I will admit to a bit of a current addiction.

The Flaming June

The green log cabin which has somehow lost its momentum

The box in the sitting room which contains half finished:
Baby jacket
socks
mini christmas stockings for advent calendar
dolls clothes
baby hats
scarf
Regia wool for socks
Bamboo cotton for 3 baby cardigans
oddments for odd projects

Some Debbie Bliss, Rowan, Phildar etc for non specifc, possibly baby type projects.

Hand was shaking by now - the Knig cole riot, lots of Sirdar Snuggly and yet more baby yarn......

Quite specific Marriner for, yet another, log cabin, some dishcloth yarn and lots of baby 3 ply; a bag of oddments

The bag containing all the yarn, new needles and pattern for my Cowichan.

Of course I didn't need the baby alpaca but it is lovely and a great colour. Quite what to do now though? To finish one of the started projects? I had intended to make a few mini Christmas stockings each month so that, come December, I am not saying - well it will do for next year. I have  had Jessica's socks on the needles for some time and - the photograph I somehow forgot to take - Charlie's cardigan. Now I have so little of that to do - half a front and a front band. What is it that makes me forget about that delightful piece of work? The Cowichan will free up  the biggest space - it is one large bag full of chunky wool but it is a major project and another baby cardigan will only take me today. There is not a lot left to do on the green log cabin and the socks would be a nice thing to do. Decisions. A cup of tea.

The chickens go to a wedding

Some months ago I was asked to knit 100 raspberry pink chickens for an Easter wedding. Yesterday was the wedding and the chicks made their appearance. I understand that they left with individual guests.

Some old knitting - what we used to wear!!

Clearing out lofts brings memories and some fine examples of what we used to wear!!

I remember this jacket so well. My grandmother, May, knitted it for me. I must have been quite young at the time so the pattern must date from the late 1950s or early 60s.  May had a sister, Em, in Canada and I think the pattern may well have been sent from Em to May. I have vague memories that maybe the wool came too in a pack but that may be a false memory. Research, with the help of June at Knit Nottingham, pointed me in the direction of Cowichan patterns and from there I found the patterns of Mary Maxim. I feel pretty sure that this is the source of this pattern. The jacket is surviving pretty well for its age and for the amount of wear it had. The next ones not so well - there are 2 of them - Paul and I had one each:

Someone must have washed them on a hottish wash but, again, not in bad condition for 50 year olds.
I really want to knit something like these now. Searching the internet I have found similar patterns but not the exact ones. How wonderful, though, that they have survived for so long - someone must not have wanted to let go of them.

Moving on to the 1980s I loved the next two but doubt my children would be too delighted to see me wearing either of them in the near future.

Flaming June

Younger daughter has finally agreed to let me knit a blanket for her living room. Actually, that is not quite accurate as, during our last discussion, she did wonder if it might just go on the bed  in the spare bedroom. Regardless, I have been out searching for wool in the correct colours. Her living room is dominated by a piece of artwork she had as a 21st birthday present - deep reds and golds and orangey browns and this is complemented by a print of Flaming June - that Frederick Lord Leighton iconic pre-Raphaelite gem that everyone seems to know. The dominant colour in the throw then needs to be an orange. There are many beautiful oranges around in the more upmarket ranges of yarns but the yarn I have left over to knit 80% of this blanket is acrylic and so I need an acrilyc orange. What there seems to be in the 100g balls is something so neon that it looks as if it needs to be on the back of someone working in the road at night. Searching online is not easy as colours can be deceptive so a trip to a small yarn shop was called for. To my delight, I love coincidences, the person I spoke to in the shop was June and, having dismissed the ubiquitous neon ball she delved into a basket of 25g balls and came up with two shades of orange - both of which were ideal. I do also like decisions being made for me in an unexpected way. I was planning another log cabin ( I will inevitably get bored of the pattern before too long) and I had been debating in my head as to where the key colour - the orange would be. With 2 shades and only 2 25g ball of each that decision was taken out of my hands and the oranges go in the centre of the squares. I quickly completed my first square, learning from experience weaving in each colour as it appears, sent a photo to the daughter who approved and now have another lovely project sitting at my feet. I wonder what I will make of the juxtaposition of a hearty log cabin and Flaming June?