Knit for Victory

Tasha at By Gum By Golly recently hosted a knit along (KAL), called Knit For Victory. She's a wonderful knitter, her work is simply delightful, she writes perfect tutorials, and she's just such an inspiration. It's just been fabulous fun. So, hats off to you Tasha and thank you.

I wanted to try some Fair Isle style knitting and decided to make this tank top. The biggest Fair Isle project I'd attempted until now was a hat. Without the sleeves to do, this looked quite reasonable. This pattern has also been re-written for modern yarn, by Susan Crawford, called Wartime Farm. The great thing about Susan's version is that it's raising money for the British Womens Land Army Tribute. I hate using patterns. I find I end up blindly following the instructions, without thinking about what I am doing. So, I used the pictures as a guide. 

One of the most splendid things about Fair Isle style is that it's so good for using up left-overs and being a thrifty soul, I certainly wasn't going to buy wool for it. It took lots and lots and lots of swatches to decide on a colour scheme but, eventually, I decided on these greys and blues, which will work well with jeans or farm trousers. I called it Wartime Sky.

As I progressed, all was going well until I got thinking how nice this knitting would look as a cardigan. Then I thought how much more I would wear a cardigan. It wouldn't be that much more work to knit a pair of sleeves, would it? Especially if they were traditional Fair Isle style rectangles. I could steek the front open - something I've done before... I do like a round neck on a cardi though and a collar and pockets. Oh and really I'd prefer set in sleeves... So, it turned out that the simple wee tank top project had mushroomed and had no chance of being completed for the KAL! But, I still feel pleased that I got a tank top's worth of it done in time, even if the full-on cardi still has some way to go.

I've started the sleeve caps for the third time, with the aim of getting the pattern to match like these do. They are now matching so, maybe, I'll soon (before next winter) be able to show them to you.

In other news, I've been lucky enough to receive these gorgeous hand knitted socks, from Weaving Heart, a talented weaver as well as a clever knitter. They're called Ziggy Stardust but I've re-named them Twinkle Toes. You can't really see from the photo but they're glittery, as well as being soft and comfy. What a long way yarns have come since the awfully scratchy days of Lurex. These were officially a swap for an unwanted book but they feel like a real present to me.

Lastly, this is Derek. He's sporting the most fabulous ski jumper, hand made by his mother in law, from some of my much prized wool. It's as soft as silk and as warm as toast. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Next time I'll tell you about some wild spinning adventures. Meanwhile, here's a sneaky peak.