Light as a feather

I realise that this is really not the right time to write about my finished mohair jumper (finished about 4 months ago) but we all know that eventually the weather will turn and then it will come in handy. Yesterday I was sitting in the kid's pool with my 2 nieces in 30 degrees heat. Just humour me....




So in December last year I had given a mohair jumper I knitted years ago finally to charity. I had worn it plenty over the years but stopped wearing it and according to my rule that anything that isn't worn more than one season must go to the charity shop, I found myself without a mohair jumper.



Oddly enough it bothered me a bit and I thought to one day make new one. Then I found myself at Liberty buying buttons, literally walking into this gorgeous special edition vintage inspired kidsilk haze mohair by Rowan. The blue mohair (colour way 'Smalt') is spun around a white silk threat which gives it this amazing vintage colour. To top it all they had this jumper as a sample in a different colour displayed and it's a free pattern. Needles to say the buttons weren't all that was purchased that evening. Four little balls of mohair came home with me at almost 10 GBP a ball!



So far so good. I cast on and front and back knitted like a dream (although I disliked that it is a bottom up pattern). The arms were a different story. Mohair doesn't knit easy at all and frankly is probably best knit simply and without much pattern. The pattern used for the arms isn't difficult at all but it is fiddly.



I also made a mistake on the second arm and attempted to unravel my knitting....Anybody who has knitted mohair before will know that it is a nightmare and one which I abandoned very fast.



Fortunately I had enough wool to finish but the arms came up a little short. This wasn't an enjoyable knit at all. I do love the result though and absolutely loved wearing this lightest as a feather sweater in the early spring days.

Holiday preparations

I am going in holiday in 3 weeks time. In fact today in three weeks time I will probably just have parked my derrière in the hammock at my favourite beach. The beach in Zanzibar is called Pongwe beach (just in case you would like to know). And yes it really is that lovely, just perfect in my books. This will be third time in 6 years that I am going to my home from home and what really is very funny is that if somebody would have told me that about seven, eight years ago I would have snickered derisively. Travel always involved not visiting the same place twice and more importantly not sitting vegetable style at a beach. I am happy to report none of this seems that important any more when you get beyond 40 (am currently a proud 42).  What a relieve. Does anybody else feel that way ?


But of course I won't be just sitting there for days on end doing nothing. I am compiling a list of books to read. A mixture of ambitious and easy. So far I am taking the latest Ian Mc Ewan 'Solar', Tess Gerritsen latest Crime offering 'The Killing Place' and maybe the latest one from Franzen called 'Freedom'. But I am not sure about it as it is fairly large and I am still reading 'Corrections' from him, which by the way is really good. There is also Maggie O'Farrell's 'The Hand that first held mine'. Does anybody have anymore suggestions ? I am going to be there for a whopping 6 nights which means lots of reading can be done.

But I also need to take some handicraft with me. Now, even I know that I can and should not take a quilt with me. That really would look weird. But I need something to do with my hands in between holding books and letting the sand run through my fingers (yes I am rubbing it in). So I was thinking either crochet or embroidery. For some time now I wanted to try my hand on Japanese Sashiko embroidery here or here.  My idea is to make something along the lines of a redwork project but with Sashiko and than work these squares into a quilt with alternate fabric squares. Similar to Nova's fantastic project she just finished at the end of last year. I am not so good at drawing so Sashiko would suit me fine and I am thinking to do it in navy blue or so. But I am not sure that his is the best for the beach to be honest.


Second option is to start an Afghan. So I bought lovely Rowan cotton/wool mix yarn yesterday at John Lewis (got most of them in sale too).  Something along the line of this or this. The great thing with granny squares is that they are so easily done and one doesn't have to drag a big piece around.

But I am open to other suggestion. So in case any of my wonderful readers has a better idea please let me know.