knitting ramble – Knits and Rambles

Self Striping Christmas Sock

Edinburgh has been looking rather pretty, if austere, the past few weeks. We’ve been treated to steel grey skies with occasional bouts of snow, which if we’re less kind was more like sleet. It made Christmas shopping more memorable especially when hurrying past the Castle trying not to freeze.

On a similar theme, there’s a pair of socks I’m excited to talk about. A few months back, I dyed up some self-striping Christmas yarn for myself. Not casting on right away was quite hard, I’ll admit. The first Advent Sunday was rather more tense than usual as I knit the first stripping repeat but isn’t Advent all about anticipation?

Achoo!

I’ve got a rare week off and, typically, have come down with a cold almost immediately. It’s a bit of a blessing in disguise, being a wonderful excuse for remaining close to home with blankets, knitting and hot drinks. It’s been a bright November so far, with remarkably clear days but a certain bite to the air means I’m quite happy to enjoy it from inside while telling you about my newest knitting projects.

Sunshine Sweater

It’s a rare Scottish day here where I’m sat out in garden but purposefully in the shade. For once, being in the garden isn’t about following the sunshine as that’s the one spot where it’s not too cold to sit and knit. Instead, it’s absolutely glorious. There’s not a cloud in the sky and the main sounds are the trees which are moving in the breeze.

It’s perfect weather in the shade to knit on my Kate in sunshine yellow yarn I hand dyed earlier this month. When the sun eventually finds my spot, I switch to sock projects.

Little Jems

Friends, I fell off the knitting wagon. I fell off so bad I think there was an entire month where I did not pick up my knitting once. I started sewing instead which is a completely different story. It was only about three weeks ago, when I found myself on a long journey, that I realised what I had been missing but also how much my life has changed.

It’s pretty much redundant to say at the moment, but 2020 has been a rather odd year. Why I know I’m lucky is that I can look back over the year so far and, leaving aside the general worry and sadness over the pandemic, find some genuinely lovely moments.

What would you knit again?

For the first time in a while, I’ve woken up to grey skies and a still morning. The past month feels like it has been full of blue skies and sunshine. In the mornings, before work and the stress of the day, I’ve drunk my tea and knitted in the early morning rays. Probably as a result, my newest jumper is {pretty much} complete.

I’m finding I’m quite sad about this. I only got to spend about a month with this jumper. I could knit another, but I’ve got another six patterns I’ve been waiting to try out. It’s all leading me to question, what would I knit again?

Spring of my heart

With typically bad timing, the Scottish weather has changed. There is now the chance of sunshine, though it’s important to note that even the optimistic weather forecast believes the chance to be low. In the moments when sunshine streams through my windows, I tend to seize the moment and climb out in to the garden and bask in it like a cat.

First Jumper – Winter Completed

In January, I had grand ambitions of knitting five jumpers this year. I had the yarn all picked out, matched to patterns (or at least pattern ideas to be designed closer to the time), and ready to go. After a few false starts on one jumper, I ended up picking up the purple and white Drops Alaska yarn and making a cropped, drop-sleeve, boxy jumper with just a little colourwork to keep things interesting.

Frogs away!

If I was clairvoyant, I would have sent out invitations this week to ‘Frog Party, Catriona’s House’. I’ve ripped out a, frankly, impressive amount of knitwear. Ranging from current projects to older and less used garments, I’ve decided to start afresh.

Sneachda

There are somethings worth waking up early for. Christmas morning is one, as are pancakes and going away for a holiday. I would, however, struggle to classify a Monday morning train to Aberdeen for work as being worthy of the early hour. From Aberdeen, I traveled onward to Ballater, a tiny village in the Cairngorms National Park near to the royal estate of Balmoral. The next morning, I woke up to snow.

A pile of potential projects

Yesterday, I found out I passed my exams. Two of the hardest exams I’ve ever sat are finished. It feels incredible. I start on the next two, equally hard exams next week. I was so convinced I had failed that I completely forgot about that little fact. It’s going to be back to studying for me. However, while Saturdays are going back to spending time with my calculator, crafting must go on! And I’ve planned quite a year.