Knitting in the cold!

It's still freezing here. I wish I could be knitting thick wool sweaters now but with the way magazine schedules work I'm on slinky summer knits. Thin yarns and lace and lots of beads. I'm loving it but it's not keeping me warm and beads and lace with cold hands is not good. Heating is on far too much. I am wearing my Bambino cardigan a lot. It's lovely and warm and cozy. I'm hoping to start knitting a new sweater for myself this weekend, on the knitting machine ofcourse. I've got plans for a sweater in some purple/plum Fantasy with a big soft collar.

Yesterday I knitted the first sleeve on the machine knitted Super Merino sweater for Simon. I did promise him it would be finished before Easter ... 2010. I'm a bit behind. I thought the sleeve looked very short. So I only did one, set it in, seamed the side and underarm sleeve and got simon to try it on and yes it was too short and too tight. So this morning I re-knitted the first sleeve:

I also picked up for the neckband and started knitting it. I'm doing garter stitch. At knitting group this morning we had a discussion about whether I ought to have done a rib instead, so I may be ripping that out. I'll finish it as i'm on the cast on round and get Simon to try it on and ask him what he thinks. My plan is to knit the second sleeve on Saturday and finish sewing it up this weekend. Could be a good job to do while I watch Strictly on Saturday night. I can't work on my secret project while watching Strictly.

here's a pic of the sweater with the neckline started. I've not sewn up the side seams yet.

Yesterday I took a sick day. I was feeling tired after my workshop on Tuesday. My cold was getting worse. yesterday was the worst day for the cold, it's much better today.  So I relaxed for most of the day and did lots of knitting. I started a new scarf. Don't ask why.  I hadn't planned to do it. I decided last week I fancied a scarf to go with my Fame gloves, which I'm wearing all the time at the moment.

So i cast on for this:

The yarn is the new Bamboozle Sock, which I was keen to try out. So far i'm loving it and it's knitting up quickly. It's an easy stitch pattern. Perfect for take along or easy, 'knit while you talk or watch tv' knitting.

My Fame handwarmers are pale pink and i'm sure once I've done this scarf I may want handwarmers the same size. At the moment I'm wearing my new Fairytale Shawlette a lot and I'm thinking about designing a pair of handwarmers to go with it. I'm still debating about whether or not to publish the pattern or save it for my book proposal. Here's a not very good pic of the Fairytale Shawlette. I've still not gotten around to taking some proper pics yet:

A few days ago, 2 Japanese books I ordered months ago finally arrived.  I was starting to worry they had gotten lost. I've been wanting some Japanese stitch dictionaries for ages and after browsing through several websites I finally ordered 2. I got one knitting and one crochet one. I wish I hadn't bought the crochet one. And got another knitting one instead. I love the knitting book. I don't speak or read Japanese but it shouldn't be too much of a problem as it's charted. Lots of the symbols are the same as the ones commonly used in charts, some i can work out from looking at the pictures and some will be a bit more of a challenge to interpret. But I will definitely get more.

Tomorrow i'm off to the Cornwall Yarn Shop in Launceston. To re-do the workshop I taught there last month when I came down with the sickness bug. I made it to 11.30am on that day and then had to abandon the workshop. Let's hope tomorrow is better. I love visiting the shop. Evertime I visit, Rebecca has new things in stock. She has fab yarns, a big selection of books and knitting accessories and Namaste bags which are very tempting. The room we use for the workshop is big and bright and we have a huge table at our disposal. Very nice place to teach.