What am I knitting?

I always love it when I've finished an intense deadline knitting period. It means I can relax for a bit and knit what I want to. I should probably spend the time finishing that sweater I started for Simon 4 years ago but I'm bored with it.

After my last lot of 4 deadlines samples were sent off just over a week ago I decided to treat myself to a bit of relaxing knitting before I started  on the next deadline. I've spent quite a bit of time swatching. I've got 2 magazine submissions I need to finalize this week and I'm also preparing for some workshops. Before the weekend I want to get the June Lace Lovers Club design on the needles. The test yarn is dyed & ready to go. I just need to decide exactly what I'm going to do.

I did quickly finish a bright fuschia Auracania Botany Lace shawl before I pulled out another skein of Botany Lace to cast on for something else. I'm not a huge fan of yellow and I've failed to capture the exact yellow of this yarn in the photos below. It's kind of a dirty pale yellow. It really reminds me of the yellow Play-Doh the kids used to play with as kids.

This was supposed to be a shawl/scarf of two halves. And for several days now I've been thinking I ought to weigh how much yarn I've got left. Well, I finally did and I've only got 40gr left which means I've gone 10gr past the middle. So I'm thinking about doing something assymetrical instead. This pattern is quite relaxing. I do need to refer to the chart a bit but it's just a quick glance every now and then. It has big silver miracle beads. 

On Monday, Simon had a hospital appointment. I sat in the waiting room knitting on this project while he saw the doctor. The lady opposite me kept looking at me. I'm quite used to that. People usually look at me when I knit in public. Sometimes it's the shock of seeing someone knit but often they notice that i knit differently than most British knitters. Eventually she asked me if I was adding pearls to my knitting. I told her they were big beads. She came over and sat next to me and we had a short conversation about knitting and adding beads. She told me she wasn't a knitter but she looked fascinated by what I was doing. The conversation petered out and I carried on knitting while she sat next to me mesmerized by my knitting for several minutes. When I came to add the next bead she asked if I could show her how to do it so I did. 

I did suffer from a severe case of startitis last week. I was just itching to start several new projects. I tried to resist but one day I had the urge to knit with Zauerball. I remembered buying some balls recently so went stash hunting. I found 2 colours I really liked and made my choice. But it turned out these were Lace Balls and not the sock weight Zauerball. I decided to cast on anyway. I didn't have any firm ideas but kind of made something up as i went along. I've now decided I'm just not loving this project as much as i thought I would. I'm not in the mood for laceweight so earlier when I got it out to photograph it I decided I'll rip it back. I immediately pulled the needles out so I can change my mind. 

Yesterday I was teaching at Spin A Yarn and they have had a delivery of Rowan's new Fine Art Sock Yarn. I've been waiting for this for months and I was so excited they finally had it. I had a hard time deciding between the gorgeous colours but I ended up choosing a browney pink colour and a green colourway. This yarn is a blend of wool, nylon, mohair and silk. It's not as soft as I thought it would be ang the nylon makes it a great sock yarn but with the silk and mohair I kind of fancied doing a little shawl or scarf. Something lacey. The question is to I add beads or not? I've added beads to most things lately. I'm even swatching for sweaters with added beads now. I think I'm a bit obsessed. I could really do with a really easy project that requires no chart reading and no beading so I can knit on it anywhere and especially knit on it in the car to/from Oxford this weekend.

I'm teaching at Purlescence on Saturday and it's also their open day and the Skein Queen will be present. I'm really looking forward to seeing her yarns as I've never tried them before.

This morning I collected a parcel from the sorting office and it was the latest Sweet Georgia Fiber Club parcel. I love this month's colourway but I'm not so in love with the fibre. It's Marsham which I've never spun before and I'm looking forward to spinning something different but I like my yarns to be soft and this doesn't feel very soft. I'm thinking I could find something to blend it with or just spin it anyway. I've just started spinning last month's parcels so it'll be a while before I can start something new.

That's enough for now. I've got some yarn to wind. I'll be casting on with one of the Rowan skeins this afternoon or tomorrow. 

Which one will I choose?