fabric, sparkly shoes and knitting

Now isn't that a great title for a blog post? As mentioned in my last post, I'm currently celebrating the end of a long period of anxiety and stress. Last week it was baking a cake, this week it's retail therapy in the form of pretty fabric and sparkly shoes from Tesco. Every girl/woman needs a pair glittery pink shoes.

The fabric on the left is a deliciously soft, retro patterned needlecord destined to become a cute Tilly and the Button's Delphine skirt. On the right is a cheery Scandinavian folk style floral print in lots of very "me" colours. I bought plenty for a dress but I'm not sure which style to go for, other than I definitely want big patch pockets.

And lastly, I've started a new knitting project: an Agatha cardigan by Andi Satterlund. I have admired so many beautiful versions online over the last couple of years, but always thought the lace work was way beyond my knitting capabilities. However I have successfully knitted a few smaller items this year, learning something new with each piece, so I decided now was the time to take the plunge.


I'm not going to lie, the first 8 rows were brutal! I genuinely thought my brain was going to melt as I really struggled to decipher the pattern and get to grips with yarn overs. My mum was away when I started this so *gasp* I had nobody to consult when I inevitably made mistakes or needed to learn a new stitch. All I can say is thank goodness for YouTube knitting tutorials! And awesome knitting/sewing blogger Jo from Making It Well who took the time to reply to my daft questions when I misunderstood the instructions. Oh, and stitch markers. I'm definitely thankful for stitch markers.

It's a steep learning curve but I'm loving the challenge so far. I'm also delighted that circular needles don't make my hands ache unlike straight needles. The pretty lace patterns are really coming to life now which is fun to see. I can't help but go "wow, I made that!" Knitting is magical, mind-bending, compulsive stuff.

I am taking a bit of a risk with the project though in that I fall between two sizes and I'm using a DK weight wool (Jamiesons of Shetland - love their stuff!) instead of an aran. I did a test swatch and my theory is that if I knit the larger size with smaller needles appropriate for my lighter weight yarn then I should end up with an inbetween size for me. I've stretched what I've knitted so far across my shoulders (it's knitted top down) and the fit looks hopeful.

Please excuse the dodgy night time light in the following photograph, but this made me laugh...