I’ve had no hot water for a good part of this week, due to having a new boiler fitted. It seems like the best time of year to have a new boiler fitted, it being June and therefore hot. Though of course, we managed to choose the wettest, coldest summer week possible. So no hot water meant no blocking. When I had to boil a kettle everytime I wanted to wash anything, soaking my knitting wasn’t a priority. So I celebrated my new boiler by having a blocking party! Who says my life isn’t full of excitement?!

First up are my Sockapalooza saviour socks!

I do like admiring my gusset

Pattern: Eagle’s Flight by Megan Humphrey
Yarn: Rowan 4ply Soft in “Zing” (#371)
Needles: Set of five 2.25mm Susan Bates dpns (also green!)

Definitely the best yarn choice! Whle the Opal was more apple green, the luxury of the Rowan yarn won me over. I loved knitting these. The pattern is only 6 rows and it was so easy to memorise and just sit and knit while doing other things. Like watching Tim Henman get knocked out of Wimbledon again. So I’m all done and dusted, with a month to spare. *pats self on back*

I have also finished both sleeves of the zippy jacket, which are still drying. And my needles are still on fire. The purple bobbly secret knitting is done, so I’ve started some more top secret stuff. When I’m able to post photos, I will look so prolific!

I think it’s now time to think about doing some lace knitting. I’ve knit more socks in the past six months than I did in the whole of 2006 and while I love knitting them, and my sock yarn stash is still threatening to take on a life of its own, I am making a stand. No more socks! At least, not for a little while…

Take that, you fear-inducing bit of plastic!

Now just one sleeve to knit and the whole thing is done.

That’s how many knitting books I have, according to my booklist on LibraryThing. Sixty three. How did I get so many?! I may have bought a few books over the past year, and the programming books which shared the knitting book shelf may have been gradually ousted in order to create more room for yarny books, but to find out that it’s that many is scary to say the least.

I admit I am a book hoarder. A few years ago, Penguin brought out a selection of classic novels in paperback for £1 each. I bought about twenty. Not to mention that I have five copies of Wuthering Heights in various forms, including a paperback for the bath, a Folio Society edition for reading in bed and a tiny hardback version because it was small and cute. And my sister’s copy that she bought for A’ Level English Literature and hated the book so much that she gave up the course.

I suppose the question is whether I need to have sixty three knitting books (well, 61 knitting books and 2 crochet books!). And I’m also intrigued to know whether I am the only knitter to have a rather large collection!

The jacket with the fastening which I won’t mention is coming along well. Just one sleeve left to knit, and then the you-know-what to sew in. But I need to block it first, and can’t do that at the moment as my normal blocking space is being used. I need to get a portable blocking space sorted asap!

So meanwhile I’ve gone back to my Sockapalooza saviour socks! After the first two patterns I tried were frogged, I was feeling a bit disheartened about them, but then Tracy on the Angel Yarns forum posted a link to a splendid sock pattern.

It’s this one, a simple, six row repeat but very pretty and almost cabled, though I can also see the “wings” that give the pattern its name. And I changed my mind (again!) and am using Rowan 4ply Soft instead of Opal. I think my pal will approve!

I met Diane for coffee yesterday morning which was lovely, and popped to Stash Yarns afterwards, of course (!), where I bought a skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Dyed Cotton, which feels like cotton wool. It’s to knit a secret present, so I’m afraid til it’s handed over that this is the only photo I will be posting:

Purple cotton wool bobbles! Intriguing, eh?

I’m taking a break from my Sockapalooza saviour socks due to a lack of inspiration. I tried Hedera but, disappointingly (because I’ve been wanting to knit them since that issue of Knitty came out), I didn’t enjoy knitting them at all. I think it was the mixture of knitting through the back of the stitches along with the regular knit stitches which stopped me getting into a rhythm with the pattern. I do have another pattern in mind, but no photos til there has been significant progress!

So I’ve picked up a project that I started back in January but didn’t get much further than halfway up the back. The pattern is from the November 2006 issue of Simply Knitting magazine and is a very simple drop-sleeved cardigan (despite the confusing pattern schematic which shows armhole shaping when there is none) for a small person, and would be a breeze to knit, if it wasn’t for the “thing”. The zed eye pee. *wibbles*

The original pattern colours met with approval, but I’m using my old favourite Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK instead of Patons Diploma Gold. The fibre snob is strong today.

I’ve done the back and the left front now, and am a third of the way on the right front. When I’ve got those done, I’ll probably join the shoulders and knit the collar before knitting the sleeves. I don’t enjoy sewing up, and it’s better that I get it done in bits rather than all in one go! I have modified the pattern slightly so I can do a three needle bind off on the shoulders, at least.

But all of this is nothing compared to the huge, toothy issue that is waiting for me when it comes to fastening it together. On the positive side, if I can get over it, then steeking will be like falling off a log!