Wild and Woolly

Dreich with sunny patches

The view from my window pretty well sums up this week...

 

...what I would have called 'dreich', if I was still living in Edinburgh! Wet, cold, dark, generally miserable. Added to that: parents' evenings at school, reports to write, mock exams to mark - I feel like I have hardly seen the light of day.

However. This sort of weather also invites, when you have a spare moment, a spot of knitting, preferably in front of an open wood fire with a mug of tea near at hand.  We lit our first fire of the winter this week, after school on Friday afternoon.  I finished my Thermis neck-warmer. It has turned out to be quite big on me but I am hoping this will just mean that it will be all the more snug and cosy.  I used the remains of the Rowan Pure Wool Aran which I had left over from the Laurel beret (see previous posts).

See what I mean? A bit big...

And I've been having fun with cables.  This is the sweater I am knitting Chris for Christmas.  The pattern is free from Garnstudio/Drops Designs and is knit in Drops Alaska and Silke-Tweed held together. You can order the yarn on-line from Drops and it is really excellent value and good stuff. Quite a firm knit but perfect for a rugged outdoors sweater and, as you can see, great stitch definition.

Cable sweater from Drops Design in Drops Alaska and Silke-Tweed  

Coraline

I finished Coraline yesterday and I am so pleased with how it has turned out. It's beautifully designed, with a provisional cast-on which turns into the hem, i-cord cuffs and neck and rolled edges down the front - not to mention the knitted smocking on the yolk.  It is quite a labour-intensive project - smallish needles, fine wool (I used Rowan Felted Tweed), lots of stocking stitch and the smocking itself.  However, it is knit in one piece up to the armholes and the pre-prepared sleeves are knitted together with the body thereafter.  So there is no sewing up at the end - bliss!  My first impressions are that it is very comfortable to wear - light enough and smart enough for work. It should be perfect for this wet autumn we are turning out to have. For more details about Ysolda Teague's pattern and mine and others' projects, see Ravelry.

 
  

I love Paris in the autumn

We spent a few days in Paris during half term, staying at a plain and simple hotel in Montmartre. Our bedroom was high up and on a corner and so had great views:

down to the cafe in the square below...

 

up to the dome of the Sacré-Coeur...

 

and even across Paris to the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

My all-time favourite meal is le petit-déjeuner, and there was the most wonderful breakfast to be had nearby at Coquelicot ('Poppy'), where the coffee is served in traditional bols, the bread is freshly baked and the honey is flavoured with poppy petals.

On the knitting front, I made two visits to La Droguerie which we stumbled on by chance (and very good fortune!). I was quite restrained (mainly because of the expense but also because of the queues) and just bought two books of accessory projects, Drôles et colorés mes accessoires signés: la droguerie and Mes accessoires signés: la droguerie - both full of gorgeous, colourful, simple but chic patterns for hats, scarves, gloves, hand-warmers, bags and some cleverly designed wraps and capes.

And I have an FO to show off. My Laurel tam from Jared Flood's Made in Brooklyn (see Ravelry and earlier posts) is finished just in time for the colder autumn weather that has set in  recently...

and here it is 'on', although a rather strange photo taken in the mirror..!