The stocking stitch portion of my Ishbel shawl is finished and I'm on to the lace now. I like working from the charts; they make it so easy to see what you’re supposed to be getting. It's so much fun to watch the lace pattern emerging. I’m a little past where I was when I took this picture and the leaves are just starting to be visible if you stretch the fabric out. I’m really looking forward to the blocking – it’s always a magical thing ... and then of course there will be the wearing.

Pattern: Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood, Interweave Knits, Fall 2007
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in Whiskey (8013)
Size: 43 1/2"
Yardage: 6 skeins
Needles: 4.5 mm bamboo


I've loved this pattern and wanted to knit it since it first came out two years ago. At the time I was already working on a sweater for Rob so this automatically went onto a back burner. It stayed there until this spring when one of Rob's favourite sweaters started to show a little too much wear and needed to be replaced. When I went hunting for patterns like the sort of thing Rob usually wears I was happy to include this one and even happier when it was the one he chose (that I had been mentioning it off and on for nearly a year and a half may have been slightly influential).


My next hunt was for yarn and I was disappointed at how difficult it was to find a tweed yarn (Knit Picks City Tweed came out shortly after I'd bought my yarn - I'd really like to try that stuff - it looks wonderful). I'd settled on Cascade 220 pretty quickly; I'd already used it for a few projects with very good results and they had some nice tweed colours on their website. The problem was that no one seemed to carry the tweeds even though they'd have mountains of every other colour. In the end I went for a heather called Whiskey and when it arrived we both liked it. I think it actually felt even softer than the solid colours. It was such a treat to knit with.


Except for having to knit the sleeves first - while waiting for a long needle for the body - and a slight hiccup in the garter pattern of the yolk, the knitting of this sweater went very smoothly and relatively quickly. I got through both of the sleeves and most of the body when we took a short trip in June. I worked my way through the yolk for the rest of June and July. There was a period of total inactivity while I hunted around the house for my 16" 4.0 mm needle to finish the collar. Followed by a short period of wondering what I was thinking when I realized I was using 4.5 mm needles and the 16" was in the basket under the sweater. Sometime after that I found my instructions for kitchener stitch and closed the underarm seams. The sweater had a little bath, was gently massaged into the correct dimensions (somehow the sleeves seemed a too long) and took three days to dry.


It has been worn most days since then. (Look closely at the pictures - you can see pills - I love that.) I thought it was a little looser than it is supposed to be but Rob likes the fit so it is perfect. It goes easily over a dress shirt or a t-shirt and while loose is not baggy so it looks really good. For some reason the collar looks too big (though it seems perfect with a dress shirt); part of me wishes I hadn't noticed I wasn't supposed to use the 4.00 mm needle but it might just be the weight of the sweater that makes it stretch (it could also be my imagination). I love the squashiness of the garter stitch and the way it works with the heathered yarn. This sweater is nice enough to go to work and cozy enough for Saturday morning; a perfect garment in my world.

I was putting away an order of things I'd received The Workroom when I found this disk tucked into the folds of my fabric (spool of thread included for scale). I think it is intended to become a necklace; it would certainly work nicely as one. After taking a few pictures of it and finding a home for it on the shelf above my sewing machine - a favourite spot for new and interesting treasures - I realized that the little holes are probably meant for thread and I can make my own embroidered disk necklace. I'm trying to decide what sort of a design I'd like to use. I've got a few vintage cross-stich patterns and instructions for some samplers with interesting stitches. I'm not sure if I want something kind of old fashioned looking or if it should be something modern or some combination of the two. I see some intensive pattern searching in my near future.