Ladies and gentlemen, the kit has landed!

Yes indeed, my Alice St*rmore kit has arrived, and lovely it is too!

Not the best photo in the world, but you get the picture. Lots of different sized skeins (so you get the perfect yardage or so you can't work out how much there is and reknit?) in lovely shades of Hebridean 2ply. Yes, t-w-o ply. For the girl who knits LACE in heavy DK and aran eg/ Kid Classic, Orkney Angora from time to time.

Some of the colours are quite vibrant, others more subdued, but if the FOs on Ravelry are anything to go by they sing out when put side by side.

The pattern in included with this one, but do check if you are ordering because some are not and you are expected to have access to the book. I also got a lovely gift card saying "I hope you enjoy knitting this my dear. Love J xxx" Seemed funny getting a note from him in someone else's handwriting!

It was all wrapped up in tissue paper in a strong box and then covered in sturdy brown paper. Giving you all the specs cos I've never had a posh kit before and I want to give you the full picture in case you're tempted to take the plunge. It all arrived in good time after ordering, but we were unsure if the order had gone through because the promised confirmation e-mail never appeared.

The pattern is the Flora waistcoat from the Alice St*rmore Classics page on Virtual Yarns (scroll down) and it's in the Mountain colourway. In the catalogue the waistcoat is shown in Glen and the jacket in Mountain, but I'm having the waistcoat in Mountain. Lovely as they both are, I do love my greens, plus when I went back there to get the links for you I see Glen is sold out now.

As it's knitted in the round in 2ply I have to cast on 395 stitches. When I start this I'm gonna need a lot of good vibes and encouragement to keep me going.


Making steady progress on the Duke's scarf, a variation on the Sanquhar pattern. Now it's time to do a long plain stretch in the light green, ideal knitting club knitting.

Talking of knitting club, have you been over to my pal Lynette's new blog Tangled Frog ? It's just off the ground but already she has lots of beautiful things to see.

Happy Knitting!

2008 Year of Colour!

After enjoying dabbling with lace for eighteen months or so, and dabbling with stocking stitch cardigans and jumpers for three thousand years I have decided to inject a little colour into my life and I have designated 2008 as The Year of Colour!

Now, I am not afraid of colour, working with it, wearing it...I embrace a spot of colour in an otherwise neutral outfit. Remember this ? Or how about this to name just a couple. But what I really mean is a bit of fair-isle/ stranded/ jacquard to stretch the skills and feast the eyes. I wouldn't rule out intarsia entirely, but it's not high up the priority list at the moment.


I have dipped my toes in the water before, for example, there are fair isle bands on Emmeline
and I worked the self- coloured meets self-striping in Fake Isle but I feel I'm ready to give it a go properly.

DH has promised to treat me to an Alice St*rmore kit for my Christmas (yes I know it's Jan 4th, give him a break if there are expensive knitting kits at stake) and I want to get my two-handed knitting skills up and running on something where the odd mis-shapen stitch (and I mean odd as in mutant, not as in occasional) or tension inconsistencies won't spoil the overall look or fit of a worn garment.

So here's the idea.
I'm taking the Duke's pattern from my Sanquhar gloves(Remember I bought those, I didn't make them) and magicking it into a tubular scarf to get the rhythm and improve my two-colour two-handed technique before *the* kit arrives. I can just about make it happen with the two-handed thing, but it's very inexpertly done at the mo. Or should I say, being positive, it will respond to practice.

I've done a provisional cast-on on my tube because I haven't decided yet whether to graft, three needle bind-off or even gather up the ends and thread the yarn tail through. I've got plenty of time yet to decide.

Just to be clear, I'm not ruling out lace and all that jazz in 2008, I'd just like to have a good crack at some colour projects. I blame Ravelry !

Happy New Year!

Seems no time at all since I last said this, but ...

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping that 2008 is one of the best.

Cheers, and thank you very much for taking an interest in KEDkrafty.