plodding through

I will not be wearing my Peasy cardigan to Knit Nation tomorrow nonetheless I am plodding through. At Sarah's suggestion I switched to the February Lady Sweater pattern for working the 'arm separation' and body

and just like that, it's an enjoyable knit again! It will keep me company on the train journey tomorrow morning, I suspect I'll be ogling and fondling my purchases throughout the return trip. 


Yes folks, Knit Nation is finally here. At daytime knitting yesterday I was asked what I'm especially excited about buying. So I consulted my mental list and came up with:

• a skein of sock yarn from Old Maiden Aunt
• cables of varying lengths for my Knit Pro interchangeable needles (rumour has it KP are about to release their own square needles; anyone heard this?) 
• the third and final item I am definitely not coming home without is a gorgeous skein of iridescent grey yarn and 

that's it for my must haves. Anything else that makes it home with me just got very lucky.

In other news my quilting hoop finally arrived today and I immediately set it up

Whilst 'researching' hand quilting techniques, I checked out youtube for tips and tricks. The foremost recommendation seemed to be a quilting frame or hoop, which differs from a regular embroidery hoop in depth.

{embroidery hoop (top) vs quilting hoop (bottom)}

Where regular hoops are about ⅜" deep, quilting hoops can be as much as 1¼" deep. I'm quite excited to try quilting by hand. Funnily enough, it's one of those things I used to turn my nose up at, couldn't see the beauty in the "obviously handmade" effect.

Now I appreciate the "organic" look and texture of hand stitching on quilts, pillows, clothes and everything really.

Enjoy your weekend and do say hello if you bump into me - I'll be wearing my Ravelry badge + my Os-berg shawl or something - tomorrow :-)