Guess what sucks?

Working a full week, working all weekend and then working another week. I am so run down right now I don’t really know what hit me.

Guess what’s great?

Getting Friday off and travelling back to the countryside.

Specifically, Shrewsbury. I’m on google maps right now and I can’t get over how small Shrewsbury is, or how pretty. But despite all of that, it hosts at least three good quality yarn shops, which is about the same total as London. And that’s no surprise – there’s not a lot else to do there but knit!

It’s going to be a good weekend.

 

 

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Narcissi, Swallowtail Lace and a mystery

First of all, this is what’s growing on my windowsill at the moment.

Gorgeous, aren’t they? I just wish it was warm enough to spend time outside now.

But while I’m still indoors, here’s what’s on my needles.

Swallowtail shawl

I’ve had some yarn kicking around for a few weeks which I’ve not been sure what to do with. I often do this – buy some yarn that is absolutely beautiful, then spend ages trying to find a pattern that’s special enough for it. In the end I was flicking through Ravelry and I found Evelyn A Clarke’s Swallowtail shawl, which is probably one of the most knitted patterns out there. But looking through some of the projects, you can see why.

My only problem was that my needle was a little too small. I had to go to Loop today in Islington to pick up a longer one, and while I saw queuing, I heard the girl behind the till say to the man in front of me that she recognised him from his book. He was tall, slim and had an American accent, but I didn’t get a good look at his face. I’ve seen a mysterious knitting celebrity … but I haven’t got a clue who he was! I’m going to be checking Brooklyn Tweed and Stephen West’s blog over the next few days.

UPDATE: It was Stephen West! His twitter feed confirms it. Pity he didn’t notice I exist.

DailyKnitter.com, my new best friends

A few months back, someone emailed DailyKnitter.com Elvira and they kindly hosted it. Then a few days later it was their pattern of the day, which was even more brilliant – it resulted in 2,000 hits in one day, which is a record for my blog. They also host Codename Wintergreen.

So when I released Constanze, I emailed DailyKnitter.com with the details. I got a lovely email back yesterday from them, saying they loved the pattern and would host it. Brilliant. I thought it would just be linked to. Then today I spotted this!

http://www.dailyknitter.com/knitting/constanze-lace-cowl-knitting-pattern/

I’m delighted – a proper write up! a biography! But all I can think is I really hope there aren’t any mistakes in it! *panic panic panic*

Happy International Women’s Day

In Britain, this coincides with Pancake day.

Pancake day is great.

It came as a surprise to realize pancake day isn’t such a big thing outside Britain, and when I try to imagine what I’d think if I hadn’t grown up with it I see how it seems a little strange. But trust me, it’s brilliant. You can, and should, join in. Pancakes are awesome.

But that’s not the only reason things are good right now.  I’ve had some lovely comments on my latest pattern and due to the traffic it generated, my blog has hit 30,000 hits. Work is going well – I think my boss likes me, and today I left work and got home before it got entirely dark. I have mini daffodils growing on my window ledge. (It’s too dark for photos – image courtesy of Wildgingerfarm.com)

I finished my hat and I love wearing it, despite it looking a bit … rubbish in this photo. (Yes, that’s a tshirt with braces drawn on the front, what of it?)

It’s also mine and the long suffering boyfriend’s approximately three and a half year anniversary around this time. In about six weeks’ time, we’re off to the Inner Hebrides to freeze, get rained on and enjoy Scotland.

Constanze is ready!

UPDATE – September 2011

There’s a new version of this, now with charts! See my post Constanze: Now with charts for more info. The original written pattern is also in that file. All the links below have been updated and lead to that file too.

Thanks!

A x

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This has been a long time coming. I think my blog has been about little else since Christmas and since it’s now early March, I apologise. I’ve blogged about it several times. You can read about how it came into existence here.

And finally, you can get the pattern for Constanze. It’s a perfect spring knit with leafy lace and organic looking cables, and if you’re a seasoned lace knitter you could have it done in a jiffy.

ERRATA: If you downloaded this before 10th March 2011, there is a slight error in the lace pattern.

There’s a yo missing in Row 1, directly before the placement of the second marker, between the sl2-k1-p2sso and the 4LC. Also, Row 7 is missing where the second marker should be.

If you have a file called Constanze v2 or Constanze_charted_v3, you are absolutely fine. If not, just download it again.