Holiday knitting projects

I am counting the days until my vacation starts. It will not be for real until the beginning of August, as my deadline is on July 16th (very close and I'm still not done!), so I guess it will be a forced holiday, but still... 

My Color Affection is moving along very slowly and it is a bit frustrating. I am too tired at night to knit more than a couple of rows at a time and, as I have reached the end of Section 2, these rows are getting longer and longer! I never thought I would be awaiting short rows as much as I am! But I am very pleased with how it is going. The yarn I chose initially, Holst garn 100% Supersoft Uid is much nicer than I thought at first. I found it very thin and not soft at all but it does become fluffier and rounder gradually, which is lovely. I have chosen two different shades of grey (!), a light grey and a dark one. I had also chosen a pink color, called Peony, but I did not like it at all. So instead I changed drastically and selected, for my second color, a ball of sock yarn from French shop La Droguerie in a wonderful dark and bright Raspberry shade. It is lovely! Slightly bigger than Holst garn, but I do not think it will be a problem... 

Not proud to say that I have already ordered yarn for my second Color Affection, even though my first is far from finished! I have ordered Abuelita Yarn Merino 3 ply in two beautiful purple colors and a natural/undyed one. Can't wait to start! 

But... wait! I also cast on my own Still Light dress! I had bought some Drops Alpaca in order to knit the Vitamin D sweater by Heidi Kirmaier and then... I changed my mind! I kept changing my mind about this pattern, and then I realised that maybe I didn't love as much as I thought... So, when in doubt, stick with what you know and love, I say! Another pattern by Veera was exactly what I needed in the end! It will be a long project, I'm sure, all those rows of stockinette will take me ages to complete, but what a great holiday project! Everyone says it is easy and incredibly clear to follow. Of course, I still have my Abalone to finish, and my second and bigger Henslowe, but hey! What are holidays for? 

Veera designs...

These two FOs were finished not so recently (a couple of months ago), but I love them so much I had to show them! The perfect winter ensemble of cowl and hat, I give you Shimmer in Blue and Here and There! I love the slanted cables on the cowl and the clever construction of the hat with the stripes and cable. They go great together and I can't wait for this winter when I will finally get to wear them...

Présentation d'une Amateur Knitter

Hi everyone! Julia, aka Amateur Knitter speaking. For a long time I had a blog in which I mostly wrote about my love of reading and all things Jane Austen and BBC related. It was fun and I discovered things and people I never dreamed I would... After a few years, I realised my interests had shifted, not changed entirely, but I could not find the will to continue. In the meantime, I had discovered knitting and the wonderful world of Ravelry! In the early days, I never quite understood how people could say they were addicted to knitting. To me, it was a nice hobby, sure, but not something I thought I could really become passionate about... Well, needless to say I was wrong!
I've been knitting for 2 or 3 years now. I taught myself for the most part. My grandmother did teach me how to cast on, knit and purl but a stroke left her unable to knit and I had to fumble onwards on my own. I turned to Phildar catalogues for patterns and beginners instructions but after a while it got frustrating. One, their patterns are really unclear and hard to decipher. Two, I don't love their designs...
And then, one day, a few months ago, I discovered the magic of Ravelry and that opened up a endless horizon of possibilities. Hooray for Ravelry I say! I've mainly stuck with accessories, which seemed easier and more accessible to a somewhat beginner like me. But I do love a challenge and I love patterns that teach me new techniques and methods, such as knitting in the round, magic loop, cables (Oh, how I love cables!), and so on... My most recent discovery was grafting with the kitchener stitching method, I learned it this morning.
For my sister's and my roommate's birthdays, I offered to knit them each a sweater and they chose the patterns they loved. For my sister, it was the Twenty Ten cardigan by Veera Valimaki. Needless to say, I am absolutely obsessed with her designs, they embody everything I love about knitting: simple, modern designs. The funny thing, though, was that I was extremely ambitious when offering to knit two sweaters with only one month til the first brithday, and both birthdays being ten days apart. Thank god my roommate chose the Abalone pattern by Beata Jezek, easy and simple, plus it's a quick knit, so I might finish it in time! All of this meant that I have been knitting like a crazy woman for the last few weeks and I'm looking forward to finally knitting something for myself. You see, I have the unnerving tendency to give away my finished projects to people when I fully intended to keep them for myself.
Anyhow, I have just completed my very first sweater and I couldn't be prouder. I don't think I ever really intended to manage it, and I was stunned to do it in about three weeks! My sister's Twenty Ten is blocking as I type, drying away on the balcony in the breeze of a warm Paris evening.
I followed religiously all of Veera's instructions. Her patterns are so well-written, so clear and almost effortless to knit. Just do everything she says and you're golden! I love the diagonal buttonband, the high collar, the short sleeves and warm body of this cardigan. I don't think I would have chosen it for myself, but it suits my sister perfectly. No blocking necessary as it was already the right size, so I just laid it flat and hoped for the best. It seems to have grown in size somewhat though, which worries me, but I'll just have to wait and see how it ends up once it's completely dry. I'm really new to blocking by the way, and I don't enjoy it one bit...
So I hope this blog turns out well and that I will persevere in keeping it afloat and fed regularly. I might also embark on other topics but we'll see about that later! It's a work in progress!