Excitement!

Today I took delivery of an antique Harrison Vbed machine to play with before selling it on to help museum funds. Not a clue how it works!

August Auguries

After a very hot and dry July, at last, enough overnight rain to wet the ground. I can now start to think about putting autumn plants in without using a pickaxe. August is when I traditionally start to think about knitting for Crimble - if I don't start now, they don't get finished. Thanks to flicking quickly through a modular knitting book, my eye fixed on two images and fused them into one. So I am covering coat hangers with mitered diamonds. Each one takes seven - could just use normal size, but better to go down to a 39 st start, all knit including edge stitches,, sl1,k2tog over central 3 sts every other row. Got some black satin hangers for a very reasonable price, none of black should show through on these, although they could look dramatic covered with white lace. Will finish off with tiny two-diamond lavender bag. Also thought I would have a go once more at the "Heathered" lace gloves from the Fair Isle Gloves & Mittens book by Carol Noble, but in same sock yarn as hangers rather than different shades of Shetland. Cuffs and fingers on the Knitmaster, lace pattern knitted flat by hand Took a bit of jiggling about until I remembered I had to split the central 3 st decrease spine. On machine, 1x1 rib is over 61 sts. These need to be increased to 69 to fit pattern in, plus a seam. Resultant glove looks long and thin. Colours worked out really well on first glove, but second one had three knots in a relatively short space so is a mess colourwise and of course does not match above cuff. Hey ho.