Summer!

Summer finally arrived, and dare I say eclipsed Christmas with it's warmth and lush growth. It's not that I don't like Christmas, but to me there's nothing nicer than wondering around the garden and countryside with it's green abundance and summer bounty. Autumn is wonderful too, and so is winter. I really like spring as well - it's a great pity I can't make a living planting and tending trees.

I finished my Leaves of Grass shawl unexpectedly early. I originally cast this on so that I would always have back-up knitting for when other projects and designs were finished. I anticipated that it would take at least a year to finish and I wouldn't have to cast on another sock as back-up-back-up knitting for many months. Alas, knitting Leaves of Grass was so soothing and a great knit and natter project that I finished it in three months. It was pretty straightforward to knit, and I enjoyed being able to memorise a chart row and simply knit it endlessly until the end of each long round without having to think of shaping, gauge or whether it would fit. It was so nice knitting someone else's pattern! Unfortunately now I have no back up knitting and no desire to cast on another stupid sock!

I dyed this wool on the kitchen table. It is 100% 4 ply/fingering merino with quite a tight twist on it. Hopefully it will be rugged enough to weather being dragged across floors and lawns

 

Yes, a greyer skein snuck in there at the beginning of the second to last chart. And I don't seem to care a bit.