fair isle trials

i have not been bloogging for a while simply because there has been nothing to blog about. or maybe there has. i have been experiencing problems with the ez fair isle yoke before even getting to the bit of colourwork. the issue has been a gauge issue. the gauge of the sleeves knit on dpns to be specific. the knitting was not very pretty because the gauge was not the same at the first and the last half of each needle. so i gave up and ordered a tiny circular addi turbo. that sort of solved the problem tonight. i could of course have knitted the sleeves on two needles but i somehow found that being a bit unfaithful to elizabeth....
i have also started a baby surplice sweater in porto cervo cotton from filatura di crosa in some of my favourite colours- lime and coffee.
but i have had most fun with the skye tweed i ordered from webs. i have been doing some serious swatching for the next project- the saddle shoulder aran cardi- from spun out/wool gathering. this is going to be a wonderful project. a little hot to knit in the summer but i will do it anyway because i am not happy with knitting with cotton. to be honest it is a waste of time mostly. the sheepfold pattern is especially satisfying. i love the look of it. i am sure it will not take that long and it contains a lot of possibility for learning. lifelong knitting learning. how lovely.
i have also ordered books. the harmony guide to aran patterns and ann feitelson's book on fair isle. i am establishing quite a nice little knitting library these days. hopefully i will soon pull myself together and order the barbara walker treasure and close my eyes to the fact that it may well be very expensive before it gets here. i think it is in the category must-have. i am afraid though that it will not be as fun to read as elizabeth's books which i read a little in every day. oh dear that woman is so clever and hilarious and very blunt.