An Owl of a Time

Hello, sorry it's been so long, I've had a hell of a week: I took (and passed!) my driving theory test on Monday morning, gave blood on Wednesday, and in-between I've had six job interviews! All rather exhausting, but cross your fingers for me please, as I have thankfully got second interviews at my two favourite places.

But you will also be pleased to note that I haven't quite abandoned all pretence of craftiness, I also found time this week to join Ravelry - if you haven't already and you're a fan of the Knotty Arts, then get thee over there post haste: it's like Facebook but just for knitting and crochet. You can make friends with other Knotty enthusiasts, share pictures of your projects, buy and sell patterns, and trade your excess yarn stash with other members. It's a whole woolly world of awesome.

Since conquering my Brown Cardigan I was determined that Jessica, the pink short-sleeved jumper in this post would be my next project: from the sensible to the frivolous, as it were. However, after but a few short hours on Ravelry I was tempted away from my plans. Look what I found:


Words fail me. It is The Greatest Jumper I Have Ever Seen. Perhaps The Greatest Jumper That Has Ever Been, although I will gladly welcome any contenders to the title.

You can view more pictures and purchase the pattern here. The designer, Kate Davis, is ridiculously talented, and of course she writes a blog to match, so go give her some love.

Given my last attempt at knitting an actual garment (scarves don't count!), I am concerned that this is way above my skill level, so I have been practising my cabling with the leftover yarn and needles from the Brown Cardigan.


My first batch of owlettes! I am already in love with them, even though it took me four attempts to get one right. Please don't judge me too harshly: the actual pattern is knitted on circular needles, so I will always have the right side facing me as I work. However, I was practising using regular needles, which means each alternate row was wrong side facing, so I had to remember to reverse the pattern (purl where it said knit, cable 2 forward where it said cable 2 back, etc). As I am a complete cabling novice and haven't had much experience of complex patterns, this proved tricky, to say the least, which is why the two at the bottom are inside out, poor little fellas.

On the whole, it was very exciting to have something new on my needles, and to have cracked a new technique which I have heretofore shied away from. I haven't bought the yarn or the right sized circular needles to begin the Owl Jumper just yet, but you bet your ass I'll let you know when I do!