I stopped working on Eala Bhan yesterday and packed it away. While it is an enjoyable knit, I know it is something I’ll never wear — a tightly knit cabled indoor sweater in 100% wool. I can barely stand how warm I get while knitting it so there is no chance I’d ever actually wear it. It suddenly seemed quite pointless to knit something I’ll never use.

I may resurrect it someday if I ever feel cool enough again to wear wool.

I started knitting something I bought yarn for a few months ago.

This is the start of the Hawthorn Pullover by Kathy Zimmerman. The link is to the pattern’s Ravelry page, and the pattern is from the Fall 2010issue of Interweave Knits.

Well, it is sort of the Hawthorn Pullover.

I didn’t like the larger cable in the pattern, so I substituted a different one, making them mirror each other on each side.

I’m using Amy Butler Belle Organic Aran, which is a 50/50 blend of wool and cotton — much more wearable for me than 100% wool! Mine is in the Orchid colorway and I bought it from The Loopy Ewe.

I finished the second pair of plain vanilla socks I was knitting several days ago. Here they are:

These are toe-up gusset heel socks (from my pattern, free on my patterns page), knit from Opal 6-ply Best of Rainforest in the “Emil” colorway, on a 2.75mm needle. I started another sock:

This sock may look familiar — I knit a pair a few weeks ago in the same yarn and colorway — this is also Opal 6-ply Best of Rainforest and is the “Demian” colorway. This pair is smaller than the ones I knit previously.

Lucy is working on relaxing today. I do believe I’ll join her.

Busy busy busy here – I am in the throes of the final edits for my next book, which are due tomorrow. So I’m just popping in with a quick note.

Congratulations to Stephanie, whose name was drawn by the Random Number Generator to receive my review copy of Crochet Inspiration. Stephanie, I’ve emailed you.

I did get a daylight photo of Eala Bhan today:

And Lucy is enjoying just hanging out and enjoying a fresh autumn breeze:

Have a great weekend, y’all!

I have in my possession a copy of Fresh Fashion Knits: More than 20 Must-Have Designs from Rowan’s Studio Collection edited by Kate Buller.

Published by Potter Craft, this book will be available for sale next Tuesday, October 26. Let’s take a look inside.

This book is a compilation of patterns from the Rowan Studio Collection, designed by Sarah Hatton. There are 21 patterns in this collection and not surprisingly, all the yarns used for the designs are Rowan yarns.

Most of the designs are sized from Small to Extra-Large, with Extra-Large being for women with a 44 – 46″ chest. The actual measurements of the designs themselves vary, depending on how much ease is in each one.

The photos here are a few of my favorites from the book — classic, pretty designs. I think this dress is my favorite:

It’s knit from Rowan Classic Cashsoft 4-ply at a gauge of 28 stitches and 36 rows to 4 inches, so it’s definitely a big time investment. But the results are well-worth the time, I think!

As much as I’d like to keep this book for myself, I know I don’t have time to knit what I want from it, so I’ll pass it along to one of you. Leave a comment to this post by 4:00pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, October 26 to be entered in the drawing to receive this book.

And don’t forget — the winner for the crochet book will be drawn and announced tomorrow!

Hats for Sailors Update

I got an email from Shanti’s Mom today with an update on her Hats For Sailors projects. To date she has received 47 hats and in order for the project to be a success, she needs 278 hats by the beginning of November. See the blog post linked to above for all the details. I’m hoping that she’ll get a bunch right at the end of the month, but if you thought about knitting a hat but haven’t done so yet, please do consider it. You can quickly knit a hat from a chunky weight yarn and extend some warmth holiday cheer to a sailor far away from home.

There are some Qs and As and links to some fast and easy hat patterns here on Shanti’s blog.

Lucy wants you to knit a hat.

Thing One:

I am knitting along on Eala Bhan.

Thing Two:

I am almost done with the second sock of this plain vanilla pair.

Thing Three:

Lucy is still fluffy and cute.

That is all.

Wish it were Sunday. Cuz that’s my funday. My I-don’t-have-to-run day.

But I am of good cheer. Sort of. If I can make it through Wednesday, I have two days off from work. Never mind that there is stuff like dental work involved . . . it is time off from work and that is what I am focusing on.

So, Sunday passed in a blur of laundry and chores. Oh, and some knitting. I made some progress on Eal Bhan, but it is not terribly noticeable.

It’s that 10 rows to the inch gauge that makes a lot of work look like very little.

(The color in that photo is way off — it’s much more of a forest green.)

I set it aside late in the evening and picked up my mindless sock. It’s a nice change to knit on something you don’t have to look at.

I’m at the point on the back of Eala Bhan where I don’t need to look at the chart — it’s the same 8 rows over and over. But I do need to look at the knitting to cross the cables, and I need to look at the pattern because there is shaping going on every few rows.

Here’s a pic from the Lucy Lap-Cam!