i visited my sort-of-local yarn shop (in subiaco) to buy some orange yarn to make a pumpkin. an invite came through this morning for a halloween party, and while cycling my mind whirled through various ideas of costumes and props. i have settled on an idea, but i won’t share it till after the party – just in case i change my mind or it doesn’t work.

so, while at the knitting shop i got slightly sidetracked and bought my first ball of noro. it seems that almost all knitters have an opinion on noro yarn: it breaks easily. it has knots. it has bits of grass/organic matter. why would i pay that much…..

personally i think that the colours in noro are worth whatever slight ‘defects’ the yarn might have. also i love single ply yarn. something about the texture, and the fact that it is not crepe. 

i can’t reveal what i am making as it is a christmas gift. i am amazed at myself for starting so early. hoorah!

on a side note, i spent my birthday voucher from Calico and Ivy given to me by my Granny. the yarn i bought is rowan 4ply cotton in beige. i had a plan to make a round yoke cardigan, however plans have changed slightly….

as i seem to like a challenge when knitting i have decided to knit Arisaig. i’m just going to ignore the fact that the pattern is designed for wool; also that cotton does behave rather differently to wool – having a fondness for stretching. 

my reasoning is that if i do a gauge swatch, wash, block and stretch then it should be ok…. 

i’m also going to try and knit the body pieces as one, casting off at the armpits and then knitting back and forth from there…. not sure if this will affect the pattern. we’ll see.

for a work friend (who is expecting at the end of this month), i made these. not sure if it will be a boy or girl, but blue looks good.