Slow Sunday Stitching

I had planned on getting some sewing done this weekend once I'd completed some household chores. However it must have slipped my mind that for the last two weeks, for one reason or another, housework has been a bit of a lick and a promise. So Saturday and Sunday was taken up with major house work, including energetic vacuuming, fairly enthusiastic floor mopping and lazy laundry (lazy because all I needed to do was feed the washer/dryer and it does the work). The lazy laundry has been followed by panic stricken yelps as I stare at the ironing mountain that is rivalling the size of Everest. Still panicking never got anything done so I will make a start on that shortly. Needless to say not a lot of sewing got done however I did do some relaxing knitting in the evenings whilst watching TV.

John bought this pattern and wool at the Stitching and Knittinf Exhibition back in October. 

I had planned on finishing the other jumper I'm working on completely before making a start on this one but I made the mistake of stroking the wool and I just had to see how it knitted up. As you can see the wool comes as a hank so needs to be rolled into a ball to be able to use easily. Lucy was willing to offer her help to hold the wool so I could do this. Well this was a trip down memory lane. I remember my mother knitting during the long winter's evenings. She loved embroidery and did this most evenings during the summer whilst the light was good but during the winter she would knit. She kept me and my two bothers well provided with jumpers as well as herself and my father. Usually the wool came as a hanks and my job was to sit with my arms out  supporting the wool while she turned it into balls ready to knit up. Sitting with Lucy whilst I did this turned the clock back and had me sitting in front of the fire next to my mom. Such lovely memories. It was my mother who taught me to knit, a skill I've found very useful over the years, especially when the children were small.

So I wound the wool into a ball and found my circular needles bought especially for this jumper. When John bought the pattern I didn't realise it was knitted in the round. I've never done this technique before so I was a little wary at first, especially when joining the ends as you have to be careful that the row isn't twisted. You also need to use a marker to show the end of the row and for this I used some embroidery thread. The ribbing was the same as working on two needles but once I started the stocking stitch it was great to just have to knit. It is so much faster. This is how far I've got. I'm going to knit one ball and then go back to the other jumper to knit one ball. This way both jumpers will get done.

I also did a little work on my Christmas tree embroidery but I haven't taken a photo of my progress.

I linking this post with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

I'm not working today and I'm hoping to catch up with the sewing. Lucy wants to earn some extra money so will attached the ironong mountain for me. 

Lyndsey