This is the progress of the Jethro Jacket so far. Do you know the only problem I had with the pattern so far was the last row of the band with the increases. I could not work out how to do them the way the pattern said and get the correct amount of stitches. After ripping the row out for about the 4th time I sat down and finally got it right. So on the left is the progress of about 3 hours knitting, or maybe less. The cabled pattern is sooo easy, so if you are thinking of knitting it up go right ahead. It only has 12 rows to the pattern, and I can memorise most of the pattern already. Let's hope that this knits up nice and quickly too. 
Now onto another knitted item which I finished knitting last week which is a washcloth. I wont be using it on any dirty dishes, just dirty humans in the shower. This is made out of the cotton that Karyn sent me for Christmas. I love the colors, and it knits up quite quickly too. I have not used the other color yet, but next month I will knit that one up too. I did not use a pattern, just cast on 40 stitches and knit up what I wanted to. I think it turned out quite nice, and hopefully it will wash well too. Well that is all for today, off to do some housework whilst the kids are at school, and then to do more knitting!
Look at what I found at the Gisborne Market on Sunday. Alpaca yarn! I have never bought any real alpaca yarn before so this was a nice surprise. The owners even had photos of which alpaca it had come from, and they are so cute. I like this color which was the darkest one they had. The other 2 colors were a cream and a tan color. Their farm is in New Gisborne, so if I need anymore of it I am quite welcome to call and pay them a visit too. Since it is only a 20 minute drive, I will wait and see. Maybe some hats for Christmas time will be a good idea. I cannot believe how soft it is. Maybe a knitted pillow would be better and I could sleep on it!
I also started the Jethro Jacket today. I cast on just after lunch and this is how much progress I have made. I only knitted for about half an hour so it is not too bad. I am using a yarn that I bought at the yarn shop today. Bad me, breaking my yarn diet. I did not intend to find anything that I liked but then I saw the Heirloom Celtic yarn, which is a mix of alpaca and wool and it is really soft to knit with. I like the blend of the 3 different browns together, and luckily Paul loves the pattern too. It was his birthday on Sunday, so if I had of ordered the book and started before the New Year I could have given this to him as a birthday present. Maybe I can make it a belated present - I am sure he wont mind. I hope once I memorise the pattern that I can make a lot more progress on it. Luckily for me I only need to knit the smallest size. Tomorrow I should have an FO to show you all too. It is another jumper for my other nephew, and I quite like it although knitting the sleeve was a problem, but I think I was the problem. I could not figure out why the sleeve had less stitches, then realised after the 3rd time that I was casting on for the wrong size. How stupid of me. I think the tiredness from last week caught up with me, and having Lachlan home sick from school is tiring too. Tomorrow he is back to school so I should have a few hours of peace and be able to catch up with housework and other things, like knitting too!
This is the progress of the Jethro Jacket so far. Do you know the only problem I had with the pattern so far was the last row of the band with the increases. I could not work out how to do them the way the pattern said and get the correct amount of stitches. After ripping the row out for about the 4th time I sat down and finally got it right. So on the left is the progress of about 3 hours knitting, or maybe less. The cabled pattern is sooo easy, so if you are thinking of knitting it up go right ahead. It only has 12 rows to the pattern, and I can memorise most of the pattern already. Let's hope that this knits up nice and quickly too. 
Now onto another knitted item which I finished knitting last week which is a washcloth. I wont be using it on any dirty dishes, just dirty humans in the shower. This is made out of the cotton that Karyn sent me for Christmas. I love the colors, and it knits up quite quickly too. I have not used the other color yet, but next month I will knit that one up too. I did not use a pattern, just cast on 40 stitches and knit up what I wanted to. I think it turned out quite nice, and hopefully it will wash well too. Well that is all for today, off to do some housework whilst the kids are at school, and then to do more knitting!
