Just no so much into summer knits…

I have some really lovely, summery yarn in my stash waiting for me to knit something proper for early August. But I’m just not feeling it. My heart is fully set on nice, winter wool, sweaters, hats, scarves (I’ve even had a passing thought or two about gloves!) and blankets. I LOVE BLANKETS. So my beautiful cotton blend is waiting for a better time (probably in winter, when I’m fed up with all the cold weather knits….), while I’m knitting with Wensleydale wool from the West Yorkshire Spinners. It’s still “leftovers” from a Christmas project for my Friend , and judging by the fact that even now after knitting the hat and cowl I still have 1 whole skein left, I’m not the best yarn-strategist in the world. Oh well, at least I don’t have to play yarn chicken I guess…?

The cowl is a free pattern by Frankie Brown – I chose it because I liked how it combines different yarn colours and I thought it would be a good way to mix the hot pink and light gray wool. It’s also one of my favourite types of knitting projects: easy enough to memorise it quickly, but requiring just a little more attention than plain garter stitch. I made it a little wider than the pattern instructs and because this wool is quite stiff (and a bit scratchy, but worn on the neck it feels better than expected), it is just enough not too roll down and to cover all neck nicely.

And then I made the hat, simple and slouchy, that I can wear with the cowl or with my pearl gray crochet shawl. I didn’t follow any pattern, since it’s just stockinette stitch knitted in the round, with 2×2 rib.

I have to say that working with pure, non-superwash sheep wool feels different than knitting with anything else. You can feel the sturdiness of the yarn, and at the same time it’s very light. It’s also really waterproof, I played with a strand with my cat and when she dropped it into water (Ciri loves to drown all her toys, usually in the morning I have to remove her stuffed mice from the water bowls and refill them with fresh water!), it just didn’t sink and stayed completely dry. Which means it’s going to be great for Irish winter, yay!

When I finished knitting this little set, I went on to work on a blanket. Because why not, right? So even though my summer projects are high at the top of my Ravelry queue, they keep being pushed down all the time. But I’m sure one day their time will come, too 🙂