I’m at that point where I feel like I need to get a couple of projects on the go – or at least in the wings – for the next few weeks of (hopefully omg) resting and being very pregnant.
With that in mind I treated myself to a copy of Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne’s second book ‘Mason-Dixon Knitting, Outside the Lines‘.
I would have bought it anyways, given how much I love their first book, but I bought it early from amazon marketplace, rather than wait for the UK edition to come out (early next year, according to Amazon).
I’m impatient like that sometimes. 🙂
I’m still gobbling it up, but it’s superb. It’s funny, and clever and thoughtful, and it’s full of projects I want to make, or that inspire me to go off and riff my own version.
The Cardi-Cozy for example – ( and there are more photos on Ravelry, here) – takes two balls of kidsilk haze, and I just know it’s going to be very warm and yet also very light. And while I’m a tiny bit worried about the lack of curves, maybe being so light and sheer, that doesn’t matter? and anyways, given that it’s knit from the top down, I can modify as I go if necessary.
Plus two balls of kidsilk haze is about my limit. Any more and I want to tear my hair out. BUT I will admit it comes one of the best colour ranges I know, and a cardigan for £15, that I can see myself layering on for much of the winter, in hard to beat.
Thus I’m going to make my trip to the Bluestockings this evening stretch a little further and see if I can pick up the yarn from Port Meadow on the way.
This is superb, and might end up being a good use of all my half or lone balls of dk.
I think that I have the perfect yarn in my stash (as a jumper that I never wear, and which I intend to frog), for this jumper. It might mean I stop stealing W’s when the weather turns cold. (I love the almost-slash neck line and the cabled raglan increases.)
And – again with the stash busting – I love these trees, (along with the fact if I *want* to knit 24 and make an advent calendar, I don’t have to knit them all this year, given that Bump will be about 2 1/2 months and christmas will pass him/her by as a mass of cuddles from more distant and less mobile relatives, and little more. Half a dozen or so will still make a cute decoration for the sideboard. 🙂
All in all? Well it’s just as good as I was hoping it would be. They make me laugh out loud. 🙂
It looks fabulous – cannot wait to see your copy. I might follow suite and order one from Amazon Marketplace.. Fabbo. Right leaving now see you later xx
It’s a great book. you should come have a nosy, and then you can pick up the stuff Abby brought for you. 🙂
(I’m planning to chart that shawl she knit, given that knit1 couldn’t be bothered. grrr. i’ll chuck you a copy if you’re interested.)
Your thoughts on future projects are very inspiring! I always love the planning stage and this book sounds like the perfect resource for such times. I love the projects you singled out for personal use/entertainment.
thank you! i’ll bring it with me tomorrow if you like, then you can have a proper nosy through it. 🙂
I keep seeing reviews on this book, I might have to take a look!
It’s a good book. 🙂
And – obviously, given the power of Ravelry – you get to nosy through all the projects to see if you find them interesting *before* you part with your cash. (I LOVE THAT!)
i think it’s a good as the first one. for what it’s worth. 🙂