London knitting, Cambridge dining

It's been a bit quiet on the blogging front because for the last three weeks I've been in London on work experience placements. More on that later, but first it's time to catch up on knitting news. I was delighted to discover that my good friend Tom's swanky pad was 2 minutes walk from iknit London. Hurrah! I went along to knitting group when I was able to, and also added to my stash with some very very soft malabrigo laceweight, and a new yarn from Lang called West which might be turned into a Christmas pressie depending on how the colour variations work out when it's knitted up...




In terms of actual knitting I've been working on a Stefanie Japel pattern called Orangina, a lace patterned sleeveless top knitted in the round. Here it is stretched over Tom's ironing board to get an idea of the pattern. I took the lace pattern but reduced the number of repeats to make it the right width across my shoulders.


I also made a shrug which I wanted to wear at the end of my trip for a reunion dinner at Fitzwilliam College to celebrate 10 years since matriculating (I feel so old!). I used Paton's Smoothie and a knitty pattern 'I do'. It is knitted in the round from sleeve to centre back, then the two halves grafted together. The first half was no problem but I got a bit confused flipping the increases over for the second half and had to knit it again. I finished it on time however, and was quite happy with the final product. I modified the lace pattern to make all the knit stitches on one side rather than alternating chunks of knit and purl. There are no decent photos of me wearing it yet, but you can get an idea at least.

I had a lovely end to my trip by travelling over to Cambridge to stay with Ange and Rich for the reunion celebrations. A classic case of baby logic - cakey jammy face and hands, plus freshly changed lady in a clean dres = time for a hug! Dinner in college is always a great occasion, even if the food leaves a lot to be desired. Just goes to show that sometimes a good meal is about so much more than what's on the plate, especially when we had the chance to fill up on Ange's teacakes when we got home ;)

PS I have to say a big thankyou to Smariek for giving me a blog award - my first one! She's the creator of the famous utopia hat and loads of other lovely knitting designs... a genius :)

Teatime

I am a big fan of afternoon tea. I think it needs to be reinstated as a regular ritual - a good chance to pause for half an hour during the day, top up on tea and snacks and catch up with a few friends. Oh and knock out a couple more rows of knitting while you're there too of course!

Here's what I've been baking this week...

And today I'm hoping to go blackberry picking over the river in Fife, they are finally starting to get ripe even up here in Scotland.