Too Hot to Blog, but not to Knit. . . .

July has come and gone and it's still hot and the UK still needs some prolonged rain.  How have you handled your urge to knit amidst the sweaty hands and a pile of wool sitting on your lap? I've been lounging under a leafy tree in my back garden and it's been fine, especially in the mornings. And, when I tote up what I've been working on last month, I've been surprisingly productive.  Probably because with the heat, I haven't had the energy to do more physical things, such as housework.  At least that's my excuse.  It probably helped too that I was glued to the telly for a good chunk of time - World Cup, Wimbledon and the Tour de France are all excellent opportunities for knitting. 

I finished my Anni and this cotton top has gotten a lot of wear.  It was really quick and fun to knit. I love how the colours work with each other, I used some deep stash and I still have several balls of the grey and olive so another top combining the two may be in the works. 

I made a few modifications including knitting an extra pattern repeat and also creating a split hem.  I really hate weaving in ends with cotton, so I left off the ribbing on the sleeves too - they had nice slipped stitch selvedges and I think it looks fine.  I did recently come across an excellent article by Kate Atherley on weaving in ends with a few techniques that I've not tried before, so if this is something you dread or procrastinate on, check it out here.

July was also the month of mystery knit/crochet-a-longs.  The Skimming Stones crocheted shawl is finished and this is my version.  I found each clue a bit similar each week so wasn't as engaged with it as I could have been.  I finished off the last bit - those ripples at the end - in the main colour rather than the mini-skeins as I just couldn't bear to weave in any more ends.

Ysolda Teague's Gloamin-Tide mystery shawl by contrast has been a completely engaging and intriguing knit.  I am just now finishing the last clue which is to fill in this square in the middle. I have certainly never constructed a shawl this way before and have thoroughly enjoyed working on this.

I still need more summer tops, so have cast on a Talavera from Pom Pom, Issue 13.  I am using an interesting yarn for this - the Scheepjes Woolly Whirl 4ply is a blend of cotton and wool and is a gradient with various marls in the colours. It comes in balls of 1000 metres, plenty to make this top but I will have to get a bit canny with matching the colours when I divide for the front and back.  Fortunately the colour changes are quite long but weaving in ends in lace is the worst! We'll see how this goes. . .

Look, two sleeves!!!!  These belong to Bressay, by Marie Wallin and are part of the Nature's Shades KAL from the Knit British group.  There are 22 rows of colourwork on each sleeve before you join it to the body and do the yoke.  Best motivation of all to get the boring bits of the sleeve done.  I'm now a few rows from finishing the body and hope to join them up next week.  Yarn is all from stash - the main colour is a luscious Wensleydale from John Arbon and I'm using bits of Zwartbles, and J & S Shetland Supreme for the other shades. 

And finally,  I am on the bottom hem of my Lotta dress.  I can't see the need for a woolly dress anytime soon, but this feels like an epic knit and I can't wait to get it off the needles.