What was I thinking?

What was I thinking? At the local markets I bought 2 skeins of beautiful hand-dyed merino 8ply (100gr each), My plan was to knit this lovely cardigan for my 2 year old nephew. The pattern is from an Australian knitting magazing "Knitted Classics", pattern "Small Comforts". It specifies the 200gr Sirdir yarn which I  ignored and thought I'd

 

be right substituting with my gorgeous hand dyed skeins from the markets. There was my mistake. I don't know how many times I have done this and regretted it later.
 

So I knitted the back and started the left front and have realised there is no way I'm going to have enough yarn! I've almost finished the first skein already. I figured that I could turn it into a vest instead and not knit the sleeves, but knit a little bit around the armholes in rib or half fisherman's rib. Now I don't think I'll have enough wool to do even that. Then I had a thought, I could phone the markets and ask for the details of the stall holder and try to buy a couple more skeins. Do I want to try though, or is it all too much trouble? I could just frog it all and knit some beanies and socks for him instead? Golly! What a disaster! I have enjoyed the pattern so far and the fisheman's rib is a lovely stitch to knit. However, I have found knitting in 8ply very tough on my hands and shoulders. I only knit lace weight and fingering, so knitting with a heavier yarn has actually been a bit harder on my arthritic fingers. I have rheumatoid in almost all the joints in my body. I have found knitting in a slightly heavier weight quite hard going. I think I might just put the UFO on the shelf for a day or two and focus on my other projects while I think about the cardigan situation.I'm still going on Boo's Snow Angels, which is lovely. I think it will be magical when finished:)

 

 I've also been spinning a little on my spindle. I'm trying to spin finer yarn. It is really fun, although I'm not that good at it yet. 

 

The wrist warmers I was planning ended up being the wrong gauge and I am now knitting socks with the soft blue alpaca. The

 design is my own. I just made a twisty, cable chart which I'm enjoying knitting on my karbonz dpn needles. I love them so much I"m going to order some connected karbonz for lace shawl knitting. I just can't decide what size to get as I often use 3-4-5 mm needles for shawls.

I feel like all the projects I have planned lately have ended up being wrong, or needed changing in some way. It really makes me realise that planning a knitting project involves so much more than just a pattern and some wool! I am also realising that modifying or changing things is ok too. Perhaps that is part of the knitting process -trying things, assessing how it is going and then changing directions or modifying the plan somehow.

 I mentioned that I went to the markets. It was a special Celbration of Wool day and there were so many fabulous yarn/fibre/buttons/wool stalls. I was beside myself with excitement! I totally loved it. I also spent an hour helping out on the Knitter's Guild Stall, chatting to people about what the guild is and what fun we have. I met up with some of the very talented ladies from the guild.

 In my garden at the moment I have little jonquil bulbs popping up. I bought some delphinium seedlings form the markets also and they are very happy in my greenhouse:)

 Well, enough of my woolly banter. By the way, I'm not sure why some of my text today is blue and underlined. I can't seem to figure out how to undo it. Sorry. Happy Knitting!:)