Lumpy Bumpy Knitting and a Pretty Plate

I was over in Victoria last weekend visiting a friend, which meant I was a bit too tired to sit down and write a blogpost last weekend. It's funny how having one fewer day in the weekend can really tire you out. Sunday afternoon rolled around and I realized I wasn't going to be all that coherent if I tried to write, which is a shame because I had plenty of stuff to share.

I was hoping to get a bunch of knitting done while I was there. There is an optional ferry you can take to cut some of the driving time down, and I was trying hard to catch it at least on the way there to take advantage of some spare time on the needles. Unfortunately, I missed it both ways. At least the traffic wasn't too bad, but it meant I couldn't get any further with my project.

Luckily, the weekend was not without some good yarn stuff. We had a chance to stop in at Knotty By Nature, which is a shop I had only previously known about from the local fibre festivals on the Island. It's a shop that specializes in spinning and weaving, which is really inspiring for a mostly-knitter like me. As you approach the shop, the telephone poles and signs are all sweetly yarn-bombed, and as soon as you walk in, a yarnie knows they are in a place of kindred spirits:

I was fascinated by this tapestry hanging on the wall. I've daydreamed a bit about making tapestries in the past, and this just gave me a bit more fodder for the imagination:

And this piece made me think of some buttons in my stash that need a home... perhaps sewn onto a long runner or shawl or something:

Later on, we stopped in at a vintage and handmade market, which is always guaranteed to be an interesting time. I get so excited when I see tents like these springing up in the fields:

I was so, so tempted to bring this cool record player home, but then I'd have to start collecting vinyl records. That's a whole world I'm not sure I can commit to:

Instead, I came home with this sweet little plate:

I thought it was perfect for my daily treat. I mean, if you're going to eat cookies, you should eat them on a beautiful plate:

And if you're going to eat them on a fancy plate, you should make the whole thing as fancy as possible. I like to pretend it's being served to me by a butler on the lawn at Downton Abbey... because why not?

Meanwhile, I am still plodding along with my top. I sewed up the sides last weekend and knitted some cuffs onto the sleeves, and I am now knitting the second half of the neckline:

While I'm nearing the finish line with this project, I'm still experiencing some trips and falls along the way. I popped one of the seams while I was testing out the stretchiness of the fabric, which involved some emergency stitching to close the side. I may yet use my sewing machine to sew a basting stitch along each side seam, just to ensure that there are no gaps to reveal the seam underneath.  I'm also a little unhappy with how it's turning out because I'm noticing all the little errors in it that make it sloppy and untidy. My knitting gauge changed between knitting one side and the other: probably the result of worrying about running out of yarn on the second side. One side is longer because of it. I've still managed to seam both sides to match the colour changes, but the uneven gauge means that the seams are lumpy and uneven:

And since one side is longer than the other, I've realized that one side of the neckline is going to be higher. On one hand, that might be ok, because then I could make the shorter side the front, but on the other hand, since it's going to be a boatneck top, I'm not sure how it will sit on my shoulders. I guess I won't know the result until I actually finish. I think this is why I much prefer to knit things in one piece... but I bet it won't be the last time I knit a garment in pieces:

Meanwhile, I've been working on this project long enough to cast longing glances at the rest of my stash, wondering when I can be free to dive in there and do something new. Since I saw those tapestries last week, I'm itching to experiment with one... something that places around with different needles sizes and different knitting gauges...

... because goodness knows I've had enough experience messing around with gauge lately.

In the meantime, I think now's a good time to have a few handfuls of blueberries from the garden. It's a bumper crop this year, and we've been getting nearly a full punnet each day:

This is particularly amazing when I think about what the shrubs looked like only a few months ago:

There are so many that we have had to freeze a few punnets. I really must get better at eating them. That's a goal I think I could really work on.

Happy Sunday, all!