Look! A WIP Actually In Progress!!

It seems like it's not very often these days that I post about a work actually in progress. I always seem to leave it till it's finished, and then write one post about the FO. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that - after all, it means that I'm busy knitting - but it's nice sometimes to write about something that isn't finished yet.

So here it is, the Icelandic Turtleneck Sweater (rav link), from the crochet me book (amazon link), by Chloe Nightingale.

I've been obsessed with this sweater since I first bought the book, and have been desperate to make it, but I never seemed to have enough suitable fingering weight yarn. So, on the way back from my parents' house last week, I popped into the wool shop at Glenrothes, and bought some :) I went in looking for navy, since I'd used navy Stylecraft Special 4 ply for my CanCans, and figured that would be a suitable yarn. But they didn't have enough navy to make the armwarmers as well, and that's really what makes the whole outfit, I think. So I looked around, and they had this Stylecraft Life yarn in a pink heathery type colour. I know, pink! It's soooooo not me. Usually. But recently I've been kind of drawn to making things in pink (I've no idea why, and I hope this new found girlyness goes away soon, it's just not right, lol!). Anyway, it's working up quite nicely, and it'll be a change to have something in a pastel-y colour.

The yarn seems to be spun exactly like the Stylecraft Special, it has that same splittyness :( My crochet hook keeps going through the plies. But it's soft and makes a nice fabric, as does the Special. The only difference between the two yarns is that the Life has a wool content, and you can feel it in the fabric :) It's an affordable, nice yarn for a sweater or other garment, you just have to watch what you're doing or you end up with split stitches. But it forces me to relax, and slow down, and do the whole zen knitting/crochet thing, which can't be bad really!