Monday Blues

After just three hours sleep last night I am not feeling at my brightest today and I have to admit that it is making me feel very down. However, in order to cheer me up a little I have been doing a bit of shopping online.

A knitter can never have enough wool, so I have visited my favourite online wool store and ordered some yarn to make some shawls. And the owner of this yarn shop is so brilliant that part of my order is already winging its way to me just an hour after ordering it. I'll have to wait for the rest of the yarn because it isn't even in the country yet; it comes from the US which has lots of independent yarn dyers who produce yarns in fantastic colourways.

I've also ordered some wool from a supplier that I have not used before. This time the wool is to make a long-sleeved tunic which will look great with trousers. I found the pattern for this on one of the knitting forums to which I belong and I've been looking for some yarn to knit it in for some months now. Incredibly, it is knitted in sock yarn and it has taken me a while to find a supplier with a colourway that I like that doesn't look as though it is meant for socks. I have also had an email from them (within half an hour of ordering) to let me know that they will need to order in fresh supplies as I want rather a large quantity (12 balls, most buyers would only be looking for a couple of balls at a time to make a pair of socks). This means that I will probably have to wait about a week for this yarn, but as this is a project that I wasn't thinking of working on for at least a couple of months the wait is not a problem.

The tunic pattern is also somewhat unusual in that not only is it knitted in one piece (which is great as I hate having to sew things up after I have knitted them) it is worked from the top down. The benefit of this is that being in one piece it is possible to try the garment on to check for size as you are knitting it. I am intrigued to have a go at it but perhaps it is just as well that I will have to wait for the wool because that means that I can finish the things that I am working on at the moment and not be tempted to try something new.

I have three summer tops sitting in my work basket waiting to be sewn up and another knitted top on the needles and a crocheted top in progress too. I also have enough wool for another couple of summer tops waiting to find its way on to the knitting needles.

Thank goodness that I was taught to knit as a child because it is one of the things that keeps me going when I am feeling down. I suppose it is seeing the knitting grow and have something useful at the end of it that makes it such a rewarding, and sanity-saving, hobby.