Woolly weather

We're into proper chilly autumn weather now, and I've been wearing some medium-weight handknitted hats and gloves.  DH has commented in the past as to whether I really need so many hats, gloves and mittens, but I do because they all do different jobs. The English weather is so variable that I think my handknitted accessories have to be as well.  Plus I just like knitting and wearing them. At this time of year, my long fingerless gloves are perfect, and my cabled hat made with the wool I bought in the Orkneys which is the colour of the North Sea.  I think autumn is my favourite season.

My Summer Leaves cardigan is coming on, I finished the first repeat of the leaf pattern in the yoke.  This is a top down jumper which I am knitting in Drops Karisma.

I decided I wasn't going to hand-knit the Alcott Fair Isle Vest because I couldn't get gauge on 2.75 needles and I don't really want to go any smaller than that for a garment-sized object.  Also the fair isle repeat is 24 stitches which means I can knit it on the machine like my last two fair isle vests.  So I've punched a card (twice, because I missed a row out the first time) and run off a test sample today.  I will also print out a large version of the chart and write in the colour references so I know which yarn to thread in which feeder for each row.

Last weekend I pulled out a few little kits from my stockpile to make up for an online dollshouse swap.  I put together a Model Villages kit for a leather satchel, and assembled a pair of leather moccasin slippers from a long ago club project.  I put in a few faux books as well. Hopefully the recipient will like them. I definitely feel rusty about putting little dollshouse things together, I used to be much better at it when I was younger (and had better eyesight as well).

I successfully moved my Idrija Lace doily project  onto my new lace pillow, although I did bend quite a few pins in the process. It's now off to a good start and I am slowly working my way around the outer circle, sewing it into the inner circle as I go.

Today I made myself do some quilting. I've gotten completely out of the habit of taking a few hours to relax in my craft rooms because I've been so busy the last several weeks.  I got out the appliqued house tea cosy pattern that I bought earlier this year and pulled some fat quarters out of my stash to start fusing on house components to a cream background fabric. It's a bit fiddly as the pieces aren't very big (the houses are about 3-4 inches high) but it's fun to see them take shape.  This is one side of the cosy with all the pieces fused on but the next step is to 'draw' on all the features using free motion stitching and black thread.  The other side of the cosy has several smaller houses.

Next weekend there is a small dollshouse fair and also a small quilting exhibition, both within driving distance. At first I thought I would ask DH to drive me but now I am thinking that perhaps if I spent less time shopping for the stash and admiring other people's creations, and more time working on my own projects, then I would get more done.  Food for thought.