Finito!,
originally uploaded by cast on cast off.

How exciting, have spent most of the day doing the crochet round the edge of Elspeth. I ended up doing two rounds of dc on the sleeves with the picot to finish off but only one round for the body plus picot. I need a bit more coverage in the arm department. I guess I went into the second or third stitch to start the dc but used my eye more than anything particularly when coming around the curve on the fronts. Check out these other finished Elspeths, here and here I love Kristin’s idea of using ribbon for the tie rather than a strand of picot. I quite fancy making another one and extending the body a bit but otherwise it’s a perfect fit for me. I know a few people had mentioned they would knit a size smaller than their usual for this one but it worked out for me. The crochet was fun, mainly because I haven’t done any for a while. Hmmm, what next…………

elspeth update,
originally uploaded by cast on cast off.

Hot day today in London town. Got the grass cut, cleaned the car………boring stuff….basically putting off sewing up Elspeth. A fiddly job but have done half and now about to make a start on the other half. Have read lots of blogs regarding making up and crocheting and that has been very helpful.

Notebook,
originally uploaded by cast on cast off.

I finished Elspeth last night and now have to sew her up. I hate this bit, possibly because I’m not a huge fan of hand sewing. I do sew alot of garments up on the machine to be honest. Mum always did and I agree that it makes for stronger seams but I guess it depends on the kind of yarn you’re using. Anyway, I needed a new ideas notebook for the handbag(s) and it has been sitting there staring at me for the past week. So, I had to put it out of its misery and cheer it up with some quilt fabric and red ric rac. Can’t wait to start using it.

Elspeth update,
originally uploaded by cast on cast off.

Started the right front last night and am making progress very quickly. Got through two Hitchcocks, From Russia with Love and Shakespeare in Love yesterday - no wonder I got so much knitting done. Lots of couch blobbing! (But it was raining and what is a girl to do when she can’t get out in the garden on a summer’s day) Anyway, am very glad I took the advice of so many others to chart the fronts out before commencing. I winged it for the back and didn’t do too badly but wasted alot of time checking and re-counting things to get it right AND ripping back. We all hate to do that, don’t we? It was definitely worth the effort to chart out on graph paper and made it easier to visualise how the shaping would progress as you were knitting. Looking forward to finishing!

elspeth sleeve,
originally uploaded by cast on cast off.

Left sleeve is done. Managed the wrap shaping ok once I’d worked out what to do. Took a while fiddling about with it but got there in the end. All in all it’s knitting up rather well.

elspeth back,
originally uploaded by cast on cast off.

Finally finished the back after having a drama last night thinking I had too many stitches at the end of the shoulder shaping. I googled Elspeth and saw that lots of people had probs with the pattern and taking that into account with the shaping. I winged it and used my eye more than anything but am going to chart it out for the fronts, which should mean less counting. I was obviously concentrating too much on LOST….looking forward to the next episode. It’s been given a big rap here in the UK, so let’s see if it lives up to it. Decided to start a sleeve today but must also make some headway with curtains and various quilts I have on the go.

Elspeth,
originally uploaded by cast on cast off.

Went to Hobbycraft yesterday and they were having a sale on Rowanspun DK (now discontinued). There were heaps of colours and at £1.95 a skein, you can’t go wrong. Consequently I bought some for various Rowan projects I’ve had in mind and some to send to Mum in Oz. Not been knitting for a few months, so it took a couple of bashes for me to really concentrate on the pattern. Will do some more tonight and see how it grows. Am loving the lime green and blue flecks in it. Elspeth is from Rowan Mag 37.