Knitting Season

It's autumn again! We didn't have much of a summer here in the west of Ireland but I didn't miss it too much. We had two holidays in Germany and I got all the sun and heat that I needed there. And I prefer autumn over summer anyway, at least when there is some sunny weather, though a rainy day spent inside in front of a fire has its merits too. Still, I hope we'll have some more of those days:

This photo was taken last Sunday which had a wet start but turned into a lovely sunny day. We drove out to the seaside for a walk along the coast. It's much more pleasant to walk in autumn time than it is in summer, I find. The air is so pure and fresh and there's no sweating and baking in the sun even after a long walk.

And more reasons to love autumn: colorful leaves, foggy mornings, the food (apples, plums, berries...) and of course knitting! Though I'm knitting all year round since I moved to Ireland (the cooler weather allowing it), my peak time is still the official knitting season. Obviously. It doesn't feel right to knit a wooly jumper in July, even when your fingers don't get sweaty handling the wool.

My knitting baskets are already full of multiple projects I started. Some of them from last year like my husband's fair isle vest... But I've already finished something:

The pattern is from this book (my latest Charlie Byrne's bookshop find):

It's a baby cardigan for a cherished little someone who is currently still cosy and warm in my tummy but by the time of his or her birth it will be midwinter so I intend to knit lots of wooly warm vests and cardigans.  This one was supposed to have long sleeves and I wish it had. What happened was this: I got the book and decided to start straight away with knitting using up some lovely yarn that I had used for a jumper I knitted for Aidan last year. I had slightly less than the two balls that the instructions said but I chanced it. Big mistake! Never never do this! I figured I could still buy more of this yarn if I ran out. But it turned out that this particular color was discontinued and none of the shops had any left. By this time I had set my heart on knitting a yellow cardigan and did't want any other colors mixed in. My aunt has given me a bag full of sewing supplies among them the lovely heart shaped blue buttons and I really thought that was a sign that I should try and make this cardigan as the blue and yellow go so well together. I ended up knitting several versions of short sleeves until I got the right length that gave me just enough yarn to finish it. In the end I'm happy enough with it but I have my lesson learned!

Apart from knitting for my own baby I have projects planned for friends' babies (quite a lot women of our acquaintance are pregnant as well) and for family members. In fact I will probably not be able to do everything I have planned. I'm due in the middle of December so there won't be much knitting after that. At the moment I'm trying to do as much as I can, fitting in a few stitches here and there. I'll see how far I will get.