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.

Sunny November Days

Winter has arrived! For the last two days we were greeted by this view out of our kitchen window in the morning:

November has been anything but dreary so far this year. The first few days were more like early autumn with mild temperatures and sunny days.

We're out on a walk nearly every day enjoying the autumn sun and until recently sampling the last blackberries which grow in abundance along the roads. I felt a bit guilty giving them to Aidan straight from the bushes without being able to wash them but he loved them and has been fine ever since.

Even though meteorologists tell us that 2016 has been the hottest year on record we haven't felt much of it this summer which was wet and cool. So I'm even happier about this lovely autumn. You hear a lot of complaints about the rain in Ireland and I haven't figured out so far if it's just another example of Irish modesty. I've been asked so many times how I like living in Ireland always followed with the question how I put up with the rain. Though I've never been a fan of hot weather I do sometimes miss a bit of summer and whenever I visit my home in Germany I'm grateful for the heat. On the other hand I do love living in Ireland and the rain is just part of it. There's nothing you can do about it anyway. And while it is sometimes depressing to hear people moan about the rain, there's also the other side to it which is probably an example of Irish optimism: whenever it's not raining you're greeted everywhere with a happy "Isn't it a fine day!!!". No matter how cloudy and cold it is. Such optimism always lifts my mood.