April 2022

I’m reading: Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I read Spinning Silver by her last year and loved it; this one is in the same genre and maybe I still prefer Spinning Silver but it’s very good! Lots of fantasy and magic and evil trees.

I’m knitting: Still working on my stripy tank top. I haven’t been knitting at home much recently so I’ve mainly been working on this during long car journeys (I can’t read or use screens in a moving car without getting a headache but also I get bored so I take some fairly plain knitting I don’t have to look at) (obviously I am not the driver). It’s worked bottom-up and I’m nearly at the armholes. I might have to knit at home for a bit then while I divide for the top parts etc.

stripy colourful tank top knitting project

I’m drawing: Lots of sketches at the moment! Trying to work from photographs and it’s very tricky. I can get better results by using a grid but I’m trying to learn how to sketch people freehand. I’ve managed one or two that are recognisable which I’m happy about!

sketches of my daughters, some better than others (the sketches, not the daughters)

I’m learning: How to do more lettering and doodle illustrations, from this course on Domestika, Creative Doodling and Hand-Lettering for Beginners with Grace Frösén. I like the Domestika courses, I’ve done a couple of others (Creative Watercolour Sketching for Beginners with Laura McKendry and Artistic Portrait with Watercolours with Alejandro Casanova). I like how they’re easy to pick up and do bits when I have the time and inclination and I’ve learnt a lot from each one. I do find it difficult to make myself watch videos, I usually have to be doing something else at the same time, something crafty or playing a computer game. I bought a bundle of courses in a Black Friday sale and still have three more to do but there’s no rush.

doodles!

Locus Vest by Katya Frankel

One of my favourite autumn/spring outfits is a knitted tank top over a long-sleeved t-shirt. I used to have a grey cabled tank top but it gradually got more and more felted until it was tight across my shoulders so I have sadly parted with it and knitted myself this nice new red one.

The pattern is the Locus Vest by Katya Frankel and I knitted it in Sirdar Country Style DK yarn, which I like because it’s warm and quite woolly but not TOO woolly (pure wool makes me itch, even through a t-shirt). The lace panel runs up the front and back and I love how it looks but it did mean I had to pay attention on every row, which means I wasn’t in the mood for this every day, and consequently it took over a year to finish. But I’m very glad to have it now.

My next knitting project is a stripy tank top knit using the leftover yarn from my Eastern Jewels blanket. This was initially moving faster due to being mainly stocking stitch, and also stripes always knit up faster; but recently I’ve been forgetting about it and leaving it to one side while I do other things. Hopefully writing this post will remind me to pick it up again.