Knit, Crochet, and Knit Again

The raglan jumper on the needles back in early June knitted up quite quickly but has only just made it on to a photograph. A basic every day jumper, and as a result it has been out and about a bit – stuffed into bags, pulled about, bungeed on to the back of my bike, and has generally taken a hammering! Hence it doesn’t look quite so pristine now.

Knitted in Rowan Creative Linen and created using Elizabeth Zimmermann’s instructions in Knitting Without Tears, with a little waist shaping, a stitch pattern panel in the centre front and a deeper neckline instead of a crew neck.

Elizabeth Zimmermann’s raglan has a crew neck, with a few extra rows at the back to make the back of the neck deeper. Somehow that didn’t work for this wider neckline, so mine has just a couple of extra rows at the back.

Apart from a little fiddling around with the neck it was a nice easy knit. Something straight forward after a ‘brain teaser’ knit can be a good thing. It’s that rhythmic knitting motion that is therapeutic. According to feelgoodknitting ‘Rhythmic motions, such as those performed while knitting, have been shown to improve the mental function’ (Why Does Knitting Make You Feel Good?). Need I say more – except I hope it has had the desired effect.

Crochet samples

Meanwhile I was wondering what on earth to do with my handspun, hand-dyed yarns as they are different thicknesses as well as being a mix of woollen and semi-worsted spun. I wanted to use them with my In praise of Ryeland wool, along with some wool stash, but I only have a little of each type. I think I have the answer – an organic, make-it-up-as-you-go crochet project.

I started some crochet circles which I hope I can link together with a crochet mesh (in the marled grey) to make a square, fringed poncho. This could take some time as I intend to spin more grey wool as I go and try out different crochet shapes and motifs, whilst finishing the Knit Vintage ‘Kate’ top that I started over a month ago.