The Newest Shortie

For my birthday I got some lovely wool. It is Rowan Scottish tweed in colour way 'herring'. My mum knitted my dad a pullover in this and I loved it so much. It is a sort of grey-brown but with little flecks of primary colours. very lovely.

As you can see i have made a start! I have chosen a pattern from my vintage collection which is from 1958 and called the newest shortie. Here she is - really lovely!

i like the style advice they give. i will be sure to wear mine with a slim fitting, light-coloured dress.

I can't follow the pattern exactly as i need to make it a bit smaller to fit me and also because it was written for 3 ply and the scottish tweed is a 4 ply. I have got the tension close but not quite right so I just using the pattern as a guide and doing a lot of mathematics to get the right number of stitches. I'm a little tentative as it's hard to know how big to make it to get the correct fit, but I don't mind a bit of trial and error.

I am also using this project as an opportunity to practise a new knitting technique. it is the way my mum knits and always tells me i would be better off if i did too. I found this good video which demonstrates well. the only real difference is the way to hold the right hand needle - like a pencil. I don't quite wrap my wool in my hand the same way as the lady in the video though, but found my own way which feels comfortable.

You tube is really interesting for different knitting techniques. i spent so long watching different english knitting styles and the continental way and the cross between the two. phew! Also, i was amazed to see this amazing lady from scotland! She is SO FAST!

Yours merrily we knit along,

Emilia. xxxxx